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Photo Credit: Shutterstock.com Silence in our community is not striking a blow at our enemies. In fact it just makes them stronger and more confident in their actions. Pretending to be heroes in the face of evil never helps anyone. We Black women are not superwomen. We are as vulnerable and as susceptible to violence as our white female counterparts (and maybe even more so). Sexual assault does not happen “out there”—outside the walls of our community. No, it occurs daily within our own borders right under our noses by those we trust the most.Partner rape is not a myth and causes as much emotional and psychological damage as stranger rape, domestic abuse, incest and molestation. For many people the idea that your trusted husband, boyfriend or girlfriend could be your rapist is as much of a fable as is the Loch Ness monster; but it does exist.According to the Rape, Abuse and Incest NationalNetwork (RAINN) , “survivors of partner rape are more likely to be raped multiple times when compared to stranger and acquaintance rape survivors. As such, partner rape survivors are more likely to suffer severe and long–lasting physical and psychological injuries.”As Black women we have been taught since we were first knee-high that in order to protect our Black men first, our community second and ourselves last, that we needed to learn the value of a closed mouth. Shouldering responsibility in silence was always the best course of action lest it be known publicly—giving our “white enemies” another chance to disparage our people. We were expected to suffer alone; to workout the problem as quietly as we could and to never, ever bring shame into our households. Unfortunately, this responsibility has also caused on our humanly demise.For me, it was (and still is) one of the most distasteful, disgusting and sinful burdens ever to be laid at the feet of Black women. We have been so effective in this community strategy that it has left many of us deathly afraid to speak up and out against those we have loved and claim to have loved us. Those human beings who promised to protect us and instead raped us.I have read the stories from women of color who were raped by their husbands, boyfriends, partners and girlfriends. Women who suffered unimaginable and unbearable agony in fear of what would happen to them should they say anything. They were left unaided by friends, family, and even church members because they did not want to break with tradition, or better yet be seen as a victim.We must stop living like this. We must break our silence and begin coming out in droves telling our stories and confronting those men within our communities, within our lives, who have brought upon us despicable acts of violence and torture. If we do not what will happen to those left behind us? To those growing up now? If in 2011, as reported by NewsOne, “sixtypercent of black girls [had] experienced sexual abuse at the hands of black menbefore reaching the age of 18 ,” what are the chances that the number will double in say the next two or three or four years? How long are going to keep protecting others at the expense of our souls—our bodies—our dignity?I know that coming forward is not, by any means, easy for anyone regardless of the type of abuse but is necessary if we want to control this problem within our community. Black women you have the right to protect yourselves and to place your humanity as your number one priority. Partner rape happens every day to so many of beautiful sisters. Have the courage to stand up and place your perpetrator behind bars. You not only save your life but the life of someone else.For more resources check out:I would also urge you to check out No!: The Rape Documentary by Aishah Simmons who documents the stories of African American women breaking their silence.Alice J. Rollins is an aspiring freelance writer and blogger who holds an M.A. in Women’s and Gender Studies from DePaul University. Her areas of interest include African American women’s spirituality, feminist/womanist pedagogy and politics of migration. She is currently based in Chicago, IL. Email her at: alice@forharriet.com

(Reuters) - Online video rental company Netflix Inc said it won pay TV rights to Dreamworks Animation movies starting in 2013, the first time a major Hollywood studio has chosen an Internet streaming player over a traditional cable channel. The headquarters of Netflix in Los Gatos, California, September 20, 2011. REUTERS/Robert Galbraith News of the deal drove Netflix’s stock up nearly 7 percent to a high of $137.88 in early trade on Nasdaq on Monday. Netflix did not disclose the financial terms of the deal. However, Dreamworks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg told The New York Times that the deal, worth $30 million per picture to Dreamworks over a number of years, was “game-changing” and represented a bet that viewers would soon no longer make distinctions between content streamed on the Internet or through cable. The Netflix deal means Dreamworks — the studio behind family friendly fare from “Shrek” to “Kung Fu Panda” — is eschewing premium pay-TV operator HBO in favor of online streaming, the Times reported. HBO is a unit of Time Warner Inc. “We are really starting to see a long-term road map of where the industry is headed,” Katzenberg was cited as saying to the newspaper in an interview. The content agreement comes days after Netflix, which has seen its share price decline sharply after a series of missteps, sealed an agreement to broadcast TV shows from Discovery Communications Inc. Netflix needs to add more content to its streaming service to keep drawing in new customers and fend off competition from the likes of Amazon.com, Google Inc and Apple Inc. Shares of the one-time Wall Street darling have fallen 50 percent in two months. Netflix CEO Reed Hastings has apologized for failing to explain moves adequately, from a surprise price hike in July to a separation of its DVD-mail from streaming services, and the company is trying to win customers back. But adding customers is suddenly proving difficult, with Netflix on the receiving end of heated complaints from customers still upset over the price hike announced in July. It cut its subscriber forecast by 1 million, saying it now expected to have 24 million subscribers at the end of the third quarter. The last time Netflix reported a subscriber decline was the second quarter of 2007, when Blockbuster was aggressively pushing a DVD rental package called Total Access. According to the Times, Netflix was quick to pump up the Dreamworks deal. “This is one of the few family entertainment brands that matter,” Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos was quoted as saying. “It’s also a signal to people that we are in no way moving away from movies. Our programing is just reflecting more and more what people want.”

On the other hand, they found being satisfied can lead to good communication Athens, Ga. – One of the top reasons couples seek counseling is communication issues, so does better communication predict a more satisfying relationship? The answer may not be that simple, according to a study by the University of Georgia’s psychology department published in the Journal of Marriage and Family. “Although communication and satisfaction were correlated, communication wasn’t a good guide for determining partners’ satisfaction with their relationships over time,” said the study’s lead author Justin Lavner, an assistant professor in UGA’s clinical psychology program in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. Although communication practices could predict satisfaction to some extent for some couples, the lack of a definitive causal relationship calls for additional attention to other factors that influence marital satisfaction, such as environmental stressors, what activities and interactions a couple has, and the personality traits of the individual partners. “It’s absolutely right to say more satisfied couples do communicate more positively, as well as to say couples who communicate better on average are more satisfied,” he said. “But it gives us a lot more pause to say that one caused the other one, which is really important. I think what this leaves us wondering is what are some of the other factors that matter for couples’ relationships and how these factors predict how couples do over time.” Previous research and theories emphasized communication—or the lack thereof—as a predictor of marital satisfaction and even divorce. Lavner and his co-authors decided to look at whether communication was really a cause or if communication was a consequence of being satisfied, or was simply connected to it instead. More than 400 low-income newlywed couples in Los Angeles participated in the three-year-long study, during which they were assessed four times. At each meeting, conducted in a couple’s home, participants would first complete three different tasks to gauge communication and then fill out a report on their satisfaction with their marriage. The communication tasks were meant to determine whether the couple used positive, negative or effective communication while completing tasks such as picking a problem in their marriage and discussing how to rectify it. “In general, the correlational findings were pretty strong, showing—as we kind of expect—the more satisfied you are, basically, the better you communicate with your spouse,” Lavner said. “What those results showed was that couples who were more satisfied also demonstrated higher levels of positivity, lower levels of negativity and more effectiveness.” The authors were surprised, however, to see that there wasn’t a strong causal link showing that good communication caused satisfaction, Lavner said. There was some evidence of communication being a predictor of satisfaction, but it wasn’t “as strong as it should have been given how central that assumption is in theory as well as practice. Overall, the pattern was one that it wasn’t as robust as theory would lead us to believe,” Lavner said. Indeed, in the majority of cases, communication did not predict satisfaction, nor did satisfaction predict communication, Lavner said. “It was more common for satisfaction to predict communication than the reverse,” he said. “I think the other thing that was surprising is that when one effect was stronger than the other, satisfaction was a stronger predictor of communication. These links have not been talked about as much in the literature; we have focused on communication predicting satisfaction instead.” The authors chose to look at couples with incomes at or below 160 percent of the 1999 federal poverty level for families of four because of the unique stressors present in low-income households. The first few years of marriage are usually a high-stress transition period for couples, with a high risk of divorce, Lavner said. Financial worries further compound the already stressful newlywed period. Lavner is currently focusing on personality characteristics and how they affect relationships, satisfaction levels and divorce. The study, “Does Couples’ Communication Predict Marital Satisfaction, or Does Marital Satisfaction Predict Communication?” is available online at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jomf.12301/full. The study was supported by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development of the National Institutes of Health under grant numbers HD053825 and HD061366.

Just 5 days from election day, and Hillary is hit with new major huge scandal – her involvement in Benghazi tragedy! And with new emails form WikiLeaks, now we know how sick and evil monster she is! According to The Political Insider about Wikileaks published email: Hillary Clinton is having the worst week of any Presidential candidate in history. Read More: Trade DAX and Kilauea volcano video The FBI is closing in on her criminal use of a private email server to transmit classified material. We now know – without a doubt – that foreign governments had easy access to the server. But what’s an even bigger deal is Hillary’s actions which directly lead to the deaths of four Americans – Including a U.S. Ambassador – in Benghazi, Lybia. The terrorist attack was easily avoided, but Hillary refused to provide the security they needed at the embassy. Today, in a new batch of emails, WikiLeaks reaffirmed exactly how Hillary caused the foreign policy disaster in Benghazi. WOW! Hillary Clinton could have saved their lives, but chose note to. She was trying to keep the danger in Benghazi a secret, and left Americans to die. She is unfit for office. America need better candidate for president than Hillary! Is Trump is going to be our greatest president ever or Hillary will be next president ? Please VOTE HERE to see: If you agree, please share and comment below. By sharing this story, you are helping Donald J. Trump to become our new US president. 2.1k ON SHARES Share Tweet

This report is for media and the general public. The SMM witnessed the impact of the conflict on the civilian population in the town of Yasynuvata, and met – in Chernivtsi – with Ukrainian activists delivering supplies to the area of fighting. The SMM deployed an advance team to Mariupol (113 km south of Donetsk) last night at 22:30hrs. They will be reinforced today. Reporting will also be initiated today. The situation in Kharkiv was calm. The SMM talked to the family of an 82-year-old woman, who was reportedly shot by a member of the Ukrainian voluntary ‘Aidar’ battalion in the village of Oleksandrivka, around 90 km north-west of Luhansk (see Daily Report of 28 August 2014). The chief surgeon in Severodonetsk (97 km north-west of Luhansk) hospital confirmed to the SMM that an 82-year-old woman with bullet wounds had been brought to the hospital on 23 August, and was in intensive care. The SMM visited Yasynuvata (20 km north-east of Donetsk) and saw around 80 people in an underground bunker approximately 110 metres long, and 25 metres wide. Most of the sheltering civilians were elderly women. They said that they had been there since 12 August, and were worried about their situation, especially taking into consideration the onset of autumn and winter. In another shelter, located in the basement of a school, the SMM saw around 60 persons, including elderly people and infants, apparently housed there for two or three weeks. There was no electricity in the basement, which consisted of an unspecified number of small rooms – the sheltering civilians used small torches and candles. They seemed to have food and water. The SMM observed in Yasynuvata several multi-storey apartment buildings with most of the flats apparently empty. One of the apartment buildings had two indications of projectile impact. The SMM saw remnants of Grad rockets next to the building. Several combatants from the so-called ‘Donetsk People’s Republic’ (‘DPR’) approached the SMM and reported that on 12 August one of the apartment blocks, used by them as an observation post, was partially damaged by Ukrainian artillery. The SMM also saw a large playground with two signs of artillery impact. Trees, branches and demolished tiles from rooftops littered the place. An entrepreneur from Kramatorsk (97 km north of Donetsk) told the SMM that small and medium-sized enterprises were reviving their activities after several months of interruption. However, many of them had difficulties in delivering current orders because of insufficient capacity. The situation in Dnipropetrovsk, Kherson and Odessa was calm. A doctor from Chernivtsi, and social activists providing supplies such as clothes, shoes, military uniforms, food, and medicines to soldiers fighting in Donbas, told the SMM that their convoys, and volunteering medical personnel, had become sniper targets of either the ‘DPR’ or the so-called ‘Luhansk People’s Republic’. The Ivano-Frankivsk metropolitan of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church expressed dismay about the damage to two churches in Donetsk belonging to the Greek-Catholic and Ukrainian Orthodox (Moscow Patriarchate) Churches. He informed the SMM that chaplains from the Greek-Catholic Church were going to the east to support soldiers, for example, by providing medical care, or they were acting as military chaplains. The church collected funds for flak jackets and helmets for troops. The bishop also said that during the Maidan period, 70 Greek-Catholic priests from Ivano-Frankivsk worked on rotation in Kyiv. The situation in Lviv was calm. Nearly 1,000 participants of a peaceful demonstration held in in front of the Ministry of Defence in Kyiv called on the Government for more intensive support of Ukrainian forces, in particular for the Donbas battalion, which is reportedly encircled by ‘DPR’-affiliated fighters in the town of Ilovaisk (47 km south-east of Donetsk).

Advertisement Just a few months ago, Grishin Robotics made its robotic first investment (that we know of) by writing a check for a cool quarter million to Double Robotics and its rolling iPad telepresence thingy. Today, Grishin has announced investment number two, with another $250,000 going to Elad Inbar's RobotAppStore. What is RobotAppStore? We'll break it down for you: it's a store, that sells apps, for robots. You can buy (or download for free) apps for a variety of consumer robots (Naos, Pleos, Roombas, Lego NXT kits, and more), each of which has been checked out by RobotAppStore itself to make sure it won't cause your hardware to explode. On the other end, developers can sell apps through the store, keeping 70 percent of whatever their apps bring in. Here's Dimtri Grishin on why he decided to go with RobotAppStore: “Robotics is a combination of good hardware and software – thus, the important role of a project like the RobotAppStore in the market ecosystem is unquestionable. The concept of ‘Cloud robotics’, which implies ability of all robots to connect to the internet, share a common knowledge database and seamlessly upgrade their functions in real-time, is a soon-to-be future; one reminiscent of the of personal computer industry. We believe that the strong team behind RobotAppStore coupled with their ability to leverage the advantages of having strong community already built around the product, can make this future closer”, said Dmitry Grishin, founder of Grishin Robotics, Co-Founder & CEO of Mail.Ru Group. That mention of cloud robotics isn't coincidental; Grishin is betting that there's a future in giving robots the same ability to benefit from cloud software and cloud hardware that smartphones have now. Like, let's take some sort of stupendously difficult problem that may or may not be solved (depending on who you ask), like grasping, and imagine how a cloud-based app store or service could improve it: your robot could be about as smart as a plastic spork with an arm and a Kinect on it, but as long as you've got the right app and a connection to the cloud, it doesn't matter. Your bot can simply send a 3D image of the object in question, some supercomputer somewhere can do some number crunching, and send back grasping instructions faster than you can say "wow, that was fast." Obviously, the RobotAppStore isn't set up for this kind of thing yet, but that's why now's the time to invest, I suppose. Anyway, here's what Elad thinks about the whole thing: “The support provided by Grishin Robotics is a great vote of confidence in our plans for the company,” said Elad Inbar, Founder & CEO of RobotAppStore. “It shows their belief in our vision and the importance of the marketplace for robotics applications. The robotics industry has reached its tipping-point with broad market acceptance, usability of robots, and the ability to extend the robots' capabilities. Being a part of Grishin Robotics’ portfolio provides high synergy with other robotics companies and better resource utilization. We are excited to use this funding to secure our place as THE market-leader of the consumer and educational robot-apps™ industry." As much as I'd like to believe this, "the robotics industry has reached its tipping-point" is a sentiment that I've heard consistently ever since I started writing about robots back in 2007, and as far as I can tell, nothing has tipped yet. I think it's more likely that Grishin's investments, and RobotAppStore itself, will help the robotics industry reach some sort of tipping-point in the first place. An app-type ecosystem, where you can download new capabilities for your robot that someone else has come up with rather than taking the time to develop them yourself, is one of the things that has made ROS so successful in robotics, and has the potential to do something similar for consumer robots in general. The only question I have at this point is whether there are really enough robots out there for RobotAppStore to get a good foothold, but even if there aren't (yet), the existence of a place to share apps will perhaps motivate people to buy more robots knowing that new capabilities are already available. [ RobotAppStore ] via [ Grishin Robotics ]

Replacing articles of clothing every time they get holes can become an expensive proposition. Instead, use the darning technique to repair small holes in socks, shirts and other apparel. With a darning needle and yarn, you'll form a network of stitches across the gap. It’s easy to do and can be a big cost-saver. Find thread or yarn that matches the sock in color and texture; you can use embroidery floss to repair a crew sock, while wool yarn is appropriate for a wool sock. Choose a darning needle as well. Place a lightbulb in the sock and position the hole over the lightbulb. Your needle will glide smoothly over the bulb's surface, making your stitching go faster. Thread the darning needle with the yarn or thread and leave the end unknotted. The darning process should create a tight weave that makes knots unnecessary. Start your work on either side of the hole. Take several small vertical running stitches in the intact fabric of the sock, about 1/2 inch to the left or right of the hole. Turn the sock upside down and make another row of stitches next to the first. Increase the number of running stitches you make as you come closer to the hole. When you reach the point at which the hole begins, your stitching line should extend from 1/2 inch above the hole to 1/2 inch below it. Continue making vertical running stitches. When your stitching reaches the hole, take your thread or yarn over the hole and into the fabric on the other side, forming what resembles a vertical bridge over the hole. Stitching should extend 1/2 inch beyond the hole at both the top and bottom edges. Cut the thread end once you have covered the hole with vertical threads and extended the stitching 1/2 inch past it so that both sides of the hole look identical. Thread your darning needle and begin your work 1/2 inch from either side of the hole at either the top or bottom. Take the threaded needle and weave it under and over the vertical threads that cover the hole as well as the vertical threads that lie within 1/2 inch of the hole. Turn the sock upside down once you reach the opposite end of the hole, and weave another yarn strand next to the first. Continue stitching back and forth until you've completely filled the hole. Trim excess thread.

A new report uncovers the role of US psychologists in torture and criticizes the American Psychological Association for supporting interrogation in the name of national security This week the Institute on Medicine as a Profession (IMAP) and the Open Society Foundations (OSF) have published the most comprehensive study on the role of psychologists in the War on Terror. At 269 pages, the full report is as detailed as it is grim, concluding that American psychologists collaborated extensively with the Department of Defense, the Department of Justice, and the CIA to develop a range of interrogation methods used in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantánamo Bay. The list of methods is horrifying: beatings, exposure to extreme cold, shackling, repeated slamming into walls, sleep deprivation, sensory deprivation, exposure to prolonged white noise and yelling, forced nakedness, exploitation of phobias, slaps to the face and abdomen, cramped confinement, prolonged stress positions (such as having hands and feet chained to the floor), forced feeding via gastrointestinal tubing, sexual and religious humiliation, forcible restraint of the head, deprivation of basic items such as sheets, blankets and mattresses (termed "comfort items"), threats to the detainee’s family, asphyxiation, and waterboarding. The report documents how psychologists consulted with the military under the Orwellian euphemism of "safety officers". Their official role was to work in Behavioral Science Consultation Teams to "identify vulnerabilities of detainees and collaborate with interrogators in exploiting them". Psychologists were selected for these positions based on professional training in clinical and forensic psychology. Yet while clearly valuing these qualifications, the military classified the psychologists as "combatants" rather than health practitioners, a move which enabled them to bypass normal ethical standards. Those ethical standards themselves are unclear. The American Psychological Association (APA) – the official professional body for psychologists in the US – officially rejects torture but it also supports the role of psychologists in interrogation: "It is consistent with the APA Ethics Code for psychologists to serve in consultative roles to interrogation and information-gathering processes for national-security related purposes". The APA has yet to indicate which, if any, of the methods listed in the IMAP/OSF report would be consistent with its ethical policy. The position of the British Psychological Society is even less clear. On the one hand the Society condemns torture yet at the same time remains silent on whether psychologists can assist with interrogation or other military objectives. As with the APA's policy, the point at which interrogation becomes abuse is left unsaid, the boundaries of unethical conduct given room to move. The report makes a number of concrete recommendations, calling for US president Barack Obama to apply more strict prohibitions on the use of "sleep deprivation, isolation, exploitation of fear, and other interrogation methods that violate international standards". It also urges the APA to clarify its ethical policy and "repudiate the report of its Presidential Task Force…that condones the participation of psychologists in interrogation". These are undoubtedly vital reforms, but the facts uncovered by this study raise even more fundamental questions. In the quest for national security, is there a genuine balance to be met between the ideologies of "do no harm" and "prevent harm being done"? At what point (if any) is it morally acceptable for psychologists to be deployed as weapons of war? As important as it is for the psychological profession to clarify its policies on these issues, it is also not for psychologists alone to provide the answers. That responsibility is shared by all citizens of a free society.

Shanghai, China – Since four-fifth of the Chinese students wear glasses. An Asian dad beat up his son for having perfect 6/6 vision. He was convinced that wearing glasses would mean an increase in his sons grades. A boy named Wang Wei, a 15 year old student from Shanghai was badly beaten up by his dad Fang Wei. He then took him to a doctor and forced him to prescribe glasses for his son. Wang was just an average student who would pass all his exams. This want enough as his father’s expectations were very high of him. He attributed this on him having a perfect 6/6 vision and proceeded to beat up his child. The doctor tried convincing his father that corrective glasses are not required with no results. He said he wouldn’t leave until the doctor gave his son glasses. Hence the doctor was left with no choice and prescribed him a Rayban aviator sunglasses. China and many other East Asian countries do not prize time outdoors. Being outdoors and exposure to daylight helps the retina to release a chemical that slows down an increase in the eye’s axial length. Schoolchildren in China are often made to take a nap after lunch rather than play outside; they then go home to do far more homework than anywhere outside East Asia. The older children in China have poor eyesights, as they stay indoors and not because of the country’s notorious pollution. Like this: Like Loading...

Retired marine was abruptly let go from position informing relevant White House officials about covert operations following clash with NSC official When the history of Donald Trump’s war with the US intelligence community is written, the name of the conflict’s first casualty is unlikely to be recorded, as the former marine officer is still a serving CIA official. That marine officer was the CIA’s liaison to the White House, whose duties included bringing relevant White House officials with appropriate security clearance into the loop about covert operations. British spies were first to spot Trump team's links with Russia Read more According to current and former White House and intelligence officials, he lost a bureaucratic struggle with his nominal boss, the National Security Council’s controversial intelligence director. Multiple former colleagues described the former CIA liaison as a consummate professional with no history of infractions. But late one afternoon in mid-March, the retired marine was abruptly informed that his services were no longer needed and he ought not to come to work the next day. Co-workers were shocked at a display that seemed designed to humiliate him. “It was the most disrespectful thing they could have done,” said a White House official familiar with the incident. “He’s a good man. What happened to him was fucked up.” Over a month later, the CIA has not sent a replacement liaison to the White House, though there are other agency officials on loan there. The ex-liaison has not been accused of any crime or abuse and has returned to the CIA. The liaison’s removal, first reported by the Washington Post, followed a clash with Ezra Cohen-Watnick, the 30-year-old intelligence director on the NSC staff, to whom he reported. Cohen-Watnick was a junior case officer at the Defense Intelligence Agency, where he caught the eye of Michael Flynn, the ex-DIA director and first national security adviser to Trump. When Flynn came to the White House, Cohen-Watnick was among the Flynn deputies whom career national security staff came to view as a clique – derisively known in intelligence circles as the “Flynnstones”. For their part, the so-called Flynnstones viewed the career staff as Obama loyalists, and excluded many of them from national security decision-making. When Flynn’s downfall came, owing to the way he misled Vice-President Mike Pence over contacts with the Russian ambassador, his ultimate replacement the current national security adviser, HR McMaster, sought to oust Cohen-Watnick. The CIA, which Trump had for months disparaged, distrusted Flynn and was uncomfortable with Cohen-Watnick remaining as an intermediary between Langley and the White House. But McMaster lost out to Cohen-Watnick, who persuaded strategist Steve Bannon and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, to protect him. A Newsweek profile reported that Cohen-Watnick’s parents have ties to Kushner, an added asset for Flynn. “They hate him. They absolutely despise him,” a former senior intelligence official said of the CIA’s view of Cohen-Watnick. The CIA declined comment for this story and the White House did not respond to a request for comment. Cohen-Watnick’s moment of prominence came in late March, when he was exposed as a channel for information used by the House intelligence committee chairman, Devin Nunes, another Flynn ally, to distract from an investigation into Russia’s connections with Trump affiliates. A key figure in that investigation is Flynn, who received tens of thousands of dollars for a speech in Moscow from RT, a news channel the CIA considers an adjunct of official Russian propaganda. Reportedly, Cohen-Watnick provided Nunes with documents purporting to show improper surveillance on Trump’s allies, an allegation Nunes made while obscuring that the narrative, politically convenient for the White House, emerged from the White House itself. Nunes later reluctantly recused himself when the revelation of White House involvement sparked a political outcry. Subsequently, both Democrats and Republicans who viewed the documents considered them anodyne, a far cry from Nunes and Trump’s portrayals. Some sources considered the removal of the CIA liaison to be an act of retaliation for the attempt to get Cohen-Watnick off the NSC. The episode occurred in mid-March, before Nunes made his allegations. Other sources pointed to attempts by the former CIA liaison to stop Cohen-Watnick from taking actions which a White House official declined to describe substantively but characterized as appearing to “operationalize” the NSC. In US national security circles, that term evokes the idea of using the NSC to perform secret or sensitive operations as a backchannel around both Congress, which does not review the NSC, and agencies such as the CIA which would be likely to object. The issue arose during the Iran-contra scandal, when marine lieutenant colonel Oliver North, an NSC official in Ronald Reagan’s White House, sold Iran weapons to fund anti-communist guerrillas in Nicaragua against Congress’s express orders. The former senior intelligence official said Cohen-Watnick had committed “serious protocol violations”. Among them were appearing to take responsibilities for certain covert programs away from the CIA and communicating with lower-level intelligence officials outside of established channels that ensure intelligence chiefs and deputies are aware of White House requests and concerns. Intentionally or not, sources said, Cohen-Watnick created a perception of the White House bypassing intelligence chiefs – right as Trump was tweeting his disapproval of US intelligence, which he considered to be on a politicized witch-hunt to tie him to the Kremlin. “On a procedural level, it would be odd for a senior director to reach down into the bowels of intelligence agencies. There’s a chain of command to go through,” said a different former senior intelligence official. Donald Trump travel ban 'simplistic and wrongheaded', says former CIA chief Read more The removal of the CIA liaison had immediate consequences, sources said. Among the liaison’s tasks were providing visibility for NSC officials into classified programs. That process stalled in the first weeks after the liaison returned to the CIA, but has since been sorted out. In recent weeks, as McMaster has accrued power at the expense of both the Flynn loyalists supporters and Bannon, the White House war with the intelligence agencies has waned. Last week Mike Pompeo made his first speech as CIA director, and insisted to his Washington thinktank audience that the agency and the president had turned a corner in their relationship. But it may be an unsteady equilibrium, particularly as the inquiries into Russia progress. Cohen-Watnick remains in his job. Two weeks after his forced dismissal, several colleagues threw a going-away party for the retired marine officer at the Army-Navy Club on Farragut Square, a few blocks from the White House. At least a dozen NSC staffers attended to fete the now-ex CIA liaison.

Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his two sons, Hassan and Hussain, failed to appear before the National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) Lahore office on Friday for a probe meeting pertaining to a Supreme Court-ordered investigation into the Sharif family's business concerns. Security had been tightened in and around the NAB office, DawnNews reported, with about 200 police personnel deployed in the surrounding area in anticipation of the ousted PM's visit, but Sharif and his sons did not appear today. Subsequently, the five-member NAB team comprising an additional director, a deputy director, and an assistant director, returned to Rawalpindi. NAB sources said a decision on whether or not to send another notice to the family would be made after consultation with the NAB chairman. It also remains to be seen whether Sharif and his sons will be summoned to the offices in Lahore or Islamabad. PML-N insiders earlier told Dawn that Sharif and his sons would ─ after discussion with close aides and their legal team ─ not join the NAB investigation until the apex court decided on his review petition against the July 28 Panamagate verdict which disqualified him from office. Explore: Sharif, sons to skip NAB probe meeting today "Mian Nawaz Sharif and his children have decided not to appear before NAB till a verdict on his review petition in the SC is decided. Sharif has sought a stay of the NAB proceedings and till the apex court decides his petition there is no point in his joining the NAB investigation in cases against him," a close aide to Sharif, who is privy to the development, told Dawn on Thursday. Sharif appealed to the SC to stay further implementation of the Panamagate judgement, which included orders for the opening of references against the family's Al-Azizia Steel Mills and Hill Metal Establishment, and one regarding 16 other companies. The companies are Flagship Investments, Hartstone Properties, Que Holdings, Quint Eaton Place 2, Quint Saloane, Quaint, Flagship Securities, Quint Gloucester Place, Quint Paddington, Flagship Developments, Alanna Services (BVI), Lankin SA (BVI), Chadron, Ansbacher, Coomber and Capital FZE (Dubai). Read more: Panamagate: Decision to disqualify me had been taken before the judgement, Nawaz alleges PML-N's Senator Asif Kirmani, a close aide of the ex-PM, also said neither Sharif nor his sons would appear before NAB in Lahore, and had not received any summons from NAB. A joint team of NAB officials from Lahore and Rawalpindi have also formulated a questionnaire for the investigation. According to a copy of the questionnaire acquired by DawnNews, it is expected that Sharif and his sons will be questioned about financial matters pertaining to Al-Azizia Steel Mills and Hill Metal Establishment. The inquiry may include questions about the purchase of land and machinery for Al-Azizia, and the formation of its internal structure. NAB is also expected to ask for proof of purchase of machinery for the mill from Dubai. The probe team could possibly ask about where the capital for the creation of Hill Metal came from, who was part of the board of directors, and where the shareholder details of the company are. Additionally, the three may be quizzed about the nature of monetary gifts made to Nawaz Sharif by his son Hussain Nawaz. It is possible that Rehman Malik and Shahbaz Sharif may also be summoned by NAB to record their statements. As Sharif and his sons failed to appear before NAB today, a second summons may be issued within the next week or so. A third summons may also be issued if they do not appear before the NAB after the second notice, Dawn reported, added that following this course of action may be a way for the Sharif family to buy some time if the review petition before the SC is not in their favour. With additional reporting by Zulqernain Tahir.

Check out this cute school poster from Japan that teaches kids about lesbian, gay, bisexual and asexual people. The "Who Will You Come To Like?" poster is part of a health series of educational materials. According to ROYGBIV, the two blurbs at the top right say: When young people reach puberty they often like other people this is called sexual attraction. Depending on who a person likes, this is their sexual orientation. Most are heterosexual, but people who are homosexual and bisexual are not altogether a small group. Sexual orientation is innate and it cannot be changed by intervention, so there is no need to change your preferences. and However, adolescence is a time when one generally discovers their sexual orientation. When it comes to understanding one's sexual orientation, one should take as much time as is needed. This version of the poster was put outside of the nurse's office at Saitama Prefecture's Sayama Keizai School of Economics.

With its costume competitions, treats, and atmosphere of mischief, Halloween is Canada’s dominant masquerade festival—but it’s not our only one. The lesser-known Acadian festival of Mi-Carême looks, at a glance, like a peculiar cousin of Halloween. Participants may choose to decorate their driveways with scarecrow-like figures and hang red lights on their homes to prepare for visits from mi-carêmes—masked wanders who roam the streets at night, knocking on doors and asking to be let inside. There, a guessing game begins—who is this masked stranger, a neighbour, or a family member, or a friend? Once the mi-carêmes’ true identities have been revealed, their hosts treat them to a snack—toffee, fudge, and a bit of booze are traditional—and instruments come out for a musical performance before it’s on to the next house. Once widespread throughout French Canada, there are only four spots in Canada where Mi-Carême is still celebrated today: Chéticamp, Nova Scotia, and in Quebec, Natashquan, Isle-aux-Grues, and Fatima. “Mi-Carême used to be celebrated in most small villages and small towns that had Roman Catholic roots, and it was to break the fasting that the church would ask them to do after Mardi Gras and before Easter, the 40 days of Lent,” explains Monique Aucoin, who has celebrated the festival annually for 68 years and is the president of Chéticamp’s Société Mi-Carême (which indeed translates to “mid-Lent”). Over time, various elements of modernity dulled Mi-Carême’s appeal to all but the most remote Acadian villages, where communities are close-knit and trusting, nobody is too fussy about crowds stomping over their hardwood or carpet, and a giddy, carnivalesque event brightening the wintery gloom is very welcome. “In my first life I was a nurse and I always said the week of Mi-Carême was a great week to work because nobody was sick. It’s like endorphins,” says Aucoin. Today, the history of Mi-Carême is cherished (though the festival has lost much of its religious association) and the villages that uphold its tradition also work to expand it, through the creation of visitor information centers and the elongation of the festival itself, which can now feature opening and closing galas or community dances. Those who have moved away are known to return for the event, and newcomers are quickly incorporated into the tradition. “I think it’s the best celebration that our culture has,” says Aucoin, “it makes people happy.” _________ Never miss a story. Sign up for NUVO’s weekly newsletter, here.

Thursday, March 18, 2010 | 12:37 PM Since we launched Google Buzz for mobile, we've been working on ways to make it quicker and easier to share your thoughts and experiences while you're out and about. Today, we're excited to release a Google Buzz widget for Android phones that lets you post text and photos with a single tap. Like other mobile access points for Google Buzz, the widget lets you choose to tag your post with the location or place from which it was posted. You can post buzz about a great meal you had and share photos of the new restaurant. To save time, your posts will upload in the background, letting you get back to your scrumptious dessert without a wait. The widget is initially available in English for Android phones running v1.6 and later. Search for 'Google Buzz' in the Android Market to download it now. Once installed, you can add it to your home screen: tap "Menu" while on the home screen and select "Add > Widgets > Google Buzz". We plan to add support for other languages soon. Visit our Help Center to learn more, ask questions in our Help Forum, or give us suggestions and vote on other people’s on the Mobile Product Ideas page. Update Posted by Zak Cohen, Software Engineer, Google Mobile on March 22nd @11:10 PM: You can also directly scan the QR code below to install the widget.

Ricegrowers predict dire outcomes if water cuts proceed Posted Riverina ricegrowers say propopsed water cuts in the Murrumbidgee system could spell the end of the rice industry as it is known. Consultants in Griffith are doing research on the socio-economic impact of the Murray Darling Basin Authority guide which recommends cuts of up to 45 per cent in local water availability. Ricegrowers gave evidence yesterday on what they said will be the dire impact locally should the cuts proceed. Other industry groups are being consulted this week. The chairman of the parliamentary inquiry into the Murray Darling Basin Guide said yesterday the Basin Authority has done a poor job selling its draft recommendations. A public hearing at Murray Bridge in South Australia was the first in a nine day national tour to hear community submissions on the draft plan. The chairman Tony Windsor said the Authority neglected to explain alternatives to cutting water allocations, causing angst for irrigators in the river system. "It was sold as cutbacks," said Mr Windsor. "And that to the communities and to the political process meant decimation of towns, individuals, livelihoods on the back of the worst drought we've had in ten years. So, poorly marketed." he said. Water economist Mike Young said the Queensland floods show figures given by the Murray Darling Basin Authority in its guide for the Basin's future are inaccurate. Professor Young also appeared before the parliamentary inquiry. Professor Young who is the Executive Director of the Environment Institute at Adelaide University and a member of the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists said many of the proposed water cuts are based on averages, rather than seasonal variations. "You can't plan on averages," said Professor Young. "Everyone can now see that we have droughts and we have flooding rains, and so we need an approach that doesn't just talk about average numbers, but actually talks about what will happen when it's dry." The Murray Darling Association says State Government powers to restrict water used by irrigators should be over-ruled by the Basin Authority. The Association's General Secretary - Ray Najar - address the inquiry. "There shouldn't be any restrictions on water use for food production," he said. "there's just no, absolutely no need for it, the small amount of water that we require for growers in South Australia to have full allocations, for example, is about two days flow out of the Murray Mouth." "So it's ridiculous for the government to maintain a policy that was written for drought and use it in a flood situation," said Mr Najar. Topics: irrigation, regional, rivers, water, water-management, rural, griffith-2680, deniliquin-2710, hay-2711, leeton-2705

A Webster man is in the Harris County Jail, accused of getting a 17-year-old woman drunk and then sexually assaulting her. But what makes this case unique is what finally led to his arrest. On Thursday, Elric Shawn Millner had his picture taken at the Webster jail when he was arrested. He was smiling. On Friday, he was taken before a judge in probable cause court. The smile was gone. "We request a $50,000 bond based on the facts of the offense," said a prosecutor in court Friday morning. Millner is 24 years old. He was 22 when documents allege he sexually assaulted a then-17-year-old woman with whom he was involved. It allegedly happened at the Clear Lake apartment complex where he lived. The woman stated it happened after he gave her a lot of liquor to drink. "She drank in excess to the point of passing out and having no memory of that night and showed her multiple videos of the suspect and another individual engaging in sexual intercourse with the complainant," said the prosecutor in court. It went unreported for two years until the woman started dating a man who had been a Marine MP. Prosecutors say he made it his mission to take the case to police, pretending to befriend Millner and making up a story. "Talked to the old boyfriend about the complainant, pretending he was upset with her," said prosecutor Adam Muldrow. "And so the defendent did what at that point?" we asked. "The defendant confirmed the allegations," said Muldrow. "And he showed him the video?" we asked. "Yes," he said. Two weeks after the woman finally went to police, Millner is now in jail. The video he allegedly kept for two years will be evidence. Millner, 24, was charged Thursday with sexual assault. Bond has been set at $50,000.

If Planet Nine really exists, astronomers have a pretty decent chance of spotting it. On Wednesday (Jan. 20), scientists announced that a planet about 10 times more massive than Earth likely lurks in the distant outer solar system, orbiting perhaps 600 times farther from the sun than Earth does on average. The evidence for the existence of this "Planet Nine" is indirect at the moment; computer models suggest a big, undiscovered world has shaped the strange orbits of multiple objects in the Kuiper Belt, the ring of icy bodies beyond Neptune. But direct evidence could come relatively soon, in the form of a telescope observation, Planet Nine's proposers say. [Evidence Mounts for Existence of 'Planet X' (Video)] "It's actually not obscenely faint," said Mike Brown of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena. Brown and lead author Konstantin Batygin, also of Caltech, wrote the new paper laying out the evidence for the putative planet's existence. "In fact, it's bright enough over a lot of its orbit that we should have seen it already, if it's in the closest approaches to the sun," Brown told Space.com. Indeed, at closest approach, "you could almost see it with some backyard telescopes," he added. (Planet Nine's orbit likely brings it as close as 200 to 300 astronomical units, or AU, to the sun, and takes it as far away as 600 to 1,200 AU, Brown said. One AU is the average distance from Earth to the sun—about 93 million miles, or 150 million kilometers.) Planet Nine is therefore probably not too close to the sun at the moment, said Brown, who has discovered or co-discovered a number of distant solar system objects, including the dwarf planets Eris and Sedna. But powerful ground-based telescopes can probably still detect the object, wherever it may be, he added. [The Case for "Planet Nine" in Pictures] "Even at its most distant, and at the smallest guesses of how big it is, it's like 24th or 25th magnitude," Brown said, referring to the brightness scale astronomers use, in which higher numbers denote fainter objects. "It's not crazy; this is the kind of stuff people are finding all the time. We just need to go out and cover a good swathe of the sky." Just how big a swathe? Astronomer Scott Sheppard, of the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington, D.C., has come up with a rough estimate: between 2,000 and 4,000 square degrees. (For perspective, the full moon as seen from Earth covers about 0.5 degrees of sky.) That corresponds to about 50 nights of observations using a powerful instrument such as the Subaru Telescope in Hawaii, said Sheppard, who has a lot of experience finding far-flung objects in the solar system. For example, in 2014, he and Chadwick Trujillo of the Gemini Observatory in Hawaii discovered an object called 2012 VP113, whose orbital characteristics hint at the presence of a Planet Nine. The 27-foot-wide (8.2 meters) Subaru Telescope is the go-to observatory for the search, because Planet Nine is predicted to be visible in the Northern Hemisphere sky, both Brown and Sheppard said. (Many other big, powerful scopes are in Chile, south of the equator.) [World's Largest Reflecting Telescopes Explained (Infographic)] Sheppard stressed that it's tough to know just how detectable Planet Nine would be, considering the uncertainties surrounding the putative world's size, orbit and composition—all characteristics that affect brightness. But, Sheppard told Space.com, "if it's not on the extreme ends of the orbit or the size, then Subaru should be able to find it." The hunt is on Sheppard and his colleagues have already covered some parts of Planet Nine's possible orbit using Subaru, as part of a larger, years-long survey for more objects such as 2012 VP113. (The broader survey also employs a telescope in Chile, which spotted 2012 VP113.) The researchers will likely use Subaru to narrow in on more promising possible locations, now that Batygin and Brown have given them a better idea of where to look, Sheppard said. But the hunt for smaller bodies such as 2012 VP113 will continue as well. "We're trying to find many more of these smaller objects, which could lead us to the bigger object," he said. The hunt for Planet Nine will also probably send astronomers back to their archives; it's possible that the undiscovered world has already been photographed by powerful telescopes, but researchers didn't spot it, Brown said. (Confirming the planet's existence will require more than one image, because astronomers will need to see the object move to know it's not a background star or other extremely distant object.) Sheppard said that he had pegged the odds of a big planet lying undiscovered beyond Neptune at 50-50, but the new study by Batygin and Brown boosts his confidence in the existence of Planet Nine to about 75 percent. Brown seems even more confident. "I find this really compelling," Brown said. "I think it's there. But, like everybody else, I want to see it." Copyright 2016 SPACE.com, a Purch company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Workers would win the “right to own” their employers under a Labour government. In a speech to Co-operative UK in Manchester today, John McDonnell promised legislation to give employees first rights on buying out a company that is being dissolved, sold or floated on the stock exchange. The Shadow Chancellor argued that the Labour Party needs to draw upon its radical, co-operative tradition to find a way out of the current economic crisis. “With consortium co-operatives providing an effective means for new businesses to share and reduce costs, we’d look to support these at a local level, working with local authorities, businesses and trade unions,” he said. He promised that the Labour Party would consider providing matching government funding for new co-operatives and look into the recommendations in Graeme Nuttall’s report on employee ownership, including creating a statutory right to request employee ownership and have proposals considered by employers. “We should look to extend this approach, offering employees first rights on buying out a company that is being dissolved, sold, or floated on the stock exchange. The Tories have offered a “Right to Buy.” Labour would seek to better this. We’d be creating a new “Right to Own,” he said. McDonnell said the Labour Party must not only look for state-led solutions to the current crisis in capitalism, but also look back to its traditions of decentralisation and grassroots co-operation. “This radical tradition has deep roots in our collective history. From RH Tawney, GDH Cole and the guild socialists, back to the Rochdale Pioneers, the Society of Weavers in Fenwick, Ayrshire, and even further back to the radicals of the English Civil War.” McDonnell also argued that while technology can be disruptive – deskilling and creating greater inequality – it can also open up new possibilities of new forms of sharing and co-operation.

On Tuesday’s All In, host Chris Hayes and his guests tackled a chilling and politically loaded subject: which beliefs should disqualify someone from holding public office. Among other things, the group decided that global warming “denialism,” opposition to same-sex marriage, and opposition to a “robust” Voting Rights Act should put a politician outside the mainstream and ruin their chances of holding public office. Hayes seemed excited that politicians might be branded with a figurative scarlet letter for holding beliefs that run counter to his own far-left vision. In fact, he claimed the act of disqualification based on certain beliefs is a “tool of progress,” not something that “constrains consensus.” The host gloated: It’s a tool of progress when we say that certain things, like opposing marriage equality, are sort of, like, not the kinds of things that mainstream American politicians – One of Hayes’ guests cut him off, but he didn’t need to finish that sentence. The point is clear – Hayes has stumbled upon a new way to squelch debate in this country and pave the way for liberal domination of American political thought. The host was particularly gleeful over the growing acceptance of the theory that human beings are driving climate change. After playing clips of Sen. Marco Rubio expressing skepticism of global warming and then trying to clarify when pressed on the issue, Hayes smirked: [T]he fascinating aspect of this to me is that it looked to me for the first time in a long time that denialism was looking like a thing that was a disqualifier or at least something to be defensive about in a way I haven't seen in a while. One of Hayes’ guests, former New York Times columnist Bob Herbert, agreed: And I think nowadays it is. I mean, this is an issue that’s – I mean, we’re all threatened by this. I mean, the planet is in danger. Something needs to be done. And I think if you’re just going to deny that this is even occurring, it means that you’re going to be blocking the policies that we need, and it should be a disqualifier. Hayes even went so far as to call global warming skeptics "really cuckoo." Regarding gay marriage, the host was also ready to declare the debate closed. He exulted that he has "never seen an issue go so quickly from a contentious, contested issue that’s at the center of our political debates to one in which opposition to it is quickly becoming taboo.” But in many parts of the country, gay marriage still is a “contentious, contested issue.” Hayes only wishes it were a settled topic. By the way, the host placed global warming skepticism and opposition to gay marriage in the same basket as 9/11 Trutherism. During his introduction to this discussion, Hayes mentioned that Van Jones, now a co-host of CNN’s Crossfire, was pressured into resigning from his job in the Obama White House because, among other things, his name appeared on a petition that suggested the George W. Bush administration may have knowingly allowed the 9/11 terrorist attacks to happen. The host failed to mention, of course, that MSNBC colleague Toure has a history of Truther-style statements. That conspiracy theory is well outside of the mainstream, but it was what prompted Hayes to launch his discussion of other, more conservative beliefs that he wishes society would just laugh away. Below is a transcript of the segment: CHRIS HAYES: Van Jones says he never actually signed the 9/11 truther petition that prompted that spout of outrage, and he maintained from the start it did not reflect his actual views. But just that tiny little brush with trutherism was enough to get the guy drummed out of the White House. And all this got me thinking about what exactly should constitute a disqualifier when it comes to those who want to hold public office or even work in the government. Joining me now, Bob Herbert, distinguished senior fellow with Demos; Christina Bellantoni, editor-in-chief of Roll Call; and Richard Kim, executive editor of TheNation.com. I am really interested in the boundaries of taboo and consensus and what are the kinds of things that are the kinds of things that politicians can argue about, and the kinds of things that kind of place them off the table. And I thought it was interesting to see the Ernst campaign felt that that claim about WMD was an off-the-table kind of claim they had to then deny, which I found to be progress of a sort. Are there certain things you think, Bob, that should be in the kind of off-the-table category that aren't currently in the off-the-table category? BOB HERBERT: Sure. I would start with if you don't have support for a robust Voting Rights Act for example. So if you're running for national office and you don't feel that qualified Americans ought to be guaranteed the right to vote, that should disqualify you. HAYES: Just like Voting Rights Act as a matter of – Voting Rights Act or opposition to Voting Rights Act is off the table. But here’s the thing that's tricky about that, right, is that no one comes out. You're right. That is actually rhetorically where we are in American politics insofar as no one will come out and be like, I don't like the Voting Rights Act, unless, you know, Supreme Court justices. But, right, I think – don't you agree that if someone – no one would actually come out and say that. [crosstalk] HERBERT: – should have to come out and say it. I'm saying you need to be forthright in your support of a robust Voting Rights Act because you need to be forthright in your support of Americans' right to vote. HAYES: And Rand Paul has come pretty close. RICHARD KIM: With the Civil Rights Act, which is not the Voting Rights Act, but that package of civil rights legislation. HAYES: And that infamous moment on Rachel’s show with the long, torturous, just train wreck of an interview in which he basically said, I'm not that into the public accommodation part of the Civil Rights Act, that was him flirting with precisely the line of the disqualifying. *** JONATHAN KARL: Let me get this straight. You do not think that human activity, the production of CO2, has caused warming to our planet? SEN. MARCO RUBIO: I don't believe that human activity is causing these dramatic changes to our climate the way these scientists are portraying it. UNIDENTIFIED: What information, reports, studies or otherwise are you relying on to inform and reach your conclusion that human activity is not to blame for climate change? RUBIO: Well, again, I mean – headlines notwithstanding, I’ve never disputed that the climate is changing, and I pointed out that climate, to some extent, is always changing. It’s never static. HAYES: Nice try, Marco Rubio. I’m back with Bob Herbert, Christina Bellantoni, and Richard Kim. And the reason I want to play that, so Rubio – again, he stepped in it on that Jon Karl interview. I think he didn’t think it was going to become a headline. I mean, you can see his passive/aggressive note about headlines notwithstanding. And then today he tried to walk it back in a totally incoherent way. But the fascinating aspect of this to me is that it looked to me for the first time in a long time that denialism was looking like a thing that was a disqualifier or at least something to be defensive about in a way I haven't seen in a while. HERBERT: And I think nowadays it is. I mean, this is an issue that’s – I mean, we’re all threatened by this. I mean, the planet is in danger. Something needs to be done. And I think if you’re just going to deny that this is even occurring, it means that you’re going to be blocking the policies that we need, and it should be a disqualifier. HAYES: And the key here to me is, the conspiratorial thinking it requires to think that thousands of scientists across the globe are engaged in this massive hoax, which is basically what James Inhofe, who’s a sitting U.S. senator, believes, right? The conspiratorial thinking that it takes to believe that is really cuckoo. I mean, that is really out there. KIM: Okay, I can't believe I'm going to take the other side on this. So obviously, I don't believe, you know, these views, and I think they’re sort of lunatic and really dangerous. On the other hand, large percentages of the American population believe that. And don't they have representation in that political process? And I also worry that if you have this circle of disqualified opinions, and you keep growing that circle, what that rewards is an incentive structure that depends on sort of an absolute certainty of emotion. Like a really kind of intense belief. And to keep feeding that, if the facts on the ground don't match, you invent a set of facts. And I think, actually, that is what has happened to the Republican Party. They’ve sort of produced this outrage machine. HAYES: So you're just saying, like, against litmus tests as a broad – KIM: I say let the democratic process play out, and people should vote these things down. CHRISTINA BELLANTONI: On climate, as a specific thing. The candidate that appeals to the business community tends to be the candidate that’ll either win the nomination or win the general election. And so this is an area where you – HAYES: In the Republican party, in particular. BELLANTONI: In general, though, you have to be palpable to them to sit in the White House. And so with the business community shifting on this issue or on minimum wage issues or on some other labor issues, that's where you start to see the shifts. That guides the politician. HAYES: But what you’re identifying, though, is precisely the nefarious ideological undercurrent of discussions about what's disqualifying. Because, I mean, that goes hand-in-glove with what Richard is saying. You’re saying the people that actually draw the lines around what’s disqualifying is the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. And like, frankly, that’s what’s going to decide if you're, like, a whacko. BELLANTONI: And just watch with immigration reform. I mean, the conversation has completely changed since 2005-2006 when George Bush, people were angry at him in a certain segment of the population because he supported immigration reform. And now it is sort of a moderate Republican view. HAYES: Or on marriage equality. I mean, that is a place where you really do see – I have never seen an issue go so quickly from a contentious, contested issue that’s at the center of our political debates to one in which opposition to it is quickly becoming taboo. HERBERT: Well, the truth is that you can only do this as a hypothetical exercise, and that’s a good example of why. I mean, there was a time when no one could get elected if they were in favor of gay marriage. Now in many elections it’s a disqualifier if you’re opposed to gay marriage. HAYES: But that makes me hopeful about the power of this kind of – the force of this, as opposed to this being something that constrains consensus, it actually is this tool, right? It’s a tool of progress when we say that certain things, like opposing marriage equality, are sort of, like, not the kinds of things that mainstream American politicians – KIM: But it's also a double-edged sword. So things like supporting a 90 percent tax rate, which was once policy in the United States – HAYES: Right, that's a very good point. KIM: – would be a completely disqualifying characteristic for many, many people in this country. HAYES: If you came forward and said I am for a 90 percent top marginal tax rate, which of course was what it was after World War II and the Eisenhower administration before the first round of tax cuts, you would be – that would be the equivalent. KIM: Exactly.

German company Speedlink releases their OMNIVI Core. Sporting an ergonomic, polarizing design, this right-handed gaming mouse is equipped with 10 programmable buttons, an ultra-precise 12000dpi optical sensor, an adjustable USB polling rate up to 1000Hz and a USB connector (w/ 1.8m flexible USB charging cable with hard-wearing sheath). Not to mention, the OMNIVI Core also comes with adjustable LED lighting that glows in any one of 7 atmospheric colors, an on-board memory for storing DPI settings and lighting settings, and an aluminum base plate. The Speedlink OMNIVI Core will retail for $70 in the US. Professional gaming mouse Ultra-precise 12,000dpi optical sensor 10 freely configurable buttons Adjustable LED lighting glows in any one of 7 atmospheric colours Solid finger rest and aluminium base plate Profile management with any number of game profiles Powerful Macro Editor DPI switch for rapid toggling between resolutions 6 sensor precision levels from 800 to 12,000dpi Illuminated 2D scroll wheel indicated current dpi level Illuminated 2D scroll wheel indicated current dpi level Adjustable USB polling rate up to 1,000Hz Incredible ergonomic comfort with grippy scroll wheel and finger rest Rubberised finish Maximum acceleration: 50g Maximum tracking speed: 250ips Sensor frame rate: 12,000fps Flexible USB cable with hard-wearing sheath (1.8m) Dimensions: 87 × 131 × 52mm (W × D × H) Weight: 145g The OMNIVI Gaming Mouse combines feature-packed functionality, ease of use and incredible precision in one perfect package. It is setting new standards in the gaming scene with its exhaustive feature set, including colourful glow, solid aluminium base plate, four thumb buttons and the ultra-precise, optical 12,000dpi sensor. Use the ten programmable buttons to keep your opponents at bay by utilising the extensive programming function to customise the mouse so your personal gaming style matches the game. And witness how your macros are unleashed at the press of a single button to perform close-combat or distance attacks, switch weapons or cast spells.

Chinese Ships Retrieve Beacon in MH370 Search 2014-04-02 06:06:35 Xinhua Web Editor: Luo Dan Related: Chinese Escort Fleet Reaches Target Area Two Chinese ships in search of missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 in the southern Indian Ocean retrieved a beacon late Tuesday, said an embedded Xinhua reporter. The crews aboard Jinggangshan and Donghaijiu 101 told Xinhua that the beacon might be cast by aircraft involved in the hunt for the ill-fated Boeing 777 jetliner but confirmation was needed. The two ships are among the seven Chinese vessels currently scouring waters some 2,000 kilometers west of the western Australian port city of Perth. Two Chinese IL-76 planes are also assisting the undertaking. Meanwhile, a three-ship Chinese naval flotilla previously deployed in the Gulf of Aden for escort missions teamed up with Chinese patrol vessel Haixun 31 on Tuesday to search for the missing plane south of Australia's Christmas Island. Despite massive multinational efforts, no hard evidence has so far been acquired about the whereabouts of MH370, which disappeared early March 8 while carrying 239 people -- including 154 Chinese passengers -- from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Share CRIENGLISH.com claims the copyright of all material and information produced originally by our staff. No person, organization and/or company shall reproduce, disseminate or broadcast the content in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of CRIENGLISH.com. CRIENGLISH.com holds neither liability nor responsibility for materials attributed to any other source. Such information is provided as reportage and dissemination of information but does not necessarily reflect the opinion of or endorsement by CRI.

Batman writer Scott Snyder has wrapped up his "Night of the Owls" arc, and as soon as he's done with bringing back The Joker this Fall, he now looks set to reintroduce The Riddler to the DC Universe in "The New 52" continuity. I will use Riddler in 2013 RT @ AlabamaMike2814 : @ Ssnyder1835 are you agreeing Riddler is awesome or that you're writing a Riddler story? Yes. RT @ BradWiegele : @ Ssnyder1835 Will you please give us a badass Riddler story? He's so cool in Arkham city but nowhere in the DCU. : ComicBookMovie.com is protected from liability under the DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act) and "Safe Harbor" provisions. This post was submitted by a volunteer contributor who has agreed to our Code of Conduct . CBM will disable users who knowingly commit plagiarism, piracy, trademark or copyright infringement. Please contact us for expeditious removal of copyrighted/trademarked content. Learn more about our copyright and trademark policies HERE

Internet users have called for a boycott of web hosting giant Go Daddy over its public support of the Stop Online Piracy Act in the US. While the company has publicly supported SOPA and similarly controversial proposed legislation for months, its position went largely unnoticed until a thread on Reddit gained legs yesterday. User "selfprodigy" said he planned to move 51 domain names he has registered with Go Daddy to another registrar, adding: "I'm suggesting Dec 29th as move your domain away from GoDaddy day because of their support of SOPA. Who's with me?" The posting attracted almost 4,000 comments, largely supportive of the boycott. Ben Huh, CEO of the Cheezburger Network - the owner of sites such as FailBlog - said in a tweet that he would move his 1,000 domains away from Go Daddy unless it dropped its support for SOPA. The campaign now also has a website at GoDaddyBoycott.org (registered via Canadian registrar Tucows using a privacy service to protect the owner's identity). Go Daddy's position, however, has been firm. Not only has it supported SOPA from the outset, but it has also dismissed criticisms of the bill, which many say amounts to censorship. "The notion that the solutions that have been put forth will break the internet, or that certain legal businesses will go off-line because of new mandates, is utterly unconvincing," Go Daddy general counsel Christine Jones wrote in November. "SOPA goes a long way toward fixing the existing problems." A month later, responding to similar criticisms on her personal blog, Jones wrote: "Most of what we are seeing is either 1) rhetoric, 2) regurgitated lobbying spin, 3) criticism of language we have already fixed, or 4) retweets by people who like to steal music and buy fake, but cheap, goods." However, most companies in the domain name industry that have expressed an opinion oppose SOPA, saying it will break end-to-end authentication using DNSSEC, the emerging domain security protocol. They also say that by forcing American ISPs to block piracy sites at the domain level, SOPA will compel American internet users to use workaround DNS services operated by criminals overseas, increasing the likelihood of phishing and fraud. Go Daddy's Jones has refuted this, writing last month: "It’s hard to imagine that the limited times per year that the Attorney General seeks this remedy for a site dedicated to infringement will result in a mass exodus away from DNS as we know it. I have to believe that the average person doesn’t want to commit a crime." Go Daddy has faced calls the boycotts before, notably this March when then-CEO came under fire for posting a video online showing him shooting an elephant while on vacation in Zimbabwe. In that case, the calls for a boycott resulted in thousands of domain names being transferred to rival registrars, but the net effect of the publicity was positive for Go Daddy's sales. Nevertheless, opportunistic competitors quickly seized upon the latest scandal yesterday, taking to Twitter to promote special discounts for consumers wishing to transfer their domains away. Today, a Go Daddy spokesperson said in a statement: "Go Daddy has received some emails that appear to stem from the boycott prompt, but we have not seen any impact to our business. We understand there are many differing opinions on the SOPA regulations." Go Daddy says it registers, renews or transfers a domain name every second. It is responsible for well over a third of all .com domains registered today, not including its resellers' sales. ®

General arrangement of MWT apparatus Magnetic water treatment (also known as anti-scale magnetic treatment or AMT) is a method of supposedly reducing the effects of hard water by passing it through a magnetic field as a non-chemical alternative to water softening. Magnetic water treatment is regarded as unproven and unscientific. There is a lack of peer-reviewed laboratory data, mechanistic explanations, and documented field studies to support its effectiveness. Erroneous conclusions about their efficacy are based on applications with uncontrolled variables. There are, however, some studies which have claimed significant effects and proposed possible mechanisms for the observed decrease in water scale.[1] Effectiveness [ edit ] Vendors of magnetic water treatment devices frequently use pictures and testimonials to support their claims, but omit quantitative detail and well-controlled studies.[2] Advertisements and promotions generally omit system variables, such as corrosion or system mass balance analyticals, as well as measurements of post-treatment water such as concentration of hardness ions or the distribution, structure, and morphology of suspended particles.[2][3][4][5][6] Hypothesized mechanisms [ edit ] Duration of exposure and field strength, gradient, rate of change, and orientation along or perpendicular to flow are variously cited as important to the results.[7] Magnetic water treatment proponent Klaus Kronenberg proposed that the shapes of solute lime molecules are modified by strong magnetic fields, leading them to precipitate as spherical or round crystals rather than deposit as sheets or platelets of hard crystals.[8] Simon Parsons of the School of Water Sciences at Cranfield University proposed that the magnetic field reduces the surface charge on small particles, increasing the tendency to coagulate as large particles that stay with the flow rather than depositing as scale. However, an internal study in 1996 at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory found no difference in preferred crystal structure of scale deposited in magnetic water treatment systems.[9] Liu et al.[10] and Coey and Cass published research in 2010 and 2000 reporting that magnetic treatment causes water containing minerals to favor formation of a more soluble form of calcium carbonate (aragonite rather than calcite).[11] Pipe material [ edit ] The effect of magnetic treatment depends on properties of the pipe. The magnititude of the effect depends on pipe conductivity and surface roughness.[12] Related devices [ edit ] There are related non-chemical devices based on a variety of physical phenomena which have been marketed for over 50 years with similar claims of scale inhibition.[13] Whilst some are effective, such as electrolytic devices,[14][15][16][17] most do not work.[2] Electrolysis: Electrolytic scale inhibitors - two metals such as copper and zinc are used [18] - two metals such as copper and zinc are used Electrostatic: [2] Electronic water conditioners Electromagnetic: [2] fluctuating electromagnetic fields are created fluctuating electromagnetic fields are created Catalytic [2] Mechanical [2] Other devices combine these different methods Other uses of magnetic devices: See also [ edit ]

The Gang of Six isn’t satisfied by screwing over Social Security and Medicare, and imposing sneaky tax hikes on workers with the Chained CPI. They want to give billions of dollars in tax savings to the richest corporations in the US, and encourage them to move jobs overseas. That is the logical result of changing to a system of taxing income only if it is “earned” in the US. This is called a “territorial taxation” system. Currently we have a hybrid system. We tax income from whatever source, but we give a credit for foreign taxes on the income, and we don’t tax any of the money until it is repatriated. The territorial tax will delight these monster corporations that have accumulated billions of untaxed profits overseas. They can invest the money off shore to create any new business they might want to enter, in any country they might like, and with little effort completely avoid US taxation. This removes any reason for any corporation to manufacture in the US for export. As soon as possible, the company simply moves production off shore, and uses tricks to make the profits in some low tax country. Jobs leave, exports drop, and so do tax revenues. The rich benefit from higher stock prices as the profits of their pet corporations rise,. When they sell off the stock, they only pay at the low capital gains tax rates. The US Chamber of Commerce and many of the anti-American corporations it represents are begging congress to enact a one-time repatriation with at 5% tax rate. Their web site is the patriotic WinAmerica, with a lovely picture of working Americans, you know, the people expected to make shared sacrifices. That is a tough sell in light of the howling about the debt ceiling. Even our corrupt elected representatives are having trouble saying that this is a jobs measure, when we know from recent experience that it is just a devious way to give more money to the rich, and increase their leverage over US workers at the same time. The best part is that in the uproar of trying to increase taxes on workers and screwing Social Security recipients, this little provision won’t attract any attention. The New York Times and the Washington Post don’t mention it in today’s stories. Of course, the business press spotted it immediately. Here’s Bloomberg: The proposal also calls for the Finance Committee to switch to a territorial tax system, under which U.S. multinational companies wouldn’t face taxes on income they earn outside the country. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business groups have been urging Congress to make such a change. Senator Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat who has proposed his own bipartisan tax-code overhaul, said yesterday that driving rates down that far would require making big changes to breaks that many taxpayers enjoy. Those include the mortgage interest deduction and the deduction for charitable contributions. “You would have to cut back very dramatically on some of the middle-class tax incentives,” he said. And, of course, Wyden is right. The bandits in the Gang of Six include this instruction to the Senate Finance Committee: “Reform, not eliminate, tax expenditures for health, charitable giving, homeownership, and retirement….” Reuters has a good summary of liberal dismay over this provision. The Hill notes The Business Roundtable’s enthusiastic support, and quotes Rich Trumpka of the AFL-CIO making the point that this system encourages export of jobs, not goods and services. “We need to keep asking our leaders: ‘Who got us into this mess?’ It wasn’t working people. The people who got us into this mess are getting off scot-free, and this Gang of Six proposal shows they have accomplices in both parties.” The Pretend Democrats couldn’t care less who caused this mess. Working people have to pay, in higher taxes and fewer and worse jobs. Better they should suffer and die than that Dick Durbin should have to tax his precious contributors.

Other than your protagonist, your antagonist is going to be the most important active force in your story. by K.M. Weiland The antagonist doesn’t have to be a person. It could be weather, circumstances, or the protagonist’s inner self. But, more often than not, the antagonist takes the form of a person. And crafting that person into a memorable and compelling character in his own right is vital to the success of your story. Your antagonist needs to summon up reader emotions that are just as strong as those felt for the protagonist. Hateable bad guys will deepen reader sympathy for your protagonist. But, beyond even that, bad guys with whom the reader can identify to at least some degree are bad guys who will make him squirm even more. Let’s a take a look at several categories into which your antagonist may fall, so you can choose the best one for your story. Your antagonist needs to summon up reader emotions. The Immoral Antagonist This is easily the most popular form of antagonist. The bad guy is one readers will have no trouble hating. He is usually set in clear contrast against the good-guy hero. The lines are drawn in varying shades of black and white, and readers have no problem choosing whom to root for. Hypocrite: The hypocrite is an antagonist who feigns goodness. He may be guilty of all sorts of treachery and evil, but on the surface he’s all honey and sunshine. He puts a righteous face on his misdeeds (perhaps even accusing the protagonist of hypocrisy to disguise his own), but the reader knows the truth: this guy is not just bad, he’s a fake. And we hate him all the more for it. A mainstay of horror stories, this guy is just evil all the way through. He has no excuses, no thread ofgoodness leading him back to redemption. He’s just bad. And crazy on top of it. Serial killers, genocidal world leaders, and sadists fit the bill to a T. Not only do readers hate psycho bad guys—they’re scared to death of them. Regular Person Forced to Do Bad Things for an Illegitimate Reason: Most antagonists—in life as well as fiction—aren’t mustache-twirling, maniacally laughing whackos. Most of them are just regular Joes who have let their weaknesses get the better of them. Lust, greed, and hatred can drive even ordinary people to do extraordinary evil. The bad guy is one readers will have no trouble hating. The Moral Antagonist In the moral antagonist we find a more complicated—and often more compelling—character, since he presents more parallels than contrasts with the protagonist. This is a person who is doing the right thing—as he sees it—and usually for the right reasons, but who has nonetheless been forced to do battle with your hero, thanks to the requirements of your story’s overall conflict. Good Guy on the Opposing Side: Not all stories are going to offer an epic battle between good and evil. Sometimes the conflict will allow good people with opposing views to appear on both sides of the battle lines. Lawyers fighting each other for causes in which they each believe passionately, football teams competing for a championship, two love interests trying to win the same girl—none of them have to be inherently bad. Stories of this nature can provide all kinds of interesting possibilities for exploring the gray areas of life, relationships, and morality. The crusader can be an insanely scary bad guy in his own right. This is someone who fiercely believes he is doing the right thing, and indeed he may well be fighting for a good cause. He may be someone who believes he has to choose between the lesser of two evils in his decisions. Or he may be someone driven to fanaticism—and thus dangerous decisions—by his passion for his cause. In fact, he may be just plain out right, while the protagonist is the one who’s wrong. Regular Person Forced to Do Bad Things for a Legitimate Reason: Sometimes even essentially good people end up doing bad things because they feel they have no choice. A character who robs a bank to pay for his wife’s operation or to save himself from the Mafia’s threats may be a hero in his own right—or he may be a compelling and relatable antagonist to the detective protagonist who has to go after him. The possibilities for your antagonist are every bit as vast as they are for your protagonist. The more time you spend creating a character who can properly oppose your hero, the stronger and more compelling your story will be. Antagonists should be just as well-rounded and believable as your heroes. Don’t settle for anything less than brilliant! He may be just plain out right, while the protagonist is the one who’s wrong. -K.M. Weiland [box] K.M. Weiland is the author of the historical western A Man Called Outlaw and the medieval epic Behold the Dawn. She enjoys mentoring other authors through her writing tips, her book Outlining Your Novel: Map Your Way to Success, and her instructional CD Conquering Writer’s Block and Summoning Inspiration.[/box] Photo Credits: Stock XChng, K.M. weiland

Italian side Napoli have confirmed their interest in signing Gonzalo Higuain from Real Madrid. Arsenal have been linked with the Argentine striker for most of the summer, with reports last week, now obviously premature, that a deal was imminent. However, with the Gunners sights now apparently trained on Liverpool’s bitey racist, Luis Suarez, the Serie A outfit are looking to spend some of the near €70m they received from PSG for star striker Edinson Cavani. In a Twitter Q&A, Napoli’s President, Aurelio De Laurentiis, was asked if it were true that there were talks regarding Higuain. His reply, “It’s true.” Quite where this leaves Arsenal pursuit of the player remains to be seen. There’s something of a tradition of Argentine strikers in Naples, and from looking the most likely of summer signings, Arsene Wenger could miss out on a player still favoured by many fans. The only signing of the summer thus far has been Yaya Sanogo on a free from Auxerre, so hopefully Napoli’s interest will force our hand a bit and we can get this deal done.

Plus: The greatest director of his generation on who he considers his one true peer, which Oscar he thinks should be named after him—and whether he really will quit after his tenth movie Quentin Tarantino lives up in the Hollywood Hills, in the same house he’s had since 1996, with a movie theater built into one wing of the house and a terrace with a swimming pool and an orange tree and a Planet of the Apes statue out back. That’s where he’s sitting one night in October, glass of red wine in hand, watching the sun go down. He’s still got to finish the sound mix and work on the colors, but his newest film, The Hateful Eight, is otherwise pretty much done. He shot it on 65-millimeter film, like Paul Thomas Anderson did with The Master, and then he had his studio buy up pretty much every existing 70-millimeter projector in the country so he could personally equip 100 theaters with them and show the movie the way he thinks it should be shown. He describes The Hateful Eight as “a claustrophobic snow Western”—a chamber piece, like Reservoir Dogs or The Iceman Cometh, but set in the wintry post–Civil War 1800s. It’s about a bounty hunter (Kurt Russell) escorting a prisoner (Jennifer Jason Leigh) to justice, only to be diverted into Tarantino-land—a.k.a. a tavern of sorts called Minnie’s Haberdashery, which doesn’t sell hats—where six other men are waiting out a snowstorm, and nobody’s who they say they are. It also stars Sam Jackson and Michael Madsen and Bruce Dern; everyone wears giant furs. “I think it could be my best movie,” Tarantino says. “If not, at least in my top four.” Which is a hilarious qualifier, since he’s only made eight. People count Tarantino movies because he’s maintained for a while now that he’s only making ten. Maybe not even ten. “If film projection goes the way of the dodo bird, well, then, maybe I might not even get to ten,” he says. He sounds weirdly at peace saying that—anticipating the end of the work he’s given his life to. He seems, frankly, weirdly at peace in general, holed up with his costume-designer girlfriend, every memorabilia-crammed room here like some exhibit in a future Tarantino museum, with a Charro! poster on the bathroom wall and a couple of muscle cars out front and a glittery view of the Valley’s fading light. He’s still the antic, emphatic, maniacally gesticulating guy of ’90s popular imagination, but he also turned 52 recently. “I tend to always think of myself as perpetually 35 or so,” Tarantino says. “So, you know, it’s a bit of a drag, in certain regards. And in other regards, I’ve really enjoyed it. I mean…a lot of shit that used to really be on my mind is kind of gone now.” He sits up in his chair, tries to explain. “I’m over a whole lot of stuff,” he says. He places his finger at the precise center of the table we’re sitting at. “If the universe was this table, I’m right here where I wanted to be at this point in time, at this point in my life, at this point in my filmography. I’m right where I wanted to be.” How did you spend your time off between Django and The Hateful Eight? Quentin Tarantino: Usually, when I’m done, I want to spend two months on my couch. I want to just pretty much nail the door shut, fuck the phone, and just go to sleep whenever. I have a completely erratic sleeping schedule. I fall asleep whenever I want. I get up whenever I want. Just two months of just watching movies and doing cinema writing and just vegging out that way. And I start emerging and just start, you know, getting back into the swing of things of life. The people in your life must want to murder you during that sleep-whenever-you-want phase. One of the privileges you have of living the life of an artist and creating your own world and everything is the fact that, in-between times, you can kind of spend them however you want. Because, you know, once you open up your candy store again, you’re open for business. And you have to be responsible. You have to be available. But, you know, that in-between time, I get to really live the fun life of a graduate student. The legend is that you wrote Pulp Fiction in Amsterdam with no phone. Are those the conditions you need to write? No, I don’t need to go anywhere to write. It can be fun. I have a cell phone, and the only person who has the number is my girlfriend. Because I don’t need anyone to call me as I’m walking down the street or driving from hill to dale. You know, my landline is my phone. And so I unplug it, or I don’t listen to it for a while. I’m good. I’ll play some of the messages. I’ll hear them when they come in. Okay, fine. And that doesn’t cause you anxiety? No, no. My problem is the opposite. It causes me no anxiety whatsoever. A lot of people figure that’s my problem: I have no anxiety about shutting the world out at all. How does something like The Hateful Eight emerge from that process? I liked the idea of creating a new pop-culture, folkloric hero character that I created with Django, that I think’s gonna last for a long time. And I think as the generations go on and everything, you know, my hope is it can be a rite of passage for black fathers and their sons. Like, when are they old enough to watch Django Unchained? And when they get old enough—14 or 15 or something like that—then maybe it’s something that they do with their fathers, and it’s a cool thing. And then Django becomes their cowboy hero. And so I like the idea of maybe like a series of paperbacks coming out, Further Adventures of Django, and so I was really kind of into that idea. And then I started writing it as a book, as prose. And that’s what ended up turning into The Hateful Eight. The number one thing I had to do was get rid of Django. [laughs] Django felt like a political turn for you. You know, it was very political, as opposed to, say, Inglourious Basterds, which was not necessarily political. It’s a little bit more wish fulfillment. All right? Django is still a bit of wish fulfillment, but I was trying to show America itself, you know? Django was definitely the beginning of my political side, and I think Hateful Eight is the…logical extension and conclusion of that. I mean, when I say conclusion, I’m not saying I’ll never be political again, but, I mean, I think it’s like, in a weird way, Django was the question and Hateful Eight is the answer. What do you mean by that? Well, I mean, in the way of, like, talking about America’s culpability in their past is what _Django’_s about. The white supremacy that has existed since and that is rearing its ugly head again, to such a degree that it’s being dealt with by the Black Lives Matter movement and all that stuff, is where we are now. And that’s what The Hateful Eight deals with. The thing that was really wild is, I wasn’t trying to bend over backwards in any way, shape, or form to make it socially relevant. But once I finished the script, that’s when all the social relevancy started. You’re referencing the fact that Hateful Eight is in part about the tension between Sam Jackson’s post–Civil War bounty hunter and the various Confederates and Confederate sons he faces off against in Minnie’s Haberdashery. Do you think you’re just reading patterns subconsciously, or is it a coincidence? No, I don’t think it’s a coincidence. I think I was tapped into the Zeitgeist. That is the issue I was dealing with. All right? And now all of a sudden, it’s such a real issue that it’s now not under the surface anymore in American life, and people are having to deal with it. Django came out at an interesting moment, when you also had Spielberg’s Lincoln, and then, a year later, Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave, in theaters, dealing with the same material. There literally was a moment where Lincoln was playing in one theater in the multiplex and Django was playing in another one. Which was actually kind of fucking groovy. I interviewed McQueen around the time his movie came out and asked him about Django, and he said, “I’m just happy to see black actors on-screen who actually get work.” That sounded like a shot to me. Yeah, I’m sure it was. What did you think of his movie? I never saw it. Is that because it was too close to what you were working on? No, I just spent a year and a half in the antebellum South. The last thing in the world I wanted to do was go back. I was so not the audience for that movie, after I literally created the worst possible decade of the last 200 years and lived in it every single solitary day. The last thing in the world I wanted to do was visit it in any way, shape, or form. There’s no shade going toward his movie when it comes to that. I just didn’t want to subject myself. I was in a depression a bit. Even though it was my biggest success, I was in a depression for about nine months after the film came out, because I couldn’t really allow the pain and the misery that I was orchestrating to get into my inner fibers and those little pockets of your lungs, and it all got there when it was done. Django made $425 million—what do you chalk that success up to? People liked the movie. I mean, [laughs] I take a little bit of pride about the fact that Westerns aren’t supposed to work, black-lead movies aren’t supposed to work, and if they’re not supposed to work, slavery movies are really, really, really not supposed to work, and I made almost a half a billion dollars around the world and was actually even more of a success and greeted with more open arms in other countries. But ultimately, I think it was the movie. People just responded to the movie. Do you have high expectations for the new one? No. If anything, I have the opposite. It’s like, I’m hoping that my movie will do well, but it’s not the third in line to Inglourious Basterds and Django. It’s a different beast. And I love the fact that, like, people are so excited about it and they’re talking about it and everything at the end of the year, and it seems a little crazy that, like, my movie Hateful Eight, this claustrophobic snow Western, all right, that owes more to Iceman Cometh than anything else, you know, is being talked about at the end of the year in the same sentences as Star Wars. [laughs] And presumably the Oscar conversation. Well, that is understandable. I think we are a contender. We’ll see. But it is one of those weird things. Wow—have I gotten so popular that I can do weird-ass shit like this, and it actually is a commercial entity? Well, that remains to be seen. But if that’s the case, that would be fucking awesome. How do you feel about going out and campaigning for Oscars? Well, you know, it depends on what you call campaigning. Sitting down with every chucklehead that has a podcast, because, well, why not? Can’t hurt! No, I’m not going to do that. You know, but I’ll go to an event. I’ll go to a party. I’ll go to this screening. I’m happy to do that. The real turnoff for lots of people is when their film doesn’t win. I’ve felt that way a little bit on Inglourious Basterds. You know, it was like…I didn’t shamelessly promote Inglourious Basterds in any way, shape, or form. But I did what was asked of me. I did a genuine campaign, all right? And maybe I did a little too much. And yeah, we won Supporting Actor, but I was a little pissed off by the results. And I probably won’t ever do that much again. Are you competitive as a director? I’m not competitive as a director. But the thing about it is, if I win a third screenwriting Oscar, I will tie with Woody [Allen]. I can’t beat Woody until I tie with him. But you want to beat him? I want to have more original-screenplay Oscars than anybody who’s ever lived! So much, I want to have so many that—four is enough. And do it within ten films, all right, so that when I die, they rename the original-screenplay Oscar “the Quentin.” And everybody’s down with that. Tarantino’s girlfriend emerges from the house: “You are insane. I just heard that. That’s the most ridiculous thing you’ve ever said.” I just find it hard to believe that you’re down to see other people go up there and get Best Director. I’m just telling you what I want. I want that third one. I want to tie Woody. All right? Look: When it’s your time, it’s your time. And actually, you can barely do anything to stop it from being your time. There’s almost nothing Danny Boyle could have done to stop the success of Slumdog Millionaire. There’s almost nothing that the Coen brothers could have done to stop the success of their Sherman’s March through Hollywood for No Country for Old Men. So if I end up getting lucky and having one of those ones, then all things will be taken care of. You’re such a scholar of the medium. You know the history. No offense to Danny Boyle, but aren’t you like, “How the fuck is Danny Boyle winning Oscars when I’ve directed eight films?” It’s whatever. You know, I don’t make Oscar kind of movies. So the fact that I’m invited to the party when I don’t—and I’m not saying he’s pandering, I mean, it was hardly pandering doing Slumdog Millionaire—but, you know, there’s no pandering to mine. I mean, actually, the idea of winning three screenplay Oscars, maybe four, all right, with only ten films, and never doing it for that purpose, only following my own muse—that’s about as great a testament to an artistic career as I can imagine. But I’m also keeping it in perspective, because I actually think, you know, Preston Sturges is maybe a better writer than all the guys who have ever won before, and he didn’t win shit. [Sturges did win once, for 1940’s The Great McGinty*—make of this slip what you will]* EDITOR’S PICK It surprised me that you reacted so angrily to the leak of the Hateful Eight script—you know you’re a good writer. So why sue Gawker over posting a link to it? Well, it was a mistake to sue Gawker, and the mistake was—I was just pissed off at the time, and, like, “They can’t do that! Okay, let me sue them!” And it got kind of exciting for a second, because it looked like, you know, even though there was no precedent for it, it looked like it might be one of those things that could create a precedent. And that became very exciting. Well, it didn’t happen. So I dropped it. But I regret it now, because it actually took the spotlight off where I thought it deserved to be, which was on Hollywood practices of passing out stuff by artists’ representatives. Did you sue Gawker before or after they posted about the girl who went on a date with you? No, that [post] was before. I had no idea. If Gawker was involved—I don’t think Gawker was involved with that. I think they hired her after the fact. So I don’t think they were involved with her. But if they were, I wouldn’t even have known about it. So it wasn’t about— No, no. They’re putting my fucking script—there’s a copyright issue going on here, you know, and if the judge had saw it our way, maybe things would be different now. But they didn’t. Ennio Morricone did the sound track for The Hateful Eight, but he also was in the news in 2013 for saying that you place music in your films “without coherence.” I think he was talking to a class, and he was just saying that he didn’t care for my all-over-the-map approach in the case of Django and some of the other things that I’ve done and whatever. But it wasn’t necessarily a criticism of me, per se. It’s just not his cup of tea. I think it’s kind of a generational thing, and that I completely understand. He apologized. And he said nothing he needed to apologize about. He later clarified it, because it was blown out of proportion. Some asshole nimrod who wants some sort of power thing leaked it to whatever thingy so he can just have the fun of watching it in three hundred outlets. I felt [Morricone] was betrayed by that person. I knew that was where he was coming from! I knew that’s how he felt about my shit! It was nothing new to me. And almost in a generational way, he was left out to dry. He is such a great artist, he can say any fucking thing he wants. Twenty years ago, would you have worked with that guy after he said something like that in public? Well, people made a bigger deal out of it than what, you know…you know, there used to be a time where I could go to Austin and have my QT fest and sit there in front of the audience, in either a question-and-answer session about my own shit, or introducing some movie that I’m a big fan of that I’m talking about, and I could be honest and off the cuff and funny and profound and whatever, and complicated, and it was fine, because it was just for the people in that room. That world doesn’t really exist anymore, and that’s not Ennio’s fault. Do you mourn that? I mourn it terribly. Yeah. But where I’m coming from is they don’t deserve it. If the only way they can experience it is by filming it so they can put it online, then they don’t deserve my candor. They don’t deserve a special moment that we might be having amongst us. They don’t deserve it. And if that’s what they ultimately want, well, then, okay. I’ll clean up my act. [laughs] You’re on film number eight. How could you plan to make only two more after this? Hopefully it’s like I’m getting down to the tip of the arrowhead. I’m getting better and better. And that means I still have two more to go. All right? And two more to go is gonna be six years, at least. But we’ll see what happens. And, you know, if that tenth film is a stinker, well, maybe the plan goes into the house fan. You know, in shreds. But so far so good. And I love the idea of taking my vitality to its furthest point, and then stopping, leaving you wanting a little bit more. Not staying too long at the party. Not working with dulled senses. Not working with dulled intentions. Not working with compromised intentions—i.e., age, vitality, wealth, wife, kids, you know, all those kind of things that get in the way. That seems like a bleak thing to say, that last part. My filmography comes first. My artistic journey comes first. I’m not saying I can’t have kids. But the last two movies, can’t have kids, can’t have a wife, you know. That’s the deal. Now, now it’s not so scary. You know, conceivably, I could have a kid tomorrow, and by the time I’m done with a career, they’re six. And I have the whole rest of their life to dedicate myself one hundred and twenty percent. Well, not the rest of their life. The rest of my life. And if I have a kid two years from now or three years from now, then they’re age three or age four. Now I’m, boom, that guy. And that’s okay. But there is an excitement when you’re hanging on the next film of a director as they’re doing their climb to immortality. I felt that way about De Palma in the ’70s and the ’80s. I felt that way about Scorsese in the ’70s and the ’80s, and I felt that way about Spielberg in the ’70s and ’80s. Who do you think is currently working at your level? I think my real filmmaking peer is probably David O. Russell right now—i.e., his ability to write, the movies he does, and his relationship that he has with the actors that he likes to work with. And I think along with myself, I think he is the best actor’s director out there. And I feel he’s pushing it. I actually think, as terrific as Robert De Niro was in Silver Linings Playbook, I think his cameo in American Hustle is maybe the best work he’s done in the last seven years. It’s a small little thing, and he was a diamond bullet in it! He was perfect. And you would think, Oh, you never need to see De Niro ever play a mob guy again, but you never saw that guy. And that was a fucking cameo! But no one treated it like a cameo. And the fact that, like, they have that trust and that relationship is just such a lovely thing. I think [Russell] and Jennifer Lawrence are the closest thing we have to Bette Davis and William Wyler. I mean, it’s fucking exciting. Can you still access the person that you were at the beginning of your career—the guy who went to jail for parking tickets and who’d never left Los Angeles? Oh, very much so. I mean… [pause] I still touch base with that person all the time, and I still have their thoughts. I still have their perspectives. I mean, you know, the way the police are killing black males out there, unarmed black males, shooting them down, um…you know, it’s a different story for me now. All right? The police protect this house. And I need them to do that. And I want them to do that. If I have a problem here, if I think somebody jumped my fence and is fucking around on my property, I’m gonna call the cops. But I’m rich now. I’m rich and white now. All right? When I was in my twenties, I wasn’t rich. They looked at me, and they saw a criminal. They saw a scumbag. They saw someone to be fucked with. I went through a county-jail system four different times. I saw how the county sheriffs talk to you when you’re down there. I saw what it’s like when you have absolutely no power and you’re on the wrong side of the social strata, and what they think of you, and the judgments they make of you. I see that, and I see that now. So when I watch this stuff, I say, “God, shit, that, you know, that could have been me in 1984. That could have been me in 1986.” Now, I have white skin and they have black skin, and that’s a huge difference. Back in the ’90s, you used to approach the press cycle like an actor would, and you became famous in your own right. Did you later regret that decision? I joke I’m not really that famous, I’m just that recognizable. If you know what I look like, you’re gonna know me when you see me. But no—I wanted me to be enough when I’m making a movie. I didn’t want to have to go and get a star who respected my movies. I wanted to be enough to get it made, and if I get a star, well, that’s all great. Okay, now we’re talking Hitchcock and Cary Grant. Awesome! All right? But, you know, Hitchcock and Farley Granger is okay, too. So many people in your industry have early success and then burn out. How did that not happen to you? I worked too long to be here. I mean, I had such incredible good luck and fortune to make Pulp Fiction and just, in this weird pocket of time, that it could be appreciated for what it was. If I’m gonna fuck that up, I don’t really deserve to have any of this. But I was never afraid of the burnout scenario that you described. I was more afraid of like—I didn’t want to open up a shingle and a shop and now I’m a factory. You know, I do my movie that I do every two or three years, but then I produce a bunch of stuff, and my name’s always out there, Quentin Tarantino Presents this movie, that movie, and I’m rewriting this, because they’re paying me a lot of money, I do a two-week dialogue polish on Transformers 3, this and that and the other, and I keep making money and money and money, and I’m, like, you know, giving my special magic well water away to these people—and now all of a sudden my name doesn’t mean jack fucking shit. Have you seen The Wolfpack, the documentary about the kids who love and reenact your films? Yes, I have. Those kids are fucking awesome, man. I think they’re fantastic. And, like, you know, and literally, watching acting out the scenes, that was so entertaining and lovely and glorious. But watching them writing the script, i.e. just jotting it down, but the way they talk about it, it’s as if they wrote it. “I’m working on the script. I’m writing the script.” And I know exactly what they mean! I got it. Watching the kid writing the dialogue down word for word on a yellow legal pad was fucking fantastic. There’s still a lot of random Tarantino floating around in the culture in 2015—whether it be in film dialogue or nonlinear storytelling or the basic eternal persistence of the Reservoir Dogs suits. Where do you most encounter your work or your influence in the wild? In the ’90s, from like ’97 through ’99 or 2000 or something like that, it would be going in young people’s apartments and seeing the Pulp Fiction poster up, or seeing the head shot from Pulp Fiction, which is Jules and Vincent pointing their guns. Or seeing their cinder-block used-video library—you know, that they bought for $9.99 from the local video store—and they have Godfather 1, they have Godfather 2, they have Scarface. And then they have Reservoir Dogs and they have Pulp Fiction.

A DIALOGUE WITH SARAH, AGED 3: IN WHICH IT IS SHOWN THAT IF YOUR DAD IS A CHEMISTRY PROFESSOR, ASKING “WHY” CAN BE DANGEROUS SARAH: Daddy, were you in the shower? DAD: Yes, I was in the shower. SARAH: Why? DAD: I was dirty. The shower gets me clean. SARAH: Why? DAD: Why does the shower get me clean? SARAH: Yes. DAD: Because the water washes the dirt away when I use soap. SARAH: Why? DAD: Why do I use soap? SARAH: Yes. DAD: Because the soap grabs the dirt and lets the water wash it off. SARAH: Why? DAD: Why does the soap grab the dirt? SARAH: Yes. DAD: Because soap is a surfactant. SARAH: Why? DAD: Why is soap a surfactant? SARAH: Yes. DAD: That is an EXCELLENT question. Soap is a surfactant because it forms water-soluble micelles that trap the otherwise insoluble dirt and oil particles. SARAH: Why? DAD: Why does soap form micelles? SARAH: Yes. DAD: Soap molecules are long chains with a polar, hydrophilic head and a non-polar, hydrophobic tail. Can you say ‘hydrophilic’? SARAH: Aidrofawwic DAD: And can you say ‘hydrophobic’? SARAH: Aidrofawwic DAD: Excellent! The word ‘hydrophobic’ means that it avoids water. SARAH: Why? DAD: Why does it mean that? SARAH: Yes. DAD: It’s Greek! ‘Hydro’ means water and ‘phobic’ means ‘fear of’. ‘Phobos’ is fear. So ‘hydrophobic’ means ‘afraid of water’. SARAH: Like a monster? DAD: You mean, like being afraid of a monster? SARAH: Yes. DAD: A scary monster, sure. If you were afraid of a monster, a Greek person would say you were gorgophobic. (pause) SARAH: (rolls her eyes) I thought we were talking about soap. DAD: We are talking about soap. (longish pause) SARAH: Why? DAD: Why do the molecules have a hydrophilic head and a hydrophobic tail? SARAH: Yes. DAD: Because the C-O bonds in the head are highly polar, and the C-H bonds in the tail are effectively non-polar. SARAH: Why? DAD: Because while carbon and hydrogen have almost the same electronegativity, oxygen is far more electronegative, thereby polarizing the C-O bonds. SARAH: Why? DAD: Why is oxygen more electronegative than carbon and hydrogen? SARAH: Yes. DAD: That’s complicated. There are different answers to that question, depending on whether you’re talking about the Pauling or Mulliken electronegativity scales. The Pauling scale is based on homo- versus heteronuclear bond strength differences, while the Mulliken scale is based on the atomic properties of electron affinity and ionization energy. But it really all comes down to effective nuclear charge. The valence electrons in an oxygen atom have a lower energy than those of a carbon atom, and electrons shared between them are held more tightly to the oxygen, because electrons in an oxygen atom experience a greater nuclear charge and therefore a stronger attraction to the atomic nucleus! Cool, huh? (pause) SARAH: I don’t get it. DAD: That’s OK. Neither do most of my students. * * * (REPRINTED FROM ISSUE ONE, APRIL 11th, 2005)

Beginning May 14, fuel outlets in eight states will be shut every Sunday following Prime Minister Modi's call to conserve oil, a fuel pump owners' body said in Chennai on Tuesday. "We had planned to shut our outlets on Sundays a few years back. But marketing companies (OMCs) had then requested us to reconsider our decision. Now we have decided to shut the outlets on Sundays," said Suresh Kumar, an executive committee member of the consortium of Indian He said the association's decision was made in view of the Prime Minister's call during his recent 'Mann ki baat' programme to to save the environment. Kumar, also the vice-president of Association, said nearly 20,000 outlets in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Puducherry, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and would be shut for 24 hours on Sundays, starting May 14. "In Tamil Nadu, we expect a business loss of Rs 150 crore if we do not operate on a Sunday. But we have been seeing a decline in sales on Sundays by upto 40 per cent," he said. Asked if the association's decision was supported by the OMCs, he said, "We will communicate our decision to them shortly." Kumar said the fuel outlets which normally have about 15 staff each would have one staff member on the holidays to provide fuel if there was an emergency situation. On the issue of hiking the margins to petroleum outlets, he said the association was discussing it and would soon make an announcement in this regard. "That struggle is going on. We are meeting our association members shortly. We will announce our decision soon," he said.

Nintendo Switch Surprise Australian Launch Line-Up – 9 Unannounced Games The Nintendo Switch launch games in Australia aren’t what the locals expected. The Nintendo Switch launched at midnight in Australia, with lucky fans already well and truly deep into games like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. It is the big system seller of the launch window, and what we’ve played thus far has been truly incredible - a fantastic gaming experience and a must-own. You can read more about it in the Nintendo Switch Magazine. It is not alone at launch, of course. In all 12 games were set to launch alongside the Switch, the lowest in 21 years. However, when Australians opened up the eShop for the first time, they weren’t greeted with the list of titles they expected. The announced launch-line-up was: 1. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2. Super Bomberman R 3. 1-2 Switch 4. Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment/Treasure Trove 5. Just Dance 2017 6. FAST RMX 7. Snipperclips – Cut It Out Together 8. I am Setsuna 9. World of Goo 10. Little Inferno 11. Human Resources Machine 12. Skylanders: Imaginators The actual line-up is: 1. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2. Super Bomberman R 3. 1-2 Switch 4. The King of Fighters ’89 5. Waku Waku 7 6. Shock Troopers 7. World Heroes Perfect 8. Metal Slug 3 9. Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment/Treasure Trove 10. New Frontier Days: Founding Pioneers 11. Othello 12. Voez 13. Vroom in the Night Sky 14. Just Dance 2017 15. FAST RMX 16. Snipperclips – Cut It Out Together 17. I am Setsuna So we have an additional nine games we didn’t know where coming to Australia, and four games that are missing. It’s typical of the confusion surrounding the launch of this system, but more games is hardly a deal breaker. Especially given the big guns are still there. What is the Nintendo Switch magazine? If you want to learn more about the launch of the Switch, with exclusive reviews of the console, accessories, online service and 24 games, get the Nintendo Switch Magazine. Go direct to Amazon or iTunes if you prefer. New comment Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. Disqus

If you were just a casual observer of security theater you may think that TSA’s adoption of technology — especially to expedite passenger movement through the airports — is a great thing, a step in the right direction after a decade-plus of building up a wall around Fortress America. But if you go beyond the surface, a different picture emerges: that the TSA is creating a higher Berlin Wall just to help jump over the wall it previously built, instead of trying to whittle the original one down to a more manageable level. Instead of working on making simple things better — such as clear and readable signage, understandable and obvious lanes, better load balancing at multiple checkpoints — what travelers have to deal with are steps upon steps added to climb over the previous set of inefficiencies. At all stages in its lifecycle, the TSA has chosen not to de-escalate or tear down any of the original web of procedures, but instead added additional layer of new procedures to help create side doors to the system, in effect building a parallel machinery. Why does the TSA need to roll out a whole new parallel screening system with PreCheck and the qualification hoops passengers have to jump through to be part of it, when it could just as well lower the screening requirements built into the original system in the first place? Imagine the costs involved in first coming up with PreCheck and then building, administering, marketing and maintaining it, when it could save a lot more by a rational de-escalation of the security requirement post 9-11 decade? And on top of that, PreCheck does not guarantee expedited screening, as its own rules say! The knots TSA has tied itself up in. Why does the TSA need to order $6.8 million worth of liquid scanners for airports, when even the former TSA Administrator Kip Hawley says all that’s needed on liquids is updating software on current baggage scanners? Why spend $900 million and 2,800 workers on a big behavior detection program when it was objectively shown that it was being misused? And don’t make matters worse by spending even more money to hire a consultant to try and find the system’s faults. Instead of bringing in more tech to scan passports for some passengers — and spend millions to get these machines — why not ease up the questioning and requirements of entry into the country and speed up immigration lines and reduce hours and hours spent in lines at airports like JFK? Beyond the knee jerk reactions like Republican lawmakers talking about abolition of TSA altogether, few grasp the nuances of the maze that has been built by TSA as both a solution to its political challenges and a justification for its own existence. There is no end solution, just more means created to foster other means. So even if saner minds would suggest a paring down of TSA’s activities and streamlining, that would likely involve hiring another expensive consulting firm, and it will create additional systems to “simplify” the already existing systems. Even when TSA tries to bring down some of the original restrictions like allowing small knives, the non-sensical public brouhaha that follows doesn’t give TSA any incentive to actually do anything smart about the bloat. It just becomes easier for it to build new moats around it, it seems. Maybe defunding isn’t such a bad idea after all…

Video caption London Zoo 'devastated' by aardvark fire death Staff have been injured and an aardvark and possibly four meerkats killed in a fire at London Zoo. About 70 firefighters tackled the blaze at its height in the Animal Adventure section that spread to a shop. One person was taken to hospital and eight were treated at the scene. The zoo said an aardvark called Misha died in the fire and four meerkats were still unaccounted for, presumed dead. The zoo was shut on Saturday but said it would reopen on Sunday. The cause of the fire is not yet known. Image copyright Brendan Cooney/Reuters Image caption Photographs posted on social media showed orange flames rising from the building Ten fire engines went to the zoo, which sits in the capital's Regent's Park, shortly after 06:00 GMT and the fire was brought under control about three hours later. Six people were given help at the scene for the effects of smoke inhalation and two for minor injuries, London Ambulance Service said. One person was taken to a north-west London hospital, the service said. Image copyright London Fire Brigade Image copyright Charlie Bard Duty staff who live on site were on the scene "immediately" and started moving animals to safety, the zoo said. In a statement the zoo said it was "devastated" about what had happened. It said: "Sadly our vets have confirmed the death of our nine-year-old aardvark, Misha. There are also four meerkats still unaccounted for, but we are now presuming these have also died. "All other animals in the vicinity are being monitored closely by our vets, but early signs suggest they have not been affected. We will continue to monitor them over the coming days. "We are all naturally devastated by this, but are immensely grateful to the fire brigade, who reacted quickly to the situation to bring the fire under control. " You might also be interested in: Adnan Abdul Husein said he saw the blaze from a nearby park when he was out walking his dog, and alerted zoo security. "It didn't look like smoke just coming out of a chimney - it was quite heavy", he said. "As I got closer to the zoo I could see that it was actually inside the zoo so I went over to the security and told them, 'there's flames or there's smoke coming from inside there, do you know anything about it?'. And they obviously didn't have a clue." Image copyright Getty Images London Fire Brigade (LFB) station manager Clive Robinson, who was at the scene, said three-quarters of the cafe and shop had been affected by the fire and half of the roof. He said: "Firefighters worked hard to bring the fire under control as quickly as possible and to stop it from spreading to neighbouring animal enclosures." Image copyright @PaulWood1961 Image copyright London Fire Brigade Image caption The cause of the fire is not yet known, London Fire Brigade said

Project Euler is a collection of interesting computational problems intended to be solved with computer programs. Most of the problems challenge your skills in algorithm design rather than your knowledge of mathematics. Thanks to short concrete problems and number-only solutions you don’t have to thinker with IDEs, GUI designers, programming libraries and frameworks, so Project Euler is an excellent tool for learning a new programming language or improving your core programming skills. Why use Scala Although all general-purpose programming languages are Turing-complete and thus suitable for Project Euler, each language has its own philosophy and set of tools. In spite of programming language “holy wars”, the truth is that different tasks demand different tools. Since Scala is a multi-paradigm programming language, it allows programmers to efficiently express a wide range of common programming patterns. Most Project Euler problems imply advanced transformation of numeric or symbolic data and Scala’s functional programming features are the perfect tool for that purpose (moreover, unlike pure functional languages, being a hybrid language, Scala provides object-oriented capabilities when modeling or simulation is required). So, what does Scala have to offer for Project Euler? Here is the list of most valuable features: scripting, type-inference, first-class functions, tail call optimization, lazy evaluation, excellent collection library, sequence comprehensions. On the top of everything else, Scala brings enjoyment to your coding. According to The Right Tool Scala is ranked high in the following categories: Thus Scala is the right tool for those who want to mingle the useful with the pleasant. Sample solutions This section contains solutions to the first 33 problems. You may use them either to size up how well Scala plays in Project Euler, or to compare your own solutions with the samples. Keep in mind, that the purpose of these solutions is to demonstrate Scala in the first place, so the problems are just a “canvas” to show the elegance and expressiveness of the language. Many times I intentionally preferred a direct and concise solution (if it performs reasonably fast) to a “math-savvy” one. All the code is available as a GitHub repository. See also: Problem 1 Add all the natural numbers below one thousand that are multiples of 3 or 5.* val r = (1 until 1000).view.filter(n => n % 3 == 0 || n % 5 == 0).sum assert(r == 233168) // 7 ms Problem 2 Find the sum of all the even-valued terms in the Fibonacci sequence which do not exceed four million.* lazy val fs: Stream[Int] = 0 #:: fs.scanLeft(1)(_ + _) val r = fs.view.takeWhile(_ <= 4000000).filter(_ % 2 == 0).sum assert(r == 4613732) // 1 ms Problem 3 Find the largest prime factor of a composite number.* def factors(n: Long): List[Long] = (2 to math.sqrt(n).toInt) .find(n % _ == 0).fold(List(n))(i => i.toLong :: factors(n / i)) val r = factors(600851475143L).last assert(r == 6857) // 1 ms Problem 4 Find the largest palindrome made from the product of two 3-digit numbers.* val r = (100 to 999).view .flatMap(i => (i to 999).map(_ * i)) .filter(n => n.toString == n.toString.reverse) .max assert(r == 906609) // 102 ms Problem 5 What is the smallest number divisible by each of the numbers 1 to 20?* val r = Range(20, Int.MaxValue) .find(n => Range(2, 21).forall(n % _ == 0)).get assert(r == 232792560) // 23 s Problem 6 What is the difference between the sum of the squares and the square of the sums?* val numbers = 1 to 100 def square(n: Int) = n * n val r = square(numbers.sum) - numbers.map(square).sum assert(r == 25164150) // 1 ms Problem 7 Find the 10001st prime.* lazy val ps: Stream[Int] = 2 #:: Stream.from(3).filter(i => ps.takeWhile(j => j * j <= i).forall(i % _ > 0)) val r = ps(10000) assert(r == 104743) // 24 ms Problem 8 Discover the largest product of five consecutive digits in the 1000-digit number.* val s = """<raw input data>""" val r = s.filter(_.isDigit).map(_.asDigit) .sliding(5).map(_.product).max assert(r == 40824) // 33 ms Problem 9 Find the only Pythagorean triplet, { a , b , c }, for which a + b + c = 1000.* val limit = (1 to 1000).find(n => n + math.sqrt(n) >= 1000).get val rs = for (b <- 2 until limit; a <- 1 until b; c = 1000 - a - b if a * a + b * b == c * c) yield a * b * c val r = rs.head assert(r == 31875000) // 32 ms Problem 10 Calculate the sum of all the primes below two million.* lazy val ps: Stream[Int] = 2 #:: Stream.from(3).filter(i => ps.takeWhile(j => j * j <= i).forall(i % _ > 0)) val r = ps.view.takeWhile(_ < 2000000).foldLeft(0L)(_ + _) assert(r == 142913828922L) // 1 s Problem 11 What is the greatest product of four numbers on the same straight line in the 20 by 20 grid?* val s = """<raw input data>""" val ns = s.split("\\s+").map(_.toInt) def m(i: Int, p: Int, c: Int): Int = if (c > 0) ns(i) * m(i + p, p, c - 1) else 1 def ms(xs: Seq[Int], ys: Seq[Int], p: Int) = ys.flatMap(y => xs.map(x => m(20 * y + x, p, 4))) val ps = ms(0 to 19, 0 to 15, 20) ++ ms(0 to 15, 0 to 19, 1) ++ ms(0 to 15, 0 to 15, 21) ++ ms(3 to 19, 0 to 15, 19) val r = ps.max assert(r == 70600674) // 4 ms Problem 12 What is the value of the first triangle number to have over five hundred divisors?* lazy val ts: Stream[Int] = 0 #:: ts.zipWithIndex.map(p => p._1 + p._2 + 1) def p(t: Int) = Range(1, Int.MaxValue) .takeWhile(n => n * n <= t) .foldLeft(0)((s, n) => if (t % n == 0) s + 2 else s) val r = ts.find(p(_) > 500).get assert(r == 76576500) // 1 s Problem 13 Find the first ten digits of the sum of one-hundred 50-digit numbers.* val s = """<raw input data>""" val r = s.split("\\s+").map(_.take(11).toLong).sum .toString.take(10).toLong assert(r == 5537376230L) // 2 ms Problem 14 Find the longest sequence using a starting number under one million.* def from(n: Long, c: Int = 0): Int = if (n == 1) c + 1 else from(if (n % 2 == 0) n / 2 else 3 * n + 1, c + 1) val r = (1 until 1000000).view.map(n => (n, from(n))) .reduceLeft((a, b) => if (a._2 > b._2) a else b)._1 assert(r == 837799) // 1 s Problem 15 Starting in the top left corner in a 20 by 20 grid, how many routes are there to the bottom right corner?* def f(row: Seq[Long], c: Int): Long = if (c == 0) row.last else f(row.scan(0L)(_ + _), c - 1) def r(n: Int) = f(Seq.fill(n + 1)(1L), n) assert(r(20) == 137846528820L) // 1 ms Problem 16 What is the sum of the digits of the number 21000?* val r = BigInt(2).pow(1000).toString.view.map(_.asDigit).sum assert(r == 1366) // 1 ms Problem 17 How many letters would be needed to write all the numbers in words from 1 to 1000?* val units = Array(0, 3, 3, 5, 4, 4, 3, 5, 5, 4, 3, 6, 6, 8, 8, 7, 7, 9, 8, 8) val tens = Array(0, 0, 6, 6, 5, 5, 5, 7, 6, 6) lazy val name: Int => Int = { case n if n < 20 => units(n) case n if n < 100 => tens(n / 10) + (if (n % 10 > 0) units(n % 10) else 0) case n if n < 1000 => name(n / 100) + 7 + (if (n % 100 > 0) 3 + name(n % 100) else 0) case 1000 => 11 } val r = (1 to 1000).map(name).sum assert(r == 21124) // 1 ms Problem 18 Find the maximum sum traveling from the top of the triangle to the base.* val s = """<raw input data>""" val grid = s.trim.split(" ").map(_.split("\\s+").map(_.toInt)) def f(rows: Array[Array[Int]], bottom: Seq[Int]): Int = { val ms = bottom.zip(bottom.tail).map(p => p._1 max p._2) val ss = rows.last.zip(ms).map(p => p._1 + p._2) if (ss.length == 1) ss.head else f(rows.init, ss) } val r = f(grid.init, grid.last) assert(r == 1074) // 2 ms Problem 19 How many Sundays fell on the first of the month during the twentieth century?* val lengths = Array(31, 0, 31, 30, 31, 30, 31, 31, 30, 31, 30, 31) val ls = for (y <- 1900 to 2000; m <- 1 to 12) yield if (m == 2) if (y % 4 == 0 && (y % 100 != 0 || y % 400 == 0)) 29 else 28 else lengths(m - 1) val fs = ls.scanLeft(1)((ws, l) => (ws + l) % 7) val r = fs.slice(12, 1212).count(_ == 0) assert(r == 171) // 2 ms Problem 20 Find the sum of digits in 100!* def f(n: BigInt): BigInt = if (n < 2) 1 else n * f(n - 1) val r = f(100).toString.view.map(_.asDigit).sum assert(r == 648) // 1 ms Problem 21 Evaluate the sum of all amicable pairs under 10000.* val ds = (0 until 10000).view .map(n => (1 to (n / 2)).filter(n % _ == 0).sum) val as = ds.zipWithIndex.collect { case (n, i) if n < 10000 && ds(n) != n && ds(n) == i => i } val r = as.sum assert(r == 31626) // 658 ms Problem 22 What is the total of all the name scores in the file of first names?* val r = io.Source.fromFile("names.txt").mkString.split(",") .map(_.init.tail).sorted.map(_.map(_ - 64).sum) .zipWithIndex.map(p => p._1 * (p._2 + 1)).sum assert(r == 871198282) // 38 ms Problem 23 Find the sum of all the positive integers which cannot be written as the sum of two abundant numbers.* val as = (0 to 28123).map(n => (1 to (n / 2)).filter(n % _ == 0).sum) .zipWithIndex.filter(p => p._1 > p._2).map(_._2) val exc = as.view.flatMap { a => as.takeWhile(_ <= (28123 - a)).map(_ + a) } val r = (1 to 28123 diff exc).sum assert(r == 4179871) // 5 s Problem 24 What is the millionth lexicographic permutation of the digits 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9?* def ps(s: String): Iterator[String] = if (s.length == 1) Iterator(s) else s.toIterator.flatMap(c => ps(s.filterNot(_ == c)).map(_ + c)) val r = ps("0123456789").drop(999999).next().toLong assert(r == 2783915460L) // 712 ms Problem 25 What is the first term in the Fibonacci sequence to contain 1000 digits?* lazy val fs: Stream[BigInt] = 0 #:: fs.scanLeft(BigInt(1))(_ + _) val r = fs.view.takeWhile(_.toString.length < 1000).length assert(r == 4782) // 468 ms Problem 26 Find the value of d < 1000 for which 1/ d contains the longest recurring cycle.* val ps = (2 until 1000).map(i => (1 to 2000) .find(BigInt(10).modPow(_, i) == 1)) val r = 2 + ps.indexOf(Some(ps.flatten.max)) assert(r == 983) // 2 s Problem 27 Find a quadratic formula that produces the maximum number of primes for consecutive values of n .* lazy val ps: Stream[Int] = 2 #:: Stream.from(3).filter(i => ps.takeWhile(j => j * j <= i).forall(i % _ > 0)) def isPrime(n: Int) = ps.view.takeWhile(_ <= n).contains(n) val ns = (-999 until 1000).flatMap { a => (-999 until 1000).map(b => (a, b, (0 to 1000).view .takeWhile(n => isPrime(n * n + a * n + b)).length)) } val t = ns.reduceLeft((a, b) => if (a._3 > b._3) a else b) val r = t._1 * t._2 assert(r == -59231) // 6 s Problem 28 What is the sum of both diagonals in a 1001 by 1001 spiral?* def cs(n: Int, p: Int): Stream[Int] = (n * 4 + p * 10) #:: cs(n + p * 4, p + 2) val r = 1 + cs(1, 2).take(500).sum assert(r == 669171001) // 1 ms Problem 29 How many distinct terms are in the sequence generated by a b for 2 ≤ a ≤ 100 and 2 ≤ b ≤ 100?* val r = (2 to 100).flatMap(a => (2 to 100) .map(b => BigInt(a).pow(b))).distinct.length assert(r == 9183) // 17 ms Problem 30 Find the sum of all the numbers that can be written as the sum of fifth powers of their digits.* def max(d: Int) = math.pow(10, d).toInt - 1 def sum(n: Int) = n.toString.map(_.asDigit) .map(math.pow(_, 5).toInt).sum val limit = Stream.from(1).find(d => max(d) > sum(max(d))).get val r = (2 to max(limit)).view.filter(n => n == sum(n)).sum assert(r == 443839) // 2 s Problem 31 Investigating combinations of English currency denominations.* def f(ms: List[Int], n: Int): Int = ms match { case h :: t => if (h > n) 0 else if (n == h) 1 else f(ms, n - h) + f(t, n) case _ => 0 } val r = f(List(1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200), 200) assert(r == 73682) // 15 ms Problem 32 Find the sum of all numbers that can be written as pandigital products.* val ms = for { a <- 2 to 10000; b <- 2 to 10000 / a m = a * b; s = a.toString + b + m if s.length == 9 && (1 to 9).mkString.forall(s.contains(_)) } yield m val r = ms.distinct.sum assert(r == 45228) // 73 ms Problem 33 Discover all the fractions with an unorthodox cancelling method.* val rs = for (i <- 1 to 9; j <- (i + 1) to 9; k <- 1 to 9 if k * (9 * i + j) == 10 * i * j) yield (10 * i + j, 10 * j + k) val p = rs.reduceLeft((n, d) => (n._1 * d._1, n._2 * d._2)) def gcd(n: Int, d: Int): Int = if (d == 0) n else gcd(d, n % d) val r = p._2 / gcd(p._1, p._2) assert(r == 100) // 5 ms Tags: problem, Programming, project euler, puzzle, scala, solution

As tensions rise in the Old City of Jerusalem, hundreds of people gathered on Delmar Boulevard in University City Sunday evening to show their support — some for Palestinians and others for the Israeli government. The Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) organized the march to protest new Israeli security measures at prayer sites in Jerusalem. Metal detectors and security cameras were installed after the mosque was temporarily closed on July 14, when three Palestinian civilians and two Israeli officers were killed in clashes nearby. At the St. Louis area march, protesters demanded freedom for Muslims to worship without harassment and extra security measures when entering the Jerusalem compound that houses Al-Aqsa Mosque. The compound is an area also referred to by Jews as the Temple Mount. However, for many St. Louisans the gathering was about more than the installation of new metal detectors at the holy site in Jerusalem. CAIR intern and member of the Palestine Solidarity Committee Neveen Ayesh, a Muslim, is Palestinian-American and spoke to the St. Louis-area crowd about the ongoing conflict. “It’s what’s going to come after the metal detectors and what’s going to come with the metal detectors,” she said. “It’s just another way to put [Palestinians] on a leash and try to control them.” Marchers carried signs and chanted “free free Al-Aqsa” and “end the siege on Aqsa now.” In a show of international solidarity, people waved flags from the United States, Palestine, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Jordan. Sunday’s march was attended by many Muslims, members of the Palestinian-American community, and activists from local social justice organizations including the St. Louis Palestine Solidarity Committee, Jewish Voice for Peace and Progressive Youth Association. There was also a counter demonstration in support of Israel’s new security measures. Attendees held Israeli flags and signs advocating for Israel’s right to defend itself. The pro-Palestinian marchers and pro-Israeli demonstrators didn’t cross paths, but Jewish-Israeli Boaz Steiner took it upon himself to walk amongst the pro-Palestinian protesters. Steiner is an advocate for Israel’s new security measures and said he thinks it’s more useful to speak directly to pro-Palestinians instead of standing at the pro-Israeli demonstration. “I am a person who lived there and understand the situation on the ground truly,” he said. “Other religious sites around the world have security measures, why can’t Israel?” But Jewish-American Michael Berg disagrees. As a member of the Jewish Voice for Peace and St. Louis Palestine Solidarity Committee, he’s participated in many demonstrations calling for equal rights for Palestinian citizens. He also gave a speech at the rally. “The rate of ethnic cleansing against the Palestinian inhabitants of the Old City and east Jerusalem is accelerating,” he said. “We’ll continue to be out, fight and advocate until there’s justice,” he said. After the march, pro-Palestinian demonstrators gathered for evening prayers in the parking lot behind Cicero’s on Delmar Boulevard. The imam who lead the prayer recited specific prayers advocating for the end of Israel’s occupation of east Jerusalem. Many participants also signed a petition organized by CAIR to bring awareness of the military occupation of Palestinian territories to St. Louis-area government officials. “We’re telling them to speak out and say no and to stop funding [Israel’s military occupation],” Neveen Ayesh said. “We are going to continue to raise awareness, near or far. This is something sacred to our hearts.”

IS seeks to isolate Turkish border crossing The Islamic State [IS] attacked a YPG-controlled town in Al-Hasakah province on Tuesday, as it seeks to isolate the nearby border crossing with Turkey, a Kurdish citizen journalist told Syria Direct on Wednesday. IS “aims to control Tel Khanzir and close the door on YPG” forces holed up in the border crossing of Ras al-Ain, said Roman Yusef, the Al-Hasakah-based activist. Tel Khanzir is located on the highway between the joint YPG and rebel-controlled town of Tel Abyad and the YPG-controlled border crossing of Ras al-Ain. By winning control Tel Khanzir, IS hopes to cut off the supply line between Tel Abyad and Ras al-Ain, which IS has attacked for the past month. The YPG staved off the assault on Tel Khanzir, killing and injuring an undisclosed number of IS members in the fighting, said Khalid Iskef, a Syria-based correspondent for the Lebanese pro-regime news channel Al-Mayadeen. YPG forces, aided by the regime, have been battling IS for control of key parts of Al-Hasakah province for the past month. YPG clashes with IS in four villages southeast of Kobani YPG forces are battling Islamic State (IS) fighters for control of four villages in the southeast Kobani countryside. “Clashes between YPG and IS remain ongoing as of now in the villages of Aqbash, Ahmadia, Mamad Khan and al-Jarn al-Aswad, 35 kilometers south of Kobani,” Mustafa al-Abdi, senior correspondent with the Iraqi Kurdish Arta FM radio station based in Kobani told Syria Direct on Wednesday. “This comes after YPG forces clashed with IS in the southeast Kobani countryside on Tuesday, with the help of coalition air strikes that targeted IS positions on the front line,” al-Abdi added. The YPG captured five villages from the Islamic State on Tuesday after fighting that reportedly led to the deaths of 43 IS fighters. The offensive is part of a new YPG military campaign that began Monday under the rubric “Revenge for the Martyrs of Hasakah,” reported pro-Kurdish Adar Press. Last Friday, unknown assailants launched car bomb attacks on Kurdish Nowruz celebrations in Al-Hasakah city that killed at least 45 people. YPG forces captures 27 IS corpses and large stockpiles of weapons and ammunition in the aftermath of the fighting, reported the pro-Kurdish ANHA news outlet on Tuesday. YPG fighters seize weapons cache from IS on Tuesday. Photo courtesy @pyd_rojava. As rebels close in, Idlib regime company defects to opposition A contingent of regime forces fearing a rebel assault on its position in the southeastern Idlib countryside defected to the opposition on Tuesday. The regime contingent–reportedly consisting of five officers and 45 soldiers–defected as its distracted leadership was fortifying Ma’amal al-Qarmeed, a brick factory turned regime military base 7.5km southeast of Idlib city, for an expected rebel attack, reported the pro-opposition news site All4Syria on Tuesday. The defecting regime officers and soldiers joined the newly minted Operation Room for the Liberation of Idlib, also known as Jaish al-Fatah, a rebel coalition including the Islamist groups Jabhat a-Nusra and Ahrar a-Sham. Jaish al-Fatah announced its formation this Tuesday, reported the pro-opposition Orient News on Tuesday, the same day it launched a offensive to take regime-controlled Idlib city. The campaign to capture Idlib is particularly significant to Nusra, which reportedly wants the city as part of its plan to eventually carve out an al-Qaeda emirate in northern Syria. Nusra may have contributed up to 3,000 men to the fight, in addition to US-manufactured TOW anti-tank missiles, likely looted from the US-backed, now-dissolved Harakat Hazm last month. For more from Syria Direct, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

Most of us like reading stories about ancient times and fantasize that our ancestors’ lives were easy and romantic, but were they really? 24-year-old Russian man Pavel Sapozhnikov decided to see what his ancestors’ lives were really like by spending 6 months living in 10th-century conditions.“The idea is to see if a modern man can survive alone in an early medieval environment, what impact this kind of lifestyle will have on his psychological state” says Alexey Ovcharenko, who is the driving force behind the “Alone in the Past” project.For six months – until March 22 – Pavel will live in a medieval farm without electricity, running water, Internet access and other modern comforts. The autumn and winter seasons were chosen on purpose – scientists want to explore the everyday challenges faced by medieval people during the toughest time of the year.If given the chance, would you be brave enough to live alone in the past?

2009 Paris-Roubaix runner up ready for Sunday after Sanremo and Flanders disappointment Filippo Pozzato (Lampre-Merida) is taking aim at the third and final big target of his spring campaign, as he hopes to go one better than his 2009 second place in Sunday’s Paris-Roubaix. The 31-year-old Italian was active, but unsuccessful in Milano-Sanremo on March 17th, but less visible in last Sunday’s Ronde van Vlaanderen but, as the blue-fuchsia team’s Classics captain, he expects more in l’Enfer du Nord. “Paris-Roubaix is a very demanding and selecting race, the group of the pretenders is even more limited than at the Ronde van Vlaanderen,” Pozzato explained. “I focused the early part of the season to three targets: Milano-Sanremo, the Ronde van Vlaanderen and Paris-Roubaix. I’ve got one last chance to be a protagonist, after not having hit the targets in the first two appointments. “Of course, I’ll need to be more competitive than past Sunday, because Paris-Roubaix must be approached with energy and a clear mind.” After such taking such a dominant victory in Sunday’s Ronde, there will be one rider that Pozzato - and the rest of the peloton - will be watching across the fearsome cobbles of northern France. “[Fabian] Cancellara will have all eyes on him,” Pozzato confirmed. “He is the logical favourite.” Friday will see Pozzato reconnoitre most of the cobbled sectors, starting from sector 19 [of 27 - ed] between Haveluy à Wallers and riding all the way to section 4 at Le Carrefour de l'Arbre. The Italian team will be riding a new Rida frame from bike sponsor Merida, which has been specifically designed for tough, cobbled races like Paris-Roubaix. Lampre-Merida team for Paris-Roubaix Massimo Graziato, Elia Favilli, Andrea Palini, Alessandro Petacchi, Filippo Pozzato, Maximiliano Richeze, Davide Viganò and Luca Wackermann

Firearms of Japan were introduced in the 13th century by the Chinese, but saw little use. Portuguese firearms were introduced in 1543,[1] and intense development followed, with strong local manufacture during the period of conflicts of the late 16th century. Teppo [ edit ] Due to its proximity with China, Japan had long been familiar with gunpowder weaponry. Firearms seem to have first appeared in Japan around 1270, as primitive metal tubes invented in China and called teppō (鉄砲 lit. "iron cannon") seem to have been introduced in Japan as well.[2] These weapons were very basic, as they had no trigger or sights, and could not bear comparison with the more advanced European weapons which were introduced in Japan more than 250 years later.[2] Tanegashima (matchlock) [ edit ] The first documented introduction of the matchlock which became known as the tanegashima was through the Portuguese in 1543.[1] The tanegashima seems to have been based on snap matchlocks that were produced in the armory of Malacca in Portuguese Malacca, which was captured by the Portuguese in 1511.[3] The name tanegashima came from the island where a Chinese junk with Portuguese adventurers on board was driven to anchor by a storm. The lord of the Japanese island Tanegashima Tokitaka (1528–1579) purchased two matchlock muskets from the Portuguese and put a swordsmith to work in copying the matchlock barrel and firing mechanism. Within a few years the use of the tanegashima in battle forever changed the way war was fought in Japan.[4] From 1560, firearms were used in large battles in Japan.[5] In his memoirs published in 1614, the Portuguese adventurer turned author Fernão Mendes Pinto placed himself in that first landing party, although this claim has been roundly discredited and in fact contradicts his claims to be simultaneously in Burma at the time. However, Pinto does appear to have visited Tanegashima soon thereafter.[6] History [ edit ] Sengoku Period [ edit ] Ashigaru (foot soldiers) using matchlocks (tanegashima) from behind shields (tate). (foot soldiers) using matchlocks () from behind shields (). Japan was at war during the Sengoku Period between 1467 and 1600, as feudal lords vied for supremacy.[7] Matchlock guns were used extensively and had a decisive role in warfare. In 1549, Oda Nobunaga ordered 500 matchlocks to be made for his armies. The benefits of firearms were still relatively questionable however compared to other weapons. At the time, guns were still rather primitive and cumbersome. According to one estimate in 16th century Japan, an archer could fire 15 arrows in the time a gunner would take to load, charge, and shoot a firearm.[8] Effective range also was only 80 to 100 meters, and at that distance, a bullet could easily bounce off armour. Furthermore, matchlocks were vulnerable to humid or rainy conditions as the powder would become damp.[8] However, firearms could be manned effectively by farmers or non-samurai low-ranking soldiers.[9] The Japanese soon worked on various techniques to improve the effectiveness of their guns. They developed serial firing technique to create a continuous rain of bullets on the enemy.[10] They also developed bigger calibers to increase lethal power.[10] Protective boxes in lacquerware were invented to be able to fire matchlocks in the rain,[11] as well as systems to accurately fire weapons at night by keeping fixed angles thanks to measured strings.[12] As a result, in the year 1567, Takeda Shingen announced that "Hereafter, the guns will be the most important arms. Therefore, decrease the number of spears per unit, and have your most capable men carry guns".[13] At the Battle of Nagashino in 1575, 3,000 arquebusiers helped win the battle, firing by volleys of 1,000 at a time, and concealed across a river and breastwork to effectively stop enemy infantry and cavalry charges while being protected.[14] In the year 1584 Ikeda Sen led a troop of 200 women armed with firearms at the Battle of Komaki and Nagakute and in 1600 at the Battle of Sekigahara, rare example of Teppō unit, or musketeer unit consisting only of women.[15] Japan became so enthusiastic about the new weapons that it possibly overtook every European country in absolute numbers produced.[9] Japan also used the guns in the Japanese invasion of Korea in 1592, in which about a quarter of the invasion force of 160,000 were gunners.[16] They were extremely successful at first and managed to capture Seoul just 18 days after their landing at Busan.[17] Edo Period [ edit ] The internal war in Japan was won by Tokugawa Ieyasu, who established the Tokugawa shogunate, a powerful entity that would maintain peace and prosperity in Japan for the following 250 years. From the mid-17th century, Japan decided to close itself to interaction with the West through its policy of Sakoku. Guns were used less frequently because the Edo Period did not have many large-scale conflicts in which a gun would be of use. Oftentimes the sword was simply the more practical weapon in the average small-scale Edo Period conflicts, nevertheless there were gunsmiths in Japan producing guns through the Edo Period. It should also be noted that isolation did not decrease the production of guns in Japan—on the contrary, there is evidence of around 200 gunsmiths in Japan by the end of the Edo Period. But the social life of firearms had changed: as the historian David L. Howell has argued, for many in Japanese society, the gun had become less a weapon than a farm implement for scaring off animals.[18] Late Edo Period [ edit ] Japanese percussion pistol, 19th century, possibly converted from a matchlock. A few Japanese started to study and experiment with recent Western firearms from the beginning of the 19th century especially as a means to repel the visits of foreign ships, such as the incursion by British frigate HMS Phaeton in 1808.[19] Through the process of rangaku (the studying of Western science through the Dutch), airguns were developed by Kunitomo Ikkansai c. 1820–1830. From 1828, experiments were made with flintlock mechanisms.[19] The Nagasaki samurai Takashima Shūhan (高島秋帆) started to import flintlock guns from the Netherlands known as "Gewehr" from the 1840s.[20] He made the first modern Western military demonstration for the Tokugawa shogunate, in Tokumarugahara (north of Edo) on 27 June 1841. With the arrival of Commodore Perry in 1854 and the inescapable opening of the country to trade, rapid efforts were made at reequipping Japan with modern fireams. Old matchlock weapons were recovered and converted to flintlock mechanisms.[21] Boshin War [ edit ] The mounting civil war in Japan and the opposition of various feudal lords against the Bakufu during the Late Tokugawa shogunate led to serious rearming until the 1867 Boshin War. At the same time, technological progress was extremely fast in the West, with the introduction of the rifle, breech-loading and even repeating firearms, so that Japanese armies were equipped with composite technologies, with weapons imported from countries as varied as France, Germany, the Netherlands, Britain and the United States, and coexisting with traditional Tanegashima guns.[22] During the Boshin War, most shogunate vassal troops used Gewehr smoothbore guns. These guns were rather ancient and had limited capabilities, with an effective lethal range of about 50 meters, and a firing rate of about two rounds per minute. Much more effective Minié rifles were also used by the armies directly under the command of the shōgun, the Bakufu troops. The Daimyō of Nagaoka, an ally of the shōgun, possessed two Gatling guns and several thousand modern rifles. The shogunate is known to have placed an order for 30,000 modern Dreyse needle guns in 1866.[citation needed] In 1867, orders were placed for 40,000 state-of-the-art French Chassepot rifles, a part of which reached Edo by year's end.[22] Antiquated Tanegashima matchlock guns are also known to have been used by the Bakufu however.[23] Imperial troops mainly used Minié rifles, which were much more accurate, lethal, and had a much longer range than the smoothbore Gewehr guns, although, being also muzzle-loading, they were similarly limited to two shots per minute. Improved breech-loading mechanisms, such as the Snider, developing a rate of about ten shots a minute, are known to have been used by troops of the Tosa Domain against the shogunate's Shōgitai, at the Battle of Ueno in July 1868. In the second half of the conflict, in the northeast theater, Tosa Province troops are known to have used American-made Spencer repeating rifles.[23] American-made handguns were also popular, such as the 1863 Smith & Wesson Army No 2, which was imported to Japan by the Scottish trader Thomas Blake Glover and used by the Satsuma forces.[23] Modern period [ edit ] The Arisaka rifle family. List goes top to bottom: 1. Arisaka Type 30 2. Arisaka Type 38 3. Arisaka Type 38 carbine 4. Arisaka Type 44 carbine 5. Arisaka Type "I" model. The Type "I" was produced by Italy for Japan and was basically an Arisaka with a Carcano action 6. Arisaka Type 99 (Earlier Model) 7. Arisaka Type 99 (Later Model) For some time after the Meiji Restoration, Japan continued to use imported weapons. The newly created Imperial Japanese Army used firearms intensively against more traditional samurai rebellious forces during the Satsuma rebellion in 1877, with an average of 320,000 rounds of ammunition fired daily during the conflict.[24] After the Satsuma rebellion, Japan relied extensively on the French Chassepot.[25] Japan finally developed its own model, the Murata rifle, derived from the French Fusil Gras mle 1874.[25] This was Japan's first locally made service rifle, and was used from 1880 to 1898. An industrial infrastructure, such as the Koishikawa arsenal had to be established to produce such new weapons. Later, Japan developed the very successful bolt action Arisaka series rifles, which was the Japanese service rifle until the end of World War II.[26] Japan produced relatively few submachine guns during World War II, the most numerous model was the Type 100 submachine gun of which 24,000–27,000 were produced, compared, for example, with the British Sten of which millions were produced. During the war, the Japanese worked on a copy of the American semi-automatic M1 Garand (the Type 5 rifle) but only a few hundred were made before the end of the war and it did not enter service. After the end of the war, the dissolution of the Imperial Japanese Army, and the establishment of the Japan Self-Defense Forces in 1947, Japan relied on M1 Garand rifles provided by the United States. In the mid-1950s however, Japan's Defense Agency started to develop battle rifles of its own, such as the Howa Type 64[27] and assault rifles like the Howa Type 89 which has been gradually replacing the former.[28] See also [ edit ] References [ edit ]

Recently, my colleagues and I published research in Mayo Clinic Proceedings that examined dietary data from almost 50 years of nutrition studies. What we found was astounding; these data were physiologically implausible and incompatible with survival. In other words, the diets from these studies could not support human life if consumed on a daily basis. The reason for this is simple; the memory-based data collection methods (M-BMs) used by nutrition researchers are unscientific because they rely on both the truthfulness of the study participant and the accuracy of his or her memory. Stated more simply, these methods collect nothing more than uncorroborated anecdotal estimates of food and beverage consumption. Importantly, vast amounts of taxpayer dollars are directed away from rigorous scientific investigations and squandered every year on the collection of uncorroborated anecdotes via M-BMs. Approximately 80% of the data in the USDA’s National Evidence Library consists of uncorroborated anecdotes as well as 100% of the dietary data from every major epidemiologic study over the past 50 years (e.g., Nurses’ Health Study, Health Professionals Follow-Up Study, REGARDS project, and EPIC study). In other words, most of what nutrition researchers call “scientific evidence” is in reality a vast collection of nearly baseless anecdotes. Nevertheless, despite a century of unequivocal evidence that human memory and recall are woefully inadequate for actual scientific data collection, the data from these methods are used to create public health policy. To date, no researchers have published data that challenge or attempt to refute our findings and conclusions. The reason for this fact is simple: our science is strong and our findings irrefutable. Nevertheless, this has not stopped government-funded researchers and officials from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) from demonstrating an unscientific intolerance to criticism by using rhetoric and fallacious ad hominems in defense of their pseudoscientific methods. While these attacks do nothing to advance the science of nutrition, the fact that taxpayer-funded NIH officials and researchers are attacking and attempting to bully and censor legitimate scientists serving the public suggests that publicly-funded science is in grave jeopardy. In September of 2015, prior to the publication of the 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, I was invited by President Obama’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology to present our research on implausible dietary data. The presentation was short and simple: the dietary data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, “What We Eat In America” study (NHANES /WWEIA) are incompatible with the survival and therefore cannot be used to inform public policy. Nevertheless, the administration proved impervious to contrary evidence and presented the implausible NHANES/WWEIA data as scientific evidence of the “Current Eating Patterns in the United States” in the recently published 2015 Guidelines. This official presentation is patently false and fraudulent. It should be obvious that dietary data that cannot support human life are not an accurate description of the “Current Eating Patterns” of Americans. In response to the misrepresentation of the NHANES/WWEIA data, we recently published evidence on the willful manipulation and doctoring of data by government-funded researchers to support current dietary dogma. Yet perhaps the most egregious example of scientific fraud and misconduct in the Guidelines is the use of these implausible dietary data to create fear and uncertainty in American citizens. In chapter 2, the section entitled, "Underconsumed Nutrients and Nutrients of Public Health Concern," states that vitamins A, C, D, E, and iron are under-consumed. This statement is directly contradicted and refuted by the Government’s own objective data (i.e., serum biomarkers). For example, at the time of the last CDC Biochemical analysis, less than 1% of Americans were at risk for deficiencies in vitamins A and E, and 80% of Americans were not at risk for deficiencies in any of the minerals and vitamins measured (including vitamins C, D, and iron). It should be obvious that Americans could not be under-consuming vitamins A, C, D, E, and iron while at the same time maintaining healthy serum levels of these same vitamins and minerals. As such, the Guidelines present alarmist, subjective, implausible dietary data as scientific fact while ignoring the objective, rigorous, and obvious data that Americans are exceptionally well fed. The Executive Branch of our Federal government and the government-funded nutrition community have been aware of the empirical refutation and misrepresentation of dietary data for decades, yet this evidence is ignored. Stated more simply, government officials knew the dietary data used to create the Guidelines were patently false but published them as fact. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans direct our attention and research resources towards unscientific and specious “nutrients of concern” and dietary dogma while distracting us away from the actual causes of obesity, diabetes and chronic non-communicable diseases. It is well-established that 80% of Americans are not at risk for any dietary deficiencies, yet more than 95% of Americans do not meet the minimum physical activity guidelines. Because of this simple fact, with each passing generation our children become better fed but less fit, less healthy, and fatter. Until we replace the unscientific fiction of “we are what we eat” and the uneducated government-funded rhetoric that ‘food is our foe’ with rigorous scientific facts, many American children will live shorter, less fit and less healthy lives than their parents. Given this reality, it is our hope that in the meantime, the fatal conceit and lack of epistemic humility of the researcher-politicians in our Federal Government are constrained by the dictum “Primum non nocere” (First, do no harm). Retracting the fraudulent 2015 Guidelines will be a good start.

NEW DELHI: Highlighting benefits of the just- announced Crop Insurance Scheme, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said awareness about it should be spread across the country so that at least 50 per cent of the farmers join it within two years.In his monthly radio programme 'Mann Ki Baat', he also pitched for continued efforts to popularise Khadi and awarness to save girl child, mentioned about the recently launched 'Start-Up India' programme and talked about the upcoming International Fleet Review to be held in Visakhapatnam.Modi said he needs the "maximum help" from people about spreading awareness regarding the Pradhan Mantri Crop Insurance Scheme which was launched earlier this month."In our country, a lot is said in the name of farmers. I don't want to get involved in that debate. But farmers face a major crisis. In natural calamity, their entire effort goes waste. His one year goes waste. To give him security, only one thing comes to mind and that is crop insurance," he said in this year's first edition of the monthly radio programme."In (the New Year) 2016, the central government has given a big gift to the farmers -- Pradhan Mantri Crop Insurance Scheme. This scheme has been brought not for the purpose that it should be praised or the Prime Minister should be hailed," he said.The Prime Minister said that for so many years, there has been a talk regarding crop insurance but "not more than 20-25 per cent" of the country's farmers had been been able to benefit from such schemes."Can we take a pledge that we should connect at least 50 per cent of the farmers to this scheme in two years? I need this help from you. Because if a farmer joins the scheme, he will get huge help during a natural calamity," he said.Modi said this time, the scheme has got "wide acceptability because it has been made quite extensive and easy and involves use of technology. Not only this. If something happens to the crop within 15 days after harvest, even then help is assured."Usage of technology will ensure speedy assessment and disbursement of compensation, he said."The biggest thing is that the rate of premium has been kept so low which nobody would have imagined. The rate of premium for Kharif crop has been kept 2 per cent while for Rabi crop it is one-and-a-half per cent."Now tell me, if any farmer is deprived of the benefits of this scheme, will he not suffer loss? I want the awareness about this scheme to spread," he said.

Update 3: code for the demo video is here. Update 2: In which I actually post working code. Update: Eep! This post was featured on the Raspberry Pi blog today. Thanks, Liz! And now for something completely different: … a clock that isn’t human readable. You’ll need a QR code reader to be able to tell the time. This, however, is not the prime purpose of the exercise. I was looking for an excuse to try some direct hardware projects with the GPIO, and I remembered I had a couple of Nokia-style surplus LCDs lying about that could be pressed into service. These LCDs aren’t great: 84×48 pixels, 3V3 logic, driven by SPI via an 8-pin header which includes PWM-controllable LED backlighting. They are cheap, and available almost everywhere: DealExtreme ($5.36), SparkFun ($9.95), Adafruit ($10 – but includes a level shifter, which you really need if you’re using a 5V logic Arduino), Solarbotics ($10) and Creatron (about $12; but you can walk right in and buy one). Despite being quite difficult to use, helpful people have written drivers to make these behave like tiny dot-addressable screens. I’d been following the discussion on the Raspberry Pi forum about driving the Nokia LCD from a Raspberry Pi. Only when user bgreat posted some compact code that was supposed to run really fast did I dig out the LCD board and jumper wires. Building on bgreat’s nokiaSPI.py class and a few other bits of code, here’s what I built to make this singularly pointless clock: #!/usr/bin/python # -*- coding: utf-8 -*- # qrclock - The Quite Rubbish Clock for Raspberry Pi - scruss, 2013-01-19 import time # need to use git://github.com/mozillazg/python-qrcode.git import qrcode from PIL import Image import ImageOps # uses bgreat's SPI code; see # raspberrypi.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=9814&p=262274&hilit=nokia#p261925 import nokiaSPI noki = nokiaSPI.NokiaSPI() # create display device qr = qrcode.QRCode(version=1, # V.1 QR Code: 21x21 px error_correction=qrcode.constants.ERROR_CORRECT_M, box_size=2, border=1) bg = Image.new('1', (84, 48)) # blank (black) image background while 1: qr.clear() newbg = bg.copy() # copy blank background s = time.strftime('%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S') qr.add_data(s) # make QR Code of YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS qr.make() qrim = qr.make_image() # convert qrcode object to PIL image qrim = qrim.convert('L') # make greyscale qrim = ImageOps.invert(qrim) # invert colours: B->W and W->B qrim = qrim.convert('1') # convert back to 1-bit newbg.paste(qrim, (18, 0)) # paste QR Code into blank background noki.show_image(newbg) # display code on LCD time.sleep(0.4) # pause before next display (Convenient archive of all the source: qrclock2.zip, really including bgreat’s nokiaSPI class this time …) To get all this working on your Raspberry Pi, there’s a fair amount of configuration. The best references are bgreat’s own comments in the thread, but I’ve tried to include everything here. Enabling the SPI kernel module As root, edit the kernel module blacklist file: sudo vi /etc/modprobe.d/raspi-blacklist.conf Comment out the spi-bcm2708 line so it looks like this: #blacklist spi-bcm2708 Save the file so that the module will load on future reboots. To enable the module now, enter: sudo modprobe spi-bcm2708 Now, if you run the lsmod command, you should see something like: Module Size Used by spi_bcm2708 4421 0 Installing the WiringPi, SPI and other required packages WiringPi by Gordon is one of the neater Raspberry Pi-specific modules, as it allows relatively easy access to the Raspberry Pi’s GPIO pins. For Raspbian, there are a few other imaging libraries and package management tools you’ll need to install here: sudo apt-get install python-imaging python-imaging-tk python-pip python-dev git sudo pip install spidev sudo pip install wiringpi Installing the Python QR code library Finding a library that provided all the right functions was the hardest part here. I ended up using mozillazg‘s fork of lincolnloop‘s python-qrcode module. mozillazg’s fork lets you use most of the lovely PIL methods, while the original hides most of them. Since I had to do some image compositing and colour remapping to make the image appear correct on the Nokia screen, the new fork was very helpful. To install it: git clone git://github.com/mozillazg/python-qrcode.git cd python-qrcode/ sudo python ./setup.py install The tiny 84×48 resolution of the Nokia screen doesn’t give you many options for sizing QR codes. For the time display of the clock, a 21×21 module Version 1 code with two pixels per module and one module margin just fits into 48 pixels. Using a medium level of error correction, you can fit the 19-character message (such as “2013-01-19 18:56:59”) into this tiny screen with a very good chance of it being read by any QR code reader. (In the video, there’s a much larger QR code that’s a link to this blog post. That’s a Version 7 code [45×45 modules] at one pixel per module and no margin. This doesn’t meet Denso Wave’s readability guidelines, but the Nokia screen has large blank margins which seem to help. It won’t read on every phone, but you’re here at this link now, so you don’t need it …) Wiring it all up (Do I really need to say that you’ll be messing around with the inner delicate bits of your Raspberry Pi here, and if you do something wrong, you could end up with a dead Raspberry Pi? No? Okay. Just make sure you take some static precautions and you really should have the thing shut down and powered off.) You’ll need 8 female-female jumper wires, and also some kind of pin header soldered in (I used right-angled ones). Note that the thick border of the LCD is the top of the screen. These boards are made who-knows-where by who-knows-whom, and there’s a huge variety of labels and layouts on the pins. My one appears to be yet another variant, and is labelled: VCC GND SCE RST D/C DNK(MOSI) SCLK LED This is how I wired it (from comments in bgreat’s code and the GPIO reference): LCD Pin Function Pi GPIO Pin # Pi Pin Name ============= ============= =============== ============= 1 VCC Vcc 1 3.3 V 2 GND Ground 25 GND 3 SCE Chip Enable 24 GPIO08 SPI0_CE0_N 4 RST Reset 11 GPIO17 5 D/C Data/Command 15 GPIO22 6 DNK(MOSI) Data In 19 GPIO10 SPI0_MOSI 7 SCLK Serial Clock 23 GPIO11 SPI0_SCLK 8 LED Backlight 12 GPIO18 PWM0 Wire it up, and fire up the program: sudo ./qrclock.py Yes, code that accesses GPIO needs to be run as root. Pesky, but helps you avoid running code that accidentally scrams the nuclear power station you’re controlling from your Raspberry Pi … Share this: Facebook Flattr Twitter Reddit Pinterest Update 3: code for the demo video is here. Update 2: In which I actually post working code. Update: Eep! This post was featured on the Raspberry Pi blog today....

A federal bankruptcy judge approved Thursday a Chapter 11 reorganization plan that will allow AT&T and DirecTV to purchase Comcast SportsNet Houston and relaunch it in November as Root Sports Houston. There was no immediate indication, in the wake of Judge Marvin Isgur’s ruling, when the new network will launch with expanded carriage on DirecTV and AT&T U-verse in addition to Comcast. However, CSN Houston has posted a broadcast schedule through Nov. 9, so the new network is not likely to launch until after that period. Judge Isgur’s ruling does not mean that the case is concluded. Comcast, in fact, filed notice of appeal late Thursday night, alleging the judge erred on six grounds in his decision. The appeal likely will be assigned to U.S. District Judge Lynn Hughes. In its appeal, Comcast says Judge Isgur erred in six areas: — In confirming the reorganization plan. — In not allowing Comcast’s secured claim to be accepted for payment over time under section 1111(b) of the bankruptcy code. — In ruling that the plan met the requirements of section 1129(b) of the bankruptcy code in that it “does not discriminate unfairly, and is fair and equitable, with respect to each class of claims or interests that is impaired under, and has not accepted, the plan.” — In ruling that the plan had been approved by a valid class of creditors that will not receive full payment of claims. — In ruling that the plan did not discriminate against a class of creditors that included Comcast entities. — In holding that the plan legally exculpates or provides protection against liability for the Astros, Rockets, DirecTV, AT&T and members of the CSN Houston but not against Comcast. Judge Isgur, meanwhile, will preside over another hearing at 2 p.m. Friday as the parties continue to thrash through logistical issues involved in the transition from CSN Houston to Root Sports Houston. “Everybody can lose a lot of money if you don’t reach an agreement,” the judge said. “There’s a lot at stake.” Officials with the Rockets and Astros, who supported the reorganization plan, said they were pleased with the judge’s ruling. “On behalf of Leslie Alexander and our organization and, more than anything, our fans, we are very appreciative of Judge Isgur’s ruling and look forward to getting our games on as quickly as possible,” said Rockets CEO Tad Brown. “We want to stay focused to make sure that we get the network on the air to the entire market as quickly as possible. There are logistics involved. We’ve got to get with the Root Sports folks, but there is a clear path. We appreciate the judge for that path and it’s a great day for Rockets fans, Astros fans and sports fans in Houston.” “It’s a great day for the fans,” said Astros general counsel Giles Kibbe. “We will have broad coverage on AT&T, DirecTV and Comcast, and this will put us in position where we can continue implementing our plans with the teams. “It’s been very costly to the teams, but we’re looking forward. We have broad coverage and media rights fees that will enable us to compete. We’re not looking back. We’re looking forward. It’s been long and hard, but it’s a positive day.” A spokesman for Comcast, which opposed the reorganization plan, said, “We are disappointed with the judge’s decision and intend to file an appeal.” DirecTV and AT&T, which will acquire the network for $5,000 and will invest $50 million, had no comment. CSN Houston launched in the fall of 2012 but was never available across most Houston-area TV households. Comcast put the network into bankruptcy in September 2013 when the Astros threatened to retake their broadcast rights because the network could not pay rights fees.

President Donald Trump makes his way to board Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C, on Feb. 24. Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images President Donald Trump is getting ready to mark his 100 days in office as the least popular commander in chief of the modern era at this point in their presidency. But among his supporters, 96 percent of those who voted for Trump said they would do it all over again if the election were held today, and only 2 percent say they regret supporting him, according to the latest Washington Post/ABC News poll. In contrast, 85 percent of Americans who voted for Hillary Clinton said they’d vote for her if the election were held today. That’s not because Clinton voters would support Trump, but rather because they say they’d be more willing to back a third-party candidate or not vote at all. The poll makes clear what numerous surveys have already pointed out: Trump has not enjoyed the typical 100-day honeymoon period. Overall, only 42 percent of Americans approve of Trump’s performance as president, and 53 percent disapprove. The number is worse in the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll that puts Trump’s overall job-approval rating at 40 percent, 4 points lower than it was in February. That is in sharp contrast to the average 69 percent approval for past presidents at or near the 100-day mark. President Barack Obama, for example, had a 69-26 percent approval rating near his 100 days in office. More than half of Americans don’t think Trump has accomplished much in his first 100 days. Forty-five percent of Americans flat out say that Trump’s presidency is off to a poor start while 19 percent say it’s been “only a fair start.” That compares to the 35 percent who say the president’s first 100 days have been “good” or “great,” according to the NBC/WSJ poll. That doesn’t mean it’s all doom and gloom for the president. The Post/ABC poll also finds some surprisingly positive evaluations of the commander in chief’s performance on certain issues. More than half of Americans—53 percent—say Trump is a strong leader, including 25 percent of Democrats. Plus 73 percent of Americans approve of the way he has been pressuring companies to keep jobs in the country. A plurality—46 percent—also approve of the way he has been handling North Korea. The president also gets high marks for his recent military actions in Syria, which 62 percent of Americans say they support, according to the NBC/WSJ poll. Still, despite these few bright spots, the polls point to mostly bad news for the president, as 56 percent say he doesn’t have the judgment to serve effectively as president, and 58 percent doubt his honesty and trustworthiness. The public also seems to have noticed Trump’s penchant for changing his mind, with 55 percent saying he doesn’t follow a consistent set of principles. Democrats should be cautious about getting too gleeful about Trump’s numbers though, as 67 percent say the Democratic Party is out of touch with the concerns of most Americans, according to the Post/ABC survey. Both Trump and the Republican Party have better scores in that regard with 58 percent and 62 percent, respectively. *This post has been updated to include additional information from the Washington Post/ABC News poll.

The Fraud Among Us, or Within Us? It happens uncomfortably often. A successful person, who seemingly has achieved great things and earned respect and admiration, is exposed as a fraud. From Bernie Madoff to the imprisoned real estate developer who built the outsized, now foreclosed home in my neighborhood, I am reminded that people are not always what they seem. Fraud disturbs me most when it happens close to my professional home. A decade ago, a social psychologist was forced to resign her position at the University of Texas and retract four articles. Now, it has happened again. Diederik Stapel, a productive and frequently honored social psychologist and self researcher, has resigned his position at Tilburg University after admitting to fabricating data in his research. The most recent instance has been called “sad,” “shocking,” and “incomprehensible.” Cases of outright fraud in science are distressing for a lot of reasons. They damage the careers of students and collaborators, and raise doubts about nonretracted papers by the same author. Most important, they damage public trust in science and in scientists. In this case, trust in social psychologists and the work we do is undermined. Appropriately, then, SPSP has accepted Stapel’s resignation from the society, and asked him to step down from his various responsibilities. Beyond these very real consequences, I find the psychology of these cases deeply disturbing. I try to put myself in the shoes of someone exposed as a fraud, and think about what it must feel like to be them. What would it feel like to receive respect, admiration, job offers, and even honors and awards, knowing that they are based on falsehoods? Honest, authentic human connections would seem impossible, if I knew I was not the person that my peers, students, and colleagues thought I was. How isolating would that be, how lonely? How present would fear of exposure be in daily life? And how humiliating and downright frightening would it be to be exposed and lose everything—job, career, status, respect? Just thinking about it, I feel ill. It’s inexplicable to me that someone with obvious intelligence, ambition, and talent would risk everything by falsifying data. Explaining the Inexplicable Perhaps these cases seem inexplicable because we find out about them at the end, when the fraud has been exposed. By that time, bad choices leading to minor transgressions have escalated into outright career-killing fraud, likely in ways that were never intended. Bernie Madoff surely didn’t begin his Ponzi scheme planning to steal $50 billion. Social psychologists probably don’t begin down the path to scientific misconduct by inventing a study’s worth of data from whole cloth, while foreseeing that this would eventually cause their entire program of research to be doubted. These cases surely began as small missteps, smoothing over uncooperative results of one form or another. Cases of fraud are more understandable when we think about how they begin and escalate, not how they end. Stanley Milgram’s studies of obedience to authority provide insight into why people do things that are so counter to our norms and understanding of human nature that they seem either inexplicable, or the result of some form of pathology (Milgram, 1963). Usually, people interpret Milgram’s studies as revealing how obedient most of us are to authority or as evidence that the situation determines behavior. Another lesson of these experiments, however, may be more relevant to understanding cases of fraud: how easy it is to take the first small step on the slippery slope of violating our own norms and values, and how difficult it is to stop once the downward slide gains momentum (Modigliani & Rochat, 1995). In Milgram’s studies, the research subjects were placed in the role of “teacher;” they were to administer electric shock to another subject, the “learner” (actually a confederate of Milgram), each time the learner gave an incorrect answer, using a “shock generator” consisting of 30 switches, the first labeled “15 volts, slight shock,” and increasing by 15 volt increments to “420 volts, danger: severe shock, and finally, “450 volts, XXX.” The teacher was to increase the shock by 15 volts each time the learner was wrong, or did not answer. When these roles were explained, the learner revealed that he had a heart condition.1 This experiment is famous because of where it ended; of the 40 subjects in the original version of the study, 26, or 65%, administered shock up to the final switch on the shock generator, well past the point at which the “learner” complained of heart pain and then stopped responding altogether. The lesson of the study seemed to be that people would violate their own moral codes and administer potentially deadly shock to an ill victim, merely on the say-so of an authority figure. But this experiment may be more important for where it begins. All participants—100%–began by giving only a “slight shock” of 15 volts in response to the learner’s first incorrect answer. With the experimenter’s assurances that the shock might be painful but was not dangerous, what could be the harm of giving 15 volts? The harm is that once people have given 15 volts of shock, they have no compelling reason to resist giving a tiny increase of another 15 volts. After all, they have implicitly conceded that 15 volts of shock is minor. And once they have given 30 volts of shock, why not 45? Each time participants administered shock—at first just a “slight” amount, then stronger shocks–that level of shock became the new “normal.” Consciously or unconsciously, teachers justified their behavior to themselves each time they pulled the switch, and each justification made pulling the next switch easier. It is much harder to see that giving shock is wrong and that one has the power to simply stop after one has already given shocks that increased from 15 to 300 or more volts. Thus did participants slide down the slippery slope toward administering potentially fatal shock (Modigliani & Rochat, 1995).2 Imagine what would have happened if Milgram had asked the teachers to begin by administering 450 volts of shock, marked XXX, beyond “danger: severe shock,” at the first wrong answer by the learner. To my knowledge, this variation of the Milgram studies has never been conducted. I suspect that “obedience,” in this scenario, would drop dramatically, perhaps even to 0. For understanding fraud, the useful lesson of the Milgram studies is the significance of that first tiny step down the slippery slope, however “slight” a violation it may be. Each minor transgression, whether dropping an inconvenient data point or failing to give credit where it is due, creates a threat to self-image—“Am I that sort of person?” To avoid the discomfort, people rationalize and justify until their behavior feels comfortable and right, making the next transgression seem not only easier, but perhaps even morally right. To be fair, we are all flawed, nonperfect human beings. Although the well-being of our science and our society, require that fraud be punished severely, merely focusing on the perpetrator may divert our attention from the fraud within us all. Although we don’t all fabricate data or run Ponzi schemes, if we look closely at our lives, surely all of us can find places where we took that first step, and perhaps several, down one slippery slope or another. Perhaps we transgressed in some minor way–snapped at our children, or borrowed a few words from someone without attribution. Perhaps we refused a request for some service or another because we wanted to focus on advancing our own careers. Because people are human, if we look for things we’ve done that violate, even just a tiny bit, our own moral values, surely we will find them. Surely there are ways we are not who our colleagues think we are—we are less brilliant, witty, selfless, or helpful than we lead them to think. We already know what it feels like to be a fraud, be cause in little, nearly imperceptible ways, our desire to be well-regarded leads us to conceal our mistakes, weaknesses, and foibles from others. Perhaps, while enforcing the standards of our profession, we can still have compassion for those who transgress, knowing that it is in our nature as human beings to try to get others to see us in a positive light. This analysis shifts the focus from “them” to “us,” and shifts the question away from, “How could they do it?” to “Why do we start in the first place?” and “How can we stop?” Why do we start? All of these transgressions, minor or major, may have started with a little fear of our egos. Milgram’s studies do not address the issue of why his participants administered the first 15 volts of shock. 100% of participants in his first study took this first step, so the data offer no clues as to why people might draw the line and not even take the first step. Through the lens of my own research, I suspect that something in this situation triggers egoistic concerns for participants; some fear or little anxiety was triggered. It wasn’t fear of losing their $4.50 payment for participating; Milgram assured subjects that the money was theirs to keep, no matter what. Instead, it was likely some fear of what noncompliance would mean about them (I wasted my time coming here; I’m not helpful; I’m the trouble-maker; I’m the one who screwed up science), or fear of being judged negatively by the experimenter. In some small, perhaps imperceptible way, noncompliance represented a threat to subjects’ self-image or public image. In the same way, the first small step down the slippery slope of fraud probably starts out of some sort of egoistic fear or anxiety—fear of losing someone else’s admiration and respect, fear of letting others down, fear of being seen as a loser, fear of being a failure, or fear of not getting the job, the grant, or the award one covets. How can we stop? The difficult question then becomes, how can we stop the slide? Again, Milgram’s study is instructive. A meta-analysis of data from eight of Milgram’s obedience experiments showed that defiance of the experimenter was most likely at 150 volts, when the learner first requested to be released from the study (Packer, 2008). Although not conclusive, this finding suggests that, for defiant participants, at some point concern for the well-being of the learner took priority over concerns for self-image or public image that prevented defiance of the experimenter. And this might be the most important lesson. Cultivating concern for the rights and well-being of others, making it a daily practice, committing to act on it—these things may help us stop our slide down that slippery slope. In the case of the 15 volt steps toward scientific misconduct, thinking about the consequences for our students, colleagues, loved ones, our institution, our discipline, or science itself might help us stop our own little slides, when they inevitably happen. In this regard, we should all feel gratitude toward, and admiration for, those people who took the risk to stop something unacceptable when they saw it. Surely, they experienced egoistic fears—Will they believe me? What will happen to me? Will my own reputation be tarnished? But they acted for the common good in spite of those fears, and I, for one, thank them. Footnote 1. For more information about the Milgram study see: http://www.psychologicalscience.org/index.php/news/releases/50th-anniversary-of-stanley-milgrams-obedience-experiments.html) 2. I thank Marc-Andre Olivier for pointing out to me this powerful aspect of Milgram’s obedience paradigm. Reference Milgram, S. (1963). Behavioral study of obedience. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 67, 371-378. Modigliani, A., & Rochat, F. (1995). The role of interaction sequences and the timing of resistance in shaping obedience and defiance to authority. Journal of Social Issues, 51, 107-123. Packer, D. J. (2008). Identifying systematic disobedience in Milgram’s obedience experiments: A meta-analytic review. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 3, 301-304. Advertisements

A video purportedly showing three British schoolgirls moments before they were smuggled by an alleged foreign spy from Turkey into Syria - where they joined the Islamic State (Isis) terror group - has emerged. Three girls, said to be runaway London teenagers Shamima Begum, Kadiza Sultana and Amira Abase, are seen in the shaky footage as they unload their baggage from a taxi and enter another vehicle in what appears to be Turkey's southern city of Gaziantep. They are helped by two men, one of whom is filming the operations with a mobile device. The man asks the girls their names and then helps them into another vehicle, saying it will take them across the border within one hour. Speaking in English, he tells the girls not to forget anything, including their passports. "It's nice!" he is heard saying in the clip obtained by broadcaster A Haber. He then wishes them good luck, adding he will not personally accompany them to the border as he will return to Sanlıurfa a Turkish about 50km north of the Syrian city of Kobani. The smuggler was arrested earlier in March by Turkish authorities who claimed he was an intelligence officer working for an anti-IS coalition member state. In a separate video also published by A Haber, the suspect is seen living a courthouse in Turkey flanked by plain clothed security agents. "It turned out to be someone who worked in the intelligence services of a country in the coalition," Turkey Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said announcing the arrest. The minister did not reveal the nationality of the agent but said they did not work for the US or any EU state. Turkish media claimed he was a Syrian national working for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), named as Mohammed al Rashid. Canadian government sources denied the man was employed by CSIS or any other federal agency. However, Reuters quoted a European security source familiar with the case as saying the suspect had ties to the CSIS. A spokesperson for Canada's Public Safety Minister, Steven Blaney, told The Toronto Star: "We are aware of these reports. We do not comment on operational matters of national security." Begum, 15, Sultana, 16, and 15-year-old Abase flew from London's Gatwick Airport to Istanbul on 17 February. CCTV images appeared to show the teenagers boarding a bus to Gaziantep, a notorious port of entrance for foreign fighters travelling to Syria. They are now believed to be living in IS's de facto capital, Raqqa. The Turkish government has been criticised by its Nato allies for allegedly not doing enough to prevent would-be-jihadists from crossing its long and porous border with Syria. In turn, Ankara claimed Western states have failed to provide it with enough intelligence on suspect travellers. Thousands of Westerners have travelled to IS-held territories via Turkey, swelling the terror group ranks over the past two years.

Aston Martin says Adrian Newey's new road car will be quicker than a Formula One car around some of the world's fastest race circuits. The new car, codenamed the AM-RB 001, is being built as part of a new collaboration between Red Bull and Aston Martin, with under 100 examples expected to reach production in late 2018. Newey has been given a clean slate to design the car and is incorporating ground-effects and a mid-engined layout to create unprecedented levels of performance in a road car. Aston Martin CEO Andy Palmer said the target is to make a car capable of lapping Silverstone quicker than an F1 car. "As we sit here today, the raison d'etre that we've given the team is to be faster than an F1 car around Silverstone - or indeed any other F1 track," Palmer said. "I am sure there are other cars that can go in straight lines quicker than this, but we don't make drag cars, we make cars you can use. That is the raison d'etre we use." Red Bull team principal Christian Horner says the potential performance of the AM-RB 001 will underline how much quicker Formula One cars could be with different regulations. "I think it showed with unrestricted aerodynamics what is possible," he said. "I think that F1 has got scope to move the lap times considerably quicker. There is a step coming for 2017, we personally would like it to go further but we seem to be a lone voice in that. But F1 should be the ultimate. "Taking unrestricted aerodynamics, this car will be seriously, seriously quick. And the initial indications we have had from it have generated more downforce than any car that we have ever produced." Concrete details of the car remain slim, with the engine, tyres and expected performance figures yet to be released. "We're not going to talk about tyre suppliers or anyone at the moment, but we are well down the line with talking to all of our suppliers," Aston Martin designer Marek Reichman said. "For anyone involved this is a very exciting programme to have your name as a supplier on this car. I don't know if you played Top Trumps when you were a kid, but this will be the Top Trump for everything."

Always Trying to Escape When I was a student at MIT I was interested only in science; I was no good at anything else. But at MIT there was a rule: You have to take some humanities courses to get more "culture." Besides the English classes required were two electives, so I looked through the list, and right away I found astronomy--as a humanities course! So that year I escaped with astronomy. Then next year I looked further down the list, past French literature and courses like that, and found philosophy. It was the closest thing to science I could find. Before I tell you what happened in philosophy, let me tell you about the English class. We had to write a number of themes. For instance, Mill had written something on liberty, and we had to criticize it. But instead of addressing myself to political liberty, as Mill did, I wrote about liberty in social occasions--the problem of having to fake and lie in order to be polite, and does this perpetual game of faking in social situations lead to the "destruction of the moral fiber of society." An interesting question, but not the one we were supposed to discuss. Another essay we had to criticize was by Huxley, "On a Piece of Chalk," in which he describes how an ordinary piece of chalk he is holding is the remains from animal bones, and the forces inside the earth lifted it up so that it became part of the White Cliffs, and then it was quarried and is now used to conve ideas through writing on the blackboard. But again, instead of criticizing the essay assigned to us, I wrote a parody called, "On a Piece of Dust," about how dust makes the colors of the sunset and precipitates the rain, and so on. I was always a faker, always trying to escape. But when we had to write a theme on Goethe's Faust, it was hopeless! The work was too long to make a parody of it or to invent something else. I was storming back and forth in the fraternity saying, "I can't do it. I'm just not gonna do it. I ain't gonna do it!" One of my fraternity brothers said, "OK, Feynman, you're not gonna do it. But the professor will think you didn't do it because you don't want to do the work. You oughta write a theme on something--same number of words--and hand it in with a note saying that you just couldn't understand the Faust, you haven't got the heart for it, and that it's impossible for you to write a theme on it." So I did that. I wrote a long theme, "On the Limitations of Reason." I had thought about scientific techniques for solving problems, and how there are certain limitations: moral values cannot be decided by scientific methods, yak, yak, yak, and so on. Then another fraternity brother offered some more advice. "Feynman," he said, "it ain't gonna work, handing in a theme that's got nothing to do with Faust. What you oughta do is work that thing you wrote into the Faust." "Ridiculous!" I said. But the other fraternity guys think it's a good idea. "All right, all right!" I say, protesting. "I'll try." So I added half a page to what 1 had already written, and said that Mephistopheles represents reason, and Faust represents the spirit, and Goethe is trying to show the limitations of reason. I stirred it up, cranked it all in, and handed in my theme. The professor had us each come in individually to discuss our theme. I went in expecting the worst. He said, "The introductory material is fine, but the Faust material is a bit too brief. Otherwise, it's very good-- B + ." I escaped again! Now to the philosophy class. The course was taught by an old bearded professor named Robinson, who always mumbled. I would go to the class, and he would mumble along, and I couldn't understand a thing. The other people in the class seemed to understand him better, but they didn't seem to pay any attention. I happened to have a small drill, about one-sixteenth-inch, and to pass the time in that class, I would twist it between my fingers and drill holes in the sole of my shoe, week after week. Finally one day at the end of the class, Professor Robinson went "wugga mugga mugga wugga wugga . . . and everybody got excited! They were all talking to each other and discussing, so I figured he'd said something interesting, thank God! I wondered what it was? I asked somebody, and they said, "We have to write a theme, and hand it in in four weeks." "A theme on what?" "On what he's been talking about all year." I was stuck. The only thing that I had heard during that entire term that I could remember was a moment when there came this upwelling, "muggawuggastreamofconsciousnessmugga wugga," and phoom!--it sank back into chaos. This "stream of consciousness" reminded me of a problem my father had given to me many years before. He said, "Suppose some Martians were to come down to earth, and Martians never slept, but instead were perpetually active. Suppose they didn't have this crazy phenomenon that we have, called sleep. So they ask you the question: 'How does it feel to go to sleep? What happens when you go to sleep? Do your thoughts suddenly stop, or do they move less aanndd lleeessss rraaaaapppppiidddddllllllllyyyyyyyyyyy yyy? How does the mind actually turn off?" I got interested. Now I had to answer this question: How does the stream of consciousness end, when you go to sleep? So every afternoon for the next four weeks I would work on my theme, I would pull down the shades in my room, turn off the lights, and go to sleep. And I'd watch what happened, when I went to sleep. Then at night, I'd go to sleep again, so I had two times each day when I could make observations--it was very good! At first I noticed a lot of subsidiary things that had little to do with falling asleep. I noticed, for instance, that I did a lot of thinking by speaking to myself internally. I could also imagine things visually. Then, when I was getting tired, I noticed that I could think of two things at once. I discovered this when I was talking internally to myself about something, and while I was doing this, I was idly imagining two ropes connected to the end of my bed, going through some pulleys, and winding around a turning cylinder, slowly lifting the bed. I wasn't aware that I was imagining these ropes until I began to worry that one rope would catch on the other rope, and they wouldn't wind up smoothly. But I said, internally, "Oh, the tension will take care of that," and this interrupted the first thought I was having, and made me aware that I was thinking of two things at once. I also noticed that as you go to sleep the ideas continue, but they become less and less logically interconnected. You don't notice that they're not logically connected until you ask yourself, "What made me think of that?" and you try to work your way back, and often you can't remember what the hell did make you think of that! So you get every illusion of logical connection, but the actual fact is that the thoughts become more and more cockeyed until they're completely disjointed, and beyond that, you fall asleep. After four weeks of sleeping all the time, I wrote my theme, and explained the observations I had made. At the end of the theme I pointed out that all of these observations were made while I was watching myself fall asleep, and I don't really know what it's like to fall asleep when I'm not watching myself. I concluded the theme with a little verse I made up, which pointed out this problem of introspection: I wonder why. I wonder why. I wonder why I wonder. I wonder why I wonder why I wonder why I wonder! We hand in our themes, and the next time our class meets, the professor reads one of them: "Mum bum wugga mum bum . . ." I can't tell what the guy wrote. He reads another theme: "Mugga wugga mum bum wugga wugga. . ." I don't know what that guy wrote either, but at the end of it, he goes: Uh wugga wuh. Uh wugga wuh Uh wugga wugga wugga. I wugga wuh uh wugga wuh Uh wugga wugga wugga. "Aha!" I say. "That's my theme!" I honestly didn't recognize it until the end. After I had written the theme I continued to be curious, and I kept practicing this watching myself as I went to sleep. One night, while I was having a dream, I realized I was observing myself in the dream. I had gotten all the way down into the sleep itself! In the first part of the dream I'm on top of a train and we're approaching a tunnel. I get scared, pull myself down, and we go into the tunnel--whoosh! I say to myself, "So you can get the feeling of fear, and you can hear the sound change when you go into the tunnel." I also noticed that I could see colors. Some people had said that you dream in black and white, but no, I was dreaming in color. By this time I was inside one of the train cars, and I can feel the train lurching about. I say to myself, "So you can get kinesthetic feelings in a dream." I walk with some difficulty down to the end of the car, and I see a big window, like a store window. Behind it there are-not mannequins, but three live girls in bathing suits, and they look pretty good! I continue walking into the next car, hanging onto the straps overhead as I go, when I say to myself, "Hey! It would be interesting to get excited--sexually--so I think I'll go back into the other car." I discovered that I could turn around, and walk back through the train--I could control the direction of my dream. I get back to the car with the special window, and I see three old guys playing violins--but they turned back into girls! So I could modify the direction of my dream, but not perfectly. Well, I began to get excited, intellectually as well as sexually, saying things like, "Wow! It's working!" and I woke up. I made some other observations while dreaming. Apart from always asking myself, "Am I really dreaming in color?" I wondered, "How accurately do you see something?" The next time I had a dream, there was a girl lying in tall grass, and she had red hair. I tried to see if I could see each hair. You know how there's a little area of color just where the sun is reflecting--the diffraction effect, I could see that! I could see each hair as sharp as you want: perfect vision! Another time I had a dream in which a thumbtack was stuck in a doorframe. I see the tack, run my fingers down the doorframe, and I feel the tack. So the "seeing department" and the "feeling department" of the brain seem to be connected. Then I say to myself, Could it be that they don't have to be connected? I look at the doorframe again, and there's no thumbtack. I run my finger down the doorframe, and I feel the tack! Another time I'm dreaming and I hear "knock-knock; knock-knock." Something was happening in the dream that made this knocking fit, but not perfectly--it seemed sort of foreign. I thought: "Absolutely guaranteed that this knocking is coming from outside my dream, and I've invented this part of the dream to fit with it. I've got to wake up and find out what the hell it is." The knocking is still going, I wake up, and . . . Dead silence. There was nothing. So it wasn't connected to the outside. Other people have told me that they have incorporated external noises into their dreams, but when I had this experience, carefully "watching from below," and sure the noise was coming from outside the dream, it wasn't. During the time of making observations in my dreams, the process of waking up was a rather fearful one. As you're beginning to wake up there's a moment when you feel rigid and tied down, or underneath many layers of cotton batting. It's hard to explain, but there's a moment when you get the feeling you can't get out; you're not sure you can wake up. So I would have to tell myself--after I was awake--that that's ridiculous. There's no disease I know of where a person falls asleep naturally and can't wake up. You can always wake up. And after talking to myself many times like that, I became less and less afraid, and in fact I found the process of waking up rather thrilling--something like a roller coaster: After a while you're not so scared, and you begin to enjoy it a little bit. You might like to know how this process of observing my dreams stopped (which it has for the most part; it's happened just a few times since). I'm dreaming one night as usual, making observations, and I see on the wall in front of me a pennant. I answer for the twenty-fifth time, "Yes, I'm dreaming in color," and then I realize that I've been sleeping with the back of my head against a brass rod. I put my hand behind my head and I feel that the back of my head is soft. I think, "Aha! That's why I've been able to make all these observations in my dreams: the brass rod has disturbed my visual cortex. All I have to do is sleep with a brass rod under my head, and I can make these observations any time I want. So I think I'll stop making observations on this one, and go into deeper sleep." When I woke up later, there was no brass rod, nor was the back of my head soft. Somehow I had become tired of making these observations, and my brain had invented some false reasons as to why I shouldn't do it any more. As a result of these observations I began to get a little theory. One of the reasons that I liked to look at dreams was that I was curious as to how you can see an image, of a person, for example, when your eyes are closed, and nothing's coming in. You say it might be random, irregular nerve discharges, but you can't get the nerves to discharge in exactly the same delicate patterns when you are sleeping as when you are awake, looking at something. Well then, how could I "see" in color, and in better detail, when I was asleep? I decided there must be an "interpretation department." When you are actually looking at something--a man, a lamp, or a wall--you don't just see blotches of color. Something tells you what it is; it has to be interpreted. When you're dreaming, this interpretation department is still operating, but it's all slopped up. It's telling you that you're seeing a human hair in the greatest detail, when it isn't true. It's interpreting the random junk entering the brain as a clear image. One other thing about dreams. I had a friend named Deutsch, whose wife was from a family of psychoanalysts in Vienna. One evening, during a long discussion about dreams, he told me that dreams have significance: there are symbols in dreams that can be interpreted psychoanalytically. I didn't believe most of this stuff, but that night I had an interesting dream: We're playing a game on a billiard table with three balls--a white ball, a green ball, and a gray ball--and the name of the game is "titsies." There was something about trying to get the balls into the pocket: the white ball and the green ball are easy to sink into the pocket, but the gray one, I can't get to it. I wake up, and the dream is very easy to interpret: the name of the game gives it away, of course-them's girls! The white ball was easy to figure out, because I was going out, sneakily, with a married woman who worked at the time as a cashier in a cafeteria and wore a white uniform. The green one was also easy, because I had gone out about two nights before to a drive-in movie with a girl in a green dress. But the gray one-what the hell was the gray one? I knew it had to be somebody; I felt it. It's like when you're trying to remember a name, and it's on the tip of your tongue, hut you can't get it. It took me half a day before I remembered that I had said goodbye to a girl I liked very much, who had gone to Italy about two or three months before. She was a very nice girl, and I had decided that when she came back I was going to see her again. I don't know if she wore a gray suit, but it was perfectly clear, as soon as I thought of her, that she was the gray one. I went back to my friend Deutsch, and I told him he must be right--there is something to analyzing dreams. But when he heard about my interesting dream, he said, "No, that one was too perfect--too cut and dried. Usually you have to do a bit more analysis."

The video will start in 8 Cancel Get the biggest daily news stories by email Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email Hundreds of tourists were evacuated from the Eiffel Tower tonight - as armed police and soldiers searched tourists in central Paris. The whole area around the popular tourist attraction was cordoned off and the popular tourist hotspot placed on lockdown. At 9pm tonight the situation was declared a "false alarm" and the vicinity began to return to normal. Initially there was confusion and the reason for the evacuation was not immediately clear - with unconfirmed reports of a "suspicious package" having been found. Video Loading Video Unavailable Click to play Tap to play The video will start in 8 Cancel Play now French outlet BFMTV reported that security services spotted an abandoned piece of luggage. Eyewitnesses described a large police presence at the scene - with many cops spotted carrying assault rifles. Visitors were warned away from the site of France's most popular landmark - with Twitter users reporting the military had been deployed "all over" the place. Police allowed people into the ground floor restaurant - but nobody else was allowed to venture any further - according to one report. People were reported to be acting calmly - with "no state of panic" - and responding well to the show of force. The French nation is on a knife-edge after suffering a number of Islamic State terrorist attacks in the last 18 months - including the attacks in Paris last November, the attack in Nice last month and the murder of a French priest in Normandy last week. According to BMFTV the evacuation was undertaken as a precautionary measure in the wake of these attacks.

Sometimes it happens on rough days that a glimmer peaks through. I received a handwritten letter via snail mail (address on sidebar) from a young Jesuit… I know, I know…. Here is some of it: Thank you for your vocation, your bold witness to the truth and beauty of the Church’s teaching, and your blog. I’ve been in [JESUIT SCHOOL] for my theological studies for the past three years and found your blog encouraging and grounding to say the least. Please pray for me and the twelve other men being ordained with me. For the greater part we are a solid JPII/Benedict group and I have a lot of hope for the good things we might do to do right by our Founder’s great vision. That’s what I’m talking about! There are a lot of younger Jesuits who want the real deal. They need support. Papa Ganganelli! Pray for them! Dear readers, pray for them.

The Mendenhall Order marked a decision to change the fundamental standards of length and mass of the United States from the customary standards based on those of England to metric standards (Mendenhall 1922). It was issued on April 5, 1893, by Thomas Corwin Mendenhall, superintendent of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, with the approval of the United States Secretary of the Treasury, John Griffin Carlisle. The order was issued as the Survey's Bulletin No. 26 - Fundamental Standards of Length and Mass. Standards before the order [ edit ] In October 1834, the United Kingdom Houses of Parliament were destroyed in a fire, and the British standards of length and mass were also destroyed. "When the new imperial standards to replace them were completed in 1855, two copies of the yard and one copy of the avoirdupois pound were presented to the United States" (Barbrow & Judson 1976, 9). These were superior to the yard then in use, so one of them was adopted as the United States national standard yard. These yards were taken to England and re-compared with the imperial yard in 1876 and 1888. The pound provided by the United Kingdom agreed with the United States mint pound, which remained the national standard according to Barbrow and Judson. Hockert (2015) claims the UK pound replaced the mint pound. These were the fundamental standards for customary length and mass measurements in the United States, but the Office of Weights and Measures had other standards for metric measurements. Official recognition of the metric system [ edit ] The Metric Act of 1866 was passed by Congress and allowed, but did not require, the use of the metric system. Included in the law was a table of conversion factors between the traditional and metric units. The U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey Office of Weights and Measures had on hand a number of metric standards, and selected the iron “Committee Meter” and the platinum "Arago Kilogram" to be the national standards for metric measurement; the standard yard and pound previously mentioned continued to be the standards for customary measurements. (Barbrow & Judson 1976, 10). A series of conferences in France between 1870 and 1875 led to the signing of the Metre Convention and to the permanent establishment of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures, abbreviated BIPM after the French name. The BIPM made meter and kilogram standards for all the countries that signed the treaty; the two meters and two kilograms allocated to the United States arrived in 1890, and were adopted as national standards (Barbrow & Judson 1976, 16). Reasons for the change [ edit ] The imperial standard yard of 1855 was found to be unstable and shortening by measurable amounts (Barbrow & Judson 1976, 16). Also, the mint pound was found to be “likewise unfit for use.” For several years before the Mendenhall order was actually issued, the Office of Weights and Measures was “practically forced” to use the metric standards because of their superior stability, and because they were better designed for carrying out precision comparisons. The Office found that the conversion tables in the 1866 law were satisfactory and used them to derive customary length and mass from the metric standards. The conversions were 1 yard = ​3600⁄ 3937 meter and 1 pound = 0.4535924277 kilogram. The Mendenhall order amounted to a formal announcement of a change that had already occurred (Mendenhall 1922). Refinement of the conversions [ edit ] The definitions of 1893 remained unchanged for 66 years, but increasing precision in measurements gradually made the differences in the standards in use in English-speaking countries important. By the international yard and pound agreement of July 1, 1959, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States agreed that 1 yard = 0.9144 meter and that 1 avoirdupois pound = 0.45359237 kilogram (but see U.S. survey foot in the foot) (Barbrow & Judson 1976, 20). Standards versus systems [ edit ] Mendenhall ordered that the standards used for the most accurate length and mass comparison change from certain yard and pound objects to certain meter and kilogram objects, but did not require anyone outside of the Office of Weights and Measures to change from the customary units to the metric system. See also [ edit ]

South Carolina General Assembly 120th Session, 2013-2014 Download This Bill in Microsoft Word format Indicates Matter Stricken Indicates New Matter H. 4923 STATUS INFORMATION General Bill Sponsors: Rep. Nanney Document Path: l:\council\bills\dka\3161cm14.docx Introduced in the House on March 12, 2014 Currently residing in the House Committee on Education and Public Works Summary: Bicycles HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS Date Body Action Description with journal page number ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3/12/2014 House Introduced and read first time (House Journal-page 13) 3/12/2014 House Referred to Committee on Education and Public Works (House Journal-page 13) View the latest legislative information at the website VERSIONS OF THIS BILL 3/12/2014 (Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.) A BILL TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, BY ADDING SECTION 56-1-1715 SO AS TO REQUIRE THE OWNER OF A BICYCLE TO OBTAIN A PERMIT FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES AND LIABILITY INSURANCE AS IS REQUIRED OF MOTOR VEHICLES BEFORE OPERATING A BICYCLE ALONG A HIGHWAY WHOSE MAXIMUM SPEED LIMIT IS AT LEAST THIRTY-FIVE MILES AN HOUR; AND BY ADDING SECTION 56-3-115 SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT NOTWITHSTANDING ANY OTHER PROVISION OF LAW, FOR THE PURPOSES OF REGISTRATION AND THE REQUIRED LIMITS OF LIABILITY INSURANCE, A MOPED IS A MOTOR VEHICLE. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina: SECTION 1. Article 9, Chapter 1, Title 56 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding: "Section 56-1-1715. (A) Notwithstanding another provision of law, the owner of a bicycle who is at least fifteen years old shall obtain a bicycle permit from the Department of Motor Vehicles upon payment of a fee of five dollars and maintain liability insurance on the bicycle as is required of an owner of a motor vehicle as provided in Chapter 77, Title 38, before operating the bicycle along a highway whose maximum speed limit is at least thirty-five miles an hour. (B) Before the department issues a bicycle permit, the applicant must pass successfully all parts of a bicycle safety written examination that is developed by the department. The examination shall include a test of the applicant's eyesight, as pertains to the operation of a bicycle, a test of his ability to read and understand highway signs regulating, warning, and directing traffic and his knowledge of the traffic laws of this State. This permit must be in the applicant's immediate possession when the bicycle is operated along a highway whose maximum speed limit is at least thirty-five miles an hour. A person who is less than fifteen years old may not operate a bicycle along a highway whose maximum speed limit is at least thirty-five miles an hour." SECTION 2. Article 3, Chapter 3, Title 56 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding: "Section 56-3-115. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, for the purposes of registration and the required limits of liability insurance, a moped is a motor vehicle." SECTION 3. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor. ----XX---- This web page was last updated on March 18, 2014 at 10:13 AM

Numerous keys for Sniper Elite 3 have been invalidated and their owners left practically empty handed after Steam and developing studio Rebellion discovered they were stolen and then re-sold to other vendors. Rebellion is offering the "Target Hitler" DLC extension as a make-good for those affected, but as far as the full game, they're being told to contact the reseller and demand a refund. Neither Rebellion nor Steam are offering that. Rebellion, in a forum thread now stretching more than 700 comments, explicitly held the resellers blameless. "One of our PC retail distributors informed us that some of their allotted Steam keys were stolen," Rebellion wrote. "We believe these keys were then resold to multiple companies, with no payments going to either Valve or the retail distributor." Rebellion informed Steam of this, and Steam revoked these keys. "We have in no way targeted any specific vendors (who may have also thought these keys were legitimate)," Rebellion added, "just this one set of keys." Rebellion is facing a storm of angry responses on the game's Steam page as well as the studio's Facebook page. The most it's offering is the DLC, on the understanding that some may have preordered these keys and, therefore, if they lose the game they would also lose "Target Hitler," which for now is available only as a preorder incentive. Buyers of the revoked keys have until July 4 to claim that DLC. "All we can suggest if you have been affected is to please contact your vendor and first ask for a replacement key, and then contact us for the free pre-order DLC if you are successful," Rebellion wrote. Polygon has contacted Rebellion for additional comment and will update this story if any is provided.

We offered a charity bet to all of the main party leaders, and the only one to take us up was Nigel Farage. He’s had his £500 on Soll at 20/1, with any proceeds going to the RNLI. Funnily enough, that was the horse I was planning to back. Not sure whether to be pleased or not that Nigel agrees with me. I ought to point out that I don’t remember backing a Grand National winner since the 1980s. For political science groupies, the selection has to be Bob Ford at 50/1. I don’t think the horse was named after Manchester University’s Rob Ford, co-author of the excellent UKIP study Revolt on the Right, but I could be wrong. If you fancy a bet, you can find the latest odds on the big race here.

After last month’s insane/awesome issue, Nailbiter returns with a story that reveals quite a bit about the series’ mythology. Is it good? Nailbiter #23 (Image Comics) Observations If you’re a deadbeat foster parent, then you kind of deserve having Finch and Crane bust into your house with their guns drawn. A trip down memory lane with Edward Warren: Come for the nightmare-inducing childhood drawings, stay for the revelations. When Edward Warren says things are about to get weird, you can count on it being an understatement. Poor Edward. I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but maybe he actually does deserve some sympathy… …and I immediately retract that statement. Speaking of feeling bad for people (and changing my mind), it’s nice to see this character again. Not sure the rest of the Nailbiter cast is going to feel the same way. Is It Good? If executed incorrectly, a multiple thread cliffhanger is a recipe for narrative frustration/disaster. Lucky for us, we are in the wonderfully capable hands of Josh Williamson, who crafts an ending to Nailbiter #23 that is both perfectly paced and exhilarating. Most of the issue is spent with Edward Warren slowly revealing things about himself to Alice. In the hands of a lesser writer, this could have turned into a massive exposition dump. Instead, Williamson ties Warren’s story perfectly into what has come before while simultaneously leading us on a bizarre trip into one of the darkest (and strangely well-lit) corners of Buckaroo. Meanwhile, this journey of discovery is juxtaposed with Finch and Crane’s mad dash to find Alice. Adding to the desperation of the search is their attempt to make sense of the evening’s brutal violence. Throw in a meeting between Finch and Marigold–along with Crane alluding to an even more improbable upcoming alliance–and you’ve got a couple of riveting plot lines to follow. And as if all that weren’t enough, the issue’s coda brings a major character back into the fold in a very big way. Admittedly, I wanted to scream at Williamson when he cut away from the Warren/Alice revelations, but the final page more than made up for it. As usual, Mike Henderson’s artwork is outstanding. He and colorist Adam Guzowski do a fantastic job rendering the issue’s many location and mood changes. I also love the way Henderson draws the returning character so differently from how we got used to seeing him/her before. As good as he is at drawing gore and scary guys in armor, Henderson’s ability to portray a character’s emotions and mental state might be his greatest strength. There’s not a whole lot of action for Henderson to draw this issue, but Williamson’s great dialogue and carefully rationed revelations more than make up for it. ‘Bound by Blood’ is turning out to be a perfect example of why Nailbiter is one of the best comics being published right now.

Juancarlo Parkhurst, owner of Lina’s Diner and Bar, with some of his crew members in the restaurant’s kitchen. Photo by Mike Diegel. Silver Spring’s newest restaurant, Lina’s Diner and Bar, will officially open Tuesday, May 30. “We opened up last Thursday, so this entire run, Thursday through Saturday is what we consider our soft open,” said Juancarlo Parkhurst. “We’ll be closed for the Monday holiday and then we’ll start Tuesday with lunch, dinner as well as happy hour.” Parkhurst started cooking in college about 20 years ago to pay the bills, he said. He also cooked during a brief stint in law school, which he said he hated. He switched to the front of the house, working in various restaurants in New York City and South Beach, then went back to cooking, eventually moving back to New York City. He’s been living in the Silver Spring area for about 12 years. “My most recent stint was as a general manager opening up RPM Italian,” he said, an upscale Italian restaurant in Mount Vernon. The inspiration for Lina’s comes from his childhood experience going to a diner in New York City in the Meatpacking District that he said, “just blew my mind, it was such a cool place. You were seated next to transvestites, prostitutes, business people. It was open 24 hours a day. It was really kind of what I guess New York was in the 80s and 90s.” What always intrigued him about that restaurant, he said, was that it was a diner but with a strong French influence. By going to other places in the city over the years, the bistro idea just got ingrained in him, Parkhurst said He’d started looking at the location (8402 Georgia Ave.) and talking to the landlord eight years ago before actually jumping out on his own with Lina’s. He spent about two and half months renovating the space to get ready for the opening. The diner is named after his daughter, 10-year-old Carolina. The outdoor patio is named Sam’s Garden after his son (which also explains why the section of the menu listing burgers and such is labeled “Samwiches”). “It’s a very small, kind of recognizable comfort food menu,” he said about the offerings. “Obviously, we have strong classics.” Those dishes include steak frites, a double cheeseburger, an omelette in the French style (“a little loose on the inside”), pork belly poutine, grilled bratwurst, and a Croque Monsieur or Madame among other items. The restaurant will also start offering daily specials, including a fish of the day. The clientele during the soft open “has been a really interesting mix,” he said. “I’ve had young families, I’ve had young professionals, I’ve had kind of all walks of life over the last week and a half. It’s kind of what I wanted to go for—very much going back to that experience I had as a child. “You can’t be everything to everyone,” Parkhurst continued, “but I hope it’s a comfortable space for a lot of people.” Lunch at Lina’s will run from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and then reopen at 5 for dinner. Monday through Thursday, the kitchen will be open until 10 p.m. and the bar open until 11, and open one hour later for each on Friday and Saturday. The restaurant does not accept cash, only credit and debit cards. (Editor’s note: Lina’s Diner and Bar’s website will go live next week.) One of the pieces off artwork on the walls is a caricature by a local artist of Parkhurst’s daughter Carolina, for whom the diner is named. Photo by Mike Diegel. Follow Source of the Spring on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Sign up for our free Weekly Newsletter here. Submit events to our Community Events Calendar here. Please send tips and questions through our News Tips form, or email [email protected] Learn how to support Source of the Spring here. See something around town? Tag your photos on Twitter & Instagram with #SourceShots.

Don't be expecting Oculus Rift support for the PS4 or Xbox One any time soon. The Oculus Rift is making waves in the world of PC gaming as of late, trying it's best to provide gamers with the VR device we have been dreaming of since Tron. Even in the prototype stage, support for the device is constantly growing among PC developers, but Sony and Microsoft have seemingly shown very little interest. Talking to Tech Radar, creator Palmer Luckey says that's fine, explaining that the next-gen consoles are still too limited for his vision anyway. "Consoles are too limited for what we want to do. We're trying to make the best virtual reality device in the world and we want to continue to innovate and upgrade every year - continue making progress internally - and whenever we make big jumps we want to push that to the public." He says that his main problem with consoles is that after they are released, they are locked into a certain spec for a very long time. "Look at the PCs that existed eight years ago. There have been so many huge advances since then. Now look at the VR hardware of today. I think the jump we're going to see in the next four or five years is going to be massive, and already VR is a very intensive thing, it requires rendering at high resolutions at over 60 frames a second in 3D." "We're seeing games that are already saying they're gonna run in 720p on next gen so they can barely hit 60 in 2D," he continues, no doubt referencing the "resolutiongate" controversy. "It's hard to imagine them running a VR experience that's on par with PC." When asked if Luckey lumped Valve's upcoming "Steam Machines," (AKA, the Steam Box) in with his "consoles" statement, he is a bit more optimistic. "We're good friends with Valve," laughs Luckey, "We're great friends with them." Source: Tech Radar

In the history of TV—all 75 years of it—there has never been a time when so much content has been so readily available to watch. But with the average cable package now topping $103, according to Leichtman Research Group, and a new wave of direct-to-consumer services, viewers have more choices than ever in how they watch, via over-the-top, or OTT, services. “The key advantage to launching a stand-alone service is growing their audience beyond the traditional pay-TV ecosystem,” said Glenn Hower, a senior media analyst at the Dallas-based research firm Parks Associates. About 82 percent of TV households nationwide subscribe to some form of pay-TV service, according to Leichtman. That’s down 5 percent from 2011. As consumer behavior changed, and the technology got better, TV programmers took notice and started going over the top. CBS All Access was one of the first to launch in October 2014. It now has almost 1.5 million subscribers paying $5.99 a month for CBS shows as well as exclusive programs like The Good Fight and the upcoming Star Trek. HBO Now was the first premium direct-to-consumer service. It launched in April 2015 and now has more than 2 million subscribers paying $14.99 per month. CBS And while those platforms serve a wide audience, the new trend is niche. This month, Turner launched Boomerang, an ad-free streaming service that comes with access to thousands of hours of cartoons including the entire Hanna-Barbera, Looney Tunes and MGM libraries. Another streaming player, WWE Network, is built for fans of professional wrestling. “Back in 2012 and 2013, we started doing research among our fans, and we found out pretty quickly that WWE fans were consuming a lot of digital content online, about five times the national average,” WWE chief revenue and marketing officer Michelle Wilson told Adweek. “So while we were originally going down the path of launching a linear TV network, when we saw this data the light bulb went off for us and we felt this was an opportunity for us to go direct to our consumers.” WWE only ranks behind Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu and MLB.TV in total paid subscribers, according to a 2016 report from Parks Associates. Showtime is No. 9 and CBS All Access is No. 10 in total subscribers, per that same report. “We like calculated risks and we were willing to take the risk for the revenue upside and for the opportunity to drive more engagement,” said Wilson. “We felt streaming provided the greatest long-term transformative growth for WWE on a global basis.” The three-year-old WWE Network, which can be viewed with services like Roku and Apple TV, now has nearly 2 million paid and free trial subscribers across the globe. The service is $9.99 a month. While the standalone streaming model has been a hit for WWE, not every company sees the need to go over the top, whether on its own or with the new streaming bundles from the likes of AT&T’s DirecTV Now, Dish’s Sling and Google’s YouTube, as well as offerings from Hulu and PlayStation Vue. Bob Bakish, CEO of Viacom, which includes networks like Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, MTV and the soon-to-launch Paramount Network, says signing on with a streaming service may increase viewers, but won’t always make economic sense. “If you think about all these guys that have launched they’re all essentially the same,” said Bakish. “What I mean by that is they’re all about 40 bucks. They’re all based on broadcast and sports. And if you talk to the CEOs of any of them, they’ll tell you the same thing, which is we can’t make any money, which is probably code for we’re losing money on a variable basis.”

US Paving the Way for Massive First Strike on North Korea Nuclear and Missile Infrastructure The emerging Chinese super powers North Korean Proxy continues to accelerate towards being able to punch a hole through the US Military Empires encirclement of China as every other day brings North Korea a step closer towards it's primary objective of hitting and destroying the US Military base on Guam, home to over 10,000 troops and 160,000 US citizens, and which as the following map illustrates is just 1 of 400 US military bases in Asia for the express purpose of encircling and containing China. The latest news is that of a successful H-bomb test, though western scientists are reporting that the detonation registering on the richter scale was more on par with a 100k device rather an H-bomb that one would expect to have been several orders of magnitude more powerful. Still a 100k device would more than capable of destroying the US military base on Guam, in fact would be powerful enough to destroy most of the infrastructure of any of worlds major the cities. In response to which US Defence Secretary James Mattis stated that the US is considering military options towards eliminating the North Korean nuclear threat. Including warning of a 'massive military response' if North Korea attacks any US interests, and that Trump was being briefed on each of the "many military options" for dealing with the North Korean nuclear threat. "Our commitment among the allies are ironclad. Any threat to the United States or its territories, including Guam, or our allies will be met with a massive military response, a response both effective and overwhelming." "We are not looking to the total annihilation of a country, namely North Korea, but as I said, we have many options to do so." Earlier President Trump had warned of halting trade with any nation that does business with North Korea, which is primarily aimed at the $500 billion of goods imported annually from China. Ultimately the US objective is for North Korea to be taken over by South Korea, whilst for China it is the opposite objective. So the trend towards war with China remains in motion as I warned of in my in-depth analysis in the Trump Reset series that concluded BEFORE Donald Trump took office of why the US was inevitably trending towards War with China and therefore to understand why events such as a bellicose North Korea are happening one needs to look through prism of the world’s TWO global military and economic super powers. The United States as the defacto global super power, and the emerging Chinese super power that ultimately seeks to displace the United States with its own military and economic global empire. So that there is no confusion, a war that will likely involve the use of nuclear weapons is INEVITABLE as I iterated in my latest video analysis that concerned the role that the North Korean proxy was playing as China attempts to punch a hole through the ring of US military bases encircling China and its inevitable nuclear war consequences. https://youtu.be/a-bS0oWewgw (Note the video is unavailable on some devices such as mobile phones). In respect of which the US looks set to use at least a dozen tactical nuclear weapons on North Korea to neutralise their missile and nuclear infrastructure. Other videos in the Trump Reset - War with China series: Delirium - Why Trump Won the Election My first video in this series was in the immediate aftermath of the US election and explained why Trump won. The Putin Doctrine My second video concerned Trump following the "Putin Doctrine", one of there being no difference between that which is truth and that which is fiction. Will the CIA Assassinate President Trump? The prospects of the risk of President Trump going against the interests of the US military industrial, intelligence and corporate complex, such as being friendly towards Russia and dismissive of NATO and US intelligence that risks the CIA moving once more to remove a 'rogue' president from office, the last being 1963. Trump vs the Deep State that Hides in Plain Sight The "Deep State" best describes the invisible labyrinth of power which truly controls the United States no matter which party is in power against which a President Donald Trump will find himself doing battle against as his first press conference illustrates where Trump let rip into the mainstream press (CNN) as he reacted to the CIA's leaking of another MI6 dodgy dossier to the mainstream press, calling it all 'Fake News', fake intelligence by something that could have come out of Nazi Germany. And neither should it be forgotten that there are two other nuclear weapon proxies in the region, India for the US and Pakistan for China. Which as the North Korea theatre continues to escalate then soon could also be engineered towards threatening postures in the interest of each of the super powers interests i.e. India / China border skirmishes etc. Ensure you are subscribed to my always free newsletter and youtube channel Ensure for my forthcoming vides in the War with China series. By Nadeem Walayat http://www.marketoracle.co.uk Copyright © 2005-2017 Marketoracle.co.uk (Market Oracle Ltd). All rights reserved. Nadeem Walayat has over 30 years experience of trading derivatives, portfolio management and analysing the financial markets, including one of few who both anticipated and Beat the 1987 Crash. Nadeem's forward looking analysis focuses on UK inflation, economy, interest rates and housing market. He is the author of five ebook's in the The Inflation Mega-Trend and Stocks Stealth Bull Market series that can be downloaded for Free. Nadeem is the Editor of The Market Oracle, a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication that presents in-depth analysis from over 1000 experienced analysts on a range of views of the probable direction of the financial markets, thus enabling our readers to arrive at an informed opinion on future market direction. http://www.marketoracle.co.uk Disclaimer: The above is a matter of opinion provided for general information purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. Information and analysis above are derived from sources and utilising methods believed to be reliable, but we cannot accept responsibility for any trading losses you may incur as a result of this analysis. Individuals should consult with their personal financial advisors before engaging in any trading activities. Nadeem Walayat Archive © 2005-2019 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication.

The past few days, it seems like every member of the media has been all over the attempt to conflate the Occupy Wall Street movement and the Tea Party. One person who’s not getting in the act, though? Glenn Beck. It’s unsurprising considering that Beck really, really likes the Tea Party and really, really doesn’t like Occupy Wall Street. And so, today on his radio show, Beck had fairly negative things to say about one such person making those connections; Jon Stewart. After playing clips of Stewart asking how the protesters are not like the Tea Party, Beck claimed he couldn’t fit all the reasons in even the two hour running length of his GBTV show. After accusing the OWS crowd of wanting to murder and cannibalize rich people, Beck went onto Stewart personally. “You know, Jon Stewart, I have absolutely no respect for you. You are not a thinking man at all.” So Glenn Beck and Jon Stewart don’t see eye to eye on the issue. I will say this, that’s one way the Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street are exactly, 100% identical. Listen to the clip below: (h/t) Have a tip we should know? tips@mediaite.com

I have been tattooed twice, say, the usual-machine-way and I’m not sure when I started the decision to have a traditional tattoo at least once. It appealed to me so much because it was raw and real. Then some friends went up the mountains to have their tattoos done manually, known as pagbabatok, by famous Whang Od (if you don’t know yet, it’s pronounced as Fang-Od). So I researched more about the traditional art, Whang-Od, and how to get there, through blogs and friends. So if you’ve read the title, I’m not really getting into those details. You can find tons of info in any search engine so go ahead and do that. I told my family and friends about my plans to go and they were all like, am I sure, can I handle the pain, it’s too risky and dangerous, blah blah. Days before our trip to Kalinga, we visited a friend who’s had his “batok” last year and has visited Buscalan many times already. Aside from the usual warnings of the dangerous road and rough trek, he mentioned, “Pero eto ang pinakamadumi na tato ah. Hanggang ngayon pag pinipisil ko yung tato ko, may lumalabas eh.” (“This is the dirtiest tattoo. Even now, when I pinch it, something comes out.”) I asked him if he ever had it checked by a doctor, he said no, simply because it will defeat the purpose of having it done traditionally. Also he was a friend of the group Tado was with on the way there, so he knew the people who died to take this journey, may they rest in peace, that’s why he asked me if I still wanted to go. You can also discover in blogs that though Whang Od changes the pine needle to use per person, she does not change the cloth she uses to wipe over the skin of those getting their tattoos. Even if you give her a new one to use, she won’t allow it. The ink to be used is the soot from her cooking-ware mixed with water. Honestly, knowing all these didn’t even shake my desire to go there. I have decided before I knew. I was ready to go alone, but my friend Keisha wanted to go too, so we went together. We also happen to meet Kuya Paolo along the way who’s heading to Buscalan. You can read about our trip here. So, yes, you already (hopefully) know the process is cringe-worthy. They don’t give you anesthesia. For me, it was 20 times more painful than machine tattoos, and I’d like to believe I have a strong pain tolerance. I managed not to cry or scream though, concentrating on the plants around and savoring the feeling of what the elders in the tribes have felt. Kuya Francis Pa-in, our guide, also told us stories. The pain was too much to bear for some that there were cases when the person peed, fainted, and yes, even pooped. In these instances, Whang Od won’t continue with the tattoo even if you insist, she can always tell if the person can or can’t bear it. Also for women on their dreaded time of the month, it is not advisable since it can be more painful or for whatever reason I don’t know. Ask your doctor. Don’t worry too much though, Keisha was on hers when she got tattooed and she’s fine. Her tattoo just bled profusely more than mine though I’m not sure if it’s the position or her condition that time. I earnestly hope what I’m saying doesn’t discourage you if you happen to plan to go. After we’ve been permanently branded a traditional Buscalan art, I was more than overwhelmed. I was exhilarated. I have never felt more alive and proud. The throbbing wasn’t so unbearable after. They just put coconut oil on it and said we didn’t have to put anything after. It looked like pointillism and it was swelling more than my previous tattoos after an hour. We were allowed to take a bath that afternoon, but getting it wet a day after wasn’t advisable since it might affect the natural scattering of the ink. The following day, about four inches of my arm was swelling in length, and an inch more in terms of width. I could not lower my hand because the blood flows down and it throbs like hell so I held it up all the time. This wasn’t the case for Keisha though, again, it might vary by the tattoo’s position. That’s when I understood what Kuya Francis said about tattoos on the legs and feet are so painful after because the blood flows down and you can’t really put them up unless you’re lying down. My wrist kept throbbing when my hand was down for at least a week. The soot ink started to form solid lines. I also observed that it looked and peeled like a normal wound, except the dried skin was black. Well, it’s really a wound after all. It was my personal choice not to put antibiotic or anything on it because I wanted it to be as genuine as the tradition. When my tattoo started to look out of hand though, I was slightly worried since nobody said that it would look so scathed after a week. People would stare at it with judging looks, like they were telling me I made a very unwise decision getting it. I didn’t really care. And those who inquired were taken aback upon hearing the story behind it. Although I admit, it gets pretty tiring to explain yourself to everyone. Thankfully, Keisha’s tattoo looked the same. So we tried to find out more about the healing process of this kind of tattoo and nothing in the internet mentioned it. So we just resorted to letting it heal naturally. On the third week I decided it was safe to put moisturizer on it since the wound was closed and was just repairing the skin, which was really, really itchy by the way. I applied RestoraDerm, since I use it when my skin gets too dry. It works wonders and it did work its wonder on my healing tattoo. The skin didn’t look too dry and it peeled faster, leaving a grey tint, like ash. It was still embossed though. I thought this was finally how the color was going to look like since the ink used was really soot. I consistently put the lotion every morning after bathing and before I go to sleep at night. Keisha told me she put on a regular lotion so I made her try RestoraDerm as well. She said it works better and the itching lessened, but a normal lotion will do. My tattoo still peeled and it looked like it had blackheads on the fourth week. I admit I always picked on it. I completely don’t recommend doing this though. When the excess skin came off, there were visible holes on my arm where the needle went through. It started to flatten as well but the skin was still unsmooth because of the irregularity the holes bring. Still, it looks healed now. My own eyes tell me that it’s infection free. Now the lines are obviously not perfectly straight, but that’s the beauty of it. It wasn’t made by a machine. It is purely done by the hands of a 95-year old Kalinga tattoo artist, with pine needle and soot as her tools, and almost a century’s worth of experience. I carry this art, traditionally only for the most brave and beautiful. All details mentioned were my own experiences and choices. I decided to share them since I found no other blog saying what happens AFTER you get your batok. So for those of you who are attempting to get your tattoos from Whang Od and are wondering about the risks and joys, you’re welcome. Though I earnestly discourage you to go there if you just want to look cool. Revere the art, the artist and the culture. Feel free to share how you managed your batok or if you have any questions on the comments below. 🙂 Advertisements

Town hall erupts in jeers after GOP official lies about ACA ‘death panels’ Constituents weren’t having it. Town hall erupts in jeers after GOP official lies about ACA ‘death panels’. (Credit: CNN screengrab) Confronted with talking to constituents about health care, these GOP lawmakers chose to hide Members of Congress are fleeing from concerned constituents. (thinkprogress.org) By Zack Ford Politifact’s 2009 “Lie of the Year” was brought back from the dead during a Saturday town hall hosted by Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-FL)—and the mostly pro-ACA crowd wasn’t having any of it. Bill Akins—chair of Pasco County, Florida’s Republican Party—told the roughly 250 people in attendance that his problem with the Affordable Care Act is that “there is a provision in there that anyone over the age of 74 has to go before what is effectively a death panel.” As soon as the words “death panel” left Akins’ mouth, the crowd erupted in boos, jeers, and chants of “liar, liar.” “It’s in there folks. You’re wrong!” Akins replied, falsely, as Bilirakis tried to restore order. Akins then calls the angry crowd “children.” As CNN’s Eric Bradner reported from the event, Bilirakis heard from a man who said his daughter has a genetic disease is still alive because of the ACA and a doctor who reported seeing fewer self-paying patients since the ACA became law. But Bilirakis— who describes himself as a “staunch opponent of Obamacare” on his website—persisted in making his case that people should have the “choice” to be uninsured. “You gotta have choice, ladies and gentleman,” he said. “People should have the opportunity to pay for their own plan based on their own needs.” Bilirakis held a town hall on the Affordable Care Act last weekend, too. At that event, like the one on Saturday, he was confronted by a crowd mostly opposed to repealing the ACA. As ThinkProgress wrote on the occasion of Bilirakis’ previous town hall, his willingness to meet with his constituents “sets him apart from other Republican members of Congress, several of whom have recently fled constituent town halls in order to avoid dealing with crowds of pro-Obamacare demonstrators.” Another opponent of the ACA, Rep. Dave Brat (R-VA), recently said he doesn’t want to hold town halls because “since Obamacare and these issues have come up, the women are in my grill no matter where I go.” Republican members of Congress haven’t yet decided how to deal with the ACA, if at all, but all of the options they’ve considered for replacements would create more problems than they’d solve. Studies indicate repealing the ACA could cost 32 million people their health insurance, reduce U.S. job growth by al-most 1.2 million in 2019, and result in between 27,000 and 36,000 preventable deaths each year. Zack Ford Follow LGBT Editor at ThinkProgress.org. Gay, Atheist, Pianist, Un-apologetic “Social Justice Warrior

Surveillance footage captured a man robbing the TCF Bank branch at 4930 N. Milwaukee Ave. View Full Caption Bandittracker.com CHICAGO — Police said they arrested a man suspected of robbing a bank in Jefferson Park Sunday morning. A man robbed the TCF Bank branch at 4930 N. Milwaukee Ave. about 11:20 a.m., according to the FBI. He told tellers he had a weapon but never showed one, according to the FBI. He fled the building with an undisclosed amount of money, but cops caught up to a suspect matching his description about 10 minutes later, said Officer Janel Sedevic, a police department spokeswoman. The 36-year-old man was arrested but had not been charged as of early Monday afternoon, authorities said. Sedevic said no one was hurt in the robbery.

Eric (34) is the eldest brother with the highest education. He has his eye on increasing profits, improving customer service, and expanding the tow-truck fleet (currently at a whopping 3 trucks) in order to make a push into the huge Toronto market. Secretly, Eric’s come home after botching a transportation company merger in Saskatchewan. Jon (31) has been working at Bill & Sons Towing since he dropped out of high school in Grade 9. Jon sees himself as the rightful heir to running the family business, and believes Eric has swooped in with his ‘fancy college degree’ to take something that doesn’t belong to him. Highly resistant to change, Jon sees no point in expanding the business or improving customer service. Tony (30) is the undeniable screw-up of the family. Whether it’s “cleaning out” towed vehicles, or running insurance scams, Tony will do anything to stuff his wallet. Yet for all the trouble he causes, he’s a huge asset as an all-round utility man; he’s a skilled tow driver, mechanic, and locksmith.

A Manhattan nail salon owner defended her customers and store from an armed robber on Wednesday night. Annie Sheng, who owns Peony Nails Spa at 542 LaGuardia Place, just down the street from Washington Square Park, says it started when a man wearing a cap and a plaid shirt in her store around 8:30 p.m.; WABC 7 reports that besides Sheng, there were 10 customers, two children and her staff in the store. Sheng asked him if he needed any help and that's when he threatened her for the money. She told ABC 7, "He came my way and said, don't talk I have a gun, give me your money." As he approached her behind the cash register counter, Sheng said the robber reached for his gun, so she acted: "I see him try to go get it and I push it [his arm] and just push him," shoving him in the body and then shoving the gun down his pants. The robber walked out of the store, and Sheng followed him to the door and then called the police: Sheng, who told reporters she wasn't scared, is 5'4" and about 120 pounds. The attempted robber is about 5'11" and 160 pounds. Police say the suspect "fits the description" of a man wanted for other armed robberies at nail salons, according to the Post. Her 10-year-old daughter said, "She should have done it but at the same time, it was dangerous."

This election year has been absolutely unprecidented, even for people who have no real interest in politics. The television tells us that one of the two most untrusted, disliked candidates in living memory will become our next President- while simultaniously mocking and berating those who challenge the validity of this "representative democracy". Red-baiting, rampant corruption proven by email leaks, and mainstream denial- how the hell do we fix this? The key to understanding the chances of real change lies in recognizing that the most important variable in that equation is us. Life isn't a tv channel or Facebook feed to get updates on; it must be interactive for any success to occur. Think of Bernie's groundbreaking campaign- did we all just wait to see the results? Or did we make it happen? Yes, we were driven by enthusiasm and hope back then, which is now (quite purposely) in short supply... It's not all our fault- this purposely widespread and worsening poverty gives us no time or energy to do much more. Our "education" trains us to be disciplined robots, skilled mostly at consuming, following orders, and fighting with each other over petty personal differences without ever grasping the bigger picture. That self-destructive cognitive dissonance is also a primary cause for this country's (profitably medicated) rampant depression and mental illness. A lot of the issue is our successful creation of a "viewer" society, where the majority lives off the media's narrative for their reality checks instead of actually making anything happen. Reality is external, somewhere else, something that you get updates on from Twitter. In our Coke-or-Pepsi mentality, any healthy skepticism about the credibility or motive of 'news' is mitigated by the choice of different flavored networks- 'lesser evil' narratives become "truth". Then add to that all of the indoctrinated divisive thinking perpetuated by over-hyped labels, categories, and blatant scapegoating. Community spirit and true patriotism is disintegrating, being replaced by every-citizen-for-themselves desperation which breeds populace infighting instead of cooperative pride. The establishment's version of society is just another corporate product that we were lured into, then became a stranglehold monopoly at all our expense. What both Bernie and Trump had in common was the idea that we don't have to be willing victims to it. But while Bernie's approach was civil, gentlemanly revolution built around equality and integrity, Trump's was empowerment of belligerent non-conformity and disrespect as a blunt anti-status quo tool. Thus, we Berners largely considered the Trump crew to be ignorant and chaotic; the Trumpers called Bernie and his fans weak, establishment, and "cucks". As is the reality in just about every polarized situation, neither are entirely correct... and neither entirely wrong. What Trump's crew has right is that we are the victims only because we allow ourselves to be, following the polite rules even when completely, irrefutably unacceptable. We've just been held hostage long enough in an undemocratic system that our own rights and freedoms are things we no longer personally defend, just wait and hope desperately that others will- yet our lives, laws, and opportunities are dictated to us, worsening, and we have proof it's rigged. It's completely valid; however, when framed in a mob mentality with a fairly universally distasteful leader, it's easily condemnable, thus easily dismissable, thus susceptible to the current mainstream media tactic of "Trump says that the elections are rigged, CAN YOU BELIEVE IT? Because if you do, you must support TRUMP. How can anyone be so anti-American? PEACEFUL TRANSITION OF POWER, SAUSAGE BEING MADE, now here's more celebrities!" In a capitalist land of scheming dishonesty, where respectful integrity can be perceived as a fatal disadvantage in business, life, and politics, Trump fans picked their well-qualified challenger. Consistency and trustworthiness came second to the justified anger and hatred toward the smug, elitist establishment "left". Under that completely untrue false-progressive flag, dismissal of the Democratic party also easily included their 'socialist' alternative candidate. What Bernie's political revolutionaries had right is that populace unity is absolutely essential, and finding common ground is always more powerful and productive than finding differences to fight among ourselves over. His example was that respectful dialogue, even (or especially) with those with opposing views, could be done using merely facts, not incivility and cheap personal shots. He taught an entire generation what the words "civil servant" could mean. The contrast left many Berners logically analyzing everything and everyone with their now validated "unrealistic ideological purity", including the ridiculously over-covered Trump campaign. They saw the violence, heard all the cavalier rhetoric, and summarily dismissed Trump and his fans as irrational, dangerous fools. While Hillary must indeed be stopped, exchanging one ego-driven con artist for another wasn't just irrational, but a moral antithesis. In my view, both were doing the best they could under ugly circumstances to work for the common greater good- end of this neoliberal tyranny, recognition of the ugly reality for the majority, and swift accountability for those who orchestrated and profited off this corporate takeover and subversion of our democracy. Those are the overlapping goals I firmly believe we must build on to take our country back; surely it far outweighs what might divide us all? The rich, duplicitous political actors have taken over both controlling political parties, replacing representation 'of the people, by the people, for the people' with representation 'of the sponsors, by the corporate media, for the elite agendas' - which by their greedy nature and forced perpetuation must continuously run contrary to our own rights, freedoms, and any hope of sustainable quality of life. This affects us all, regardless of our personal political views. What most people have lost sight of is that a political party is merely a tool, not an identity. Protecting our futures and say in governance cannot be effectively nor ethically handled through empty slogans, high-dollar lobbyists, or focusing on trivialities while atrocities get effectively normalized. Successfully clouding this fact has allowed most political opinion and direction to become just dictated and assimilated, instead of generated and represented. How about instead of teams or details, we unite in basic ethics? I know we've been taught "winning by any means" justifies dishonesty and spin for the greater good, but this bad logic is the same one being utilized by those we must overcome. Lowering ourselves to their level only evens the playing field to where sheer power and money win. By outdating our integrity, we've unfortunately turned reality into just another opinion to be argued away or ignored. We must face our reality; neither minority-yet-controlling party represents or protects us. Equal justice under the law is a bad joke. Native Americans are now being arrested trying to stop more oil dumping into our water. Families in places like Flint are being poisoned by their own crumbling infrastructure. Our bloated military, bigger than the next several largest combined, are now bombing seven different countries while most of us drown in poverty and debt. One candidate still in this race is fundamentally opposed to every single one of these issues. Dr. Jill Stein of the Green Party has spoken out but largely not been heard, buried under verifiably skewed polls and the childish, distractionary soap opera drama our mainstream media has chosen to focused on instead. We have a true "none of the above" third party solution available to 48 states- plenty to collectively say to the reigning duopoly, enough is enough. There's a good chance that voting will still be rigged- bring it on. Bernie's run helped us prove that the DNC ran a completely fixed race, with every kind of manipulation and collusion possible being used. His mass appeal and turnout forced them to expose their own criminality in covering it up. Why not do it again? Make the whole damn country light up Green, see how well they can manipulate that with the whole world watching and reporting it closely. So what are our "chances" of real change happening? That's up to us- all of us- and whether we can lay down our arms against fellow countrymen to finally effectively overcome the domestic terrorism of oligarchic oppression. I urge everyone to talk openly with your friends, families, strangers, anyone who will listen. Let's create informed voters. Let's beat these guys at their own game. Let's stop just complaining, and start actively organizing a truth offensive. After all, America historically finds greatest unity and patriotic pride when facing its biggest threats; surely this one qualifies?

It’s the weekend all 7s fans look forward to every year, the biggest party on the circuit. Here are ten stars to watch out for among the many on show. CECIL AFRIKA The Blitzbokke came oh so close to taking the spoils in Tokyo, and one wonders if they might have had their star playmaker been fit to partake. One of the very best players South Africa have ever produced in the shortened version, Afrika is a fabulously gifted footballer with superb skills from both hand and foot, and his return is a big boost to the squad with the series title on a knife edge. Alongside Justin Geduld and Branco du Preez, coach Neil Powell has three dynamite sparks capable of weaving magic, but there’s no question whose name will be first on the team sheet. ANDREW AMONDE Paul Treu might not have Humphrey Kayange to call on, but he does have another talismanic figure up front to lean on for some much-needed inspiration. The Kenyan captain was one of the few to stand out of his countrymen in what has a mediocre effort in Tokyo. Tall and limber even though heavily armored with muscle, Amonde is a powerhouse runner with excellent offloading skills who is more than happy to lower the shoulder when his team needs some hard yards. DANNY BARRETT A recent graduate of the famed UCal Golden Bears program, the big back rower is more rugged than what one might expect from someone out of San Francisco. After some eye-catching displays in the ARC tournament he’s been thrown in at the deep end in the IRB circuit, to which he has responded superbly. Somewhat ungainly but deceivingly quick, his trademarks are a piston-like fend (as Canadian Harry Jones can attest to) and thumping tackles that leave even the spectators wincing. BEN LAM Gordon Tietjens has a habit of turning prospects into world beaters, and had this dynamo from Auckland not been injured for the entirety of the ITM Cup he might already be plying his trade in Super Rugby, but instead he is regaining his fitness on the circuit once more. The nephew of current Connacht coach and former Manu Samoa legend Pat Lam has a strong pedigree and stronger strides. Formerly a hulking winger, he is now found more often in the midfield, sucking in defenders and creating space for the likes Sherwin Stowers and George Tilsley out wide. EMOSI MULEVORO There are at least a half dozen genuine stars one could pick out from the defending champions, names like Pio Tuwai and Samisoni Viriviri, but the man who stole the show in Tokyo was the Navy representative from Kadavu. With captain Osea Kolinisau occupying the flyhalf position, Mulevoro has had to fight off the quicksilver Waisea Nacuqu for the scrumhalf spot. Blessed with lightning acceleration and dancing feet that would make his illustrious predecessors proud, don’t be surprised to see him shine again at So Kon Po. MARTIN RODRIGUEZ Followers of Argentine rugby might recognize a familiar name among their contingent, one more often associated with the pink jersey of Stade Français than that of the Pumas 7s side. After featuring heavily in the World Cup he has struggled with injury for the past couple seasons and finding game time harder to come by, Rodriguez has returned to Rosario to revive his career, and is hoping to restore some confidence with a return to the faster code. Strongly built and with good footballing skills, he’ll hope his experience rubs off on some of his younger teammates this weekend. JAMES RODWELL England’s ginger giant plays his 50th tournament in Hong Kong, adding another stamp on his accomplished international career that began in Dubai in 2008 and also includes two 7s World Cups and a Commonwealth Games. The aerial specialist is approaching his 30th birthday but remains in peak physical condition and one of the premier support players on the circuit. Six years is a lengthy career in this competition, but his old teammate Simon Amor will be hoping he can get a couple more from one of his on-field lieutenants. CONOR TRAINOR The dynamic midfielder looked set for stardom after scoring two tries against the All Blacks at the World Cup, but injuries and university obligations have slowed his progress. With both now behind him, the 24 year old has turned his focus to international rugby, starting with 7s, in the hopes of earning a professional contract. In this version he usually lines up at prop, but it’s his running and distribution skills that have helped propel a surging Canadian side from also-rans to regular cup quarter finalists. VIRIMI VAKATAWA You could be forgiven for thinking that the Racing Métro flyer was playing for another country, he is after all a Fijian age-grade international, but he has instead opted to wear the tricolors of his adopted nation like that of another recent residency ‘poach’, Noa Nakaitaci. Whether or not one agrees with the policy, his talent and potential to step up to the senior side are not so debateable. A three-quarter in XVs, he lined up at prop for France in Tokyo and his strength and balanced running have the eyes of the selectors already. LEE WILLIAMS Wales lost one of their playmakers in Rhys Jones to injury in Tokyo, but have thankfully regained the services of another. Williams is one of their few top-class 7s exponents, the last remaining member of the World Cup winners, and his speed of foot and thought will be a major boost to the side. On top of his talents he also assumes the captaincy, a role not foreign but a challenging one in light of his team’s struggles this season.

An incorrect court order issued against the founder of Megaupload has been declared “null and void” by a New Zealand judge. The legal bungle could lead to the return of the internet tycoon’s multi-million dollar fortune. New Zealand police reportedly made a procedural error and applied for the wrong kind of restraining order. As a consequence internet mogul Kim Dotcom, formally known as Kim Schmitz, was not afforded the opportunity to defend himself prior to the seizure of his assets eight weeks ago by the police. The Judge presiding over the case, Justice Judith Potter said on Friday that the order carried no “legal effect” and the case would have to be re-evaluated, the NZ Herald reports. Potter said she would soon rule on whether the mistake meant the internet mogul should get his property back. Kim Dotcom’s legal defense team had previously challenged the restriction order, calling it unlawful and demanding that their client’s assets be released. Accused on multiple accounts of internet piracy, Dotcom was arrested by the New Zealand authorities on January 19. During the subsequent police raid on his mansion, millions of dollars of assets were confiscated, among them bank accounts, properties, jet-skis and dozens of cars. It also coincided with the shut-down of the file sharing website Megaupload on grounds of copyright violation. The seizure left Dotcom without any funds to mount a legal defense. The internet tycoon was released on bail on February 22 and is currently awaiting extradition to the US, where he will be put to trial for charges of copyright infringement, racketeering and money laundering. Megaupload was one of the top 20 visited sites on the internet and constituted four percent of the overall internet traffic. The US department of justice believes that its owners earned over $175 million in illegal revenues by selling ads and subscriptions on the site. A provisional court date for Dotcom’s extradition hearing has been set for August 20.

45User Rating: 4 out of 5 Review title of Alex Not bad, it can be better though So far its a pretty good emote app, however its missing a few things, one of the big ones are a better way of looking through them, worded categories, and a accent color option, other small ones are a custom option, and adding some missing emotes. Worded categories are pretty self explanatory, instead of icons have them sorted by words like Happy, Angry, Sad, Surprised, Smug, and Other, Favorites can stay a star icon though. The layout is kind of an eyesore to look through, and on some displays it can cause the "dot illusion" , It would be nice if the boxes were bigger and also have a list view instead of tiled. The last thing would be the accent color, currently its only blue, and uses a light theme, a dark theme and accent color would fix this. So its pretty good but like I said it can be better, its missing some other emotes like ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ , (งツ)ว, but those could probably be added later or fixed if there was a custom option.

Friday on Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends,” White House aide Kellyanne Conway pointed to the negative political discourse on social media playing a role in the shooting at a Republicans practice for a congressional charity baseball game earlier this week. That shooting critically injured House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA), who is recovering in a Washington, DC hospital. Conway said, “I really would ask people to think about the hateful rhetoric. This man, this shooter the other day, didn’t hate baseball, He hated Republicans, and his social media feed was a complete anti-Trump, anti-Republican screed. For those particularly in the media who are so obsessed with the president’s social media postings, why isn’t everybody looking inside a little bit at what they’re posting and what they’re saying? Nobody is responsible for this shooting except the shooter. There is no question about that. But at the same time you can oppose policies, but with some such hateful charged rhetoric that active resistance becomes armed resistance in the case of this lone gunman.” She continued, “Look at Twitter, If I were shot and killed tomorrow, half of Twitter would explode in applause and excitement. This is the world we live in right now. It’s terrible. Again it is one thing for people to say I disagree with you on the health care repeal, on taxes or national security plans, but you can’t attack people personally in a way and think that tragedies like this won’t happen.” She added, “This is also the natural by-product you have after images of the president being shot in rapper’s video, or being assassinated in a production there in New York City, or a picture of a severed head. All of that is a toxic stew. Again there is no one to blame but the shooter here, but the calls for tamping down, there should also be some introspection there.” Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN

Updated on May 5 at 8:29 a.m. ET Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has stepped down after a power struggle with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. “I decided that for the unity of the (ruling party) a change of chairman would be more appropriate,” Davutoglu said. “I am not considering running at the May 22 congress.” He will remain in office until then. The move allows Erdogan to tighten his grip on power. The two men have clashed since Davutoglu became prime minister. As Bloomberg explains: Erdogan ran Turkey for more than a decade as prime minister and has sought to maintain his tight grip on power even after moving up to the presidency, traditionally a largely ceremonial office, in 2014. His handpicked successor Davutoglu has struggled to assert his own authority. Davutoglu’s authority had been weakened recently after party leadership stripped the prime minister of some powers. Before a meeting between the two leaders late Wednesday, Erdogan alluded to their tensions. He said, according to the Hurriyet Daily News, “What matters is that you should not forget how you got to your post.”

Roughly ten days before worlds I built a strange deck that I nearly decided to run for worlds. Ultimately, I decided to go ahead and play the light side deck I had been playing for over a month (write up about that deck here). Since worlds though, I’ve been playing the ‘experimental’ deck. I thought my only regret from worlds was not running a second Falcon objective set in the deck I took to worlds… but man, now I have two regrets! Not only do I have a whole lot more fun with this deck, it actually seems to be working much more consistently against the ‘good decks’ that I expected to see at worlds. I would think it was a fluke, but it’s been doing well against players I consider to be top level players. The more I play the Star Wars LCG though, the more I’m learning to ‘unlearn what I have learned’ about card games. In particular, the way I value a card is drastically different in this game. If the structure of objective sets wasn’t enough, add in the fact that you can draw four or five cards just about every turn and card value is drastically different. So, what does all of this have to do with this strange deck I built before worlds? Everything, of course! The deck I built isn’t necessarily seeking a particular advantage, but has a lot of cards that play well with each other. I often have turns where I have to sit for a few minutes just to figure out what I want to do, primarily because there are so many ways to use the cards in my hand. This is very unlike my Jedi deck, where the right move is generally obvious. This makes using the deck a lot more fun and playing against it all the more maddening. When you do so much with so little, it can really catch your opponent off guard. This deck is honestly the combination of several cards I’ve been looking at for quite some time. It all started with everyones favorite stuck up, half-witted, scruffy-looking nerf herder, in the guise of a rebel card: Han Solo. Aren’t You a Little Short for a Stormtrooper? Searching through your deck for a card is, arguably, the most powerful effect in any card game. Well, maybe outside of a free resource that generates three resources instantly… So, for the first time in the Star Wars LCG we get a search effect and it comes on a Rebel Han Solo with solid stats. Since you don’t need to win an edge battle, you can often force your opponent into a situation where if they block and win the edge battle, you get to search your deck for a card and they had to focus down a defender. Or, you can also just win the edge battle and clean up most defenders. Of course, searching your deck is only as important as the cards you can go get, so when I first saw the Rebel Han Solo my brain immediately starting thinking of Rebel cards I could want to get on command. My list looked something like this: – Rebel Assault (Defense of Yavin 4 or Mobilize the Squadron) – Home One (The Rebel Fleet) – Princess Leia (Fleeing the Empire) – A New Hope (Decoy at Dantooine) This list has two of my favorite cards that I rarely use: Princess Leia and A New Hope. This is when things began to really start working as far as the deck concept. I didn’t like the idea of basing the deck around Han alone, as I might never even see him. However, if I also have Princess Leia. who becomes insanely better when you can control when she leaves play, now I have four characters I can draw into that all my leave play effects work well with. Add in Bright Hope that comes with the Rebel Han that removes a token of any type from itself when another friendly unit leaves play, and you have lots of reasons to have characters leaving play. This is not to mention Sith damage decks that find ways of removing lots of units just about every turn! Where things really took off though, was the fact that these two objectives (Fleeing the Empire and Decoy at Dantooine) really solved my problem of consistently getting these characters to leave play through You’re My Only Hope, A New Hope, and Fall Back. Han’s objective, Evacuation Procedure, also packs a removal effect. So at this point, the core of the deck is: 2 x Evacuation Procedure 2 x Fleeing the Empire 1 x Decoy at Dantooine Now, on to the junk. Hunk of Junk The rest of the deck really fell together after this. In any deck that has a decent number of characters in it, Asteroid Sanctuary has to be considered. The thought of attacking with the Falcon, triggering the ability to drop in Han, and then attacking with Han just seemed way too good to pass up. The Falcon also interacts fantastically with Bright Hope, forcing a leave play with the Falcon each turn can make Bright Hope do some serious work. I would be remiss if I didn’t include at least a single Rebel Assault in a deck that let’s me search for Rebel cards, so Defense of Yavin 4 is at minimum a one of. Considering I’ve already got two Falcon and two Bright Hope in the deck, the objective itself has become a huge part of this deck. Playing the Millenium Falcon for 2 or 3 resources can just ruin your opponent. This also gives me two of each Y-Wing, Red 2, Rebel Assault, Hidden Outpost, and Astromech Droid Upgrade (wonderful with Bright Hope). So now the deck is shaping up and looks like this: Affiliation: Smugglers and Spies 2 x Asteroid Sanctuary 2 x Defense of Yavin 4 2 x Fleeing the Empire 2 x Evacuation Procedure 1 x Decoy at Dantooine With one objective slot left to get to ten objective, the final slot could easily go to any Smuggler or Rebel Objective. To be honest, this final slot is anything but decided at this point. There are several options here. On my consideration list is: Renegade Squadron Mobilization – This objective seems too good for the deck to not include. For starters, the objective itself pairs with A New Hope amazingly. I’ve had games where I draw 4-5 cards off of playing A New Hope. It also features Renegade Squadron, which is a great card. It’s especially great with Princess Leia being captured so often in this deck and it likely that Defense of Yavin 4 is on the board. The other really amazing synergy here is Echo Caverns. A great card in it’s own right, when Evacuation Procedure is out it becomes insane. Being able to use it on you and your opponents turn is just sick. Raise the Stakes – The objective and the Blockade Runner give the deck quite a bit of added punch. I could live without the Bothan Spy and the Smuggling Compartment, but an additional Cloud City Operative and Swindled are fantastic. The Swindled is a great option for getting Leia to leave play when you need her to and for triggering Bright Hope if necessary. Of course, bouncing a Royal Guard isn’t ever awful either! Trust Me – I think any time I start Smugglers, this objective is on my list. The objective itself is great against Sith and Lando in a Falcon deck can bring the pain. It has a few cards you don’t want however, so it’s certainly not at the top of the list. At the moment, I think there are just too many synergies not to use Renegade Squadron Mobilization in this deck. So, on to the deck list: Affiliation: Smugglers and Spies 2 x Asteroid Sanctuary 2 x Defense of Yavin 4 2 x Fleeing the Empire 2 x Evacuation Procedure 1 x Decoy at Dantooine 1 x Renegade Squadron The deck might not look like much, but she’s got it where it counts. Cards Are Cards While the list may not look like much, I dare you to try the deck a few times. I can literally have nothing on the board and generate an unimaginable amount of damage. You have to know the various options of the deck to really see it’s beauty, so I recommend trying it when you have time to take the game slow and consider your options. It’s really quite insane just how many options the deck presents each turn. In the end, what I continue to learn about Star Wars is that the value of each card is drastically lower than in most other games. This has a lot to do with the draw mechanic, but also because so much more of this game happens outside of the stats that what is on a card. How you attack, with which units, and in which order makes all the difference. The player skill involved in using the tools at your disposal appropriately is immense. Even if a card doesn’t seem all that great at first, give it a try. It may not be tall enough to be a stormtrooper, but it might end up being quite a bit better than you think. I’ve seen quite a bit of ‘conventional’ wisdom being developed in this game and I think Star Wars is way too young to be developing hard and fast rules for decks and what is viable. If you play this game, I implore you to not settle for conventional wisdom, to experiment with objectives people aren’t using, and to push the limits of what is possible in this game. Don’t believe the all powerful they. We’ve got several months until Store Championships and regionals roll around, so this is a fantastic time to give objectives a try that don’t look that great on paper. Until next time, I’ll be seeing if I can’t find a way to make a viable Scum deck… As always, may the Force be with you. Zach

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- For the second day in a row, a handful of activists visited Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy J. McGinty's office to ask questions about the investigations into the police killings of Tanisha Anderson and Tamir Rice. And for the second straight day, they said, they were told to "come back tomorrow." The activists, which included Joshua Stephens, Don Bryant and two others, showed up at McGinty's office in the Cuyahoga County Justice Center about noon Wednesday, hoping to find out when a grand jury will hear evidence in the two November deaths involving Cleveland police. "We just feel like (McGinty) is intentionally dragging his feet," Stephens said in a phone interview. The quest began Tuesday, when four protesters sat in McGinty's office for close to an hour. McGinty's spokesman, Joe Frolik, told the group that if they came back Wednesday, McGinty might have time to meet with them, Stephens said. In the people's office of Cuyahoga Cty, Prosecutor Timothy J. McGinty waiting for two police officers to be arrested for the murder of Tamir Rice, 12-year-old gunned down in Cleveland, 6 mm onths ago. Join us, we got peanut butter n jelly sandwiches. Posted by Don Bryant on Tuesday, June 16, 2015 A Cuyahoga County Sheriff's Deputy asked the four protesters who showed up at the office Wednesday to leave immediately, Stephens said. The deputy said the group could be arrested for trespassing, arguing the office was a place of official business and they had no business there. Once the group explained they were asked to come to the office, the deputy agreed to let them stay for a few minutes, until they found out if they could meet with McGinty, Stephens said. A few more deputies showed up, and the process repeated. Eventually there were five sheriff's deputies to the four protesters. Stephens said the protesters were not chanting, and were not combative with the deputies. Stephens exchanged some texts with Frolik, who eventually asked the group to come back Thursday. The group decided to leave, and three deputies followed them into the elevator and out of the building. "It was really overkill," Stephens said. Frolik offered a different account of what happened Tuesday. He said he asked the group to leave Tuesday because the office has a small waiting area reserved for victims, witnesses, attorneys and others who have appointments. "I offered cards to the people who were here and told them how to email me to request an appointment," Frolik said. "One person took the card. No one emailed." Frolik said he was not in the office when the group showed up again Wednesday, but said he asked the sheriff's deputies to ask the group to leave if they didn't have an appointment. Sheriff's department spokesman John O'Brien did not return a message seeking comment. The group's move comes days after McGinty's office released hundreds of pages of partially redacted investigative material collected by sheriff's deputies probing the death of Tamir. Cleveland police officers Timothy Loehmann and Frank Garmback shot Tamir in Cudell Recreation Center Nov. 22, after they responded to a report of a person with a gun. A Cleveland judge found probable cause that Loehmann and Garmback should be charged for their respective roles in the shooting. The group is also concerned about the status of the investigation into the death of Anderson, who died Nov. 13 while in police custody. The Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner ruled her death a homicide, and that the mentally ill woman who suffered from obesity and heart disease was restrained during her arrest. Cleveland police handed their investigation of Anderson's death to McGinty's office in February, Frolik told Northeast Ohio Media Group at the time. McGinty has said his office will present both cases to a grand jury, but has declined to say when. "We just want some kind of vague time frame," Stephens said. Frolik stuck to that no comment Wednesday, saying it would violate state rules of procedure to discuss grand jury proceedings, including when a grand jury may hear a specific case. He said his office is still reviewing both the Tamir Rice investigation and the Tanisha Anderson investigation, and declined to comment further. Stephens said the group is has not decided whether to show up Thursday, for fear of the same outcome. "That seems to be the universal response from (McGinty's) office to questions about Tamir's case," he said. "Come back tomorrow." Update: Frolik said he returned one text message to Stephens, telling him he was in a meeting. He denied telling the group to come back Thursday.

Laureate International Universities has donated between $1 million and $5 million to the Clinton Foundation. | Getty Bill Clinton’s pay at for-profit education company topped $17.5 million Bill Clinton was paid more than $1 million in 2015 by Laureate Education, a global operator of for-profit colleges, according to tax returns released today by Hillary Clinton’s campaign. The new figure brings the former president’s total compensation from Laureate to more than $17.5 million for his five-year role as an “honorary chancellor.” His role consisted of advising the company on educational matters and traveling to campuses across the world to speak to young people. Clinton ended his position at Laureate in April 2015 after Hillary Clinton launched her bid for the White House. Story Continued Below Laureate International Universities, the company’s international arm for which Clinton worked, has donated $1 million to $5 million to the Clinton Foundation, with a new contribution made as recently as the second quarter of this year, according to records posted on the foundation’s website. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has criticized Hillary Clinton’s connection to Laureate. Trump has accused her of having "laundered" money through Laureate while she was secretary of state — a charge that has been discredited by fact-checkers. House Republicans have asked the feds to investigate the Clintons’ ties to Laureate. Laureate says that its international operations represent the largest global network of degree-granting universities in the world, enrolling more than 1 million students across 28 countries. In the United States, the company owns Walden University, a Minneapolis-based online school that the Education Department has placed on a list of colleges that officials are more closely monitoring because of concerns over its “financial responsibility.” Laureate is in the process of going public. It filed for an initial public offering last fall.

UNICEF and the WHO stated that they halted a measles vaccination program in northern Syria after at least 15 children who received the vaccination have developed severe symptoms about an hour after they received the vaccination and died. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO) issued a joint statement, announcing the immediate halt of the vaccination campaign, stating: “UNICEF and WHO have been shocked and saddened to learn of the deaths of at least 15 young children in Idlib, Syria. … The death of the children occurred in areas where a measles immunization campaign had been underway”. Abdullah Ajai, a physician who administered the vaccinations at a medical center in Jarjanaz, Idlib, said, according to AP, that the children demonstrated signs of “severe allergic shock” after being given the second round of the shots. The second round of vaccination was launched in Idlib and Deir Ez Zour on Monday. The children were all well below two, reports Reuters, adding that some of the children suffocated to death due to severe swelling. Abdullah Ajai commented on the situation: “There was shouting and screaming, it was hard for the parents. You get your child vaccinated and then you find your child dying, it’s very hard”. At least 15 children have died after receiving the measles shot, although the actual number may turn out to be higher than that. According to reports from rights groups and reports from areas controlled by armed insurgents, the number could be as high as 34 or 50; that is, some hundred percent more than has thus far been reported by the UN. The WHO stated that it would be sending in a team of experts because it is vital to establish the precise cause of the children’s deaths. Both the WHO and UNICEF state, however, that they are hopeful to resume the vaccination campaign as soon as possible. While the WHO and UN bodies like UNICEF continue pushing for vaccination programs worldwide, they have largely failed at addressing fundamental vaccine safety issues. In 2013 the Islamabad City Hospital reported that it began receiving a large number of cases with measles. Over 50% of those who were brought to the hospital had previously been vaccinated. The figures substantiated British reports about a 30-year-long cover-up of serious vaccine safety issues. In 2014 a fully vaccinated person in New York, USA, didn’t only catch the measles after being vaccinated but infected others. Vaccine safety issues, which the WHO according to many experts fails to address appropriately, include, among others; documented correlations between vaccines and neurodevelopmental disorders including autism; pharmacological vaccine safety studies sponsored by big pharma and other conflict of interest; incestuous relationships between vaccine makers and e.g. the Centers for Disease Control in the USA; flouting ethics and violations with vaccine trials in India. Measles belong to a cohort of childhood diseases against which one is immunized for live after coming down with them during childhood. A growing number of vaccine safety concerns prompt a steadily growing number of independent experts to question the benefit of vaccines against e.g. mumps, rubella or measles and calls for the need to give first priority to independent, ethical trials.

Do you consider yourself to be fairly familiar with the Debian Linux distribution? I thought I was familiar with it enough to know its origin and history, how its name was derived and that Richard Stallman, the Father of the Free Software movement, uses a Debian derivative (gNewSense) for his own personal computer. There's one significant piece of the Debian puzzle that I didn't know about: Its Constitution. It has a Constitution and well-defined leadership roles. It also has well thought out rules of engagement, problem resolution and overall structure. I sincerely applaud the creators and successors who've pushed Debian into the mainstream for the past 17 years. Yes, 17 years--can you believe it? When I first heard about Debian, I was working in a small IT support group for about 400 developers and their support staff. I ran an early version of Red Hat Linux on a clandestinely obtained computer in my cubicle. About three dozen of the organization's hardcore developers had access to it. They did some of their development with it and requested, through their management, that I construct and deploy some real server hardware for them using Linux. Red Hat was OK with them but one java developer preferred something called Debian. I said, "What is Debian?" To which he responded, "Well, if you think that Red Hat is the Porsche-driving rich kid, then Debian is sort of your poor cousin once removed." It sounded absolutely intriguing to me. Maybe it was his description or maybe it was because Dan was one of the smartest people I've ever known. In any case, my love affair with Debian started that fateful day in the summer of 1996. I obtained another computer, through less than savory means, and did an over-the-network installation of Debian. Even in 1996, it had an impressive number of software packages available for it (about two GB, if I recall correctly). I installed everything, which, I believe, used to be an option. We never managed to secure real server hardware for the developers but the two systems ran for more than a year. That was until my quiet little gig as developer support was snatched away and I was whisked back under the larger umbrella of corporate support. Such activities are known in the corporate world as "reorganization" and it's always in the best interest of the employees at the bottom of the food chain. Debian and its derivatives are always my favorite Linux distributions in any list I create. Its Constitution further drives home that high praise. A truly democratic Linux distribution. I like it. A lot. It's too bad that large corporations don't take a lesson from Debian and its intelligent design. Not only does it, the collective Debian development community, create perhaps the best Linux distribution currently available but it does it in a democratic and thoughtful way. To the Debian Team: If you ever start your own country, I'm in. Thanks to the Debian Team, Ian Murdock and all of you who support Debian by using it. What do you think of Debian and its Constitution? Do you think it's the correct way to setup and manage a worldwide group of developers?

Kobe Bryant has been among the most culturally relevant players in the NBA for nearly all of his 17-season career. When not winning championships or scoring titles (and often when doing so), Bryant has been one of the more divisive stars in league history, earning criticism for perceived selfishness and nevertheless standing out as one of the most talented and committed players the league has ever seen. No matter what he does, people notice it. It should not come as a great surprise, then, to learn that the younger generation of NBA players looks up to him. As revealed in the annual survey of rookies conducted by John Schuhmann of NBA.com, Bryant is the most common favorite player of this season's incoming class of NBA rookies (via PBT). Here's the voting breakdown from the 36 participants: Scroll to continue with content Ad 1: Kobe Bryant, L.A. Lakers -- 21.2 percent 2: LeBron James, Miami -- 15.2 percent T-3rd: Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City & Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas -- 12.1 percent T-5th: Kevin Garnett, Brooklyn & Chris Paul, L.A. Clippers -- 9.1 percent Others receiving votes: Carmelo Anthony, New York; Vince Carter, Dallas; Tim Duncan, San Antonio; James Harden, Houston; Kawhi Leonard, San Antonio; Steve Nash, L.A. Lakers; Dwyane Wade, Miami Story continues As Schuhmann notes elsewhere, Kobe supplanted LeBron at the top of this list, although it's a little surprising that the Lakers icon doesn't win every year. While James is undoubtedly the best player in the NBA right now, the 19- and 20-year-olds entering the league have never really known an NBA without Bryant serving as a massively important representative of the league. It stands to reason that, even if many players were on the anti-Kobe side, enough would love him that he would win this award until he retires. When LeBron is 35, we would expect him to cast the same sort of shadow over a generation of players. This vote is a testament to Kobe's impact, as well as a useful reminder of the sheer force of his accomplishments. Seventeen years after his arrival in the league, Kobe is still relevant enough to top a list of favorite players. No matter what, he keeps himself on people's minds. Oh, and nabbing that No. 1 spot can't only be a matter of being in the league for a long time. If that were the case, Vince Carter wouldn't have been another receiving votes.

A male cheerleader almost cost his side victory in a recent game between Pittsburgh and Louisville after he rushed onto the court to celebrate a dramatic late slam dunk only to commit a technical foul. The Louisville cheerleader rushes onto the court after Kyle Kuric’s slam dunk (Pic: YouTube) Apparently convinced Kyle Kuric’s dunk had sealed victory for Louisville, the cheerleader rushed onto the court and hurled the ball in the air in celebration. The referees were less than impressed with his actions though and with five tenths of a second remaining on the clock awarded Pittsburgh two free throws for a technical foul for delaying play. Ashton Gibbs proceeded to sink the two throws but missed with a half-court shot that would have tied the contest and sent it into overtime. Instead, Louisville edged the game 62-59. Commenting on the almost catastrophic intervention by the cheerleader, Louisville coach Rick Pitino joked: ‘The male cheerleader is coming to an end. It was good while it lasted. It was fun. Now we’ll try another sport for him.’ Advertisement Advertisement He added: ‘No, I’m sure it was unintentional, but you could actually lose a game that way. Hopefully he’ll learn the rules of basketball next time.’ Watch the male cheerleader in action below:

Kayla Harrison, the two-time Olympic gold medalist in judo, will begin a mixed-martial arts career in the World Series of Fighting. The move is not a surprise. Harrison has been talking about becoming an MMA fighter since she became the first American woman to win a judo gold at the 2012 London Olympics. After she won her second gold this summer in Rio she said she was retiring from judo and hinted at transitioning into an MMA career. Harrison told the website MMAjunkie that she will fight in the World Series of Fighting and also become a commentator for the network starting on 31 December. USA's Kayla Harrison wins second straight Olympic judo gold Read more “I just want everyone to be excited and expect big things from me,” she told MMAjunkie. “This is only the beginning. I’m excited for this new chapter. I’m excited to commentate. I’m excited to be a brand ambassador and help the World Series of Fighting grow their organization as well as help me grow myself as a fighter and a brand myself.” Harrison, 26, has a gregarious, outgoing personality that will help her as a broadcaster and the possibility of being more than just a fighter seems to have driven her decision to join the WSOF. She had long been rumored to be a prospect for the UFC, given her friendship with the organization’s top female fighter, Ronda Rousey. Harrison and Rousey trained together as rising Olympians before the 2008 Games (an event Harrison missed out on) and the two have stayed in touch since. Back in March, Harrison said she considered Rousey a “frenemy.” She said then that Rousey had encouraged her to pursue an MMA career but Harrison moved slowly toward her decision. She already understood many of the judo and jiu-jistu moves but had done little sparring and was unsure how she felt about taking punches. In 2012 Harrison became an American Olympic star as she excitedly celebrated her first gold. She has become a strong voice against abuse after telling the story of how a judo coach sexually abused her. Her Rio celebration was more muted but still enthusiastic perhaps because she knew it was her last chance at another Olympic medal. She will begin her WSOF career with commentary before eventually moving to an actual fight.

Get the biggest football stories by email Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email Billionaires Red Bull want to buy a football club in England – and ‘give it wings’ to make it big, writes Alan Nixon in the People. The Austrian-based energy drinks firm are on the look-out for a suitable club, with Anglophile coach Ralf Rangnick, sporting director of Red Bull Salzburg, heading the search. As well as current Austrian league leaders Salzburg, Red Bull already owns clubs in Germany, New York, Brazil and Ghana. The company’s sporting assets also include two Formula One teams: Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Toro Rosso. Now coach Rangnick, who almost got the Everton job in the summer, has been tasked to find a club in England for their latest move into ownership. An insider in the deal said: “Red Bull want a team to take into the Champions League. It is the only market they have not reached yet. Ideally this would be in the London area, but both Everton and Liverpool interest them too because it would not take much to get them to that level. “They have looked at the Championship, but you can spend fortunes there and not make any progress.” Rangnick, an English-educated German, has a good knowledge of the game and is looking at several options. He would also oversee the ­purchase and running of the club. News of Red Bull’s interest is spreading rapidly and there should be no lack of willing sellers. The company’s Formula One success, with Sebastian Vettel taking them towards a fourth straight title, has put them on the map, but buying a club in the ‘home’ of football could be their biggest coup yet. And taking it into the Champions League is the ultimate aim for one of the biggest sports-backing firms in the business. Teams which could be lined up EVERTON Bill Kenwright has been looking for a respectable buyer for his club for years. The fact Ralf Rangnick nearly got the job and knows the club helps. Only snag – Red Bull Everton?!? LIVERPOOL The American owners have pumped in millions and will want a big return on their investment. Genuine worldwide appeal. Red Bull Liverpool does have a ring. CRYSTAL PALACE Red Bull would really give the Eagles wings. London, near airports, very appealing. Would not cost much, but needs a big spend. Red Bull Crystal Palace is a mouthful. WEST HAM Owners who are always open to approaches. New home at the Olympic Stadium makes them appealing too. Red Bull West Ham? Not so crazy. LEEDS The Yorkshire club has history, a huge fan base and owners who would sell at the drop of a hat. Red Bull Leeds United? Why not?

Donald Trump fans in the Hudson Valley are being offered free tattoos to show their support for the Republican presidential candidate. It's one thing to put a lawn sign on your yard or a bumper sticker on your car. But what about permanently inking your body with your favorite candidate's face? A Hudson Valley tattoo parlor is offering up their services to Trump supporters who want to show just how dedicated they truly are. Doyle and his business partner, John Newell, say that they believe in Trump's message and want to give other supporters a way to display their solidarity with the Republican candidate. Sean Doyle is an eight-year veteran of the Marine Corps and part owner of Anarchy Tattoo. Doyle and his business partner, John Newell, say that they believe in Trump's message and want to give other supporters a way to display their solidarity with the Republican candidate. Doyle revealed to us that he was never much into politics before Trump came along. In fact, At 33 years old, this will be the first time Doyle casts a vote in a presidential election. The former Marine told us that politicians have always sounded like a broken record to him, saying the same things over and over without any real message. Trump's business experience, straightforward talk, support for the troops and ideas about foreign policy all appeal to Doyle. In fact, he was the very first person to receive Trump ink at Anarchy Tattoo. The photo above is of Sean's leg. Newell, on the other hand, is still deciding between a tattoo of Trump Tower, a Trump train or The Donald's face. Another challenge for Newell is finding room on his body for the ink, which is already pretty much full of tattoos. The biggest hurdle for customers getting a Trump tattoo is the fear that their candidate might not actually win. According to Doyle, those who worry about "tattoo remorse" can take comfort in knowing that Newell is extremely talented at covering up unwanted tattoos. The business owner says his tattoo artistry could easily transform Trump into a "zombie Trump or cover him up with a tiger or a rose." As for Doyle; win or lose he'll be keeping his Trump tattoo, honoring who he calls a "man of the people." For those of you interested in getting your free Trump tattoo, you can visit Anarchy Tattoo on Route 6 in Slate Hill. Operating hours, directions and contact information are all available on their website .

The latest beta of Persevere features a new native object storage engine called JavaScriptDB that provides high-end scalability and performance. Persevere now outperforms the common PHP and MySQL combination for accessing data via HTTP by about 40% and outperforms CouchDB by 249%. The new storage engine is designed and optimized specifically for persisting JavaScript and JSON data with dynamic object structures. It is also built for extreme scalability, with support for up to 9,000 petabytes of JSON/JS data in addition to any binary data. These statistics are even more impressive when one considers all the additional functionality that Persevere provides while outperforming these other storage systems. MySQL utilizes traditional fixed structure schemas requiring homogenous records in a table, while JavaScriptDB (as well as CouchDB) support storage of heterogeneous objects of any structure in tables. Persevere/JavaScriptDB goes further with the flexibility to evolve schemas and handle partial schemas. Persevere also provides integrated server side JavaScript (SSJS) with persistence, Comet-driven data change notifications, JSONQuery, standards based HTTP interface with content negotiation, JSON-RPC interface to SSJS, cross-domain handling, CSRF protection, and more. All of these things are additional features that one would have to add to the stack for other storage systems, making them even slower. Persevere includes this functionality out of the box, while still maintaining extremely fast performance. Test Scenario These tests were performed on a Mac/OS-X with a 2GHz dual-core Intel processor and 1 GB 667 MHz DDR2 memory. The PHP/Apache/MySQL setup used MAMP 1.7.2 which includes PHP 5.2.6, MySQL 5.0.41, and Apache 2.0.59. The CouchDB tests were performed with CouchDBX version 0.8 (which uses CouchDB 0.8.1). Persevere’s nightly builds from late March were used for JavaScriptDB tests. Three different operations were performed in the tests: Insert/POST operation to create a new object Update/PUT operation to update an object Query/GET to search for objects by an (indexed) field/property On the PHP/MySQL tests, all operations were handled by a very simple PHP script that first did a quick security check query against a small table (actually empty for the tests) to emulate the security capabilities of Persevere and CouchDB (although CouchDB’s security capabilities are limited, and probably often require additional logic), and then the main query was executed against MySQL, whether it be an INSERT, UPDATE, or SELECT. All the created objects/records had four properties/fields for all three systems. In MySQL, two properties were indexed, one being the primary key, the other being the property that was queried on in the query requests. In CouchDB, a simple view was created that indexed on a single property. This view was used for the requests that queried by index. Both Persevere and CouchDB tests used their standard HTTP interface for creating, updating, and querying. Tests were carried out by a HTTP client running on 10 threads concurrently issuing a sequence of 200 of each type of request. The “full test” performed create, update, and query requests. The “write test” performed create and update requests, and the “read test” only performed query requests. The files used to perform the benchmarks are available here. Test Conclusions Two sets of tests were run—one that used fast commits that do not wait for committed data to be actually physically written to the disk (allowing for normal OS write-back caching), and high-integrity commits which cause the committed data to be forced to the disk. JavaScriptDB has a setting for choosing which style of commits to use. In MySQL, the MyISAM storage engine was used for fast commits, and the InnoDB storage engine was used for high-integrity commits. CouchDB always uses high-integrity commits. While PHP is not the fastest language, the script that was used for these tests was very trivial, and it’s unlikely that PHP code execution significantly detracted from the overall performance of the PHP/MySQL combination. With this simple, streamlined PHP script, a very fast classic setup was used. Alternate languages would not be likely to improve the performance by very much. Yet, Persevere’s JavaScriptDB still beat this setup by a significant margin. With more complex request handlers that might provide more of the functionality that Persevere already provides, the margin would be likely to increase even more. Quite simply, the classic application server + MySQL database setup is hard-pressed to compete with Persevere in terms of performance for most normal database interactions. So how does Persevere achieve this level of performance with the JavaScriptDB storage? The dynamic object-oriented nature of the data that is stored in JavaScriptDB is much different than that of a traditional relational database, so a number of innovative approaches were employed. Direct Data-Bound Object Representation One of the central concepts of Persevere is that all persisted data is mapped to JavaScript objects. This enables server side JavaScript functions and handlers to easily be able to interact with persisted data, and provides a convenient in-memory representation of data that allows for intuitive normal object-oriented data interaction. However, in Persevere this more than just a convenient API—it also facilitates efficient memory utilization by providing a single in-memory representation that can be reused at multiple levels. In a traditional application stack, a record must have separate in-memory representations for each different level in the stack. A database may have an in-memory representation before serializing result sets back to the application. The application may have result set level representation, which then might be mapped to an object representation. Every one of these levels consumes more memory. These extra layers increase latency and overhead as well. In addition, most database driven applications rely on TCP/IP communication with the database, which consumes a large amount of resources as well. With the JavaScriptDB, the single in-memory object is efficiently reused at the database level for all result sets and data caching. This not only means less memory-consumption, but it also translates to more efficient CPU cache utilization for Persevere, and direct low-latency access to data. Shared Cache of Objects with Copy-on-Write Not only are in-memory objects shared between the application level and the database level, but Persevere also utilizes a shared cache of objects between threads to ensure that any given record/object only exists in memory at most one time. Traditional application frameworks process separate HTTP requests concurrently and each request will have its own result set and a copy of data. These can lead to significant duplication of data in memory. With Persevere, objects are always reused if they are still available in memory. While this technique is relatively simple for read-only data, Persevere still maintains virtual memory isolation between threads to protect against concurrent access between threads and ensuing race conditions. Persevere does this by performing copy-on-write style values in objects. When a property is modified, internally its value is modified to being a “transactional” value that actually has multiple states depending on which thread is accessing the objects. Therefore an object can be modified by one thread, but another thread can access the same object without seeing the uncommitted change. Property changes are made visible when transactions are committed. This technique allows Persevere to maintain transactional isolation between concurrent request handlers, while minimizing the record/objects that must be held in memory. Persevere’s architecture combined with JavaScriptDB’s integration minimizes memory consumption, allowing internal caches to be maximized for optimal performance. Persevere utilizes the sophisticated least recently used (LRU) caching capabilities of the Java Virtual Machines’s (JVM) soft referencing mechanism. In-memory objects, as well as JavaScriptDB’s indices, are cached via soft reference tables. This allows the JVM to utilize an integrated view of reachability and object access timestamps to determine which objects to collect and discard. This means that objects that are reachable by currently executing code will always stay in the cache (since they must stay in memory due to reachability) as long as they are reachable. Unreachable objects are then discarded according to LRU strategies. Since the JVM’s garbage collection handles object collection at a global level, it is also able to optimally select objects for collection without being constrained by module level view. This means that if the indices are not being used frequently, more memory can be allocated to the object cache and vice versa. Caches are maintained according to usage and reachability with the JVM’s global perspective for optimal discarding strategy. Append-based Database Storage JavaScriptDB uses an append-based database format to store data. Many traditional database will synchronously commit data to a transaction log file before committing data to the main storage table, which requires multiple writes. On the other hand, JavaScriptDB appends transactional data directly to the main storage file such that writes can be committed with a single IO operation. This also enables JavaScriptDB to efficiently maintain a version history of the database and its records. The storage file is essentially a running log of transactions, and these transactions are exposed as the Transaction table. By storing data as a sequential set of transaction, JavaScriptDB not only can persist data quickly, it also provides efficient access to the transactions that have taken place and a version history of the database and objects within it. Adaptive On-Demand Concurrent Indexing JavaScriptDB features a dynamic approach to indexing that minimizes the configuration and management required to create and maintain tables, and maximizes performance. By default, JavaScriptDB indexes all properties of persisted objects, so typical queries can almost always be run in fast O(log n) time. However, the indexer does not block write operations to complete index updates when objects are added, deleted, or modified. Rather, the indexer execution takes place concurrently in a background asynchronous task executing threads. As objects are indexed, the index update operations are delegated to the appropriate index nodes, which are also executed as asynchronous tasks. When an index is needed for a query, any outstanding updates along the node tree path are completed so the query can execute. It is worth noting that this on-demand indexing does not mean that the entire index must be updated to execute a query. Often (and usually in the case of large databases) an object may be updated that affects an index node that isn’t used in a subsequent query. In this case, the query can still execute without waiting for the index node to be updated. JavaScriptDB properly orchestrates concurrent indexing such that nodes are updated through lower-priority background threads when possible, and immediately updated on-demand as necessary. This allows write operations to take place very quickly, while still allowing indexes to be ready for fast query operations as well. This also allows Persevere to utilize resources and CPU processing more evenly and smoothly. Background processes can take CPU time as needed when client requests are not demanding immediate data retrieval. Furthermore, JavaScriptDB uses adaptive techniques with indexing. If a particular index has been unused for some time while many objects have been added to a table with the corresponding property, JavaScriptDB will stop proactively updating the index to conserve resources. When an index is no longer proactively updated, the index will only be updated on-demand, when a query is performed that requires that index. Once the index is updated, it will resume proactive updates (at least until disuse causes it to go back to a non-proactive update state). This approach allows JavaScriptDB to automatically do appropriate and efficient indexing with minimal manual configuration. JavaScriptDB does also support manual configuration of indexes, for situations where you may want explicit control of indexing. Batched writes in integrity mode One of the most expensive operations that a database can perform is a forced synchronous disk write operation. These operations are necessary for high-integrity commit mode where the commit does not return until the database is certain that the data has actually been written to the disk, fulfilling the durability component of ACID compliance. These operations can take around 10ms. In order to improve the performance of high-integrity commits, Persevere will detect when multiple writes are taking place concurrently and batch multiple writes together in a single synchronous disk write operation. When a number of concurrent write requests are being sent to Persevere, this can significantly reduce the number of synchronous writes that must take place and greatly improve performance. Pluggable Storage Persevere uses a pluggable storage system. JavaScriptDB is one of several data source plugins (the default data source) that can be used with Persevere. Persevere supports heterogeneous storage configurations. This means you can leverage the performance and flexibility of JavaScriptDB in Persevere without abandoning existing relational databases, as well as other data sources. Even custom data sources can be created for unique storage systems. The ServerJS working group is also considering a standard API for database interaction that might possibly allow JavaScriptDB to be used as a standalone database engine for use by other Rhino-based frameworks like Helma (of course Persevere + JavaScriptDB can already be used with existing JavaScript modules, and it can be used as a database for Java applications through it’s Java API). Future Improvements This is the first release of JavaScriptDB, so there is still significant opportunities for continuing to improve and refine this storage engine. Currently, JavaScriptDB does not utilize indices for nested object queries (the equivalent of inner joins in relational DBs). Consequently queries of the form [?prop1=’something’] will execute in O(log n) time, but queries of the form [?prop1.prop2='something'] will only execute in O(n) . Future versions will provide fast O(log n) for a much broader range of queries. A later release will also provide true ACID compliance (the current version does not fulfill the atomicity constraint). Finally, replication/clustering services will be added in the future as well, for distributing Persevere workload across multiple servers. Real Value As Alex Payne pointed out, the economy may be ending the era of disregard for system performance and efficiency with the excuse of buying more servers. More servers costs more money, and architectures like Persevere that can efficiently handle large numbers of users and traffic with minimal hardware resources equates to real money saved. Persevere combines numerous advanced capabilities for web-accessible data including standards-based HTTP interface, JSONQuery, JSON-RPC, server side JavaScript, Comet-based data notifications, robust security, and more. Now these capabilities are available with speed and scalability that outperforms the most common web application systems, allowing you to build high-performance client/server Ajax web applications with unprecedented ease, efficiency, and value. Update: Jan Lehnardt pointed out that CouchDB is now at version 0.9.0 and OS-X is not the optimal platform for CouchDB, so the latest version CouchDB can presumably improve upon the CouchDB performance shown in these tests. Hopefully we can progress towards better benchmarking tools for this new breed of databases.

GENEVA (Reuters) - Syria’s political opposition hopes Hillary Clinton wins the U.S. presidential election next week because she has a better understanding of the conflict than Donald Trump, according to members of a delegation holding talks at the United Nations. President of the Syrian National Coalition Khaled Khoja delivers remarks regarding Russian air strikes on Syria at the United Nations in Manhattan, New York September 30, 2015. Russia launched air strikes in Syria today in the Kremlin's biggest Middle East intervention in decades. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly - RTS2IBM Khaled Khoja and Hind Kabawat, in Geneva on Monday to press for U.N.-led negotiations on the release of Syrian detainees, said they trusted Clinton, a former U.S. Secretary of State, to deliver on the opposition’s top priority - protecting civilians. Clinton has called for the establishment of a no-fly zone and “safe zones” on the ground in Syria to protect non-combatants. Trump says this could “lead to World War Three” due to the potential for conflict with Russia, which is providing military support to President Bashar al-Assad. Kabawat said Trump, who has never held public office and has no foreign policy experience, saw Islamic State, also known as ISIS, as the only alternative to Assad in Syria. “For us a woman’s leadership at this time would be a good thing. Also for many, like Trump and others, they think that the Syrian conflict is comparing Assad with ISIS and they have to take one side or the other, and of course for them Assad will look more prominent than ISIS,” said Kabawat. “She (Clinton) knows that is wrong. She knows that there is this moderate opposition that believes in democracy and freedom. This is what we are aiming for, to have a president of the U.S. with good experience who knows the difference between the different oppositions.” Assad, whose forces have regained much territory against their opponents with the help of Russian warplanes, has branded all those opposed to his rule as “terrorists”. ISLAMIC STATE Trump has said defeating Islamic State should be a higher priority than trying to persuade Assad to step aside, a departure from a long-held U.S. policy objective. Khoja, leading the Syrian opposition delegation in Geneva, disagreed with this viewpoint. “Dealing with only the ISIS issue will not help with solving the crisis in Syria or the region because the root cause of the crisis is the (Assad) regime itself,” he said. Kabawat, an attorney and a member of the opposition High Negotiations Committee, added that the Syrian political opposition wanted to see women playing an equal role to men in the nation’s politics. The opposition delegation, which has links to the Free Syrian Army but not with Islamic State or al Qaeda-linked groups, is in Geneva this week to revive the issue of prisoner releases, sidelined during months of fruitless peace talks. Khoja said more than 100 armed groups had shown their willingness to cooperate but there had been no sign of cooperation from Assad’s government or Russia, adding that the United Nations should form a committee on the matter. “If it’s needed, if there is a response from the regime side to release the detainees and stop killings inside Syria, then we can have the representative of the military groups also in this committee, and if the regime wants to send someone to this committee, we can discuss it,” Khoja said. The Syrian Network of Human Rights has documented more than 90,000 detainees held by the Syrian government, 6,000 held by Islamic State and 2,400 held by the rest of the opposition, but estimates the real numbers are twice as high.

Over the long weekend, somebody directed my attention to an article on the Everyday Feminism site entitled ‘Gay Men’s Sexism and Women’s Bodies‘. It’s a pretty attention-grabbing headline, especially to a gay male feminist, so I clicked through, and ultimately came away massively conflicted about what I’d just read. The writer, Yoko Akili, is a gay male writer, poet and educator, and it is definitely important to view the article within the context of his Queer American perspective. There’s plenty within the article to agree with. He relates the story of a female friend who had her breasts grabbed aggressively in a club by a gay man she had never met before. The man refused to apologise or admit he had done anything wrong, saying “It’s no big deal, I’m gay, I don’t want her – I was just having fun.” To be frank, that’s an utterly vile statement. I don’t give two shits whether or not you find somebody sexually attractive – do not ever grab somebody’s junk without their consent. Like, ever. That is assault. It is not okay. I’ve seen plenty of online commentators make the comparison with hordes of straight women flooding into gay bars and clubs, making the occasional vodka-induced crotch-grab on a passing Muscle Mary, but I’m not going down that route. Yes that’s equally wrong and equally fucking annoying, but I do think Akili is spot on when he points out that this issue exists and highlights a male sense of ownership of women’s bodies, regardless of sexuality. When a skinny, permatanned twink grabs a girl’s tits on the dancefloor of a gay club, their motivation clearly isn’t the same as when those teenage boys in Steubenville, Ohio raped a passed-out girl at a party, but they’re both parts of the same damn problem – it’s sexism and it’s misogyny, pure and simple. It’s the viewpoint that women’s bodies are only there for the experiencing of pleasure, of “having fun”. Whether it’s of a sexual nature or not is entirely beside the point. This is what feminism exists for – to challenge behaviours such as this and to expose the pervasively misogynistic worldviews that motivate them. Akili says that he has “experienced this attitude as being very common amongst gay men”, and opens his article with the admittedly less-than-scientific observation that a group of gay men in the audience of one of his presentations all admitted to touching a woman’s body without her consent, and also to offering a woman unsolicited advice about how to “improve” her body or fashion. He is clearly basing this article on his own anecdotal experience. To a certain extent I, and I’m sure many readers, share those experiences – I’m painfully aware that this behaviour does occur on a regular basis within parts of the LGBT community. That being said, however, I’m pleased to report that the vast majority of my friends who identify as gay/queer men would find the idea of feeling up a female stranger in a club completely awful. Here’s a not so shocking fact for you – gay men are no more a monolithic entity than any other social group. We know it’s not okay to begin sentences with hideously sweeping, absolutist statements like “all Muslims are…” or “all Chinese people are…”, because those statements are almost always demonstrably fallacious. Not all gay men grope women in clubs. Not all gay men go to clubs. Not all gay men would routinely walk up to a woman they barely know and start telling her what is wrong with the way she looks or the clothes she wears. Don’t get me wrong – it happens, and the rest of us should do whatever we can to smash that kind of bullshit wherever we experience it. Akili’s problem is that he extrapolates out from his own personal experiences of a small subsection of a nationally-defined subculture and attempts to apply his findings to “all gay men” – a mythically homogenous group if ever there was one. The part of the article which baffles and confuses me most is the leap Akili then makes from discussing the grabbing of breasts and the inherent misogyny therein to classifying gay men’s “diva worship” and “celebrating women” as “objectification, assault and dehumanisation”. It’s a frankly insulting and entirely unfounded assertion, and it really does come out of left field. If you grope a woman in a club or feel you have the Gucci-given right to tell her how she should look, then you’re a douchebag and you’re a dehumanising misogynist. But to go from that to asserting that when a gay man idolises or celebrates a woman, or group of women, he is objectifying them – there’s no basis for such a claim and it’s almost offensive. To leap from your own personal, limited experience and make sweeping and damning claims about an entire group of people…well it definitely doesn’t sit too comfortably with me. Akili’s intentions are pure, I have no doubt. The patriarchy is an insidiously pervasive and damaging force – from the glass ceilings of our workplaces to the sticky dancefloors of our gay bars, it’s everywhere and it must be challenged at every available opportunity. But not all gay men are misogynists, and thank God for that. We do receive a certain amount of the privilege that comes with being male in our Western society, and that’s a huge part of why some gay guys are sexist ass-hats, but it’s not all of us. Gay men aren’t all the same, but if we could all recognise where the misogyny is occurring within our community and stomp it out, maybe we could be. And then that wouldn’t be such a bad thing.

Before the start of the 2013-14 NBA season, a springtime Thursday night matchup between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Los Angeles Lakers seemed like a pretty attractive primetime affair, with visions of league-leading scorer Kevin Durant leading another title-contending Thunder squad into a contest with a Lakers team perhaps scrapping for a playoff spot behind a version of Kobe Bryant rounding into form after knocking off nearly eight months of Achilles-rehab rust. That, of course, wasn't to be. While Durant's turned in an MVP-caliber campaign to lead the Thunder to contention for the top seed in the Western Conference, injuries and setbacks (and, y'know, losing an All-Star center in free agency and "replacing" him with Chris Kaman) have derailed Bryant and the rest of the Lakers this season, leading to L.A. dragging a 22-42 record into Thursday's game, which the Lakers entered fresh off having ruled Bryant and point guard Steve Nash out for the remainder of the season. Four days after the Lakers pulled off a stunning upset of the Thunder, OKC returned the favor with a 131-102 smackdown behind 29 points apiece from Durant and Russell Westbrook. The game would've been more fun — although perhaps not necessarily all that much more competitive — with Bryant around. Scroll to continue with content Ad As it turns out, though, the Mamba was present in spirit, after a fashion. During a conversation with Durant that served as the basis for a piece leading up to Thursday's game, Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News spoke with Durant about the way he works on his game, and how he's modeled that approach on his experiences with Bryant over the years: Story continues “Of course. He’s the greatest of all time. His skill is second to none. Him and [Michael Jordan] are neck and neck as far as skill. You can put in athleticism and be the best passer and strongest and quickest. But it’s about skill. I think that’s how his game is played. That’s why Kobe is the top two best ever in just having skill, footwork, shooting the three, shooting the pull up, posting up, dunking on guys and ball handling. It’s flat out skill. Him and Jordan are 1 and 1A. They’re neck and neck as far as the skills are concerned.” “Kobe plays his game no matter what with his intensity and focus and he will play to win. He also will do what he needs to do to get ready to play. If he sees a mismatch, he’ll take it down low and demand the ball. He’s one of those guys who will always bring the same intensity every time no matter who’s on the court.” This will undoubtedly rub some readers the wrong way, as such statements always seem to. That's fine — rankings are, of course, a matter of personal preference, Durant's entitled to his opinion as to Kobe's all-time greatness, and the specific elements Durant's talking about (the breadth of Bryant and Jordan's skills, their commitment to technique, the variety of different things they could do offensively) might not dovetail perfectly with everyone else's definitions of "greatest of all time." There's still plenty of room to state cases for any number of other "1 or 1A" players, from Wilt Chamberlain and Oscar Robertson, to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson, to Larry Bird and Bill Russell, and any number of others in between. Your mileage may vary. Please feel free to argue this on a barstool to your heart's content this weekend, so long as I am not on the barstool next to you. What's most interesting to me, though, is the way Durant's praise of Bryant's game and accomplishments came in the context of acknowledging not only that he's modeled his own approach to skill development and improvement on Kobe's, but also that he's actively sought advice from his 2012 Summer Olympics teammate on matters both specific and general. More from Medina: What’s Kobe’s personality like? “He’s one of those guys that’s to himself and real quiet. That’s how it was being around the Olympics. He’s a great guy to talk to and somebody that I remember two years ago, I called him at like 3 in the morning. We both had a game the next day. I was picking his brain a little bit. He’s one of those guys who’s a night owl.” What were you asking him? “I was picking his brain about different situations in the game and how I can handle my teammates better and how I can approach the game a little better. I don’t think I told anybody that. But I texted him one night and said, 'Man, I need to talk to somebody before playing the next day.' It was three in the morning. He picked the phone up. That’s something I’ll always remember. When we play each other, it’s better now that we have that relationship because it was almost bragging rights.” Durant's language here is very similar to what Indiana Pacers forward Paul George used in a recent interview, where he said he'd like to develop a mentor/mentee-type relationship with LeBron James, "because I think he’s a player that can help me get to the next level and continue to keep going to the next level." (George also said he wishes Bryant "would mentor [him]," noting that every time he runs into Kobe, "he gives me a couple words.") James, for his part, said he'd be open to mentoring George: "You know me, I don't mind it at all. I don't mind giving guys [advice], whatever he wants to ask. Guys know I have an open door/phone policy." When those stories broke, some cast sideways glances at George for saying he'd like to be mentored by the guy whose spot he's trying to take and at James for saying he'd be willing to mentor the guy trying to take his spot. I suspect Durant won't be seeing any such side-eye in this instance, if for no other reason than that — at age 35, after a year lost to major leg injuries, on a Lakers team that looks unlikely to compete for anything meaningful any time soon — Bryant and the Lakers no longer really represent the same sort of threat to Durant's primacy as the West's best scorer or the Thunder's chances of being the West's best team that George and the Pacers do to James and the Heat. Kobe doesn't think that way, obviously — he'll believe he could compete for a championship until he's six feet under, same as Jordan — but in the context of the NBA world as it actually exists, it makes more sense in the minds of many for a great player from the new school to seek counsel from a prior generation's top star rather than for contemporaries to compare notes. It shouldn't, though. I like the idea that LeBron and KD have worked out together. I think it's cool that the best and brightest want to not only go after each other and tear one another apart, but also want to learn from one another and try to get better by figuring out stuff they don't know from people who might. Nobody's saying that everybody needs to be the best of friends all the time, but considering that one of the primary developments of the post-AAU-basketball-playing social structure is that these guys mostly are friends, why not make the most of those other awesome people you know as you attempt to become the best possible version of yourself? You're never going to know everything, and you're never going to be the unquestioned best at everything if you don't ceaselessly attempt to get better. A lot of that work is physical, of course, coming through hour after hour of hard labor in the practice gym and weight room, but important additions can also come from simple conversations, whether during All-Star Weekend shootarounds or 3 a.m. check-ins. Do collaboration and competition have to be mutually exclusive? Or can players adopt an "each one teach one" mentality off the court, and still go all out to take one another to school on it? It sure seems to be working for guys like LeBron and Durant; if this "mentoring" thing catches on, the rising tide could lift quite a number of super-talented young boats in the years to come. - - - - - - - Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at devine@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter! Stay connected with Ball Don't Lie on Twitter @YahooBDL, "Like" BDL on Facebook and follow BDL's Tumblr for year-round NBA talk, jokes and more.

This is a signboard located on the Makran Coastal Highway. The signboard can easily be ignored by any passersby but ignoring it means ignoring a history of around 9000 years. The signboard points a traveler to the historic Hinglaj Devi Temple located in Hinglaj of Balochistan region in Pakistan’s southwest. It is one of the most important pilgrimage sites in Pakistan for the country’s minority Hindus. Because it is located near Karachi, the Islamic country’s only cosmopolitan city, Hindus find Hinglaj easily accessible. Why is the religious significance of Hinglaj? Advertisement Any temple in the repressive, anti-minority Pakistani establishment is important for the Hindus, and Hinglaj has a history that even the native Balochistanis are proud of. According to the Hindus, the site is one of the 51 Shakti Peeths of Hinduism. A Shakti Peeth is a place associated with Sati – the wife of Lord Shiva. Hindus believe that the head of Sati fell at Hinglaj, thus making it the most important of all Shakti Peeths in the sub-continent. Hinglaj is also the only Shakti Peeth in Pakistan. Despite its religious significance, Hinglaj does not even look like a Hindu temple. The temple is like a shrine nestled in a small cave like opening at the foot of a mountain. There is only a mark of a Sun and a Moon on the shrine believed to have been made by Lord Ram. The idol of the Goddess is inside a low-roof structure. Proper Hindu rituals are followed in the worship of the Goddess. Pilgrims walk on foot over the rocky desert landscape to reach the temple as a form of penance. How is Hinglaj still surviving despite increasing fundamentalism in Pakistan? The temple would have been lost to the establishment condoned rising fundamentalism in Pakistan but for the locals of Balochistan. It is the Balochistani people, Muslims by faith, who have helped protect the shrine for this long. They call it ‘Nani ki Mandir’. The caretakers of the shrine and Baloch tribesmen live in a local village close by. The tribesmen revere the Hinglaj Devi temple and help the Hindu pilgrims in whichever way they can during the pilgrimage. It is because of the Baloch tribesmen that the temple survives to this day in a land where everything related to minorities face persecution at the hands of fundamentalists and a government that has kept its eyes closed.

"Drinks for all my friends!" Mickey Rourke (right) and Frank Stallone in a scene from "Barfly," the quintessential dive bar movie, from 1987. "Trees Lounge" is also an esteemed member of the genre. (The Cannon Group) Recently, I lamented the passing of John’s Place, a dive bar in Fairfax City which closed Jan. 1. It seemed perhaps symbolic of the evolution of shiny new Northern Virginia, leaving grubby old Northern Virginia behind. But readers jumped in with many suggestions of dive bars still thriving in NoVa. I will soon undertake a research mission to explore the places you’ve pointed out. But I needed a template, a philosophical guide: What, in Northern Virginia in 2013, is a dive bar? I turned to Fritz Hahn, tavern expert for The Post’s Going Out Guide and a man well-acquainted with the dives of NoVa, D.C. and elsewhere. I asked what rules should be used to define a dive bar. I started out with some suggestions: 1) No kids. 2) Decent jukebox. 3) Inedible food. His response, below, is hilarious. Insightful, clearly spoken from experience, and a total roadmap. Read on, and then add your own defining characteristics of a dive bar in the comments: Fritz: Good start. I don’t think the food has to be inedible. I’ll admit to liking the burger at Quarry House (Silver Spring) and the chili dog at Vienna Inn. But the menu should be full of things you’d get at a fire station or a church picnic. Chili, Italian subs, fried mac and cheese, wings or tacos would be fine. Even fish and chips. Strip steak, anything topped with boursin cheese, any “wrap,” fancy fish — all out. At least half of the menu items should have come in contact with a deep fryer. What a dive bar looks like. From the Surf Club in Hyattsville, now gone. (Nikki Kahn/The Washington Post) The exception I’ll make is for places that have found ethnic neighborhoods spring up around them. I’ve been to some bars in Silver Spring and Annandale where the cooks were Latin American and talked the owners into putting quesadillas or empanadas on the menu, and they’re better than the American dive food. Anyway, more suggestions: No microbrews that you don’t see advertised on TV, i.e. Sam Adams, though I’m flexible with this: I know of some dives where the owner or a bartender prefers good beer, so they stock it, or the regulars asked for DC Brau or another local brew. No drink over $10. Better yet, no beer-and-a-shot combo over $10. A dusty bottle of Galliano, Frangelico or Benedictine that probably hasn’t been used since the ’80s. House wine poured from large jugs behind the bar. No framed reviews on the wall unless they’re 10 years old, from an actual newspaper. I used to say no internet jukebox, and while I’m easing off that, I still prefer a CD Jukebox. Or, as Galaxy Hut did when they caved, a jukebox that the owner can ban artists from. While the Hut has an internet juke, you can’t punch up Britney or One Direction or something. A dive bar regular, in this case, Tom Orlowski at Mark’s Place in Virginia Beach. "They oughta hang 'em and get it over with," Orlowski said of sniper John Allen Muhammad and his trial then starting in Virginia Beach. (Stephanie K. Kuykendal/FTWP) Should be dark or dimly lit. Bonus points for a light that’s out or flickering. Something about the place should be local without being hokey — maybe a high school team’s hat or jersey on the wall, an old photo of the building, a sign advertising an event at the local VFW. At least one patron should look like they got there before 10 a.m. Corollary: If the bar doesn’t open before 5, it’s not a dive. Bonus points for a family photo of the owner, more for a family photo showing the bartender, even more for photos of regulars. Pool table is a plus, especially if the felt is faded and you see obvious wear in front of the head spot. (And, like Hank Dietle’s in Rockville, there’s a sign telling you not to use the pool balls in a fight.) (Fritz’s top Virginia dives: Jay’s in Clarendon, JV’s in Falls Church, McKeever’s in McLean, Mark’s Pub in Falls Church and the Forest Inn in Arlington. ) (Here’s a list of Fritz’s top Virginia bars, of all varieties.)

Ash Carter announces extra personnel and criticises allies in Middle East for not doing enough in fight against Isis The US defence secretary has announced that 200 more military personnel will be sent to Syria to strengthen the fight against Islamic State in its stronghold of Raqqa. Speaking at talks on Middle East security, Ash Carter said Barack Obama had approved deployment of the extra troops, who would include special forces trainers, advisers and bomb disposal experts. Three hundred US special forces are already in Syria working with a coalition of Kurdish and Arab fighters who are attempting to capture the city. The Syria Democratic Forces (SDF) has been gaining ground in areas north of Raqqa, the caliphate’s Syrian capital. The US has mostly been supporting the effort through airstrikes. Carter also made one of his most direct attacks yet on other Middle Eastern countries for not lending more military muscle to the fight against Isis while complaining about American efforts. In a speech on Saturday at a security conference in Bahrain, Carter said the additional troops would “continue organising, training, equipping, and otherwise enabling capable, motivated local forces” to take the fight to Isis. He went on to criticise America’s Middle East partners for failing to help in the broader campaign to defeat the group and counter-extremism. He suggested US politicians had been irritated by what he saw as disingenuous criticism from “regional powers here in the Middle East”. Carter said: “I would ask you to imagine what US military and defence leaders think when they have to listen to complaints sometimes that we should do more, when it’s plain to see that all too often, the ones complaining aren’t doing enough themselves.” He said it was not unreasonable for Washington to expect regional powers who opposed extremism in the Middle East to do more to help fight it, “particularly in the political and economic aspects of the campaign”. Carter noted how many Sunni-led Gulf countries had expressed concern about the spread of Iranian influence in the region. “The fact is, if countries in the region are worried about Iran’s destabilising activities – a concern the United States shares – they need to get in the game. That means getting serious about starting to partner more with each other, and investing in the right capabilities for the threat.” He added that Russia, Syria’s main ally, had “only inflamed the civil war and prolonged suffering”. Carter said Obama had approved the extra troop movements last week. It is thought they are needed in the urgent efforts to train Arab volunteers who are joining the Raqqa push. “By combining our capabilities with those of our local partners, we’ve been squeezing Isis by applying simultaneous pressure from all sides and across domains, through a series of deliberate actions to continue to build momentum,” he said. The military push is complicated by the role played by local Kurdish fighters, the most effective US partner against Isis in Syria, but who are viewed by Turkey, a US ally, as a terrorist threat. Meanwhile, the US secretary of state, John Kerry, was in Paris on Saturday meeting European and Arab foreign ministers to discuss Syria, a conflict he described as the worst catastrophe since the second world war. He was due to hold talks afterwards with the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, a day after admitting to US embassy staff in Paris that he was “tired” of trying to negotiate with the Russians over the civil war in Syria. “I know people are tired of these meetings. I’m tired of these meetings,” Kerry said. “And people are sort of: ‘Oh, another meeting. OK. This one will end the same way the other one did.’ I get it, folks. I’m not born yesterday. But what am I supposed to do? Go home and have a nice weekend in Massachusetts while people are dying? Sit there in Washington and do nothing? That’s not the way you do business.” Kerry has struggled to make progress since Russia intervened militarily to prop up Bashar al-Assad’s regime. On Friday in Aleppo, pro-regime forces were claiming to occupy 85% of the city, much of which has now been reduced to ruins. Lavrov announced on Wednesday a temporary “humanitarian pause” to the bombardment of Aleppo to allow civilians to leave, and on Thursday 10,500 fled the city. The UN special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, said on Saturday that an estimated 100,000 people remained, squeezed into an “ever-shrinking” pocket of resistance to Assad’s forces and without access to food, water or medicine. De Mistura said the expected government victory in Aleppo would not end the war, as has been predicted. “A serious discussion about the future political set-up of Syria” was the only way to achieve peace, he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

As the large-scale FBI investigation into corruption in college basketball continues nationwide, Hurricanes coach Jim Larrañaga and his staff are cooperating with authorities looking into the Miami program, Larrañaga’s attorney said late Tuesday night. Stuart Z. Grossman, a Coral Gables attorney who is representing Larrañaga, told the Sun Sentinel the coach has turned over phone records and other documents to both school and government officials investigating the Hurricanes men’s basketball team. Their efforts, Grossman says, will help prove that neither Larrañaga nor any member of his coaching staff knew about an alleged payoff being potentially made to a prospect Miami was recruiting. “We are living up to our pledge to cooperate with the government and with the University of Miami from Coach Larrañaga’s point of view by giving them anything and everything they ask for, whether it’s emails, phone receipts, or any documented records that we have,” Grossman said. “And I think it’s impressive because we don’t play games. We’re very straightforward, and we believe that anyone that objectively looks at this, and we’re convinced they will, will conclude that the University of Miami, Coach Larrañaga and his assistants don’t know a thing about this conversation that took place in which a coach was named as supporting some type of payoff to a high school player. “I’m not denying that somebody may have mentioned a coach’s name, but I’m absolutely telling you that none of our coaches were involved in that, in the conversation or in attempted bribery or anything like that.” Federal corruption and bribery charges were filed against 10 people tied to college basketball nationwide last week, including four assistant coaches, Adidas executive Jim Gatto and youth travel basketball coach Jonathan Brad Augustine. In the Department of Justice complaint filed against Gatto, the DOJ alleges that a “Coach-3” from “University-7” had knowledge of a plan to funnel approximately $150,000 to “Player-12,” an unnamed high school basketball recruit set to graduate in 2018 in order to secure that athlete’s verbal commitment to the “University-7.” No Miami coaches were named in the complaint or were arrested, but school president Dr. Julio Frenk confirmed last Wednesday that the U.S. Attorney’s Office was investigating a potential tie between a recruit and a member of the coaching staff at UM, which fit the description of the unnamed “University-7” mentioned in the complaint against Gatto. Grossman said that Larrañaga, like everyone else, learned about the allegations involving the Miami program last Tuesday. And he said the coach has been “devastated” by what has unfolded since. Grossman said Larrañaga has spoken with his three assistant coaches — Chris Caputo, Adam Fisher and Jamal Brunt — and Grossman said the coach remains confident none of them are involved in the matter. “First of all, he was devastated because each individual knows what he or she did or does in broad daylight or in the middle of the night,” Grossman said. “Coach L knew he had not participated in anything like this. So his No. 1 concern was his assistants, had any of the three of them betrayed him, because he loves these guys. And that, I think, hurt him the most. He didn’t know anything other than what he read, and he’s satisfied that none of the assistants did anything. They’re like sons to him. And if you know him, that’s the way he is. He is the father of Miami basketball. … Now, we just sit around and wait and cooperate.” Grossman said he’s uncertain how long the investigation into Miami’s program will go on, but the longer it takes, the greater impact it will have on Miami’s recruiting. The Hurricanes, who had one of their best recruiting classes in program history a year ago and are projected to be a preseason Top 25 team this season, currently do not have any recruits committed in their 2018 class. And at least one top prospect has reportedly said he is no longer considering the program. As the investigation continues, so, too does the preparation for the upcoming season. Miami, which was 21-12 last year and advanced to the first round of the NCAA Tournament, opened practice last Friday. It’s on the court, Grossman said, that Larrañaga and the Hurricanes have found a brief respite from their off-court issues. “Frankly, that’s their best moment of the day, when they can get on the floor and practice and they’ll forget about — for that period of time — what’s going on,” Grossman said. “It weighs on everybody’s minds. It weighs on the coaches’ minds, I’m sure on the players’ minds, you have to reassure them that everything’s going to be OK and whatnot. The saddest part is Coach works all of his life to build a program on his own reputation and you sell it to recruits and they, of course, do their due diligence … come for a campus visit, check out the coaches, this and that and up until this moment, it’s been just flawless under his leadership. Now, you’ve got this taking place and it’s just highly disruptive to the recruiting process. “I would just like the folks out there who believe in the truth and believe in the university to hang in there. We’ll get through this. We’re doing all we can to cooperate.” CAPTION Manny Diaz is introduced as head coach of the Miami Hurricanes and outlines his vision for the program moving forward. Manny Diaz is introduced as head coach of the Miami Hurricanes and outlines his vision for the program moving forward. CAPTION Manny Diaz is introduced as head coach of the Miami Hurricanes and outlines his vision for the program moving forward. Manny Diaz is introduced as head coach of the Miami Hurricanes and outlines his vision for the program moving forward. CAPTION Hurricanes running back DeeJay Dallas discusses some of Miami’s woes. Hurricanes running back DeeJay Dallas discusses some of Miami’s woes. CAPTION Manny Diaz talks Hurricanes defense, Temple job Manny Diaz talks Hurricanes defense, Temple job CAPTION UM’s Ephraim Banda on the changes around UM’s defense. UM’s Ephraim Banda on the changes around UM’s defense. CAPTION Hurricanes coach Mark Richt discusses the end of UM's losing streak ahead of Saturday's regular-season finale against Pittsburgh. Hurricanes coach Mark Richt discusses the end of UM's losing streak ahead of Saturday's regular-season finale against Pittsburgh. ccabrera@sun-sentinel.com; On Twitter @ChristyChirinos.

Ducati Motor Holding is reporting another record sales year, and that the Italian motorcycle manufacturer sold 45,100 bikes in 2014. This marks the fifth year in a row that Ducati has shown sales growth, and it’s the third year in a row that the sales figures have been an all-time record for the Italian brand. Sales for 2014 were up 2% over 2013, with the USA again leading as Ducati’s most important market (8,804 units sold in the USA). Unsurprisingly, the Asian market is growing quickly for Ducati as well, up 11% in 2014. Ducati attributes its sales growth in-part to its new water cooler Monster line, where the Ducati Monster 1200 and Ducati Monster 821 helped raise Monster sales by 31%, with 16,409 new bikes sold in 2014. The Ducati 899 Panigale helped the Italian company’s Superbike line reach a 12% growth overall, with 9,788 bikes sold in 2014 — 5,806 of those superbikes were Ducati 899 Panigales, up 74% over 2013 (readers will remember that the 899 had a early-autumn launch). Geographically, Ducati saw sales increases in Mexico (8%) and Brazil (74%, 1,174 bikes). Sales in Europe however were down 3%, with only 19,743 bikes sold in 2014. This sales drop was due mainly to specific markets, namely Italy, where sales were down 14% at 4,284 units. Sales in the UK however were up 16%, with 2,742 bikes sold. In other markets, Ducati sold 5,787 bikes in Asia, with Thailand leading growth with its 22% gain (3,057 units). Sales in China doubled, but no unit figures were given for this market by Ducati. Australia was up 13% with 2,132 bikes sold, and Japan was up 1% with 2,558 bikes sold. Source: Ducati

Secret Empire Tie-ins (ongoing series) In this post: Amazing Spider-Man Vol 4 #29 – 31 Occupy Avengers #8 – 9 Champions Vol 2 #10 – 11 X-Men: Blue #7 – 9 Previous Posts: Tales from Inside Hydra Avengers #9 – 10 U.S. Avengers #6 – 9 Deadpool Vol 4 #31 – 35 Under the Darkforce Dome Uncanny Avengers Vol 3 #24 – 25 Doctor Strange Vol 4 #21 – 24 X-Men: Gold Vol 2 #7 – 8 Beyond the Defense Shield Ultimates 2 Vol 2 #7 Mighty Captain Marvel #5 – 8 All-New Guardians of the Galaxy Annual #1 Amazing Spider-Man #29 – 30 Background: Tie-in Synopsis: Issue 29 As the issue opens, Peter Parker is London preparing to do an interview about the recent involvement of his companies involvement in the liberation of Symkaria. Peter’s publicist, who knows he is Spider-Man, tells him that now is the time for Peter Parker, Spider-Man and no matter what he has to do this interview for the sake of the company. Shortly after the interview begins, the news that the Alpha Flight Station is under attack by a wave of Chitauri and the Masters of Evil are attacking Manhattan. The newscaster tells Peter that interview is over so they can cover these two events as they unfold. Peter is understanding and returns to the Parker Industries office. When he arrives his Spider-sense tells him something is wrong so he suits up as Spider-Man, Peter Parker’s bodyguard and goes inside. Once inside he realizes that things are amiss and it turns out that they are all Hydra agents. Before they can attack, a voice tells them to stand down and tells Spider-Man to come into Parker’s office… Sitting at the desk is who proceeds to ask Peter to peacefully transfer the control of Parker Industries to him, since as he says it basically his inventions that Peter is profiting from his inventions. Sidenote time: Most people reading this probably know but just in case, Doc Ock at one point transferred his consciousness into Peter’s body and Peter’s into his comatose body. While Doc Ock was in Peter’s body he went by the Superior Spider-Man. ..or something along those Of course, Peter refuses and Doc Ock shows him a news report about the Darkforce Bubble over Manhattan and Parker Industries is responsible. Of course, the two start fighting after Parker refuses to give into his demands. Spider-Man also receives Tony’s message about Hydra’s assault on Washington D.C. Peter jumps in his rocket and heads to D.C. to help as Doc Ock leaves also destroying the Parker Industries building in the process. Issues 30 – 31 The book open with the scene of the heroes defeated and Hydra-Cap holding Thor’s Hammer. Spider-Man orders the other heroes to retreat, taking Mockingbird with him. Once they are back at his plane, Mockingbird says that need to start a resistance but Spider-Man says he has to stop Doc Ock from taking over Parker Industries as Hydra sees it as either a threat or asset to their plans. Doc Ock is at the San Francisco Parker Industries building where he is greeted by some X-Men who are also laying claim to the building. The X-Men allow Ock in after he threatens future Hydra entanglements with the mutant nation that Hydra-Steve has allowed to exist. Peter decides to make his stand in Shanghai and sets plans in place in case things don’t go in his favor. When Doc Ock shows up and Peter uses his Spider vehicles to try and take him down, Peter learns that Doc Ock has hacked all his vehicles and has complete control over them. After Peter realizes he can’t beat Doc Ock, he uses the “nuclear option” and shuts down and destroy all the research the company was doing so it didn’t fall into Hydra’s and Doc Ock’s control. In the last page, Doc Ock is back at the Hydra base How does it tie-in to the overall Secret Empire storyline and when does it take place? The tie-in story takes place at the beginning of the Secret Empire event. Issue #29 takes place around Secret Empire #0 and Issue# 30 and 31 take place after the events of the Secret Empire FCBD comic and before the Secret Empire #1. Is it necessary to read to understand the read Amazing Spider-Man to understand what is happening in the larger story? As things stand in the event at this moment, not really. At most, it explains why Peter has not been seen after the events in Washington D.C. and sets up Doc Ock up as a member of the Hydra-Avengers. It is also the way the new Superior Doc Ock is reintroduced back into continuity. It would be nice to know why Hydra-Cap wanted Parker Industries taken off the board… was it important or was he just being a dick. — — — — — — — — — — Occupy Avengers #8 – 9 Background: Super heroes – they’re a privileged class. Doing what they want, when they want and suffering no consequences. They have no regard for the ordinary people who are left behind to suffer in their wake. Who will stand up for the little guy? There is a man. If you can find him, and if he believes in your story, he and his friends will put things right. Some call them outlaws, rebels, Robin Hoods. To others, they are heroes. No powers to speak of – just skills, smarts and a burning drive to do the right thing. His name is Hawkeye. Occupy Avengers: It’s time to “Take Back Justice”! Tie-in Synopsis: After Hawkeye leaves to go lead the Resistance, the Occupy Avengers team is left to help the common folk who are being terrorized by the Hydra forces. Hydra has been forcing farmers to send their goods elsewhere and the people who depend on them are left to fend for themselves. Hawkeye tasks the team with making sure that the people who need the food get it which means hijacking a food convoy and locating one of Nick Fury’s secret bases for supplies that the resistance needs. The team splits up and makes their stand against the Hydra forces after they retrieve the weapons that Hawkeye knows that Nick Fury has stashed away. How does it tie-in to the overall Secret Empire storyline and when does it take place? The story seems to fit best after the events of Secret Empire #0 and before Secret Empire #2. One of the clues is the fact that The Champions are still at The Mound and Natasha has yet to recruit them for her Red Room. Is it necessary to read to understand the read Occupy Avengers to understand what is happening in the larger story? Not really, now I will admit that these two issues are the only ones I have read of the series aside from Issue #1 when it first came out so I have no real knowledge of the characters involved but at the same time it wasn’t hard to pick up, read, and understand the situation these heroes found themselves in once Hawkeye left to led the Resistance. — — — — — — — — — — The Champions #10 – 11 Background: Following the fallout of CIVIL WAR II, Avengers Ms. Marvel, Nova and Spider-Man strike out on their own — joined by Cyclops, Viv Vision and the Totally Awesome Hulk! Six young heroes determined to change the world — and they`re only the beginning! Tie-in Synopsis: Issue #10 The issue begins inside one of the Hydra Camps for the Inhumans which looks like a normal neighborhood. The scene shifts to Viv Vision, Amadeus Cho (Hulk), and Miles Miguel (Spider-Man) searching the Dark Web for information as to the where about of Ms. Marvel. They know that Cyclops is with his X-Men team, Nova is trapped in space outside the Defense Sheild, but fear Ms. Marvel is in a relocation camp. Viv finds the location of one of the camps, which it turns out Amadeus helped design as a place where they could put Banner and keep him from changing into The Hulk. The Champions break into the relocation center hoping to free the Inhumans but are surprised when none of them want to leave. Instead of freeing the Inhumans, Amadeus and Viv rewire the power grid using Viv’d ability to turn invisible to hide the town so that the Hydra reinforcements can’t find it. As a way of saying ‘Thank You,’ one of the Inhumans promise that they will use their abilities to search for Ms. Marvel and will contact the Champions if they find anything. Issue #11 The issue begins with the Champions searching thru the rubble of Las Vegas following Hydra’s attack. The Champions are joined by Falcon, Wasp, Ironheart and Rayshaun Lucas, the new Patriot. The team has split up to search for survivors. Falcon and Hulk are searching the North part of the city. As they are searching, Hulk is trying to keep his hopes up by trying to calculate the probability that they are going to find survivors. The rescue effort to the South is Ironheart, Spider-Man, and Patriot. The three find an airplane that has crashed, when they open it up, they find that the people inside were cooked alive from the blast of the attack. Patriot, who is on his first outing as a superhero, is having a difficult time dealing with the carnage and hopelessness. The rest of the team is having just as much luck. After they regroup, they begin to question what they are really doing fighting against Hydra. Suddenly they hear a noise which turns out to be Patriot, who has found a baby that survived the attack. This raises the team’s spirits as they head back to The Mound. How does it tie-in to the overall Secret Empire storyline and when does it take place? Issue #10 takes place between the FCBD issue and Secret Empire #1. As covered in the last post on the Secret Empire event, Ms. Marvel’s story that takes place over in Secret Warriors and Scott “Cyclops” Summers. Issue #11 takes place during the first few pages of Secret Empire #2 before The Champions decide to follow Natasha’s plan to kill Steve Rogers. Is it necessary to read to understand the read The Champions tie-ins to understand what is happening in the larger story? Again these issues are probably not important in the overall story. While I enjoy The Champions I feel that the way the characters are written in the Secret Empire issues is almost opposite of the way series writer Mark Waid handles them in the event. In their own series, there is a sense of proactiveness and helping those affected by the Hydra takeover, whereas in the Secret Empire series they are more than willing to at least go with the plan that involves killing (yes, they do try to temper Black Widow’s responses and plan, but are still willing to be accomplices to her assassination plans). Issue #10 does give more insight into the plight of the Inhumans’ situation under the Hydra rule, but has a more positive outcome then is displayed throughout the rest of the event for the Inhuman race. There is no mention as to if The Champions continue to look for Ms. Marvel or just assume that she is somewhere else (okay so maybe Las Vegas getting leveled puts a damper on finding Ms. Marvel) that but it would have been nice for the two issues tied together rather than being two one-and done Another small nitpick would be that in Secret Empire #2 they find some survivors in Vegas, in The Champions they only find the baby, ending the story on an upbeat positive note rather than the doom and gloom of the main Secret Empire title. Then again who am I to tell Mark Waid how to write a comic book Then again who am I to tell Mark Waid how to write a comic book? I guess I am just looking for a consistent tone to go along with the main story. — — — — — — — — — — X-Men: Blue #7-9 Background: Tie-in Synopsis: The time-displaced young X-Men, who are being helped by Magneto, find themselves at odds with the leadership of the sovereign mutant nation of New Tian, where humans and mutants are supposed to be living in harmony. However, those that dissent against the new regime is being unfairly incarcerated and punished, which the young X-Men won’t stand for. The team has been operating in New Tian, freeing those unjustly imprisoned. Emma Frost, the true ruler of New Tian, sends a strike force of Mutants led by Havok to capture the young X-Men and stop their rebellion. Cyclops, Beast, Angel, and Iceman are captured and while Jean and Jimmy Hudson (alternate universe son of Wolverine) must rescue them. Upon learning that some of the young X-Men have been captured Magneto, says that he plans to honor his promise to Hydra-Cap not to get involved with the mutant nation, but he has ways he can help rescue the captured X-Men. Speaking of the captured X-Men, Emma Frost is trying to turn the young Scott Summers into the recently killed Scott Summers by mentally torturing him and trying to rewrite his brain. Jean and Jimmy are able to rescue their teammates with the help of Polaris (Magneto’s daughter) and the mutant Danger (which turns out is also the Blackbird and Danger Room). Emma tries to use Scott against his teammates but Jean is able to prevent her from doing so even though Emma’s powers are being boosted by the Cosmic Cube shard she possesses. Jean is also able to temporarily release Xorn from Emma’s control. Following the events in New Tian, Captain America confronts Magneto: How does it tie-in to the overall Secret Empire storyline and when does it take place? The X-Men: Blue issues are the only other comics that focus on the events taking place in the mutant nation of New Tian besides those in Secret Empire: United and the main series. Where this story takes place in the timeline is kind of tricky to place, but if I had to I would say that it happens sometime after the events of Captain America #25 but before Emma surrenders here Cosmic Cube shard. Here is why: Secret Empire: United Xorn is established as the Ruler of New Tian at the beginning of the issue At the end of the one-shot Hydra-Cap reveals that he knows Xorn is a puppet of Emma Beast gives no indication that he is aware of Emma’s presence or manipulation of Xorn here or when he and Hydra-Cap meet in Washington DC and Cap tells Beast that if he wanted he could take Thor’s hammer and crush New Tian. In X-Men-Blue #7, the mutant Random is one of the mutants the team liberates from the prison. Random was also part of the group that attacked the Hydra border at the beginning of Secret Empire: United. In Captain America #25 when the members of the Hydra High Council demand to speak to the ruler of New Tian, the other mutants assume they have come for Xorn. When Emma reveals herself, there is a lot of surprise from Beast. X-Men: Blue #7 Emma seems to be the one in control here and through out the story arc and it is even mentioned that Jean is able to break Emma’s control over Xorn temporarily. Is it necessary to read to understand the read X-Men: Blue to understand what is happening in the larger story? Unless you are already reading X-Men: Blue or just want to find out what is happening with the mutants in New Tian, then you really don’t need to read these issues. Like I said above, it is hard to pinpoint where these issues would fit in the overall story as the X-Men are more of a side story in this event. — Next post will probably cover Secret Empire #9 and the Secret Empire: Brave New World

A new episode of David Tennant’s podcast series David Tennant Does A Podcast With... is now live. This week David's guest is the American actor and producer Jon Hamm. Jon is perhaps best known for his role as Don Draper in the worldwide hit TV drama Mad Men for which he received critical acclaim and won multiple awards including a Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award. Jon has also received 16 Primetime Emmy Award nominations for his performances in or production of Mad Men, 30 Rock and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. In the podcast Jon talks about the trial and tribulations of Hollywood and how the success of Mad Men changed his life. You can see him next in Amazon Prime’s Good Omens as Archangel Gabriel when’s it drops on 31st May. Produced by Somethin’ Else and No Mystery with Georgia Tennant, new episodes of David Tennant Does A Podcast With... will be released on Tuesdays. Expect revealing conversation, surprise stories and lots of laughs as David chats to the likes of Micha…

An 'immigrant hating' Frenchman who planned 15 mass attacks on the Euro 2016 football championship was today facing a range of terrorist charges after being arrested in Ukraine. Police announced the arrest of the 25-year-old, identified as Gregoire Moutaux, on the day the England team flew into Paris ready for the tournament's kick off on Friday. 'Gregoire was armed to the teeth and ready to strike,' said a source close to the investigation, who said details of targets emerged during questioning. Scroll down for video An 'immigrant hating' Frenchman who planned 15 mass attacks on the Euro 2016 football championship was today facing a range of terrorist charges after being arrested in Ukraine (pictured) Ukraine police said he had massed a 'vast arsenal' including five Kalashnikov assault rifles, two anti-tank grenade launchers, 5000 rounds of ammunition and 125kg of TNT explosives A source close to the investigation said the 25-year-old suspect was 'armed to the teeth and ready to strike' Police announced the arrest of the 25-year-old, identified as Gregoire Moutaux, on the day the England team flew into Paris ready for the tournament's kick off on Friday The 'far-right nationalist', who originally comes from Bar-le-Duc, near Reims, in northeast France, was arrested on Ukraine's border with Poland on May 21st. Ukraine police said he had massed a 'vast arsenal' including five Kalashnikov assault rifles, two anti-tank grenade launchers, 5000 rounds of ammunition and 125kg of TNT explosives. 'He could have caused carnage,' said the source, who also described Moutaux as 'a farm worker from the Lorraine district of France, who objected to his country being taken over by immigrants.' Moutaux was a confirmed Islamophobe and anti-Semite, and specifically wanted to targets mosques, synagogues, and 'large crowds building up around Euro 2016.' Vasyl Grytsak, of the SBU Ukrainian security service, said: 'We were able to prevent fifteen terrorist acts that were planned in France on the eve of and during the European Championship football.' The suspect had allegedly bought a series of weapons including machine guns, explosives and grenade launchers Ukraine police said he had massed a 'vast arsenal' including five Kalashnikov assault rifles, two anti-tank grenade launchers, 5000 rounds of ammunition and 125kg of TNT explosives The Frenchman arrived in eastern Ukraine last year and was 'trying to establish ties with Ukrainian troops under the guise of volunteering,' the Ukrainian agency said He confirmed Moutaux aimed 'to blow up a Muslim mosque, a Jewish synagogue, tax collection organisations, police patrol units and numerous other locations'. Mr Grytsak added: 'He obtained five Kalashnikov rifles, more than 5,000 bullets, two anti-tank grenade launchers, 125 kilogrammes (275 pounds) of TNT, 100 detonators, 20 balaclavas and other things.' Moutaux was particularly opposed to France's policy of allowing in migrants, the spread of Islam and globalisation, said Mr Grytsak. Soon after Moutaux's arrest in Ukraine, a raid was carried out at his home in France. There officers found Neo-Nazi t-shirts, as well as chemicals used to produce explosives and five balacalvas. He had no criminal record. He is believed to have travelled to Ukraine, one of the most unstable states in the world at the moment, because it is so easy to pick up arms and explosives. Ukrainian agents had been following the man since December, and allowed him to buy a series of weapons The Paris prosecutor's office, which handles terrorism cases at a national level, said no investigation had been opened yet Moutaux was particularly opposed to France's policy of allowing in migrants, the spread of Islam and globalisation, said Ukraine authorities Despite this, locals in Nant-le-Petit, which has a population of just 80 people, described Moutaux as a 'polite and pleasant lad'.. Mayor Dominique Pensalfini-Demorise said: 'He was a kid who was pleasant to his neighbours, intelligent and kind.He was always ready to help people.' British football fans will risk an unprecedented security threat when they travel to France for Euro 2016 this week. It follows warnings from a range of security agencies, ranging from the U.S.. State Department to French police that Islamic State terrorists are planning to strike. Marseille commander Laurent Nunez said the Three Lions 'opening match against Russia on Saturday in in the Mediterranean port city was 'a particularly high risk'. Suggestions that the city will be attacked emerged on a computer belonging to Salah Abdeslam, the only surviving member of the ISIS death squad that hit Paris last November. The 'far-right nationalist', who originally comes from Bar-le-Duc, near Reims, in northeast France, was arrested on Ukraine's border with Poland on May 21st Ukraine authorities said Moutaux 'aimed to blow up a Muslim mosque, a Jewish synagogue, tax collection organisations, police patrol units and numerous other locations' French regional newspaper L'Est Republicain identified the man as Gregoire Moutaux and said investigators raided his home (pictured) in Nant-le-Petit near the eastern city of Nancy in late May. It managed to murder 130 people, with suicide bombers exploding their devices around the Stade de France during a football friendly between France and Germany. Abdeslam is currently on remand in a high-security prison in Paris, and has confirmed that ISIS want to attack again, while the eyes of the world are on France during Euro 2016. France remains under a State of Emergency following last November's attack, with thousands of soldiers joining police on the streets. SOUTH AFRICA INSISTS 'NO IMMEDIATE DANGER' DESPITE TERROR WARNING South Africa has moved to allayed fears after Washington warned Americans of a possibly imminent terror attack by Islamic extremists in the country's major cities. 'We remain a strong and stable democratic country and there is no immediate danger,' State Security Minister David Mahlobo said in a statement. The United States on Saturday said it had received information that terrorist groups were planning to carry out attacks in South Africa during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The warning said attacks may target sites frequented by US citizens, including high-end shopping areas and malls in the economic hub of Johannesburg and Cape Town, which is popular with tourists. It came against the background of ISIS' 'public call for its adherents to carry out terrorist attacks globally during the upcoming month of Ramadan,' the US embassy in South Africa said. But the South African government played down the threat. State security ministry spokesman Brian Dube said authorities have not stepped up security following the alert. He said: 'Our information has not necessarily confirmed what has been raised by the Americans.' This is the second alert the US has issued for South Africa in under a year and was followed by British government travel advice, cautioning against a 'high threat from terrorism' in South Africa. 'Attacks could be indiscriminate, including in places visited by foreigners such as shopping areas in Johannesburg and Cape Town,' said the online foreign travel advice. South Africa has so far escaped the jihadist attacks seen in several other African countries. But according to Robert Besseling, Executive Director at Ex Africa Business Risk Intelligence, a threat of Islamist terrorism in South Africa was real. 'A successful terrorist attack in South Africa is feasible, given police ineffectiveness, serious weaknesses within the intelligence apparatus, and the lack of a counter-terrorism strategy,' he said in a statement. However, a local analyst said South Africa's neutral foreign policy did not place it at risk. 'We don't have a history of terrorism here, we have got a foreign policy that's quite neutral, we don't engage in any counter-insurgency operations either on the continent or elsewhere that would place us in at risk of retaliatory attacks,' said Ryan Cummings, an analyst with Cape Town-based Signal Risk think tank. Elite special forces will be on hand to deal with possible terrorist incidents, scrambling to danger zones in a matter of minutes. French authorities have extended a state of emergency until the end of the tournament, as well as the Tour de France cycling race, which will be held from July 2 to July 24. Some 2.5 million football fans are expected in stadiums, including 1.5 million foreign visitors. Yesterday, French President Francois Hollande said that the threat of extremism won't stop the European Championships from being successful. Elite special forces will be on hand to deal with possible terrorist incidents, scrambling to danger zones in a matter of minutes. Police are pictured outside the Stade de France in Paris in March A French citizen arrested on the Ukrainian-Polish border with 125kg of explosives was planning a string of attacks in France to coincide with Euro 2016, it has emerged. French forensic officers take part in a mock terror attack drill outside the Stade des Lumieres, near Lyon earlier this week Hollande said in an interview on Sunday with France Inter radio that precautionary measures throughout the matches, including a 90,000-strong security force, will ensure the matches scattered in 10 French cities are safe. Hollande said France decided to go ahead with Euro 2016 despite two waves of attacks last year, and make it a 'festival for people and for sports.' But he said that spectators at the month-long tournament must accept security checks as they enter stadiums and fan zones.

- Big Lake High School has made an amendment to its policy over the display of guns in yearbook photos, and the Big Lake Trap Team photo will now be included. Trapshooting coach Rhonda Eckerdt said she learned Wednesday from the athletic director that the team picture wouldn’t be included in the yearbook because it's against school policy to show firearms in photos. The team, coaches, parents and community members said the guns are a piece of sporting equipment – do different from a baseball bat – and should be part of the photo. The issue was expected to be raised by parents during a school board meeting Thursday night, but Thursday morning the school made an exception for the trap team and will allow the photo. This year’s photo was particularly special because it was the first year the team has its photo in the current yearbook, and the first year ever that all team members were included in the photo. Big Lake Schools statement on policy change The Big Lake Schools administration accepted a request this morning to change a handbook policy concerning the display of guns in yearbook photos. The past policy said the administration may edit or exclude any photos or artwork that displayed firearms or weapons. Once the procedure for modifying a handbook policy was followed, the district was able to amend the policy so that the school-sponsored Trap Shooting team photo can be included. It is important to remember that a school district has rules and procedures that need to be followed. The intense conversation around this topic on social media and the phone calls and emails we received, only delayed the process. We encouraged the public to follow the process when a request is being made to review a rule or policy. As always, we appreciate feedback and comments from the public. Policy Amendment All photos, written text, and artwork must conform to school policies and are subject to approval by the yearbook advisor and/or administration. Photos and artwork that violate school policy, display firearms, weapons, drugs, alcohol, inappropriate gestures or poses, and revealing or obscene clothing may be edited or excluded without permission or notification. Exception given to our school-sponsored trap-shooting team which will be allowed to have team pictures in the yearbook, team poster displayed in the school, and any approved photos taken by yearbook staff. These photos would include their firearms.

When I see what some companies are doing these days with cloud and big data, I often wonder whether technology has ever been focused on business value in their organizations. I’ve worked primarily in industries where technology had to deliver business value or it was a non-starter. These days it is no longer sufficient to be a technologist that is simply putting bits and bytes together. Today it’s all about how those bits and bytes add value. Defining how a new technology approach will add value is the role of an IT executive, but that’s where too many executives drop the ball. Removing the Bias from Big Data With cloud and big data in particular I think there’s a real danger in buying into the hype without understanding the implications. If you do that, it’s almost certain you will make bad decisions. With big data, the risk is that you find the answer you’re looking for –whatever it is. It’s a psychological fact that if you have a preconceived notion, data will help drive to that point of view. If you say, “What is impacting my sales growth…and by the way I think it’s poor product performance,” you’re magically going to get a lot of data coming in about poor product performance and it will validate that notion. This predictive bias often ends up being an organizational, structural, and mindset issue. Big data is really about measuring what matters versus measuring what’s measurable. And to be honest there are not enough good data scientists out there. So it can still be more dangerous to do big data than not. It’s accessible to anyone now, but sometimes you want to take the keys away from people so they don’t hurt themselves. You may be better off taking a more cautious path than diving into the deep end, but at a minimum go in with eyes wide open. Cloud Initiatives Beg for Clarity In the same way, you can’t decide to be a cloud-first organization without deciding what cloud first should mean for you. Does it mean Platform-as-a-Service or email? Does it mean development or delivery? If you don’t get into the right level of detail, you’re sending your teams into blood fights to battle for what they want, versus what the strategic direction is. Leaders need to take a more active role in getting into the details of what is meant by these strategic decisions. You don’t want to micromanage things, but at a very minimum you should be sending teams off to come back with the critical decisions that need to be made and have those discussions and make those decisions at the right levels. If the bosses are not aligned the employees will be wasting precious time fighting losing battles. Sometimes it’s easier not to have fights with your peers, but that just means you’re leaving it for your employees and that is simply cowardice. Forcing uncomfortable discussions about what a cloud or big data strategy means and then getting into the detail is often the better course to take. Executives have to drill in to get agreement at the deeper levels. They have to make the hard decisions. If you’ve got three bosses that aren’t aligned, it’s patently unfair to expect their teams to get aligned. So if you have to have uncomfortable conversations, have them. Even Agile Can Slow You Down There’s a faddish IT dynamic out there across a lot of things. Look at agile. There isn’t a developer or development organization out there today saying, “I’d really prefer to be doing waterfall.” The problem is, most of the architectures they’re working on don’t lend themselves to agile. If you work in an agile model in a fragile architecture, things are likely to break. You don’t want DevOps guys making minimum marketable changes in a legacy, tightly coupled architecture. But nobody wants to do waterfall, so you get sprawl of organizations saying we do agile. What they often want is to do waterfall with limited documentation and agile practices, which is going to cause more problems than do good. There may be a fear you can’t get the right talent. There’s a real passion that says, “I can’t get the talent I want unless I’m doing agile.” Then organizations do agile but don’t have real product managers and they aren’t really managing stories. You’re doing some things, but not in a way that’s valuable. Yes, you can dive into an IT fad without thinking about it, but I can promise you’ll look back and be horrified someday. The only time you can fully adopt some of these new methods is when you are starting from scratch. Most of us don’t have that luxury because we are working with legacy architectures and technical debt so you have to play hand you’ve been dealt, communicate well, set clear and measurable outcomes, and use these fads to thoughtfully supplement the environment you are working in to benefit the ecosystem. Read this Harvard Business Review article, "Beware the next big thing." Sven Gerjets is Chief Technology Officer at Pearson, the world’s leading learning company, with 40,000 employees in more than 80 countries. He brings 20 years of IT experience to his role, including application development, system integration, enterprise program management, and large organization leadership.

Sarkeesian criticizes gaming tropes By Max Moran | Published 6 hours ago | Updated 6 hours ago On Monday, the University welcomed media critic Anita Sarkeesian for a lecture on sexist and anti-feminist tropes in video games. The lecture had initially been planned for February, but it had to be rescheduled due to major snowfall that caused travel problems. Sarkeesian is the host and co-writer of “Feminist Frequency,” an online video series deconstructing sexist tropes in media, particularly video games. Since her work discussing games began, she has been the subject of online harassment, including rape and death threats, hacking and identity theft. Sarkeesian was one of the major targets of the “Gamergate” movement, which is a reaction against media trends toward diversifying gaming culture and criticizing the “gamer” identity. Previous Sarkeesian talks in other venues have received bombing and mass shooting threats, which may have been why audience members passed through a metal detector before entering the Wasserman Cinematheque to hear the lecture. Chairman of the Computer Science department Prof. Jordan Pollack (COSI) introduced Sarkeesian, stating his pleasure at the lecture’s co-sponsors, and pointing out that “it’s not often that computer science works together with the various women’s studies groups on campus.” Pollack said he was inspired to invite Sarkeesian to speak at the University after a colleague suggested that more women and people of color might be inspired to pursue computer science if the University’s department taught game programming and design, and Sarkeesian’s story stood out to Pollack. “I believe a modern university must study and teach video games as a multidisciplinary media,” Pollack said. Sarkeesian then took the stage, beginning with what she said was a simple assertion: “video games matter.” She said that while it is not “a simple one-to-one correlation,” the media that people consume influences them, which is why criticism, especially feminist criticism, is important. Sarkeesian said she started Feminist Frequency because she was frustrated at the inaccessibility of feminist thought she discovered in college and wanted to use pop culture as a way to engage a wider audience with feminism. Her first series of Feminist Frequency videos dissected tropes in pop culture at large, and after they found moderate success, she decided to release a second series. Noticing that almost all of the tropes she was interested in were prevalent in video games, Sarkeesian decided that this series of videos would specifically discuss tropes in gaming. Next, Sarkeesian briefly discussed the online harassment she’s received for her work, though she stressed that she didn’t want to talk about harassment for the majority of the lecture. She characterized her harassers as a “cyber mob,” — a group which collectively shames and discredits its target with the underlying goal of reinforcing their own dominance within a given culture, in this case, gaming. Sarkeesian asserted that Gamergate is an extension of this same mob mentality and that it works to maintain the status quo of games being made primarily for men. She then compared the exclusion of women in gaming to the common stigma within gaming that certain games are not played by “true gamers.” “The idea that you can love something and be critical of it at the same time is so important to what I do,” Sarkeesian told the audience as she transitioned into the heart of the lecture with a slide reading “8 Ways To Improve Games For Women.” She listed eight tropes in gaming plots and presentation that portray women negatively and offered solutions and examples of games which have avoided the tropes. The first trope was the “Smurfette Principle,” wherein a story has only one female character for a full ensemble of men. Sarkeesian specifically pointed out 2013’s “The Wonderful 101,” which features seven playable male characters who are color-coded, but only one female character, whose color is pink. Sarkeesian noted that the female character’s abilities reinforce that “‘girl’ is her personality,” pointing out that she fights with a dominatrix-esque whip and is introduced in a trailer for the game through a shots that needlessly include her underwear. Sarkeesian introduced the second trope — “Lingerie Is Not Armor,” — by showing a trailer for the 2000 game “Perfect Dark,” which depicted its female spy protagonist taking a shower, putting on makeup, and deciding on an outfit. Sarkeesian argued that game designers often think only about titillating a straight male audience when designing outfits for female characters, and jokingly suggested a solution to the problem by changing the slide to several pictures of sports bras. “They’re designed to prevent jiggle physics,” she added. Her third trope was called “One Size Does Not Fit All,” which she introduced by pointing out that almost all female characters in the game “League of Legends” are young, large-breasted, slender women. Sarkeesian stated that since sexualized women are almost the only women depicted in the medium, it reinforces that these characters’ worth is to excite the audience. She elaborated that those who point out sexualized men in games to counter her arguments are creating a false equivalency. Showing an image of the main characters from the upcoming game “Overwatch,” Sarkeesian pointed out that the male characters have a range of body types, while all but one of the female characters are sexualized. The fourth trope, humorously titled “Strategic Butt Coverings,” began with a series of clips of female player characters walking in games, all of which featured camera angles that prominently display the characters’ behinds. To contrast this, Sarkeesian showed clips of male player characters — when the player could focus the camera on a male characters’ behind, heavy clothing or capes obscured the characters’ cheeks, which contrasted sharply with the female characters. According to Sarkeesian, this emphasis on characters’ rear ends tells players that the woman’s sexual body parts are what they should focus on, rather than the character themselves, as for the men. She pointed to 2015’s “Life is Strange” as a game which avoided this problem, simply by having its female protagonist wear jeans and a knapsack. Fifth, Sarkeesian noted that women in games are overwhelmingly white, and that when women of color are depicted, it is usually through a lens of sexualized racism that caricatures these characters as “savage” or “untamable.” She pointed to “Never Alone,” a game made by an Alaskan indigenous community about their own culture, as a notable exception to this trope. Sarkeesian then pointed out the sexualization of female characters’ walking animations, comparing a clip of Catwoman in “Batman: Arkham City” to a model on a runway. Her seventh trope was titled “Fighting and Fucking are Different,” which she introduced by playing audio of a female character moaning sexually. When she revealed that this audio was of a “League of Legends” character in combat, the audience laughed. Sarkeesian extended the trope to point out that female fighting dialogue is often sexual as well and that this trope both conflates violence with sex and communicates that female sexuality is dangerous, rather than positive or fun. She indicated “Assassin’s Creed: Unity” as a recent game that avoided this trope. Finally, Sarkeesian asked the audience: “Where Are All the Female Combatants?” She pointed out that games rarely feature women as standard enemies and said that game designers she’s interviewed often say that this is done to avoid depicting violence against women. Sarkeesian said that there are ways to show female enemies without it being problematic, saying that violence against women is an issue when the violence is committed specifically because the target is a woman. A brief question-and-answer segment followed the lecture, which was this year’s Martin Weiner lecture in Computer Science, and was co-sponsored by the Computer Science department, the Office of the Provost, the Office of the Dean of Arts and Sciences, the Chief Information Officer, the English department, the Women’s Gender and Sexuality Studies program, the Sociology and Social Justice Police Program and the Women’s Studies Research Center.

A new, 2015 Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet has leaked ahead of the stylus-packing device’s official unveiling. Although Samsung has yet to shed any formal light on the existence of such a device, the 2015 Note 10.1 has popped up on the company’s official website. Spotted by the folks over at TechTastic, the Galaxy Note 10.1 (2015) has been prematurely referenced in a services and app descriptions page. It was listed as one of a number of devices compatible with a range of Samsung services. Name teasing aside, the leak has offered up no further insight into the capabilities of the 2015 Galaxy Note 10.1. The timing, however, could be particularly telling. With the 2014 Galaxy Note 10.1 having been unveiled last October, annual refresh patterns would suggest that the 2015 Galaxy Note 10.1 could be with us in the very near future. With the tablet’s name having leaked, new Galaxy Note 10.1 rumours have started to surface. One such report has suggested the device could be held off until November so as to hit retailers running Android 5.0 Lollipop direct from the box. Last year’s Note 10.1 packed a 2560 x 1600 pixel display alongside a Snapdragon 800 processor and Samsung’s S-Pen stylus. With the Galaxy Note 4 smartphone having recently jumped to a QHD panel, Snapdragon 805 chipset and a stylus with twice the sensitivity of its predecessors, we would expect any new Note tablets to follow suit. Next, read everything you need to know about the Samsung Galaxy S6

Senators rejected dueling Republican and Democratic plans to stop rates from doubling. Student loan bills stall in Senate The Senate on Thursday voted twice to try to keep student loan interest rates low – but got nowhere. Senators rejected dueling Republican and Democratic plans to stop rates from doubling in July, because of partisan fighting – again – over how the $6-billion bill would be paid for. Story Continued Below Republicans want to divert money from a prevention fund created under the new health care law, while Democrats insist on eliminating a tax loophole for Subchapter S Corporations. Both plans were largely expected to fail to reach the 60-vote barrier to kill a filibuster. And on Thursday, neither side was budging. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) went to the Senate floor in the morning to chastise Republicans for wanting to drain the preventive fund, which they deem an unnecessary slush fund. “The Republican proposal is paid for by stripping Americans of life-saving preventive health care,” Reid said. “The Democratic proposal is paid for by closing a loophole that allows wealthy Americans to dodge their taxes.” “It’s easy to see these two proposals were not created equal,” he added. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) quickly followed, accusing Democrats of trying to manufacture a scapegoat instead of reaching across the aisle to Republicans. Closing the tax loophole for so-called S Corporations amounts to a tax increase, he said. Republicans also argue that closing the loophole, used by S Corporations to avoid paying a tax on Medicare, would redirect billions away from the health care program for the elderly. “We already know how this story ends,” McConnell said. “So why are Democrats forcing us to vote on their failed proposal yet again? Because, as I’ve said, they’re more interested in drawing our opposition — of creating a bad guy — than in actually solving the problem.” In the House, Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) blamed Democrats for the gridlock. “The House has passed a reasonable and responsible student loan bill and paid for it by eliminating a slush fund that the president and Democrats have already supported cutting,” Boehner said. “If the president and Senate Democratic leaders prefer a different approach, then the onus is on them to offer a solution that can pass both chambers,” “This issue can be resolved quickly if the Democrats come to the table and offer a responsible solution,” he concluded, “and we hope they will.” Democrats weren’t having it, though. “These are lobbyists, these are lawyers who have craftily used Subchapter S Corporations to avoid paying payroll taxes,” Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) said. “This loophole has been criticized on the editorial pages of The Wall Street Journal … I can’t think of a clearer choice.” The Democratic bill failed 51-43. The Republicans’ bill, which mirrors legislation passed by the GOP-led House in April, failed 34-62. Sixty votes were needed to move the measures along. The Obama administration has vowed to veto the Republican bill. White House press secretary Jay Carney issued a statement after the votes blaming the GOP for the gridlock. ”With only 37 days left to stop student loan interest rates from doubling on July 1, Senate Republicans still have not proven that they’re serious about resolving this problem,” he said. Ten Republicans voted against their party’s bill, while one Democrat — Sen. Jim Webb of Virginia — rejected the Democratic version. Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) voted present on both bills to avoid conflict-of-interest issues with her husband, John McKernan, the chairman of the board of directors of the Education Management Corporation. Keeping the federal student loan interest rate at the current 3.4 percent has been one of President Barack Obama’s top priorities lately, but so far the legislation has bogged down. Without congressional action, the rate will rise to 6.8 percent in July. Preventing such an increase would save 7 million college students an average of $1,000 over the life of their loans, according to the White House. This article tagged under: Student Loans Politics

CHICAGO, IL - APRIL 29: Taj Gibson #22 of the Chicago Bulls dunks against the Washington Wizards in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals in the 2014 NBA Playoffs on April 29, 2014 at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2014 NBAE (Photo by Gary Dineen/NBAE via Getty Images) Bulls forward Taj Gibson. (Gary Dineen/NBAE/Getty Images) The Bulls may not be as active on the trade market right now as originally thought. After a Sporting News report surfaced that Chicago sixth man Taj Gibson had been “connected to much of the league the past few months” in trade talks, Yahoo Sports NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski told the Spiegel and Mannelly Show on Friday morning that he’d heard nothing of that sort in his discussions. “I have not heard anything involving Taj,” Wojnarowski said. “I haven’t heard that in my conversations with team executives. I’ve heard about a lot of names coming up in trade talks. His has not been one of them. Going forward for the Bulls, do they have a decision to make on Taj? Let’s say Jimmy Butler is going to get a max offer sheet (next offseason) or they have to get in front of a max offer sheet and offer a deal close to the max. “Do they have to look at the cap and make a decision on Taj? It’s possible. But I don’t know that they have to do that now. I haven’t heard anything along those lines that they were looking to shake it up that way. That doesn’t mean it’s not true, but I haven’t heard one team mention to me that they felt Taj was available.” Gibson was at the center of many trade rumors last summer when the Bulls pursued Carmelo Anthony in free agency and were weighing options on how to offer him the most money, so it’s not surprising that Gibson’s name has popped up again. Still, the report on him being connected to “much of the league” seemed to suggest Gibson had a huge “for sale” sign hanging on him, which Wojnarowski hasn’t found to be the case. In signing the 34-year-old Pau Gasol last summer, the Bulls basically gave themselves a two-year title window with this group. So unless the return haul is something special, trading Gibson would seem contrary to Chicago’s win-now mentality anyway. While he’s been inconsistent at times, Gibson remains a key contributor who was a stalwart in Chicago’s closing lineups last season and could serve as an answer in that role again as Tom Thibodeau looks for ways to spark his struggling team.

The University of Oregon is being sued by a longtime psychology professor who alleges the UO pays her substantially less than several less-experienced male colleagues, in violation of the federal Equal Pay Act. Jennifer Freyd�s suit, filed Tuesday morning in U.S. District Court in Eugene, also includes claims alleging disparate treatment and impact, sex-based discrimination under the Equal Protection Clause, and Title IX violations. Title IX bans gender discrimination in education programs that receive federal money. �For years, I have tried to work within my department and the college to help the UO live up to its own policies of non-discrimination,� Freyd said in a statement issued by her attorneys. �Women all over the country and in all kinds of jobs earn less than their male counterparts. It�s past time for the UO to recognize and address this problem in its own salary practices.� The suit asserts that professor salaries in the psychology department are supposed to be determined by seniority and merit, and alleges that UO officials are aware of pay differences between their male and female psychology professors. University spokesman Tobin Klinger said UO officials know of Freyd�s allegations and plan to �look closely at the case in the coming days.� �Although professor Freyd�s pay places her in the top 13 percent of all tenure track faculty at the UO, we are committed to paying our faculty commensurate with their achievements,� Klinger said. Freyd�s current salary is $155,237 and her benefits package, which includes health insurance and a retirement plan, totals another $70,545, bringing her total compensation to $225,782, according to data provided by Klinger. Freyd is the psychology department�s most senior faculty member. But, according to the suit, she is paid less than three of her male colleagues �who are junior to her and similarly or less accomplished� and receives roughly the same salary as a fourth male professor who is �substantially junior.� The lawsuit did not name the colleagues or list their pay. Freyd has been a full professor in the university�s psychology department since 1992. She is a nationally known expert in sexual assault trauma, and in 2014 filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education alleging the university had violated a federal campus security law when it did not notify the campus community or include in a police log a sexual assault allegation against three UO basketball players. The university later expelled the players. Freyd is seeking unspecified monetary damages; a declaration that the UO has engaged in unlawful sex discrimination against her; a order that boosts her salary and benefits �to the levels they would be in the absence of discrimination� and also prohibits the UO from retaliating against her; back pay to compensate her for differences in her salary and benefits for the past six years; and an additional three years� back pay. �The psychology department recognizes and acknowledges this gender-based disparity in her salary as well as the salaries of other female professors in the department,� the suit alleges. �Despite forceful advocacy on her behalf by the head of her department and others, the University of Oregon has not rectified its sex discrimination.� The lawsuit asserts Freyd�s salary has been �infected by sex discrimination� since early in her career at the UO. In May 2014 � the same month in which she filed the complaint over the UO�s handling of the basketball players� case � Freyd provided psychology department heads with an analysis showing that female professors were being paid significantly less than their male counterparts, according to the suit. Freyd and two colleagues provided a second, similar pay analysis in April 2015. That same year, Freyd was awarded an 8-percent merit raise that still left her salary at $18,000 less than that of her closest male peer, who had seven years� less experience than she did at the time, the lawsuit says. Meanwhile, the psychology department completed its own study during the spring of 2016 that addressed a range of topics and found male professors are paid an average of about $25,000 more per year than their female counterparts, according to the suit. That study was provided to deans in the UO�s College of Arts & Sciences. The UO then appointed a committee to evaluate the psychology department. A report from the group noted gender pay disparities and recommended the department should continue �pressing for gender equity in terms of pay at the senior levels of the faculty,� the lawsuit says. Ulrich Mayr, the psychology department�s head, emailed the College of Arts & Sciences� deans in December requesting they address Freyd�s salary, which he characterized as �our most glaring inequity case,� according to the suit. Mayr asserted Freyd�s pay is as much as $50,000 below where it should be, the lawsuit says. The College of Arts & Sciences announced raises in January. Freyd earned standard pay increases but no additional raise based on requests that she and Mayr had made, according to the suit. The lawsuit did not list the increases, but it appears that her pay was boosted approximately 3 percent. A campuswide salary report issued Nov. 1 by the UO�s Office of Institutional Research lists Freyd�s annual salary as being $150,862. Andrew Marcus, dean of the College of Arts & Sciences, and Hal Sadofsky, the associate dean, met with Freyd on Jan. 18. They told her that they would not address sex discrimination in her pay, and �belittled her comments� by saying that only three men in her department earned more than her, the lawsuit says. The suit calls Freyd a pioneer in the field of the psychology of trauma, and says the UO has lauded her with its Research Innovation Award in 2009, its Excellence Award for Outstanding Mentorship in Graduate Studies in 2012, and its Faculty Research Award in 2014. Scholarly journals focus on her research, which has twice led her to be invited to the White House, according to the lawsuit. Freyd is represented by Eugene law firm Johnson Johnson Lucas and Middleton. Follow Jack on Twitter @JackMoranRG . Email jack.moran@registerguard.com .