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There is no place for dead space in the live theater. In past, wherever one looks in a historic theater auditorium there are signs of life or the potential for life everywhere. Fast-forward to present day, though this design ideology remains the same, contemporary playhouses look much different. Theatre, derived from the Ancient Greek word théatron, meaning a place for viewing. Literally, a place to spectate. This meaning has been influencing the design of theaters for ages. The architecture has always taken the main stage, but in cases where it could not, there were statues, paintings, decorative motifs of plants, or some other signs of life, and this would exist virtually everywhere that might catch a playgoer’s eye. Architects today have streamlined this idea by more or less eliminating statues and decorative motifs, instead focusing on three-dimensional acoustic paneling, creating patterns with light and designing architecturally sleek spaces to promote movement and wayfinding. Well, it's showtime and the curtain is rising, so we've gathered some of our favorite modern theaters for you to analyze as well. Join the conversation on our facebook page.

"I don't want to belong to any club that will accept me as a member." This will probably be more of a story than a conventional recruitment post....The Lords of Light was created in open beta, if not as a day-one guild, then pretty darned close. I'm not certain because I joined them later on. Over time, active membership has waned, and I eventually found myself as the most senior active player in the guild. I only officially claimed ownership and started taking a more active hand in leading with the advent of Strongholds. While our core players are few in number, we are incredibly stubborn and committed.For historical context, here's the original recruitment thread:There are other guilds who are LGBT+ friendly in Neverwinter, and in my opinion, any guild worth joining is whether or not they have a charter that says so, but it is how this guild was founded, so it remains a core value. One of my primary responsibilities is maintaining the guild as a secure home for existing members, so if this is problematic for you, we're a poor fit.Some other principles I hold dear:*Be respectful in and out of the guild. Your conduct in-game reflects on you as a person and on the guild whose name you wear.*Take pride in your play. Anything you can't do without cheating isn't an accomplishment.There isn't much else. It doesn't matter if you do or don't buy Zen. Doesn't matter what level your character is or how geared you are or even whether you're a skilled player (though I would hope you are open to improving). No playtime requirements or mandatory donations/due/taxes/whatever you'd call it. I don't kick for inactivity unless I absolutely have to. Play whatever content you want, when you want.Other things you should know about us:*We're a small guild. Right now, we are too small to field a dungeon group or activate the SH Dragonflight, although we have done some of the biggest SH HEs as a party of three. If we had more members, then we already have players very much open to these activities, but these are also limitations that could understandably make people want to stay away.*Related to the smallness, we're not especially chatty right now. Our regular players, including me, are very much speak-when-spoken-to types, and tend to focus our attention on gameplay. That does not equate to unfriendliness, only that someone looking for a conversation is probably going to have to be the one to start it. It also means we've had no reason to maintain any kind of voice com. On the other hand, if you're an independent or introverted player looking for an accepting guild that won't pressure you to socialize when you don't feel like it, we might be soulmates.*We're not PvP-focused at all. I can't see any hardcore PvPer ever wanting to join anything but a hardcore PvP guild, but just so that's out there. It's hard enough to scrape up the resources for basic guild structures, so anything solely for PvP is at the bottom of the priority list.What we do offer is a low-pressure environment to grow in, leadership that is reliable and honorable, and the collective effort of a handful of skilled and dedicated players.I am not interested in padding ranks, and anyone who is looking for a guild for the sake of immediate access to high level boons and marketplace isn't going to find that here. But if you think LoL sounds like a good fit for you and you're interested in working on something together, I'd like to hear from you.-------------------------------------Edit: Current GH Rank 9

The continuation version of Jaguar XKSS will be unveiled in California in mid-November around the time of the Los Angeles motor show (16-27 November). Read more: New Jaguar XKSS revealed in LA Earlier this year Jaguar announced that it will build nine of the XKSS D-Type model to replace those lost in the 1957 Browns Factory fire. Almost 60 years on, the nine cars will be hand-built by Jaguar at its new ‘Experimental Shop’ in Warwick, and will be constructed to the same exact specification as the original models produced in 1957. Set to be priced in excess of £1 million, the very limited-run cars are being built specifically for a select group of collectors and customers. All nine examples have now been sold. Jaguar Land Rover Classic boss Tim Hannig said: “The XKSS occupies a unique place in Jaguar’s history and is a car coveted by collectors the world over for its exclusivity and unmistakable design.

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Dallas Cowboys running back DeMarco Murray and defensive end DeMarcus Ware left Sunday night's 31-16 win over the Washington Redskins with injuries. Murray suffered a left MCL sprain, and Ware strained his right quadriceps, coach Jason Garrett announced after the game. Both players are scheduled to undergo MRIs on Monday. "We'll have to see on both of them. I did talk to DeMarcus and he seemed optimistic he could be out there," owner Jerry Jones said after the game. "We thought DeMarco would be back out there but decided against it." Jones said he didn't know how to talk about their injuries related to next week's game at Philadelphia, "but what I heard doesn't seem long-term for those injuries." Ware, the franchise's all-time sacks leader with 115, left the game late in the second quarter after rushing the passer. After a few minutes, he walked to the locker room along with assistant athletic trainer Britt Brown. Ware was walking fine in the locker room after the game and said he thought he would be OK. The nine-year veteran never has missed a game during his NFL career. Murray left the game after a run around the right corner early in the second quarter. The Cowboys featured him in the offense early in the game, with Murray rushing for 29 yards and a touchdown on seven carries and catching two passes for 21 yards. Durability has been an issue for Murray, a third-year veteran, throughout his NFL career. He missed nine games due to injury in his first two seasons. Murray entered the day ranked fifth in the NFL with 399 rushing yards, averaging 4.8 yards per carry. It's not clear if he will miss any games, but Felix Jones played through a similar injury last year for the Cowboys. Information from ESPNDallas.com's Todd Archer and The Associated Press was used in this report.

Presently, the disciplinary process begins when a resolution to expel or censure a Member is referred to the appropriate committee. In the House, this is the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct (House Ethics Committee); in the Senate, this is the Select Committee on Ethics (Senate Ethics Committee). The committee may then ask other Representatives or Senators to come forward with complaints about the Member under consideration or may initiate an investigation into the Member's actions. Sometimes Members may refer a resolution calling for an investigation into a particular Member or matter that may lead to the recommendation of expulsion or censure. Rule XI (Procedures of committees and unfinished business) of the Rules of the House of Representatives states that the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct can investigate allegations that a Member violated "any law, rule, regulation, or other standard of conduct applicable to the conduct of such Member ... in the performance of his duties or the discharge of his responsibilities". The Senate Select Committee on Ethics has the same jurisdiction. The committee may then report back to their whole chamber as to its findings and recommendations for further actions. When an investigation is launched by either committee, an investigatory subcommittee will be formed. Once the investigatory subcommittee has collected evidence, talked to witnesses, and held an adjudicatory hearing, it will vote on whether the Member is found to have committed the specific actions and then will vote on recommendations. If expulsion is the recommendation then the subcommittee's report will be referred to the full House of Representatives or Senate where Members may vote to accept, reject, or alter the report's recommendation. Voting to expel requires the concurrence of two-thirds of the members. This is set out in Article 1, Section 5, Clause 2 of the United States Constitution

In 1979, Louisville photographer Ted Wathen was selected to shoot for President Jimmy Carter’s Commission on Coal. It was a particularly tumultuous time in the coal-mining industry, and Wathen photographed the living and working conditions of miners in Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Illinois. More than 50 of these photos are now on display at U of L’s Archives and Special Collections in an exhibit titled “Coal — 1979.” Carter’s administration tapped Wathen to be the lead photographer of the study, which began soon after the 110-day national coal strike in ’79. “President Carter sought to stabilize the coal industry that had been plagued with wildcat strikes, union corruption and industry intransigence,” Wathen said in a press release. “Coal was seen as our national energy solution. The United States had a 300-year supply of coal. If properly developed, this would be our answer to the OPEC oil embargo. Both the United Mine Workers of America and the Bituminous Coal Operators of America wanted to stabilize production.” The photographs in the exhibit were published in the commission’s report and also exhibited at the White House and the International Center of Photography. Wathen’s prints and negatives are housed in the National Archives. Wathen continues to work as a photographer, and his photos have appeared at the Speed Art Museum and numerous local galleries, as well as in the Time-Life Photography Series, Fortune, Forbes and Newsweek. He co-founded the commercial photography firm Quadrant Inc. in 1986. “Coal — 1979” runs Jan. 14 through March 17 at the Photographic Archives Gallery of the Ekstrom Library. Gallery hours are 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday. A special opening reception is planned for Thursday, Jan. 14, from 5-7 p.m.

“A People’s History” is a three part essay series that argues for a long-standing but suppressed tradition of amateur involvement in the first person genre. This is part two. Here’s part one. “Amateur” may mean unprofessional or of lower quality, but it’s also French for “lover.” Even if it’s difficult and time-consuming, even if you’re 15 years old and you have to figure out this complex physics engine to try out a cool idea you have — it’s because you love it. I was 15 when I joined Nightwatch, an epic Half-Life 1 mod made by a dream team of veteran modders, replete with new weapons, voice acting, monsters, scripted sequences, and a 10 hour single player campaign with 99% custom art. We were the Black Mesa Source of the Half-Life 1 community, except we never released anything. Maybe that’s because we didn’t really love modding. In fact, we hated modding. Well, we loved game development, but we slightly resented our status as amateurs when we were already producing “professional quality” work. Many of us aspired to “break into” the AAA game industry, and working on a mod to develop a portfolio was one of the entrances. Basically, we modded because modding meant you could quit modding. At the time, there had already been a long history of mods going retail (Doom Master Levels, Final Doom, Team Fortress Classic, etc.) and of modders going professional (Tim Willits at id from Master Levels; Dario Casali at Valve from Final Doom; Robin Walker at Valve from Quake Team Fortress — and fun fact, on April 13th, 1997, TF 2.5a was the first FPS to have headshots. We should celebrate Headshot Day.) So people kept leaving Nightwatch to join various first person studios with non-compete clauses: Raven, Gearbox, id, Infinity Ward, Splash Damage, Valve. But of course, our mod failed for many reasons, and staff turnover was just one contributing cause. Besides, how can you stay upset at someone for fulfilling their dream and achieving success for their hard work? Indeed, modding was quite a lot of work, and the nature of the work kept changing too: A “new monster” in Doom was a reskinned demonhog with increased movement speed. In Half-Life, a “new monster” entailed a custom modeled .MDL with UVs / textures / animations as well as C++ hooks for the squad AI to access animations, bone controllers, and weapon attachments. And now in Source, many modders feel a “new monster” requires them to bake a high-poly sculpt down to a normal map, configure ragdoll properties / joint constraints, and script response rules for lip-synced voice-over to react with battle line / squad assault coordinators… and so on. This increase in production followed conventional wisdom: that making games was getting harder and more expensive with each engine generation, and thus so must modding. It suggests the escalation was inevitable when, in fact, it wasn’t. We forced mods to get bigger. We started saying that all characters SHOULD have high poly sculpts, that textures SHOULD have high resolution normal maps, that mods SHOULD have a custom menu screen, a new HUD, and different crosshair designs. And when we defined add up all these “shoulds”, they often had more to do with what looked like an AAA game because that’s where we wanted to work. “It doesn’t even look like a mod!” was (and still is) one of the highest compliments your posed marketing screenshot could garner, yet a “total conversion” was regarded as the ultimate mod, the moddiest mod. The best mods didn’t want to look like mods. Nothing exemplifies this attitude better than the production porn of Half-Life 2 mods: mod teams publishing renders of benches, trash heaps, planks, and mundane light fixtures. They wanted to emphasize the sheer amount of time and effort lavished into realizing even the most trivial of details, just like a real AAA game. That’s because we had an inferiority complex. We were obsessed with compensating for our weaknesses (lack of asset production capability, no funding, no on-site coordination, no proven credibility or esteem) so much that we constantly forgot our strengths (quick iteration, no stakeholders to answer to, a ready-made library of retail assets to use) despite Valve pleading, please don’t try to copy the game industry. Compared against the wild frontier of early Doom modding dominated by veteran hackers / open-source renegades appropriating pop culture without permission, this era of modding was tamed farmland where teenagers manufactured countless AK-47s to varying degrees of accuracy. We were poorly run factories with a 99% failure rate. Now, domestication does offer many benefits for the domesticated. Domestication is bad for some things, but great for other things: Common values and engines allowed us to build communities long before the critical mass of engine libraries that made today’s indie games scene possible, and I still keep in touch with modders who are now in the industry. We learned a lot from each other, and we were perhaps the last large generation of self-taught game developers. Also, it was awesome to have an army of professionals develop stable engine technology, balanced combat mechanics / weapon feel, and gather asset libraries for us to use — the game industry was doing a lot of heavy lifting and kind of making our own games for us. Which was convenient, because most of us wanted to make what the industry made anyway. This “Silver Age of FPS modding”, stretching approximately from early Quake mods to the twilight of Source Engine modding on Source SDK Base 2007, was marked by the mod community’s synchronicity with the AAA game industry’s value system. It celebrated conceptually slight deviation from the manshooter template, high asset production capacity, advanced technical expertise, and perceived hyper-realistic visual polish. This process domesticated modders and prepared them for possible recruitment into the AAA industry, thus separating amateur professionals from professional amateurs in the community. I’m not saying people still don’t make large total conversions, or that this value system is obsolete. There will be plenty of modders to remake City 17 in Source 2, due for release in 2018. When I say “mods are dead,” I mean that this “Silver Age” concept of the mod is much less prominent and relevant to younger modder communities today. Many people don’t think about mods like this anymore, though it’s okay if you do. It’s just… problematic. Because these days, the modder-industry relationship is much more complicated. Studios are closing and the AAA industry is consolidating; laid-off and burnt-out veterans leave the industry with cautionary tales and war stories. The common practice of mandated work on weekends / associated sleep deprivation, or “crunch” in the game industry, has been publicized and deromanticized by whistleblowers. It’s enough to give pause to aspiring amateurs and students, to suggest that breaking into the AAA industry might be like breaking into a prison. So if you’re not modding to get into the industry, then why mod? What, because you love it? Next time, part 3: the Golden Age of FPS modding, when modding drifts further away from the AAA value system and develops its own aesthetics and purposes.

New York Looks To Bring Bitcoin Out Of The Shadows Enlarge this image toggle caption Craig Ruttle/AP Craig Ruttle/AP New York could soon become the first state in the nation to write comprehensive regulations for the largely lawless world of virtual currencies. The biggest one, Bitcoin, has many boosters, but it has also been connected with some spectacular crimes. On Monday, federal prosecutors announced the arrests of two men accused of using Bitcoin to help their clients buy and sell over $1 million in illegal drugs. Richard Zabel, deputy U.S. Attorney in New York, says Bitcoin is fueling a new wave of crime. Not long ago, arms dealers and drug traffickers preferred payment in cash, but moving briefcases full of bills is risky. "By contrast, large amounts of bitcoins can be transferred anonymously and safely to someone located anywhere in the world with just the click of a computer key," Zabel said. He spoke in lower Manhattan, at a two-day hearing that also included the Winklevoss twins. You might know them from the movie The Social Network. Years after suing Facebook's founder, they became big Bitcoin investors. "Bitcoins — it's freedom," Tyler Winklevoss said. "It's very American." It's also sort of hard to get a grip on: You can't put a bitcoin between your teeth, or fold a bit bill into origami. Unlike regular money, it has no physical form; it's computer code. Over the last year, the value of a single bitcoin has fluctuated wildly from as little as $13 to over $1,000. Speculators and criminals seem to like virtual currencies, but at least a few mainstream businesses are interested too. On Jan. 9, the online retailer Overstock started accepting Bitcoin as a form of payment. Since then, customers have used Bitcoin to buy about $600,000 worth of goods. It's a small sum for a big retailer, but Overstock.com Executive Vice Chairman Jonathan Johnson said there's a lot to like about Bitcoin. Credit card payments usually take a few days; with Bitcoin, Overstock gets paid right away. Even better, there's no middleman — like a credit card company — taking a cut, Johnson said. Not long ago, Johnson was back home in Utah, getting a haircut, and mentioned this fact to his barber. He says she was impressed. "And she said I would love to have something that didn't have [an] interchange fee, where I wasn't giving 3 percent of every haircut to the credit card companies," Johnson said. "So I think both large and small businesses have a real incentive." The hearing room in Manhattan was filled with guys in suits: mainly younger, a lot of financial types. But Bitcoin supporters, like James Barcia of Bitcoin Center NYC, want to broaden its appeal. "We are about 100 feet from the New York Stock Exchange," Barcia says. "We're the city's only brick-and-mortar organization dedicated to basically evangelism in favor of Bitcoin and its peers — other electronic currencies." You can take a class here, called Bitcoin 101, or buy a T-shirt with the Bitcoin logo — it has the double bars of the dollar sign, but with a B instead of an S. As Barcia spoke to me at the center, about a dozen people were watching a live stream of the hearing, projected onto a wall. People here say they welcome regulation, but not too much, please. Ben Lawsky, the New York State Superintendent of Financial Services, basically the state's top financial regulator, said he wants to bring Bitcoin commerce out of the shadows by issuing a bit license. "Our hope is to do something in 2014," Lawsky said. "I mean frankly, if we want innovation to happen, and we also want to root out money laundering, and we try to get that balance right, we also want to give businesses certainty." If New York gets the balance right, Lawsky says, it could become a center for legitimate Bitcoin commerce.

Of all the bad production decisions made in Peter Jackson’s loose adaptation of The Hobbit - gross overuse of CGI, check-list fan service, and a few instances of comically bad casting - the worst by far has been franchising. The Hobbit never needed to be more than one movie; it’s an example of either creative or commercial overreach, depending on whether Jackson should be taken at his word as regards the factors that influenced his choice to reshape a simple, straightforward tale of playful high fantasy into a bloated monstrosity. With the release of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, we can now take stock of the saga as a whole. This is no The Lord of the Rings, not on any artistic or financial level; if you’re so inclined, you could probably argue that it’s a sign that Jackson has lost all of his marbles since earning so much goodwill with that august franchise back during the aughts. How could The Hobbit films, each lesser than the last, come from the same guy who pulled of the Herculean feat of turning The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers and The Return of the King into box office smashes and critical darlings? It’s tempting to vilify Jackson for spurning his accolades and raze his interpreted vision of Middle-earth. You may feel the strong tug of resentment and disappointment over his failure to live up to expectations with An Unexpected Journey, The Desolation of Smaug and The Battle of the Five Armies. But maybe Jackson deserves compassion more than ire. Maybe for all his good intentions, his indulgences wound up getting the better of him. And if we can forgive Thorin Oakenshield for his mistakes, then maybe we can do the same for Jackson; in the end, they’re more or less the same person. If at first blush the comparison doesn’t wash, consider this: like Thorin, Jackson is a great leader with a devoted, dedicated following, who has been separated from his rightful domain for a long, long time. He is focused on securing his legacy at any cost. He’s a ditherer who refuses to take action until the last possible moment. And he’s hopelessly fixated on shiny baubles over essence of character. (He also has a beard, though his bristles aren’t nearly as glorious as Thorin’s.) Amid the digitization of Middle-earth, the ratcheting obsolescence of the story’s titular character and the tonal waffling, something interesting is happening at the core of The Hobbit: Jackson, whether by accident or not, makes Thorin into his on-screen avatar. In translating J.R.R. Tolkien’s words into cinema, Jackson also gave Thorin an increased position within the text, taking him from a static character to a character who cuts nearly as dynamic a figure as Bilbo Baggins, the story’s ostensible protagonist. Frankly, the films could each be retitled as The Dwarf for as much emphasis is put on the King Under the Mountain; this is no longer the story of a bumbling homebody being forced into the world outside his front door, but the story of an over-proud liege fighting to reclaim his birthright, and who nearly loses himself to his obsessions along the way. Sound familiar? The film likens Thorin’s madness to that of Gollum, but, rather unexpectedly, Thorin has a better mirror in Jackson. Thorin is so focused on taking back the Lonely Mountain from Smaug and retrieving the coveted Arkenstone that he comes to behave very unlike the noble, brooding ruler in exile we meet in An Unexpected Journey; his desires gives way to mania, and for as long as that mania grips him, he’s kind of an asshole. Thorin spurns his countrymen - those who marched with him to Erebor, and those he calls in for back-up when elves and men gather in arms at the mountain fortress’ gates - and wallows in paranoia as his hunger for the Arkenstone consumes him. Ultimately, it takes a surreal vision sequence to snap Thorin out of his psychosis. For Jackson, making The Hobbit turned out to be equally fraught with obstacles of the self. There’s a nine-year gap in between the debut of The Return of the King and 2012’s An Unexpected Journey (and, possibly, a longer gap in between the start of production on The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, to say nothing of the fact that Jackson first toyed with making Tolkien movies in 1995). Nine years is a blip on Thorin’s radar, but it’s nearly one sixth of Jackson’s lifetime. Hell, nine years is an eternity to wait for anything for any human. Jackson just took on executive producer duties to begin with, and only stepped in to take the helm when Guillermo del Toro jumped ship in 2010, but it didn’t take much time after that for him to expand two films into three. Everyone saw this move as a cash grab - more movies means more revenue, after all, so - but it’s as much about maintaining Jackson’s provenance over the brand as it is about raking in dough. More problematic is his fascination with the glossy patina of technology, which runs a nice parallel to Thorin’s infatuation with the Arkenstone. The scintillating heirloom of Thorin’s house, the Arkenstone is a sight to behold, but in the end it’s just a glorified MacGuffin; it proves of no importance to the plot, and Thorin fusses about it at the expense of his reason, the loyalty of his countrymen and all bonds of fellowship. Similarly, Jackson misplaces his faith in the sheen of CGI and the unnerving smoothness of shooting in 48 FPS. Both of them put such high demand on vain, pretty things that are immaterial, they lose sight of what matters - camaraderie and strength of character. Jackson both jettisons the textured, organic sensibility he fostered in the Rings films, and downplays dramatic beats between his cast members so much that they feel like afterthoughts. In Thorin’s and Jackson’s respective quests, substance has less value than glamour. And then, when it comes time to act, well...they don’t. Thorin’s intractability in The Battle of the Five Armies is the best example of equivocation in all of The Hobbit; he spends the bulk of the film doing nothing, and all of the build-up of that nothing makes his climactic entrance into the fray too much, too late. Jackson, for his part, commits large swaths of runtime in the entirety of The Hobbit with over-the-top spectacle, so no one can really accuse him of holding back. But he does take his sweet damn time getting anywhere. This is a three hundred page book! In the time it takes for you to watch every single movie, you could read The Hobbit and finish your Christmas shopping in one fell swoop. (And if we’re talking about the extended cuts, here, you could probably read the novel twice.) That it should take Jackson three films in as many release years to tell the same story Tolkien told seventy-seven years ago is mind-boggling. Imagine what our response might have been to The Hobbit had it been distilled into one film. Imagine how much more fondly Middle-earth’s historians might remember Thorin if, instead of acting like a big, bearded, obstinate baby, he had come to terms with Thranduil and Bard before joining them in some goblin smashing. Maybe Jackson sees parts of himself in Thorin, and maybe that kinship led, at least in part, to the enlargement of The Hobbit. On the other hand, maybe this is just an overly generous reading of a film that isn’t worth any more consideration than it pays its own audience. But just as Thorin winds up enveloped by his greed, so too do Jackson’s oblivious compulsions toward frittering away studio funds undermine his films. It might not make The Battle of the Five Armies any less insufferable, but it does invite our sympathies before our frustrations.

One of the promises that President Trump has kept is his promise to be tough on Iran. Though he has not canceled the nuclear weapons agreement, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), he has "officially put Iran on notice," and he has imposed new sanctions. More seriously, the New York Times reports that Secretary of Defense General James Mattis considered ordering the Navy to intercept and board an Iranian ship in international waters to search it for weapons being shipped to Yemen in support of the Houthis. According to White House officials, the operation was called off, not because it would likely have been an act of war, but because word of the operation leaked. Mattis and the rest of the Trump administration have based this canceled operation and other plans to get tough on Iran on a number of myths about the Islamic Republic. Myth One: Iran Is – or Was – Developing a Nuclear Bomb Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has said repeatedly that “We have never pursued or sought a nuclear bomb, and we are not going to do so”. Both Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei and his predecessor, the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, have insisted that Iran would never pursue nuclear weapons because nuclear weapons are against the precepts of Islam. Khamenei has insisted that “from an ideological and fiqhi [Islamic jurisprudence] perspective, we consider developing nuclear weapons as unlawful. We consider using such weapons as a big sin.” And no one really believes otherwise: not U.S. intelligence and not Israeli intelligence. Former CIA director and Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta asked, "Are they [Iran] trying to develop a nuclear weapon?" and succinctly and pointedly answered: "No". The 2007 National Intelligence Estimate (NIE), representing the collective conclusions of all of America’s many intelligence agencies, said with "high confidence" that Iran was not building a nuclear weapon. The 2011 NIE said that "the bottom-line assessments of the [2007] N.I.E. still hold true. We have not seen indications that the government has made the decision to move ahead with the program". Yuval Diskin, the man who headed Shin Bet, the Israeli domestic intelligence agency, for six years, accused Prime Minister Netanyahu of "misleading the public on the Iran issue." And Lieutenant-General Benny Gantz, then Chief of Staff of the Israeli Defense Forces, insisted that Iran has not "made the decision" to pursue a nuclear weapons program. Then Defense Minister Ehud Barak, clearly stated that "it is not the case" that "Iran is determined to . . . attempt to obtain nuclear weapons . . . as quickly as possible." He added rhetorically, "To do that, Iran would have to announce it is leaving the inspection regime . . . . Why haven’t they done that?" Former director of the I.A.E.A. Mohamed ElBaradei told investigative journalist Seymour Hersh that "[d]uring my time at the agency, we haven’t seen a shred of evidence that Iran has been weaponizing". The bottom line is that no one – not the United States, not Israel, not the International Atomic Energy Agency – ever really believed Iran was developing nuclear weapons. Myth 2: Iran is Not to be Trusted and is Violating the Nuclear Weapons Agreement General Mattis has said that "the expectation" is "that Iran will cheat." But Iran hasn’t cheated. The latest report by the I.A.E.A says that Iran is "honoring its end of the deal." And each prior report since the deal was signed has said the same. The latest report says Iran has only about half the low-enriched uranium it is permitted to have under the agreement and that it is not enriching any uranium to the higher amounts that would be needed for nuclear weapons. But there’s more than one way to cheat a nuclear agreement. The White House argues that Iran is in violation of the JCPOA due to its testing of a ballistic missile on January 29. But Iran is not violating the JCPOA here either. Iran made agreements about their nuclear program, they never agreed to abandon their conventional weapons program, insisting, like every other nation, on maintaining the right to defend themselves. Resolution 2231, approved in support of the JCPOA, "calls upon" Iran "not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons" for a defined period of time. Iran insists they are in compliance with this requirement because the missiles are defensive and are designed to carry a conventional payload: the missiles are not capable of being nuclear armed. Iran expert Gareth Porter says that Iran’s "ballistic missiles were not designed for nuclear weapons." Porter cites experts who say that "Iran’s medium-range missiles have been designed for conventional deterrence," and that "Iran would have to redesign at least the internal components of the missile to adapt it to carrying nuclear weapons." Besides, since Iran verifiably does not have a nuclear weapons program, that the missile cannot carry a nuclear weapon becomes tautological. Similar earlier American claims about Iranian nuclear missiles have all been embarrassingly discredited. The missile was only medium range and exploded in only about half the distance required to reach Israel and no where near the distance to reach America. The official record, then: Iran has consistently complied with the JCPOA nuclear agreement. Myth Three: Iran is a Destabilizing Force in the Middle East and is the World’s Leading State Sponsor of Terrorism The day after the US imposed the new sanctions on Iran, General Mattis declared that "As far as Iran goes, this is the single biggest state sponsor of terrorism in the world." CIA director Mike Pompeo has similarly called Iran "the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism." And Trump, himself, told Bill O’Reilly that Iran is "the number one terrorist state." There is no support for this claim. Recent attempts to link Iran to terrorism have all been revealed as perjuries, including the assassination attempt on US soil of the Saudi ambassador to the United States, the attacks on Israeli diplomats in India and Georgia and earlier claims about the embassy and community center bombings in Buenos Aires. Far from being an exporter of terrorism, Iran has been the recipient of US and Israeli terrorism, including the Stuxnet and Flame computer viruses that the US and Israel unleashed on Iran’s nuclear enrichment facilities, the three assassinations and one more attempted assassination of Iranian nuclear scientists and the blowing up of a military arms depot that killed seventeen people, including Iranian missile pioneer Major General Hassan Moqqadam. But all the while Iran was being a net importer, not exporter, of terrorism, the Iranian government was also leading the world in fighting the very terrorists that America was fighting in the war on terror: al-Qaeda and the Islamic State. Iran is not "the largest state sponsor of terrorism." In Syria and Iraq, Iran is the largest state opposition of the most important terror. For many who are suffering in Iraq, Iran is even seen as eclipsing the States as their greatest ally in the fight against the terror threat of the Islamic State. Not only has Iran been an asset in the fight against terrorism and not a state sponsor of terrorism, but the claim that it is "the largest" state sponsor of terrorism is absurd given what is now known about America’s Saudi ally’s sponsorship of Salafist terrorist groups. In The Rise of the Islamic State, Patrick Cockburn quotes Vice President Biden’s October 24, 2014 speech: "[O]ur allies in the region were our largest problem in Syria. . . . They poured hundreds of millions of dollars and tens, thousands of tons of weapons into anyone who would fight against Assad except that the people who were being supplied were Al Nusra and al-Qaeda and the extremist elements of jihadis." Two years earlier, a 2012 classified Defense Intelligence Agency Information Intelligence Report that made the rounds through the US intelligence community identified the "supporting powers" of ISIS to be "Western countries, the Gulf States and Turkey." And in May of 2015, at a meeting at Camp David between President Obama the Princes of the Gulf Cooperation Council that knowledge was reiterated. According to David Ignatius of the Washington Post, at that summit, "Obama and other US officials urged Gulf leaders who are funding the opposition to keep control of their clients, so that a post-Assad regime isn’t controlled by extremists from the Islamic State or al-Qaeda.” As early as December of 2009, a State Department cable had already clearly declared that “Saudi Arabia remains a critical financial support base for al-Qaeda, the Taliban . . . and other terrorist groups.” And Saudi Arabia’s support for al-Qaeda is nothing new: it goes all the way back to 9/11. One of the most important revelations in Seymour Hersh’s reporting on the truth of the Osama bin Laden killing – a detail that went largely undiscussed – is that the Saudis had been heavily financing bin Laden and al-Qaeda and that their motivation for putting bin Laden away was to prevent him from revealing that: "A worrying factor at this early point, according to the retired official, was Saudi Arabia, which had been financing bin Laden’s upkeep since his seizure by the Pakistanis. ‘The Saudis didn’t want bin Laden’s presence revealed to us because he was a Saudi, and so they told the Pakistanis to keep him out of the picture. The Saudis feared if we knew we would pressure the Pakistanis to let bin Laden start talking to us about what the Saudis had been doing with al-Qaeda. And they were dropping money – lots of it.’" So, Iran is not a sponsor of state terrorism, is certainly not the largest sponsor of state terrorism and has been a crucial opponent of terrorism. American awareness of this unsubstantiated claim may be reflected in the recent removal of Iran from the annual Worldwide Threat Assessment presented to the Senate by Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper. Myth Four: Iran is Not Really an Enemy of the Islamic State and al-Qaeda In April 2016, in speech at a Center for Strategic and International Studies event, General Mattis said, "Iran is not an enemy of ISIS. They have a lot to gain from the turmoil in the region that ISIS creates. I would just point out one question for you to look into. What is the one country in the Middle East that has not been attacked by ISIS? One. And it’s Iran. That is just more than happenstance, I’m sure.” Mattis’ claim defies reason. It does not follow that because ISIS has not attacked Iran that Iran doesn’t consider ISIS an enemy. There may be many reasons why ISIS hasn’t attacked Iran though Iran considers them an enemy: they may lack the ability to attack Iran, or attacking Iran may not further their agenda. The claim commits the logical fallacy of argument from ignorance: the claim that something is false simply because it has not been proven to be true. It is no more valid to claim that Iran isn’t an enemy because ISIS hasn’t shown them to be an enemy then it is to claim that there are no UFOs because it has never been proven that there are no UFOs. Mattis also grossly committed the logical fallacy of omission of facts. Specifically, as discussed above, Iran has been one of the most committed and reliable state opponents of al-Qaeda and the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. And Iran’s opposition to al-Qaeda and its allies is not a recent conversion. Al-Qaeda and the Taliban have been viewed with hostility by Iran from their inceptions. Iran has always viewed al-Qaeda and the Taliban as, in their essence, existential enemies of Iran. From the beginning, Iran has seen the Taliban as a Saudi and Pakistani cultivated Sunni force intended, in part, as an anti-Shia Iranian force that could pressure Iran from one side while Iraq squeezed Iran from the other. Though little discussed, and never admitted, after 9/11, Iran backed the US, cooperating with them against al-Qaeda and the Taliban. The Northern Alliance, who provided many of the anti-Taliban fighters once the Americans and her allies invaded Afghanistan, was, at least in part, put together by Iran, who placed it in the hands of the Americans. Iran offered its air bases to the US and permitted the US to carry out search and rescue missions for downed US planes. The Iranians also supplied the US with intelligence on Taliban and al-Qaeda targets. Iran was also crucial in setting up Afghanistan’s post-Taliban government and offered its help in rebuilding Afghanistan’s army. Iran also arrested hundreds of al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters who escaped into her borders. Iran experts Flynt Leverett and Hillary Mann Leverett say that Iran documented the identity of more than two hundred al-Qaeda and Taliban escapees to the U.N. and sent many of them back to their homelands. For many others who couldn’t be sent back to their own countries, Iran offered to try them in Iran. The States then named several more al-Qaeda operatives that it demanded Iran search for, arrest and deport. According to Hillary Mann Leverett, who was negotiating directly with the Iranians for the White House, Iran captured some and said that the others were either dead or not in Iran. Contrary to Mattis’ absurd claim, Iran has historically and consistently been an enemy of al-Qaeda and the Islamic State. Myth Five: Iran is Controlling and Arming the Houthis in Yemen Constantly being broadcast from Washington is the claim that Iran controls and arms the Houthis in Yemen. But neither is true: they neither substantially arm them nor do they control them. The US built its case that Iran was supplying weapons to the Houthis on an “assessment” that Iran was using fishing boats to smuggle weapons into Yemen. However, according to Gareth Porter, the US was never able to produce any evidence for the link between Iran and the Houthis because the boats were stateless, and their destination was Somalia, not Yemen. An earlier ship was, indeed, Iranian but was not really carrying any weapons. In fact, Porter reports, when President Ali Abdullah Saleh was forced from power, he and his son, the former commander of the Republican Guard, maintained control over the army through their allies in the upper ranks. Saleh then found himself in an ironic alliance with the Houthis. The Saleh-Houthi alliance is ironic because, as Jeremy Scahill reports in his book Dirty Wars, Saleh was frequently at war with the Houthis, and, “to justify their wars against the Houthis to the United States, Saleh and the Saudis constantly used allegations of Iran’s support for the Houthis. . . .” That is, Saleh used the same deceptive claims then to the Americans as the Americans are using now. However, even then, the States knew the Houthi-Iran link was weak, and, as Scahill says, though “Saleh accused Iran of . . . backing the Houthis,” “In a subsequent classified cable, US officials . . . raised serious questions about the extent of Iranian involvement.” Because of the alliance with Saleh the Houthis could get all the weapons they wanted from local arms markets and from corrupt Yemeni military commanders. The Houthi-Saleh-army alliance also strengthened the Houthis, making it possible for them to advance and take over military facilities from which they acquired American supplied weapons. Just as Iran does not substantially arm the Houthis, so it does not control them. In fact, it seems they cannot control them. In 2014, the Iranians specifically discouraged the Houthis from capturing the Yemeni capital, Sanaa. Despite Iran’s position, the Houthis captured the city, effectively demonstrating Iran’s lack of control. In 2015, National Security Council spokesperson Bernadette Meehan says that "It remains our assessment that Iran does not exert command and control over the Houthis in Yemen." US intelligence agreed: "It is wrong to think of the Houthis as a proxy force for Iran," a US intelligence official told The Huffington Post. Yemen specialist Gabriele vom Bruck has called Iran’s influence over the Houthis "trivial." She says that the Houthis want to be independent, not controlled by Iran: "I don’t think the Iranians have influence in their decision-making." To the extent that Iran is involved in Yemen at all, that involvement was an invitation from the already started Saudi war and not a cause of it. So, although myths may count as real in the world of "alternative facts," none of the myths upon which US hostility to Iran is based is true. Ted Snider has a graduate degree in philosophy and writes on analyzing patterns in US foreign policy and history. This originally appeared on ConsortiumNews and is reprinted with the author’s permission. Read more by Ted Snider

This article is over 2 years old World Health Organisation report says high pollution puts millions of people in cities including Delhi at risk of early death Calls for action mount as six Indian cities hit top 10 of air pollution Environmental campaigners in India have called for the government to implement a “stringent, time-bound” plan to curb air pollution in cities, as a new World Health Organisation report suggests that six of the 10 most polluted cities in the world are in India. The report, which contains data from 795 cities in 67 countries between 2008 and 2013, shows Indian cities have some of the highest concentrations of particulate pollution, which can cause fatal damage to the heart and lungs. According to the WHO, air pollution is currently the greatest environmental risk to public health and causes about 3 million premature deaths globally every year. Six Indian cities – Gwalior, Allahabad, Patna, Raipur, Ludhiana, and Delhi – rank among the most polluted cities in the world. The report suggests millions of people in India are at risk of serious cardiac and respiratory infections and diseases because of high pollution levels. Indian environmental activists condemned Narendra Modi’s government for inaction over pollution. Sunil Dahiya, a campaigner from Greenpeace India, said air pollution levels had spiked in recent years. “The government has to give up the fossil fuel-based energy and look for cleaner forms of energy, such as renewables,” he said. “Pollution levels have increased since the last WHO report in 2014, and the government must take it seriously. Right now, no one is really accountable for air pollution in the government. “They need to make a systematic, comprehensive, and time-bound plan on a national and regional level.” Facebook Twitter Pinterest Volunteers stand with placards at a junction in Delhi to raise awareness of odd-even number plate car restrictions. Photograph: Prakash Singh/AFP/Getty Images Anumita Roychowdhury of the Centre of Science and Environment, based in New Delhi, also believes environmental policy needs a thorough overhaul. “So far in India the air pollution action has been confined to driving,” she said, referring to a driving scheme implemented in Delhi that aims to reduce road traffic by alternating days on which vehicles with odd and even number plates could be on the roads. However, she argued that the report’s findings looked only at particulate pollution and neglected to mention ozone and nitrogen oxide pollution, indicators that would implicate richer countries. “It is not a holistic picture of pollution trends,” she said. Modi, the prime minister, has made some commitments to protecting the environment, such as announcing a $30m solar energy plan at the Paris climate summit and agreeing to meet Euro VI emission standards by 2020. However the pro-business, development-focused government’s commitment to green causes has been questioned. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Women wait for a bus early on a polluted morning in Delhi. Photograph: Prakash Singh/AFP/Getty Images Activists from environmental organisations such as Greenpeace have been investigated by the government and have had their funds frozen; corporations have been given land and resources cheaply and, earlier this year, Modi himself attended the Hindu ascetic Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s Art of Living festival, which was heavily criticised for causing damage to the Yamuna river’s floodplains. Subhas Datta, an environmental activist, said Modi’s government was not alone and that successive Indian governments had failed to deliver on air pollution standards. “Our political leaders don’t know about the environment or realise the impact. They have a callous attitude to it,” he said. “Development should not have to mean destruction. It should be done in a sustainable way. Environmental activists have failed too, to bring this issue to light, and that’s why we’re facing this now. I have failed.” The Guardian contacted India’s environment ministry for a response to the latest report, but a press officer said he was unable to comment.

Part VI-A: The invisible operatives must used technology to make Luke Woodham mistakenly considering them as the demons. Thus, they could use microwave voice device to "talk" to Luke Woodham in his head and drove him to kill in Mississippi school to pursue serious gun control for involved LEO According to a 1999 Washington Post special article on the recent series of school shooting, "1 October 1997 Pearl, Mississippi: Sixteen-year-old Luke Woodham stabs his mother to death, then goes to his high school and shoots nine students. Two die, including the suspect's ex-girlfriend, seven others are wounded. Authorities accused six friends of conspiracy. Woodham was convicted as an adult in June 1998 and is serving three life sentences." Examining the events in the last two decades, it seems strange that so many school-shooting occurred in recent years. Thus, I would tell people the current technologies in surveillance station/system. According to inside information from Taiwan, the invisibility technology has been developed successfully in WWII by US Navy. After using invisibility technology on the personnel and their equipment, they will become invisible, tiny and have the characteristic of levitation (floating in the air as weightless condition). Thus, the invisibility technology cannot be used in military and has been changed to use in surveillance system. In 1950s, this invisibility technology has been transferred to Taiwan's surveillance system. Based on the characteristic of levitation of invisibility technology and using propulsion equipment, every invisible operative can move as a single-seated "plane" (with carried equipments such as weapons & mind machine). Thus, the invisible operatives can lightly fly onto people's head to control people's brain functions without targets' knowledge. Also, they can lightly land on a target's body (on any organ) to induce illness/death without most victims' knowledge. Since 1960s, the Taiwan's invisible operatives of surveillance station/system have secretly enter important political persons' homes/offices, cars, etc. to keep them under close surveillance and secretly induce illness/death on some victims whom Chiang Ching-Kuo disliked. These invisible operatives' codename was "little spirits" in 1965-70 when US defense started the classified research (Operation Pandora) on illness/death inducing techniques. They have changed the codename from "little spirits" to "bees" to prevent their secret from knowing by others. That's because most westerners know that "little spirits" in Pandora box are invisible, tiny and would spread illness/death on man (please see details on my webpage Part II-A, C1, C2 and Part I-A3). The above situation in surveillance system must be same in US. Thus, after mind control technology has been used in the US surveillance system, the invisible operatives can also secretly fly onto people's head to manipulate people's emotion, behaviors and bodily functions. Thus, it has become an emotional and behavioral control system. Unfortunately, some involved LEO also secretly & illegally transferred illnesses/death inducing techniques for use in the surveillance system. Therefore, the current US surveillance system has been illegally altered to be a life control surveillance system, and the involved LEO of surveillance station/system have become the life controllers of local citizens (please see Part I-B and C for details). This means that the involved LEO & operatives of surveillance system can use invisibility technology to become invisible and tiny to achieve four goals. 1. Spying on anyone without any privacy: The invisible operatives can secretly enter people's home/office, car, boat, plane, etc. to keep people under close surveillance. 2. To manipulate people's emotional states and behavior control: After they enter people's home/office, car, boat, plane, etc., the invisible operatives can further fly onto people's head to manipulate citizens' emotions, behaviors with brain map knowledge & remote electric method (see details on my webpage Part I-B). 3. To criminally drive unaware victim mad and/or to kill with microwave voice device: After the invisible operatives secretly fly onto a target's head, they can use mind control technology and equipment (microwave voice device-see details on my webpage Part I-A2) to drive unaware victim mad and /or to kill. How could the invisible operatives secretly communicate with an unaware victim at his home? After secretly enter a target's home, the invisible operatives mostly will use their characteristic of levitation (floating in the air as weightless condition) to stay around the upper section of wall. From the wall, some of invisible operatives will use microwave voice device to deliver their questions or instruction to the victim. Also, an operative will secretly fly onto a target's head and also use mind machine (or advanced mind reading technique) to know the target's mind (then know the target's answer). At the same time, the invisible operative (who fly onto the victim's head) will then loudly read the target's mind (answer) with microwave voice to notify other invisible operatives. Thus, the invisible operatives can use microwave voice device to communicate with an unaware target (see details on Part I-A2). However, these invisible operatives can also set up the unaware victim without victim's knowledge (e.g. pretend to be demons to mislead the victim). 4. To criminally induce illness/death on some citizens whom the involved LEO dislike: The invisible operatives can use illness/death inducing techniques to criminally induce illness/death on any citizen whom the involved LEO & invisible operatives of surveillance system dislike. The following information proves that the first aim of mind control research is to develop their invisible operatives to become professional assassins. After the microwave voice device and EM mind machine have been invented in 1973, the invisible operatives also started to use above equipment to mind control their target to become an assassin/murderer (drive the victim to kill other). (Attachment 1) "Some Aspects of Anti-Personnel Electromagnetic Weapons" By David G. Guyatt (david.g7@ukonline.co.uk) ========== It was not until the middle or late 1970's that the American public became aware of a series of hitherto secret programs that had been conducted over the preceding two decades by the military and intelligence community. (3) Primarily focusing on narco-hypnosis, these extensive covert programs bore the project titles MKULTRA, MKDELTA, MKNAOMI, MKSEARCH (MK being understood to stand for Mind control), BLUEBIRD

Robbie Deans' reign as the first non-Australian Wallabies head coach is over, his contract terminated before its end of year expiry date after the British and Irish Lions swept to a series victory in Sydney on Saturday night. Deans was told his 74-test tenure - the longest in Australian Rugby Union history - was over during discussions with chief executive Bill Pulver today. Ewen McKenzie, an unsuccessful candidate when Deans was appointed to the role after the 2007 World Cup, will be unveiled as his successor tomorrow. McKenzie has been a prime candidate for the position since announcing in March he was leaving his current role as director of rugby at the Queensland Reds at the end of the season in a bid to coach at international level. Instead the opportunity has arisen closer to home for the 51-cap Wallabies prop, who was preferred ahead of current Brumbies coach and South Africa's 2007 World Cup-winning coach Jake White. White's nationality and a conservative game plan likely counted against him, particularly as the first experiment to appoint a foreign coach will be regarded as a failure. McKenzie's rebuild of the previously shambolic Reds since 2010, and his embracing of a expansive style of play centred on Will Genia and Quade Cooper, was always likely to sway an ARU committee tasked with assessing Deans' successor. Queensland won their first Super Rugby title in 2011, a drastic improvement after the franchise placed in the bottom three during the six seasons before McKenzie arrived. Two of Deans' five Super Rugby triumphs came at McKenzie's expense when he was coaching the NSW Waratahs but since his move north via Stade Francais the Australian's stocks have risen. Deans, meanwhile, has had a largely frustrating time since his Wallabies debut against Ireland in June, 2008. Winning his first Bledisloe Cup test against the All Blacks six weeks later was a high point of his stint, but the 29-point loss at Eden Park seven days later was sadly indicative of his fluctuating fortunes. Maintaining consistency was an ever-present issue as Deans realised the player depth and quality was not as extensive as the personnel he had access to at Canterbury, the Crusaders and All Blacks. An appalling three win, one draw and 14 loss record against the All Blacks will be a permanent blight on his resume - likewise losses to Samoa and consecutive defeats to Scotland. Ireland's pool play win at the 2011 World Cup placed the Wallabies on a collision course with the All Blacks in the semi-finals, another galling experience for Deans as his side was humbled by the eventual champions. Pulver had said Deans, who had his contract controversially extended for two years before the World Cup, would see out his term with the end of year tour to the UK, Ireland and France. However, the 41-16 loss to the Lions at ANZ Stadium sealed his fate as Kiwi compatriot Warren Gatland was lauded for ending a three-series losing sequence. Deans, who was secured by Pulver's predecessor John O'Neil, finished with a record of 43 wins 29 losses and two draws - a success rate of 58.1 per cent. On a positive note Deans was responsible for introducing a new generation of Wallabies to the test arena, notably Will Genia, David Pocock, Kurtley Beale, James O'Connor and Quade Cooper. While Genia and Pocock have established themselves as model professionals, the other trio have been problematic - and contributed to Deans' downfall. Exiling Cooper after his "toxic environment" claims last September proved unpopular with supporters of the inconsistent playmaker and the criticism intensified when O'Connor was generally ineffectual at pivot in the Lions series. O'Connor's disruptive friendship with Beale also brought Deans' ability to control his players under scrutiny. Already renowned for bucking authority, the talented though ill-disciplined duo were photographed at a fast food restaurant in Melbourne at 4am, three days before the second test. Then, after claiming they had learnt their lesson, they missed a team bus to training last Thursday. Ironically O'Connor's future is also in doubt now after the Melbourne Rebels yesterday announced they would not extend his contract. The Rebels naming today of Deans' former assistant Tony McGahan as Damien Hill's replacement as head coach was the first indication that the former All Black fullback and coach was not going to survive a post-Lions review process. McKenzie would have been a contender for the Rebels role but instead inherits the job he turned down in 2005 to gain more experience at the Waratahs. He is expected to lead the Wallabies through to the 2015 World Cup in England, though his initial priority is preparing the team for the Rugby Championship opener against the All Blacks at the scene of Deans' demise on August 17. McKenzie's brief for 2013 is presumably the same as Deans' assignment: ownership of the Bledisloe Cup for the first since 2003 and the continuation of recent dominance over the Springboks. Watching the Lions emphatic victory gave McKenzie an indication of how difficult that task should be after the Wallabies scrum his forte - was on shifting sands from the first engagement. First five-eighth is also an issue, though McKenzie's ability to extract the best out of Cooper should guarantee his test recall and first test against the All Blacks since the 22-0 thrashing in Auckland 12 months earlier.

Ostrich well spoken alabama woman.jpg The well-spoken and intelligent woman who is apparently determined to ruin Alabama's image. Matt Mitchell is the creator of The Ostrich, Walker County's least trusted news source, and was the 3rd round draft pick of the Denver Nuggets. This is a work of satire. A well-spoken, intelligent woman who claimed to be from Alabama was seen ruining the state's reputation earlier today. According to eyewitnesses, the woman brazenly told complete strangers that she hailed from Alabama, a state that has seen its already tarnished image be further marred by outrageous government scandals this year. "We didn't believe her at first. She seemed so normal," recalled Dave Collins, a resident of Massachusetts, where the Alabama woman has been seen walking upright on two legs like an evolved human being. "If it weren't for the accent, you'd think she's just like the rest of us up here." Sources say the unknown Alabamian spoke to numerous people throughout the day, and that at no point did she launch into an offensive diatribe against any particular person or group. Her compassion for others and ability to think objectively was a sharp contrast from the image of Alabama constantly portrayed in the national media. "It really made me wonder if there are others like her down there," added Collins. "I almost get the feeling that Alabama is full of people like this, but a couple of loud-mouth idiots seem to ruin it for everyone." Despite her persistent claims to be from Alabama, some skeptics remained. One disbeliever, Maria Bouchard, forced the woman to take an incredibly flawed and offensive litmus test. "I simply asked her what was the name of her trailer park and when was the last time she took the Christmas lights off her double-wide," stated Bouchard. "She failed miserably. This girl will have to work on her back story if she wants to fool me." At press time, the Alabama woman was trying to explain to the outsiders that labeling an entire population of people based on the actions of a few misguided individuals was actually pretty offensive, and that their continued belittling of a large and diverse group of individuals was effectively nullifying their claims of moral superiority. She also added one, "bless your heart," to the speech for good measure. [This is a work of satire. All content is the creation of Matt Mitchell, The Ostrich.]

HOUSTON – After more than a year of negotiations, the Houston Dynamo announced on Thursday that they have finalized a transfer that will make Honduran international Oscar Boniek García the second Designated Player in club history. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed as per league policy, but this much is clear: The 27-year-old former Olimpia midfielder impressed the Dynamo brass when they caught an up-close glimpse of him last May. That’s when García – who has 67 caps for Los Catrachos – took the field at Robertson Stadium for a match between Honduras and El Salvador, and the Dynamo have been chasing him ever since. “Boniek García’s name got thrown our way, and we’d never seen him, so I concentrated on him and he had an excellent game that day,” Dynamo head coach Dominic Kinnear said. “He’s been very good for his country and, from all accounts, he’s supposed to be a good guy and will fit in well in the locker room.” Houston made García a top priority based on that appearance last year, and entered into negotiations to bring him stateside immediately. “He’s a Dom-type player,” Dynamo president Chris Canetti told MLSsoccer.com. “He’s a true professional that fits the system and that’ll fit in the locker room. He’s got a huge motor and plays two ways and will press the issue going forward on the right side and also get back and defend. Those are Dominic Kinnear qualities.” Twice before, in the summer transfer window of 2011 and winter window earlier this year, Houston were on the verge of signing García. But twice the deal fell through in the final stages as Olimpia, who were drawn on Tuesday into the same group with Houston in the CONCACAF Champions League, pushed to keep García for a title run in the 2011-12 season despite the player and his mother being very vocal about his desire to go abroad. “We’ve stayed professional, and fortunately for us, that paid off,” Canetti said when asked about working through the unsuccessful deals. “It took a lot longer than we wanted it to. We thought we had him in the summer and winter but here we are now getting a deal done.” García is a two-way player and could be an option in a number of roles in the midfield. Adam Moffat currently fills the holding midfield spot with Brad Davis firmly on the left, but the attacking central role (Luiz Camargo or Je-Vaughn Watson) and the right flank (Watson, Calen Carr and Colin Clark) have been in flux much of the season. “I think he makes us better,” Kinnear said. “He’s a right-sided midfielder for Honduras and I think he’s one of their better players. If he settles into the right-hand spot for us, that’s good for the team. “He’s a good athlete, smart player and plays simple, but he takes players on and defensively he’s very honest," Kinnear added. "I think he’s going to be a good pickup for us.” Houston will now work to finalize García’s P-1 visa and obtain his International Transfer Certificate and try and get him to town and integrated into the club structure as soon as possible, likely after Honduras starts their World Cup qualifying campaign against Panama (June 8) and García’s future teammate Andre Hainault and Canada (June 12). “When you complete something successfully after working hard on it, and fought and been persistent and ultimately get it done, it is a rewarding feeling,” Canetti said. “With this done Dom and I will have a nice moment to celebrate.” The only other Designated Player in Dynamo history was Mexican forward Luis Ángel Landin, who appeared in just 16 games from 2009-10. If everything goes to plan, García will be available to make his Dynamo debut June 30 when Houston takes on the Philadelphia Union at BBVA Compass Stadium. Darrell Lovell covers the Houston Dynamo for MLSsoccer.com. Follow@DarrellLovell

WASHINGTON — In a recent TV appearance, Green Party presidential candidate Dr. Jill Stein insisted that American politics, and the nation, are gravely ill. Interviewed on Monday by Abby Martin, host of The Empire Files on TeleSur English, Stein said that she became a politician, after years as a physician, because she realized that “our democracy is really on life support.” Despite being the fourth largest party in terms of registered voters, Green Party candidates are virtually shut out of elections, only appearing on the ballots in 20 states. During her 2012 campaign, Stein was arrested while trying to gain access to the presidential debates. “The political establishment has no credibility, and they are terrified that we the people would start to get together outside the two corporate parties,” she told Martin. She described “two political parties funded by predatory banks and fossil fuel giants and war profiteers.” Martin agreed with this view, stating in her introduction that, “Despite their differences, both parties are united around the interests of Wall Street and militarism.” During their conversation, Stein described her path from doctor to political activist: “I used to say I practiced clinical medicine, now I say I practice political medicine, because it’s the mother of all illnesses. And we have to fix this one if we’re going to fix the things that are literally killing us.” As a doctor, she saw falling life expectancies in her patients and an alarming rise in life-threatening illnesses like Diabetes, and realized that those problems were inextricably linked to growing poverty and inequality and the collapse of the climate. “We have a society here that’s not going to make it and the ultimate yardstick is the collapse of the climate,” she explained. Stein believes third parties, including the Green Party, are key to curing what ails democracy. She recalled Roosevelt’s New Deal programs of the 1930s: although they were implemented by a Democrat, she explained that the pressure for their creation came from many smaller political movements and third parties, ranging from communists to organized farm workers. “Everyday working people forced the hand of the Democratic Party which then began to adopt that agenda,” she said. Now Stein envisions what she calls a “Green New Deal,” which would radically alter the U.S. economy by drastically cutting the defense budget and reallocating those funds into renewable energy. Going further than any other candidates’ job creation plan, it calls for total employment, with every American who can work receiving a job in building or developing green energy. She told Martin that cutting dependence of fossil fuels would also promote world peace by removing much of the motivation behind Western imperialism and expansion. “We can put our resources back into creating jobs and a livable climate right here at home, which is the source of true security.” While Stein praised some of the policies of Bernie Sanders, she stressed that they don’t go far enough, and that the Democratic Party has a “kill switch” to keep him from winning the election, including the undemocratic use of superdelegates. “It’s a fake left while the party goes right,” she said, adding, “the lesser evil that we’re told to abide by really just paves the way to the greater evil.” Stein condemned voting against a candidate you fear instead of for one that you passionately support. “In a nutshell, the politics of fear have delivered everything we’re afraid of. In supporting the lesser evil, we silence the progressive agenda. Silence is not an effective political strategy.” Dr Stein’s prescription? “We need to stand up and fight for the greater good like our lives depend on it.” Watch “Abby Martin with Dr. Jill Stein – Symptoms of a Sick Society” from The Empire Files:

Like most colleges have done in the past months, on Tuesday, administrators of the University of Michigan Ann Arbor announced a new campus policy which effectively allowed students to select their own personal “preferred pronouns”. The school informed the entire campus community, students and teachers alike, that they are obligated to adhere to these new rules. Punishment will be handed out to individuals who disobey the rules. “The University of Michigan is committed to fostering an environment of inclusiveness. Consistent with this value, the University has created a process for students to designate pronouns with the University and have those pronouns reflected on class rosters this fall” reads an email sent by the administration to students and teachers. “Faculty members play a vital role in ensuring all of our community feels valued, respected and included,” the email stated. “…These changes give students the ability to tell the University what pronoun they identify with for use in our communications and interactions with them. Asking about and correctly using someone’s designated pronoun is one of the most basic ways to show your respect for their identity and to cultivate an environment that respects all gender identities.” The university further explained that people who use incorrect pronouns by mistake should apologize and make sure to never do it again. However, unlike most other colleges, the school doesn’t just present a list of pronouns to choose from, they also made it possible for students to write-in their own customized pronouns. While all this was going on, one Student by name Grant StrobI decided to take this opportunity to troll the school. He was going to change his pronouns to “His Majesty”, and all students and faculty are required to refer to him by that. The College Fix reports that Grant is a conservative student at the University and chairman of the Young Americans for Freedom Board of Governors. In an interview, he told the College Fix that he doesn’t have any problem with students identifying a certain way, he just doesn’t think the school should force people to respect them: “In an interview with The College Fix, Strobl said that “I have no problem with students asking to be identified a certain way, almost like someone named Richard who would like to be called Dick. It is respectful to make a reasonable effort to refer to students in the way that they prefer.” However, he added that he does have a problem when the university institutionalizes the use of pronouns that are completely arbitrary and may possibly sanction people for referring to someone different than their preference. Strobl continued, “So, I henceforth shall be referred to as: His Majesty, Grant Strobl. I encourage all U-M students to go onto Wolverine Access, and insert the identity of their dreams.”” Well Played.

Media Desperately Tries to Shift Away from Leftist Shooter and onto Flimsy Trump Obstruction Narrative RUSH: Ladies and gentlemen, I’m gonna shelve today — not shelve — I’m gonna move what everybody thinks is the primary topic today, the ongoing development of news and information about the shooter at the baseball practice yesterday, Mr. Hodgkinson. There’s a growing stack of information about this guy. And what is becoming clear is something that I sensed on the program yesterday. This guy was a mainstream leftist. If you go to his Facebook page like I said yesterday, you go to his Facebook page, it reads exactly like the way a CNN panel discussion on Trump sounds. Everywhere you go and read what this guy has written, letters to the editor, Facebook posts, he sounds just like anybody you would hear on the media. He sounds like Rachel Maddow. He sounds like Jake Tapper. He sounds like F. Chuck Todd. Just as normal a leftist as you can be. Now, my point of that is not to exonerate him; is to issue a warning. These people have been driven mad. I don’t have any doubt about that. But they’re able to hide. They’re able to hide in plain sight for the most part because they articulate what happens to be mainstream thought as expressed by the Drive-By Media and the Democrat Party. Now, this guy, as it’s been learned, or discovered, did have some erratic behavior too. He was very off-putting to barmaids and barkeepers at sports bars, and in general he could be a reprobate. But in terms of the things he talked about, the things he said, there’s not a leftist in the world that thought the guy was dangerous. Not a leftist in the world that thought he was odd. And yet he’s the epitome of it. But I want to shift the discussion of that to what the Drive-By Media is using to replace that story. And that happens to be a gigantic leak to the Washington Post that Donald Trump, the president of the United States, is magically and all of a sudden now under criminal investigation, after having been told by the FBI director James Comey that he was not under investigation, the counterintelligence investigation of collusion with Russia. There was nothing there. There never has been anything there. So they’re pivoting now, and here we go, some leaks to the Washington Post claiming that Trump was now trying to obstruct Comey from doing his job. And this does not hold up. It simply doesn’t hold up. And this story leaked yesterday and the purpose of this story leaking is obviously twofold. But the primary purpose for leaking the story yesterday — they could have done it next week, at the Post, they could have waited until tomorrow and bury it on a Friday, except they don’t want to bury it. What they wanted to do was get the shooting of Steve Scalise and the others off the front page. That’s the reason for the leak, and that’s why I’m gonna focus on this. I’m gonna demonstrate, with the help of a friend of mine, just how bogus this next charge is and how senseless it is and how legally it doesn’t even hold water. How can Trump be exonerated? What was Trump exonerated for? What was Trump never under invest — He told Comey what? He said, “Can you let the Flynn thing go?” one time. He did not keep it up. He did not pressure Comey. He did not hound Comey. He mentioned it one time, way, way back, long before Comey went public and announced that Trump was never under investigation. Trump had asked Comey to let the Flynn thing go months before Comey said, for the last time, that Trump wasn’t under investigation. So if Comey says — pick a date, March 30th — that Trump is not under investigation after Trump has supposedly obstructed or tried to obstruct the Comey investigation, then why wasn’t something done on obstruction then? How could Comey clear Trump if Comey thought he was being obstructed by Trump? It is a very sensible and logical question. And the answer to that question is also very easy. They went back to it after their whole collusion investigation blew up with nothing there. And, believe me, they were gonna try to make it happen anyway, with evidence, without evidence, ’cause there isn’t any evidence of collusion. So they planted the Russian dossier, any number of things to try to create the illusion that there was evidence, but they couldn’t sell it. So they have shifted. And so now the Washington Post — and let me tell you, as of ten o’clock last night, ten o’clock last night the top five most-read articles at the Washington Post. Now, this is according to the Washington Post as well. The Washington Post could publish a fake list, supposedly determined by computer hits, Washington Post readers clicking on stories. They’ve got a program that tabulates which stories are clicked on the most. They are considered to be, thus, read. So they have their top five most read articles. It’s actually top five most clicked on, but who’s splitting hairs? I want to read to you the top five as of ten o’clock last night. Number one. “Special Counsel Investigating Trump for Possible Obstruction of Justice, Officials Say.” Number two. “An Inferno Seemingly From Another Time or Place Kills 12 in London.” Do you believe that was the second most-read story as of ten o’clock last night in the Washington Post? Number three. “ISIS Drones Are Attacking U.S. Troops and Disrupting Airstrikes in Raqqa, Officials Say.” Number four. “University of Virginia Student Otto Warmbier, Said to Be in a Coma, Released From North Korea.” By the way, I haven’t heard his name pronounced. Has anybody heard how they’re pronouncing his name? Not a single person on my staff has heard this name? Well, we’ll get to it. W-a-r-m-b-i-e-r, could be Warmbier, Warmbier, could be Warmbier. I’ve never heard it pronounced. I have an excuse. I never have the volume up. I just look at closed-caption. Number five. “The NSA Has Linked the WannaCry Computer Worm to North Korea.” The top five stories, as of ten o’clock last night in the Washington Post. Not a single story about the shooting of Steve Scalise and the other members of the congressional team practicing baseball in Alexandria, Virginia. Do you believe that? Well, I didn’t look at the Washington Post last night so I don’t know how many stories there were in the Washington Post about the shooting. What I do know is that the Washington Post and the New York Times and CNN and everybody else want to move on. They want to sweep this shooting story under the rug as quickly as they can until they can figure out a way to blame it on Scalise, which they’re trying to do. People have forgotten. The Obama administration, as recently as 2015, was attacking Scalise as a supporter of the Ku Klux Klan because of a personal appearance he made 20 years ago with David Duke. The Obama administration, Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary, was continuing to impugn Scalise as a sympathizer for the KKK. This wacko, who was a mainstream liberal Democrat, Hodgkinson, believed it, and he was out there tweeting about it and Facebook posting about it. And posting cartoons of Scalise addressing can hooded Klansmen. And it was the Obama administration pushing it. The New York Times today has a story blaming Sarah Palin for Hodgkinson shooting Scalise. Editorial story, I don’t know, but what it is is an attempt to hearken back — well, it’s a lie. The New York Times has openly lied. They have dredged up a proven lie and published it again. The proven lie is that Jared Loughner, the shooter of Gabby Giffords, read Sarah Palin’s website and saw a graphic of crosshairs on there as she was mentioning congressional districts Republicans need to target for political victory, and he got the idea to shoot Gabby Giffords. We learned at the time that Loughner was insane. He was not politically oriented. To the extent that he paid any attention it was to left-wing politics. But he was simply insane. The New York Times, in my estimation, this is actionable, what they have done today. To dredge up a proven lie, republish it as the reason Scalise was shot, the reason. Sarah Palin got all of this going by causing the shooting of Gabby Giffords and this led to people like Hodgkinson doing what he did. None of this is in the top five most-clicked-on stories in the Washington Post, as of ten o’clock last night. How many of you would just believe that the Washington Post, their website yesterday, all day yesterday, if they had stories on the shooting, that that story would not be widely read by Washington Post readers? Well, that’s what they want us to believe. They want us to believe they had more people interested in the London tower inferno, which is a days old story. More people interested in ISIS drones attacking U.S. troops and disrupting air strikes in Raqqa, and that the NSA has linked the WannaCry ransomware computer worm to North Korea. All of those were far more interesting to Washington Post readers. See, I don’t buy it. I think it’s the Washington Post number one most read story, the special counsel investigating Trump for possible obstruction of justice. I think the Post wants to broom this whole shooting story, and the reason for publishing their special counsel investigating Trump for obstruction is the way they’re doing it. I want to now go to the audio sound bites. We’re gonna start with me on this program yesterday talking about the purpose and the objective of special counsel Robert Mueller. RUSH ARCHIVE: The idea that the independent counsel’s fair and open-minded and the scales of justice will be equally balanced, what a crock! These are prosecutors! What is the objective of a prosecutor? To send somebody to jail. That’s the objective. They’re not in there, they’re not in these jobs to let people go! They’re not in these jobs to let people off! An independent counsel or any prosecutor is there to get convictions! And if they don’t think they can get convictions then they try to get plea deals on guilty pleas. RUSH: Right. We next go to CNN and Jeffrey Toobin last night on Anderson Cooper’s show talking about Mueller and this leak, and they’re so excited they can’t contain themselves. TOOBIN: It’s worth remembering, what a personal nightmare is to be under criminal investigation, what it’s like to wake up every morning knowing that there’s a team of skilled lawyers, FBI agents who are looking at the possibility of trying to put you in prison. That is what it means to be under criminal investigation, and now the president of the United States, who is a sensitive soul, is gonna have to deal with that. RUSH: Yeah, so they’re so excited, put Trump in prison. Exactly what I told you yesterday. They’re salivating over Trump going to prison. David “Rodham” Gergen has chimed in. Get this. David “Rodham” Gergen (paraphrasing), “You know what? This is so much bigger than the collusion case. Oh, yeah. This is gigantic. Collusion case, not much. This is big.” Anderson Cooper: “David, we’re judicious with the Watergate comparisons. You worked for Nixon. It wasn’t the burglary that brought him down. It was the cover-up, right?” GERGEN: There’s now a three pronged investigation of Donald Trump and the people around him. This has taken a major turn. It’s actually much more dangerous to Donald Trump than what they started with and that is the Russian issue. What we’ve been talking about forever has just come true, and I cannot emphasize enough how dangerous I think this is for the president. RUSH: Exactly right. Investigation of obstruction of justice and the IC, the special counsel’s not there to say he didn’t do it. The fact is he didn’t do it. This is as bogus as the collusion charge. The timeline alone makes that point. Details of that coming up. But you see now, “Oh, yeah, the collusion thing, ah, that pales in comparison.” Really? For the last seven months that’s the only thing that mattered to any of you people. And now that pales? “Yeah, yeah, ’cause obstruction, we can get the guy on that, absolutely. We can make it up and we can make it stick, yeah, yeah, we got him, Trump’s toast. And then we’re gonna get his tax returns and we’re gonna expose of all the fraudulent business things. And we’re gonna destroy Trump financially and we’re gonna destroy Trump’s businesses. We’re gonna destroy Trump’s family,” which is the objective in all of this. CNN was so excited, they brought the Washington Post writer on, who published the story filled with leaks about the creation of the investigation of obstruction of justice. ADAM ENTOUS: I do want to caution here that this is obviously something that may never result in accusations being brought in terms of charges by — RUSH: What? ADAM ENTOUS: — the special counsel. RUSH: What? ADAM ENTOUS: He may take a look at Comey’s testimony. He may interview Comey. He may interview these other people and decide that there is no obstruction or certainly no case that he can bring on obstruction. So it’s really — this is a preliminary moment. We’re seeing effectively a file being opened here within the FBI — RUSH: Wait a second. Stop the tape. Stop, stop, I gotta take a break. Did you hear this? The Washington Post reporter, “Wait, I gotta caution you, there may not be anything here.” Really? That’s not what your story says. By the way, if anybody ought to recuse himself from something, Mueller damn well. Comey’s his best buddy. Comey’s gonna end up being a central figure in this. If anybody should be recusing, it’s Mueller. BREAK TRANSCRIPT RUSH: We’re gonna get into some detail here about why this obstruction investigation is cockeyed and why it looks to me to be not something that is the result of a natural progression of events. This, to me, looks like a construct, just like the collusion story was a construct. Meaning, there weren’t any events that took place that warranted an investigation. They had to construct them. And they had to take bogus documents such as that dossier, the golden showers dossier, and pretend that it was real. And it looks like much the same thing is happening here in this obstruction investigation coming so on the heels of the flat-out admission that there’s nothing to the collusion story, but proving that investigators can’t let something go. Trump essentially has been exonerated on the collusion story, but they can’t let it go. There’s an investigation, don’t you know. The investigation’s gotta turn up something, so they’ve moved from collusion to obstruction. And I want to reemphasize, you know, Sessions has recused himself, but if there’s anybody that really needs to it’s the special counsel himself, Robert Mueller, just based on public statements, how close he and Comey are, how BFF they are. BREAK TRANSCRIPT RUSH: By the way, a little side note. President Trump’s approval numbers at 47%. Do you realize that’s no change? Some pollsters in the Drive-Bys tell you he’s in the thirties, but 47%. No change. You would think that in the normal ebb and flow and the tradition of American politics approval ratings and news, you would think that this never ending assault on Donald Trump would take that number down, and it’s holding steady at 47%, which means many things. Among the things it means is that Trump’s base is holding. And make no mistake, these assaults on Trump, they have multifaceted objectives. One of them is to finally separate Trump’s supporters from Trump. It’s to irritate them to the point of having them drive away. That’s not working yet. Also, Donald Trump tweeted a couple things. He went to see Steve Scalise in the hospital last night, and he came out and tweeted that he had been there and that he had talked to people and that it was very, very touch and go. Shortly thereafter, there was a tweet from Jim Acosta of fake news at CNN. And the Jim Acosta fake news CNN tweet said: “White House official on hospital visit: President Trump did not meet with Scalise and did not go into the room where Scalise is being treated.” That’s a lie. And Acosta is saying that a White House official told him. A White House, not a hospital official, not a hospital worker. A White House official told him that Trump is lying. Trump didn’t meet with Scalise. He didn’t meet with Scalise’ family. He didn’t go into the room where Scalise is being treated, and it turns out to have been proven fake. Acosta deleted the tweet after it received nearly 2,000 retweets. He has not apologized. Now, what about this White House official on hospital visit? “President Trump did not meet with Scalise.” Did somebody purposefully leak this to see who would run with it and who didn’t? Or did somebody leak this in the White House staff, did a White House official leak this to try to damage Trump? In other words, did somebody in Trump’s administration tell this reporter for fake news CNN that Trump’s lying in his tweet. He didn’t go there. He didn’t see anybody. He didn’t talk to anybody. He’s making it up. Was this internal sabotage at the White House, or was it an attempt to identify and expose or embarrass a Drive-By Media reporter? We don’t know. But it’s typical. Acosta didn’t even run it down. He just accepted whatever was said by this leaker, because of course Trump lies. It’s in their mind, Trump lies, makes everything up. Of course Trump didn’t go. He’s bragging about it. He’s lying about it, but he didn’t go. Every one of these instances Trump turns out to be the one telling the truth, such as when he said that Comey told him three times that he wasn’t under investigation. You remember the excrement storm after that. Everybody in legal think tanks and the media, “Comey would never do that. Trump’s lying. In his dreams. Trump is making it up. Comey is a brilliant, brilliant, brilliant prosecutor and brilliant, brilliant lawyer, and brilliant, brilliant FBI director. He would never tell anybody they are not under –” And yet Trump was telling the truth. And Comey had told everybody for three, four months that Trump wasn’t under investigation.

The United States has seen indications that North Korea may be preparing for a new missile test-launch in the coming days or weeks, U.S. officials said on Thursday, in what could be an early test of President-elect Donald Trump's administration. South Korean media, citing intelligence agencies, said Pyongyang may be readying a test of a new, upgraded prototype of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) as early as Friday, the day Trump is inaugurated. U.S. officials, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, cautioned however that they did not have such precise information about the range or potential timing of Pyongyang's missile test, should it happen. One official suggested Pyongyang could be largely seeking to provoke the Trump administration. "If they do something, it would more likely be a test of Trump than a test of a delivery system," said a U.S. intelligence officer who monitors North Korean activities. "They probably want to see how he reacts to a provocation, even a minor one, and if they really want to poke him, they'll do it right away." In his New Year's speech, leader Kim Jong Un said North Korea was close to test launching an ICBM, and state media has said a launch could come at any time. Experts on the isolated and nuclear capable country's missile program believe the claims to be credible.

I was in class 8th in hindi medium school where non-language subjects like math and science were in hindi language. Our final exams were approaching, school environment was buzzing with exam preparations. Our school principal arranged a gathering. We all were sitting in open auditorium with hopes of getting some tips for scoring good marks. I don’t remember what tips he gave but only thing I remember is that he said “students aspiring to be engineers or doctors should opt for english medium from class 9 onwards, rest of students can continue with hindi”. These words were echoing in my mind — what does he mean by rest of students? Students who don’t want to do anything in life? Should I join the group of students who are coming to school for doing nothing in life? My family never set expectations like “mera beta engineer banega” (My son will become engineer) but I heard my father discussing with someone that engineers have good life. Anyways, I hate biology and heard somewhere that medical students have to cut frogs in labs. I decided that I will do engineering without knowing what exactly is job of an engineer. I took risk and registered my name with english group or in aspiring engineers/doctors group. I told my mother that I will learn Science & Math in english language from next class session. My mother was shocked !! and said, “how will you handle english in maths and science, first manage to get good marks in English language”. I knew I was not good in english — in fact I was very bad in english. My relationship with English was like India-Pakistan, means we sat on table multiple times but no love happened between us. My tuition teachers, parents and friends— all were shocked at my decision. My teachers were confident that I will fail this year. I asked my father, he gave me silent looks and said, “it’s your wish, if you think you can do it, then go ahead and do it”. I started my 9th grade classes. My fellow students were making fun of me because of my poor English. I struggled to understand things before I realized that term exams are approaching. My teachers were right , I failed in most of subjects — Maths(13/100), Science(9/100), Hindi(20/100), English (30/100). No one was there to support me at that time. I lost my interest in study. I started spending most of my time in playing. I believe that was the reason I survived failure, I just diverted my attention. After few weeks I came back to study table and started putting more efforts. I tried to remember diagrams which helped me fetching half marks of question.I managed to pass final exam and got promoted to class-X. Consistent study and my will power paid off, I passed metric exams with 80% score and scholarship from punjab govt. My Learning : Listen to inner voice, take decision and be firm. Accept the failure but consistent hard work will pay off at end. Failed at Engineering Entrance Exam I was not IIT aspirant but Thapar University was like IIT of Punjab for me. I was doing Diploma in computer science at that time and Thapar Institute was dream college for all of us. There was special exam for Diploma students to get into engineering college. Only top 5 ranks could get admission in Thapar. I performed poorly in exam and got awarded 20+ rank. I could have got admission in PTU college but I refrained. Embracing my failure, I decide to drop one year to prepare for next year so that I can get admission in my dream college. I argued with everyone around me who were insisting me to join any college and not to waste one precious year of life. My friends, parents and relatives were right that there is no guarantee of top 5 rank next year but I was determined to fight one more battle. Along with my exam preparations, I started teaching science, math and computers to junior students in my town. This strategy helped me revising my concepts while making pocket money. I got lucky this time and scored 3rd rank in punjab LEET test :-) My Learning : Listen to your heart and put 100% efforts to achieve your target. I wonder why students commit suicides in situation where they don’t get good ranks in competition exams?? is it really exams or family or society who is responsible for these killings? Failed in first semester I was on cloud nine with my admission in my dream college. Everything was looking green and shiny. Semester was over in no time and exam happened. I shocked to see my result card, F-grade in one subject !! I went into depression that lasted for complete 15 minutes — yes just 15 minutes :-) Chill guys, many other students get F-grades and clear backlog papers in coming semester. Lesson here was to prepare well for future exams and not to repeat same mistake again. Failed at my love life I fell in love with one girl who was working with me in same company. I delayed in proposing her and she got married somewhere else. I lost interest in life with my broken heart and broken dreams. I was in serious depression, so serious that I had to consult with psychiatrist. It was most difficult time of my life. My personal life and work life was suffering. I was looking for inner strength so that I could get out of black hole. I got connected with spiritual gurus and started meditation practices. It was my new life with new purpose. Failure at my first startup Life took more twists and turns, I got married, spent two years in united states, blessed with baby boy — what else is required to live happy life? I guess nothing — but something was missing in my life. I was not satisfied with my work profile, a useless software engineer, clinging on some shitty piece of software. I did not want to live a life where my work has no direct impact on human life. I decided to resign from job to work on something useful for society. Unfortunately, within one year of starting up my startup went down . There was financial loss, job loss, hope loss and dream loss. I lost almost everything associated with my startup. It was difficult to bounce back from this situation. I had one thing in mind.. Success is by-product of multiple failures I thought that I survived failures in past, so I will survive this loss as well. It was never been possible without support of my wife, Neha. She not only supported me but encouraged me to stand up again to pursue my dream of raising a startup. Later I joined education startup, PocketScience , which is working on gamifying science chapters for young children. My Lessons : I believe failures are part of life and early failures give strength to handle future failures.

next Image 1 of 2 prev Image 2 of 2 Eric Stamatin’s expeditions into his family’s wooded suburban Detroit backyard have yielded plenty of interesting finds, but none to rival the 13,000-year-old artifact he and his cousin dug up last summer. Eric and cousin Andrew Gainariu, who are both 11, were building a dam in the creek that flows through the yard when Eric saw a strange-looking rock sticking up from the ground. At least, he thought it was a rock. "My cousin said, ‘Hey wait a minute, I think this is a bone.’" — Eric Stamatin, 11 “We thought it might be a cool-looking rock, because I see a lot of those, until my cousin said, ‘Hey wait a minute, I think this is a bone,’" Eric told FoxNews.com. "I said, ‘I’m really not sure, let’s go home and show my Dad.’ My Dad’s a doctor. So my Dad looked at it and said, ‘Yep, it’s a bone.’” More specific scientific verification came last month, when paleontolgist John Zawiskie authenticated the bone as a vertebrae from a mastodon. Zawiskie saw a cellphone photo Cristina Stamatin sent him, and he immediately knew “there was no mistaking this was from a mastodon,” the furry elephant-like creature that went extinct about 12,000 years ago, after a 3.7 million-year run on Earth. Zawiskie is accustomed of letting people down easy when their "finds" turn out to be ordinary, but this time he got excited. "‘You know, it’s people calling to say, ‘I found a meteorite or, ‘I found a dinosaur egg,’ or ‘I found a dinosaur bone,’” Zawiskie said. “The last one I got two days ago concerned a petrified horn that turned out to be fossilized coral. “We’re always running down finds like this as paleontologists, but I immediately recognized that this was more than just a mastodon find. It was a cool story that I knew it would resonate, said Zawiskie, who works at the Cranbrook Institute of Science, in Bloomfield Hills, Mich. “Many people in childhood have this very same fantasy, to dig in their backyard and unearth a fossil of some sort or artifact of some significance. And this was authentic, the real thing." Authentication from Zawiskie, who said there have been about 200 such finds in southern Michigan in the past 150 years, renewed the joy the boys felt in July, when they made a find that ranks in childhood fantasies with unearthing pirate's treasure. “Santa (Claus) came in the middle of the summer, and gave me one of my presents early,” Eric said. Zawiskie inspected the site, wading through the creek with the boys before determining that there are probably no more such artifacts in the area. But Eric and Andrew, who visited Zawiskie at his laboratory, aren't taking his word for it: They've been digging up the yard every chance they get. "Who knows what he'll find back there next?" Cristina Stamatin said. "You should see all the things he collects. "Usually, they’re absolutely covered with mud," she added. "Oh yeah, it’s a mother’s dream.”

Tamil Nadu is in the midst of the worst drought in 140 years but clearly there is no drought of ideas. With an eye on protecting the water from the evil eye of the sun at the Vaigai dam near Madurai, Minister for Cooperation Sellur K Raju, decided he would be a Kannagi with a difference. Like the legendary Kannagi who took revenge on the Pandyan king of Madurai who had wrongfully put her husband to death, by cursing the city to go up in flames, Raju decided to take on the Sun God no less. His weapon: Sheets of thermocol. Spending a fortune — Rs 10 lakh, no less — to buy the several sheets of thermocol, Raju arrived at Vaigai dam on Friday to float those sheets on the water. The previous night, he must have imagined a sheet of white over the water, preventing the loss of even a drop of water. The plan was to spread the sheets over 200 sq.m of water surface, out of the 12 hectares of water-spread in the dam area. Raju ban gaya scientist! But Raju in his Physics class at school, had forgotten to read the chapter on wind velocity. The moment he set the sheets free, they took a life of their own and flew in all directions. His partner in the thermocol project, Madurai collector K Veeraraghava Rao now wiser from the failed experiment, says the correlation between wind velocity and thickness of thermocol sheets will be studied in the future. Raju and Rao — the modern-day Wright brothers from Madurai — now want to invest in heavier thermocol sheets to fulfill their flight of fancy. The ones used on Friday were just 2 cm thick. But for those assembled at Vaigai dam, it turned out to be a comedy show with Tamil Nadu threatening to become 'Thermocol Nadu'. Raju had thought the sticky government tape will be good enough to hold together the thermocol sheets, just like the stickiness quotient of power has kept the AIADMK legislators together since February. But he had not calculated that once the expensive thermocol was out in the open, the wind will raid the reservoir and the thermocol sheets will run helter-skelter. As Raju and Rao found their experiment going down the drain, concerns that thermocol which is made of polystyrene beads, would harm marine life were expressed. However, the two 'water scientists' felt that raising environmental concerns was a ploy to fish in troubled waters. Science journals point out that experiments to prevent evaporation have been conducted with thermocol but they have been on ice or static water in farm ponds, not on running water in an open area. Now if the heavier thermocol also does not work, the AIADMK minister has declared that he wants to experiment more. He could look at the Los Angeles precedent where in August 2015, 96 million black plastic balls, called shade balls were dumped into the reservoir to prevent water loss through evaporation. While the experiment worked, it was found way too expensive than the water it saved. Having blown away Rs 10 lakh from the public exchequer, money is not expected to be a factor in Raju's laboratory. Intention-wise though, Raju's heart was in the right place. As MLA from Madurai, he wanted to ensure that the Vaigai dam that is the major source of water to Madurai district, is protected. But then it also proved that the media narrative is spot-on. This AIADMK government is truly bhagwaan bharose. Even though Raju may claim political immunity by saying he was taking on the rising sun, the symbol of the Opposition DMK, his carelessness in dealing with public money has proved to be an embarrassment. With Raju's experiment ended in a watery grave, the O Panneerselvam camp would do well to put one fresh condition for merger talks. Give Raju the thermocol treatment and drop him from the cabinet. The small mercy is that this kind of an experiment was not conducted in February, when all the AIADMK MLAs were locked inside the Golden Bay resort at Koovathur, 60 km from Chennai. Otherwise, an inspired VK Sasikala may have asked all AIADMK legislators to wear thermocol veshtis to ensure her support base does not evaporate. Firstpost is now on WhatsApp. For the latest analysis, commentary and news updates, sign up for our WhatsApp services. Just go to Firstpost.com/Whatsapp and hit the Subscribe button.

Hundreds of people marched through the streets of Ann Arbor Tuesday evening to protest police violence and injustice following the grand jury decision on the police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. "Hands up, don't shoot!" they shouted as they marched down Liberty and Main streets, stopping traffic. "Hey, ho! Racist cops have got to go!" University of Michigan students and community members gathered at 6 p.m. at the Diag and then walked, chanting, to the Ann Arbor Police Department. All over the U.S., people gathered to protest Brown's death. Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson shot and killed 18-year-old Brown in August. A grand jury announced Monday, Nov. 24 it would not indict Wilson. At least 14 people were injured Monday in protests following the decision, according to the Associated Press. Protests were calmer in Ferguson Tuesday night. The protest in Ann Arbor also was for Aura Rosser, a 40-year-old woman killed by Ann Arbor police on Nov. 9 after police allege she confronted them with a knife. Ann Arbor police said Tuesday the march did not cause any problems. About 80 people also gathered at 4:30 p.m. in downtown Ypsilanti for a protest. Students and community members took turns speaking at both the Diag and the police department. "White privilege fills the air while black bodies fill the streets," said Simon Rivers, a U-M student speaking at the Diag. "We will have our justice." Capri Nara Kendall, U-M Black Student Union secretary, said she never thought she'd see images of historic riots become a reality. The system cannot protect those who it was not intended to protect, she said. "We have to be the change for the better," Kendall said. Austin McCoy said the Ferguson situation was an attack on black humanity, and the late announcement of the grand jury decision was a provocation. "We will answer provocation by ... further mobilizing support for humanity of all people of color," he said. While the crowd marched through Ann Arbor, people and vehicles stopped where they were. People held up their phones through restaurant windows to take photos of the protesters. Outside of the police department, Chavonna Bigham, 21, of Ann Arbor, spoke about spending time with Rosser in Washtenaw County jail. "She was a soul that couldn't be replaced," Bigham said. "It doesn't matter if you're a good person ... they don't care." She encouraged the protesters to continue fighting for justice beyond Tuesday's march and mobilize to affect change. But, she warned, that has consequences. "If you fight for this change, you have a target on your back," Bigham said. The protests in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti were among several in Michigan and the country a day after the grand jury returned its decision not to charge Wilson. In Detroit, five people were arrested Tuesday and protesters in Kalamazoo broke a police car window. In Ann Arbor, Anthony Morgan, who also appeared at the Ypsilanti protest, said America witnessed the death of justice on Monday. It's not a cop issue or a lawyer issue, the Ann Arbor resident said, but a human issue. "I just saw beautiful people shut this city down," he said to cheers. "This does not end here." An entire family came out to the protest because the Ferguson shooting was a travesty, said Susan Ayer of Ann Arbor. She came with her son and daughters. "It's outrageous," she said of police violence. "Police have a gun and they think they need to use it." "That's business as usual," replied her son, Benjamin Ayer of Kalamazoo. Lindsay Knake is the K-12 education reporter for The Ann Arbor News. Follow her on twitter or contact her at 989-372-2498 or lknake@mlive.com.

As UK citizens head to the polls for the 'Brexit' vote, many are speculating the move could have a domino effect across Europe. With Euroskeptic politicians gaining ground, polls show at least eight more countries could ‘want out’ of the EU. A new survey has found that 40 percent of Austrians want their own referendum on EU membership. The survey, conducted by Peter Hajek Opinion Strategies, found that 38 percent of respondents were in favor of an ‘Auxit.’ The poll, which surveyed 700 people, found that the biggest supporters of an Austrian referendum are those supporting the right-wing and EU-skeptic Freedom Party. “We need a referendum similar to the referendum in Great Britain, so the people of Austria can decide,” Robert Marschall, leader of Austria’s EU Exit Party, recently stated in a VOA interview. Read more And though 53 per cent of the nation for the moment want to stay in the EU, the gap is not that big, especially compared to the results of the same survey conducted in 2014, which suggested only a quarter of the population supported the country’s EU exit. Moreover, last year, 260,000 Austrians signed an EU exit petition, forcing a referendum debate in parliament. Polls recently conducted in Italy, France, Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, Czech Republic and Hungary also showed that these countries could follow Britain if it succeeds in leaving the EU. Euroskeptic politicians in these countries have been adding fuel to the fire, stepping up their calls for EU-exits in light of the British referendum. On Wednesday, French right-wing leader Marine Le Pen stressed that France should have its own ‘Frexit’ vote. “What I'm asking for is a referendum in France. Every EU member should be able to have its say in a referendum,” the National Front leader told France's TF1 television. A March poll by the University of Edinburgh found that 53 percent of the French are in favor of a referendum on leaving the Union. Read more While a YouGov poll in May, commissioned by Handelsblatt newspaper, found that 29 percent of Germans would leave the EU if a referendum was to take place. Only 54 percent of those living in the country supported staying in the bloc. The mood is reportedly the same in the Netherlands, with a February opinion poll finding that 53 percent of Dutch citizens want a 'Nexit' referendum. Geert Wilders, leader of the Dutch right-wing, populist PVV party, currently topping opinion polls, openly expressed hopes a ‘Nexit’ could follow a ‘Brexit.’ Calling ‘Brexit’ a “patriotic spring,” he told radio BNR the Netherlands should be the next country to leave the bloc to “[rediscover] its national identity, the nation where people get back in control of their own identity, borders and immigration.” Meanwhile, a potential 'Swexit' could be in the future if Britain leaves the EU, according to the Swedish survey firm Sifo Research International, which found 36 percent would want out of the EU if Brexit takes place. However, as of right now, most Swedes want to remain in the bloc. As for the Czech Republic, Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka said in February that “if Britain leaves the EU, we can expect debates about leaving the EU in a few years too,” CTK news agency reported at the time. A clear majority (57 per cent) of the Czech people are said to view EU membership of their country as a risk, according to a study by the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung. Finally, a May poll by Ipsos Mori showed 58 percent of Italians and 38 percent of Hungarians are looking forward to a referendum on their EU membership. The latest number is also likely to rise as Hungary’s is headed by Prime Minister Viktor Orban, one of the loudest EU critics, who’s often opposed the idea of an EU super state and recently spoke out against Brussels’ handing of the migrant crisis, which recently became one of the key disagreements for EU member states. For the time being though, people across Europe and the world await the outcome of Britain's referendum. Polls close at 10pm local time on Thursday (21:00 GMT). The result is not expected to be known until 7am (06:00 GMT) local time on Friday.

— That final play on Sunday has been a tough pill for Minnesota Vikings fans to swallow. Kicker Blair Walsh missed a 27-yard field goal with just seconds remaining. Some have screamed, and cursed. But a particular group of fans is showing grace. The whiteboard in Sarah Myhre’s first grade class at Northpoint Elementary in Blaine shows the subject we have all been talking about. Adults were not the only ones watching on Sunday. “You could see that they were spitting out exactly what their parents were saying at home,” Myhre said “A lot of like, ‘Oh, he should be fired!'” The teachers saw it as a teaching moment. It fit right into their learning targets, specifically the lesson of empathy. Myhre and her peers came up with an assignment: write a letter showing empathy and encouragement, and that is just what they did. It is proof that if Kindergarten does not teach you life’s most important lessons, first grade will. The class also created artwork for Walsh. They are mailing the gifts of encouragement to the Vikings so Blair can get them right away.

Fall season of Skywatchers continues on Wednesday, November 12 with live music, dancing, and a photography exhibit at the Tenderloin National Forest. There, amid the green, you can find the rhythmic beating of drums and interpretive dance brought to the TL by ABD Productions‘ ongoing project, Skywatchers. Anne Bluthenthal and Dancers and their community partners have dedicated themselves to providing a space for people in the Tenderloin to find both themselves and a sense of community through participatory, free-form performance. Skywatchers turns this small sector of the Tenderloin into a dazzling communal space for artistic expression. Unfortunately, the Tenderloin is continually regarded as a neighborhood not worth caring about by middle-class citizens and local politicians because of its long history of violence, drug abuse, and sex work. However, the politically expedient narrative that TL is ridden by crime erases the neighborhood’s vibrant cultural life, and attention on so-called criminals frequently overlooks its low-income seniors, families, disabled persons, and transients. In an effort to generate exposure for the vivacious energy hunkered down in the TL, Skywatchers worked closely with two single-room occupancy (SRO) hotels bordering the Tenderloin National Forest, The Senator and Cambridge Hotel, to connect residents with one another and further explore their creative potentials. Participants, dubbed “co-creators,” of Skywatchers express having been treated or thought of as less than human because somehow being in a low-income neighborhood has transformed them into untouchables, damaged goods. Since most members of Skywatchers reside in an impoverished neighborhood, they are thought of as subpar to the wealthier, more ‘refined’ population of San Francisco. Brazilian activist, Paulo Freire, explains the economic piece of this logic in Pedagogy of the Oppressed, saying that “if others do not have more, it is because they are incompetent and lazy,” (59) revealing much of the way people choose to think about those in poverty. The movement of new money into a low-income neighborhood pressures law enforcement to ‘clean up’ the streets and contribute to the displacement of impoverished or otherwise oppressed persons. Skywatchers’ hand in combating such displacement is to create bonds between residents of the Tenderloin and encourage resourcefulness amongst their co-creators so they can look to each other for help, support, and all the other forms of nourishment a community can provide, despite the economic and social pressure generated by gentrification. Skywatchers enriches the mind and spirit of those involved by not focusing on the idea of “having more,” but on the idea of being more. Through various activities Skywatchers has shown how the use of creative expression can be liberating by encouraging the co-creators to experience fulfillment by engaging with the people around them and the environments they’re in. This constant collaboration is inspired through song, dance, spoken word, and everything in between. While Skywatchers doesn’t directly involve itself with the gentrification happening in the Tenderloin, it does pull together the members of the community to work together and create agency for themselves and others through the bountiful beauty of song and art. When the impoverished neighborhood was “first tagged with the name “Tenderloin” … [it was] because of its similarity to a New York neighborhood that was regarded as a choice assignment for corrupt cops.” Its history of being easy prey for systematic control makes projects like Skywatchers imperative to neighborhoods like the TL where voice is needed. By providing both a space and foundation for building community, Skywatchers makes residents of the TL a smaller target for the exclusionary nature of gentrification. They are able to engage and become a part of their environment instead of being resigned to becoming a product of circumstance. For Charles Pitts, a co-creator of Skywatchers, it was important to engage with his surroundings. When he first drifted into San Francisco, Pitts came with “eighty dollars and a duffle bag full of poetry” and banked on making life work out here. As a poet, Pitts favored the power of words and did not let his poverty hinder his need to be active in his community, describing himself as the type to “run around with a copy of the Constitution.” Skywatchers provided him and others with community and healing. By providing a space for creative expression to manifest and flourish, Skywatchers solidifies the voices of people like Pitts and inspires them speak louder against an uneducated government that doesn’t understand poverty. In a spontaneously composed group song led by Skywatchers’ featured artist sings about freedom and creativity as “free following” entities and Skywatchers follows this flexibility to a tee. Although it is easy for an organization to come into a neighborhood with a plan for change, Skywatchers listens to the community and allows their wants and needs to direct the development of the piece. Through co-creation, Skywatchers’ participants gain creative control over the content of the events. This encourages the ability to express themselves and let their art be their activism, tranquility, and involvement with their environment. In light of the recent gentrification happening in San Francisco, including the TL specifically, the neighborhood has shrunk considerably as police herd crime into other less techie populated pastures. In the seventies, the TL’s “nighttime population swelled with thrill seekers from throughout the Bay Area who came to the neighborhood to walk on the wild side and taste its illicit pleasures,” and like much of the new money moving into the neighborhood, techies and middle class art students exploit the stereotypes of the TL to brandish their badge of courage for having braved the freakshow. And while the neighborhood is rough around the edges, many of the people living in the TL consider it home. Even the organizers and organizations involved with Skywatchers consider the Tenderloin home and residents of the neighborhood to be family. Standing just outside of the Tenderloin National Forest, I spoke with Yanina Rivera, project manager of Skywatchers, whose familiar face received many hello’s from the locals in the area. In all her time with Skywatchers, she had never considered her acts of kindness as extraneous, but as something she would do for friends. As night descended on their performance, the smiles and laughter shared in song, dance, and conversation unmasked a different face of the Tenderloin: one of joy. DeMore took this opportunity to pose a question to the audience, “What is freedom?” Charles Pitts, dressed rather eccentrically in bright reds and a woven hat shouts, “A dance to victory!” and so a song begins. With more input from the audience, DeMore strings together a melody that couldn’t exist without audience engagement. All these ideas reflect some of what the Skywatchers community values and brings to light: a people interested creating opportunity for both themselves and others. Pitts believes that “[people] don’t understand what they have . . . It’s not about the money. It’s about ideas and philosophies.” And plenty of these are shared and valued at Skywatchers’ event. By building community amongst one another, Pitts and other TL residents whom Skywatchers brings together are able to recognize the strengths in each other to create support, friendship, and exchange skills. Through equal parts community support and appreciation for individuality, Silver Sonic, who is usually decked out in silver body paint, describes being “opened up to my creativity” by attending Skywatchers. As a musician, Sonic feels “my main instrument is my voice,” and though Sonic may use a brush or drums, the instruments all communicate with one another. Skywatchers exposes people to those different modes of communication. Though performance may not be one’s expertise or even cup of tea, attendees are encouraged to listen, hear it out, find out what works for them. DeMore speaks about moving beyond freedom, that it is not our last stop as oppressed persons. Freedom is the ability to continue to rise up and reach the sky, which the name Skywatchers alludes to. Like a child gazing at the blue expanse before her, DeMore asks us all to raise our arms, feel the weightlessness and follow it, up. And though you can’t see a damned star in the city of San Francisco, I saw hope, possibility, and all the other words used to describe freedom that night. While city hall has its ideas of a type of people that should be living in the TL, many forget that its people are just that, people. And as DeMore closes the singing circle with a rendition of “This Little Light of Mine,” the voices of Pitts, Sonic, Rivera, and the artistic fervor teeming within the Skywatchers family continues to echo out into the Tenderloin.

Get the biggest daily stories by email Subscribe Thank you for subscribing See our privacy notice Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email Police are hunting a man who jumped on a taxi’s bonnet before smashing the driver’s window with his fist. Officers in Derry say they are investigating an incident of criminal damage to the car on the Northland Road on Saturday evening (August 5) and are appealing for witnesses. The attack was caught on the taxi's dash-cam with the footage shared on the driver's daughter's Facebook page. It has since been viewed more than 110,000 times. Sergeant Sweeney said: “The taxi, a silver coloured Citroen Xsara, was travelling along the Northland Road at around 11.30pm on Saturday when it was approached by a male who jumped onto the bonnet of the car and then smashed the driver’s side window with his fist. “He is described as being aged in his 20s, of slim build with dark hair. Following the incident, the male made off on foot in the direction of the Glen Road with several others. “I would appeal to anyone who witnessed the incident or anyone with any information which could assist with our enquiries to contact police at Strand Road on 101 quoting reference number 1622 05/08/17.” Sgt Sweeney added that people can also ring Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

WARSAW, Poland — Thousands of activists have marched in scorching weather in Warsaw’s 15th yearly “Equality Parade,” confirming a growing public support for gay rights. The participants chanted in support of same sex marriage and the right for same-sex couples to adopt children. Carrying a huge rainbow-colored flag, they marched from the Parliament building, through the downtown Savior Square, where a giant rainbow stands. The artwork has been repeatedly burnt by right-wing groups and is to be moved next year to another location. Small groups of gay rights opponents chanted hostile rhymes, but there was no violence. Recent proposals by left-wing lawmakers to debate regulations that would allow for same-sex marriage have been rejected in Parliament. Poland has no rights for same-sex couples, but the awareness of the need for them is growing.

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) J. Scott Applewhite/AP Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) has sent a letter to Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals, asking the company for details about the pricing of its pain medication, Ofirmev. Ofirmev can be used as a safer alternative to opioids, and Mallinckrodt acquired the drug in 2014 when it purchased Cadence Pharmaceuticals for $1.4 billion. Almost immediately after the sale, Mallinckrodt doubled the price of Ofirmev to 1,019.52 for a pack of 24 vials. This is costing hospitals a fortune, so some of them are using cheaper more dangerous painkillers — highly addictive opioids. So, Senator McCaskill, who is also investigating a number of opioid manufacturers, is looking into the impact Ofirmev's price increase has had on "hospital decision making." Mallinckrodt says that it has and will cooperate with the Senator's investigation. Notorious MNK Markets Insider Mallinckrodt has gained notoriety on Wall Street over this year, but not for Ofirmev. Instead, it is because of its blockbuster drug, Acthar. That's another old drug that has seen its price skyrocket as it was sold from one drug company to the next. Earlier this month at a conference in Las Vegas, famed short seller Jim Chanos presented his case that Mallinckrodt's revenue relies too heavily on Acthar sales, despite the fact that it's a drug with questionable efficacy for many of the ailments it is prescribed for. He's not the first on Wall Street to make that point either. Andrew Left of Citron Research has been challenging the company to test Acthar, which is primarily used to treat infantile spasms. What makes Acthar so strange, is that most of its revenue comes from Medicare, which is a program for the elderly — a point that hasn't escaped the short selling community. We should also note that former Turing CEO Martin Shkreli, a man who became public enemy number one after jacking up the price of a life-saving AIDs treatment, also took issue with Mallinckrodt. In 2014, he complained to the feds— specifically the Federal Trade Commission — about a drug company's anticompetitive behavior. It later settled that matter for $100 million. Currently, the Department of Justice, the SEC and other US attorneys are all investigating the company. So you can see why the last thing the company needs is Senator McCaskill asking for documents. You can read her full letter below.

Liverpool have reportedly revoked a contract offer they made to backup goalkeeper Brad Jones and the 33-year-old has now been told he will leave the club this summer. The Daily Mail‘s Neil Ashton explains that Jones is “furious with the club after he was initially told that he would be given a new contract at the end of the season.” Last week, the Liverpool Echo reported that Liverpool were keen to keep Jones and that he would be offered a new deal. The Australian keeper has been at the club five years, making 25 appearances and is out of contract in the summer. Jones has often been praised by Brendan Rodgers for his professional work ethic and Ashton writes that he had been “given assurances that he would be given another 12 months at Liverpool because of his positive influence in the dressing room. “Instead he believes the club have gone back on their word and he will be free to leave Liverpool at the end of the season.” The news of Liverpool’s u-turn on Jones’ future arrives the day after it was reported that the Reds had renewed their interest in Fiorentina goalkeeper Neto.

Ottawa reacts to idea of paid public bathrooms at LRT stations The City of Ottawa is mulling the idea of charging people to use public bathrooms at the new light-rail transit stations, which sparked a rash of negative reaction but also some defenders of the idea. Social Sharing Some European countries feature paid public bathrooms with successes and failures This photo shows a self-cleaning public bathroom in Berlin, Germany. The City of Ottawa is debating whether new light-rail transit stations should have coin-operated public bathrooms. (@RockonOttawa/Twitter) What would you think about having to pay to use public toilets at transit stations in Ottawa? <a href="https://t.co/97uOekEVkI">https://t.co/97uOekEVkI</a> —@RobynBresnahan Those with a chronic illness argue against it. <a href="https://twitter.com/RobynBresnahan">@RobynBresnahan</a> I have Crohn's disease and some times I don't have time to stop and pay!!!! When you gotta go you gotta go. —@Selinear Some who have seen the idea in action would rather access a public bathroom for free. <a href="https://twitter.com/CBCOttawa">@CBCOttawa</a> after having been to London and Paris, as a tourist, and dealing with this aggravation, this should be a free service in Ottawa —@CurKath The response to the idea was quite negative, all in all. <a href="https://twitter.com/CBCOttawa">@CBCOttawa</a> I hate this idea so much I will literally pee on the outside of the door in protest. —@ourladyofcoffee <a href="https://twitter.com/CBCOttawa">@CBCOttawa</a> Absolutely ridiculous. I can imagine how people will behave if it happens. —@lisefalardeau <a href="https://twitter.com/CBCOttawa">@CBCOttawa</a> cheaper to let people pee for free than to clean up after the ones who cant or wont. Probably a bad revenue "stream" —@Igallant <a href="https://twitter.com/CBCOttawa">@CBCOttawa</a> does #2 cost extra? —@kkkat222 <a href="https://twitter.com/CBCOttawa">@CBCOttawa</a> What do I think about a classist violation of human rights? HMMMM —@upper_cayce <a href="https://twitter.com/RobynBresnahan">@robynbresnahan</a> unless they put in a debit machine, it'll be a fail... who walks around with pocket change to use a toilet? —@jasonmulligan <a href="https://twitter.com/CBCOttawa">@CBCOttawa</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/RobynBresnahan">@RobynBresnahan</a> if they're going to charge me to pee, they'd better lower my bus fare to compensate —@MorinTim There were defenders, though, including those who have seen successes. <a href="https://twitter.com/CBCOttawa">@CBCOttawa</a> it's no different than buying a drink at timmies to use the bathroom. —@suziecrabtree <a href="https://twitter.com/RobynBresnahan">@RobynBresnahan</a> I pay when I go to Europe,use to pay when i was a kid in Toronto...10 cents! —@DaleBurnside .<a href="https://twitter.com/OttawaMorning">@OttawaMorning</a> these self-cleaning toilets in Berlin are outstanding! Public. Full wash down after every use. <a href="https://t.co/AgYJRcnAim">pic.twitter.com/AgYJRcnAim</a> —@RockOnOttawa <a href="https://twitter.com/OttawaMorning">@OttawaMorning</a> Pay toilets: Germany has them. Always safe and clean, with an employee on site to keep it tidy. I love the idea for LRT. —@KittyBroadway <a href="https://twitter.com/OttawaMorning">@OttawaMorning</a> of course we should pay for public toilets. Remember when we paid in department stores. They always had helpful attendants —@leucagal <a href="https://twitter.com/OttawaMorning">@OttawaMorning</a> Presto card uses NFC tech which is built into most smartphones. An app could be built to allow washroom access. —@pohl1 <a href="https://twitter.com/MrsOxleysClass">@MrsOxleysClass</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/OttawaMorning">@OttawaMorning</a> definitely agree. If we have to pay, they should also function using presto card, and probably credit/debit. —@andrewmlpullin <a href="https://twitter.com/OttawaMorning">@OttawaMorning</a> the best pay toilet experience was at Harrods in London cost a £ the attendant cleaned the stall after every use. —@Chelsea_Buddy Have Your Say Vote here on whether Ottawa should have public bathrooms. Popular Now Find more popular stories

Electrical Earthing – Components, Methods & Types of Earthing – Electrical Grounding Installation Electrical Earthing, Grounding, Methods Of Earthing, Types of Earthing, Components of Earthing And Its Specifications In Respect To Electrical Earthing for Electrical Installations. What is Electrical Earthing or Grounding? To connect the metallic (conductive) Parts of an Electric appliance or installations to the earth (ground) is called Earthing or Grounding. In other words, to connect the metallic parts of electric machinery and devices to the earth plate or earth electrode (which is buried in the moisture earth) through a thick conductor wire (which has very low resistance) for safety purpose is known as Earthing or grounding. To earth or earthing rather, means to connect the part of electrical apparatus such as metallic covering of metals, earth terminal of socket cables, stay wires that do not carry current to the earth. Earthing can be said as the connection of the neutral point of a power supply system to the earth so as to avoid or minimize danger during discharge of electrical energy. Good to know Difference between Earthing, Grounding and Bonding Let me clear the confusion among earthing, grounding and bonding. Earthing and Grounding are the same terms used for earthing. Grounding is the commonly word used for earthing in the North American standards like IEEE, NEC, ANSI and UL etc while, Earthing is used in European, Common wealth countries and Britain standards like IS and IEC etc. The word Bonding used for jointing two wires (as well as conductors, pipes or appliances together. Bonding is known as connecting the metallic parts of different machines which is not considered to be carrying electric current during normal operation of the machines to bring them at the same level of electric potential. Why Earthing is Important? The primary purpose of earthing is to avoid or minimize the danger of electrocution, fire due to earth leakage of current through undesired path and to ensure that the potential of a current carrying conductor does not rise with respect to the earth than its designed insulation. When the metallic part of electrical appliances (parts that can conduct or allow passage of electric current) comes in contact with a live wire, maybe due to failure of installations or failure in cable insulation, the metal become charged and static charge accumulates on it. If a person touches such a charged metal, the result is a severe shock. To avoid such instances, the power supply systems and parts of appliances have to be earthed so as to transfer the charge directly to the earth. This is why we need Electrical Earthing or Grounding in electrical installation systems. Below are the basic needs of Earthing. To protect human lives as well as provide safety to electrical devices and appliances from leakage current. To keep voltage as constant in the healthy phase (If fault occurs on any one phase). To Protect Electric system and buildings form lighting. To serve as a return conductor in electric traction system and communication. To avoid the risk of fire in electrical installation systems. Different Terms used in Electrical Earthing Earth: The proper connection between electrical installation systems via conductor to the buried plate in the earth is known as Earth. Earthed: When an electrical device, appliance or wiring system connected to the earth through earth electrode, it is known as earthed device or simple “Earthed”. Solidly Earthed: When an electric device, appliance or electrical installation is connected to the earth electrode without a When an electric device, appliance or electrical installation is connected to the earth electrode without a fuse , circuit breaker or resistance/Impedance, It is called “solidly earthed”. Earth Electrode: When a conductor (or conductive plate) buried in the earth for electrical earthing system. It is known to be Earth Electrode. Earth electrodes are in different shapes like, conductive plate, conductive rod, metal water pipe or any other conductor with low resistance. Earthing Lead : The conductor wire or conductive strip connected between Earth electrode and Electrical installation system and devices in called Earthing lead. Earth Continuity Conductor: The conductor wire, which is connected among different electrical devices and appliances like, The conductor wire, which is connected among different electrical devices and appliances like, distribution board , different plugs and appliances etc. in other words, the wire between earthing lead and electrical device or appliance is called earth continuity conductor. It may be in the shape of metal pipe (fully or partial), or cable metallic sheath or flexible wire. Sub Main Earthing Conductor : A wire connected between switch board and distribution board i.e. that conductor is related to sub main circuits. Earth Resistance: This is the total resistance between earth electrode and earth in Ω (Ohms). Earth resistance is the algebraic sum of the resistances of earth continuity conductor, earthing lead, earth electrode and earth. POINTS TO BE EARTHED Earthing is not done anyhow. According to IE rules and IEE (Institute of Electrical Engineers) regulations, Earth pin of 3-pin lighting plug sockets and 4-pin power plug should be efficiently and permanently earthed. All metal casing or metallic coverings containing or protecting any electric supply line or apparatus such as GI pipes and conduits enclosing VIR or PVC cables, iron clad switches, iron clad distribution fuse boards etc should be earthed (connected to earth). The frame of every generator, stationary motors and metallic parts of all transformers used for controlling energy should be earthed by two separate and yet distinct connections with the earth. In a dc 3-wire system, the middle conductors should be earthed at the generating station. Stay wires that are for overhead lines should be connected to earth by connecting at least one strand to the earth wires. Related Post: Testing Electrical and Electronics Components and Devices with Multimeter Components of Earthing System A complete electrical earthing system consists on the following basic components. Earth Continuity Conductor Earthing Lead Earth Electrode Earth Continuity Conductor or Earth Wire That part of the earthing system which interconnects the overall metallic parts of electrical installation e.g. conduit, ducts, boxes, metallic shells of the switches, distribution boards, Switches, fuses, Regulating and controlling devices, metallic parts of electrical machines such as, motors, generators, transformers and the metallic framework where electrical devices and components are installed is known as earth wire or earth continuity conductor as shown in the above fig. The resistance of the earth continuity conductor is very low. According to IEEE rules, resistance between consumer earth terminal and earth Continuity conductor (at the end) should not be increased than 1Ω. In simple words, resistance of earth wire should be less than 1Ω. Size of the Earth Continuity Conductor or Earth Wire depends on the cable size used in the wiring circuit. Size of Earth Continuity Conductor The cross sectional area of the Earth Continuity Conductor should not be less than the half of the cross sectional area of the thickest wire used in the electrical wiring installation. Generally, the size of the bare copper wire used as earth continuity conductor is 3SWG. But keep in mind that, don’t use less than 14SWG as earth wire. Copper strip is also can be used as earth continuity conductor instead of bare copper wire but don’t go for it until manufacture recommend it. Earthing Lead or Earthing Joint The conductor wire connected between earth continuity conductor and earth electrode or earth plate is called earthing joint or “Earthing lead”. The point where earth continuity conductor and earth electrode meet is known as “connecting point” as shown in the above fig. Earthing lead is the final part of the earthing system which is connected to the earth electrode (which is underground) through earth connecting point. There should be minimum joints in earthing lead as well as lower in size and straight in the direction. Generally, copper wire can be used as earthing lead but, copper strip is also used for high installation and it can handle the high fault current because of wider area than the copper wire. A hard drawn bare copper wire is also used as an earthing lead. In this method, all earth conductors connected to a common (one or more) connecting points and then, earthing lead is used to connect earth electrode (earth plat) to the connecting point. To increase the safety factor of installation, two copper wires are used as earthing lead to connect the device metallic body to the earth electrode or earth plate. I.e. if we use two earth electrodes or earth plats, there would be four earthing leads. It should not be considered that the two earth leads are used as parallel paths to flow the fault currents but both paths should work properly to carry the fault current because it is important for better safety. Size of the Earthing Lead The size or area of earthing lead should not be less than the half of the thickest wire used in the installation. The largest size for earthing lead is 3SWG and the minimum size should not be less than 8SWG. If 37/.083 wire is used or the load current is 200A from the supply voltage, then it is recommended to use copper strip instead of double earthing lead. The earth lead connection methods is shown in the above fig. Note: We will post additional article about Earth Plate size with simple calculations… Stay tune. Earthing Electrode or Earth Plate A metallic electrode or plate which is buried in the earth (underground) and it is the last part of the electrical earthing system. In simple words, the final underground metallic (plate) part of the earthing system which is connected with earthing lead is called earth plate or earth electrode. A metallic plate, pipe or rode can be used as an earth electrode which has very low resistance and carry the fault current safely towards ground (earth). Size of Earthing Electrode Both copper and iron can be used as earthing electrode. The size of earth electrode (In case of copper) 2×2 (two foot wide as well as in length) and 1/8 inch thickness.. I.e. 2’ x 2’ x 1/8″. (600x600x300 mm) In case of Iron 2′ x2′ x ¼” = 600x600x6 mm It is recommended to bury the earth electrode in the moisture earth. If it is not possible, then put water in the GI (Galvanized Iron) pipe to make possible the moisture condition. In the earthing system, put the earth electrode in vertical position (underground) as shown in the above fig. Also, put a 1 foot (about 30cm) layer of powdered charcoal and lime mixture around the earth plate (don’t confuse with earth electrode and earth plate as both are the same thing). This action makes the possible increase in the size of the earth electrode which leads a better continuity in the earth (earthing system) and also helps to maintain the moisture condition around earth plate. P.S: We will post Example calculation about Earth Electrode Sizing… Stay tune. Good to know: Don’t use coke (after burning coal in the furnace to emit all the gases and other components, the remaining 88% carbon is called coke) or stone coal instead of charcoal (wood coal) because it causes to corrosion in the earth plate. Since, the water level is different in the different areas; therefore, the depth for earth electrode installation is also different in various areas. But, the depth for earth electrode installation should not be less than 10ft (3 meter) and should below 1 foot (304.8mm) from the constant water level. Motors, Generator, Transformers etc should be connected from to earth electrode two different places. Earth Plate or Earth Electrode Size for Small installation In small installation, use metallic rod (diameter = 25mm (1inch) and length = 2m (6ft) instead of earth plate for earthing system. The metallic pipe should be 2 meter below from the surface of ground. To maintain the moister condition, put 25mm (1inch) coal and lime mixture around the earth plate. For effectiveness and convenience, you may use the copper rods 12.5mm (0.5 inch) to 25mm (1 inch) diameter and 4m (12ft) length. We will discuss the installation method of rod earthing latter. Methods and Types of Electrical Earthing Earthing can be done in many ways. The various methods employed in earthing (in house wiring or factory and other connected electrical equipment and machines) are discussed as follows. Plate Earthing: In plate earthing system, a plate made up of either copper with dimensions 60cm x 60cm x 3.18mm (i.e. 2ft x 2ft x 1/8 in) or galvanized iron (GI) of dimensions 60cm x 60cm x 6.35 mm (2ft x 2ft x ¼ in) is buried vertical in the earth (earth pit) which should not be less than 3m (10ft) from the ground level. For proper earthing system, follow the above mentioned steps in the (Earth Plate introduction) to maintain the moisture condition around the earth electrode or earth plate. Pipe Earthing: A galvanized steel and a perforated pipe of approved length and diameter is placed vertically in a wet soil in this kind of system of earthing. It is the most common system of earthing. The size of pipe to use depends on the magnitude of current and the type of soil. The dimension of the pipe is usually 40mm (1.5in) in diameter and 2.75m (9ft) in length for ordinary soil or greater for dry and rocky soil. The moisture of the soil will determine the length of the pipe to be buried but usually it should be 4.75m (15.5ft). Rod Earthing it is the same method as pipe earthing. A copper rod of 12.5mm (1/2 inch) diameter or 16mm (0.6in) diameter of galvanized steel or hollow section 25mm (1inch) of GI pipe of length above 2.5m (8.2 ft) are buried upright in the earth manually or with the help of a pneumatic hammer. The length of embedded electrodes in the soil reduces earth resistance to a desired value. Earthing through the Waterman In this method of earthing, the waterman (Galvanized GI) pipes are used for earthing purpose. Make sure to check the resistance of GI pipes and use earthing clamps to minimize the resistance for proper earthing connection. If stranded conductor is used as earth wire, then clean the end of the strands of the wire and make sure it is in the straight and parallel position which is possible then to connect tightly to the waterman pipe. Strip or Wire Earthing: In this method of earthing, strip electrodes of cross-section not less than 25mm x 1.6mm (1in x 0.06in) is buried in a horizontal trenches of a minimum depth of 0.5m. If copper with a cross-section of 25mm x 4mm (1in x 0.15in) is used and a dimension of 3.0mm2 if it’s a galvanized iron or steel. If at all round conductors are used, their cross-section area should not be too small, say less than 6.0mm2 if it’s a galvanized iron or steel. The length of the conductor buried in the ground would give a sufficient earth resistance and this length should not be less than 15m. General Method of Electrical Earthing Installation (Step by Step) The usual method of earthing of electric equipments, devices and appliances are as follow: First of all, dig a 5x5ft (1.5×1.5m) pit about 20-30ft (6-9 meters) in the ground. (Note that, depth and width depends on the nature and structure of the ground) Bury an appropriate (usually 2’ x 2’ x 1/8” (600x600x300 mm) copper plate in that pit in vertical position. Tight earth lead through nut bolts from two different places on earth plate. Use two earth leads with each earth plate (in case of two earth plates) and tight them. To protect the joints from corrosion, put grease around it. Collect all the wires in a metallic pipe from the earth electrode(s). Make sure the pipe is 1ft (30cm) above the surface of the ground. To maintain the moisture condition around the earth plate, put a 1ft (30cm) layer of powdered charcoal (powdered wood coal) and lime mixture around the earth plate of around the earth plate. Use thimble and nut bolts to connect tightly wires to the bed plates of machines. Each machine should be earthed from two different places. The minimum distance between two earth electrodes should be 10 ft (3m). Earth continuity conductor which is connected to the body and metallic parts of all installation should be tightly connected to earth lead. Make sure to use the continuity by using continuity test At last (but not least), test the overall earthing system through earth tester. If everything is going about the planning, then fill the pit with soil. The maximum allowable resistance for earthing is 1Ω. If it is more than 1 ohm, then increase the size (not length) of earth lead and earth continuity conductors. Keep the external ends of the pipes open and put the water time to time to maintain the moisture condition around the earth electrode which is important for the better earthing system. SI specification for Earthing Various specifications in respect to earthing as recommended by Indian Standards are given below. Here are few; An earthing electrode should not be situated (installed) close to the building whose installation system is being earthed at least more than 1.5m away. The earth resistance should be low enough to cause the flow of current sufficient to operate the protective relays or blow fuses. It’s value is not constant as it varies with weather because it depends on moisture (but should not be less than 1 Ohm). The earth wire and earth electrode will be the same material. The earthing electrode should always be placed in a vertical position inside the earth or pit so that it may be in contact with all the different earth layers. Related Posts: Dangers Of Not Earthing A Supply System As emphasized on earlier, earthing is provided in order To avoid electric shock To avoid risk of fire as a result of earth leakage current through unwanted path and To ensure that no current carrying conductor rises to a potential with respect to general mass of earth than its designed insulation. However, if excessive current is not earthed, appliances will be damaged without the help of fuse in place. You should note that excessive current are earthed at their generating stations which is why earth wires carries very little or no current at all. It therefore implies that it is not necessary to earth any of the wires (live, earth and neutral wires) contained in a PVC. Earthing the live wire is catastrophic. I have seen a person killed simply because a live wire got cut from overhead pole and fell to the ground while the ground was wet. Excessive current is earthed at generating stations and if at all the earthing is not efficient due to fault, earth fault interrupters will be there to help. Fuse help only when the power transmitted is above the rating of our appliances, it blocks the current from reaching our appliances by blowing off and protecting our appliances in the process. In our electrical appliances, if excessive currents are not earthed, we would experience severe shock. Earthing takes place in electrical appliances only when there is a problem and it is to save us from danger. If in an electronic installation, a metallic part of an electrical appliance comes in direct contact with a live wire that results from maybe failure of installation or otherwise, the metal will be charged and static charge will accumulate on it. If you happen to touch the metallic part at that moment you will be zapped. But if the metallic part of the appliance is earthed, the charge will be transferred to earth instead of accumulating on the metallic part of the appliance. Current don’t flow through earth wires in electrical appliances, it does so only when there is problem and only to direct the unwanted current to earth in order to protect us from severe shock. In addition, if a live wire touches accidentally (in a faulty system) to the metallic part of a machine. Now, if a man touches that metallic part of the machine, then the current will flow through their body to the ground, hence, he will get shocked (electrocuted) which may lead to serious injuries even to death. That’s why earthing is so important? Electrical Grounding & Earthing….. To be continued… Please subscribe below, if you want to get the upcoming post about Earthing/Grounding such as: Calculate the size of Earth Continuity Conductor, Earthing Lead & Earth Electrodes for different electrical devices and equipment such motors, transformers, home wiring etc by Simple calculations Earthing Circuit and Earth Fault Current Protection of Earthing System and Additional devices used in the Earthing / Grounding System Points To remember while Providing Grounding / Earthing Important Instruction for Proper earthing system Electricity rules about Earthing How to Test Earth Resistance by Earth Tester How to test Earth loop Resistance by Am-Meter & Voltmeter Protective Multiple Earthing And much more…. Related Posts:

The principle that the eldest child has an exclusive right of inheritance Primogeniture ( English: ) is the right, by law or custom, of the paternally acknowledged, firstborn son to inherit his parent's entire or main estate, in preference to daughters, elder illegitimate sons, younger sons and collateral relatives; in some cases the estate may instead be the inheritance of the firstborn child or occasionally the firstborn daughter. The descendant (often the son) of a deceased elder sibling (typically elder brother) inherits before a living younger sibling by right of substitution for the deceased heir. In the absence of any children, brothers succeed, individually, to the inheritance by seniority of age (subject to substitution). Among siblings, sons usually inherit before daughters. In the absence of male descendants in the male-line, there are variations of primogeniture which allocate the inheritance to a daughter or a brother or, in the absence of either, to another collateral relative, in a specified order (e.g. male-preference primogeniture, Salic primogeniture, semi-Salic primogeniture). The principle has applied in history to inheritance of real property (land) as well as inherited titles and offices, most notably monarchies, continuing until modified or abolished. Variations on primogeniture modify the right of the first-born son to the entirety of a family's inheritance (see appanage) or, in the West since World War II, eliminate the preference for males over females (absolute primogeniture). Most monarchies in Western Europe have eliminated male preference in succession: Belgium, Denmark, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Some monarchies have succession rules contrasting greatly with primogeniture. Currently, succession to the Saudi Arabian throne uses a form of lateral agnatic seniority, as did the Kievan Rus' (see Rota system), the early Kingdom of Scotland (see Tanistry), the Mongol Empire (see lateral succession) or the later Ottoman Empire (see succession practices). Order of succession in monarchies today [ edit ] European Absolute primogeniture Agnatic primogeniture Elective Male-preference primogeniture monarchies by succession. Absolute primogeniture [ edit ] Absolute, equal, or lineal primogeniture is a form of primogeniture in which sex is irrelevant for inheritance. No modern monarchy before 1980 practiced this form of primogeniture.[1] However, according to Poumarede (1972), the Basques of the Kingdom of Navarre transmitted title and property to the firstborn regardless of sex.[2] The higher nobility and free families of the early and high middle ages followed this custom.[2] The Navarrese monarchy, however, was inherited by dynasties from outside of Navarre, which followed different successional laws, usually male preference primogeniture. Eventually only the Basque lower nobility and free families of the Basque country and other regions continued to follow this custom, which persisted as late as the 19th century.[2] An ancient and alternative way in which women succeeded to power, especially without displacing the direct male line descendants of the first monarchs, is the historical consortium or coregency between husband, and wife or other relatives. The most notable of these are the Egyptian cases of Hatshepsut and Thutmose III, and the monarchs of the Ptolemaic Dynasty. In 1980, Sweden amended its constitution to adopt royal succession by absolute primogeniture, displacing King Carl XVI Gustaf's infant son, Prince Carl Philip, in favor of his elder daughter, Princess Victoria, in the process. Several monarchies have since followed suit: the Netherlands in 1983, Norway in 1990, Belgium in 1991, Denmark in 2009, Luxembourg in 2011, and the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms in 2015. Monaco, the Netherlands, and Norway also deviated from traditional primogeniture in the late 20th or early 21st century by restricting succession to the crown to relatives within a specified degree of kinship to the most recent monarch. Recently, other monarchies have changed or considered changing to absolute primogeniture: Agnatic primogeniture [ edit ] Under agnatic primogeniture, or patrilineal primogeniture, the degree of kinship (of males and females) is determined by tracing shared descent from the nearest common ancestor through male ancestors.[5] Those who share agnatic kinship (through solely male ancestors) are termed "agnates"; those whose shared lineage includes a female ancestor are "cognates". There were different types of succession based on agnatic primogeniture, all sharing the principle that inheritance is according to seniority of birth among siblings (compare to ultimogeniture) and seniority of lineage among the agnatic kin, firstly, among the sons of a monarch or head of family, with sons and their male-line issue inheriting before brothers and their issue. Females and female-line descendants are excluded from succession. Male-preference primogeniture [ edit ] Male-preference primogeniture accords succession to the throne to a female member of a dynasty if she has no living brothers and no deceased brothers who left surviving legitimate descendants. A dynast's sons and their lines of descent all come before that dynast's daughters and their lines. Older sons and their lines come before younger sons and their lines. Older daughters and their lines come before younger daughters and their lines. It was practiced in the succession to the once-separate thrones of England and Scotland (until their union under James VI and I) and then the United Kingdom until 2015, when the Succession to the Crown Act 2013 changed it to absolute primogeniture. The rule change also applies to all Commonwealth realms that have the British monarch as their head of state. Male-preference primogeniture is currently practiced in succession to the thrones of Monaco[when?] and Spain (before 1700 and since 1830). With respect to hereditary titles, it is usually the rule for Scotland and baronies by writ in the United Kingdom, but baronies by writ go into abeyance when the last male titleholder dies leaving more than one surviving sister or more than one descendant in the legitimate female line of the original titleholder. Salic law [ edit ] An agnatic seniority primogeniture system that excludes any female from inheritance of a monarch's principal possessions is generally known in western Europe as an application of the "Salic law" (see Terra salica). This rule of succession developed in the course of a series of successions in France in the later Middle Ages. In 1316, Joan, the only surviving child of Louis X of France was debarred from the throne in favor of her uncle, Philip, Count of Poitiers. After this it was declared that women could not inherit the French throne. Then in 1328, after the death of Charles IV, Philip, Count of Valois (Charles IV's paternal cousin) became king, notwithstanding the claims of Edward III of England. By proximity of blood, Edward was the closest relative to the dead king, as he was the son of the king's sister Isabella. The assemblies of the French barons and prelates and the University of Paris resolved that males who derive their right to inheritance through their mother should be excluded. This ruling became a key point of contention in the subsequent Hundred Years War. Over the following century, French jurists adopted a clause from the 6th century Pactus Legis Salicae, which asserted that no female or her descendants could inherit the French throne, as a governing rule for the French succession. By the start of the 19th century, the royal houses of Bourbon (France, Spain, Sicily and Parma) and Savoy (Kingdom of Sardinia), had adopted this system of exclusively male hereditary succession. Napoleon Bonaparte's conquests subsequently nudged the adoption of the law in Sweden (beginning in 1810) and in princely states of the Confederation of the Rhine. Other states adopted strict agnatic primogeniture as well, including Denmark (beginning in 1853) and the new kingdoms of Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Romania, and Serbia. During this era, Spain (in the Carlist conflicts) fought a civil war which pitted the Salic and female-line heirs of the ruling dynasty against one another for possession of the crown. A variation of Salic primogeniture allowed the sons of women to inherit, but not women themselves, an example being the Francoist succession to the throne of Spain that was applied in 1947–1978. Most British and French titles of nobility descend to the senior male by primogeniture, to the exclusion of females, and agnatic cadets may bear courtesy or subsidiary titles. Notable exceptions in England include the Duchy of Lancaster, which is merged with the British Crown (which has included women in inheritance since the 16th century), and the Dukedom of Marlborough, which has included women in inheritance since its establishment in 1702. Semi-Salic law [ edit ] For a clearer explanation of the differences between Salic, Semi-Salic laws and male-preference primogeniture, see Salic law Another variation on agnatic primogeniture is the so-called semi-Salic law, or "agnatic-cognatic primogeniture", which allows women to succeed only at the extinction of all the male descendants in the male line.[6] Such were the cases of Bourbon Spain until 1833 and the dominions of Austria-Hungary, as well as most realms within the former Holy Roman Empire, i.e. most German monarchies. This was also the law of Russia under the Pauline Laws of 1797 and of Luxembourg until equal primogeniture was introduced on 20 June 2011. There are various versions of semi-Salic law also, although in all forms women do not succeed by application of the same kind of primogeniture as was in effect among males in the family. Rather, the female who is nearest in kinship to the last male monarch of the family inherits, even if another female agnate of the dynasty is senior by primogeniture. Among sisters (and the lines of descendants issuing from them), the elder are preferred to the younger. In reckoning consanguinity or proximity of blood the dynasty's house law defines who among female relatives is "nearest" to the last male. Uterine primogeniture [ edit ] Under uterine primogeniture, succession to the throne or other property is passed to the male most closely related to the previous titleholder through female kinship.[5] A male may also inherit a right of succession through a female ancestor or spouse, to the exclusion of any female relative who might be older or of nearer proximity of blood (see above for Spain's mid-twentieth century dynastic succession law). In such cases, inheritance depends on uterine kinship,[5] so a king would typically be succeeded by his sister's son. This particular system of inheritance applied to the thrones of the Picts of Northern Britain and the Etruscans of Italy.[citation needed] Some kingdoms and ethnic groups in Africa follow the same practice. This usage may stem in part from the certainty of the relationship to the previous king and kings: sons and daughters of a sister are his relations (mater semper certa est), even if they do not have the same father. Matrilineal primogeniture [ edit ] Matrilineal primogeniture, or female-preference uterine primogeniture, is a form of succession practised in some societies in which the eldest female child inherits the throne, to the total exclusion of males. The order of succession to the position of the Rain Queen is an example in an African culture of matrilineal primogeniture: not only is dynastic descent reckoned through the female line, but only females are eligible to inherit. History [ edit ] In Christian Europe, the Roman Catholic Church originally had a monopoly on the authority to sanction marriage. It forbade polygamy and taught that divorce was an impossibility per se, as it still does. Consequently, in Europe, it was very difficult to ensure succession solely by direct male descendants or even direct male or female progeny. In Islamic and Asian cultures, religious officials and customs either sanctioned polygyny, use of consorts, or both, or they had no authority of marriage; monarchs could consequently ensure sufficient numbers of male offspring to assure succession. In such cultures, female heads of state were rare. Biblical [ edit ] Esau Sells His Birthright for Pottage of Lentils, a 1728 engraving by , a 1728 engraving by Gerard Hoet The earliest account of primogeniture to be known widely in modern times is that of Isaac's sons Esau, who was born first,[7] and Jacob, who was born second.[8] Esau was entitled to the "birthright" (bekhorah בְּכוֹרָה), but he sold the right to Jacob for a mess of pottage, i. e. a small amount of food.[9] Although the veracity of this account is not corroborated by other sources, its widespread acceptance[by whom?] demonstrates that primogeniture was sufficiently common in the Middle East for the account to seem plausible to the people living there prior to the Roman Empire. Roman law [ edit ] During the Roman Empire, Roman law governed much of Europe, and the laws pertaining to inheritance made no distinction between the oldest or youngest, male or female, if the decedent died intestate.[10] Although admission to the two highest ordines (orders), i. e. the senators and equestrians, potentially brought lifelong privileges that the next generation could inherit, the principle of inherited rank in general was little used.[11] Rather, Roman aristocracy was based on competition, and a Roman family could not maintain its position in the ordines merely by hereditary succession or title to land.[12] Although the eldest son typically carried his father's name in some form, he was expected to construct his own career based on competence as an administrator or general and on remaining in favor with the emperor and his council at court.[13] Other than meeting requirements for personal wealth, the qualifications for belonging to the senatorial or equestrian orders varied from generation to generation, and in the later Empire, the dignitas ("esteem") that attended on senatorial or equestrian rank was refined further with additional titles, such as vir illustris, that were not inherited.[14] Most Roman emperors indicated their choice of successor, usually a close family member or adopted heir, and the presumption that the eldest or even a natural son would inherit was not enshrined. The death of an emperor led to a critical period of uncertainty and crisis. In theory, the Senate was entitled to choose the new emperor, but did so mindful of acclamation by the army or the Praetorian Guard.[15] Thus, neither an emperor nor his heir had an inherent "right" to rule, and did so through military power and the Senate's symbolic consent. Reemergence in medieval and modern times [ edit ] The law of primogeniture in Europe has its origins in Medieval Europe; which due to the feudal system necessitated that the estates of land-owning feudal lords be kept as large and united as possible to maintain social stability as well as the wealth, power and social standing of their families.[10] Adam Smith, in his book An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, explains the origin of primogeniture in Europe in the following way: [W]hen land was considered as the means, not of subsistence merely, but of power and protection, it was thought better that it should descend undivided to one. In those disorderly times, every great landlord was a sort of petty prince. His tenants were his subjects. He was their judge, and in some respects their legislator in peace and their leader in war. He made war according to his own discretion, frequently against his neighbours, and sometimes against his sovereign. The security of a landed estate, therefore, the protection which its owner could afford to those who dwelt on it, depended upon its greatness. To divide it was to ruin it, and to expose every part of it to be oppressed and swallowed up by the incursions of its neighbours. The law of primogeniture, therefore, came to take place, not immediately indeed, but in process of time, in the succession of landed estates, for the same reason that it has generally taken place in that of monarchies, though not always at their first institution.[16] Historical examples [ edit ] A case of agnatic primogeniture is exemplified in the French royal milieu, where the Salic Law (attributed to the Salian Franks) forbade any inheritance of a crown through the female line. This rule was adopted to solve the dispute over the legitimate successor of John I of France, the short-lived son of deceased Louis X of France in favour of Philip V of France (brother of Louis and uncle of John) over Joan II of Navarre (daughter of Louis and sister of John), the Estates-General of 1317 [fr] ruling that "Women do not succeed the kingdom of France". In 1328, it was further elaborated, with the statement that "Women cannot transmit a right which they do not possess", to solve the dispute over the legitimate successor of Philip V's brother Charles IV of France (Edward III of England or Philip VI of France), though the former would have a stronger claim should proximity of blood be considered, which had never been the case in France since 987, instead as well of both agnatic-cognatic primogeniture or male-preference cognatic primogeniture and the resulting heirs. This dispute was among the factors behind the Hundred Years' War, which broke out in 1337. Conflict between the Salic law and the male-preferred system was also the genesis of Carlism in Spain. The crowns of Hanover and Great Britain, which had been in personal union since 1714, were separated in 1837 upon the death of King William IV: his niece Victoria inherited the British crown under male-preference primogeniture but, because of semi-Salic law, was not the heir to that of Hanover, which passed to William's eldest surviving brother, Ernest Augustus, King of Hanover. The divergence in the late 19th century of the thrones of Luxembourg and the Netherlands, both ruled by semi-Salic law, resulted from the fact that the Luxembourg line of succession went back more generations than did the Dutch line. The Luxembourg succession was set by the Nassau House Treaty of 1783, which declared each prince of the House of Nassau to be a potential heir to the territories of every branch of the dynasty. Insofar as the succession is concerned, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg is the successor state to the Principality of (Orange-)Nassau-Dietz, which was given in exchange to William VI of Nassau, Prince of Orange in 1813. Succession to the new Kingdom of the Netherlands was recognised by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 as belonging exclusively to the descendants of Prince William VI, who became King William I of the Netherlands. In 1890, William I's agnatic line of male descendants died out, leaving the Netherlands to his female descendant Queen Wilhelmina, whereas Luxembourg still had an agnatic heir from a distant branch of the dynasty left to succeed; ex-Duke Adolf of Nassau, who became reigning Grand Duke, thus ending the personal union of the Netherlands and Luxembourg. Since the Middle Ages, the semi-Salic principle was prevalent for the inheritance of feudal land in the Holy Roman Empire: inheritance was allowed through females when the male line expired. Females themselves did not inherit, but their male issue could. For example, a grandfather without sons was succeeded by his grandson, the son of his daughter, although the daughter still lived. Likewise, an uncle without sons of his own was succeeded by his nephew, a son of his sister, even if the sister still lived. Common in feudal Europe outside of Germany was land inheritance based on a form of primogeniture: A lord was succeeded by his eldest son but, failing sons, either by daughters or sons of daughters.[citation needed] In most medieval Western European feudal fiefs, females (such as daughters and sisters) were allowed to succeed, brothers failing. But usually the husband of the heiress became the real lord, assuming his wife's title (jure uxoris). In more complex medieval cases, the sometimes conflicting principles of proximity of blood and primogeniture competed, and outcomes were at times unpredictable. Proximity meant that an heir closer in degree of kinship to the lord in question was given precedence although that heir was not necessarily the heir by primogeniture. However, primogeniture increasingly won legal cases over proximity in later centuries. Later, when lands were strictly divided among noble families and tended to remain fixed, agnatic primogeniture (practically the same as Salic Law) became usual: succession going to the eldest son of the monarch; if the monarch had no sons, the throne would pass to the nearest male relative in the male line. Some countries, however, accepted female rulers early on, so that if the monarch had no sons, the throne would pass to the eldest daughter. For example, in 1632 Christina, Queen of Sweden succeeded to the throne after the death of her father, King Gustav II Adolf. In England, primogeniture was mandatory for inheritance of land. Until the Statute of Wills was passed in 1540, a will could control only the inheritance of personal property. Real estate (land) passed to the eldest male descendant by operation of law. The statute added a provision that a landowner could "devise" land by the use of a new device called a "testament". The rule of primogeniture in England was not changed until the Administration of Estates Act in 1925. In law, primogeniture is the rule of inheritance whereby land descends to the oldest son. Under the feudal system of medieval Europe, primogeniture generally governed the inheritance of land held in military tenure (see knight). The effect of this rule was to keep the father's land for the support of the son who rendered the required military service. When feudalism declined and the payment of a tax was substituted for military service, the need for primogeniture disappeared. In England, consequently, there was enacted the Statute of Wills (1540), which permitted the oldest son to be entirely cut off from inheriting, and in the 17th century military tenure was abolished; primogeniture is, nevertheless, still customary in England. United States and Canada [ edit ] In the United States, the colonies followed English primogeniture laws. Carole Shammas argues that issues of primogeniture, dower, curtesy, strict family settlements in equity, collateral kin, and unilateral division of real and personal property were fully developed in the colonial courts. The Americans differed little from English policies regarding the status of widow, widower, and lineal descendants.[17] The primogeniture laws were repealed at the time of the American Revolution. Thomas Jefferson took the lead in repealing the law in Virginia, where nearly three-fourths of Tidewater land and perhaps a majority of western lands were entailed.[18] Canada had the same law but repealed it in 1851.[19] When Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt met at Placentia Bay in August 1941, the latter said he couldn’t understand the British aristocracy’s concept of primogeniture, and he intended to divide his estate equally between his five children; Churchill explained that an equal distribution was nicknamed the “Spanish Curse” by the British upper classes: “We give everything to the eldest and the others strive to duplicate it and found empires. While the oldest, having it all, marries for beauty. Which accounts, Mr President, for my good looks”. But as Churchill’s father was a younger son, there may have been more modesty than mock-vanity than Roosevelt realised.[20] Noble titles [ edit ] Spain [ edit ] In 2006, King Juan Carlos I of Spain decreed a reform of the succession to noble titles from male-preference primogeniture to absolute primogeniture.[21][22] The order of succession for all noble dignities is determined in accordance with the title of concession and, if there is none, with that traditionally applied in these cases. When the order of succession to the title is not specified in the nobility title creation charter, the following rules apply: Absolute preference is given to the direct descending line over the collateral and ascending line, and, within the same line, the closest degree takes precedence over the more remote and, within the same degree, the elder over the younger, combined with the principles of firstborn and representation. Men and women have an equal right of succession to grandeeship and to titles of nobility in Spain, and no person may be given preference in the normal order of succession for reasons of gender. United Kingdom [ edit ] Since 2013, there has been a revived movement to reform hereditary peerage inheritance law for equal primogeniture. The Equality (Titles) Bill and its successive legislation have been referred to as the "Downton law" in reference to the British television drama Downton Abbey where the Earl's eldest daughter is unable to inherit the family seat because it is entailed and can be passed only to a male heir.[23] See also [ edit ]

The usual elements were in place for something statistically outlandish to happen on Saturday night, March 16th, 2013: An NBA game with little-to-no discernible historic purpose shaded over by an eye-catching stat line from Seattle’s favorite Republican NBA player: Spencer Hawes: The game: Central Division-leading Indiana Pacers at the Andrew Bynum-less Philadelphia 76ers The Matchup: Roy Hibbert vs. Spencer Hawes The Assumption: Hibbert and Hawes guarded each other (I wasn’t present for the game and didn’t see the matchups, so this will remain an assumption). The line: Spencer Hawes: 18 points, 16 rebounds, 8 assists, 7 blocks The history: Hawes becomes just the sixth player since the 1985-86 season to accomplish the 18 x 16 x 8 x 7 line: As is often the case with these abnormal stat lines, the company Hawes just joined is about as decorated as you can get. Every other player on the list has won the MVP award and there are a total of 11 NBA championships between them. The games listed above are games for the ages; the numbers pop off the page and while they’re random in every sense of the word, each time this particular line has occurred, it’s resulted in a win. Beyond honoring Hawes for his performance on Saturday night I want to acknowledge a couple of things about Charles Barkley. For starters, he’s the only guy on the list under 6’11”. Barkley blocked seven shots in a game? And in the same game he wrecked the 86-87 Trail Blazers for 31pts, 21rebs and 9asts? I shake my head at numbers like this. If it happened today, we’d be discourteously shoving each other out of the way to anoint his game as one of the best of all time. To add a little more to the bizarro element of Barkley’s performance: He didn’t even start. As much as I want to dive deeper into the on-court life of Charles Barkley, the emphasis is on the magnificence of Spencer Hawes on this strange spring night in 2013.

Denver-based NFL draft analyst and radio host Benjamin Allbright says he has talked to two veteran NFL players who are gay and would go public if the media didn't make a big deal out of it. Allbright tweeted: Spoke with two veteran NFL players this month who are gay, and would publicly come out if they knew "media wouldn't make it a thing." — Benjamin Allbright (@AllbrightNFL) July 27, 2015 Both said teammates "mostly know," and are "supportive." Say most who know "just avoid it [the subject] altogether." — Benjamin Allbright (@AllbrightNFL) July 27, 2015 Re: last two tweets both players fearful of media/public, say team/teammates are supportive. — Benjamin Allbright (@AllbrightNFL) July 27, 2015 I'm calling bullshit on one part of this. Not that Allbright didn't talk to gay players, since they do exist. And I bet those were their reasons they stated to him for not going public. But they are more excuses than reasons since they absolutely know the media will make this a big deal; since that won't change, this gives them the pretext to not come out. I can understand the reluctance to a degree. I have been saying that the single biggest impediment to a pro male athlete coming out publicly as gay is that you can't do it quietly. The media (and most of the public) would be very supportive, but the athlete would have to deal with a lot of attention initially. With zero out players in the NFL, NBA, NHL or Major League Baseball, a coming out is still news. Look at all the attention Jason Collins and Michael Sam got. Collins was a free agent when he came out and near the end of his career, while Sam had not yet been drafted when he came out. Yet their stories dominated the media, even if it was almost all positive. The reaction if an active NFL player, a starter or backup, came out would be at least as big. And almost no athlete wants to get that much attention for something so personal. However, this reaction is overblown. Yes, the initial attention would be huge but it would die down fairly quickly as history has shown. Very few people paid much attention to Collins once he played a few games with the Nets and his story had been picked over; there was nothing new to talk about. The same happened with Sam, who went through training camp with the Rams last summer with not as much scrutiny as everyone thought. Rams Coach Jeff Fisher has repeatedly stated that Sam was not a distraction, an assertion supported by Rams players. In the MLS, Robbie Rogers quickly became just another player (in a good way). These anonymous NFL players should strongly consider coming out since it would help countless young gay athletes see that it is possible to be gay and play their favorite sport. Collins, Sam and Rogers have become role models to LGBT athlete everywhere and lives have been saved. These gay NFL players can work with their team to make their coming out as painless as possible. Maybe training camp or during the season isn't the best, but there is a long offseason to plan a strategy. Get the media blitz out of the way and I guarantee the story dies down; it always does as the media move on to the next thing. The good they would do would far outweigh the media "making it a thing." After all, this report says these guys want to come out. The media should not be used as a shield by someone who would be in position to come out positively and make a difference. If these two gay players are sincere about wanting to come out publicly, I hope they decide to take the plunge one day. Despite what they might fear now, they won't regret it. Hat tip to NFL Draft Diamonds.

Climate change is forcing the boreal forest that covers much of northern Canada to a tipping point, concludes a newly published study. "The changes could be very dramatic and very fast," said Dmitry Schepaschenko of Austria's Institute for Applied Systems Analysis. Schepaschenko was one of three authors who collaborated on a detailed review of current research on the boreal forest. Their conclusions were released Thursday in a special edition of the journal Science. One of the authors is from Natural Resources Canada, but was unable to speak on the record because of restrictions placed on public servants during the federal election. The boreal forest is one of the largest ecological zones on the planet. It covers much of northern Canada and extends into Scandinavia and northern Russia. Although it remains largely intact, it faces the most severe expected temperature increases anywhere on Earth. Schepaschenko said some parts of Siberia are likely to eventually become 11 C warmer. That will bring greater precipitation, but not enough to compensate for the dryness caused by hotter weather. A drier boreal will suffer new diseases, insect infestations and vast wildfires. Boreal could become savannah Nor will the forest simply be able to shift north as warmer temperatures creep up from the south, said Schepaschenko. "The forests can't go so far to the north. The speed at which forests can move forward is very slow, like 100 metres a decade." The result, the study concludes, is that the forest is likely to transform from an unbroken canopy of green to a mixed landscape with groves of trees separated by open grasslands. "This forest will convert to a type of savannah." The consequences of the shift will be sweeping and affect everything from the billions of songbirds that nest in the forest to industries that depend on its vast reserves to stored carbon now locked in permafrost beneath it. 'There could be big trouble' The study concludes that better management of the boreal forest is needed. For example, spruce trees that are commonly replanted by forestry companies aren't likely to do as well in a drier environment. "We really need some form of adaptive forest management," Schepaschenko said. While much attention is given to the fate of tropical rain forests — often referred to as the "lungs of the Earth" — Schepaschenko said the boreal is crucially important as well, if only for the amount of carbon it stores. "Boreal forests are underestimated right now. There could be big trouble. "In our small world, everything is connected."

CAMPAIGN '08: RACE FOR THE WHITE HOUSE McCain's skin cancers were the deadliest kind The candidate's files show he's had at least four melanomas. And it is not the primary tumor that kills a patient, but the metastasis, said Dr. Glen Justice, director of Orange Coast Memorial Hospital Cancer Center in Fountain Valley. The key to curing melanomas is to catch and excise them before they have spread, he said. They are not bound to the skin in the same way that other skin cells are, so when they turn cancerous, they find it very easy to invade a blood vessel or lymph channel and travel to other parts of the body, said Dr. David Peng, director of the Pigmented Lesion Clinic at USC's Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center. Though the basal cells and squamous cells that are responsible for the most common types of skin cancer are integral parts of the skin from the beginning, melanocytes are visitors -- nerve cells that are produced in the spinal column during infancy before migrating to the skin. Melanomas like those suffered by Sen. John McCain are more lethal than other types of skin cancers because the pigment-producing melanocytes that produce them are actually not skin cells at all. If the tumors are caught early, surgery cures at least two-thirds of patients, experts said. After the tumor has metastasized, chemotherapy and radiation may be attempted, but they are generally palliative, not a cure, Justice said. Each year, about 50,000 malignant melanomas are diagnosed in the United States, and they account for about three-quarters of all skin cancer deaths. The vast majority of deaths occur in the 20% of patients whose tumors have already metastasized at the time of diagnosis. McCain has had at least four melanomas. The most common risk factors include fair skin, fair eyes, light hair, excessive sunburns and excessive exposure to sunlight -- all of which he has. Genetics also plays a major role, but McCain has no family history of the disease that would make him more susceptible. About 14% to 18% of melanoma patients have a second, unrelated tumor later, Justice said. "If [McCain] has had four, he'll probably have a fifth," he said. "But there is a superb chance it will be curable" because it will most likely be caught early. The physicians from the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale who cared for McCain emphasized that each of his four melanomas were independent tumors and not recurrences. Melanocytes sit in the junction between the dermis, the outer layer of the skin, and the epidermis, the middle layer. In a primary melanoma, pathologists can see the tumor growing out from the junction and be confident that it is not a recurrence. All four of the melanomas McCain suffered displayed this characteristic, including the large tumor that was removed from his temple in August 2000. But buried in the nearly 1,200 pages of medical records released Friday was the fact that there were apparently two melanomas observed at the time, the large one that was the focus of the surgery and a smaller one at the same site that had very little involvement with the dermis. "It might have come from underneath, and might have been a micro-metastatic lesion, indicating it was a recurrence from a previous tumor," Peng said. But because McCain has had no recurrence in the eight years since the surgery, Peng added, "he is doing pretty well." thomas.maugh@latimes.com

The E2 nightclub stampede occurred on February 17, 2003, at the E2 nightclub located above the Epitome Chicago restaurant at 2347 South Michigan Avenue in Chicago, Illinois, in which 21 people died and more than 50 were injured when panic ensued from the use of pepper spray by security guards to break up a fight. The club's owners, Dwain Kyles and Calvin Hollins, were later convicted of criminal contempt for their persistent failure to keep the facility up to code, and sentenced to two years in prison. Incident [ edit ] The stampede was triggered by club security using pepper spray to break up a fight. Several patrons close to the commotion experienced vomiting or fainting from the spray's noxious fumes. Coupled with panic from others unaware of the source of the smell, the crowd rushed towards the exits. According to witnesses, many believed the club had been hit with poison gas in a terrorist attack, as someone had said, "I'll bet it's [Osama] bin Laden."[1] The only known exit was the steep front stairwell leading to the main entrance on the ground floor, but its narrow doors opened inward, which was a fire code violation. Additionally, while the doors were normally kept open during business hours, they had been closed after the fight participants were ejected. Although at least one emergency exit was opened by a security guard, there were disputed reports of another chained shut. As the evacuating crowd pushed open the doors, several people already climbing the stairs were knocked down and subsequently pinned by the ensuing crush. Security attempted to pull them to safety, but the pile rapidly reached six feet in height as a result of more than 1,500 simultaneously attempting to escape the chaos inside. Ira Navarro, a former E2 guard who had worked at trying to free trapped patrons, recalled to the Chicago Sun-Times in January 2007 that he had heard other clubbers atop the stairs laughing at the fracas, unaware of the fatalities stemming from the ground-floor pileup.[2] 21 patrons – twelve women and nine men, between the ages of 21 and 43 – were pronounced dead from compressional asphyxiation, and more than 50 others were injured.[3] Aftermath [ edit ] There were a number of controversies associated with the case. A city-issued court order showed that the owners, Dwain Kyles and Calvin Hollins, were guilty of as many as eleven building code violations, including overcrowding and the club's faulty exit lighting.[1][4] Police are reported to have been called to the location 80 times in the past two years alone prior to the stampede.[4] Though the Epitome Chicago restaurant was allowed to remain open, Kyles and Hollins were ordered by the city to shut down the second-floor club in 2002, but their attorneys claimed that there had been an agreement to close only a VIP section on the floor.[5] City inspectors then believed that the facility's only business thereafter came from the restaurant, which the club attorneys said was false, as police officers (including off-duty) were a regular presence in handling the persistently large crowds, while club advertisements were common on radio and the Internet.[5] During the trial in January 2007, the prosecution claimed that the club's security staff were improperly trained to handle rowdy crowds. E2 security guard Samuel Bone testified to using the pepper spray to disband a group of fifteen brawling clubbers, which had stopped the fight and led to the instigator leaving the premises. He then said that he was indeed trained in the proper use of pepper spray by the Illinois Police Reserve Patrol, a nonprofit group.[6] On November 25, 2009, Kyles and Hollins were acquitted of involuntary manslaughter charges, but were found guilty of indirect criminal contempt for violating the previous orders to close the entire second floor of the club and were sentenced to two years in prison.[7] E2 and Epitome both permanently closed after the incident.[8] On November 16, 2011, the previous rulings were overturned when a judge ruled that the orders to close down the second floor were ambiguous.[9] On April 4, 2013, the Illinois Supreme Court unanimously overturned the previous ruling regarding the ambiguity of the orders, upholding the 2009 conviction of the co-owners for criminal contempt. In overturning the appellate ruling, the Supreme Court called the court order "certain, clear and concise."[10] Rhode Island nightclub fire [ edit ] On February 20, 2003, three days after the stampede tragedy, WPRI-TV in Rhode Island decided to do a local report on nightclub safety as a follow up to the Chicago incident. This planned piece covered a Jack Russell's Great White performance at The Station nightclub in the town of West Warwick. Pyrotechnics that were part of the show started a fire that spread rapidly out of control. 100 people were killed and more than 200 were injured. WPRI-TV cameraman Brian Butler captured the entire tragedy on videotape.[11] References [ edit ] Coordinates:

LaVar Ball tells ESPNLA Mornings with Keyshawn, Jorge and LZ that he isn't trying to "pattern" himself after anyone, including Kobe Bryant. (0:19) LaVar Ball says he wouldn't seek any advice for his son Lonzo Ball, a top NBA draft prospect, from retired Los Angeles Lakers great Kobe Bryant. "I don't need no advice from Kobe Bryant," LaVar Ball said Thursday on the Keyshawn, Jorge and LZ Show on ESPN Radio 710 LA. "I don't need advice from Kobe Bryant. Zo's got to play his game. Editor's Picks Kobe on IT help: Glad he had 'courage to ask' Kobe Bryant said he's more than happy to help out Boston star Isaiah Thomas and added that his door is open to any players who want to seek his advice. "If they're at practice and he sees something and Lonzo listens to him or whatever, he's good. ... But it's just not, 'OK, I'm talking to Kobe, so now I'm going to be good.' If Kobe sees something that Zo is doing, then go from there. But I'm not trying to pattern after nobody." Bryant told ESPN that his desire to mentor younger players was spurred by pop star Michael Jackson, who told him during a visit to Neverland Ranch to reach out to all the greats in your profession and learn from them. "I'm around for all the guys," Bryant told ESPN. "Anybody can reach out. It's an open book." Bryant told ESPN that he's had "many conversations" during the playoffs with Boston Celtics star Isaiah Thomas, who is just one of many current NBA stars who have reached out to Bryant for advice. Bryant said he also talks regularly with Kyrie Irving, James Harden, Russell Westbrook and Gordon Hayward.

To cope with the food crisis, poor families often buy less food and less nutritious food. A WFP study shows that this brings a major health risk for children. Amid the food and financial crises, many poor families in Central America reduce their spending by buying less food and choosing less nutritious food. In El Salvador, for example, WFP estimates 87% of poor households have reduced the quantity and quality of food consumed as a result of the increase in food prices. The reduction in the quality of food is causing a major health risk for children, according to a WFP study entitled "Rises in Prices, Markets and Food and Nutritional Insecurity in Central America" (October 2008). The study highlights the risks that the urban poor, food producers, poor labourers and the rural poor face as a result of the current food crisis. Those especially at risk are children under the age of five, pregnant women, and breast feeding mothers, the study says. Costs began to rise Midway through 2007, the cost of the household basket began to rise, triggering economic vulnerability and food insecurity among the population affected by poverty. According to the President of the World Bank, Robert Zoellick, this is a drawback in the fight against poverty, possibly "seven years lost" in the on-going fight. Despite the fact that in the last months the food and oil prices have fallen considerably, they still remain substantially higher than when the crisis began. A reduction in prices in the international market does not necessarily result in an immediate reduction of prices in the local markets. In El Salvador, the cost of the household basket has increased by 20% in urban areas and 27% in rural areas between January 2007 and August 2008. According to the Statistics and Census Bureau (DIGESTYC, January 2009) the cost of the household basket in 2009 was 18% higher in urban areas and 22% higher in rural areas when compared to prices in January 2007. Falling remittances In addition to the food crisis, the economic crisis in the United States is affecting El Salvador by reducing the flow of remittances sent by more than one million Salvadoran immigrants living in the US. Remittances make up 18% of El Salvador's GDP, a net worth equivalent to 80% of the value of its exports. Not only does this reduction of remittances reduce the purchasing power of Salvadoran families but it also jeopardizes the families' investment in the future education of their children. WFP has requested additional support from the donor community for its humanitarian programmes as well as for the local social protection programmes, such as the school feeding programme, which are essential tools in the fight against hunger and undernutrition. Safety nets critical Pedro Medrano, the WFP Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, says the region, much like the rest of the world, is at a critical crossroads as far as the most vulnerable populations are concerned. "It would be a serious mistake if the current financial crisis were to translate into fewer funds (for social protection and safety net programmes) to face the already critical situation", he said.

Turkish man in Germany sentenced to three years in jail for PKK membership BERLIN - Anadolu Agency AP File Photo A Turkish man has been sentenced to three years in prison for being a member of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Germany.The Hamburg Provincial High Court ordered three years’ imprisonment for the man, identified only as Mehmet D.The 46-year-old was convicted of holding meetings and staging protests in Germany’s western and northern regions in the name of the PKK, while also being a regional head of the group.The court said in its ruling that the PKK was a foreign terrorist organization that aimed to kill people and commit homicides.Turkey, the European Union, and the United States designate the PKK a terrorist organization and ban its activities inside their territory.Meanwhile, the Federal Prosecutor’s Office in Germany said another Turkish citizen, identified as Bedrettin K., had been arrested and charged over PKK membership.The 57-year-old man is charged with heading the PKK in areas including the German cities of Bremen, Hannover and Hamburg in 2014, and Düsseldorf, Köln and Bielefeld in 2015.

This website uses 'cookies' to give you the best, most relevant experience. Using this website means you're happy with this. read more Raspberry PI with DS18b20 web server PHP - Remote temperature measurement Raspberry PI with DS18b20 web server PHP - Remote temperature measurement How to make remote temperature measurement using Raspberry PI, DS18B20, PHP and PostgreSQL. This projection will show you how to easily make a temperature logger using the above technology. The entire temperature logger will be made using the PostgreSQL database. I will also show the example of a working online temperature logger on my website. Step 1: Components Step 2: Requirements Apache2 PHP PHP PDO PHP PostgreSQL In this project we will need installed:Install the apache2 package by typing the following command in to the Terminal: sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install apache2 Then we install PHP. sudo apt-get install php5 libapache2-mod-php5 Install the PostgreSQL. sudo apt-get install php5-pgsql Step 3: Connection of the temperature sensor Diagram of connection of temperature sensor DS18B20. Diagram of connection of temperature sensor DS18B20. The DS18B20 sensors can be connected in parallel. The resistor 4.7k is used as a pullup for the data-line, and is required to keep the data transfer stable. All sensors should share the same pins, and you only need one 4.7K resistor for all of them.NOTE: In newer versions of the system, add the following entry toand restart the Raspberry PI. dtoverlay=w1-gpio,gpiopin=4 With this command we can check the attached devices for one wire. cat /sys/bus/w1/devices/w1_bus_master1/w1_master_slaves To read the temperature from sensor, type the following command, replacewith your device identifier. cat /sys/bus/w1/devices/ [device_id] /w1_slave Step 4: Database creation Field Description name Friendly name dev_id Device identifier Now create a simple database containing only two tables.Below the table in which we will store the connected devices. CREATE TABLE w1_devices ( w1_devices_id serial NOT NULL, name character varying(128) NOT NULL, -- Friendly name dev_id character varying(64) NOT NULL, -- Device identifier CONSTRAINT w1_devices_pkey PRIMARY KEY (w1_devices_id), CONSTRAINT w1_devices_dev_id_key UNIQUE (dev_id) ) Field Description date_insert Measurement time w1_devices_id Row identifier from table "w1_devices" temperature The value of the measured temperature date_check Time of the last measurement. Table containing temperature measurements. CREATE TABLE temperature ( temperature_id serial NOT NULL, date_insert timestamp with time zone NOT NULL DEFAULT now(), w1_devices_id integer NOT NULL, temperature numeric(10,2), date_check timestamp with time zone, CONSTRAINT temperature_pkey PRIMARY KEY (temperature_id), CONSTRAINT temperature_w1_devices_id_fkey FOREIGN KEY (w1_devices_id) REFERENCES w1_devices (w1_devices_id) MATCH SIMPLE ON UPDATE NO ACTION ON DELETE NO ACTION ) Step 5: Script in PHP Below is a script that will be executed every minute, via cron. This script measures the temperature of the sensors (DS18B20),then compares the value of the measurement to the previous value. If the difference is greater than 0.1 degrees Celsius,it inserts a new record into the table. If the difference is less than 0.1 degree celsius. This does the update ofthe last measurement by changing the value of. I put this file in /var/www/html/Before using these scripts, you need to configure your connection to the database server. I use an externaldatabase on my server, but you can also use a local database on the $dbname=''; $host=''; $dbuser=''; $dbpass=''; File <?php error_reporting(E_ALL); ini_set('display_errors', 1); $dbname=''; $host=''; $dbuser=''; $dbpass=''; try { $db = new PDO("pgsql:dbname=$dbname;host=$host", $dbuser, $dbpass); $db->setAttribute(PDO::ATTR_ERRMODE, PDO::ERRMODE_EXCEPTION); }catch(PDOException $e){ echo "ERROR: " . $e->getMessage(); } //---------------------------------- $str = file_get_contents('/sys/bus/w1/devices/w1_bus_master1/w1_master_slaves'); $dev_ds18b20 = preg_split("/\\r\ |\\r|\ /", $str); foreach( $dev_ds18b20 as $val ){ if( $val!='' ){ //echo "DS18B20: $val<br>\r "; $temp_path = "/sys/bus/w1/devices/$val/w1_slave"; $str = file_get_contents($temp_path); if( preg_match('|t\=([0-9]+)|mi', $str, $m) ){ $temp = $m[1] / 1000; //echo "temp=$temp<br>\r "; SaveMeasurement( $db, $val, $temp); } } } //---------------------------------- function SaveMeasurement($db, $dev_id, $temp){ try { $sql = $db->query ("SELECT * FROM w1_devices WHERE dev_id='$dev_id'"); $result = $sql->fetch( PDO::FETCH_ASSOC ); if( $result===false ){ die('You must first define the device: '); }else{ $sql = $db->query ("SELECT * FROM temperature WHERE w1_devices_id='$result[w1_devices_id]' ORDER BY date_insert DESC LIMIT 1"); $result = $sql->fetch( PDO::FETCH_ASSOC ); $ins = true; if( $result!==false && abs($result['temperature'] - $temp) < 0.1 ){ echo abs($result['temperature'] - $temp); $ins = false; } if( $ins ){ $sql = "INSERT INTO temperature(w1_devices_id, temperature) VALUES(:w1_devices_id, :temperature)"; $statement = $db->prepare($sql); $statement->bindValue(':w1_devices_id', $result['w1_devices_id']); $statement->bindValue(':temperature', $temp); $statement->execute(); $statement->closeCursor(); }else{ $sql = "UPDATE temperature SET date_check=now() WHERE temperature_id=:temperature_id"; $statement = $db->prepare($sql); $statement->bindValue(':temperature_id', $result['temperature_id']); $statement->execute(); $statement->closeCursor(); } } }catch(PDOException $e){ echo "ERROR: " . $e->getMessage(); } } ?> Now we will create a shell script. cd /var/www/html/ nano cron_temp.sh chmod +x cron_temp.sh File php -f /var/www/html/temp.php Then we add this file to corn. crontab -e We add this line and save. * * * * * /var/www/html/cron_temp.sh Saving the results of temperature measurement every minute should already work. Now display the results from the table "temperature".For this purpose we write another two scripts.File <?php error_reporting(E_ALL); ini_set('display_errors', 1); echo "time: " . time() . "\r <br>"; $str = file_get_contents('/sys/bus/w1/devices/w1_bus_master1/w1_master_slaves'); $dev_ds18b20 = preg_split("/\\r\ |\\r|\ /", $str); foreach( $dev_ds18b20 as $val ){ if( $val!='' ){ echo "DS18B20: $val<br>\r "; $temp_path = "/sys/bus/w1/devices/$val/w1_slave"; $str = file_get_contents($temp_path); if( preg_match('|t\=([0-9]+)|mi', $str, $m) ){ $temp = $m[1] / 1000; echo "temp=$temp<br>\r "; } } } $dbname=''; $host=''; $dbuser=''; $dbpass=''; try { $db = new PDO("pgsql:dbname=$dbname;host=$host", $dbuser, $dbpass); $db->setAttribute(PDO::ATTR_ERRMODE, PDO::ERRMODE_EXCEPTION); }catch(PDOException $e){ echo "ERROR: " . $e->getMessage(); } ?><div style="background-color: #a0a0a0; vertical-align: bottom;"><?php $sql = " SELECT * FROM ( SELECT * FROM temperature ORDER BY date_insert DESC LIMIT 35 ) AS T ORDER BY date_insert "; foreach ($db->query($sql) as $row) { ?><div style="display:inline-block; margin-right: 1px; background-color: #66b3ff; vertical-align: bottom; width: 50px; height: <?php echo 2 * $row['temperature']; ?>px;"><?php echo $row['temperature']; ?></div><?php } ?></div> To automatically refresh the results every second, we useandFile <?php error_reporting(E_ALL); ini_set('display_errors', 1); $dbname=''; $host=''; $dbuser=''; $dbpass=''; try { $db = new PDO("pgsql:dbname=$dbname;host=$host", $dbuser, $dbpass); $db->setAttribute(PDO::ATTR_ERRMODE, PDO::ERRMODE_EXCEPTION); }catch(PDOException $e){ echo "ERROR: " . $e->getMessage(); } ?><html> <head> <title><?php echo exec('hostname'); ?></title> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.11.1/jquery.min.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript"> function check(){ $.get( "ds18b20.php", function( data ) { $( "#result" ).html( data ); }); } </script> <script type="text/javascript"> <!-- setInterval( "check()" ,1000); //--> </script> </head> <body> <div id="result"></div> </body> </html> Step 6: The end date_insert temperature date_check 2018-11-21 05:10:16 23.25 ℃ 2018-11-21 06:26:18 2018-11-21 04:38:17 23.38 ℃ 2018-11-21 05:09:16 2018-11-21 04:20:17 23.50 ℃ 2018-11-21 04:37:16 2018-11-21 03:31:17 23.63 ℃ 2018-11-21 04:19:16 2018-11-21 03:01:18 23.75 ℃ 2018-11-21 03:30:17 2018-11-21 02:33:16 23.88 ℃ 2018-11-21 03:00:17 2018-11-21 01:39:15 24.00 ℃ 2018-11-21 02:32:17 2018-11-21 01:22:17 23.88 ℃ 2018-11-21 01:38:18 2018-11-21 01:05:16 23.75 ℃ 2018-11-21 01:21:16 2018-11-21 00:52:16 23.63 ℃ 2018-11-21 01:04:17 2018-11-21 00:38:16 23.50 ℃ 2018-11-21 00:51:15 2018-11-21 00:24:16 23.38 ℃ 2018-11-21 00:37:16 2018-11-20 23:32:16 23.25 ℃ 2018-11-21 00:23:16 2018-11-20 22:02:15 23.38 ℃ 2018-11-20 23:31:16 2018-11-20 20:29:15 23.50 ℃ 2018-11-20 22:01:15 2018-11-20 18:34:15 23.63 ℃ 2018-11-20 20:28:15 2018-11-20 17:26:16 23.50 ℃ 2018-11-20 18:33:16 2018-11-20 16:53:15 23.63 ℃ 2018-11-20 17:25:16 2018-11-20 16:12:16 23.75 ℃ 2018-11-20 16:52:16 2018-11-20 15:44:16 23.88 ℃ 2018-11-20 16:11:16 2018-11-20 15:24:16 24.00 ℃ 2018-11-20 15:43:16 2018-11-20 15:10:15 24.13 ℃ 2018-11-20 15:23:16 2018-11-20 13:56:16 24.25 ℃ 2018-11-20 15:09:16 2018-11-20 13:38:16 24.13 ℃ 2018-11-20 13:55:16 2018-11-20 13:22:15 24.00 ℃ 2018-11-20 13:37:16 2018-11-20 13:02:16 23.88 ℃ 2018-11-20 13:21:16 2018-11-20 12:40:16 23.75 ℃ 2018-11-20 13:01:16 2018-11-20 12:24:16 23.63 ℃ 2018-11-20 12:39:16 2018-11-20 12:11:16 23.75 ℃ 2018-11-20 12:23:16 2018-11-20 12:03:16 23.88 ℃ 2018-11-20 12:10:16 2018-11-20 10:54:16 23.75 ℃ 2018-11-20 12:02:16 2018-11-20 10:42:16 23.88 ℃ 2018-11-20 10:53:16 2018-11-20 10:35:16 24.00 ℃ 2018-11-20 10:41:16 2018-11-20 10:27:16 24.13 ℃ 2018-11-20 10:34:16 2018-11-20 10:24:16 24.25 ℃ 2018-11-20 10:26:16 2018-11-20 10:19:15 24.38 ℃ 2018-11-20 10:23:16 2018-11-20 10:09:15 24.50 ℃ 2018-11-20 10:18:16 2018-11-20 09:29:16 24.63 ℃ 2018-11-20 10:08:15 2018-11-20 09:24:16 24.75 ℃ 2018-11-20 09:28:16 2018-11-20 08:55:16 24.88 ℃ 2018-11-20 09:23:16 2018-11-20 08:29:16 25.00 ℃ 2018-11-20 08:54:16 2018-11-20 08:19:16 24.88 ℃ 2018-11-20 08:28:15 2018-11-20 08:05:16 24.75 ℃ 2018-11-20 08:18:15 2018-11-20 07:52:18 24.63 ℃ 2018-11-20 08:04:16 2018-11-20 07:44:44 24.50 ℃ 2018-11-20 07:51:16 2018-11-20 00:34:16 23.38 ℃ 2018-11-20 00:46:15 2018-11-20 00:19:15 23.25 ℃ 2018-11-20 00:33:16 2018-11-19 19:09:15 23.13 ℃ 2018-11-20 00:18:15 2018-11-19 18:45:17 23.25 ℃ 2018-11-19 19:08:17 2018-11-19 18:15:15 23.38 ℃ 2018-11-19 18:44:16 2018-11-19 17:30:16 23.50 ℃ 2018-11-19 18:14:15 2018-11-19 17:01:16 23.63 ℃ 2018-11-19 17:29:16 2018-11-19 16:33:16 23.75 ℃ 2018-11-19 17:00:16 2018-11-19 15:32:16 23.88 ℃ 2018-11-19 16:32:15 2018-11-19 14:53:16 24.00 ℃ 2018-11-19 15:31:15 2018-11-19 14:08:15 24.13 ℃ 2018-11-19 14:52:16 2018-11-19 13:47:16 24.25 ℃ 2018-11-19 14:07:15 2018-11-19 13:31:16 24.38 ℃ 2018-11-19 13:46:16 2018-11-19 13:02:16 24.50 ℃ 2018-11-19 13:30:15 2018-11-19 11:58:16 24.38 ℃ 2018-11-19 13:01:16 2018-11-19 11:34:20 24.25 ℃ 2018-11-19 11:57:16 2018-11-19 11:17:15 24.13 ℃ 2018-11-19 11:33:15 2018-11-19 11:04:15 24.25 ℃ 2018-11-19 11:16:15 2018-11-19 10:52:32 24.38 ℃ 2018-11-19 11:03:15 2018-11-11 07:57:14 24.81 ℃ 2018-11-11 08:15:14 2018-11-11 07:13:15 24.94 ℃ 2018-11-11 07:56:14 2018-11-11 06:40:16 25.06 ℃ 2018-11-11 07:12:13 2018-11-11 03:52:14 25.19 ℃ 2018-11-11 06:39:14 2018-11-11 01:53:14 25.06 ℃ 2018-11-11 03:51:16 2018-11-11 01:12:15 24.94 ℃ 2018-11-11 01:52:14 2018-11-11 00:48:14 24.81 ℃ 2018-11-11 01:11:14 2018-11-10 23:51:13 24.69 ℃ 2018-11-11 00:47:14 2018-11-10 22:22:14 24.81 ℃ 2018-11-10 23:50:13 2018-11-10 21:24:13 24.94 ℃ 2018-11-10 22:21:13 2018-11-10 20:16:14 25.06 ℃ 2018-11-10 21:23:13 2018-11-10 18:11:14 25.19 ℃ 2018-11-10 20:15:14 2018-11-10 17:55:14 25.06 ℃ 2018-11-10 18:10:14 2018-11-10 17:45:13 24.94 ℃ 2018-11-10 17:54:13 2018-11-10 17:39:14 24.81 ℃ 2018-11-10 17:44:13 2018-11-10 17:35:14 24.69 ℃ 2018-11-10 17:38:13 2018-11-10 17:31:13 24.56 ℃ 2018-11-10 17:34:14 2018-11-10 17:27:14 24.44 ℃ 2018-11-10 17:30:13 2018-11-10 17:05:14 24.31 ℃ 2018-11-10 17:26:14 2018-11-10 16:08:13 24.44 ℃ 2018-11-10 17:04:13 2018-11-10 13:51:13 24.56 ℃ 2018-11-10 16:07:13 2018-11-10 13:18:14 24.44 ℃ 2018-11-10 13:50:13 2018-11-10 12:34:13 24.31 ℃ 2018-11-10 13:17:13 2018-11-10 10:18:14 24.19 ℃ 2018-11-10 12:33:13 2018-11-10 09:33:14 24.31 ℃ 2018-11-10 10:17:14 2018-11-10 08:17:13 24.44 ℃ 2018-11-10 09:32:14 2018-11-10 07:54:14 24.56 ℃ 2018-11-10 08:16:13 2018-11-10 07:45:14 24.69 ℃ 2018-11-10 07:53:13 2018-11-10 07:24:14 24.81 ℃ 2018-11-10 07:44:14 2018-11-10 07:14:15 24.69 ℃ 2018-11-10 07:23:16 2018-11-10 06:18:15 24.56 ℃ 2018-11-10 07:13:14 2018-11-10 05:49:13 24.69 ℃ 2018-11-10 06:17:14 2018-11-10 04:02:16 24.81 ℃ 2018-11-10 05:48:16 2018-11-10 03:41:14 24.94 ℃ 2018-11-10 04:01:14 2018-11-10 00:50:13 24.81 ℃ 2018-11-10 03:40:16 2018-11-09 23:21:14 24.94 ℃ 2018-11-10 00:49:13 Below the table with temperature measurements. The sensor is mounted in my living room and the temperature update is one minute.

BY: Follow @P_Crookston President Donald Trump on Tuesday spoke at the Heritage Foundation’s annual President’s Club meeting and credited the Founding Fathers for understanding that freedom doesn’t come from government. Trump echoed previous comments he has made, such as in June when he declared, "In America, we don’t worship government, we worship God." He credited the Heritage Foundation for understanding this. "You understand that human progress must be built upon a firm foundation of timeless truths," Trump told the Heritage crowd. "These truths are immortalized in our founding documents, and the most important truth our Founders understood was this: Freedom is not a gift from government; freedom is a gift from God." "And that is why we are here tonight, to rededicate ourselves to the defense of our God-given rights," he added. "We are here to ensure that we defend this legacy from any threat, foreign or domestic." Trump also said understanding these ideas is key to valuing America. "Everyone here understands a core truth, that for America to have confidence in our future we must have pride in our history," he said. "As Americans, we have inherited a special legacy of freedom, culture, laws, traditions, and values." He pointed to the identity of his hosts to highlight these ideas. "Your organization is named the Heritage Foundation because you understand that our glorious heritage is the foundation for everything we hope to achieve."

A lot has happened in the four years since the team at Oculus first announced the Kickstarter project for the Rift in 2012. An industry once thought to be dead and buried has risen from the ashes like a phoenix with the top technology companies in the world racing to join the ranks. We have seen the technology and content develop at a rapid rate driven by a rabid interest by some of the world’s smartest people in a medium that could change the way we interact with computers (and each other) forever. Today the phoenix finally takes flight as the age of virtual reality begins with the release of the Oculus Rift. At $599, (plus potentially another $1000 if you need to upgrade your PC) the Rift isn’t a trivial investment, but after spending over 20 hours with the device over the last week I am certain that it is worth every penny. Everything from the design, to the tracking, to the display, has been improved significantly since the second development kit and the end result is a product that feels ready not just for technology enthusiasts and gamers, but for everyone. TL;DR The Oculus Rift is an expertly engineered and beautifully designed piece of hardware. While it is missing hand tracked controllers, it makes up for it with excellent content, ease of use, and an incredibly ergonomic form factor. The Oculus Rift is an important first leap for consumer VR, and is worth every penny of the $600 you are going to have to spend to get it. Table of Contents Setup From the moment you grab the box you can tell that the Rift is a polished consumer product. The packaging represents the same type of sleek minimalistic design that Apple popularized. That same essence is mirrored through the entire product from user experience to hardware design. Inside the box you will find: Oculus Rift headset with integrated headphones and mic Oculus Sensor Oculus Remote Xbox One Wireless Controller (2 AA batteries, adapter and extender included) All necessary connection cords and an audio tool to remove/add integrated headphones A wise person once said, “keep it simple stupid” and that is just what Oculus has done with the Rift – the device’s setup is a breeze. As soon as you open the box you will see a sticker telling you to visit oculus.com/setup from here you will download and install all the necessary files to run the Rift with a single executable. The whole setup process, including the download and installation, takes about 30 to 60 minutes depending on your internet connection. A series of slides guide you through the best ways to wear the headset and setup your hardware, including a suggestion to clear away nearby furniture – which is key due to the large tracking volume the Rift’s external sensor provides. The hardware itself connects to the back of the computer using two USB 3.0 ports (one for the headset and one for the tracking sensor) and a single HDMI, which needs to be connected directly into the HDMI port on the graphics card (you can’t use an adapter). Once the software is installed and the headset is plugged into the computer, you will need to set up an Oculus account. This will allow you to make purchases and find friends within the Oculus platform. As soon as you login you are prompted to continue in the headset – where you are greeted first by a health and safety warning followed by a demo reel that should look familiar to anyone who had a chance to try the Crescent Bay – a series of short tech demos designed to show off the power of virtual reality to first time visitors. (A fun aside – be sure to look out for a billboard showing Oculus’ founder Palmer Luckey behind you on the skyscraper demo) Oculus Home Whether you watch the opening demo reel or skip it, you will find your way to Oculus Home, your launch pad for all things Rift. True to form with virtual reality, Oculus’ storefront and library transports you to a space – rather than simply showing you a menu. For launch, Oculus’ home is a beautiful modern villa, rendered in realtime with a crackling voxel fireplace to the player’s left. In the future this area may be customizable as well. Navigation through the Oculus Home menu is intuitive. Selections are made by gazing at an icon and pressing either A on the Xbox controller or select on the Oculus Remote. The Home page contains three panels: recently played, a featured/new in store section that contains a selection of experiences, and a friends list as well as icons below that allow you to access the store and your library – both of which are also accessible from outside the headset in the desktop client. Oculus’ storefront is divided into multiple sections including a place for developer experiments known as Concepts (which will seek to replace the now defunct Oculus Share) and an Early Access section similar to the one on Steam. Highlighting one of the core issues still tied to VR, the titles in the Oculus store are rated on a comfort scale. The scale ranges from “Comfortable” experiences which “involve little or no movement, [and are] often stationary” such as Air Mech: Command or Defense Grid 2 to “Intense” experiences that have “complex movement” like ADR1FT or EVE: Valkyrie. It’s a smart decision by Oculus because it allows people who may be sensitive to motion sickness the opportunity to avoid having a bad experience. As an aside, in all the time I personally spent in the Rift I only felt my stomach lurch once, during a likely purposeful moment in ADR1FT, but I most definitely have my “VR legs” under me. Ergonomics and Design Putting the headset on like a baseball cap, the Rift fits very comfortably over the head. Interchangeable facial interfaces make wearing glasses under the headset more comfortable, however the one that comes with the headset was a bit small for my larger framed glasses. Two rigid extendable arms on each side and a strap on top allow you to quickly adjust the fit to your head, which is important because the headset does have a relatively small sweet spot, meaning that getting it to sit just right is very important to having a clear, focused image. The consumer version feels lightweight and extremely well balanced. The headset’s balance allows it to disappear on your face after a while, something that the second development kit struggled with. Whereas I could only wear the DK2 for 30-40 minutes at a time before it became uncomfortable, I was able to wear the final Rift for multiple hours at a time without getting tired. Oculus Rift’s design has also greatly improved since its development kit days. The hard plastic shell has been replaced by a layer of soft, taut fabric that encloses the device. The fabric gives the headset a nice feel, but I’ve also noticed it has a bit of a tendency to get dirty. The tracking camera’s design has also been marketably improved, with a matte black modern design that sits handsomely and unobtrusively either on a desk alongside a monitor, or in a living room. There have also been a number of functional design refinements such as a light sensor that turns both the sound and display off when you aren’t wearing the headset, and a toggle on the bottom that allows you to adjust the distance between the lenses. Display and Optics While it is still far from perfect, with detail at a distance (such as ships on the horizon in EVE: Valkyrie) still hard to make out oftentimes for example, both the Rift’s display and optics have seen major improvements since the DK2 days. The notorious “screen door effect” that happens when you can see the gaps between individual pixels isn’t noticeable unless you really try to look for it. The consumer version of the Rift boasts dual AMOLED screens with 1200×1080 resolution per eye and a 90Hz refresh rate. This allows the display to reach 90 fps, creating very smooth VR experiences – especially with Oculus’ Asynchronous Timewarp. The Rift’s displays have a nice contrast but the optics still suffer occasionally from light ray artifacts in high contrast scenes like white text on a black background. This is far from a device breaking flaw, but it is noticeable from within the headset. Experiences with vibrant colors, such as Lucky’s Tale, really shine in the Rift which has a really nice dynamic range – but occasionally, scenes with a lot of light, will result in the blacks looking slightly washed out. Importantly, text appears crisp and is extremely easy to read when the right font choice is made. For example, the simple, thin, sans serif fonts used in Oculus Home appear to be extremely sharp, while some of the text within some of the experiences is slightly rougher. The Rift uses a pair of custom hybrid fresnel lenses that give it a fairly wide field of view. Oculus doesn’t specify exactly what that FOV is, but they have gone on record in the past to say that it is larger than the DK2 – which had a FOV of 100 degrees. While you can still see a sliver of black in your peripherals, the consumer Rift’s FOV feels large enough to create compelling experiences. Sound Sound is just as if not more important to creating an immersive VR experience as the display, and because of this Oculus built in a pair of removable high quality headphones into each Rift. The headphones might not look like much at first, in fact let’s call a spade a spade – they look like the cheap headphones that used to come with a Sony Walkman – but looks can be deceiving. The built in headphones adjust to fit comfortably over the ear and pack a punch with crisp sound and a surprising amount of bass for a compact package. That said, they are not the highest quality headphones on the market by any means, for example they have quite a bit of sound leakage. Users who wish to use their own headphones for a higher quality experience can remove the built in ones from the headset with relative ease – however there is not a headphone jack built into the headset, so you will have to either use wireless headphones or run an Aux cord from your computer. In addition to built in sound output, the Rift also has a built in microphone. This allows for easy voice chat, as well as the ability to add voice commands within experiences like Elite: Dangerous. Positional Tracking Volume and Robustness One of the biggest recent debates among the VR community is around whether or not the Oculus Rift is capable of tracking ‘room scale’ experiences that require space to move around in. After stress testing the Rift’s positional tracking I found it to be quite robust and extremely large. The Rift’s tracking works by using an infrared camera positioned in front of the user. This camera tracks a set of IR LEDs on the Rift itself, allowing it to determine its position in 3D space. As long as the camera is able to see three of the LEDs on the Rift (which are embedded in and around the display box and on the triangular portion of the back strap) it is able to track it. For our tracking test I measured out a 12 ft wide by 10 ft long space and placed the camera at the front directly in the middle of the width (this was all laser measured) and positioned the camera with a slight upward facing angle. I then walked, ran, and crawled around that space and found that outside of a few pockets (such as to the left or right of the camera on an even plane) a single camera was able to track that entire playspace. Based on this experience, and my previous experience with a two camera setup, it seems highly plausible that functional ‘room scale’ is achievable on the Rift with two cameras. That said, a current lack of any sort of chaperone system to prevent one from running into walls makes that experience slightly less than optimal. Oculus Remote The decision to include an Xbox controller was motivated by the desire to keep a continuity with developers who had been creating Rift experiences for they style of input since the device was announced, but for non gamers handling the controller blind may be a bit difficult at first. That is one of the reasons that Oculus has also included a simple remote with the Rift. The extremely light Oculus Remote has very basic functionality with nine face buttons: Up, Down, Left and Right, Select, Back, Home and Volume controls. Despite this it can actually be used for more than just navigation, there are several games that you can play with it as well such as: Farlands, Dead Secret, and Defense Grid 2. Experienced gamers may eventually eschew the device completely in favor of their Xbox controller, but the device is great for exploring more passive VR content. Content What would a new platform be without content to play? A paper weight. That is why Oculus put a great deal of investment into making sure that the device launches with a diverse and strong launch library. Everyone who receives the Rift either through pre-order or Kickstarter backing will get a number of pieces of content to play with as soon as they create their account including some two of the best launch titles: Lucky’s Tale and EVE: Valkyrie, as well as a new title from Oculus called Farlands, which will receive daily updates. Outside of games, the Rift comes with experiences like Lost and Henry from Oculus Story Studios and access to apps like Oculus Video which allows you to buy and rent movies to watch in a virtual theater with up to five of your friends. Outside of the content that comes with the Rift there are 28 other games that will be available at launch for purchase. These titles range in price from $9.99 to $49.99 and there are a number of gems among the list such as Chronos ($49.99) and Blazerush ($14.99). There are a lot more games to come throughout the year, as Oculus has promised over 100 titles by year’s end. And as Luckey told us, “If you buy a Rift, you’re not going to run out of stuff to play.” And while you’re inside playing through the hours of content available, you are likely going to want to do it with friends. Social VR is one of the most powerful things one can do with the medium. It is hard to explain just how much having someone else present within the experience helps to validate its reality. Multiplayer VR is incredibly compelling – to the point that Luckey says that social VR is “the reason Facebook acquired Oculus.” Oculus’ social SDK has provided developers with the necessary resources to create a number of multiplayer experiences. Out of the Rift’s launch library, one third of the titles have multiplayer functionality – meaning that there will be plenty to experience with others. Mysteriously though, Oculus’ own social app – which recently exited Alpha on Gear VR – is absent from the Rift’s platform. I suspect that won’t remain the case for too long. Tech Specs and Recommended Hardware Here is the full list of the Rift’s technical specifications that have been officially confirmed by Oculus: Headset: Orientation sensors: Gyroscope, accelerometer Display resolution: 1200×1080 (per eye) Display refresh rate: 90Hz Lens spacing adjustment: 58-72mm Headset cable: 4m custom cable Replaceable facial interface Sensor Sensor mount: Integrated stand, 1/4-20 camera mount compatible Integrated constellation tracking Sensor cable: 2.5m cable And here are the recommended PC specs: Graphics Card: NVIDIA GTX 970/AMD R9 290 equivalent or greater Processor: Intel i5-4590 equivalent or greater Memory: 8GB+ RAM Output: HDMI-compatible 1.3 video output Operating System: Windows 7 SP1 64-bit or newer Inputs: 3x USB 3.0 ports, 1x USB 2.0 To see if your computer is ‘Oculus ready’ use this tool. Warranty: Limited one (1) year warranty, except if purchased in the EU which grants a two (2) year warranty. Touch the Future A review of the Rift wouldn’t be complete without a look into its near future. Right now, the Rift is poised to be the only headset that won’t have hand tracked controllers available at launch. Rather, Oculus’ Touch controls are poised to launch sometime later this year. Touch adds an entirely new dimension to the virtual reality experience, bringing your hands into the game. Adding hand tracked controls to a virtual reality experience can greatly increase the level of immersion one experiences within it. Out of all the available headsets, the Touch controls are currently the most ergonomically superior. Their compact and lightweight design disappears into your hand – making it easy to forget that you are holding a controller in the first place. Additionally they are the only controllers that allow for any kind of finger tracking, allowing simple gestures with your thumb and index finger. Though that functionality may expand by launch. There will be a number of amazing experiences like VR Sports Challenge and Dead and Buried that will launch with Oculus Touch this year that will likely make it a must own peripheral immediately. In the short term however, the lack of Touch at the Rift’s launch does slightly gimp the headset to start in comparison with the HTC Vive for example but it is far from a fatal flaw as the Rift’s non-Touch launch line up feels strong enough to hold court until later this year. Concluding Thoughts I remember the first time that I slipped on an Oculus Rift – it was during the fall semester in 2013 and I had just stepped out of a lecture on Marshall McLuhan’s media ecology theory. I happened to see the first Oculus Rift development kit sitting in the nearly empty math classroom next to mine. I walked in and asked the professor if he would mind if I gave it a try – he said yes and loaded up the Villa demo scene. It was still crude hardware, with a bad ‘screen door effect’ but it showcased enormous potential. Since that moment I have watched Oculus and the VR industry grow, getting closer each step of the way to the type of product needed to make virtual reality a mass medium. From technology advancements like positional tracking with Oculus’ second development kit to a growing depth of the content available – the Rift has steadily improved over time. Oculus founder Palmer Luckey has stated multiple times that the company could have released a product much sooner, but Oculus wanted to wait until they had it right – until all the pieces were ready. It was worth the wait. Despite missing hand tracked controllers at launch, Oculus got nearly everything right with the Rift. The Rift is a masterpiece of industrial and technical design, a product that fits the mass consumer market it seeks. It’s sexy, it’s easy to use, and it works incredibly well. For everything you get, the price feels like a bit of a bargain, but the cost of upgrading one’s computer may cause many customers to wait a bit before taking the plunge. All in all, however, the Oculus Rift is one of the best new product launches since the iPhone – and it has the chance to be just as impactful. As McLuhan said, “the medium is the message.” Virtual reality is the most personal medium we have ever encountered. It gives us the chance to experience empathy in a literal sense, to see from the perspective of others. The Oculus Rift is the first step in a long road ahead for consumer VR, but it is a broad one. Tagged with: cv1, display, dk2, EVE Valkyire, farlands, fov, Hardware, luckys tale, oculus, Oculus Home, oculus rift, oculus rift cv1, optics, palmer luckey, positional tracking, review, rift, social vr, virtual reality, VR

Iain Duncan Smith spent five years in the Cabinet not resigning over cuts to disabled people's payments that did happen, before resigning over that one that won't happen. The proposed cuts to the Personal Independence Payment had already been called off following a public revolt by Conservative backbenchers, and news that the cut will be cancelled arrived in journalists' inboxes long before Duncan Smith's resignation did. All of which might lead you to think that something else is going on, that this resignation has more to do with the coming referendum on Britain's membership of the European Union than anything to do with the welfare budget. For politicos - weaned on a diet of The West Wing, Borgen, Scandal et al - this is a particularly tempting narrative. We love to believe that there's a plan, that everything happens for a reason. There's just one small problem here: and that problem is Iain Duncan Smith. As exciting as it would be for people like me, Iain Duncan Smith simply isn't clever enough to have thought this many moves ahead. This is the man who is the chief architect of the universal credit, which was supposed to have been rolled out in October 2013, and in March 2016 has been rolled out to the grand total of 203,000 people - and by "people", I mean "single men without dependents", the only group whose claims are simple enough to be processed on the universal credit. This is the Secretary of State who has wasted so much money on failed policies that the government is able to claim - entirely truthfully - that the money being spent on disabled people has gone up, even though not a single penny has gone to disabled people while countless billions have been lavished on IT systems that don't work and a benefit reform that will never be implemented. This is the man who as leader of the Conservative party mistook a spoof poster - "It rains less under a Conservative government" - for the real thing, happily posing underneath it. This is the man who Osborne described as "not clever enough" after watching him present on his welfare reforms in the last government. This is the man who, despite having been the longest-serving Secretary of State at the Department for Welfare and Pensions, leaves it having implemented nothing and done nothing. It is certainly true that this is a man who has been waiting for an excuse to walk out of the government since the Autumn Statement in November 2015, when Osborne moved the tax credit cuts into the universal credit rollout - a sign that, as far as the Treasury was concerned, the universal credit will never happen. As civil servants in the DWP have observed, Duncan Smith has been a broken figure since that setback, one that would have been obvious if he had had any grip on his department. Resigning as part of a plan? As exciting as that would be, Iain Duncan Smith simply isn't good enough for that.

Sweden's security services Säpo estimates that around 300 people travelled to Iraq and Syria to join militant groups between 2012 and 2016. Researchers at the Swedish Defence University have looked more closely at 267 of them for a study on foreign fighters which sheds unique light on a key debate in Europe. They found that a total of 18 percent of people who left Sweden to fight for jihadi groups were 19 or younger, compared to 60 percent who were aged between 20 to 29. Most of them were men (76 percent) and 24 percent were women, but the number of women taking part in the armed conflict rose from only a handful in 2012 to making up around 40 percent of foreign fighters in the conflict zone in 2014 and 2015. READ ALSO: Why Swedish girls are leaving home for Isis Swedish terror expert Magnus Ranstorp presenting the report. Photo: Thommy Tengborg/TT Three quarters were Swedish citizens and 34 percent were born in Sweden. Those born abroad came from a total of 38 different countries, states the report, primarily Northern Africa, the Horn of Africa and the Middle East. However some came from former Yugoslavia and Russia. "In this aspect, it is not a homogenous group but rather a multi-ethnic one," write report authors Magnus Ranstorp and Linus Gustafsson. Four in five lived in one of four of Sweden's 21 counties: Västra Götaland in western Sweden, the capital Stockholm, Skåne in the south and Örebro in central Sweden. More than 70 percent lived in an area of Sweden considered socioeconomically vulnerable. "It is clear socioeconomic aspects are contributing factors alongside group- and peer influences, ideological factors and local recruitment drives," write the authors, whose aim is to present facts and figures about the Swedish jihadi fighters in Iraq and Syria. "For the first time we have exact figures – not estimates – about Swedish citizens who have left for Syria and Iraq since 2012 to join jihadist terror groups. We can say with confidence where they come from, how old they are and the proportion of men, women and children," said Ranstorp, research director at the Centre for Asymmetric Threat Studies at the Swedish Defence University. "This report is unique in that it also provides an analysis of what we know about foreign fighters from other European states." The number of foreign fighters has dropped since the start of the conflict. A total of 98 first-time travellers are thought to have left Sweden in 2013 compared to five last year. Two in five have returned to Sweden, as of September 2016, while 49 of the 267 people part of the report are believed to have died in the conflict. Some of the past years' terror attacks in Europe have involved foreign fighters returning home, but the report states that so far, this is unusual: "The reality so far indicates that very few of the returnees intend to commit terrorist acts in Sweden or Europe, in that their focus is primarily aimed at the conflict in Syria and Iraq. Important to say is that both the Islamic State and al-Qaeda affiliated groups have officially declared that Europe is a legitimate target, so that it cannot be excluded that future terrorist plots will involve returnees loyal to these organizations and movements." Read the report, 'Swedish Foreign Fighters in Syria and Iraq: an analysis of open-source intelligence and statistical data', here.

By Ivana Sekularac BELGRADE (Reuters) - Serbia sealed an agreement with an Abu Dhabi investor on Sunday for a multi-billion-dollar, Dubai-style riverside development that has drawn fire from some Belgraders worried about the scale and cost of the project. Belgrade Waterfront marks the first foray into central and eastern Europe by developer Eagle Hills and Emirates real estate tycoon Mohamed Alabbar. Eagle Hills plans to spend $3 billion (2.8 billion euros) building a glass forest of hotels, office buildings and apartments for 14,000 people, the largest shopping mall in the Balkans and a curvaceous 200-metre tower on 2 million sq meters of wasteland by the River Sava. The agreement stipulates that construction will take a maximum of 30 years, and that half must be finished within 20. The conservative government of Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic says the project will put Belgrade on the map as unofficial 'capital' of the Balkans. It expects up to 20,000 workers to be employed in the construction, set to begin in September. Yet critics question the viability of such an ambitious project in a country where one fifth of the workforce is unemployed and the average wage is less than 400 euros per month. They say it is an expensive gamble, rammed through with little public consultation and scant care for the character of the historic city. Several hundred protesters gathered outside the venue where the contract was signed. They were pushed into a side street by police and kept out of the view of dignitaries by two parked trams. "It's like having a leaking roof and, instead of fixing it, deciding to build a swimming pool in the backyard," said protester Vesna Milunovic, an unemployed journalist. Under the agreement, Serbia must pay for all infrastructure work up to the borders of the proposed site, a cost authorities estimate at 300 million euros. The deal is the latest collaboration between Serbia and the UAE under Vucic, after deals on cheap credit, weapons, agriculture and airlines. It gives the UAE a toehold -- while costs remain relatively low -- in a country that hopes to join the European Union, the world's biggest single market, in the next decade. It can also avoid the tough public procurement rules, transparency and regulation demanded of EU members but more easily circumvented in Serbia. (Editing by Matt Robinson and Kevin Liffey)

Niantic CEO John Hanke. Niantic On Saturday night, my girlfriend and I snuck away from the cocktail reception at a charity dinner because "Pokémon Go" informed us there might be a Pikachu nearby, and we were on the hunt. This is not the normal way people play video games together. Then again, "Pokémon Go" isn't exactly a normal video game. Just like we sneaked away from the party, people are going on long walks, meeting new people, and having adventures while trying to live their dreams of becoming a master Pokémon trainer. And that's exactly how John Hanke, CEO of Pokémon Go" developer Niantic, likes it. "The game itself is intended to facilitate the real-life stuff," Hanke tells Business Insider. The reward is the encouragement and opportunity to go out and have new experiences, "not the big scene at the end where the boss dies." The Niantic team had three big goals in mind when building "Pokémon Go," Hanke says. Exercise: A lot of fitness apps come with a lot of "baggage" that end up making you feel like "a failed Olympic athlete" when you're just trying to get fit, Hanke says. "Pokémon Go" is designed to get you up and moving by promising you Pokémon as rewards, rather than placing pressure on you. "To see the world with new eyes": The game is intended to "give you a little nudge" toward cool and interesting things in your neighborhood by turning real-life landmarks and historical sites into Pokéstops and gyms where players power up and battle. By encouraging exploration, "Pokémon Go" can "make your life better in some small way," Hanke says. Breaking the ice: All over the world, players are organizing "Pokémon Go" outings, cruising around their area, and trawling for Pokémon. At higher levels, players need to team up with fellow players to conquer those gyms. This is by design: Hanke describes "Pokémon Go" as an "icebreaker" that "gives people a reason to spend time together." Encountering a Pikachu at a nice dinner. Matt Weinberger/Business Insider It's like no other game out there, Pokémon or otherwise. That's great news for Nintendo and its share price, which has skyrocketed on the indication that it can thrive in a smartphone-driven world. And while "Pokémon Go" may be an overnight sensation, it took a lot of work, a lot of hard thinking, and a little bit of luck over the last few years to make it what it is. Where the idea came from Before "Pokémon Go," Niantic was best known for "Ingress" — the Android and iPhone game that challenged players to explore the world around them and claim territory. At its peak, "Ingress" counted millions of players around the world. "Pokémon Go" is like a spiritual sequel to "Ingress." Niantic took a lot of the "Ingress" data, and a lot of the lessons it learned about keeping players safe, to make "Pokémon Go" work and populate its world. To hear Hanke tell it, that's because "Ingress" was always intended to be kind of a proof-of-concept for ways in which Google and Niantic could help outside partners and customers build their own games. "Our intent was to make a platform for many different experiences," Hanke says. "Ingress" for Android. Google And Pokémon was a natural fit. Enter: The Pokémon Company — the joint venture that co-owns the Pokémon copyright, with Pokémon game developer Game Freak, toy maker Creatures, and Nintendo all holding an equal stake. Google and the Pokémon Company first connected on April Fools' Day 2014, when a short-lived but extremely viral game challenged players to find Pokémon via the Google Maps mobile apps. People loved it: Google Maps plus Pokémon was "like chocolate and peanut butter," Hanke says. And an idea was born. Emboldened by the success of the April Fools' Day joke, Niantic pitched Nintendo and the Pokémon Company on the game that would become "Pokémon Go." It turned out that Pokémon Company CEO Tsunekazu Ishihara was already a high-level "Ingress" player in Japan, which made those conversations much easier. And the late, beloved Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata gave his highest approval to the project, recognizing that the company was late to the smartphone era and willing to bet on Niantic to help turn things around. "They totally got where we were coming from," Hanke says. The Google split In early 2015, around the same time that Google was beginning to talk internally about spinning non-core businesses off into a holding company called Alphabet, the idea of Niantic "perhaps becoming its own thing surfaced," Hanke says. The logic, he says, was that "we were always kind of bumping up against Google's desire to stay neutral." Google builds products like Maps and marketplaces like the Google Play Store as a "horizontal, low-level platform," Hanke says. It meant that Niantic couldn't be given special treatment over any other developer using Google platforms, or those other developers might get upset and look for alternatives. The Pokemon Company Plus, a split opens the door for Niantic to work with other customers and partners who might have been scared off by the prospect of working with a superpower like Google. The values and needs of certain customers were "not always aligned with Google," Hanke says. At the same time, it was thought that it would only help Niantic's collaboration with Nintendo and the Pokémon Company if those companies held a financial stake in the venture, and that they could "open up and share more" if it had some percentage of ownership in the finished product, Hanke says. Everything "kind of lined up," he says, and in late 2015, Niantic spun off with Google, Nintendo, and the Pokémon Company all participating in a $20 million investment round to kick things off. Working with The Pokémon Company Hanke has only praise for the process of working with The Pokémon Company, its main collaborator on the project. There was a funny thing, though: The Pokémon Company loved "Ingress," and Niantic loved the Pokémon series, and they each wanted the game to be more like the other. "We were trying to pull things from Pokémon, and they were more from 'Ingress,'" Hanke says. The two companies shared crucial elements like the three-dimensional models and sounds for the Pokémon themselves, saving a lot of time while also ensuring "Pokémon Go" was as true to the classic games as possible. The music, notably, is similar to the original Pokémon games — Junichi Masuda, the composer of the classic low-fi soundtrack on the original "Pokémon Red and Blue," wrote a new score for "Pokémon Go." "Pokémon Go" was inspired by the classic series, dating back to the original "Pokémon Red and Blue" released in 1998. Nintendo/Game Freak Masuda, who has since become the director of the modern Pokémon games, including the forthcoming "Pokémon Sun and Moon," also helped Niantic develop the signature "capture" mechanic of throwing Poké Balls with precision at the monsters for "Pokémon Go," Hanke says. The goal was to make something that was recognizable to fans of the classic Pokémon games, including catching and battling, but that was "more accessible" to people who don't have the time or willingness to learn the more "demanding" systems of the original games, Hanke says. Catching Pokémon, especially, is supposed to be easy to learn, as an easy on-ramp to later-game mechanics like battling and capturing gyms. In fact, Hanke says, Niantic almost didn't include the Pokémon games' key element of "evolving" a Pokémon into a new form to make it stronger because it was afraid that might be too complicated for new players. But it eventually relented. And sooner rather than later, Hanke says, more classic features like Pokémon trading with friends are coming. "We honored the spirit of the original game," Hanke says. "I like where we landed." So if you're a part of the " Pokémon Go" phenomenon, understand it was a series of very deliberate choices that got you hooked — the culmination of a long road that began many years ago. Oh, and I caught the Pikachu.

When Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi condemned the ongoing absence of a Palestinian state as “a terrible injustice” after a meeting with his Palestinian counterpart on April 13, he continued a long and proud tradition of cynically criticizing rights abuses abroad to distract from the Chinese government’s misdeeds at home. With its poor record on human rights and ongoing crackdowns on rights activists in the name of national security, China is hardly in a position to lecture others on injustice: under Xi Jinping’s heavy thumb, torture remains a commonly used interrogation method, civil society organizations are being dismantled at a rapid pace, and freedom of the press is at an all-time low. It should come as no surprise that, at least for people whose human rights have been violated by Beijing and its partners, Wang’s statement rang hollow. Unfortunately, China’s hypocrisy is not limited to its own territory: Beijing has no scruple maintaining relationships with some of the most repressive regimes on the planet, empowering them to crush their own dissenters with its help. While Beijing’s partnership with North Korea and Kim Jong-un is currently in the international spotlight, China has long gotten away with backing dictators in Africa with far less attention. The calculus is simple: in exchange for the resources required for China’s sustained economic growth, the Chinese government provides cash, weapons, and even diplomatic cover for its oppressive African partners. All the while, Chinese government rhetoric claims to stand for historical justice and the betterment of third countries through development. Robert Mugabe is a trademark example of this dynamic at work. Despite Mugabe’s appalling human rights record and repeated calls for him to stand trial for crimes against humanity in Zimbabwe, China has sought to foster a strong relationship with his regime. Beijing chooses to cozy up to the nonagenarian on account of his country’s plentiful reserves of copper, platinum and diamonds. Given Mugabe’s economic isolation and poisonous reputation among Western countries, this outside support could not be more vital to his regime. China invested $4 billion in Zimbabwe last year, and was Harare’s largest trading partner in 2015. Meanwhile, Mugabe’s policies have destroyed the economy and the living standards of average citizens. The poverty rate in Zimbabwe now stands at 63% but it can go as high as 90% among rural farming communities. While more than happy to highlight the plight of the Palestinians, Beijing has been suspiciously silent about the suffering of Zimbabweans. In fact, China describes itself as Zimbabwe’s “all weather friend.” On top of its steadfast support, China even has sought to stroke Mugabe’s ego by awarding him the Confucius Prize, the Middle Kingdom’s own bizarre version of the Nobel Peace Prize, in 2015. The Chinese government responds to accusations that it enables Mugabe’s oppression with its trademark cynicism. By claiming to be “apolitical”—not getting involved in other countries’ internal affairs—Beijing absolves itself of all guilt. Indeed, China’s foreign policy decisions are apparently guided solely by economic self-interest. Beijing’s aid and investment model seeks to maximize profits by taking norms and values out of the equation. Unburdened by ethical concerns, China is happy to disregard crimes committed by the regimes it does business with, so long as the returns are substantial. This position was infamously epitomized by former Deputy Foreign Minister Zhou Wenzhong, who stated “business is business” in response to international criticism that China’s aid and investments in Africa only help to strengthen dictatorial regimes. Unsurprisingly, a growing number of African leaders look on the Chinese approach to aid and investment with relish. Even those who have established lucrative relationships with the West, like Djibouti, are willing to sign up for Chinese monetary incentives and collaborate with its geostrategic goals. Beijing has built its first military base abroad in Djibouti, choosing real estate in close proximity to an existing American naval facility. US concerns over this proximity have been ignored, perhaps because of China’s conveniently-timed investment in a new $4 billion railway linkbetween Djibouti and Ethiopia. Washington is worried Beijing could use its base in the country to freeze out other powers and cement its strategic and economic foothold in the region, but China’s generosity has already won over longtime leader Ismail Omar Guelleh. In addition to investing billions in Djibouti, China is the country’s primary lender at non-concessional rates. With China’s support, the autocratic President Guelleh has been emboldened to curb the democratic process and basic civil freedoms, attacking his political rivals with lethal force or otherwise forcing them into exile to maintain a firm grip on power. Thus far, things have gone well: with his opponents silenced, Guelleh was able to win a fourth term last year. Across Africa, this is becoming a pattern. By prioritizing profit and political expediency, Chinese government investments and partnerships actively enable democratic failures and rights abuses. As Western leaders debate how to handle China’s growing footprint in West Africa, the examples of Zimbabwe and Djibouti should provide a roadmap for what matters to Beijing and what does not. Given its own contempt for popular sovereignty and human rights, it is only logical that China regards these African dictators as natural allies. After all, they look at the world the same way.

If you took a poll around the greater Detroit area and asked everyone what the main problem with the Detroit Lions offense is, they would most likely point directly toward offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi. Some may even call for his play-calling duties to be removed. The problem with that is it truly won't solve anything. And while some of the blame falls on Lombardi for not always putting his players in the best situation to succeed, it also falls on the players to execute the plays that are called. "We just haven't executed as well as we can," Matthew Stafford said after Sunday's game. "We have to continue to work to get to that point. We'll go from there." Out of 10 total offensive drives on Sunday, I counted at least seven where the Lions offense had a negative play that pushed them behind the chains (second-and-12, third-and-13, etc.). I wish it were as easy as pointing to one player or group, but frankly there was below-average play across the board, something Stafford alluded to after the game: "There were quite a few reasons. I missed some throws, didn't execute in certain areas and it's a team effort. We didn't play well enough as an offense. When you only score six points you're not going to win a whole lot of games." The Lions gave up four sacks, had multiple run plays for negative yardage and consistently put themselves in bad field position due to penalties. During the Lions' third drive of the game, they overcame an early sack and were marching down the field when Rob Sims' facemask penalty pushed them back to first-and-25 and out of field goal range. Three plays later the Lions punted. There were plays like this littered across the entire 60 minutes on Sunday. Another drive was stalled later on in the game after Eric Ebron was called for offensive pass interference. That play went from being a first down to a third-and-15 for the Lions. While Lombardi isn't solely to blame, he does merit some criticism. Through 10 games, the Lions offense hasn't produced consistently enough, and Calvin Johnson being hurt is no longer an excuse worth using. More than anything, I think Lombardi can be blamed for being overly conservative/predictable in certain situations -- most notably, two run calls after starting a drive in the red zone right before halftime. The Lions have several targets on offense that rival those on a basketball court. Not even targeting any of them is an inexcusable error. I think the Lions may have gone into a buzz saw on Sunday against a very good Arizona defense, but offensive miscues only magnified the problem. Whether they can correct the errors this week against New England is a completely different story.

COOLER MASTER Elite 110 RC-110-KKN2 Mini-ITX Tower Computer Case Despite its miniature size, the Elite 110 Mini Cube Case doesn't make any comprises on the capabilities. The intelligent interior design allows big performance in a small size. It boasts support for full size standard desktop components, and provides multiple options to install your storage drives. The highly efficient cooling solutions keep your system in top condition. The handy side I/O panel gives you easy access to USB 3.0 ports, audio jacks, etc. Features at A Glance The mini-ITX case with front mesh panel and vents on the top and side panels for better airflow One 120mm fan in the front (included) and two 80mm fan on the side (optional) Dual SuperSpeed USB 3.0 Supports a 120mm radiator in the front Supports standard length ATX PSU up to 180mm Supports graphic card length up to 210mm Ample storage - up to 3 HDDs / 4 SSDs Intelligent and Efficient Design With an ultra-compact size of 8.2" x 10.3" x 11.1", the Elite 110 Mini Cube Case is engineered to fit in the minutest spaces while maintaining support for full-size standard desktop components with good cable management. In addition to support for a Mini-ITX motherboard, it accommodates graphics card of up to 210mm in length, CPU cooler of 76mm in height, and standard ATX PSU of up to 180mm in length with less cable management. Two expansion slots provide flexibility for multiple graphics cards solutions. Customizable Storage Options The Elite 110 provides multiple options to hold storage drives. It can handle up to three 3.5" HDDs or a couple of combinations - two 3.5" HDDs and two SSDs; one 3.5" HDD and three SSDs; or four SSDs. Highly Efficient Cooling Solutions The Elite 110 Mini Cube features full force cooling with its included 120 mm front intake fan (compatible with 140 mm fans, not included), and two 80mm optional side fans. You can even mount a 120mm radiator in the front for extreme cooling. The front mesh panel and vents on the top and side panels provide extra airflow for maximum breathability. Supports two 80x25mm fan on the side (optional) Supports one 120mm radiator in the front Convenient Side I/O Panel The side panel provides audio in & out jacks to meet your audio needs, two SuperSpeed USB3.0 ports for blazing-fast data transfer speeds, as well as reset buttons. Dimension

One word for Carlos Danger: Snapchat The Anthony Weiner saga keeps getting more sordid. You can't even talk about it without dealing with double entendres. Even the most recent headline forces groans, "Weiner Down In The Polls." Usually, we can't get enough of scandals, but by this point, we’ve seen too much of Wei…. well, let's go with "Carlos Danger." For a guy who thinks he's savvy in social media, the disgraced former Congressman could have saved himself (and us) a lot of embarrassment if only he used Snapchat. Yes, it's another double entendre, but it's also an app that lets users send pictures that disappear after 1-10 seconds (your choice). Using it wouldn't have been too hard, the picture wouldn't have lasted long, and he'd still be the one to beat. There, we think that says it all. Except for our list of six others who could have benefitted from Snapchat.

NAB cuts interest rates Updated A price war in Australia's mortgage market is underway with National Australia Bank (NAB) today following ANZ and Aussie Home Loans in reducing its interest rates on home loans. NAB announced it was dropping the interest rate on its standard variable home loan by 20 basis points to 8.36 per cent. The cut will also apply to business loans and some rates on fixed mortgages will be reduced by 30 basis points, the bank said in a statement. NAB's one-year fixed home loan has been cut by 30 basis points to 6.99 per cent. Policy measures taken by the Federal Government earlier this month have had a positive impact on the credit market, enabling the bank's funding costs to fall, Ahmed Fahour, executive director and chief executive of NAB's Australian operations said. "We welcome this new development and anticipate that we will see some relief in the significantly higher premium we are currently paying for wholesale funds. "Should this be the case, then we hope to be in a position where we can pass on further interest rate cuts to our customers," he said. NAB's announcement came hot on the heels of Aussie Home Loan's decision yesterday to drop its rate on variable home loans for first home buyers by 30 basis points to 7.79 per cent. Aussie Home Loans reduced interest rates for fixed home loans and will review its loan rates for new and existing customers in line with its funding requirements, managing director John Symond said. On Friday, ANZ lowered the interest rate on its standard variable home loan by 25 basis points to 8.32 per cent for new and existing customers, effective from Monday, October 27. ANZ's move was the first move to rates independent of the Reserve Bank by a banking institution in over a decade. Rates on standard variable mortgages from Australia's major lenders in the banking sector now stand at 8.32 per cent at ANZ, 8.36 per cent at National Australia Bank, 8.53 per cent at Commonwealth Bank, 8.56 per cent at Westpac, 8.57 per cent at St George Bank, and 8.6 per cent at Bendigo and Adelaide Bank. Australia's major lenders in the banking sector reduced their variable home loan rates on October 7 in reaction to the RBA's surprise 100 basis point rate cut, and said further cuts would be dependent upon their funding costs from offshore wholesale money markets. Today, Goldman's chief economist Tim Toohey said the US commercial paper markets - where banks source much of their funding - had improved which would see banks' funding costs fall, allowing them to pass on a greater proportion of future RBA rate cuts. "There's a very important development that's occurring in terms of opening up of the commercial paper markets in the US," he said. "If those spreads start to come in, we actually do think that the spreads that matter for the banks or the banking system will in time start to come down as well. "So [the banks] have held a little bit back... as we move forward from here, we see a smaller case for them to actually continue to hold back." - AAP Topics: banking, business-economics-and-finance, company-news, consumer-finance, consumer-protection, economic-trends, industry, event, international-financial-crisis, australia First posted

You know that giant tub of Lego bricks in your basement you think is really impressive? Take a look at the vast collection of bricks that Lego artist Nathan Sawaya has to work with. He not only designs his own Batmobile models, he’s actually able to build them large enough to drive. Advertisement At 18-feet long there are over 500,000 pieces of Lego in this life-size Batmobile model, and it ended up weighing just over 1,500 pounds when complete. Working with DC Entertainment’s Jim Lee for the design, it took Nathan around three full months to assemble his new whip that comes complete with a custom vanity license plate, and flames shooting out of the back. Even the Batmobile’s hubcaps feature some neat detailing, with the bat logo from Christopher Nolan’s take on the caped crusader encircling the wheels. I guess we finally know where he gets all those wonderful toys. Advertisement You’re reading Leg Godt, the blog with the latest Lego news and the best sets on the web. Follow us on Twitter or Facebook.

As we’ve mentioned before, battle rap predictions are pretty much impossible. Speculate all you want, but anyone who claims to speak with authority on what will happen in a sport this unpredictable is either a psychic or a blowhard. (Note: psychics aren’t real.) So here’s our breakdown of what might happen at KOTD’s Blackout 4 this weekend. Some of it serious, some less so. PAT STAY VS DIZASTER From what we can tell, opinions on who will win this one are split almost evenly, but everyone is passionate and confident that their side will win. There are some detractors who say this won’t be a great battle, but frankly, we don’t believe them. Obviously the danger is that Diz will freestyle too much or Pat will run of out quality content before the end of the three five-minute rounds. But both Pat and Diz know the main stage well and have both been in their share of massive clashes. (Keep in mind that they’re in nine of the 14 most-viewed KOTD rap battles on YouTube.) And this is the battle they’ve both wanted for a long time. Pat took the battle with Arcane on the condition that he got Dizaster next and And Diz is clearly motivated, saying on Twitter that he’s bringing “90% written” content. Facing Pat in Toronto is also arguably his biggest challenge yet in KOTD and a rare chance for him to be an underdog. If Dizaster’s vlog is any indication, he’ll be using the “who-would-you-rather-have-as-champ?” angle, comparing his engagement with the scene to Pat’s disinterest in it. This angle has worked in the past (PoRICH vs Sketch Menace, Diz vs Rich and Pat vs Arcane) but there are problems this time: 1. The angle is getting played out. 2. The title doesn’t (always) go to the guy who is more popular. 3. The angle only works if the judges agree that you’d make the better champ. So as for our prediction … it’s still too soon to tell. But we expect that whoever “wins” the face-off at the press conference will also take the battle. At the WD4 press conference Pat punked Arcane repeatedly and Diz overpowered every point Arsonal made, and both went on to win their battles. Seeing them face off will be an interesting test of their confidence going into the battle. But if Pat does emerge victorious, we predict he’ll vacate the title soon after. BENDER VS BIG T Bender’s winning this one. He hasn’t been in front of a KOTD audience since his WD3 battle with Pesci and the fans will go bananas for him. He’ll feed off the crowd energy and it’ll push his aggression up compared to some of his recent lacklustre showings in other leagues. T’s a strong writer and will land a few haymakers but he’s never been outside of his URL comfort zone before and we expect that will hurt him here. Even in the event of a 3-0 bodybag, URL diehards will call it debatable and Norbes will refuse to admit it to Bishop Brigante, instead mumbling something about multis and Canadian bias. Oh, and Bender will make a Prop Joe reference. DDSS VS STEP EASY This one will crown a Ground Zero champion. If you haven’t been following the GZ Grand Prix, you can catch up with our coverage here. DDSS is the probably the MC with the most to prove on the entire card. He won the GZGP Western bracket despite some chokes and he’s a definite underdog against the more-seasoned Step Easy. In a lot of ways, this matchup is similar to the semi-final between DDSS and Megadef. Both Step and Megadef are superior writers to DDSS and their flow is far more intricate. Still, DDSS beat Mega using comedy and projection to connect with the crowd, which is a style that could work again for him in the final. If Step didn’t learn a lesson from watching Mega lose, he could suffer the same fate. We’ll say Step Easy on a 3-2 decision though. OTHER PREDICTIONS: -There will be a ton of celebrities in the building. Deadmau5, Epic Meal Time and U.K. grime pioneer Wiley have all confirmed their presence, and there are rumours that a member of Wu-Tang might attend. Drake’s always a possibility too. -Eurgh (and by extension Don’t Flop) is going to get put through the ringer. WD4′s anti-URL tone emerged from the negativity surrounding the Summer Madness 3 card. One of the biggest stories in battle rap right now is the leadership crisis in the U.K. league (even though it may be mostly sorted). The most likely attackers will be Shotty and Dizaster. -Bodybag of the event: Uno Lavoz, although we’re not sure which side of it he’ll be on.

Outspoken US media tycoon Ted Turner turned up the heat in his acrimonious and long-standing feud with Rupert Murdoch last night, calling the News Corp chairman a "warmonger" for his support of the war in Iraq. Just weeks after Mr Turner challenged Mr Murdoch to a fist fight, he waded into his old adversary for his unrelenting support of the war. "He's a warmonger," Mr Turner said in a speech in San Francisco. "He promoted it." Mr Murdoch openly backed the war on Iraq but the unquestioning support of his Fox News channel has caused controversy and astounded UK broadcasters, which are bound by law to maintain impartial and balanced news services. Fox News, which is controlled by News Corp, was one of the staunchest pro-war news organisations in the US and its pro-Bush stance helped it overtake CNN, founded by Mr Turner, as the the most popular news network during the conflict. Asked by a member of the audience for his thoughts on Fox's larger ratings share than CNN, Mr Turner said: "Just because your ratings are bigger doesn't mean you're better." "It's not how big you are, it's how good you are that really counts," Turner added. Mr Turner, a well-known philanthropist who in 1997 pledged to give $1bn to the United Nations, echoed criticisms levelled yesterday at the US media by the BBC director general, Greg Dyke, who said America's concentration of media ownership was "unhealthy". The US media baron said the control exercised by a few corporations over vast swathes of American TV, radio and print media was detrimental. "The media is too concentrated, too few people own too much," he said. Asked whether he would again try to launch a new TV network, the AOL Time Warner vice chairman said: "No. I think the space is filled with the people already there." Mr Turner's long-running feud with Mr Murdoch goes back to 1983 when a Murdoch-sponsored yacht ran into Mr Turner's boat during the Sydney-to-Hobart race, causing it to sink 10km from the finish line. At the post-race dinner Mr Turner savaged Mr Murdoch, later challenging him to a televised fist-fight in Las Vegas. When Mr Murdoch launched Fox News in 1996 as a direct competitor to CNN, Mr Turner said he was "looking forward to squishing Rupert like a bug". He also compared his rival to Adolf Hitler. "How do you make peace with a mega-maniac?" Mr Turner once said of Mr Murdoch. "Chamberlain tried to make peace. When you've got somebody like that, I don't think there's a spark of human decency in him - except he likes his family." Throughout the war of words Mr Murdoch has hit back through his newspapers, with the New York Post claiming Mr Turner was "veering dangerously towards insanity" and asking readers, "Is Ted nuts? You decide."

Moody's Investors Service has lowered the Japanese government's rating to Aa3 from Aa2, concluding the rating review that began on May 31. Moody's Investors Service has lowered the Japanese government's rating to Aa3 from Aa2, concluding the rating review that began on May 31. The outlook is stable. "The rating downgrade is prompted by large budget deficits and the build-up in Japanese government debt since the 2009 global recession," the agency said. "Over the past five years, frequent changes in administrations have prevented the government from implementing long-term economic and fiscal strategies into effective and durable policies," Moody's said. Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan announced on Tuesday he will step down shortly and expects to see his successor in office by next week. Moody's also said the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, and the subsequent disaster at the Fukushima nuclear power plant have "delayed recovery from the 2009 global recession and aggravated deflationary conditions," making economic growth prospects "weak."

The FCC on Thursday tied up the enormous complexities of the upcoming broadcast spectrum incentive auction into a very tangled bow. Though the Commission still has to work out some of the technical details before the auction kicks off next year, potentially repurposing a good chunk of the UHF TV airwaves for mobile broadband use. But the basic framework of the auction is now in place, and the two largest mobile carriers aren’t pleased with the results. Both AT&T(s t) and Verizon(s vz) will face restrictions on how much 600 MHz spectrum they can bid on in major markets. Those rules are put in place to ensure Sprint(s s), T-Mobile(s tmus) and rural and regional carriers won’t get drowned out by Ma Bell and Big Red’s enormous bidding power. Advertisement Specifically, the FCC will create reserve a chunk of spectrum up to 30 MHz in size in markets where competition for spectrum is particularly intense. Carriers who already own a lot of low-band spectrum — i.e. Verizon and AT&T, which own the majority of the country’s 700 MHz airwaves — won’t be able to bid on those licenses. As for the auction itself, I went into detail about its complexities in an earlier post, but here are the basics: TV stations can opt to sell off their broadcast channels, naming their own prices in a reverse auction, and choose either to go off air or share channels with other broadcasters. The FCC will repackage those frequencies into licenses usable for cellular services and auction them to the highest bidder in a forward auction. Who else is POed? AT&T and Verizon aren’t the only ones who left the FCC’s open meeting Thursday feeling short-shrifted. You can count the FCC’s two Republican commissioners — who voted against the order — as well as Sprintand National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) among those displeased with how the rules turned out. Though Sprint got the auction rules it wanted, it found itself facing big obstacles to any future spectrum deals. The Commission revised its rules about how much spectrum any one carrier can hold in any given market to include the large swaths of airwaves Sprint holds in the 2.5 GHz band. Now, when weighing any possible spectrum deal, Sprint will look a lot more frequency-rich than it has in the past. That will make it much more difficult for Sprint to buy T-Mobile, which is exactly what Sprint’s new corporate owner SoftBank hopes to do. The NAB panned the auction rules, claiming they don’t adequately protect broadcasters who choose not to participate in the auction. Even if TV stations sit it out, they’ll still be crammed into the same overhauled UHF band as those who stations who choose to consolidate into shared TV channels. “The FCC cavalierly concluded that broadcasters forced into a shrunken TV band won’t be guaranteed full compensation for this disruptive move – as was the express intent of Congress,” said NAB Executive Vice President of Communications Dennis Wharton in a statement. The winners As for who came out of the process pleased, there’s the Competitive Carriers Association (CCA), whose rural and regional carrier members will now have a leg up in bidding for spectrum. In addition, the advocates for more unlicensed airwaves scored a victory. One of the results of that reconfiguration of the 600 MHz band will be a lot of leftover scraps of spectrum that the FCC plans to lasso together and turn into unlicensed bands, which can be used for white space broadband and other free-to-access wireless technologies. After much lobbying from groups like WiFiForward, the FCC will allocate more spectrum to those bands. A full 20 MHz is being designated unlicensed in every market, and depending on how the spectrum repacking process works out, the FCC could increase that number to as much as 34 MHz. So what’s next? There is still plenty of debate waiting to happen over the details of the auction process, and the FCC could even revise today’s rules before the auction is scheduled to take place next year. And if it all works out we might have to wait a while before seeing any mobile services use these frequencies. The FCC is giving broadcasters up to 39 months to vacate their airwaves after the auction concludes. That would put us well into 2018 for any stragglers.

Golden State Warriors superstar Kevin Durant says he won’t visit the White House to celebrate his team’s championship with President Trump if they are invited. Thursday during an interview with "Nah, I won't do that," Durant saidduring an interview with ESPN . "I don't respect who's in office right now." The White House has not yet extended a formal invitation to the Warriors, according to the sports network. The team will visit Washington on Feb. 28 to play the Wizards. ADVERTISEMENT The 2017 NBA Finals Most Valuable Player spoke at a time when Trump has come under fierce criticism for his response to the deadly violence at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va. "I just wanted to sit back and analyze everything and gather my thoughts," Durant said. "I wanted to say something immediately, but I definitely want to be the voice of where I come from and people who have come from my neighborhood and deal with oppression.” Durant praised Colin Kaepernick, the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback who refused to stand during the national anthem to protest police violence against black men, Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James and other famous athletes for speaking out on political issues. “A lot [of] guys with platforms have drove the conversation in a good direction. And what's going on in Charlottesville, that was unfathomable,” he said. Durant’s teammates, Stephen Curry and Andre Iguodala, have each expressed reservations about going to the White House to celebrate their title with Trump. "I don't agree with what he agrees with, so my voice is going to be heard by not doing that," Durant said. "That's just me personally, but if I know my guys well enough, they'll all agree with me." Head coach Steve Kerr has asked his players to consider a visit “out of respect for the office itself.” But Kerr added that “ultimately it would be their decision … because it’s about them.”

Image copyright Getty Images Former Goldman Sachs economist Jim O'Neill is to become a key figure in the UK Treasury. Mr O'Neill coined the term 'BRICs' [Brazil, Russia, India, China] to refer to developing economies. Chancellor George Osborne tweeted that the retiring Goldman Sachs Asset Management chairman is to become the Commercial Secretary at the Treasury. Mr Osborne chose Mr O'Neill to "make devolution and the Northern Powerhouse happen". English cities will get powers on housing, transport, planning and policing under Mr Osborne's plans. Greater Manchester - which will take on the powers when electing a mayor in two years - should become a blueprint for other large cities, he said. A Cities Devolution Bill will be in the Queen's Speech later this month. Mr O'Neill is chairman of the RSA City Growth Commission, which claimed the economy has seen 5% less growth per year between 2000 and 2010 as a result of "chronic" underinvestment outside London. It urged an overhaul of transport, housing and broadband provision and more house building. Mr O'Neill also recently headed a UK government-appointed review team calling for global antibiotic research.

By Thomas Hedges, Center for Study of Responsive Law The trial of former CIA agent and whistle-blower John Kiriakou has prompted many Americans to strongly criticize the Obama administration and its lack of oversight of U.S. intelligence agencies. Kiriakou, who uncovered the torture program that was started under President Bush and continued under President Obama, will face 30 months in jail and lose his government pension. Since his trial began in April, whistle-blowers such as Kirk Wiebe and William Binney, both of whom worked at the National Security Agency and then left because of mismanagement and corruption, have warned that intelligence agencies are abusing the Constitution and lavishing private companies with expensive contracts in exchange for subpar data processing and analysis systems. Kiriakou, Wiebe and Binney, who were each presented with a Joe A. Callaway Award for Civic Courage two weeks ago in Washington, D.C., said that the intelligence community cares more about protecting itself and its interests than those of the public. The NSA, for example, has wasted billions of taxpayer dollars over the past 10 years according to Wiebe, Binney and several other former NSA employees who have blown the whistle on the agency’s financial mismanagement. Spending at the NSA, they said, increased significantly after the 9/11 attacks without much regulation. The agency used the period of fear after the attacks, these whistle-blowers said, to inflate its budget and arrange high profits for corporate friends. The waste, they charged, hampered significant programs and bloated inefficient ones. The agency wants “to fix big things with big dollars and big business,” Wiebe said over the phone. Wiebe was a part of a group that oversaw the design of a data processing and analysis system for the NSA that worked more effectively than the system that was outsourced to the private sector. But because of the cozy relationship between corporations and the government, he says, the less efficient and more expensive private system was adopted. “It’s a shame that the NSA didn’t adopt the information it had at its disposal,” he said referring to a program for which he advocated called ThinThread. Wiebe left the NSA after a dispute that began with the implementation of the private system called Trailblazer, which was designed a year before 9/11. The agency decided to adopt the private industry’s system over ThinThread, a program made with commercial, off-the-shelf equipment. He says that the agency refused to use the program because it had committed to Trailblazer and didn’t want to walk away from such a large expenditure. Although ThinThread was a cheaper and better processing system, it did not have the capacity to generate profits for corporate donors. “The more money you have as an intelligence agency,” said fellow whistle-blower Ed Loomis, “the more prestige you have. … It’s the military-intelligence-industrial-complex. Congress approves the wasteful spending because all they want to do is get re-elected. They owe political favors to private sector campaign donors and thus open doors within the intelligence community to satiate their business interests. It’s just incestuous.” A year after the World Trade Center had been attacked, Wiebe, Loomis and other NSA employees, including Binney and Thomas Drake, filed complaints to Congress and the Department of Defense Inspector General. In the complaints, they charged that the agency failed to prevent the attacks because of internal mismanagement and wasteful spending on flawed intelligence systems. “The idea of intelligence is to prevent disaster, not to analyze it after the fact,” Wiebe said. The corruption, he said, was directly tied to the loss of life on 9/11. Because most of the work of the NSA is classified, it is impossible for outside auditors to inspect the intelligence agency. A report comparing Trailblazer to ThinThread was released to the public after 98 percent of its content had been blacked out, blocking any outside comparison. There are no accurate estimates of spending within the agency. And the names of data systems, such as Trailblazer and ThinThread, can be made public only by the NSA. Wiebe and Binney remained with the NSA until the agency started using components of their program ThinThread to spy on Americans illegally. The agency, which was created in 1949 to intercept foreign communications that would put Americans in danger, was, they said, increasingly monitoring the phone calls, emails and Web browsing of U.S. citizens. The expansion of domestic surveillance, they said, is slowly strangling our democracy. The Obama administration’s aggressive prosecution of whistle-blowers, unmatched in scope by any other administration in history, has been working to discourage whistle-blowers such as Wiebe, Loomis, Binney and Drake from exposing government malfeasance. (This may change under the new whistle-blower protection laws that Obama signed Tuesday.) The NSA, Binney suspects, cannot yet replicate the program he designed with Loomis, which was able to automatically select important information. Now, he says, agents have to enter what they’re looking for manually. The search bar technique, he says, doesn’t work well for agents because of different languages, unorganized results and unknown code words. If the NSA, one day, is able to replicate his program, Binney fears that the agency will abuse it as it abused its powers after 9/11. He said that the KGB would have been delighted to have this automated system. “This is the greatest threat to our constitutional form of government,” Binney said about increased government surveillance. “Something the terrorists could never have done, we have done to ourselves. If we don’t do something to reverse these trends I fear we’ll slowly lose our rights and freedoms and slide into a totalitarian state.” This article was made possible by the Center for Study of Responsive Law.

It appears - at least for now - to have escaped the violence and turf warfare that followed similar building takeovers in Caracas over the last decade, often launched under the banner of the late Chavez's self-styled revolution. Communal corridors are freshly-polished, rules and rotas are posted everywhere, and non-compliance is punished with extra "social work" decided by a cooperative and floor delegates who make up a mini-government. "Without ethics or principles, all is irrational," reads one typically didactic poster in a public area. Work was sufficiently advanced by the time the tower was abandoned for the first 28 floors to be habitable, though the squatters have had to brick up dangerous open spaces, and put in their own basic plumbing, electrical and water systems. Families pay a 200 bolivar ($A34) monthly "condominium" fee, which helps fund 24-hour security patrols. "There is far more order and far less crime in here than out there," says 27th-floor resident Thais Ruiz, 36, exuding contentment from an armchair as her kids play and her husband fulfils the family's once-a-week corridor sweeping duty. Like many inhabitants, Ruiz abandoned her shack in the violent Petare slum of east Caracas in 2010 to build a spacious four-bedroom apartment in the tower where she lives with her husband and five children. The family paid a small fee for a space that was supposed to have been a fancy corner office with an amazing vista, and at first lived in a tent. But over the years, given the absence of elevators, they hauled bricks, furniture, water tanks - and even barbecue equipment - up 27 flights of stairs to build a home. "I never lived in an apartment before. We're so comfortable now," she says. "We had to get out of Petare and the daily gang shootouts. Once we found a dead body on our doorstep. Now look, we can leave the door wide open." Few deny the conditions can be precarious. One young girl fell through a hole in the wall to her death a few years back, and a drunk motorcyclist rode off an edge and killed himself. Police have raided the building a couple of times searching for kidnap victims, adding to its notoriety. The building showed up as a Dantesque backdrop to an episode of US TV drama Homeland, with on-the-run terrorist-suspect character Nicholas Brody held there. Though filmed mainly in Puerto Rico, the 2013 episode includes shots of the real tower and has a scene where a gang tosses a thief off the building. But it's the unique quality of "Tower of David", whose intended name was the "Confinanzas Financial Centre" before the group went under, that has won it attention beyond Venezuela. Documentaries and analyses of it have showed up at trendy art festivals around the world: one exhibition about the tower won a prize at the 2012 Venice Architecture Biennale. The sometimes romantic view of the tower tends to overlook criminal activity associated with "invasions", which were common long before Chavez but proliferated early in his rule. One woman dubbed "Commander Manuitt", a self-described pro-Chavez activist, helped lead a wave of invasions in Caracas in 2003. She was arrested in 2004 on charges of inciting violence, resisting authority, and illegally carrying firearms. That year, a rival "invasion" leader who frequently clashed with Commander Manuitt was shot in a hit-man style murder. Neighbours in the area surrounding the tower have complained of frequent robberies, ATM hold-ups, and drug trafficking taking place under the noses of authorities. Residents acknowledge the tower had problems with crime but insist miscreants have been kicked out over the last 18 months, and that a new leadership is keeping the house in order. "Everyone thinks we're a bunch of thieves and thugs in here. We are not 'invaders', we're occupants of an empty space," argues another resident, Luis Raul Pinto, 63. The former government employee drives a taxi by day before clambering up to his roomy apartment every evening. When he first arrived four years ago, he slept in a hammock. "Sometimes, I'm driving customers and they look up at the tower and tut 'Look at those criminals in there'. When I drop them off, I tell them 'Hey, I live in the Tower of David, I'm not a criminal, come and have a coffee with me some time.'" Though the tower could be viewed as an indictment of his housing policy, inhabitants appear fiercely "Chavista". Posters of Chavez, under the phrase "Eternal Commander," adorn walls. Some have photos of him by their beds. The former president, who died last year of cancer, spoke affectionately of the tower's residents several times. "Chavez's legacy is the values you see right here in this tower," said Nicolas Alvarez, a 38-year-old filmmaker who first entered the tower to give photography courses. He ended up moving in after getting married and struggling to find a home. "What Chavez did was to rescue the sense that we all have the same right to live on this planet." A hierarchy of sorts does exist, however. Though requiring more leg-power to reach, the higher floors are cooler and fresher, without the whiff of sewage at the bottom. And only the top floors have large balconies where neighbours sit around, listen to salsa music, or sizzle meat. The tower also boasts shops, a dentist, and a beauty salon. On a 27th-floor terrace bathed in the setting sun, a group of men played dominoes on a recent evening. Loading "Who needs to go the Hilton?" quipped one. Reuters

ES News Email Enter your email address Please enter an email address Email address is invalid Fill out this field Email address is invalid You already have an account. Please log in or register with your social account Theresa May hit a new low today with a poll showing her satisfaction rating among voters the worst for any modern-day Prime Minister immediately after an election, with Jeremy Corbyn overtaking her for the first time. Just 34 per cent of adults say they are satisfied with Mrs May and 59 per cent dissatisfied, according to the Ipsos MORI survey for The Standard. This was her worst result since becoming Prime Minister last summer after the Brexit vote and gave her a net satisfaction rating of -25. Adding to her woes today, Mr Corbyn has scored his best ever rating and overtaken her. Forty-four per cent of adults say they are satisfied with the Labour leader, just one percentage point less than those who are dissatisfied, compared to a net rating of minus 11 last month. He is winning over people aged 18 to 34 in large numbers but not mirroring this for people aged over 55. His doing-a-good-job rating among Labour supporters is also now ahead of Mrs May’s among Conservatives. Three quarters of of Labour supporters are satisfied with him, compared to nearly two thirds of Conservatives for Mrs May. Far more younger people, aged 18 to 34, than pensioners were unimpressed with Mrs May. Ipsos MORI has been asking this satisfaction question since 1977 and the only other Prime Minister to have a negative rating in the month after an election was Tony Blair, -13 in 2005 amid a backlash against the Iraq War. Strikingly, though, despite the grim findings for Mrs May, she is still seen as the most capable Prime Minister, compared to Mr Corbyn. This will reinforce fears among some Labour MPs that despite the support that Mr Corbyn has won in recent months, he may never get into No10 and the party will remain in opposition for at least another ten years. Mrs May’s figures have plummeted since a poll carried out a week before the June 8 election when she was already mired in controversy over social care and school funding, for not taking part in TV debates with Mr Corbyn and for her original U-turn to call the election. Her net satisfaction rating then was minus seven. More than a quarter of Tory backers are dissatisfied with Mrs May, while now just 19 per cent of Labour supporters have such a view of Mr Corbyn despite his leadership being underfire just months ago. But Mr Corbyn should not get carried away because despite the dismal satisfaction figures for Mrs May, she is still seen as the most capable PM by 46 per cent to his 38 per cent. These results are very similar to those just before the election, but contrast with Mrs May’s 61 per cent to 23 per cent lead at the start of the campaign in April. Approval of the Government has also gone into free fall. Sixty-four per cent are dissatisfied, with 28 per cent satisfied, giving a net rating of -36, compared to -15 last month. In Scotland, which voted overwhelmingly to Remain in the EU, dissatisfaction with the Government is particularly high, according to a small poll sample. Gideon Skinner, head of political research at Ipsos MORI, said: “The turnaround in Mrs May’s ratings is unprecedented in our previous data on Prime Ministers - from a historic high at the start of the campaign to a historic low just one month after an election, while also seeing her position among her own party supporters weakening and Jeremy Corbyn’s campaign surge continuing. “Having said that, she still has the edge as most capable PM among over 35s.” The overall findings will inevitably fuel already feverish talk of Mrs May being ousted, with Cabinet rivals including Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and Brexit Secretary David Davis already being seen to be jockeying for position to succeed her. The headline voting figures for this month show little change from last month’s election result, with the parties neck-and-neck; Labour is on 42 per cent, up one point, the Conservatives 41 per cent, down two points, and Liberal Democrats nine per cent, up nearly two points. * Ipsos MORI interviewed 1,071 adults across Great Britain between July 14 and 18. Data are weighted.

As Eddie Alvarez and Conor McGregor’s anticipated UFC 205 lightweight title fight draws ever closer, both parties continue to dish out the trash talk. On today’s episode of The MMA Hour, Eddie Alvarez plated the latest steaming servings of trash talk, re-upping on his previous claims that McGregor would be the easiest opponent of his UFC career thus far. When asked by Ariel Helwani why McGregor would be an easier opponent than the Donald Cerrone, Gilbert Melendez, Anthony Pettis, and Rafael Dos Anjos, Alvarez explained that he simply believes McGregor doesn’t possess a well-rounded skill set. “I think every one of the opponents you mentioned, they have a well-rounded skill set,” Alvarez said. “Even if the fight goes to another realm of MMA, whether it goes from standing up to ground to jiu jitsu, everyone’s tough in each one. They’re well versed to the point where they can hang with some of the toughest guys in the world in any aspect of the sport, and I don’t think [McGregor] can, from what I’ve seen.” Alvarez also questioned the gallonage of McGregor’s gas tank. “Not only that, [McGregor’s] conditioning aspect is just not a good level of conditioning,” Alvarez continued. “The last Nate Diaz fight was a very big eye-opener for me.” Given the flaws he sees in McGregor’s game, Alvarez says he is not remotely intimidated by the Irish superstar. “I do sincerely feel that [he’ll be my easiest opponent]. Usually when I square off with a man, my heart rate goes up, I feel something. I never felt so unthreatened by a human being as when I was up on stage with him.” “I’ve never felt so unthreatened by another man.” Not even McGregor’s quick wit on the microphone fazed Alvarez. “Not even a little bit,” Alvarez said of his opponents trash talk at the UFC 205 press conference. “I was completely honest with you when I said I enjoyed the press conference. I don’t take anything personal. If you know me as a person, you know even when someone’s trying to be legitimately malicious to me and saying things to me, it’s really hard for me to take things personal from anyone. I just kind of enjoy the show, and I think that’s what I’m going to do November 12. I won’t get to emotional about anything, and the job will get done, and it’ll get done violently and quickly.” In the past, McGregor has managed to get into many of his opponent’s heads long before the fight even began. Against Alvarez, it appears that Irishman’s infamous mind games won’t be quite as effective. Who do you think will win Alvarez and McGregor’s looming title fight? Sound off, PENN nation!

After writing numerous crime novels set in America, Dennis Lehane will take on the criminal slums of France. Lehane is attached to adapt the script for the remake of the critically-acclaimed French pic “A Prophet” for Sony. Neal H. Moritz is on board to produce with Toby Jaffe overseeing for the company. Insiders say Jaffe was the one who felt the film fit Lehane style and was the person who introduced him to the project. In the original, the story followed an Arab man who is sent to a French prison and soon becomes a Mafia kingpin among the prisoners. The film starred Tahar Rahim and went on to won Grand Jury Prize at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival. It was also nominated for best foreign film at the 2010 Oscars. Lehane’s novels including “Mystic River,” “Gone Baby Gone” and “Shutter Island” have been adapted into successful films, and lately he has become more involved in penning scripts not based on his own material. Some his recent assignments include “Travis McGee” and “Silk Road” for Fox. Ben Affleck is also developing Lehane’s “Live By Night” as his next directorial gig which he will also star in at Warner Bros. He also penned the script for the upcoming Fox Searchlight crime pic “Animal Rescue,” starring Tom Hardy, which is based on one of his short stories. He is repped by IPG and attorney Jason Hendler.

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 A man was found sobbing in the street by police after his one-night stand demanded too much sex. The African man broke down in tears outside the woman’s apartment after the 36-hour ordeal in Munich, Germany. Police confirmed that the exhausted man told them: “I met her on a bus. She invited me back here. Oh God, it was hell. I can’t walk. Please help me.” The man is believed to be the latest victim of a German nymphomaniac who was arrested last month after forcing her date to make love to her eight times. Her first victim was forced to escape from the apartment to raise the alarm when his insatiable lover refused to let him go. The 43-year-old met the woman in a bar in Munich, Germany, according to German news website The Province. (Image: Getty) The pair went back to her apartment where they had sex several times, but when the eager woman demanded more, the exhausted man refused. When the sex-hungry woman wouldn’t take no for an answer, the man took drastic action. What is nymphomania? Mirror Online gets to the bottom of sex addiction The desperate man was reportedly spotted on a balcony crying for help after the eager woman demanded more and more sex. A police spokesman was quoted as saying: “He complied with the woman's wishes another few times so he could finally leave the apartment. “But when she continued to refuse and demanded even more sex from him, he fled to the balcony and alerted the police.” The victim reportedly told police: “You have got to help me. She is trying to kill me with sex. I cannot get out and I cannot go on!” Incredibly, when police arrived at the apartment, the woman even tried to tempt them into her bedroom. The woman, who is believed to be 47, has now been taken to hospital for psychiatric observation.

A few weeks back, my friend Lisa tagged me in a photo on Facebook. The photo was of her three adorable children, sitting at the breakfast table, eating cookies! These weren't just any ordinary cookies, they were my healthy Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies, with an added twist. Lisa added bacon to the recipe and her kids loved them. I knew I had to give Lisa's bacon twist a try…this weekend I made a double batch, and let me tell you, they did not disappoint. This is not a new recipe, however, for the sake of filing it away in my recipe index and for YOU, my friends, to print and put in your own recipe index, I am typing it up again. This is simply my Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe with added bacon. I do however want to mention, after trying various sweetener combos in these cookies, I've settled on Swerve Sweetener yielding the BEST COOKIE. I have found that Swerve sweetener, which is a form of erythritol, acts like sugar in these cookies, it browns and adds some crispness. And because you may or may not have heard of Swerve sweetener… What's So Great About Swerve Sweetener? Swerve sweetener is a natural sweetener that measures cup-for-cup just like sugar. Swerve sweetener is made from a combination of erythritol and oligosaccharides, derived from fruits and vegetables. Swerve sweetener contains no artificial ingredients, preservatives or flavors. Swerve sweetener provides browning and carmelizing functionality to sugar-free baking. Swerve sweetener is considered non-allergenic. Swerve sweetener does not contain GMOs. The ingredients in Swerve sweetener are sourced from non-GMO vegetables and fruits. Swerve sweetener does not contain MSG or any other glutamate derivatives. The natural flavors in Swerve sweetener are derived from food sources. Swerve sweetener is an excellent sugar-replacement for diabetics, those living a low-carb lifestyle or anyone wanting to reduce sugar consumption. Erythritol is made by fermenting glucose with Moniliella pollinis (a natural microorganism found in honeycomb) which breaks down the glucose and yields erythritol. Erythritol also naturally occurs in many fruits and vegetables like melons, grapes, asparagus as well as fermented foods. It is classified by the FDA as a zero calorie, 4-carbon sugar alcohol that does not affect blood glucose. Oligosaccharides are sweet, non-digestible carbohydrates extracted from fruit and vegetable sources. They are similar to soluble fiber in that they are a prebiotic. Oligosaccharides help feed the healthy beneficial bacteria in the large intestine. When our local natural food co-op started stocking Swerve sweetener on their shelf last fall, I swooped in and bought both the granular and confectioners' style to play with in my holiday baking. I have played with it here and there for over 6 months as a replacement for what I typically use, which is a combination of erythritol and stevia. The thing I love most about Swerve sweetener is it measures cup for cup like sugar, which makes it easier to convert unhealthy recipes containing sugar to healthy low(er)-carb recipes using Swerve sweetener. You can buy Swerve sweetener online or find a location near you that stocks it. Some of my favorite low-carb bloggers use Swerve sweetener — visit their sites for more healthy recipes! ♥ Karen at Living Low Carb One Day at a Time ♥ Kate at Kate's Healthy Cupboard ♥ Carolyn at All Day I Dream About Food ♥ Maria at Maria's Nutritious and Delicious Journal ♥ DJ at DJFoodie This is not a sponsored post. I am not being paid to endorse this product. I simply have found it to be a great solution to healthy sugar-free baking. Read More: 4 Natural Sweeteners That Are Actually Healthy Print Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies with a Bacon Twist Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 13 minutes Yield: 2 Dozen Serving Size: 1 Cookie A gluten-free, low-carb alternative to chocolate chip cookies with a bacon twist! Ingredients 4 Slices Thick-Cut Bacon 1 c. Almond Butter 3/4 c. Granulated Sweetener -- for sugar-free I recommend Swerve or Birch Xylitol 1 Large Egg 1 tsp. Vanilla Extract 1/2 tsp. Baking Soda 1/4 tsp. Celtic Sea Salt 2 oz. Dark Chocolate Chips Directions Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. In skillet cook bacon as usual, set aside until cool, then chop into bits. In medium mixing bowl, with a large spoon, mix together almond butter, bacon bits, sweetener, egg, vanilla extract, salt and baking soda. Fold in dark chocolate chips. Using a cookie scoop, spoon cookie dough onto Silpat lined baking sheet. Flatten slightly by doing a criss-cross pattern with a fork. Bake for 13-15 minutes. Cool on rack. Enjoy! Notes At 13 minutes the cookies will seem like they are not done. The bottom should be just starting to lightly brown. Take them out of the oven and with a spatula very gently move immediately to a rack. They will seem like they are not done. They are. They firm and crisp up as they cool. If you let them go longer, the bottoms will burn. Per Cookie 80 calories, 7 g fat, 3g carbs, 2 g fiber, 1 g NET CARB, 3 g pro (using Swerve sweetener) This recipe has been tested with my preferred ingredients. Please consider, if I recommend a substitution, it will be included as a note in the recipe. 3.1 https://healthylivinghowto.com/whats-so-great-about-swerve/ Copyright © 2012, Vanessa Romero www.healthylivinghowto.com Click +1 Below. Tell Me What's Your Favorite Cookie?

A new study out of Duke University found that many people treat their politics like some folks treat their health: If they don't like the likely solution, they just ignore the problem. This, the study posits, is why far more Republicans deny climate change than Democrats. It's not necessarily that they don't trust the science, it's that they don't like the idea of new government regulations to address the issue. The study calls this "solution aversion." Researchers performed an experiment described in a press release that went out today summarizing some of the study: Participants in the experiment, including both self-identified Republicans and Democrats, read a statement asserting that global temperatures will rise 3.2 degrees in the 21st century. They were then asked to evaluate a proposed policy solution to address the warming. When the policy solution emphasized a tax on carbon emissions or some other form of government regulation, which is generally opposed by Republican ideology, only 22 percent of Republicans said they believed the temperatures would rise at least as much as indicated by the scientific statement they read.But when the proposed policy solution emphasized the free market, such as with innovative green technology, 55 percent of Republicans agreed with the scientific statement.For Democrats, the same experiment recorded no difference in their belief, regardless of the proposed solution to climate change.As study authors Troy Campbell and Aaron Kay wrote in the introduction to their paper about this study, this shows "not necessarily an aversion to the problem, per se, but an aversion to the solutions associated with the problem."The study put liberals through a similar excercise. Again, from the news release:"The researchers found liberal-leaning individuals exhibited a similar aversion to solutions they viewed as politically undesirable in an experiment involving violent home break-ins. When the proposed solution called for looser versus tighter gun-control laws, those with more liberal gun-control ideologies were more likely to downplay the frequency of violent home break-ins."Now, as with any psychological study, the question is, How can I use this to manipulate people? The answer, perhaps, lies in this comment, from Kay."We should not just view some people or group as anti-science, anti-fact or hyper-scared of any problems," Kay said. "Instead, we should understand that certain problems have particular solutions that threaten some people and groups more than others. When we realize this, we understand those who deny the problem more and we improve our ability to better communicate with them."The brief sections of the full study that I read made interesting reading, partly due to phrases such as "motivated biases in cognition" and "dichotomous measure of (dis)agreement."You can get the full thing here, assuming you're a member of the American Psychological Association. Or drop me an email and I'll send it your way.

The wait is almost over. There hasn't been any real, live NFL action since Super Bowl 50, further delayed by the debacle of Sunday's Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio. But kicking off this Thursday, the Colts, the Packers and the 30 other teams are ready for some football. Call them warm-ups, call them exhibitions; but these are the first chances to see how your team might kinda-sorta look on the field when the games count. MORE: Preseason Power Rankings | Top 25 QBs As usual, debuts dominate the top 10 storylines for the preseason, led by three first-round rookie QBs who will be coming off the bench. — The Rams-in-LA thing gets real. It's been 22 years since NFL teams last played in Los Angeles. Now the Rams will play in Memorial Coliseum, the historic home to two Summer Olympic Games. The natural first opponents are the Cowboys, the training camp pride of Oxnard, Calif. From the No. 1 overall draft pick to "Hard Knocks," the Rams have certainly made their Hollywood entrance. Now it's time to see if they can leave behind the playoff drought in St. Louis. — Jared Goff: No. 2 to be, or not to be? Speaking of top draft picks, Goff was that guy, but the Rams keep making everyone believe he won't be their starter in 2016. Regardless of what they might be thinking, Goff is second on the initial depth chart, behind Case Keenum, meaning he'll need to better plead his case to start with preseason play. Goff needs to play well against Dallas' defensive reserves to get his crack at more critical reps in the second game. — Carson Wentz's chances going, going ... gone? At least Goff knows he'll start if he can stay the course with his rookie learning. It seems like no matter what Wentz does — grasping the playbook quickly, possessing the immense physical talent that got him drafted second, flooring some of the Eagles' offensive staff — coach Doug Pederson will start Sam Bradford for the opener. To Bradford's credit, in camp, he hasn't yet given Philadelphia a reason to flip to Wentz. With Chase Daniel up next for the first-half reps against the Buccaneers before Wentz gets his chance, there already might be too much ground for Wentz to make up, barring a total flop from Bradford. — Mark Sanchez, Trevor Siemian, Paxton Lynch ... lather, rinse, repeat. Sanchez and Siemian are even in any way you would look at the Broncos' most peculiar QB situation. Sanchez needs to show fewer mistakes when he gets thrown into the fire against Chicago's defense. Siemian, maybe inspired by being close to Northwestern again, needs to show more flash. Lynch makes it 3-for-3 in first-round rookie QBs who will come off the bench at first, but he's the only one who makes sense to do so as a project-like athlete and passer in relation to Goff and Wentz. Gary Kubiak isn't delaying his decision for kicks. He will need to see much of Sanchez's and Siemian's preseason, and he may need to accept the fact that he's picking the least of the bad instead of the most of the good. MORE: Should rookie franchise QBs start or sit? Paxton Lynch (Getty Images) — RGIII, Part II. Everything sounds good for Robert Griffin III during his initial training camp in Cleveland. It's no surprise, given that Cody Kessler and Josh McCown are less-than-inspiring alternatives, that Hue Jackson declared RGIII the starter already. Griffin has done more grinding than groveling, shown more humility than hubris as the Browns have provided his first chance to start since Washington two long seasons ago. Now comes the hard part: keeping that mind-set and proving he can hold up as a No. 1 who's no longer being pushed for his job. The Packers will provide a great early road test. — Kap vs. Gab revs up. Blaine Gabbert or Colin Kaepernick? The burden of proof is clearly on Kaepernick in the heated battle to emerge as Chip Kelly's first starting QB in San Francisco. Kaepernick is healthy and having more of his familiar good moments in camp, but that doesn't mean much, because it's clear Kelly is heavily basing his decision on who can take command in preseason games. Despite the gap narrowing, Gabbert can create a little more of a cushion with a solid performance against Houston. Kaepernick, meanwhile, has to do a lot of wowing to restore an even battle. MORE: 49ers' QB situation looks awfully familiar — Look who's really catching on. The 2016 draft brought another terrific wide receiver class to the NFL after the '15 draft. But it's not turned up roses in camp so far for the four first-rounders. Corey Coleman is the Browns' new No. 1 regardless of Josh Gordon, but a hamstring has his ascent on hold. Josh Doctson (Achilles') has fallen well behind schedule for Washington. The Vikings' Laquon Treadwell (in Charles Johnson) and the Texans' Wil Fulller (Jaelen Strong), once surefire starters, have found unexpected incumbent competition. As for the second-roudners, the Giants' Sterling Shepard, the Bengals' Tyler Boyd and the Saints' Michael Thomas will see if their consistent neon buzz of the offseason will translate to shining under the bright lights. For now, that trio is primed for the bigger impact than the four guys taken ahead of them. — The Jimmy Garoppolo show. Garoppolo is having a good (but not great) camp on the cusp of taking over for Tom Brady. He prepared well knowing he would start during the 2015 preseason, and although he's made some mental mistakes that Brady rarely does in this year's camp, he has continued to build on his physical talent. With Brady not expected to play vs. the Saints after the teams' scrimmage this past week, it's Garoppolo's chance to seize the moment and make a lot more Patriots fans relax about the four upcoming games that matter. Jimmy Garoppolo (Getty Images) — A Giant new defense. The Giants spent a lot of green to make the Big Blue D become more similar to their championship defenses. The moves alone for end Olivier Vernon and cornerback Janoris Jenkins should lead to significant improvements. There will be high expectations right away to at least look good, despite they fact they'll throw their vanilla schemes at the Dolphins. — Jacked up Jaguars. Jacksonville has waited a long time to see what Dante Fowler Jr. can do as a first-string pass rusher. It will get a quicker look at this year's prized defensive rookies, first-round cornerback Jalen Ramsey and second-round linebacker Myles Jack. They'll be flanked by a trio of veterans, Malik Jackson, Tashaun Gipson and Prince Amukamara, who are also making their first splashes in teal, black and gold. If the Jaguars' defense flies around well against the Jets, there wil be more belief that the overhaul will see immediate, season-changing results. MORE: Ranking all eight NFL divisions for 2016 Complete NFL Preseason Week 1 schedule — Thursday. August 11 Buccaneers at Eagles, 7 p.m. ET Redskins at Falcons, 7 p.m. ET Panthers at Ravens, 7:30 p.m. ET Jaguars at Jets, 7:30 p.m. ET Saints at Patriots, 7:30 p.m. ET Broncos at Bears, 8 p.m. ET — Friday, August 12 Dolphins at Giants, 7 p.m. ET Lions at Steelers, 7 p.m. ET Vikings at Bengals, 7:30 p.m. ET Browns at Packers, 8 p.m. ET Raiders at Cardinals, 10 p.m. ET — Saturday, August 13 Seahawks at Chiefs, 4:30 p.m. ET Colts at Bills, 7 p.m. ET Chargers at Titans, 8 p.m. ET Cowboys at Rams, 8 p.m. ET (ESPN) — Sunday, August 14 Texans at 49ers, 7 p.m. ET

Imagine, if you will, crossing the Silk Road through the deserts of Central Asia on your way to the far and fabled East. Passing through lands decidedly foreign to the home left far behind, the buildings and people, food and customs, the very landscape itself are all novel and peculiar. Your gaze, casting about, encompasses new and unusual sights in every direction. At the present moment, far along your path through the flat and featureless wasteland, an apparition emerges, a wavering, shimmery tower emitting mysterious flashes of light from its pinnacle. The interminable plodding of your fire-breathing art camel brings you endlessly closer, gradually transforming the hypnotic mirage into the slender spire of a minaret, something read about in the journals of others, but never before witnessed with your own eyes. Closer still, the sides of the tower are revealed, covered in strange, indecipherable designs, in which you sense but cannot arrive at any meaning. At the base, an entrance. Your curiosity piqued, you enter and climb for a chance to view up close that invitingly strange, flickering light viewed from afar. On an open platform high above the ground, entranced by the awe and grandeur of the external view, it takes some time before the occasional crackling sound behind you enters your awareness. Turning to investigate its source, you come face to face with a crystal vessel, all that is separating you from a simple structure containing what appears to be a miniature lightning storm. This has your attention now, but what just what the hell could it be? Within this strange vessel hangs an arrangement of numerous metal plates connected by audible trails of sparks every few seconds. Very curious indeed. Puzzled, you glance around for any kind of explanation and, looking up you see, in every language known to the makers, descriptions of what is before you. You slowly realize that this device is making perceptible to you an all pervasive, invisible force that permeates the very fabric of the Universe. You stand witness to visible echos of distant cataclysms; the birthing spasms of supernovae, the titanic outpourings of Active Galactic Nuclei releasing vast torrents of energy into the void, and the final gasps of dying stars. Exposed to a layer of existence that before this moment you were not aware even existed, you find yourself humbled in the presence of a device that introduces you to the empirical reality of Cosmic Rays. Cosmic Praise will be on the playa this summer–with your help!

The New 3DS’ name might be ridiculous, but thankfully the console is a significant upgrade over Nintendo’s original 3DS, released three and a half years ago ago in 2011. The console itself is a strange decision for Nintendo, effectively splintering the 3DS’ library because the New 3DS XL is slightly more powerful than both the 3DS and 3DS XL. Certain titles — although right now the only game announced is Xenoblade Chronicles — will take advantage of this additional hardware power and only be compatible with the New 3DS XL. It’s unclear how many games will opt to take the exclusive New 3DS route, but this will largely determine if the console is a worthwhile purchase for people who already own the 3DS XL, the larger, vastly superior version of the first 3DS, released in 2012. Confused? Don’t worry, you aren’t alone. Nintendo’s naming system for the 3DS/2DS is abysmal and the “New 3DS” will likely cause as much confusion for the average consumer as the Wii U did back when it was initially released. Despite claims a few years ago that portable consoles were on the way out thanks to the rise in popularity of smartphone gaming, the 3DS has managed to sell 44 million units, and has a great library of games vastly superior to Sony’s more powerful and much better looking PlayStation Vita. But sales have slowed recently and the console likely won’t reach the 154 million sales figure the DS has achieved. This is where Nintendo’s Apple-like incremental refresh, the New 3DS XL, comes into play. So the big question with this version is if it’s actually worth the upgrade? The answer depends on what 3DS console you currently own. If you already have a 3DS XL, you might be better off waiting to see how many titles take advantage of the console’s additional hardware power. For instance, even The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask won’t be a New 3DS-exclusive game, despite launching at the same time as the console, Feb. 13. So what’s new about the New 3DS XL? Surprisingly quite a bit. The console’s build quality feels like an upgrade over the 3DS XL and the handheld seems to be approaching refined, high-tech device territory, losing the, “it’s just a silly toy” feeling that has plagued every version of Nintendo’s portable consoles since the Game Boy Advance SP. Still, the New 3DS XL doesn’t compare to the PlayStation Vita when it comes to aesthetics, although its glossy front and brushed plastic are a step in the right direction. However, make no mistake, this is the best looking “Game Boy” device Nintendo has every released. The console is set to launch in two colours Nintendo is calling “New Black” and “New Red,” as well as a special, limited edition Majora’s Mask model ($229.99) and a Monster Hunter 4 version, that includes a pre-loaded copy of the game ($259.99). All versions of the New 3DS XL look great, but the Majora’s Mask model’s lid artwork is particularly impressive. Interestingly, Nintendo neglected to launch the regular sized New 3DS in North America and instead is keeping that version of the console exclusive to Japan and Europe. Many fans are upset about this decision given the smaller sized New 3DS’ ability to change its face plates. It’s unclear if Nintendo has plans to ever release the smaller New 3Ds console outside of Japan. In terms of other new features, the New 3DS XL also has significantly upgraded 3D capabilities. The handheld’s camera now tracks your head movements, allowing you to maintain the 3D effect and also still move your head, something that wasn’t possible with the first 3DS. This means the gyroscope motion control in games like Star Fox 64 and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, is actually playable in 3D now. While it’s difficult to confirm yet, the new 3D screen also seems to be less painful on the eyes, although I spent most of my time playing the console with the feature turned off.. In terms of other upgrads, the New 3DS turns on quicker and the system’s menu is snappier when it comes to navigation. The New 3DS’ screen itself isn’t noticeably better quality than previous 3DS models, and after using high-end smartphones and the PlayStation Vita, its strange to easily be able to see individual pixels on a screen. Also, just like the 3DS XL, many early 3DS games look pixelated, thanks to the New 3DS’ XL 3.88-inch 400 x 240 screen. Most 3DS games were designed for this size of screen and are just enlarged to fit it. Hopefully this is something this changes with more recent releases. Nintendo has added a new C-Stick to the handheld as well. It’s less of a joystick/Circle Pad and more similar to the TrackPoint nub present on a ThinkPad laptops. Titles like Super Smash Bros. and Resident Evil Revelations (or any title that took advantage of Nintendo’s ill-fated Circle Pad Pro accessory) are set to take advantage of the C-stick, and for the most part it works reasonably well. Still, it seems like it would have been a better idea for Nintendo to simply add an additional Circle Pad to the console instead. The C-Stick reportedly works well for controlling the camera in 3D games but will be horrible if used in a first person-shooter. The New 3DS XL also has two additional shoulder buttons seem like they will help with porting GameCube games over to the console, but since no titles have been released yet that take advantage of these new buttons, it’s unclear how well they’ll perform. Another big addition to the console is the ability to interact with Nintendo’s Near Field Communication (NFC) amiibos, although only Super Smash Bros. (after an update set to launch in February) and an upcoming title called Code Name S.T.E.A.M, have been announced as amiibo compatible so far. The handheld’s 0.3-megapixel camera also performs better in low-light, but it’s unclear why you’d be trying to take pictures with your 3DS anyways when you likely have a smartphone sitting a few centimetres away. The handheld’s Micro-SD slot is located behind its back panel, which requires you to remove a pair of screws and then grapple with sliding the panel off without damaging it – not exactly ideal, but it’s not like most people will need to access this area of the console very frequently. Also, while far from a deal breaker, the fact that the New 3DS doesn’t include an AC adapter is borderline ridiculous. This means Nintendo is essentially assuming only people interested in upgrading from older 3DS devices will purchase the New 3DS. It’s common practice in Japan to not include an AC adapter in upgraded devices and if Nintendo opted to ditch the proprietary plug system it uses for portable consoles and instead opted for Micro-SD, not including an AC adapter with the New 3DS would be much easier to accept. Nintendo’s New 3DS is the best 3DS yet, but whether or not you need to upgrade will depend on how interested you are in gaming on the go. If you’re new to Nintendo’s portable gaming world, titles like Mario Kart 7, Super Smash Bros and The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, are impossible on your fancy smartphone and offer much deeper gaming experiences. If this is what you’re looking for, then the New 3DS is a worthwhile purchase. New 3DS XL Manufacturer: Nintendo Price: $229.99, $259.99 (with Monster Hunter 4) Release Date: Feb. 13, 2015 8/10 On the other hand, if you already own the 3DS XL, it might be best to wait and see how many titles actually take advantage of the New 3DS’ additional hardware power. But if you’re a 3DS owner (like me), who is tired of having their hands cramp while playing the first 3DS after just a few minutes of playing, Nintendo’s New 3DS XL is the portable consolle you’ve been waiting for. The New 3DS XL is set to be released on Feb. 13, 2015 in North America. Follow @Patrick_ORourke

Short Bytes: After a long wait, the stable release of Wine 2.0 has arrived. This release also marks the beginning of a new time-based release schedule for this software. Wine 2.0 lets one run Microsoft Office 2013 on Linux and brings support for many new games and applications. The users can download the tool from its website. A fter spending months in development, Wine 2.0 is available for download as a stable release. This utility is shipping after receiving 6,600 individual changes. It’s also being seen as the biggest ever release of this useful software. For those who don’t know, Wine is an open source software that translates Windows API calls to POSIX calls, and allows one to run Windows apps on other operating systems like Linux, macOS, and BSD. Wine 2.0 is the first release that’s made on the new time-based, annual release schedule. This also means that some features like Direct3D command stream, the Android graphics driver, the full HID support, etc., will be a part of the next development cycle. The biggest change comes in the form of support for Microsoft Office 2013, and 64-bit support on macOS. Also, there is support for many new games and applications. The other major changes in Wine 2.0 are related to text and fonts, graphics, user interface, Direct3D, DirectDraw, D3DX, sound and video, internet and networking, internationalization, built-in applications, build environment, kernel, etc. For a detailed set of changes, feel free to read the release notes. Wine 2.0 is available for download from their website. Did you find this story on Wine 2.0 interesting? Don’t forget to tell us your views and feedback. Also Read: Ubuntu 16.04.2 LTS Point Release Coming On Feb 2 With Linux Kernel 4.8

Stranger Things standout and first-time Emmy nominee Millie Bobby Brown gave some insights into the even stranger directions that the breakout supernatural horror sci-fi series will take in Season 2. “I think the show has pivotal moments, things that fans will not expect,” she shares with Deadline after receiving her first Emmy nod at the age of 13. “These episodes will definitely give people a great season — a binge-worthy season, for sure. It’s very, very crazy, honestly.” Brown, far and away the youngest in contention in this year’s Supporting Actress race, and conceivably one of the youngest actresses in history to be nominated, praised her collaborators this morning as the nominations were announced. “The Duffer brothers (series creators) are just geniuses, overall. They’re like my brothers,” Brown says. “They have so much to do, but they always come through with the developing of every character.” Netflix’s Stranger Things tied with FX’s Feud for the second-most nominations overall at 18. Denise Petski contributed to this story.

by José Lara just wanted a job. A company working in the natural gas fields needed a man to power wash wastewater tanks. Clean off the debris. Make them shining again. And so José Lara became a power washer for the Rain for Rent Co. “The chemicals, the smell was so bad. Once I got out, I couldn’t stop throwing up. I couldn’t even talk,” Lara said in his deposition, translated from Spanish. The company that had hired him didn’t provide him a respirator or protective clothing. That’s not unusual in the natural gas fields. José Lara did his job until he no longer could work. At the age of 42, he died from pancreatic and liver cancer. Accidents, injuries, and health problems are not all that unusual in the booming natural gas industry that uses horizontal hydraulic fracturing, better known as fracking, to invade the earth in order to extract methane gas. Of the 750 chemicals that can be used in the fracking process, more than 650 of them are toxic or carcinogens, according to a report filed with the U.S. House of Representatives in April 2011. Several public health studies reveal that homeowners living near fracked wells show higher levels of acute illnesses than homeowners living outside the “Sacrifice Zone,” as the energy industry calls it. In addition to toxic chemicals and high volumes of water, the energy industry uses silica sand in the mixture it sends at high pressure deep into the earth to destroy the layers of rock. The National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety (NIOSH) issued a Hazard Alert about the effects of crystalline silica. According to NIOSH there are seven primary sources of exposure during the fracking process, all of which could contribute to workers getting silicosis, the result of silica entering lung tissue and causing inflammation and scarring. Excessive silica can also lead to kidney and autoimmune diseases, lung cancer, tuberculosis, and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). In the Alert, NIOSH pointed out that its studies revealed about 79 percent of all samples it took in five states exceeded acceptable health levels, with 31 percent of all samples exceeding acceptable health levels by 10 times. However, the Hazard Alert is only advisory; it carries no legal or regulatory authority. In addition to the normal diesel emissions of trucks and trains, there are numerous incidents of leaks, some of several thousand gallons, much of which spills onto roadways and into creeks, from highway accidents of tractor-trailer trucks carrying wastewater and other chemicals. The process of fracking requires constant truck travel to and from the wells, as many as 200 trips per day per well. Each day, interstate carriers transport about five million gallons of hazardous materials. Not included among the daily 800,000 shipments are the shipments by intrastate carriers, which don’t have to report their cargo deliveries to the Department of Transportation. “Millions of gallons of wastewater produced a day, buzzing down the road, and still nobody’s really keeping track,” Myron Arnowitt, the Pennsylvania state director for Clean Water Action, told AlterNet. Drivers routinely work long weeks, have little time for rest, and hope they’ll make enough to get that house they want for their families. But fatigue causes accidents. And contrary to industry claims, workers don’t always wear protective gear when around toxic chemicals they put into the earth, and the toxic chemicals they extract from the earth. Or the toxic chemicals they drive on public roads. In the Great Recession, people become desperate for any kind of job. And the natural gas industry has responded with high-paying jobs. Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett is ecstatic that a side benefit of destroying the environment and public health is an improvement in the economy and more jobs—even if most of the workers in Pennsylvania now sport license plates from Texas and Oklahoma. The drivers, and most of the industry, are non-union or are hired as independent contractors with no benefits. The billion dollar corporations like it that way. It means there are no worker safety committees. No workplace regulations monitored by the workers. And if a worker complains about a safety or health violation, there’s no grievance procedure. Hire them fast. Fire them faster. No matter how much propaganda the industry spills out about its safety record and how it cares about its workers, the reality is that working for a company that fracks the earth is about as risky as it gets for worker health and safety. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued Rain for Rent nine violations for exposing José Lara to hydrogen sulfide and not adequately protecting him from the effects of the cyanide-like gas. It no longer matters to José Lara. The effects from fracking should matter to every everyone else. Walter Brasch is an award-winning journalist and professor emeritus of mass communications. His latest book is Fracking Pennsylvania, an in-depth analysis of the effects of fracking upon public health, the environment, worker safety, and agriculture. Dr. Brasch also investigates the history of energy policies in the U.S. and the relationships between the energy companies and politicians at local, state, and federal levels.

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - A weak economy exposed to an extended euro zone crisis, growing strain on the government coalition, and looming state elections that mean progress on tough reforms are unlikely are some of the risks to watch in 2012 in the world’s largest democracy. A man waves the national flag in Mumbai December 28, 2011. REUTERS/Vivek Prakash RATINGS (Unchanged since December unless stated): S&P: BBB- MOODY’S: Baa3 FITCH: BBB- The cost of insuring against default on 5-year sovereign debt, in common with debt markets elsewhere in the world see-sawed violently in the second half of 2011, closing the year at 108.5 basis points, up 41.5 since January. Following is a summary of key political risks in India: ECONOMIC MALAISE With a 25 percent drop in 2011, the Sensex stock market was the world’s worst performing among major economies. The rupee was the year’s worst performer in Asia <EMRG/FRX> with a 16 percent fall, and all eyes are on the current account deficit as funds flow the wrong way and the oil import bill rises. Growth in the second quarter of the 2012 fiscal year fell to 6.9 percent, the lowest rate for more than two years, while industrial output retreated in October for the first time since 2009. Asia’s No. 3 economy is sitting on a comfortable cushion of $300 billion foreign reserves and a confidence building $15 billion currency swap line with Japan was unveiled in December, so quick comparisons with India’s 1991 payments crisis are premature. But the avalanche of gloomy economic news has hit investor confidence and the political situation is not helping matters, with rifts in the government coalition making it hard to pass legislation to increase foreign investment in the economy. A reversal late in the year on a flagship reform to allow foreign supermarkets to operate in India was a huge blow for the government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Like peers Brazil and China, the room for government-led stimulus is limited. In December, Goldman Sachs’ Jim O’Neill called India the most disappointing of the BRICS countries, and warned of a risk of a balance of payments crisis if policymakers were not careful. As ever, India’s dependence on imported, then subsidised energy is a weakness, with high prices adding to pressure both on the current account and fiscal deficit. A drawn out crisis in Europe could exacerbate the capital outflows and further moderate exports. December brought some much-needed relief in the form of a sharp fall in food price inflation. That raises expectations of monetary loosening soon to help stoke flagging growth but structural factors are likely to keep prices rising at a fast pace in the medium term. With hopes dashed for benefits from global supermarket supply chain expertise, India will have to find new ways to reduce food wastage and increase productivity. What to watch: — Headline inflation. If price rises slow, expect the monetary easing India Inc. has been demanding for months. — The global economy and domestic demand. ELECTIONS IN FIVE STATES Elections in five states in the first two months of the year will test support for the ruling Congress party roughly half way through Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s second term. Elections are hard to predict in India, but opinion polls suggest Congress could do better than a year of corruption scandals and disappointing growth would suggest. A poor result for Congress would compound the feeling that Prime Minister Singh is a lame duck, and calls could intensify for him to hand over power to someone else in the party. The party could win in Punjab, while in the 200 million strong Uttar Pradesh any improvement on the 22 seats it currently holds in the 403 seat state assembly would be spun as a victory. Rahul Gandhi has staked his political reputation on getting a good result in Uttar Pradesh, which may be a barometer for the national mood ahead of general elections in 2014. Even if the party comes in fourth place but forms a coalition government, he will be seen as a success. Party chief Sonia Gandhi, who is at least as influential as the prime minister, has shown up in parliament on a number of occasions in recent weeks but has shed no light on illness she is suffering, which some Indian media reports say is cancer. What to watch: — The Gandhi dynasty. Rahul Gandhi has yet to prove himself as an effective politician, raising concerns he will struggle to lead the party if his mother steps down. The Uttar Pradesh election early next year is a key test. FREE MARKET REFORMS AND WELFARE The winter session of parliament was an unmitigated disaster from start to finish. As a result of passing no major legislation, the government now has a heavy load of promised reforms to try and push through two fractious houses in the budget session, possibly in March. Fickle coalition partners and a disruptive opposition mean the government is often effectively a minority when it tables bills. Although it could probably muster the support to survive a no-confidence vote, the government’s real saving grace may be the lack of appetite in the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party for an early general election. Despite Singh’s woes, it is by no means clear the BJP has won over many voters to its Hindu nationalist cause. The government will try to argue on the state election trail that its plans for the world’s largest food subsidy programme, higher compensation for farmers who lose land to property development or mines, and failed attempt to create an anti-corruption ombudsman are all evidence of its commitment to the common man, thwarted only by a disloyal opposition. Singh promises to bring in the planned supermarket rules by March, along with the corruption ombudsman. The first stage of a new tax system is planned for April. On current form, nobody should hold their breath though. What to watch: — Political wrangling around the budget for the 2012/13 fiscal year, likely to be announced after the state election results in early March. BETWEEN CHINA AND PAKISTAN India’s foreign policy focus used to be first Pakistan, then China. Now it is more China, then Pakistan. Relations with Islamabad have improved considerably in recent months, with an upgrading of trade ties and an easing of visa regulations helping the thaw. Still, it would only take one armed attack in India bearing the hallmarks of Pakistani-based militants to reverse the advances. Partly in response to its worries about China’s steadily increasing influence among all its neighbours, not least Pakistan, India has forged closer ties with the United States, Australia, Japan and Vietnam. Pakistan’s own perilous political situation could have far reaching fallout for relations between the nuclear armed neighbours. This jostling between the China and India is not necessarily dangerous and the risks are offset by growing trade and economic relations, but the rivalry will dominate India’s policy decisions for years to come. India is spending heavily on arms to keep pace with China’s growing military might, and the two countries still have unresolved border issues. India is also stepping up its involvement in Afghanistan, possibly at the behest of Washington, worried about a power vacuum as NATO troops withdraw in the next few years. What to watch: — Development of ties with East Asian nations to counter China, not least in the South China Sea. Australia has mentioned the possibility of a tri-lateral security pact with India and the United States. India says this is not on the cards but is stepping up naval cooperation with Australia. — Pakistan’s domestic problems. If the civilian government there falls, it could undo the progress made on normalising ties in the past year.

Sure, technically, Mad Men is in its final season. But with AMC stretching the end point across two years, that means there’s plenty of time for more classic Mad Men memes. The latest comes from comedian and songwriter Rob Paravonian, who has devised a Mad Men YouTube montage and created an accompanying song. The subject: Those tracking shots that pensively end many an episode. The lyrics to Paravonian’s catchy tune are both witty and a handy summary of the show’s mise en scene. As he sings, It’s at the end of the hour You need a visual with power To show your character’s desolation But there’s no crying and there’s no screaming When you’re battling inner demons So they just sit in isolation That’s why the camera can’t be static We need a shot that’s more dramatic We need to watch them as we walk away Advertisement All the while, the montage catalogues the various examples from over the years. Here’s Don closing his home office door in season one, episode two (“Ladies Room”), to get the scoop from Betty’s psychiatrist as the camera moves away from the door. And there’s Joan, Peggy, and Dr. Faye Miller pondering recent events in their lives at the end of season four, episode nine (“The Beautiful Girls”), as they become subtly more prominent in the frame. Paravonian’s video is as cleverly insightful as the song, including the captions for notable motifs. Still there are four more episodes this year, and then seven more in 2015, so maybe there will be cause to update the video in a year or so.

This week, former Seventh-day Adventist pastor (and fellow Pathos blogger) Ryan Bell will finish up his so-called Year Without God — meaning he will officially announce what other news outlets have already reported: After a year of studying the intersection between faith and non-faith, Bell has landed rather solidly on the non-faith side. “I don’t think that God exists,” he told NPR. In other words, his year without God will soon become his life without God. So say we all: Welcome, Ryan! Now, I know quite a lot about what goes into not believing in God (because it’s a whole lot of nothing, frankly), but I didn’t — until very recently — know a single thing about Seventh-day Adventism. And, as it turns out, it’s a pretty interesting little Christian religion they got going on over there. Here’s some stuff I dug up about it. 1. Jesus is coming… and SOON. Seventh-day Adventism (and, yes, the “d” is lowercase; don’t ask me why) grew out of Millerism, a movement founded by William Miller in 1833 and based on the belief that Jesus was returning to earth somewhere in the 1843-1844 vicinity. Biblical math being what it is, Miller did have to move the exact date of Jesus’ arrival a couple of times, but EVENTUALLY he settled on Oct. 22, 1844. The problem was — and this is going to shock you guys — when that day came, nothing happened. Millerites called it “The Big Disappointment.” I’ll say! After that, the movement split up. Fast forward to 1863 in the great state of New Jersey: The few folks who stayed the course changed their name to Adventists and found a super-clever way to save face. How? By telling themselves that shit did, in fact, go down on Oct. 22, 1844 — just not the shit they thought would go down. Instead, they reasoned, Jesus had moved into a certain sanctuary within heaven and began his process of “investigative judgement” — that is, judging human beings and deciding who deserved to go to heaven. Jesus is definitely still planning to come VERY SOON, they say, but this time none of the world’s 17.2 million SDA congregants is banking on a specific date. Smart. According to the worlds’ 17 million Adventists, the seventh day of the week — Saturday — is the REAL Sabbath. (Not on Sunday, as other Christians maintain.) It goes back to creation times, when God worked his ass off for six days then rested on the seventh. Secular work and entertainment is discouraged on the Sabbath. If you want to work, people, do it when God did: Days 1 through 6. Also like their Jewish counterparts, the Adventists don’t eat pork or any other “unclean” meats. 3. They have a prophet, and she’s a woman. Ellen G. White, co-founder the Adventists, was a prolific writer. But she also claimed to have lots of religious “visions” — which also made her something of an SDA superstar. Today, many of White’s writings are given near-scripture status, and considered second only to the Bible in terms of credibility. Many have noted White’s “spiritual gift of prophecy.” 4. They want you to eat your Wheaties. The Adventists are a religion very keen on health and diet. And, in a very real sense, they are the reason we have breakfast cereal. Dr. John Harvey Kellogg — who invented cereal along with his brother, William — was an early SDA leader and pushed the church to make health a major tenant. (They even had their own health food company for a while!) Sadly, Kellogg was eventually excommunicated after publishing a book in which he made some pantheistic statements: “God is in everything.” The Adventists, as it turns out, don’t go in for all that hippie crap. There’s only one route to God, and Jesus is the ticket master. 5. There is no hell. Unlike most other branches of Christianity, Adventists believe that until the Second Coming, all dead people simple enter a deep sleep — a place of complete unconsciousness. As the story goes, upon Jesus’ return, he will bring all those suitable to heaven (where saints will reign), while the rest are simply destroyed for eternity. See? No hell. 6. They advocate religious freedom. Although Seventh-day Adventists could be considered evangelical, they also have a long history (100 years!) of advocating for religious freedom for all people, regardless of faith. In 1893 its leaders founded the International Religious Liberty Association, which is universal and non-sectarian. Religious freedom is one thing, but something tells me Ryan Bell may have taken things to an extreme in the eye of the church.

White House counselor Kellyanne Conway said President Trump may have access to information backing up his claim that President Obama asked for a court order to tap phones in Trump Tower. Conway said on Fox News Monday that, as president, Trump has access to information that others don't, and that might be a reason why he decided to tweet accusations at Obama for wiretaps at Trump Tower. The president and his administration have not provided any evidence for those claims, which have been denied by Obama. .@KellyannePolls: Let's get to the bottom of this. That's the president's entire point. pic.twitter.com/WzjCU7vbFZ — FOX & friends (@foxandfriends) March 6, 2017 "He's the president of the United States, he has information and intelligence that the rest of us do not," she said on Fox News. She also pointed to media reports as justification for looking into whether the Obama administration asked for a FISA court order to spy on Trump Tower. "You have a number of credible media outlets reporting there was politically-motivated activity all during the campaign and suggesting there's more there," she said. Conway later said it's important to get to the bottom of Trump's accusations in order to get the truth. "People deserve to know, so why not include in the existing investigations into Russia whether or not this actually happened?" Conway asked.

PARIS — The QuetzSat-1 satellite, which satellite fleet operator SES is counting on to deliver a quick contribution to revenue, launched into orbit on Sept. 29) aboard an International Launch Services (ILS) Proton rocket, SES and ILS announced. The satellite lifted off atop the Russian-built Proton rocket at 2:32 p.m. EDT (1832 GMT) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, where the local time was early Sept. 30. Luxembourg-based SES will operate QuetzSat-1 from 77 degrees west, a Mexican government-registered orbital slot that SES will use to provide satellite bandwidth to EchoStar Corp. of Englewood, Colo., and EchoStar’s Dish Mexico affiliate. [Photos: 50 Amazing Russian Rocket Launches] EchoStar has leased the entire capacity of QuetzSat-1 — 32 Ku-band transponders with 20 kilowatts of power — to EchoStar for 10 years to provide broadcasts in Mexico, the United States and Central America. The satellite is thus fully leased, and will begin generating revenue for SES, as soon as it completes in-orbit testing. It is a key component of SES's major expansion program currently under way. A Russian-built Proton rocket launches the new QuetzSat-1 satellite into orbit from Baikonur Cosmodrome on Sept. 30 (local time) in 2011 in this still from an International Launch Services broadcast. (Image: © International Launch Services) The 5,600-kilogram QuetzSat-1 was built by Space Systems/Loral of Palo Alto, Calif., and was financed through a direct loan from the U.S. Export-Import Bank. The loan, valued at $171.5 million, paid for the satellite’s construction and for a portion of its insurance coverage, arranged by Aon of Chicago. The launch was the second flight of the Proton M/Breeze M vehicle, but the first ILS commercial flight, since the rocket’s Aug. 18 failure to deliver a large Russian telecommunications satellite, Express AM4, into the correct orbit. The satellite, insured for around $300 million, has been declared a total loss. The failure’s cause has been traced to a flight-programming error. This article was provided by Space News, dedicated to covering all aspects of the space industry.

Marcello Truzzi (September 6, 1935 – February 2, 2003) was a professor of sociology at New College of Florida and later at Eastern Michigan University, founding co-chairman of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP), a founder of the Society for Scientific Exploration,[1] and director for the Center for Scientific Anomalies Research. Truzzi was an investigator of various protosciences and pseudosciences and, as fellow CSICOP cofounder Paul Kurtz dubbed him "the skeptic's skeptic". He is credited with originating the oft-used phrase "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof", though earlier versions existed. Biography [ edit ] Truzzi was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, and was the only child of juggler Massimiliano Truzzi and his wife Sonya. His family moved to the United States in 1940 where his father performed with the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. Truzzi served in the United States Army between 1958 and 1960; he became a naturalized citizen in 1961. Truzzi founded the skeptical journal Explorations and was a founding member of the skeptic organization CSICOP as its co-chairman with Paul Kurtz. Truzzi's journal became the official journal of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP) and was renamed The Zetetic ("zetetic" is another name for "skeptic" and is not to be confused with zetetics, the study of the relationship of art and science). The journal remained under his editorship. He left CSICOP about a year after its founding, after receiving a vote of no confidence from the group's Executive Council. Truzzi wanted to include pro-paranormal people in the organization and pro-paranormal research in the journal, but CSICOP felt that there were already enough organizations and journals dedicated to the paranormal. Kendrick Frazier became the editor of CSICOP's journal and the name was changed to Skeptical Inquirer. Zetetic Scholar journal founded by Marcello Truzzi Thejournal founded by Marcello Truzzi After leaving CSICOP, Truzzi started another journal, the Zetetic Scholar.[2] He promoted the term "zeteticism" as an alternative to "skepticism", because he thought that the latter term was being usurped by what he termed "pseudoskeptics". A zetetic is a "skeptical seeker". The term's origins lie in the word for the followers of the skeptic Pyrrho in ancient Greece. Skeptic's Dictionary memorialized Truzzi thus: Truzzi considered most skeptics to be pseudoskeptics, a term he coined to describe those who assume an occult or paranormal claim is false without bothering to investigate it. A kind way to state these differences might be to say that Marcello belonged to the Pyrrhonian tradition, most of the rest of us belong to the Academic skeptical tradition.[3] Truzzi was skeptical of investigators and debunkers who determined the validity of a claim prior to investigation. He accused CSICOP of increasingly unscientific behavior, for which he coined the term pseudoskepticism. Truzzi stated: They tend to block honest inquiry, in my opinion. Most of them are not agnostic toward claims of the paranormal; they are out to knock them. [...] When an experiment of the paranormal meets their requirements, then they move the goal posts. Then, if the experiment is reputable, they say it's a mere anomaly.[4] Truzzi held that CSICOP researchers sometimes also put unreasonable limits on the standards for proof regarding the study of anomalies and the paranormal. Martin Gardner writes: "In recent years he (Truzzi) has become a personal friend of Uri Geller; not that he believes Uri has psychic powers, as I understand it, but he admires Uri for having made a fortune by pretending he is not a magician."[5] Truzzi co-authored a book on psychic detectives entitled The Blue Sense: Psychic Detectives and Crime. It investigated many psychic detectives and concluded: "[W]e unearthed new evidence supporting both sides in the controversy. We hope to have shown that much of the debate has been extremely simplistic."[6] The book also stated that the evidence didn't meet the burden of proof demanded for such an extraordinary claim.[7] Although he was very familiar with folie à deux, Truzzi was very confident a shared visual hallucination could not be skeptically examined by one of the participators. Thus he categorized it as an anomaly. In a 1982 interview Truzzi stated that controlled ESP (ganzfeld) experiments have "gotten the right results" maybe 60 percent of the time.[8] This question remains controversial. Truzzi remained an advisor to IRVA, the International Remote Viewing Association, from its founding meeting until his death.[9] Truzzi was Keynote Speaker at the 1st annual National Roller Coaster Conference, "CoasterMania", held at Cedar Point Amusement Park, Sandusky, Ohio - 1978. On the subject of riding in the front vs riding in the back of a roller coaster, he said: The front of the roller coaster is really less stressful than the back part of the roller coaster. The first time you're worried about a roller coaster, you might be better off riding in the front, because you're not at the tail end of the whip. The average fellow getting on a roller coaster (thinks), "Oh boy, the most dangerous place must be the front, because you're right there, nobody in front of you to tell you how to act, and so on; it must be the worst place, so I'm going to get in the 'safe' part in the back." Because that's what we do: we get in the back of busses, we get in the back of planes, and so on. We figure that’s the safe part. Well, there's a certain irony here, because the guy who says, "I'm gonna prove how macho I am, I'm gonna to really conquer my fear, I'm gonna get in the toughest place", and he gets in front. When he finishes the ride, he must feel like, "Gee, it wasn't so bad, after all." Whereas that poor milquetoast fellow who gets in the back, he's probably never going to ride again. So one of the things you might predict is that people who ride in the front of roller coasters are more likely to ride again. People who ride in the back for the first time are less likely to bother to go on it again.[10] Truzzi died from cancer on February 2, 2003. Pseudoskepticism [ edit ] Marcello Truzzi popularized the term pseudoskepticism in response to skeptics who, in his opinion, made negative claims without bearing the burden of proof of those claims.[11] While a Professor of Sociology at Eastern Michigan University in 1987, Truzzi discussed pseudoskepticism in the journal Zetetic Scholar which he had founded: In science, the burden of proof falls upon the claimant; and the more extraordinary a claim, the heavier is the burden of proof demanded. The true skeptic takes an agnostic position, one that says the claim is not proved rather than disproved. He asserts that the claimant has not borne the burden of proof and that science must continue to build its cognitive map of reality without incorporating the extraordinary claim as a new "fact". Since the true skeptic does not assert a claim, he has no burden to prove anything. He just goes on using the established theories of "conventional science" as usual. But if a critic asserts that there is evidence for disproof, that he has a negative hypothesis—saying, for instance, that a seeming psi result was actually due to an artifact—he is making a claim and therefore also has to bear a burden of proof. — Marcello Truzzi, On Pseudo-Skepticism, Zetetic Scholar, 12/13, pp3-4, 1987 The term has found occasional use in fringe fields where opposition from those within the scientific mainstream or from scientific skeptics is strong.[citation needed] In 1994 Susan Blackmore, a parapsychologist who became more skeptical and eventually became a CSICOP fellow in 1991, described what she termed the "worst kind of pseudoskepticism": There are some members of the skeptics' groups who clearly believe they know the right answer prior to inquiry. They appear not to be interested in weighing alternatives, investigating strange claims, or trying out psychic experiences or altered states for themselves (heaven forbid!), but only in promoting their own particular belief structure and cohesion...I have to say it—most of these people are men. Indeed, I have not met a single woman of this type.[12] An extraordinary claim requires extraordinary proof. — Marcello Truzzi, "On the Extraordinary: An Attempt at Clarification", Zetetic Scholar, Vol. 1, No. 1, p. 11, 1978 Carl Sagan popularized this as "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence", which later came to be known as the Sagan standard.[13] Martin Gardner - Truzzi Correspondence [ edit ] In 2017, World Scientific released a book edited by Dana Richards about the correspondence between Martin Gardner and Truzzi. The book called Dear Martin, Dear Marcello: Gardner and Truzzi on Skepticism is broken up into four sections; "The Road to CSICOP", "The Demarcation Problem", "The Dissolution", and the "Return to Cordiality". The early letters from Truzzi were not preserved and the beginning of the book seems one-sided with only Gardner's letters. The editor, Richards states in the introduction the conflicts between the two men, their differing goals for CSICOP, and various people in the skeptic and paranormal communities. They discuss many topics including publishers, Geller, and the "definitions of charlatan and crankpot".[14] Books by Truzzi [ edit ] Truzzi, Marcello (1968). Sociology and Everyday Life . Prentice-Hall. Truzzi, Marcello (1969). Caldron cookery: An authentic guide for coven connoisseurs . Meredith Press. Truzzi, Marcello (1971). Sociology: the classic statements . Random House. Peterson, David M; Truzzi, Marcello (1972). Criminal Life: Views from the Inside . Prentice-Hall. Stoll, Clarice Stasz; Truzzi, Marcello (1973). Sexism: scientific debates . Addison-Wesley. Truzzi, Marcello; Springer, Philip B (1973). Revolutionaries on Revolution: Participants' Perspectives on the Strategies of Seizing Power . Goodyear Publishing Co. Truzzi, Marcello (1973). The humanities as sociology;: An introductory reader . Merrill. Truzzi, Marcello (editor) (1974). Chess in Literature: A Rich and Varied Selection of the Great Literature of Chess-Poetry and Prose from the Past and Present . Avon. ISBN 0-380-00164-0. Truzzi, Marcello (1974). Verstehen: Subjective Understanding in the Social Sciences . Addison-Wesley. Truzzi, Marcello (1974). Sociology for pleasure . Prentice-Hall. Jorgensen, Joseph G; Truzzi, Marcello (1974). Anthropology and American Life . Prentice-Hall. Truzzi, Marcello; Springer, Philip B (1976). Solving social problems: Essays in relevant sociology . Goodyear Publishing Co. Truzzi, Marcello (1984), "Sherlock Holmes, Applied Social Psychologist", in Umberto Eco; Thomas Sebeok, The Sign of Three: Dupin, Holmes, Peirce , Bloomington, IN: History Workshop , Indiana University Press, pp. 55–80, ISBN 978-0-253-35235-4 , 236 pages. Ten essays on methods of abductive inference in Poe's Dupin, Doyle's Holmes, Peirce and many others. , 236 pages. Ten essays on methods of abductive inference in Poe's Dupin, Doyle's Holmes, Peirce and many others. Lyons, Arthur; Truzzi, Marcello (1988). Satan Wants You: The Cult of Devil Worship in America . The Mysterious Press. Lyons, Arthur; Truzzi, Marcello (1991). The Blue Sense: Psychic Detectives and Crime . The Mysterious Press. ISBN 0-89296-426-X. Truzzi, Marcello; Moran, Sarah. Psychic Detectives . Clark, Jerome; Truzzi, Marcello (1992). UFO Encounters: Sightings, visitations and Investigations. Publications International Ltd. See also [ edit ] References [ edit ] Further reading [ edit ] Obituaries Truzzi's writings Other Hansen, George P., " Marcello Truzzi (1935 - 2003) ". ( ed ., recognizes Marcello Truzzi's contributions to sociology, the history of juggling, magic, and the study of the paranormal.) ". ( ., recognizes Marcello Truzzi's contributions to sociology, the history of juggling, magic, and the study of the paranormal.) Clark, Jerome, " Archive > Milestones Marcello Truzzi (1935-2003) ". The Anomalist, USA, 2005. ". The Anomalist, USA, 2005. Zeteticism on the Flat Earth Wiki.

Relapse to cocaine seeking is associated with potentiated excitatory synapses in nucleus accumbens. α 2 δ-1 is an auxiliary subunit of voltage-gated calcium channels that affects calcium-channel trafficking and kinetics, initiates extracellular signaling cascades, and promotes excitatory synaptogenesis. Previous data demonstrate that repeated exposure to alcohol, nicotine, methamphetamine, and morphine upregulates α 2 δ-1 in reward-related brain regions, but it was unclear whether this alteration generalized to cocaine. Here, we show that α 2 δ-1 protein was increased in nucleus accumbens after cocaine self-administration and extinction compared with saline controls. Furthermore, the endogenous ligand thrombospondin-1, responsible for the synaptogenic properties of the α 2 δ-1 receptor, was likewise elevated. Using whole-cell patch-clamp recordings of EPSCs in nucleus accumbens, we demonstrated that gabapentin, a specific α 2 δ-1 antagonist, preferentially reduced the amplitude and increased the paired-pulse ratio of EPSCs evoked by electrical stimulation in slices from cocaine-experienced rats compared with controls. In vivo, gabapentin microinjected in the nucleus accumbens core attenuated cocaine-primed but not cue-induced reinstatement. Importantly, gabapentin's effects on drug seeking were not due to a general depression of spontaneous or cocaine-induced locomotor activity. Moreover, gabapentin had no effect on reinstatement of sucrose seeking. These data indicate that α 2 δ-1 contributes specifically to cocaine-reinstated drug seeking, and identifies this protein as a target for the development of cocaine relapse medications. These results also inform ongoing discussion in the literature regarding efficacy of gabapentin as a candidate addiction therapy. Introduction Even after prolonged abstinence, drug users experience high rates of relapse (Dennis and Scott, 2007). Pathological alterations in physiological and structural plasticity mediated by enduring changes in glutamatergic transmission are key features underlying vulnerability to relapse (Kalivas, 2009; Wolf, 2010; Gipson et al, 2013). Hence, investigation of mechanisms responsible for this plasticity represents a priority of preclinical research. Voltage-gated calcium channels (VGCCs) control neurotransmitter release, influence neuronal excitability, regulate gene transcription, and participate in multiple forms of short-term plasticity, underscoring their importance in regulating normal neurotransmission (Kawamoto et al., 2012). Moreover, VGCCs have been implicated in drug-related plasticity and behavior. Repeated noncontingent cocaine administration increases voltage-sensitive calcium currents in response to membrane depolarization in medial prefrontal cortex, an effect reversed by an L-type calcium channel (LTCC) antagonist (Nasif et al., 2005); and the development and expression of cocaine locomotor sensitization is dependent on VGCC function (Pierce et al., 1998; Schierberl et al., 2011). VGCCs are heteromeric complexes comprised of a pore-forming α 1 subunit with ancillary β, α 2 δ, and γ subunits (Dolphin, 2012). α 2 δ-1 modulates VGCC kinetic properties, including inactivation rate, in addition to regulating channel trafficking and stability (Dolphin, 2012). Moreover, α 2 δ-1 subunits perform calcium-independent functions, including intracellular or extracellular signaling and excitatory synaptogenesis. While a number of reports have examined the involvement of individual α 1 subunits to drug-induced plasticity and reward, much less is known about the contributions of accessory subunits. Repeated, noncontingent treatment with nicotine, ethanol, and methamphetamine increases α 2 δ-1 in cerebral cortex (Hayashida et al., 2005; Katsura et al., 2006; Kurokawa et al., 2011). Preliminary results from a proteomic screen indicate that α 2 δ-1 is upregulated in NAc postsynpatic density (PSD)-enriched subfraction from cocaine self-administering animals, compared with saline controls, raising the possibility that α 2 δ-1 is also regulated by cocaine and by both contingent and noncontingent drug administration (Reissner et al., 2011).

A cop lay dying at the hands of Tim Eling. The former Marine had botched yet another pharmacy robbery, escaping after a gunfight with police officer Richard Walton. Now, bleeding from a gunshot to the leg, Eling lay holed up at a relative's house in St. Paul, drifting in and out from a heavy dose of painkillers. His brother-in-law walked in and dropped the morning newspaper. "The guy's dead,'' he said in disgust. He left Eling to read about the trail of grief he had blazed at Mounds Park Hospital in St. Paul the night before. Today, 29 years later, Eling still walks the corridors at the Stillwater prison. A former drug addict and a first-degree murderer, he learned last week that his life sentence has been brought to an end with an extraordinary parole decision by state Corrections Commissioner Tom Roy. Corrections officials say they cannot recall the last time a first-degree murderer of a police officer was granted a parole. Roy's decision has triggered an emotional debate over justice and forgiveness that has quickly spread to the State Capitol. On Friday, the Legislature's top Republicans, Sen. Amy Koch and Rep. Kurt Zellers, sent a letter to Gov. Mark Dayton protesting the parole and calling for legislative hearings. When Eling was sentenced in 1982, a prisoner sentenced to life became eligible for parole after serving 17 years. In 1993, the Legislature changed the law to require life imprisonment without parole for anyone convicted of killing a police officer. Minnesota is now among at least 30 states that require mandatory life sentences or death for anyone convicted of murdering a police officer. The state's largest organization of police officers not only opposes parole for Eling, it says that cop killers deserve capital punishment. "I don't think anyone who kills an officer should ever get out alive,'' said Dennis Flaherty, executive director of the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association. "Where do you draw the line, what kind of world would you be creating?'' Roy and his deputies understand the reaction, but say they believe their decision speaks to the ability of some violent criminals to transform themselves. They say Eling's conduct over the past 15 years suggests he will lead a life of service on the outside. They also note that, across several previous Corrections administrations, he had to repeatedly prove he was making changes in his life. Try to outlast cancer Eling, now 62, says he knows the gravity of the decision. Despite the parole, he must still complete four more years of a companion 1996 sentence for smuggling drugs while in prison. At the same time he'll try to outlast a cancer that doctors discovered several years ago. In the course of a two-hour interview last week, Eling said he understands the disgust felt by police. "I'd probably feel the same way," he said. "The record speaks for itself. I have not been a good person in this life." He said he also understands the toll he inflicted on members of Walton's family. MaryAnn Walton, 74, the officer's former wife, said last week that she accepts the judgment of state parole officials. But she added: "I believe in transformations of heart and that people can be forgiven by God. What bothers me is I know how hard this will be on police officers. What kind of example is it going to be to have a cop killer turned loose?'' When informed on the anniversary of Walton's death that several members of the family are willing to forgive him, Eling broke down in tears. Asked whether he deserved to be paroled after killing the Oakdale police officer, he said: "Probably not. Probably not. That's a decision that other people have to make." Several days before his September parole hearing, he said, Commissioner Roy spoke with him privately for an hour. "He told me he wanted to come in and look me in the eye, see who I was, face to face," Eling said. "He told me he believed people could change.'' The coldest eyes The St. Paul hospital robbery was not Eling's first. In March 1972, detective Jim Wright and his partner pulled up to a Richfield pharmacy at 66th Street and Nicollet Avenue. Inside, a theft of prescription drugs was under way. Outside, a woman waited behind the wheel of what appeared to be the getaway car, motor running. Two men came out, one carrying a box of drugs, the other with a nickel-plated semi-automatic pistol in his hand. "Drop the gun! Drop the damn gun,'' Wright shouted. He and his partner were face to face with Tim Eling. "We were pleading with him to drop it -- a minute, a minute and a half,'' the now-retired Wright recalled. "That's a long time when you're in a standoff." Eling finally did as ordered. In an interrogation room soon after, Wright asked Eling what had motivated him to rob the pharmacy. Eling wouldn't say. "He had the coldest eyes,'' Wright said. "He looked at me and said, 'You know, I wish I would have killed you then because I wouldn't be here now.' It gives me the willies."

Juzo Itami (伊丹 十三, Itami Jūzō), born Yoshihiro Ikeuchi (池内 義弘, Ikeuchi Yoshihiro, May 15, 1933 – December 20, 1997), was a Japanese actor, screenwriter and film director. He directed ten films, all of which he wrote himself. Early life [ edit ] Itami was born Yoshihiro Ikeuchi in Kyoto.[1] The name Itami was passed on from his father, Mansaku Itami—who was a renowned satirist and film director before World War II. He was the brother-in-law of Kenzaburō Ōe and uncle of Hikari Ōe. He played the father Ishihara in the comic TV program Cometa-san.[citation needed] At the end of the war, when he was in Kyoto, Itami was chosen as an prodigy and educated at Tokubetsu Kagaku Gakkyū (特別科学学級; "the special scientific education class") as a future scientist who was expected to defeat the Allied powers. Among his fellow students were the sons of Hideki Yukawa and Sin-Itiro Tomonaga. This class was abolished in March 1947.[citation needed] He moved from Kyoto to Ehime Prefecture when he was a high school student. He attended the prestigious Matsuyama Higashi High School, where he was known for being able to read works by Arthur Rimbaud in French. But, due to his poor academic record, he had to remain in the same class for two years. It was here that he became acquainted with Kenzaburō Ōe, who later married his sister. When it turned out that he could not graduate from Matsuyama Higashi High School, he transferred to Matsuyama Minami High School, from which he graduated.[citation needed] After failing the entrance exam for the College of Engineering at Osaka University, Itami worked at times as a commercial designer, a television reporter, a magazine editor, and an essayist.[citation needed] Acting career [ edit ] Itami studied acting at an acting school called Budai Geijutsu Gakuin in Tokyo. In January 1960 he joined Daiei Film and was given the stage name Itami Ichizō (伊丹 一三) by Masaichi Nagata. In May 1960, Itami married Kazuko Kawakita, the daughter of film producer Nagamasa Kawakita. He first acted on screen in Ginza no Dora-Neko (1960). In 1961 he left Daiei and started to appear in foreign-language films such as 55 Days at Peking. In 1965 he appeared in the big-budget Anglo-American film Lord Jim. In 1965 he published a book of essays which became a hit, Yoroppa Taikutsu Nikki ("Diary of boredom in Europe"). In 1966 he and Kazuko agreed to divorce. In 1967, when working with Nagisa Oshima on a film Sing a Song of Sex (Nihon Shunka Kō) he met Nobuko Miyamoto. He and Miyamoto married in 1969. Around this time, he changed his stage name to "伊丹 十三" (Itami Jūzō) with the kanji "十" (ten) rather than "一" (one), and worked as a character actor in film and television. In 1968 he played Saburo Ishihara, the father of Takeshi and Koji during season II, in the series for children Cometo-San. He is well known for these series, even today, in most Spanish speaking countries along singer Yumiko Kokonoe who played Cometo-San. In the 1970s, he joined the TV Man Union television production company and produced and presented documentaries for television, which influenced his later career as a film director. He also worked as a reporter for a TV programme called Afternoon Show. In 1983, Itami played the father in Yoshimitsu Morita's The Family Game, and The Makioka Sisters for which roles he won the Yokohama Film Festival and Hochi Film Award for Best Supporting Actor. Director [ edit ] Itami's debut as director was the movie Osōshiki (The Funeral) in 1984, at the age of 50. This film proved popular in Japan and won many awards, including Japanese Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Screenplay. However, it was his second movie, the "noodle western" Tampopo, that earned him international exposure and acclaim.[2] On May 22, 1992, six days after the release of his anti-yakuza satire Minbō no Onna, Itami was attacked, beaten, and slashed on the face by five members of the Goto-gumi, a Shizuoka-based yakuza clan, who were angry at Itami's film's portrayal of yakuza members.[3] This attack led to a government crackdown on the yakuza.[citation needed] His subsequent stay in a hospital inspired his next film Daibyonin, a grim satire on the Japanese health system.[citation needed] During a showing of this film in Japan, a cinema screen was slashed by a right-wing protester.[4] Death [ edit ] He died on December 20, 1997[5] in Tokyo, after falling from the roof of the building where his office was located, after the press published evidence that he was having an extramarital affair. The suicide letter he reportedly left behind denied any involvement in such an affair.[6] One theory is that Itami's suicide was forced by members of the Goto-gumi yakuza faction. A former member of the Goto-gumi faction told journalist Jake Adelstein in 2008, “We set it up to stage his murder as a suicide. We dragged him up to the rooftop and put a gun in his face. We gave him a choice: jump and you might live or stay and we’ll blow your face off. He jumped. He didn’t live.”[7] Tributes [ edit ] His brother-in-law and childhood friend Kenzaburo Oe wrote The Changeling (2000), which modeled their relationship.[8] Filmography [ edit ] Actor [ edit ] As director [ edit ] Awards [ edit ]

The United States’ commitment to NATO will not change under the presidency of Donald Trump, Kerry said, Sputnik reported. "I made the point to my colleagues that the change of an administration in the United States will not change the unwavering commitment of the United States to these ideals or our NATO obligations," Kerry stated. "The United States’ commitment to NATO and to Article 5 transcends politics." Article 5 of the alliance’s founding treaty specifies that under the doctrine of collective defense, an attack against one NATO country is also an attack against all of its allies. Trump repeatedly said during his presidential campaign that Washington should review its relationships with NATO allies and insist that they pay more of the cost for having their security guaranteed by the United States. Kerry pointed out that only five NATO members – the United States, the United Kingdom, Estonia, Greece and Poland – spend the recommended 2 percent of their respective economies on defense. The United States contributes about $500 million a year to the alliance, or about 22 percent of NATO's commonly funded budget. Follow Trend on Telegram. Only most interesting and important news

national On the death anniversary of Indian physicist Dr Vikram Sarabhai, here are some interesting and lesser known facts on the life of the visionary scientist On the death anniversary of Indian physicist Dr Vikram Sarabhai, here are some interesting and lesser known facts on the life of the visionary scientist Dr Vikram Sarabhai with wife, the renowned dancer Mrinalini Sarabhai and their son Kartikeya Sarabhai. File pic/AFP Dr Vikram Sarabhai, who was considered the Father of Indian space program, was born on 12th August 1919 in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. His father Ambalal Sarabhai was an affluent industrialist and owned many mills in Gujarat. He matriculated from the Gujarat College in Ahmedabad and later moved to England and joined St. John's College, University of Cambridge. After returning from Cambridge to an independent India, he persuaded charitable trusts controlled by his family and friends and founded a research institution, the Physical Research Laboratory in Ahmedabad on November 11, 1947. He joined the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore and began research in cosmic rays under the guidance of Sir C. V. Raman, a Nobel Prize winner. Dr Sarabhai, who placed India on the international map in the field of space research, was the co-founder of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). The Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, which is ISRO’s lead facility for launch vehicle development located in Thiruvananthapuram, is named in his memory. In 1942, Dr Sarabhai married Mrinalini Sarabhai, a celebrated classical dancer. The renowned danseuse and activist Mallika Sarabhai is his daughter and the noted educationist and environmentalist Kartikeya Sarabhai is his son. His interest in solar physics and cosmic ray led him to set up many observation stations around the country. He was also the Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission. Dr Homi Bhabha, regarded as the father of India's nuclear science program, supported Dr Sarabhai in setting up the first rocket launching station in India. This center was established at Thumba near Thiruvananthapuram on the coast of the Arabian Sea, primarily because of its proximity to the equator. The first rocket with sodium vapour payload was launched on November 21, 1963. Dr Sarabhai started a project for the launch of an Indian Satellite, as a result the first Indian satellite Aryabhata was put in orbit in 1975 from a Russian Cosmodrome. He has been pivotal in establishing many institutes of international repute like the Nehru Foundation for Development in Ahmedabad, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA), which is considered a world class management institute. He set up Ahmedabad Textiles Industrial Research Association (ATIRA), which helped the booming textiles business in Ahmedabad and the Center for Environmental Planning and Technology (CEPT). In 1966, Dr Sarabhai was awarded Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan (posthumous) in the year 1972. He passed away in 1971 at Kovalam, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.

The past month or so has been something of a whirlwind experience for me. I’ve gone from zero to hero in a sense, through a mix of joining the tournament scene late and glorious blind luck in reviving an old archetype at exactly the right moment. (Never delete your out-of-date decklists. You never know when you might accidentally break the meta.) In a handful of weeks, I went from thinking of myself as someone who probably could make S-rank each month if he made time for it, to someone who’s bitterly disappointed after making some execution errors in the final of a 48-person tournament. In my head, those are (were?) miles apart as player archetypes. To compound the bizarreness, my performance so far has earned me enough Duelyst World Circuit points to compete in this month’s DWC Qualifier, taking place a whole eight days from time of writing. Well, I guess I hope that Ancient Bonds doesn’t upend the meta completely, right? I just jam in some Lavaslashers and we’re all good? Oh, it’s Conquest format? Um. Conquest For the uninitiated, Conquest, officially called Senerai on the Duelyst tournament circuit, is a popular competitive format for games like Hearthstone. It involves no sideboards, but each player brings multiple decks – in this case, three – each from different factions. A match between two players is best-of-five. Each player chooses one of their decks to pilot at the start of each game, but you can’t pick a deck you’ve already won with. That is, the first player to win with each of their three decks takes the match. On top of that, if I make the top 8 bracket, I need to supply a fourth deck, and one of them gets banned by my opponent in each round. What. If you’ve read my previous articles, you might notice a theme: I only have one proper deck. It’s a great deck, to be fair, but everything else in my collection is either a sweet netdeck I decided to have a quick look at on stream, or blatant jank designed primarily to amuse me and/or complete quests. So, I need to find at minimum two and ideally three new decks and train myself in playing them in just over a week. I might even need a fourth, if I decide Keeper Vaath absolutely isn’t going to work, but I think that might be a bit ambitious. So why am I writing this? The upside of this complete lack of a plan is that I can be your guinea pig! I intend to document my decision-making and testing process right here on 9moons, in the process of one or two more articles before the DWCQ itself, and then a report afterwards (regardless of how well I did). I’m not expecting to break the meta again – finding Keeper Vaath was an absurd stroke of luck, and as stacked as a typical Melee field often is, I’m going to be up against serious opposition here, in an unfamiliar format. If I can win a round or two, or even just put up a good fight, I’ll be a happy man; if I make top 8, I’m throwing myself a party. Nevertheless, regardless of how well my attempts turn out, I’m going to learn tons just from doing the preparation and playing the matches, and hopefully so can you. This first article is going to lay out my initial thoughts on the format, with almost no testing done. I’ll talk about possible ways to construct a team, and go over my confidence level with each faction and where I think it fits into the meta. Fortunately, I have enough of a supply of cards and dust that my collection isn’t a limitation, so I think I can play basically anything that my skills will stretch to. The limitations here are the interesting ones – my impression of the meta, predictions of what other people will bring, and whether I think I’ll be able to play a given deck competently. I also have to take Ancient Bonds into account. That’s no small feat. Brewing new decks into an unknown meta is a big ask; the Magic: the Gathering Pro Tour is built around this, challenging players to build competitive decks and win two weeks after a new set is released. The tournament’s on the Saturday, Ancient Bonds comes out on Wednesday, and I have the intervening time to break the meta. Largely by myself. Eep. Designing a team I don’t know how much Senerai/Conquest is affected by overall team strategies. Is it important for me to choose decks that have some common thread, or a cohesive plan for the entire match? It probably helps, but I haven’t heard much about people doing this. There are a few high-level strategic options that I know of: Build strong stuff and hope The first and most intuitive approach is just to build three good decks and play, without any particular slant. These are three decks you think will glean the overall highest winrate. A deck like this might be one of the format’s canonical ‘best’ decks (e.g. probably Bond Argeon, Control Faie and Control Cassyva right now), a new or obscure deck that attacks the meta well (Keeper Vaath when I started playing it), or a relatively unexpected combo deck you’re planning on surprising people with. I think the strength of this method is that it’s relatively reliable. It’s not immune to fluctuations in the meta – far from it, since a deck’s power level is determined almost entirely by the decks around it – but it doesn’t rely very specifically on an accurate prediction, unlike the other option I’ve identified. It lets you just pick three decks you think give you the highest chance to win and go for it. All your decks need to be strong, although if your lineup has one or two weak matchups, that’s largely OK. Since your opponent has to beat you with at least three decks, you can afford to accept that your Deck A might lose to Faie really hard, or even your entire lineup. In fact, you can probably get away with bringing three decks that all lose hard to one particular matchup but have inflated winrates against everything else, since your opponent can only earn one win from that deck (if they have it) before being forced to retire it. Using this method does rely on your other matchups carrying you pretty hard, so I’m not sure I’d be too keen on it in practice. Target a specific deck You have to win with each of your decks, but there’s no stipulation on which deck of your opponent’s that they have to beat. This opens the door to a sneaky alternate strategy where you bring three decks all targeted really hard at one particular deck you think your opponents will usually have. You lose two rounds, then go 3-0 against your preferred matchup. Value. A lot can go wrong here. If your opponent doesn’t have the deck in question, you’re likely at a disadvantage. If your prediction of the meta is wrong and not many people are running it (if anyone at all), you’re going to be struggling uphill for the entire tournament. If the deck you teched against unexpectedly morphs into a form that’s a lot less vulnerable to your strategy, you’re having a rough time again. It’s a big ask for this to work, especially for a novice (me!) and double-especially with a new expansion releasing three days before the tournament. I probably won’t be taking up this strategy, unless one particular deck absolutely floods the ladder in the days before the event. A lot of people are talking about Death Knell Abyssian decks (myself included, have you seen this nonsense?!), although if that does turn out to be viable, I suspect teching against it is going to be difficult. It’s a new format – play aggro Common wisdom among the Magic: the Gathering tournament scene holds that in the weeks immediately after a new format’s release, aggro is king. The control decks don’t know what to target yet, the combo decks are unrefined and underdeveloped, and the midrange decks need tuning. Aggro, regardless of however much work it needs, loves that sort of environment. When people have shonky mana curves, poor sideboards or decks built with relatively little respect to the rest of the format, the door is wide open for a bit of the ol’ SMOrc. If Duelyst follows the same pattern, and people start experimenting with all the durdly synergistic cards from Ancient Bonds, it might be time for Plan F.* Assuming I, a humble n00b who jumped in at the right time, don’t personally break the meta in half in two days, it might be good to just build aggro instead of trying to find the best decks in an unknown field. Put on your red dress, Faie, and let’s tango with someone’s life total. *Face. The factions As a quick run-down, and to let me get my thoughts in order, I want to go over each of the factions and how likely I’d be to play them if the DWCQ started tomorrow. This information might become obsolete when Ancient Bonds shows up, but hopefully it’ll still be more or less accurate. Abyssian The Abyssian sisters have a lot of card quality and value to their name, but building Abyssian decks that work well is very difficult. A couple of card slots here and there can make the difference between a lean mean control machine and a clunky pile that runs out of gas more quickly than an airlock. Since the Rite of the Undervault nerf a few patches ago, it’s been much more difficult for Cassyva to put up a flurry of answers while also holding on to a strong late game, and Lilithe’s swarm decks aren’t much better off. Swarm might be a good proactive strategy, especially if people cut back on AOE spells to fit in new toys or because they don’t expect many Wraithlings. Furosa is a hell of a card and the deck’s good draws can turbo out a pile of 3/3s or an early Grandmaster Variax for cheesy wins. Aggressive decks and Swarm’s usual bugbears of Tempest, Plasma Storm and Blistering Skorn are all offputtingly popular choices, but it’s an option worth exploring. I don’t think I have the chutzpah to pilot Cass control three days into a fresh new meta, especially one filled with ridiculous combos and massive new minions. On the other hand, Abyssians’ efficient removal might be exactly what’s needed to fight back against a wall of Golems, and if Healyonar’s meta presence is reduced, we don’t get humiliated for the crime of playing Kelaino any more. There’s also Death Knell. The new Arcanyst to end (restart?) all Arcanysts, paired with a Nightshroud or six, is a clear contender for the first combo deck people are going to be trying to perfect out of the gates. I’ve tried coming up with a list, and my first attempt looks like complete trash, but I’ll have to put some ladder time into it to get a better idea of where I want to take the build. I’m not even sure which general is the right one. Lilithe gets Darkfire Sacrifice fodder and the option of a Furosa/Cryptographer early game, whereas Cassyva gets better survival tools and value plays as well as easy access to Punish. Lyonar Lyonar are unquestioningly the best faction in the game right now. Both Argeon and Zir’an are enjoying sustained success. Lyonar benefit from both card quality and card quantity (the latter thanks to Trinity Oath), and have access to both fearsome aggressive openings and disgusting combos. Intuitively, all these signs point to me entering the collection manager and clicking on some Azurite Lions, but there’s a complicating factor. It’s very hard to get an edge in the mirror match if you’re just playing the ‘deck to beat’ of a format, especially as the player with less experience; instead, it’s generally better to find something that actually beats it. (This factor is the main reason for my initial burst of success with Keeper Vaath – it eats Healyonar, holds its own against the non-Divine Bond versions of aggro/tempo Argeon, and is pretty good against Control Faie, another hugely popular deck.) This seems like less of a factor in Conquest, since you need to find a bunch of decks and the mirror match is minimised, so it seems like a good idea for me to at least build and test a decent Argeon list and see how I like it. I have an idea or two for some spicy post-expansion goodness. Magmar We all know I love Magmar, so I’ll skip the enthusiasm bit. Magmar stand to gain quite a bit from Ancient Bonds – Lavaslasher and Ragebinder are absurdly efficient midrange cards that go in almost any Magmar deck, including Keeper Vaath most likely, and Juggernaut is wildly entertaining if nothing else. A lot of early hype seems to be revolving around Golem Metallurgist/Celebrant/Kujata decks, which unsurprisingly occurred to me as well. I love Kujata decks, and I’d be surprised if I don’t make time to test at least a build or two before the tournament. Of course, Golem-ish midrange is hardly the limit of Magmar’s domain. I built a Sphynx Starhorn deck a little while ago that really impressed me, and that seems like it’d be great against durdly combo decks like Death Knell or Ghost Seraphim builds. Collazo narrowly (but definitively) beat me with a Silhouette Tracer/Drogon build on ladder the other day, which is another good angle. Mech Starhorn is probably still a thing. Magmar also have really good removal. Thumping Wave is both a transform and a powerful damage burst, although it’s rarely a card you can just casually cast. Egg Morph cleanly kills anything in the game provided you can get in range to attack it. Natural Selection and Plasma Storm are fantastic and scale well into the mid- to late-game (depending on matchup). Makantor Warbeast is Makantor Warbeast. With all these powerful, fairly generic cards, I’m likely to have clean answers in my deck to whatever my opponents want to bring. The one thing Magmar don’t have is a really good three-dro- oh wait. Songhai I used to play Songhai a ton. Specifically, backstab-happy Kaleos. I think at some point my desire to learn the ropes of the faction overtook my then-limited card collection. I picked a netdeck I liked (a hybrid midrange/backstab build by TheScientist, as I recall – basically a sleek combo deck with some Hamon Bladeseekers in it) and started figuring out how to play card gaming’s coolest faction. I loved that deck so much, and piloted it for months before the meta turned against it somewhat and I moved on to pastures new. I’m rusty now. I dabble for quests sometimes, and I’ve been enjoying a highly unusual control Reva deck by Dragall, but I don’t have a lot of the nuanced experience with Songhai that the faction demands for good high-level play. Poor old Kaleos just isn’t that good nowadays, and Reva isn’t the same. That aside, provided I can git sufficiently gud with a deck in the next week or so, I definitely like the idea of playing Songhai at the DWCQ. You can build a proactive, powerful combo deck, or a tempo deck, or a control deck, or something in between. If your opponent ever gives you breathing room, you can burst them down in a heartbeat, even with a controlling list. Ancient Bonds’ new faction Arcanysts look disgusting, and I have a vague sketch of a Sparrowhawk list already in mind. The biggest obstacle to that idea is that tuning Songhai decks is always ridiculously hard. They have so many instant 3-of cards, and if I just head into the collection manager and start filling out a deck, I’m out of room by the time I’m halfway through the three-drops. Even if I can pick up some confidence with a deck, it’s entirely possible that my build will be total trash until I’ve refined it for a month. Vanar Faie is something of an elephant in the room at the moment. Between Meltdown’s effect on competitive games, the sheer power of Enfeeble, and the eternally grouchable Mech Faie, she’s getting a not-entirely-undeserved bad rap. Post-expansion, there’s also the potential for Lightning Blitz + Ghost Seraphim + Spirit of the Wild combo decks, which if successful will be received entirely comfortably by the community and should inspire precisely zero salt. I’m pretty happy piloting any of that nonsense myself, having spent quite a while experimenting gleefully with Vanar since Rise of the Bloodborn brought me Concealing Shroud and Grandmaster Embla. I don’t know if I’ll be able to come up with a good brew in time – while not as tough as Songhai, I’ve always found it very hard to get the right balance of cards in Vanar decks. The comment I made on the Lyonar section about beating the mirror applies here, too. Assuming Control and/or Mech Faie remain popular, how do I find an edge? Mirror matches are often quite draw-dependent, and the last thing I want to do is rock up with my Windblade Adepts and Meltdowns only to just lose narrowly to people who are better at playing my deck than I am. Vetruvian Oh, Vetruvian. It’s time to ask the same thing we ask every time a new expansion comes out: are you going to become good again? Vet are in this awkward place where their cards are all actually really broken, but a bit awkward and easy to punish. Pyromancer, Obelysks, Wildfire Ankh, even stuff like Nimbus and Aymara Healer – if your opponent has it, you’re only falling further behind. The typical Vetruvian deck feels powerful when it goes off and useless otherwise. I actually love Vetruvian, and always have. I like them aesthetically and for having the coolest, weirdest cards in the game. I’ll be testing them when Ancient Bonds comes out, seeing what I can break, but in my opinion the best chance Vetruvian have for me is for people to go easy on the dispel or Plasma Storms and let you get away with slamming obelysks. This is entirely possible, and if Vet get a cheap, highly efficient card in the expansion (to go with the powerful-but-slow Blood to Air) they might become viable purely on the strength of a Pax/Falcius/NewThing early game. My leanings so far I don’t think it’s a good idea for me to try and isolate a deck to target. The format’s too new and I’m only one, relatively inexperienced person. I like the idea of both getting super-aggressive and just playing the three best-looking decks I find – either of those seems like a reasonable option for me. I’ll figure out which over the course of my testing. Given I’ve played them a ton recently, and they don’t look to get any weaker, Magmar are the strongest contender for a slot in my lineup right now. Lyonar need to be paid their due respects as the faction to beat, and based on sheer competitive pedigree, I wouldn’t be surprised if they or Vanar got in. Songhai are probably the most difficult but have a ton of appeal, Vetruvian hinge on the remaining spoilers and/or whether I think I can get away with it, and Abyssian are going to be difficult to build correctly but represent several potentially strong options. At the moment, I’d describe myself as an even mix of excited and terrified. I’m champing at the bit to prove myself, but this DWCQ couldn’t throw me harder into the deep end with a diving bell. Demanding multiple new decks, in a format I’ve never played, three days after a new expansion totally upends the meta. Man. There’s the dream that I’ll be the one to find the breakout deck, or the best build of something, but realistically that’s unlikely; the pragmatic goal is just to put in the hours to find and tune three solid decks that have a powerful chance against the rest of this brave new world. It’s going to be tough, but it’s an amazing challenge to take up. Let’s do this.

Even as Republicans blather on about the evils of a so-called "government takeover of health care," economic news has provided two new key illustrations that the intellectual foundation of right-wing economic orthodoxy has collapsed. First, the most recent economic numbers on changes in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and employment made it increasingly clear that -- as The New York Times reported last Saturday -- the Obama economic stimulus and the massive government intervention in the financial markets were the critical medicine needed to prevent complete economic collapse. It is now clear that, left to their own devices, there can be no doubt that private financial markets would have pulled the entire economy into another Great Depression. Though job losses continued, last month they continued to shrink from their massive January highs. At the same time, the contraction of the GDP dropped to its lowest level since Lehman Brothers collapsed last September. Even as the right continues to rail against the Obama stimulus package, there is now near-universal consensus that the $700-billion-plus stimulus bill is largely responsible for beefing up the GDP in the last quarter. Studies by the private research firms IHS Global Insight and MoodysEconomy.com concluded that it is already responsible for saving 500,000 jobs. Everyday there is fresh evidence that government spending to stimulate demand was critically necessary to pull the country out of the economic tail spin caused by the reckless risk-taking of essentially unregulated private financial markets. Contrary to right wing theory, private consumer demand and new business investment are not leading the way out of the Great Recession -- in reality, government demand was an absolute necessity. But the second piece of economic news tells even more about the bankruptcy of right wing economic thought. Throughout the heyday of Reagan's "supply side revolution" and Bush's tax cuts, the Republicans and the right wing intellectual establishment have hung fast to their foundational belief that tax cuts for business would create private sector jobs. Well, the great experiment in "trickle down" economics is over and the results are in. The New York Times reports that, "For the first time since the Depression, the American economy has added virtually no jobs in the private sector over a 10-year period. The total number of jobs has grown a bit, but that is only because of government hiring." In fact, since George Bush and the Republicans in Congress passed two massive tax cuts, we have seen a massive, secular decline in the creation of private sector jobs. Of course it won't surprise anyone that this decline has been led by the reduction of American manufacturing jobs. There has been a decline of 3.7% in overall manufacturing jobs in the United States over the last decade. Remember that we're talking here about an absolute lack of increase in private sector jobs -- zero increase in actual jobs -- even as the population of the United States has grown. Economists tell us that the economy must create 150,000 new jobs each month just to stay even with population growth. The failure of the economy to produce any private sector jobs at all would have been even more devastating had it not been for a small but significant growth in public sector jobs at the state, local and Federal levels. Of course these are precisely the kind of jobs that the Republicans and Right decry at every opportunity. "Every one knows," they say, "that job growth is really driven only by the private sector." Wrong...maybe in the imaginary world of the Heritage Foundation or Cato Institute, but not in the real world of the American economy. And let's be clear, the Bush tax cuts didn't just produce fewer jobs than advertised. They didn't produce any private sector jobs at all. The whole experiment in handing over money to the wealthiest people in America so they could use it to benefit the rest of us was a colossal - empirically verifiable - failure. Turns out that when given the chance to use all of those tax cuts, the top two percent of the population used them to speculate in exotic derivatives, to drive up the prices of high end real estate, pay exorbitant prices to the designers of $4,000 blouses and $2,000 shoes. There is absolutely no evidence that they made any more investments in new manufacturing plants, or started up any more businesses than they would have had they paid the same tax rates that they did when Ronald Reagan took office and private sector job growth was 3% per year. No, instead the rich used the Bush Tax Cuts to create the gigantic economic "bubble" that ultimately burst and caused immeasurable hardship and suffering to millions of average Americans and everyday people across the globe. Bottom line is that the rich sold America a bill of goods. Give us big tax cuts and we'll give you jobs growth, they told us. America kept its end of the bargain, and the rich reneged entirely on theirs. In a word, the economic theories of the Republicans and the Right were simply wrong. In fact, they were elaborate intellectual justifications for the richest among us to enrich themselves even more. The Republicans and the Right Wing establishment will continue to ignore reality, to repeat their slogans, to pander to fear, stand up for wealthy special interests. But history has rendered its verdict. Everyday more and more people see clearly that the Right Wing ideological emperor has no clothes -- and realize that if, together, they take control of their own destiny they can build a foundation for long-term economic prosperity that benefits us all.

We all know a Mortgage is loan we take out to pay our house, yada, yada... However, what about the origin of the word itself? The word mortgage is composed of two parts: Mort - from the French meaning "Death" Gage - from Old English meaning "Pledge" When translated into modern English, the word literally means "death pledge". This may sound pretty terrifying, and it's enough for people who want to invest in real estate to be swayed and sent running for the hills! But in fact, the word mortgage and the association with 'death pledge' has a historical backing that is rooted in history and should not be taken at face value as a reason to avoid investing and building your wealth. The Origin of Mortgages The origin of the so called "death pledge" comes from the olden days. Sons of noble men who could not afford the money for a house would borrow money and obtain a loan and pledge to repay the debt back when their father died and they received their inheritance. The etymology of the word "mortgage" also goes back to the first mortgage ever recorded, in England in 1190. Common English law gave protections to the lender of the mortgage loan and was known as a Living Pledge where possessions were pledged while living until the debt was officially repaid. The origins of the Death Pledge, or mortgage, is the pledge of repayment upon the death of a parent and the arrival of large sums of money as part of inheritance. Another interpretation is that the death part of mortgage refers to the debt dying when the creditor has been paid in full for the mortgage. The Modern Mortgage These days, a mortgage is basically a contract or term related to buying a property. The mortgage is the amount of time before the home is totally paid off as well as inclusive of the rates, principal, and interest that comes with the money you were loaned by the bank in order to pay for the house. A mortgage and having debt can be good or bad, and is not inherently a negative thing. If you can't make your mortgage payment and continue to be unable to make it, you risk losing your home. If you are in this situation, you can save yourself from foreclosure(contact a lender or mortgage broker to learn more). However, having a mortgage can also just be a necessary requirement that can be used to leverage other investments as well, something that can be good if used wisely, but negative if used for foolish purposes. You don't want to ruin your credit because you leveraged your mortgage to buy a fancier car, for instance. The Difference Between Good Debt and Bad Debt Investing in a home or real estate can be fantastic if you have the money to do so. If you're not a slave to your monthly payments and have enough income or savings to afford a mortgage, it can be very positive. You want to make sure you can make your monthly payments, and if you can't, you might want to consider purchasing a smaller house. Robert Kiyosaki said that real estate investing, even small scale, is a "tried and true means of building an individual's cash flow and wealth". If you are leveraging your debt/mortgage in order to make more investments and are making money off your investment already(through renting out, etc.), you can use your debt to your advantage and generate even more money. In this instance, leveraging your debt can be very liberating for those who know how to use it correctly! At the end of the day, when investing in real estate, your own home, a house to rent out, you can use loans and debt to your advantage. Property, mortgages, and real estate don't have to be a burden. They can be a real asset when it comes to your total wealth. If you can invest in a house that pays you 15% interest, and you take on a debt for 5%, that is a profit of 10%. When you keep your eye on the prize and stay on top of your investments, you are guaranteed to reap the rewards.

Gabon were looking for a warm-up match before the 2012 Olympics. Newcastle United were busy and their U21s were away, so up stepped Heaton Stannington In July 2012 Geoff Walker, the assistant manager at non-league side Heaton Stannington FC, received a very unexpected text from the club’s manager, Derek Thompson. Nobby Solano’s agent had been in touch to ask Thompson if he could help out some friends of his. The Heaton Stan manager was keen on the idea so he typed out a message to his No2: “Gabon are here for the Olympics. They’ve been looking for a warm-up game.” Newcastle United were busy, their Under-21 team were away and Heaton Stan were next on the list. With Walker on board, Thompson then phoned captain, centre-back and junior tennis coach Joe Wear. He was resting up at home when he received the call. “It was a bit random, really,” recalls Wear. “It was literally the night before.” Wear was preparing to run the Great North 10k the following morning, so he was reluctant at first. But his manager explained the situation. “It’s Gabon,” said Thompson. “Who’s Gabon?” asked Wear. “They’re playing in the Olympics at St James’ Park and they want a friendly.” “Oh right. Cool.” “We didn’t have our best team, to be honest,” Thompson tells me in Grounsell Park’s brick changing rooms. That season, they had faced teams such as Ashington Colliers, Ponteland United and Harraby Catholic Club on their way to winning the Pin Point Recruitment Northern Alliance League Premier Division, but suddenly Thompson had to pull together a team of factory workers, lawyers and builders – some of them quietly hungover from the previous evening – to play Gabon. “Your classic non-league team, a mixture of all sorts,” says Wear. Men’s football was one of the five sports Gabon entered at the 2012 Olympics. Their squad included a 23-year-old Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who had just scored 16 goals for Saint-Étienne in the Ligue 1 season. A year later, he would join Borussia Dortmund for €13m. He has now scored 135 goals in 204 games for the club – and another 23 for Gabon, making him their joint all-time top goalscorer. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in action for Gabon in 2012. Photograph: Thomas Mukoya / Reuters/Reuters About 24 hours after the game had been offered to Heaton Stan, their cobbled together team climbed off a minibus at Grounsell Park, a ground hidden behind an ATS garage, a chippy and a Chinese takeaway in this small suburb of Newcastle. A few posts on the club’s Facebook and Twitter pages, and non-League forums, meant that some 400 fans had gathered at the ground, standing under the corrugated plastic roof over the main concrete terrace. Grounsell Park has been the Stan’s home since 1935 and, while you wouldn’t know it was built on top of a disused quarry at first glance, it isn’t what you would call IAAF-approved either. After a quick look around, though, the Gabon team were happy and the game was on. Well, nearly. Walker got word from one of the Gabon team that their talisman, Aubameyang, had a bit of a problem. He had left his boots at the Hilton Hotel in Gateshead on the other side of the Tyne. So Walker, Aubameyang, a Gabon security guard and one of the coaches piled into his car as they set off across the city, over the Tyne Bridge, to the hotel and back again. As Walker was chatting to the coach on the way back, he could hear some concerned muttering in the back of the car. “We were heading back over the Tyne Bridge and they were talking away in French. The security guy goes: ‘Can we go back?’ They had match balls they wanted to use that were the same balls they were going to use in the Olympics – so we had to go back again!” Finally, they were all ready. The Stan set up his team in the 4-4-2 formation that had served them well that season, with Wear handed the task of marking Aubameyang. “I was a little bit tired from the 10k,” he says. “But it wasn’t an opportunity I was going to miss.” Did he have a specific plan to stop him? “Hmmm. Er… no. We knew they were going to be a really good team. So, it was just go out there, work hard, try your best and make it competitive. I think we lost 4-0. To be honest, I didn’t think we did that bad. You could tell Aubameyang was very quick and sharp and I’m honestly not sure if he was putting 100% effort in. He was just a different level.” “We held our own for a while, but obviously he was the massive difference,” adds Walker. “The pace on him was absolutely electric. It’s funny, I keep saying to everyone, he doesn’t seem to be moving full pelt but he just sort of glides across the pitch, you know what I mean? You could tell he was a player.” After scoring two and leading Heaton’s defence on a merry dance, Aubameyang trotted off at half time. According to Mark Douglas, a local reporter who went to the game, the Stan were on top for most of the second half. Walker still sounds rueful when he recalls a couple of squandered chances. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Aubameyang in slightly loftier surroundings, scoring for Borussia Dortmund against Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga. Photograph: Lukas Schulze/Bundesliga/Getty Images The game was supposed to be the friendliest of friendlies, but someone forgot to tell Wear’s centre-back partner, whose bodybuilding frame stacked up against Gabon’s professional athletes. “Craig’s a big lad – if you see him now he’s even bigger than he was then – and he’s quite well known for putting in meaty challenges,” says Wear. “That didn’t go down too well.” Still, there was a traditional welcome planned for the visiting players and staff after the final whistle. “I’ve played for Heaton Stan for coming up nine years and you get pie and beans after every game – it’s never changed,” says Wear. “It’s class.” Sadly, the Olympians didn’t feel a pie and a pint would fit into their nutritional plans and passed. They did hang about afterwards though. “The Gabon players were great,” says Walker. “They signed autographs for the little kids after the game, got their photos took. They signed one of their shirts, the whole team and squad. Aubameyang’s is on that, so that’s a nice keepsake.” How to ghost write a football book Read more The shirt still hangs on the wall of the Grounsell Park bar. Gabon’s Olympic tournament didn’t pan out as planned – a 1-1 draw against Switzerland at St James’ Park was followed by a 2-0 defeat to Mexico in Coventry and a 0-0 draw with South Korea at Wembley that prompted an early exit. The Stan have enjoyed more memorable days since – they won the treble the next season, topping the league again as well as picking up the Northern Alliance League Cup and the Northumberland Senior Benevolent Bowl. Walker is particularly proud of a 3-2 win against Julio Arca’s South Shields last year – but the day they took on Gabon stands apart. “It just came out of the blue,” says Walker. “They played here and then on the Tuesday or Wednesday night they were at St James’. It was a bit different for them but they all enjoyed it.” • This is an article from The Set Pieces • Follow The Set Pieces and Tom Nicholson on Twitter

ON THE Indian subcontinent, as in no other part of the world, women have risen to the pinnacle of politics. Indira Gandhi of India, Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan and Aung San Suu Kyi of Myanmar are all famous names. Less well known is that Sri Lanka was the first country ever to elect a woman prime minister, or that it has also had a female president. For 22 of the past 25 years Bangladesh, a largely Muslim country with more people than France and Germany combined, has been led by a woman. And the chief ministers of numerous country-sized Indian states, from West Bengal in the east to Tamil Nadu in the south, have also been women. India’s democracy is not pretty; these are the winners of bare-knuckle contests. Yet for all such headline-grabbing successes, the fine print tells a different story. Although there has been steady progress in such things as stamping out female infanticide and spreading women’s education, statistics continue to reveal a stark sex divide. At 27%, the share of Indian women who work, for instance, is less than half the level in China or Brazil (and also in neighbouring Bangladesh, although slightly higher than in Pakistan). Get our daily newsletter Upgrade your inbox and get our Daily Dispatch and Editor's Picks. In 2012 a household survey found that four-fifths of Indian women needed their husband’s or family’s permission to visit a local clinic. A third said they would not be able to go alone. More than half also said they could not visit a shop, or even a friend, without someone else’s approval. For many, the very idea of going out was alarming: 70% said they would feel unsafe working away from home, and 52% thought it normal for a husband to beat his wife if she ventured out without telling him. In November, following a shock government move to scrap higher-denomination banknotes, a domestic violence hotline in the city of Bhopal in central India registered a doubling of calls, largely from women whose spouses had discovered they had secretly been saving cash. On your bike For wealthy and middle-class Indian women, freedoms have steadily grown: Anubha Bhonsle, a television anchor, recalls the strangeness of being the sole female driver of a motor scooter on many streets when she started commuting 15 years ago. “No one would give a second glance now,” she says. Yet in many professions women remain rarities. Barely 10% of the 700 judges in India’s higher courts are female, and only 17% of the 5,000 officers in the Indian Administrative Service, the elite corps of bureaucrats that runs the country. Women are scarce even in politics. In the lower house of India’s parliament only 12% of MPs are women. State legislatures are similarly male. True, women’s share of seats has risen, but slowly: 50 years ago the proportion of women in the lower house was 6%. It is only in village and district councils that women hold much sway, but this is partly due to laws that assign either a third or half of seats to female candidates. Earlier this month tribesmen objecting to efforts to impose a women’s quota in local elections rioted in Nagaland, a state on the border with Myanmar that is one of the few exceptions to such rules. Naga men insist that local custom precludes female village chiefs. Such troubles reveal one cause of slow progress to sexual equality: Indian politicians have generally found it more rewarding to cater to subgroups defined by caste, religion, ethnicity, language or local grievance, rather than to broader categories such as women. This is equally true of female politicians, and of regional leaders less constrained by democracy. Sheikh Hasina, the current, iron-fisted prime minister of Bangladesh, has recently moved to reduce the legal age of marriage from 18 to 16. Given that child marriage is already common, especially in the impoverished countryside, women’s-rights activists are upset. But analysts explain that apa, or “big sister”, who has hounded opposition parties including Islamists, is looking for ways to deflect conservative anger. In order to succeed female politicians in the region often make a point of acting tough. Mamata Banerjee, the diminutive but formidable chief minister of West Bengal, once dragged a male colleague out of the well of parliament by the collar when she was an MP in Delhi. Like Sheikh Hasina and Mayawati, a former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, as well as Jayalalithaa, a recently deceased former film star and long-serving chief minister of Tamil Nadu, Ms Banerjee has carefully repressed her sexuality. These women are ostentatiously “married” to their cause or their party. Such care is understandable. Male rivals have not shied from using sex to malign female politicians. One party leader in Uttar Pradesh lost his job for accusing Mayawati, who comes from a downtrodden caste, of “selling tickets like a prostitute”. A colleague went further against Sonia Gandhi, the leader of the opposition Congress party. Absurdly, he accused the head of the Gandhi dynasty of having worked for a Pakistani escort agency. With so many obstacles blocking the path to power, it is hardly surprising that so many of the region’s successful female politicians got a head start. Amrita Basu of Amherst College finds that more than half of India’s female MPs in the past decade had family members who preceded them in politics. Quite often such dynastic links have been dramatic. Ms Suu Kyi in Myanmar and Sheikh Hasina are both daughters of slain independence heroes. Sonia Gandhi and Khaleda Zia, a former Bangladeshi prime minister and bitter rival to Sheikh Hasina, are both widows of assassinated leaders. Both Jayalalithaa and Mayawati entered politics as devoted lieutenants to charismatic, populist politicians; in Jayalalithaa’s case her mentor also played the lead in many of her films. For women to play a more normal political role in the subcontinent, perhaps it is in films, and in popular culture in general, that change needs to happen first. All too often on the region’s screens, actresses who are paid a fraction of what male stars get portray women who lack agency in their lives. There is, though, an inkling of change. This season’s blockbuster and already the highest-earning film in Bollywood history, “Dangal”, tells the heart-warming story of sisters who become champions in the male-dominated sport of wrestling. Yet the main hero is not one of the girls, but the father, a former wrestler, who bends them to his will.

ATLANTIC CITY -- A stolen car was recovered a day after the driver handed over the keys to a vehicle to someone he thought was a valet at an Atlantic City hotel, police said. Steven Jacobs, 35, of Atlantic City was arrested at 7 a.m. Sunday after officers pulled over a Dodge Caravan at the corner of Tennessee and Atlantic avenues, Atlantic City police said in a statement Monday. Jacobs, who had a loaded handgun on the floorboard, was charged with unlawful possession of a weapon and theft of movable property. On Saturday, a man, who arrived at the Wyndham Skyline Tower on S. North Carolina Avenue, mistakenly turned over the minivan to a man who didn't work there, according to police. The man got in the vehicle and sped away. Atlantic City police advised visitors to make sure anyone using valet parking makes sure the person who takes their keys is an employee. Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JeffSGoldman. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Over the years James Bond has worn some pretty stellar stuff, from Sean Connery's famous blue swim shorts and Roger Moore's safari jackets to Pierce Brosnan's beautifully cut Brioni suits. However, the thing Bond does better than any other man on screen is black tie - possibly because, having worn a total of 28 evening suits during the film franchise's history, he's had far more practise than any other character. That's why, when we watched the Spectre trailer, we took note of the white dinner jacket Daniel Craig is seen sporting.Craig, of course, isn't the first Bond to wear an ivory DJ - the character has worn five so far during the history of the franchise, split between Moore and Connery. However, these examples were from the Seventies and Eighties, and the fact that Tom Ford - Bond's current tailor of choice - has decided to outfit him in one circa 2015 is a strong sign that the style is making a comeback. After All, this was the designer who almost single-handedly kick-started the shawl lapel dinner jacket revival by dressing Bond in one for Skyfall in 2012.However, the great thing about Bond is that while these black tie trends might come and go, looking back through his strongest tuxed-up looks can give you serious inspiration for your next formal event. Here, we bring you James Bond's best black tie moments over the past half-century, from Dr No to Spectre...

Hey, remember when the FCC reassured us last year that it wasn't going to lock down Wi-Fi routers? And everyone breathed a sigh of relief, because custom router firmware is actually a really good thing? Sure, it’s fun to improve your router by extending the range or making your network friendlier for guests. But open firmware is important for other reasons: it enables critical infrastructure, from emergency communications for disaster relief and building free community access points to beefing up personal security. Well, there goes that. Because even though the FCC said its new requirements were not intended to lock down router software or block the installation of open source firmware, at least one large manufacturer has reacted by doing just that. And more could follow. Way to go, FCC. Last month, Libre Planet—a free software community—raised the alarm that TP-Link, one of the largest router manufacturers, had begun locking down firmware in newly released routers. As proof, Libre Planet pointed to a transcript of a support conversation. In the chat, a TP-Link rep says that the lockdown—which blocks the installation of open source firmware—was a reaction to new FCC requirements. That’s a problem, because alternative router software packages like DD-WRT are hugely popular. These tools provide more sophisticated features and faster security patches than manufacturers offer. WIRED Opinion About Kyle Wiens is the co-founder and CEO of iFixit, an online repair community and parts retailer internationally renowned for their open source repair manuals and product teardowns. I contacted TP-Link and asked them to confirm whether their support chat rep was correct. The company directed us to a new FAQ page confirming the lockdown. The FAQ reads, Why is TP-LINK limiting the functionality of its routers? TP-LINK is complying with new FCC regulations that require manufacturers to prevent certain firmware customizations on wireless routers.” Foreseeable Consequences What exactly are these regulations? The FCC recently updated its requirements for “U-NII devices operating on the 5 Ghz bandwidth”—a designation that covers a wide range of Wi-Fi devices and routers—to stop users from modifying RF (radio frequency) devices outside of their intended parameters. Last year, the FCC proposed an expansion on the RF modding prohibition to anything with a software-defined radio. The wording of the rules was met with concern that the FCC was functionally mandating manufacturers lock down router software. That concern intensified into a full blown uproar in September after the FCC issued a compliance guidance asking manufacturers to “describe in detail how the device is protected from ‘flashing’ and the installation of third-party firmware such as DD-WRT.” DD-WRT is a popular open source firmware available for many consumer routers. Thousands of people lodged complaints with the FCC, urging the organization to take steps to protect open source software. The outcry prompted an official response from the FCC soon after. “Were we mandating wholesale blocking of Open Source firmware modifications? We were not,” Julius Knapp—Chief of the FCC’s Office of Engineering & Technology—explained in a blog post. He went on, “I'm pleased that this issue attracted considerable attention and thoughtful submissions into the record and would like to make it clear that the proposal is not intended to encourage manufacturers to prevent all modifications or updates to device software.” The FCC even changed the troublesome wording in their compliance documents—omitting any reference to ‘third-party software’ and ‘DD-WRT.’ Goodbye to Third-Party Software Despite the reassurances, experts were quick to point out that it would be easier, quicker, and cheaper for manufacturers to comply with the rules by just locking down the whole router—whether or not that’s what the FCC intended. “Routers are built around a System on Chip, with the CPU and radio in a single package,” Hackaday’s Brian Benchoff explains. “The easiest way to prevent modification of the radio module would be to prevent modification to the entire router. Some would call it fear mongering, but there was an expectation these proposed FCC rules would inevitably lead to wireless routers being completely locked down.” It looks like those fears were warranted. Locking that firmware down seems to be what TP-Link just did. TP-Link also issued this statement: The FCC requires all manufacturers to prevent [the] user from having any direct ability to change RF parameters (frequency limits, output power, country codes, etc.) In order to keep our products compliant with these implemented regulations, TP-LINK is distributing devices that feature country-specific firmware. Devices sold in the United States will have firmware and wireless settings that ensure compliance with local laws and regulations related to transmission power. As a result of these necessary changes, users are not able to flash the current generation of open-source, third-party firmware. We are excited to see the creative ways members of the open-source community update the new firmware to meet their needs. However, TP-LINK does not offer any guarantees or technical support for customers attempting to flash any third-party firmware to their devices. The company appears to be using this as an excuse to wash its hands of third-party software. Even though the FCC’s rules only require the manufacturer to prevent modifications to the RF parameters—not to prevent the installation of third-party firmware. “TP-Link appears to be citing its own interpretation of a proposed FCC policy change—an interpretation the FCC has expressly rejected—as an excuse to lock down its devices,” says John Bergmayer, Senior Staff Attorney specializing in telecommunications at Public Knowledge. “It’s bad enough when companies go out of their way to put unnecessary restrictions on their customers. But it’s just galling when they pretend they are somehow ‘required’ to do so. But even when complying with actual legal requirements, companies should do it in a way that does not put unnecessary restrictions on consumers." And while it’s reasonable to ask home hackers and hobbyists not to modify RF parameters in ways that would throw it out of compliance—instituting a wholesale router lockdown is tantamount to throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Sure, you could write custom code to hop onto an unauthorized band. With a little determination, you could also whittle your router down into a shank and stab someone, Bergmayer noted. But manufacturers aren’t preventing hardware modding to stop users from turning routers into a physical weapons. “There’s only so much a company can or should do to prevent theoretical bad behavior,” Bergmayer added. A Domino Effect In the meantime, going over and above the FCC’s rules means TP-Link is pushing the door closed on a lot of the beneficial applications of third-party firmware—including personal security. Open source firmware tends to be more rigorously scrutinized, updated, and secured. Worse, this precedent makes it likely that other manufacturers will take the easy route and lock down their routers as well. “It’s a sad state of affairs, but custom firmware will eventually be loaded onto these routers; it’s just a little harder now and slightly more absurd,” Hackaday’s Benchoff goes on to say. Requiring owners to jump through hoops to install better software on their routers is absurd. But jumping those particular hoops may also be illegal: breaking digital locks over firmware goes against anti-circumvention measures in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Which could make hacking these new routers a punishable offense. It’s unlikely that a manufacturer would go after a single hobbyist who hacks her router just to install different firmware, but the questionable legality of router modding could have a chilling effect on projects that implement open source router software. TP-Link directs customers who have concerns about the changes to contact the FCC, which is pretty much a way to say “Don’t blame us, blame them.” And Libre Planet, for one, is planning to fight the FCC on its new rules, calling them “a major security and privacy threat which will lead to even buggier and more insecure wireless hardware.” Fixing the Bigger Problem Of course, there’s still that pesky issue of copyright law to deal with. Specifically—why in the world is putting different firmware on your own router potentially a violation of US copyright law in the first place? Because the DMCA is an even more horrible rule than the FCC’s new router guidelines. Fortunately, some forward-thinking lawmakers are trying to fix copyright law—including Zoe Lofgren (D, CA), who has been working to move the Unlocking Technology Act through Congress for the last few years. And Blake Farenthold (R, TX) has introduced YODA, a bill that reaffirms your property rights for firmware. Still, unless the FCC, Congress, or manufacturers make some serious changes quickly, new routers could come with a brand new feature that you never wanted—a no trespassing sign.

One-hundred days after Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico, San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz again slammedPresident Donald Trump’sresponse to a disaster the president says wasn’t a “real catastrophe,” even though it left at least 64 dead. “He was disrespectful to the Puerto Rican people, he was disrespectful to the American people who were leaving their homes to come help us here,” Cruztold ABC News on Friday. “Where he needed to be a commander-in-chief, he was a disaster-in-chief,” she added. “President Trump does not embody the values of the good-hearted American people that have make sure that we are not forgotten.” Authorities said Friday that 55 percentof the island remains without power after155-mph winds and rushing floodwaters tore through buildings and infrastructure in September. Electricitymay not be fully restored until May in the American territory, which is home to 3.4 million and was already facing a fiscal crisis before the storm. Although Federal Emergency Management Agency representatives arrived quickly, one of its leaders said the agency was “tapped out” from other hurricane-season disasters. Puerto Rico’s death toll from the storm officially stands at 64, though some researchers suggest the true number of casualties may top 1,000. Cruz told ABC she hopes the true death toll comes to light, because “we owe it to the memory of those people to know. And we owe it to the transformation of Puerto Rico: why they died, and how we can ensure that this does not happen again.” Trump has been criticized for his seeming indifference to Puerto Ricans’ suffering. The president spent a long weekend immediately following the storm at his private golf club in New Jersey, and made a brief appearance at an Alabama political rally. During a visit to Puerto Rico in early October, Trump said the damage did not constitute “a real catastrophe like Katrina,” and minimized the death toll, which then stood at 16. “Sixteen versus literally thousands of people. You can be very proud,” Trump told federal and local officials on the island. He appeared to joke about the cost of storm cleanup andtossed rolls of paper towels to survivorsin need of supplies. Earlier, Trump complained that Puerto Ricans wanted “everything to be done for them.” The presidentalso directly attacked Cruz, mayor of the island’s largest city, calling her “nasty” for criticizing government relief efforts. Cruz had begged for more aid, saying in a news conference: “We are dying, and you are killing us with inefficiency and bureaucracy.” In a subsequent interview, Cruz said Trump’s visit to the islandhad been a public relations stunt, and called him the “miscommunicator-in-chief.” This article originally appeared on HuffPost.

Last weekend, NBC took full advantage of its highly rated football match-ups between Notre Dame and USC, and Denver Broncos and Indianapolis Colts, to roll out the first four promotional spots of a massive Olympic blitz that will flood the network with 500 ads between now and the Sochi Winter Olympics Opening Ceremonies February 7. The first four spots feature snowboarder Shaun White, skier Lindsey Vonn and speed skater Shani Davis. "All the new spots in some way make you care about the Olympics. Or the athletes. Or some element of the whole Olympic feeling," NBC Sports Group CMO John Miller told AdAge, adding that the campaign's marketing effort will be "the equivalent of three to four major motion pictures." Giancarlo Esposito (Gus Fring from AMC's "Breaking Bad") narrates the spots. “I’m a longtime athlete and have never been a professional and never played sports in school,” Esposito tells NBC. “So when I was a young boy the highlight of my life was to watch the summer Olympics, and you had to wait those four years … and then to see the winter Olympics, it was one of the biggest highlights of my life because I always wanted to be able to compete that way." CLICK HERE TO WATCH VIDEO NBC will kick off its 100-day countdown to Sochi with a 20-channel promotional campaign on October 29. “The 100-day mark is the moment when our considerable Olympic campaign kicks into another gear,” Miller said in a statement, adding that that NBC will use the "full force" of parent company Comcast for the Sochi Olympics, hitting maximum reach over 20 channels and 65 websites. Meanwhile, two-time Olympic figure skater Johnny Weir announced yesterday that he was retiring from competition and has signed on with NBC Sports as an analyst for the Sochi Olympics. He joins 1998 Olympic gold medalist Tara Lipinski, and 2006 ice dance silver medalist Tanith Belbin, who will be reporting. Follow me on Twitter, or e-mail me at johnmclarkejr@gmail.com

It’s the largest city audit of stimulus dollars to date, and the results aren’t pretty: CITY CONTROLLER RELEASES AUDITS OF HOW LOS ANGELES HAS USED FEDERAL STIMULUS MONEY $111 Million in ARRA Funds Has Only Created 55 Jobs So Far Continuing her efforts to ensure that taxpayer money is spent efficiently and effectively, City Controller Wendy Greuel released two audits today of how the City of Los Angeles has used American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds. The audits looked at the how the two departments that have received the largest amount of ARRA funding so far – the Department of Transportation (LADOT) and the Department of Public Works (DPW) – have used those funds and how many jobs were created. Los Angeles becomes the largest City in America to conduct an audit of how ARRA funds have been expended. DPW has received $70.65 million and created or retained 45.46 jobs, though they are expected to create 238 jobs overall (the fraction of a job created or retained correlates to the number of actual hours works). LADOT has been awarded $40.8 million and created or retained 9 jobs, though they are expected to create 26 jobs overall. Overall, the Departments have received $111 million in federal stimulus funds out of the $594 million the City has been awarded so far and created or retained 54.46 jobs. $111 million for 55 jobs. That’s $2 million per job. Even if you look at the number of jobs they expect to create (“or save”), it’s only 264. $111 million for 264 jobs is about $420,454 per job. Hey, can you guys create a 56th job for me? I could use $2 million. Failing that, can you return my tax dollars that you wasted? UPDATE: Thanks to Instapundit for the link, and congratulations to Drew for getting his comment quoted!

LEELANAU COUNTY, MI -- A Leelanau County woman was injured Thursday in a raccoon attack that authorities are calling "very unusual behavior" for a wild animal. A 61-year-old Suttons Bay Township woman was in her yard, in the 2500 block of South Pineview Road, when the raccoon ran toward her from a wooded area about 11 a.m., sheriff's deputies said in a release. The woman kicked at the animal in an attempt to fend it off, but the raccoon managed to bite her right leg above the ankle. Her husband came out of the home with a firearm and shot the raccoon after it came at him, too, deputies said. An animal control deputy took the animal remains to a local veterinarian office to be tested for rabies, which is health department protocol. This was very unusual behavior for a wild animal so all possible steps to protect the health of the victim will be taken. The woman sought own medical treatment for the bite. Angie Jackson covers public safety and breaking news for MLive/The Grand Rapids Press. Email her at ajackso3@mlive.com, and follow her on Twitter.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The BBC's Jeremy Bowen: "Almost 70 years of conflict... and no prospect it will end" Thousands of Palestinians are fleeing northern parts of Gaza after Israel warned it was targeting the area in its campaign to stop the continuing rocket attacks from Gaza militants. The UN says 17,000 people have sought refuge in its facilities. On Sunday, Israeli forces raided a suspected rocket launch site in Gaza in their first reported ground incursion. At least 172 Palestinians have been killed since Israel's offensive began seven days ago, officials in Gaza say. The dead are said to include 18 members of one family who died in an Israeli missile strike on Saturday evening. A spokesman for the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), Lieutenant-Colonel Peter Lerner, disputed the casualty figures, saying they were not objective. He told the BBC that Israel had aborted certain attacks for fear of killing civilians. Israel says it is targeting Hamas militants and "terror sites", including the homes of senior operatives. However, the UN has estimated that 80% of the people killed in Gaza have been civilians. The UN Security Council has called for a ceasefire and peace talks. Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Benjamin Netanyahu says he wants to achieve "sustainable quiet" for his people In the latest developments: An aerial drone from Gaza infiltrated Israel on Monday morning, and was shot down by a Patriot missile above Ashdod Israeli air strikes early on Monday hit three training facilities of Hamas's military wing and buildings in Gaza city, causing injuries, AFP reported The Israeli military said Gaza militants had fired 130 rockets into Israel on Sunday A rocket fired from Gaza hit electricity infrastructure in Israel that supplied power to Gaza, cutting power to about 70,000 people, the Israeli military said Image copyright Reuters Image caption An Israeli mother and daughter are treated for shock after a rocket attack on Ashkelon Image copyright Reuters Image caption Some 800 Palestinians with dual citizenship began leaving Gaza via Israel's Erez Crossing on Sunday Image copyright Getty Images Image caption These Israeli soldiers watched the World Cup Final in a cafe in Sderot 'Nowhere to go' The military confirmed it had dropped leaflets over the city of Beit Lahiya on Sunday morning telling civilians to seek shelter. There are no shelters, no bunkers, no place to go, except their homes Manuel Hassassian, Palestinian Authority envoy in UK "We do not wish to harm civilians in Gaza, but these civilians must know that remaining in close proximity to Hamas terrorists and infrastructures is extremely unsafe," the IDF said. UN Relief and Works Agency spokesman Chris Gunness said in a tweet that the agency had doubled its spaces for displaced people from 10,000 to 20,000. Meanwhile, about 800 Palestinians holding dual citizenship began leaving Gaza via Israel's Erez Crossing. However, Gaza resident Sawla el Tibi told the BBC it was too dangerous to leave her home. "[There is] no safety at all to walk on the street... all of Gaza Strip is burning right now," she said. The Palestinian Authority's envoy in the UK, Manuel Hassassian, told BBC News there was nowhere for Gaza residents to hide. "There are no shelters, no bunkers, no place to go, except their homes," he said. "If they leave their homes, they will be hit on the street." Early on Sunday, Israeli air strikes destroyed most of the security headquarters and police stations run by Hamas Islamist militants. We're sorry for any accidental civilian deaths but it's the Hamas that bears complete responsibility for such civilian casualties Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli prime minister Image copyright AP Image caption Smoke rises after a Hamas rocket attack on Israel Image copyright AFP Image caption Palestinians watch smoke billowing after an Israeli air strike in Gaza City Ground invasion? Israel has been building up its troops along the border with northern Gaza, fuelling speculation of a possible ground invasion. Defending Israel's actions, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told US broadcaster CBS: "We're sorry for any accidental civilian deaths but it's the Hamas that bears complete responsibility for such civilian casualties." The IDF says it has so far struck some 1,320 "terror" sites across Gaza, while Hamas has launched more than 800 rockets at Israel. At least three Israelis have been seriously injured since the violence erupted, but no Israelis have been killed by the attacks. A Palestinian health ministry spokesman has said 1,260 people have been injured in Gaza. France on Sunday again condemned the Hamas rocket attacks, but also called on Israel to "show restraint" in its Gaza campaign and avoid civilian casualties. Germany is sending Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier to Israel on Monday for talks with Israelis and Palestinians to help negotiate an end to the violence. Rocket fire and air strikes increased after the abduction and killing of three Israeli teenagers in June and the suspected revenge killing of a Palestinian teenager in Jerusalem. Israel and militants in Gaza fought an eight-day war in November 2012, which ended with a truce. Israel's Iron Dome missile shield Image copyright (C) British Broadcasting Corporation Enemy fires missile or artillery shell Projectile tracked by radar, data relayed to battle-management-and-control unit Data analysed and target co-ordinates sent to the missile firing unit Missile is fired at enemy projectile Correction 26 August: The UN figure for the number of estimated civilian fatalities has been amended after an earlier version cited 77% based on an out-of-date report.

Cognitive models posit that social anxiety disorder (SAD) is associated with and maintained by biased attention allocation vis-à-vis social threat. However, over the last decade, there has been intense debate regarding whether AB in SAD results from preferential engagement with or difficulty in disengaging from social threat. Further, recent evidence suggests that AB may merely result from top-down attentional impairments vis-à-vis non-emotional material. Consequently, uncertainty still abounds regarding both the relative importance and the mutual interactions of these different processes and SAD symptoms. Inspired by novel network approaches to psychopathology that conceptualize symptoms as complex dynamic systems of mutually interacting variables, we computed weighted directed networks to investigate potential causal relations among laboratory measures of attentional components and symptoms of social anxiety disorder. Global and local connectivity of network structures revealed that the three most central variables were the orienting component of attention as well as both avoidance and fear of social situations. Neither preferential attention engagement with threat nor difficulty disengaging from threat exhibited high relative importance as predictors of symptoms in the network. Together, these findings suggest the value of extending the network approach beyond self-reported clinical symptoms to incorporate process-level measures from laboratory tasks to gain new insight into the mechanisms of SAD.

As requisite high school canon, I happen to be teaching Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet to ninth graders this week. Star-crossed lovers and whatnot. Once we get past the rape joke in the play’s very first conversation, level out the context of older bros pining over a 14-year-old girl, and stem the giggles over the word “ho” (not used as a pejorative), I’m able to start pressing the question of whether the events that unfold are more fate or free will. Bad luck or bad timing. The longer I teach, the more I see the strange coincidences between life and art. If we want to find classic tragedy in the modern sports world, we need look no further than Derrick Rose, and not solely in the way his body has betrayed him. He’s a mishmash of Romeo, Macbeth, Hamlet, and others — all of whom reckon with choosing and being chosen beyond their control in some way, depending on which point of Rose’s basketball timeline you want to look. Is it more “bad luck” or “bad timing” that will sum up Rose’s NBA career as it currently stands? Is he … was he … will he be a product of free will, or crossed stars? The case with Rose’s body is obviously a luck thing. Year after year. After year. After ohmygodnotagainareyouserious year. The latest example is the broken orbital bone he suffered Tuesday from a rogue elbow during the Chicago Bulls’ first practice of the 2015–16 season. The first practice after the end of Tom Thibodeau’s annual ausbildungslager, to be tragically ironic. While he may still be back for the season opener, this doesn't shake the injury-prone label that has hung on Rose since the first of three major knee injuries began a sad stretch where he played in just 100 of his team’s last 312 regular-season games. Logic dictates that catching an elbow to the face isn’t indicative of one’s body, but the jaws of media and sports fans are no less dropped as they look at one another and ask what unfortunate thing can befall Rose next. Russ and Rose are fun because aside from the ACL they've had basically the exact same injuries but one is considered fragile, the other God. — TS% Eliot (Spooky) (@Cosmis) September 29, 2015 Those jaws also are doing plenty of yapping over Rose’s most recent media situation. While the timing of the injury from a basketball sense couldn’t be more inopportune, with new Bulls head coach Fred Hoiberg’s offense being installed (also without other starter Mike Dunleavy, who underwent back surgery last Friday), it’s also another case of Rose fueling torches that have gradually gathered against him the past four years. Just the day before his facial injury, which will require surgery, Rose spoke inelegantly at his team’s media day. There was this response to a question regarding the pending civil suit against him alleging he and other men sexually assaulted a woman in 2013: “It’s not true,” he said. “I can’t let one incident that’s not true affect the way that I live, and I’m not going to let it. I love my life actually, so I can’t complain about anything. I’ve just got to take this, use it as fuel, and the season is around the corner.” Rose also vowed that he will be “proven innocent,” even though guilt and innocence really aren’t the issue in a civil suit. Either way, using rape accusations as bulletin board material or a figurative sign one slaps walking out of the locker room misses the cultural gravity here, no matter how innocent he thinks he is, no matter how parodic the case turns, and no matter if the allegations against him haven’t garnered the same level of discussion as the potential criminal case against his downtown Trump Tower neighbor, Chicago Blackhawks star Patrick Kane. Rose’s responses then took an unexpected and unprompted turn when he was asked if he had moved on from the allegations (emphasis mine). “I’ve been moved on,” Rose said. “This whole summer I had tunnel vision. My mindset was just making sure that I was working out every day and spending as much time as possible with my son. And focusing on those two things. Making sure my family is financially stable, as far as seeing all the money that they’re passing out in this league. Just telling the truth. Just knowing that my day will be coming up soon. And it’s not for me. It’s for [his son] P.J. and his future, so that’s what I’m thinking about now.” That’s where it appeared to most that the hometown kid’s head was no longer basketball-centric, including many who were still giving Rose the benefit of the doubt after he said last year during injury rehab that he was concerned with “having graduations to go to, having meetings to go to, I don’t want to be in my meetings all sore or be at my son’s graduation all sore just because of something I did in the past.” Derrick Rose has had some ups and downs on the floor for the Bulls, when he's even on the floor. AP The knee-jerk reaction here, no pun intended, is to decry this line of thinking. Or at least Rose’s having verbalized it. Fans and pundits hate a “fragile” athlete making big money in the first place, so to be very self-aware of his own financial situation? To even mention money? He’s perceived to be abusing his position of privilege, treating his job as just that, rather than being a humble, disposable piece of entertainment for the masses and a profit-driver for his bosses. Daring all that may become a rational man, while who dares more is none. “How different is he than the dot-com entrepreneur, Wall Street trader or real estate mogul eager to take his profit as soon as allowed and shift attention to the next big potential windfall rather than continue to nurture what he’s already established?” asks Phil Rosenthal, one of the few in Chicago and national media to not reflexively chide Rose. Derision isn’t necessarily how we should respond to a modern, star-crossed star who is open about his money and his health over his team and his on-court performance. Particularly in this case. Since it was made known that he had someone else take his ACT exam for him in order to get in to the University of Memphis years ago, there has been a running joke that Rose is dumb. With an understanding of Gardner’s multiple intelligences aside, this criticism has long been lazy and unfair. Now Rose suggests an understanding of the NBA’s financial future (the windfall from its new TV deals project a salary cap in 2017, Rose’s free agent year, of well over $100 million), and he’s a fool for it? Mind you that Rose can’t hit a new jackpot in two years without being healthy and playing really well — which would mean that he, the Bulls, and fans of great basketball all win — so being bothered by his words is odd. 'Misunderstood Derrick Rose,' though, seems now as common as Injured Derrick Rose or Object of Ridicule Derrick Rose. “Am I a coward,” the confounded Hamlet asks himself. “Who calls me ‘villain’?” Those who are angry about another example of Rose breaking from the drone warrior mode that is demanded of athletes. In other words, know your role, son. Rose doesn’t fit that role. He might not speak in front of a microphone as well as the 2% of us that do, and his honesty might not jibe with our hypocritical desire for Crash Davis tutorial clichés, but he’s a lot more schooled on basketball and beyond than is palatable for some. Recall a year ago when he took heat for warming up in an “I Can’t Breathe” shirt, and the reflex was to demand that he ‘stick to sports, bro.’ Then, this week, he was uncomfortably sentient when addressing the supposed feud involving him and Bulls wing Jimmy Butler. In an interview Monday with NBA.com’s Steve Aschburner, Rose said, “I just think that it’s a big picture. We’re two blacks — African-African guys that’s on the team — and we’re just trying to find a way to get going. I think if it was the other way around, it wouldn’t be that way, but it’s just my honest opinion about it, and I just feel like me and Jimmy never had a feud.” To misunderstand Rose would be to easily dismiss “the race card” here. But one needs to look only to the recent analysis of the Bryce Harper-Jonathan Papelbon dugout fight — and the debate centering more on player code and unwritten rules than the fact that an assault took place in public — to see that perceived shade thrown between some players of certain persuasions isn’t always examined levelly. Ditto Dunleavy’s contention that the Bulls’ timetable for his return from injury — 8-10 weeks — isn’t something he’s signed off on. Yet when Rose disagrees with team injury timetables, his commitment and leadership are hyperscrutinized. “I don’t care what the guy talks about as long as he’s helping us win games,” said Butler this week of Rose, taking air out of the argument. “Whatever he’s focused on, let him be focused, but I think his objective is to win a championship. I’m pretty sure he talked about that, as well — and how he wants to help this team win. Everything else, he is who he is. He can talk about unicorns and rainbows for all I care. Just help us win some basketball games.” That, despite talk of future contracts and his son’s well-being, is Rose’s primary goal. Any sane person knows that without necessarily wanting to admit it for the sake of juicy narrative. To watch Rose at the end of last season was to see the return of the assassin we knew before the breakdowns of both body and communication, the misunderstandings, the hubris, and the tragic. Before all of the bad luck and bad timing. Basketball chose Rose, no doubt. If his stars did not cross in such a way, then he’s just Poohdini from Englewood, and odds are Pooh is in a state far worse than being debated about on talk shows. “I really don’t have to convince them,” Rose said in that NBA.com interview. “It’s me leading by example by being on the court. It’s starts with me being on the court, and I know how hard I’ve worked to get back on the court and how hard I’ve worked on my game. It’s not about proving people wrong or just trying to go out there and make people love me.” That’s good, since tragic heroes aren’t meant to be loved. Instead, they are pitied. Their words are idiotically scrutinized with sound and fury, often signifying nothing. They’re hypocritically called a villain, a coward. Damned for their free will, they’re dismissed for all they do to become a man. And when they shuffle off our entertainment coil, we belch them. Such is the star-crossed athlete like Derrick Rose, whose career imitates the stage.