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Home>Opinion>Op-Ed>A Moral Appeal to Donald Trump
Op-EdOpinion
A Moral Appeal to Donald Trump
Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Sr. Send an email December 9, 2016
Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr., /Photo: Associated Press
On Sunday, a man armed with an assault weapon marched into a popular pizza place — Comet Ping Pong — in Washington, D.C. He said he had come to "self-investigate" false stories spread by hate sites that the restaurant was the center of a Hillary Clinton ring trafficking in children. He reported fired his rifle at least once and was arrested. Luckily, no one was injured.
After the utterly baseless and scurrilous stories spread over social media, the restaurant owner and staff had been inundated with death threats. The lunatic conspiracy was spun off of WikiLeaks' publication of Clinton campaign chairman corresponding with the owner about a possible fundraiser. The neighbors who know and love the restaurant have rallied to its support. But under the hashtag #pizzagate, the hate stories keep spreading — and the threats keep building.
Mr. Trump, this ugliness is poisonous and dangerous. But it keeps spreading. On Nov. 2, a few days before the election, Gen. Michael Flynn, the man you appointed to as your national security adviser, issued a tweet tying Hillary Clinton to "sex crimes with minors." The full text reads as follows:
"U decide — NYPD Blows Whistle on New Hillary Emails: Money Laundering, Sex Crimes w Children etc…MUST READ." It linked to an article on the website "True Pundit." That article, which didn't mention Comet Ping Pong, alleged — fantastically — that the NYPD had new evidence linking "Clinton herself and associates" to a series of crimes.
I'm told that Gen. Flynn now says he was duped. But how can anyone with common sense choose to spread a report that Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee for president and former secretary of state, was involved in "sex crimes with minors." This isn't partisan animus. It isn't the excesses of the heat of an election. It is simple lunacy.
After the shooting on Sunday, Politico reported that Gen. Flynn's son, an adviser to his father, tweeted: "Until #Pizzagate proven to be false, it'll remain a story. The left seems to forget #PodestaEmails and the many 'coincidences' tied to it." He linked to the account of the special projects director of a group called Citizens4Trump. He chose to fan the flames.
I realize that Gen. Flynn supported you when you were the underdog. Having run as an outsider, I understand the deep sense of loyalty and appreciation that builds for those who were with you from the start, when the odds were long, the establishment scornful and the press dismissive. It is to be expected that you will want those you can trust around you in the White House.
But as you know, this campaign — which you have correctly described as "the nastiest" — has fanned anger, division and fear in the country. It is vital, as you have stated, that the country come together.
For this to happen, you must lead. The president is the great teacher. What you say and how you act will set the tone. So I respectfully suggest you reconsider your appointment of Gen. Flynn. It is inconceivable that the national security adviser to the president would traffic a report that Hillary Clinton was engaged in sex crimes with minors.
You have stated that you want Democrats and Republicans to work together. But how can any Democrat work with a White House whose national security adviser fanned lunatic rumors that the Democratic candidate for president was engaged in sex crimes?
Gen. Flynn is not the only appointment that raises fears. Sen. Jeff Sessions, with a long history of venom towards people of color, is not fit to be attorney general. But at least Sen. Sessions must face Senate confirmation. Gen. Flynn is your decision alone.
When people are frightened, hatred can spiral out of control. I've witnessed this time and again during the civil rights movement, when citizens in both the South and the North were inflamed into assaults on nonviolent and peaceful demonstrators. Leaders can fan those flames, and they can help calm those fears.
That is why I make this simple moral appeal that you stand clearly against the hate and seek to calm the fears in what you say, how you act and who you put in your administration. Your appointments reflect what you think is acceptable. You draw the line. I implore you to draw it wisely.
#pizzagate #PodestaEmails Citizens4Trump Comet Ping Pong Democrats Gen. Michael Flynn hillary clinton Politico Republicans Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. Sen. Jeff Sessions washington dc White House national security advisor WikilLeaks
Founder and President, Rainbow PUSH Coalition, is one of America's foremost civil rights, religious and political figures. Over the past forty years, he has played a pivotal role in virtually every movement for empowerment, peace, civil rights, gender equality, and economic and social justice. On August 9, 2000, President Bill Clinton awarded Reverend Jackson the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor.
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York's cathedral licker sets tongues wagging
Licked and ticked: Long-tongued Lawrence bags Bradford Cathedral
25 Jun 2012 @ 6.35 am
Meet Lawrence Edmonds, the York man with a taste for the church.
Lawrence is Britain's leading – well, only – cathedral licker.
You name it, he's licked it. Canterbury Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, St Paul's – and when he licks our own York Minster he'll have run his tongue along every cathedral in England.
So why does he do it? He's mad. No not really, it's the result of a bet. In January 2011 Lawrence's friend Adam challenged him to lick every Anglican cathedral in the UK within two years.
"Leaving the Minster until last was very symbolic – mainly because of my links with York," Lawrence told YorkMix. "It seemed like a poignant way to finish the English leg of the bet.
"Adam had also threatened to form a human barrier around the building, as well as numerous other dastardly plans to prevent me from getting close enough to lick it."
If Lawrence loses the bet – and he's still got 20 Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish cathedrals to pucker up to – he must run round York Minster naked. If he wins, Adam must do the streak.
"The idea was that the naked streak would take place on the same day, but then the terms of the bet changed – Adam allowed me an extra six months when I discovered the 20 extra cathedrals in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
"So, the new deadline is December 16th, by which point Adam will actually be living abroad! No matter though, he will have to do it some time."
Lawrence's parents moved to York in the 1970s and he was born and raised in the city, living in Heworth and going to Hempland and Bootham Schools.
Now 26, he lives in London and works at the Jewel Tower in Westminster. But he says he "will be moving back to York in the next few months hopefully. I am looking for a job in the city at the moment."
Since starting his quest with a lick of Norwich Cathedral, Lawrence has kept a blog of his activities and hopes to turn his quest into a book.
"As well as this being a daft bet, I also have a love of history and travel," he said. "It's taken me to places I never thought of visiting before, like Coventry, Leicester and Southwell in Nottinghamshire.
"You always learn something interesting or unusual in each place you visit. It's been a journey of discovering new places, and licking them as well."
Each lick has to be photographed to provide proof: see the full gallery below. Lichfield Cathedral in the Midlands is number one in Lawrence's taste league: "The reddened sandstone was beautifully warm on the tongue, without any hint of saltiness or other foul taste to ruin the experience," he wrote.
Wakefield wasn't so enjoyable. "Now I've tasted some pretty revolting things in my life, from rotten shark meat to a sheep's eyeball, but Wakefield Cathedral defeats them all," was his verdict.
At Southwell Minster in Nottinghamshire, Lawrence's dad was taking the licking photo when a red-faced attendant appeared behind some glass doors, and started screaming for security. They had to hot-foot it out of there.
Cathedral licking isn't Lawrence's only unusual hobby. He's a fan of the Faroe Islands football team, and once played against them for the Luxembourg fan side.
He explained: "I became a fan of the Faroe Islands football team because they've got a really interesting stadium, which has really nice mountains around it and that kind of thing.
"I went to see the Luxembourg fan team compete against their fan side, but Luxembourg were a man down. I stepped up an ending up playing right-back for them.
"It was on TV, I think we lost 11-5 in the end. Before the game I had to take part in singing the Luxembourg national athemn, which was quite surreal if I'm being honest."
Lawrence is also a big York City fan, travelling to see them at Bootham Crescent when he can, while catching them at their second home, Wembley.
So what will he do after his cathedral-licking quest is over? Sniff castles?
"I don't know what I'm going to get up to yet, but I'll try and make sure it involves travel.
"Some friends in Scandanavia recommended that I should go and lick cathedrals out there too, but I think that might be taking it a bit too far…"
Licking gallery
Blackburn gets the Lawrence treatment
All lick-shape and Bristol fashion
St Edmundsbury is at Bury St Edmunds, strangely enough
Kissing the seat of the Anglican Church: Canterbury Cathedral
Lawrence gets a licking window at Chelmsford
Inside job: Chichester Cathedral
Modern love: Coventry Cathedral
Lawrence enjoys Derby day
I'm gonna lick old Durham town...
Open air at Ely
Gloucester's licky day
Underneath the arches at Guildford
In Hereford, cathedral lickings hardly ever happen
A lovely lick at Lichfield
Manning up in Manchester
Licking St Nicky in Newcastle
Up close and personal in Norwich
A peck for Peterborough
Mouth to Portsmouth
A ripping time in Ripon
Lean on me… Rochester
Sitting down in Salisbury
Steeling a lick in Sheffield
A gloomy lick at Southwark
Saints alive... St Albans
St Paul's gets a licking
Wakefield tasted worse than rotten shark's meat
Way out at Wells
Getting the Westminster Abbey habit
Tongues wagging at Winchester
Showing some Worcester sauce

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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In light of the recent Equifax breach, identity theft has been at the forefront of many members' minds, and understandably so. With an estimated 143 million consumers impacted, many individuals are contemplating their next move – how to effectively safeguard not only their identity, but also their financial future.
Below are a few things you can do to help protect yourself against the risk of identity theft, and some steps to take should you find yourself a victim of it.
Through "Phishing, Pharming, or Pretexting" scams – Thieves have become very savvy with their verbiage, tricking victims into volunteering their personal information.
Dumpster Diving – Thieves sift thoroughly through trash to find personal information, including your junk mail.
Through your Web Browser! – If your browser automatically fills in your personal information and the site is compromised, the thieve can has all access to everything!
Skimming" – A data storage devise placed on an ATM or other card reading machine to download your information when cards are swiped.
It can take a lot of time, money and energy to clean up the mess a thief has made of your good name and credit record. It takes an average resolution time of 40 hours per incident to repair the damage a thief has left behind, not to mention if the act was criminal!


Tick Season - FirstMed - Your Health Comes First!
Ticks are small spider-like insects that feed by inserting their mouths into the skin of a host and slowly taking in blood. During the feeding process they can transmit infections through their saliva. The tick´s saliva also has a numbing effect and so the bite can go unnoticed. In Central Europe the two most common diseases transmitted by ticks are Tick-borne encephalitis and Lyme Disease.
Tick-borne Encephalitis (TBE) is also known as spring-summer encephalitis or Fruehsommer – Meningoenzephalitis (FSME) in German. It is a viral infection. Although the most common way to get the disease is from an infected tick, it can also be passed on by drinking non-pasteurized dairy products from infected cows, goats or sheep.
The virus causes encephalitis which is an infection of the brain. It usually starts with a flu-like illness 1-2 weeks after the tick bite, which may be followed a few days later by headache, neck stiffness and confusion. Coma can occur and between 1 and 5% of people infected will die. Of those who recover some will have permanent brain damage.
TBE is common in Austria, Estonia, Latvia, the Czech republic, Slovakia, Germany, Poland, Russia and Ukraine as well as Hungary. The risk of acquiring the disease is greatest between March and October as this is peak biting season for the ticks. There is no medical cure for TBE. Prevention is therefore very important.
Lyme disease is the most common tick-borne disease in North America and Europe.
Flu-like symptoms such as fever, headache and muscular pains may appear about 1-4 weeks after the tick bite. There may also be a rash on the skin at the site of the tick bite. This is very characteristic. The area around the bite becomes red and slowly expands. It may enlarge for several weeks. The centre of the rash clears giving a "bulls eye" appearance.
Without treatment, up to 75% of those infected will develop problems later in life. These complications can affect the brain (meningitis, encephalitis), the heart, the skin, the eyes, the muscles and the joints. Most patients can be successfully treated with antibiotics if the diagnosis is made early enough.
Ticks are most commonly found in forests and woodland areas especially where there is heavy undergrowth. There is a small risk that ticks may be present in your garden. Those at highest risk are those who go walking or camping in wooded areas and all those who consume unpasteurised dairy products.
Remove the tick using a special tick tweezers or "spoon" available in pharmacies. Grasp it by the neck making sure you are not compressing it and pull it out. If the head breaks in do not worry, it will get thrust out like a sting would.
Taking sensible precautions to avoid tick bites is an important preventative measure. When walking in long grass or undergrowth wear suitable clothing that covers arms, legs and ankles. Insect repellants that contain DEET are effective and can be applied directly on to the skin. Unpasteurised dairy products should be avoided. After visiting a high risk area check your clothes and skin for ticks. Attached ticks should be removed promptly. The longer they are attached, the greater the risk of disease.
There is an effective vaccine available against TBE, however, this does not protect against Lyme disease. The recommended regime is 3 doses of the vaccine, the second dose usually being given 1 to 3 months after the first (this can be shortened to 2 weeks if necessary). The third dose is given 5 to 12 months after the 2nd dose. This way protection will be provided for 3 years. A booster injection three years after the last dose will prolong immunity.
This vaccine is available at FirstMed, please inquire by phone or sign up on the form above.
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Hetty Chang Bio, Wiki, Age, KNBC, Husband, Net worth, Salary, and Twitter
Hetty Chang is an American Emmy award-winning reporter who is currently working at NBC4. She serves as the weekdays 5 p.m., 6 p.m., 7 p.m.
Hetty Chang Biography
Hetty Chang is an American Emmy award-winning reporter who is currently working at NBC4. She serves as the weekdays 5 p.m., 6 p.m., 7 p.m., and 11 p.m anchor. In addition, she joined the KNBC news team in 2013.
Hetty Chang Career
Southern California is her native home. Previously she served on a digital media fellowship at the station through a pilot program between NBC4 and the Asian American Journalists Association in 2011. She also reported for the NBC stations in Reno and Las Vegas, and LA Cityview Channel 35.
In her journalism career, she has covered many memorable stories which have garnered national attention. Not long ago, she reported live from The 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, providing around-the-clock reports for more than three weeks in the heart of Olympic Village. Furthermore, some of her memorable interviews with a number of United States athletes include; Adam Rippon, Mirai Nagasu, figure skaters Nathan Chen, and three-time Olympic champion snowboarder Shaun White.
She has also provided in-depth coverage from Las Vegas of the worst mass shooting in modern history, the murder manhunt for ex-LAPD officer Christopher Dorner. Furthermore, for her coverage of the OJ Simpson robbery case, she received recognition. In addition, she also conducted one of Barack Obama's last interviews before he won the 2008 presidential election.
She was brought up in Cerritos, California. For her distinguished broadcasting career and contributions to the community, in 2018 she was recognized by the City of Cerritos. In addition, she attended the University of California, Los Angeles where she graduated with a B.A. in Sociology and Asian American Studies
Additionally, she is eloquent in Mandarin and continues to improve her Spanish on the job. She is also a member of the Asian American Journalists Association, a non-profit organization that encourages professionals to consider careers in journalism and news management.
Hetty Chang
During her spare time, she enjoys spending ample time with family and friends.
Hetty Chang Age
Chang likes to keep her personal life private hence she has not disclosed her age. However, this information will be updated when available.
Hetty Chang Height and Weight
Chang has not disclosed her height and weight. However, this information will be updated when available.
Hetty Chang Family
Chang likes to keep her personal life private hence she has neither disclosed the names of her parent nor those of her siblings. However, this information will be updated when available.
Hetty Chang Husband and Children
Chang has not disclosed her relationship status as she is very private with her personal life. However, this information will be updated when available.
Hetty Chang Net Worth
Chang has an estimated net worth of about $1 Million – $7 Million which she has earned through her career as a reporter.
Hetty Chang Salary
Chang earns a salary of about $47,000-$120,000.
Hetty Chang Social Media Platform
Chang is very active on her Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook page and she has 5k followers on Twitter, 3k followers on Instagram and 7k followers on Facebook.
Tweets by HettyNBCLA


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Home Toyota Avalon Reviews
2020 Toyota Avalon TRD First Drive: Fun Infusion
Stronger, better… but not faster.
Sep 25, 2019 at 4:00pm ET
By: Jeff Perez
The Toyota Avalon isn't the car it once was. It's better, actually. Pretty much every version of the current model sheds the once-synonymous retiree stigma of yore for more grown-up characteristics. The current Avalon is relaxed and poised, with an abundance of modern technology to boot. But no version offers the same capability and comfort, now with an extra dose of fun, as well as the new sporty Toyota Avalon TRD.
All About Avalon:
2019 Toyota Avalon First Drive: Turning Back The Clock
2019 Toyota Avalon Touring Review: Not Your Father's Avalon
Along with the Camry TRD, the Avalon TRD is one of the odder offerings in the performance arm's near 40-year-lineage in the U.S. But much like the trucks and SUVs with which it shares its nameplate, the Avalon TRD isn't short on equipment.
Mean Muggin'
The Avalon TRD actually looks sort of badass. That's something we never thought we'd say of Toyota's historically ordinary full-size sedan. The 19-inch TRD wheels (same as the Camry TRD), red pinstriping, and black spoiler toughen up the exterior in line with the hidden performance upgrades beneath the skin. Some of the same badassery carries over to the cabin, features like red stitching, red-and-black sport seats, and, yes, red seat belts. The entire look is ambitious for an Avalon, but it works.
Though, much like the Avalon Touring on which it's based, the TRD's massive grille takes up a ton of real estate on the front fascia. It draws attention away from the sporty sedan's otherwise attractive styling elements, most notably the lovely trunk-length light bar and TRD-specific dual exhaust tips – and only around 20-percent of it actually lets in air. The gaping grille, however, is only a slight blemish to the TRD Avalon's otherwise interesting exterior.
Cross Off Autocross
Toyota set the bar high for the Avalon TRD out of the gate. Engineers list the Kia Stinger and Audi A6 as its main competitors – two very good sedans. While we applaud Toyota's confidence (though, comparing a front-drive sedan to two rear-wheel-drive alternatives is maybe too ambitious), the Avalon TRD has many redeemable qualities on-road that makes it competitive, even if it ultimately can't hold a candle to the Stinger's performance or German A6's refinement and poise.
Chassis reinforcements and suspension upgrades do help. With the Avalon TRD's stiffer spring rates (10 percent in the front, 50 percent out back relative to the Touring) and larger underbody bracing, the car feels noticeably more rigid from the driver's seat. The Avalon TRD corners flatly and on a twisty autocross course set up on the grounds of Texas Motor Speedway. At least, more so than any other Avalon before it.
The TRD model sheds the Touring trim's adaptive suspension in place of sportier tuning out of the box, and it's much better.
Cornering improves, too. By a good margin, in fact. Active Cornering Assist, which brakes the inner wheel, and a half-inch lower ride height help the Avalon TRD handle tight turns with some semblance of alertness. The TRD model sheds the Touring trim's adaptive suspension in place of sportier tuning out of the box, and it's much better.
But the Avalon TRD isn't a thoroughbred sports sedan as its sporty exterior and stiffening might denote. There's still noticeable body roll (due in part to its 3,700-pound curb weight), the same soft steering feel, sluggish throttle input, and not-exceptionally grippy all-season tires (P235/40) from the Touring trim. While TRD engineers went all out in suspension upgrades, for which we are thankful, two or three more tweaks and this would be a different vehicle entirely. But frankly, autocrossing isn't the Avalon's forte. The TRD model excels where all other Avalons before it have: On the road.
The Avalon TRD isn't a track toy, but it is perfect for the speedy, straight highways of Texas where we're testing it. The Avalon TRD is composed at highway speeds and quiet and comfortable inside. The 301 horsepower of the standard 3.5-liter V6 is enough, providing the Avalon TRD good off-the-line speed and plenty of punch at the top of the rev range. Suspension upgrades make the ride noticeably firmer, which will probably deter the Avalon's traditional buyer base, but the additional stiffness improves connectedness at speed without being too intrusive for daily driving.
The only thing hampering the Avalon TRD is its sloppy eight-speed automatic. This transmission is over-ambitious, upshifting too early and straight-up preventing full manual mode, even in the most aggressive setting. And we (like many customers) would prefer an all-wheel-drive option; the Avalon TRD would fair better with power at both ends.
But at $42,300 to start, the Toyota Avalon TRD actually undercuts the Avalon Touring on which it's based. Compared to its closest rival, the Kia Stinger GT ($39,300), it is more expensive. But that shouldn't have you writing off this car entirely.
Sure, this Avalon isn't great at autocrossing or hard cornering – we suggest the Camry TRD instead if you want an agile four-door with a Toyota badge. But the TRD model is a sporty-enough sedan that excels in straight-line speed and comfort, with enough dexterity for the average consumer.
2020 Toyota Avalon TRD
Engine 3.5-Liter V6
Output 301 Horsepower / 267 Pound-Feet
Drive Type Front-Wheel Drive
Speed 0-60 MPH 6.1 Seconds (est.)
Maximum speed 130 Miles Per Hour
Weight 3,700 Pounds
Efficiency 22 City / 31 Highway / 25 Combined
Cargo Volume 16.1 Cubic Feet
As-Tested Price $45,430 (est.)


New web show: If Google was your Roommate. And here's episode Two and Three. Very funny!
PSFK recently held a Good Ideas Salon in London bringing together commentators (including me) to discuss key areas steering innovation and opportunity. PSFK's Piers Fawkes moderated a panel that included Dan Hon (Six To Start), me, Matt Jones (Dopplr) and Jonathan MacDonald (Ogilvy) on how the ever-presense of mobile is unveiling new, interesting ways for us to explore, work, and play.
Themes: People, not technology. Applications and tools. Individual needs and desires. Place versus location.
Today is Blog Action Day, an annual nonprofit event that "aims to unite the world's bloggers, podcasters and videocasters, to post about the same issue on the same day." Last year the theme was the environment. This year the theme is world poverty (something I could use as a snarky lift-off comment on the coming recession, but I'll resist that this point).
The real point is that, even in a bad recession in the Western World, we will rarely really understand true poverty. Such as what it is like to have to walk 5 miles to a well to fetch water every day. Or to see most of your children die young through malnutrition. My father, now retired, was a research scientist (actually he still goes into his London university lab to say hi – he just can't keep away from the work). All his life he has been researching a vaccine for Malaria, a disease which kills between one and three million people, the majority of whom are young children in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The causes of Malaria are complex, everything from the standing water mosquitos breed in, to the mosquito carrier itself, to the massive complexity of the disease, which seems to morph at every stage of its life-cycle, making a vaccine near impossible to develop.
But it's clear that one of the greatest weapons we have against poverty is education. If you can educate someone to use a mosquito net, you will have already improved the chances of their family surviving, thus broken the cycle of poverty which keeps every new generation from developing. And that's where the technology industry can help. Already, the mobile phone has proved its worth in creating a sort of trading platform for African farmers and Indian fisherman to check prices at the local village markets for their produce. Mere SMS is a powerful thing. But that's not enough. You can't really read articles and browser the Web on a mobile, or educate children. So the efforts of Nicholas Negroponte to create a cheap laptop (under $100) for children in developing countries has been one of the great projects of our time. It's such a pity that some people inside Microsoft and Intel appeared, according to some, to have done their best to stop it ever happening. Thankfully, that is not the official line of those organisations, and I hope they remedy their well-intentioned words with ever more action.
At TechCrunch, we generally think information is most powerful when it lives in the "Cloud", hence the project to create a cheap cloud computer tablet for under $200. That's not a project for children in poverty specifically, but since the whole idea is open source, the ideas could be applied anywhere.
Personally I was heartened by the Simputer project in India a few years ago. A handheld device like a mobile on an open platform. It may well be the case that Google's Android ends up being the cheap, open operating system which could drive simple web tablets for developing countries as well as mobiles.
But for now it looks like the mobile phone is very much going to be the single most important piece of tech in developing countries going forward. You can use it to message and talk and it can be charged from a car battery. WiFi is no real use across the vast distances in Africa, and WiMax is still a pipe-dream. A few years ago the StarSight project looked like it was poised to WiFi-up Africa, though it seems not to have made much dent as yet.
Anyway, if you want to blog about poverty today, then why not register your blog and do something.
sbisson @mbites I've found Avast! both better than AVG and also a lot less of a resource hog.
rmmarshall @mbites Windows defender can find adware that AVG won't. Best rule: run all the programs several times to completion.
loudmouthman @mbites avast, firfefox, lock down IE add ons, use gmail no local email at all, and create a restricted profile and add crossloop.


Why do we do what we do in church? The Corinthians had completely missed the point and purpose of the celebration of the Lord's supper. They had begun to treat it casually and were missing its significance. We can sometimes lose the meaning of what we do in our worship services, our Bible studies, our times of personal prayer and reflection before God. Paul's call to examine ourselves in this context was specific to the Lord's supper, but the implications go far beyond just communion. As we go through life, we should be examining our walk with Jesus continually. Keeping our worship focused on Him, not the trappings of the service. Keeping our study focused on what God's Word means for our lives today, not simply memorizing how God moved thousand of years ago. Examining our walk with Jesus is an every minute of every day calling.


text:
Open Thread, 04/01/2016
This Post about *default, tagged *notag, was written by Anatoly Karlin for Russian Reaction on April 2, 2016
Transhuman Debate 2.0
Will be happening tomorrow.
HOW DOES CONSCIOUSNESS ARISE? (1:00 – 1:30)
Andre Gomez Emilsson says neural signaling by classical means doesn't seem sufficient for to achieve 'global binding' – due to signal travel time
Randal A. Koene says the brain (at least during times of conscious awareness) appears to be operating in a more discretized manner, where signal travel time is much smaller than the discrete intervals and therefore must be perceived as unitary and instantaneous even without non-classical causes.
SECOND AMENDMENT: 'RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS' (1:40 – 2:25)
Question: Should there be stricter gun laws, to improve public safety? Or should laws stay the same, because USA 'freedom' includes access to firearms?
Anti-Guns: Scott Jackisch, Robert Wasley
Pro-Guns: Anatoly Karlin, Mike Johnson
EUGENICS (2:40 – 3:40)
Questions: Do you want a future with Mandatory Pre-Natal Diagnoses, Designer Babies, One-or-Two Child Policies, and Parent Licenses that limit how many children you have? Should there be a transhumanist goal that all humans should have 140 IQ, plus great health and beauty? With Eugenics helping to achieve that? Or do you think the government should NEVER meddle in Reproduction?
Pro-Eugenics: Andre Gomez Emilsson, Hank Pellissier, Anya Petrova
Anti-Eugenics: Marc McAllister, Ted Peters, Brian Hanley
Unlike with the debate on open borders, which we won, I am far more skeptical of our chances on arguing for gun freedoms. I like shooting all sorts of guns. The Colt is one of the defining symbols of America. Since I am a great fan of (genuine) multiculturalism, in the sense of maintaining the integrity of many different national cultures, I also favor continued gun freedoms.
That said, I think it's hard to argue against the basic premise that gun freedoms lower the "activation energy" for people to murder each other (at any given level of civilization/social civility/average psychopathy). To be sure, there are plenty of other factors contributing to – the percentage of Blacks, or the level of hard alcohol consumption – but these are all independent from the guns issue, and not easy to resolve either. For example, even the most homogenous, genteel, and civilized US states such as Vermont and New Hampshire have homicide rates of around 1.0-1.2/100,000, which despite the much talked about immigrant crisis in Europe still make them higher than those of Germany, Italy, Spain, France, the UK, and Poland (0.8-1.0/100,000). Switzerland is at a mere 0.3/100,000. Although the NRA likes to hold up Switzerland as a sort of European gun lovers' paradise, the actual reality of acquiring a firearm is far more time- and-energy intensive than almost anywhere in the US. Now it is possible that the Swiss are even more genetically pacified than the milquetoast New Englanders, but the other, in my opinion more plausible scenario, is that this difference is mainly due to guns being easier to access in the US.
But I won't regard you with yet another longwinded essay on the pros and cons of gun control. These are a dime a dozen.
Instead, I'll just gather a few points that perhaps haven't been annunciated a great deal in these debates because they come from unusual perspectives:
Utilitarianism: The extra deaths from higher gun freedoms have to be balanced by the fact that shooting and owning guns is a popular pastime for many people. Not to mention the cultural intangibles. For every foreigner who snickers at the (cartoonish) picture of rampage shooters running amok on American streets there is another foreigner who sees guns as an symbol of American asperity and badassery.
Class War: The people amongst whom gun culture is most engrained are Southern Whites, who are the only major demographic group against whom it is acceptable to be racist. This is a view shared not just by the liberals, but their own establishment conservative "allies," as the NRO's Kevin Williamson recently demonstrated. Gun restrictions would be yet another slap to their face.
Transhumanism: Admittedly, guns are not going to be of much use against a malevolent superintelligence. We are also beginning to see some really nifty aiming devices and even smart bullets coming onto the market. I suspect it will soon become possible for dedicated rampage shooters to increase their kill counts by an order of magnitude or so. That's an argument for gun control if there ever was one!
On the other hand, technology has massively magnified the power of the government versus the citizenry – a development that has upended the balance of power between them that the Second Amendment was meant to encapsulate. The liberal argument that technological developments mean that guns are no longer relevant to resisting state tyranny can thus be inverted; given the reality of this historic, it is perhaps more important than ever to avoid subverting the Constitutional amendment that best symbolizes this balance.
Another futurist argument against gun control is that with the rise of 3D printing, it might soon be possible for anyone to produce passable firearms anyway. This has in fact already happened. This is not yet a big issue, but if/when this technology becomes widespread and anyone can produce a gun in their garage, all gun regulations might become moot anyway.
I'll also be moderate the eugenics debate. My position on eugenics is longstanding:
When you marry your college sweetheart instead of the crackwhore by the club dumpster, you are practicing eugenics. #TheTriggering
— Anatoly Karlin (@powerfultakes) March 9, 2016
Interesting Links & Quick Takes
(1) Does Google basically work for the White House? Internet giant revealed to have offered to help overthrow Assad as Obama reveals broadband for Cuba at Daily Mail.
All that rhetoric about the Apple/FBI fight is complete nonsense. An entertainment spectacle for the masses. At the levels that actually matter, the big Silicon Valley tech companies are completely in bed with USG. The event described above happened in 2012, when the Clinton Clique was in control of US foreign policy and, as Wikileaks has revealed, looking for ways to justify an attack on Syria.
Will have a separate post on this later.
(2) @Eskaton on global warming, NRx, and Unz.com commentators:
https://twitter.com/strana_mechty/status/711517146979893248
(1) An Establishment Conservative's Guide To The Alt-Right by Breitbart's Allum Bokhari and Milo Yiannopoulos. Can't be bothered to read it myself but people are generally saying its a fair portrayal so I assume its a good "Alt Right 101" for normies.
That said, note that Razib Khan has explicitly said he is not Alt Right, and it is a huge stretch to describe The Unz Review as an Alt Right website considering that Unz prints people like Chomsky and Tanya Golash-Boza.
(2) Try to sugarcoat it as you will, but the prediction markets indicate that Trump's abortion comments really were a big blunder. Possibly his biggest to date.
Russia/Ukraine
(1) ITAR TASS interviews Stephen Hawking on the future of space exploration, automization, his dream of going into space himself, and Russia:
After the Soviet Union's collapse, you have not been to Russia. Would you like to visit this country again, for example, with your daughter Mrs. Lucy Hawking who studied Russian at Oxford University?
I enjoyed my previous visits to Russia and I would like to visit again.
Russia will celebrate the 55th anniversary of the first manned flight into space – the Cosmonautics Day or International Day of Human Space Flight. What were your feelings at that moment on April 12, 1961?
I was impressed that Russia was ahead of America in the space race.
It has been over 25 years since the Russian Federation took up the torch as a space power. Could you assess its current potential for space exploration?
The Americans rely on Russia for travel to and from the International Space Station. I think the future is in such international cooperation.
You backed an ambitious project The Breakthrough Initiatives last year. It is funded by the Russian businessman Yuri Milner and aims to search for extraterrestrial life. Almost immediately some sceptics described it as "a waste of money". What is the likelihood that the project will be successful?
Within 100 years, I have no doubt, there will be humans living on Mars. I am a supporter of the Breakthrough Initiatives, founded by Yuri Milner, to search for extraterrestrial life. By analyzing data from radio telescopes and laser transmissions, they hope to find signs of intelligence, that Earth is not the only source of life in the universe. Such a discovery would revolutionize our view of the Cosmos.
Self-styled leader of the Russian opposition Garry Kasparov had a reply that was every bit as boorish as we have come to expect from him.
It's right for Stephen Hawking to talk about the potential of Putin's Russia since he's an expert on black holes! https://t.co/bWyCkeVOq0
— Garry Kasparov (@Kasparov63) March 30, 2016
(2) After more than a decade of searching for Putin's $40 billion no $70 billion no $200 billion Reuters has finally discovered his daughter and three other women might have gotten free apartments from one of Putin's businessman buddies. Quite the step down in status for a "pharaoh" who "doesn't need a piece of paper attesting to his wealth"! After this revelation the regime will surely fall any day now.
(3) Operation Beluga: A US-UK Plot to Discredit Putin and Destabilize the Russian Federation by William Dunkerley.
Putin Derangement Syndrome. But maybe there is a method to the madness. According to former French intelligence officer Paul Barril, there is a largescale intelligence operation directed from Washington D.C. and London to undermine Russia and its leaders. Sounds farfetched? Sure. But then again, as we learn time and time again, conspiracies really do appear to be far more prevalent than we like to think (see the story on Google helping undermine Assad at the top). It is certainly noteworthy that the Western media hasn't subjected any other foreign leader to a fraction of the bile it has hurled at Putin – not even at Assad. The only really comparable figure is Julian Assange, who was ironically another "traitor" to the Western cause (Putin was of course originally intended to be a loyal servant of Russia's pro-Western oligarchs and its a safe bet the neocons saw his reclamation of Russia's sovereignty as not only a betrayal but a personal humiliation). In light of Udo Ulfkotte's revelations that that the CIA massages the stories that come out of the German MSM, and the power of governments to control media narratives across a whole swathe of European countries recently demonstrated by the Cologne Affair, these allegations are far more credible now than they might have been even a few years ago.
(4) There are huge exchanges of artillery in Donbass again, in a continuing development since mid-March 2016, with the Ukrainians firing heavy caliber shells of the sort banned under Minsk 2 and the NAF responding with counter-battery fire. The LDNR are very unhappy with the lack of Russian military support. The obvious reason for this is that two major Atlanticist events are coming up soon – the vote on the renewal of EU sanctions in late June (there is now a real chance that some Med country like Greece or Italy will veto them) and the NATO summit in Warsaw on July 8-9, when the details of future US military dispositions in Europe will be discussed. Presumably, Poroshenko wants to provoke Russia into doing something that would harden Western positions on those issues, regain their waning attention, and detract from his own plummeting domestic approval ratings (now lower than Yanukovych at his lowest). Putin is playing it safe and refusing to escalate. Tellingly, both the mainstream Russian and Western media have been silent on the uptick in violence. Unfortunately, for the longsuffering residents of Donbass it's another story.
(5) Ukraine bans all Russian films made after 2013. I wonder if the svidomy realize this includes, say, Leviathan, perhaps the most prominent artistic "indictment" of Putinism made to date.
(6) Ukraine Today, Ukraine's lame attempt at imitating RT, is shutting down broadcasting for lack of money. The next big thing on the Ukrainian English language news market is the Odessa Review, run by Vladislav Davidzon. You can see him basking beta-like in the glory of The Tie-Eater to the right.
(1) High ranking EU politician Frank Timmermans: "Diversity comes with challenges, but diversity is humanity's destiny."
Science – Tech, Futurism
(1) Black-hole computing: Might nature's bottomless pits actually be ultra-efficient quantum computers? That could explain why data never dies by Sabine Hossenfelder.
Culture – History, HBD
(1) Gachter, Simon & Schulz – 2016 – Intrinsic honesty and the prevalence of rule violations across societies, as covered by James Thompson.
Get people (well, psychology students) from different countries to throw dice. The higher the numbers they report, the higher their monetary reward. Calculate the amount of "cheating" from basic probability.
The pattern is, as usual, quite familiar.
(2) German special forces uber-kommando Otto Skorzeny went onto serve Mossad after the war at Haaretz.
He had two funerals, one in a chapel in Spain's capital and the other to bury his cremated remains in the Skorzeny family plot in Vienna. Both services were attended by dozens of German military veterans and wives, who did not hesitate to give the one-armed Nazi salute and sing some of Hitler's favorite songs. Fourteen of Skorzeny's medals, many featuring a boldly black swastika, were prominently paraded in the funeral processions.
There was one man at the service in Madrid who was known to no one in the crowd, but out of habit he still made sure to hide his face as much as he could. That was Joe Raanan, who by then had become a successful businessman in Israel. The Mossad did not send Raanan to Skorzeny's funeral; he decided to attend on his own, and at his own expense. This was a personal tribute from one Austrian-born warrior to another, and from an old spy handler to the best, but most loathsome, agent he ever ran.
What a beautiful reconciliation.
(3) Fred Reed is on a roll:
It Cometh from the Pit. and Hath a Knout
My Biochemistry Made Me Do It: Confessions of a Genetic Subroutine
(4) Where microaggressions really come from: A sociological account by Jonathan Haidt. In his interpretation, SJWs might be truly novel from a sociological perspective: Where once cultures moved from a culture of honor, where insults are personally avenged, to a culture of dignity, in which the high class thing to do was to rise above verbal insults and seek redress for physical wrongs from the courts, we might now be moving to a culture of victimization, in which victimhood itself – real and perceived – becomes the highest virtue, while aggressors are to be punished both by society, by social media, and even by the courts. Although I consider myself as a mostly "dignity" person, I really do understand and even empathize with the "honor" position. But I can genuinely say that "victim" culture is truly alien to me. I cannot even begin to imagine how it must work at the psychological level, even if I sort of understand it in the abstract. To me it feels like a sci-fi civilization created by another species.
Life & Misc
(1) April Fool's? It's hard to beat Heartiste's from 2013.
5371 says
Was Moldbug really begotten by Yudkowsky's cult, as claimed in that Breitbart piece? Surely not.
"to see some really nifty aiming devices "
Link in that section leads to a post from Sailer's about the Vagina monologues…unless there's some joke I'm not getting, this seems like a mistake.
[AK: Weird. I had never even read this post let alone linked to it. Here is the link I meant to put there: http://tracking-point.com/. Thanks for pointing it out. Normally this would be a mistake, and perhaps it was through some strange mechanism, but the website is acting a bit glitchy of late…]
Pseudonymic Handle says
AFAIK Moldbug and Yudkowsky have nothing in common.
Yes I doubt it. As Yarvin says he created his ideology in a garage.
I wouldn't call Less Wrong or its offshoots a cult though.
JohnnyWalker123 says
I was curious if you're planning to publish a paper on grip strength and ethnicity.
Sandgroper says
No one yet has invented a 3D printer that makes live bullets – the hard part is the propellant. Guns are just delivery devices.
g2k says
"there is now a real chance that some Med country like Greece or Italy will threaten to veto them in a lame effort to extract economic concessions from Germany, fold under the slightest pressure, vote as instructed and get nothing" – Fixed it for you
Did you write this piece before the Kasyanov-Pelevina fun, AK?
Eee says
The "culture of victimhood" thing – isn't it the same thing that the various English pro-Russia sites that sprang up after the Ukraine crisis try to do? (and perhaps that your own Russophile site did earlier) You know, try to get the mainstream Russian point of view across to the Westerners, change public opinion. "Building a case for action by documenting, exaggerating, or even falsifying offenses" (with much more documenting than falsifying, hopefully)
Isn't that, in fact, the very root motivation of a lot of blogging? Or of any advocacy movement? So I don't think it's quite as alien as you make it out to be.
Heck, even Putin's strategy of trying to deal with problems through international law (that huge project to document Ukrainian war crimes, for example) seems to be a form of it.
Also, Trump seems to represent the "honor culture" (constantly guarding his reputation, retaliating furiously against anyone who attacks him), while Trump's many enemies are mostly from the "victimhood culture". It's an epic battle…
I would also add that "public shaming" is a major element of this. At the more extreme ends, the "victimhood" bit isn't even necessary (witness the various public shamings of random socially awkward internet people on the likes of 4chan, as documented on Encyclopedia Dramatica). The main thing becomes the pleasure in being part of a mob that punishes individuals who are unpopular (among the mob), and the joy at seeing those individuals being unable to resist the onslaught.
It might seem strange to you that they're proud of being victims, but in fact that's not it – they're proud of being part of a mob that can destroy someone that they don't like, using any techniques no matter how shameless. This is why the Islamist rebels in Libya and Syria had no qualms about playing helpless for the Western cameras to gather sympathy and get weapons sent to them. This, for them, IS being "self-sufficient", in that they self-sufficiently manipulated others to give them what they want.
The university students are no different. Do you think those Emory students really "felt in pain" at seeing "Trump" written in chalk on their campus? http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-03-24/emory-students-scared-pain-after-safe-space-violated-word-trump-written-chalk
I doubt it. I think they felt proud of themselves for being able to control the system to do what they wanted, though. The "system" is to them as his sword was to a samurai.
In traditional "honor" cultures too, the aggrieved party first MAKES him/herself a victim (by making a big deal about something, rather than just ignoring it) before exacting revenge. The main difference is HOW the revenge is carried out, individually or in a mob (although… don't honor cultures also sometimes gather the entire clan to exact vengeance?).
I would say these things are much closer to dignity culture. In fact, my approach at Da Russophile was if anything quite lawyerly – correcting myths, misconceptions, and exaggerations about Russia, and identifying double standards as regards its coverage (what critics might call "whataboutism").
This is far closer to dignity culture than victimization culture.
I mean was I making out Russia to be morally superior on the basis of Western lies and hostility against it? I don't think any partial observer could argue that I was, since I have always been open about Russia's failings (where they are real). My only "activism" was to not accept the Western media's self-appointed role as judge, jury and executioner without reservation.
This is why the Islamist rebels in Libya and Syria had no qualms about playing helpless for the Western cameras to gather sympathy and get weapons sent to them. This, for them, IS being "self-sufficient", in that they self-sufficiently manipulated others to give them what they want.
This works on WEIRDos who understand victimization culture but as regards most other observers I would say like water off a duck's back. I will also venture that the Islamists who do it as people who come from and/or have adopted a honor culture actually feel soiled in doing this, but do it anyway because they have realized that it is an effective method of "hacking" into Westerners. In contrast, SJWs wear victimization like a badge of honor. While those Emory students will have no qualms about telling each other to check their privilege, I have difficulty imagining jihadists doing the same amongst themselves.
Parsifal says
Mishiko propably chose that Davidzon guy because he's the only one that can make him look alpha male! LOL! Davidzon is a nasty piece of work, BTW. You should see his Twitter account, neocon agitprop 101.
"I don't think any partial observer could argue that I was, since I have always been open about Russia's failings (where they are real)."
You're right… that was why I qualified my statement with "perhaps". But some of the other sites (Russia Insider, Fortruss, Saker) have, to varying degrees, more often mixed "cataloguing double standards" with "telling stories of victims/garnering sympathy/making the opponent look bad".
I would add that perhaps one of the major reasons that Russia has such a terrible track record at improving its public perception among the Western public is an inability or unwillingness to understand and cater to the "victimhood culture".
Within Russian-language news, there used to be daily stories about the horrors of the Ukrainian war, with on-the-ground interviews of the bombed villagers – heart-wrenching stuff. But there didn't seem to be a concerted effort to mount an international sympathy campaign using all of that material.
"While those Emory students will have no qualms about telling each other to check their privilege, I have difficulty imagining jihadists doing the same amongst themselves."
Oh, I don't know, don't the jihadis hold themselves to the fire when it concerns religion? There's just a different "holy text" for the two groups… though it's probably true for both of them that they're more likely to hold OUTSIDERS to the fire than their own friends.
I guess the jihadis feel just as dirty posing as victims for Western cameras as Emory students would if they had to denounce religious sacrilege for Middle Eastern viewers in order to win support.
Hrw-500 says
A bit off-topic, I spotted these videos from a user nicknamed "Black Pigeon Speaks" on Youtube about microagressions and migrants.
https://youtu.be/10B9Fc8BmR0
https://youtu.be/5FPXXHknv0g


Jacamars are members of the family Galbulidae.
They belong to the order Piciformes.
Jacamars live in forests and savannas in the tropics of Mexico, Central America and South America.
They range from about 5 ½ inches to a little over a foot long.
Many species of jacamar have brightly colored, iridescent plumage.
Jacamars often have metallic blue or metallic green feathers on their heads and upper parts, red underparts and light patches on their breasts.
Males and females of the same species are similarly colored, although females may have duller coloring on their heads and necks.
Jacamars have long, sharp bills, long, narrow tongues, long tails and short legs.
Almost all jacamars have feet that are zygodactylous. This means that each foot has two toes facing forward and two toes facing backward.
An exception is the three-toed jacamar (Jacamaralcyon tridaetyla), which has two toes facing forward and only one toe facing backward.
Jacamars eat insects, including butterflies, moths, ants and wasps. They hunt by sitting on perches, waiting for prey, and then swooping down to grab it.
The jacamar's long bill enables it to grab the insect and hold it far away from its face so that the insect cannot blind it with fluttering wings or sting it.
A jacamar will remove an insect's wings and its stinger - if it has one - before eating it.
Some jacamars pluck insects off the ground or out of tree crevices.
A jacamar's diet may also include spiders and small lizards.
They use their bills to drill burrows in riverbanks and in banks of soil. These burrow lead to nesting chambers.
Some jacamars build nests in termite mounds.
In some species, the female builds the nest by herself, while in others, male and female work together.
A clutch contains one to four eggs. Both parents incubate the eggs.
When the chicks hatch, they are covered with white down.


text:
Nice guys finish thirst? Fair Trade vodka is here
by Kieron Monks @CNNMoney September 9, 2016: 10:04 AM ET
Fair Spirits
Drinking vodka need not be a guilty pleasure, if it is distilled from ethically sourced Bolivian quinoa.
This is the pitch of Fair Spirits, the first and only Fair Trade certified liquor company, and it is resonating with a growing market that covers dozens of countries.
Fair was launched by former cognac salesman Alexandre Koiransky in 2009, after he tired of selling luxury liquor in some of the poorest areas of Chicago.
"I loved the idea of selling French savoir-faire abroad, but it was wrong to sell $40 bottles to guys that could not afford their rent," says Koiransky.
"My idea was to bring some meaning to the world of spirits," he adds. "I was already a Fair Trade coffee lover, and I tried to bring this world into spirits."
After forming Fair with friend Jean-Francois Daniel, Koiransky targeted the popular vodka market for his first product. But he found that using only Fair Trade goods required creativity.
Fair Trade does not certify common ingredients such as potatoes and wheat, so the entrepreneur turned to in-vogue grain quinoa, which marked the beginning of a "world tour of co-operatives."
"Fair Trade put me in touch with a co-operative in Bolivia that needed to sell their quinoa," Koiransky recalls. "We went to see the guys in Bolivia, and found the right price to make it a win-win relationship."
Koiransky then toured the Cognac region of France in search of a distiller capable of creating the first quinoa-based vodka, and found one in master brewer Philip Laclie.
The product was an instant hit, winning the 2009 gold medal of the Beverage Testing Institute, the first of several awards.
Alexandre Koiransky
Companies must comply with around 200 rules to maintain Fair Trade certification.
Many in the liquor business would balk at the requirement to pay producers 15% more than market price, and return 2.5% of revenue to support local development.
But Koiransky sees benefits in forging close ties to suppliers. "One rule is that once you start working with someone, you must make sure you have a system with them and a long-term relationship with them," he says.
Fair's relationship with the Bolivian quinoa farmers has endured to the present day, and the company has since formed lasting links with co-operatives across the world to support an expanding range of liquors.
The company now produces gin using juniper berries from Uzbekistan, rum from Belizean sugar cane, and coffee liquor from Mexican beans.
Despite the diverse and far-flung supply chain, Koiransky says the commitment of his suppliers ensures that production runs smoothly and without delays.
Upward curve
Fair currently sells around 15,000 cases of liquor a year, making it a minnow in industry terms compared with giants such as Smirnoff, which sells over 25 million.
But the company is spreading rapidly, with products now distributed in more than 20 countries, and it is targeting the same niche of savvy, metropolitan consumers across the world.
"Our market is located in the heart of big cities," says Koiransky. "Anywhere in the world you have the same people who care about what they eat and drink ... people are looking for quality ingredients different from what they know, and it is more exciting to discover them through a spirit."
Koiransky is confident that consumer trends are on his side.
Sustainable produce is increasingly popular, with Fair Trade sales approaching $7 billion in 2014. There is growing demand for healthy alternative produce, which Fair targets with gluten-free and organic recipes, and sales of premium spirits are rising fast.
Fair is continuing to look outwards, with the imminent launch of a Brazilian acai liquor, and steady expansion into new markets, most recently Hong Kong.
But the priority is to strengthen in Europe, with plans to scale up in the U.K. that will make it the company's largest market, overtaking the U.S., which Koiransky says is the most challenging market.
"The level of financing you need, the competition and the level of innovation in the U.S. is probably the highest in the world," he says. "There are 300 new brands of vodka launched every year in the US which tells you how competitive it is."
Koiransky says that word of mouth often sees new business come to him, with increasing buzz around the new flavor of the month.
But he does not expect to remain the only fair trade liquor provider for long.
"I'm totally aware there are other people working on this, and there will be many other new products like ours," he says.
CNNMoney (London) First published September 9, 2016: 10:04 AM ET
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text:
VP Debate Ratings History: No. 1 Will Surprise You (Chart)
While Kaine-Pence is unlikely to reach Palin-Biden viewership levels, the highest rating actually belongs to another duo
Tony Maglio | October 3, 2016 @ 5:28 PM	Last Updated: October 4, 2016 @ 6:31 AM
VP candidates Mike Pence and Tim Kaine
Joe Biden and Paul Ryan captured 51.4 million total viewers four years ago, the last time we had running mates battling for the future of the country via a veep debate.
That's a ton of eyeballs — compared to anything but Trump/Clinton's recent must-see-TV — but it's neither the record nor the runner-up for the runner-up to lead the country. The distinction of the top slot for a vice presidential debate unsurprisingly belongs to Biden and Sarah Palin, who drew a whopping 69.9 million total viewers in 2008. For some additional context, that was actually 6.7 million more viewers than the main players Barack Obama and John McCain got with their top battle that year. That, folks, is what we call a sideshow.
As a matter of fact, aside from a tie with George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Ross Perot in 1992, the only pre-Trump presidential or VP debate to ever best Palin's big moment was Jimmy Carter-Ronald Reagan in 1980 — the former grandaddy of them all, with 80.6 million total viewers.
Also Read: You'll Never Guess the Most-Watched Presidential Debate in History (Chart)
Last Monday, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton pulled in 84 million total viewers with their kickoff bout. Click here to check out each televised Commander-in-Chief debate, ranked historically by Nielsen ratings.
Trump-Clinton 2 takes place on Oct. 9, with the final debate set for 10 days later. Tomorrow night, unforgettables Mike Pence and Tim Kaine get their lone shot to make their mark on TV ratings history. While they're unlikely to broach Palin-Biden levels of viewership, the highest rating for a vice presidential debate actually belongs to the 1984 showdown between George H.W. Bush and Geraldine Ferraro.
Below is what Kaine and Pence are competing with, ranked by rating.
Also Read: Good Luck Against Tonight's Presidential Debate, Rest of TV!
15 Most Cringe-Worthy Gaffes From Presidential Debates
1960: During the first televised presidential debate, Richard Nixon refused to wear stage makeup, revealing his sweaty forehead under the hot TV lights. This made the younger John F. Kennedy look much more confident.
John F. Kennedy Library Foundation
1976: Gerald Ford claimed that he didn't believe that Eastern Europe was under "Soviet domain," which proved to be an unpopular opinion, as the moderator repeated the question in bewilderment.
1980: When the moderator tried to silence Ronald Reagan's microphone during a Republican primary debate, Reagan shouted: "I am paying for this microphone!" The line became a "political home run" for Reagan. It was also borrowed it from the 1948 film "State of the Union."
1980: In a general-election debate between incumbent president Jimmy Carter and Reagan, Carter said, "I had a discussion with my daughter Amy the other day before I came here to ask her what the most important issue was. She said she thought the control of nuclear weaponry." Carter was mocked for taking policy advice from his 13-year-old daughter, helping Reagan to win the election.
ReaganFoundation
1988: Michael Dukakis may have lost the election when he said he would still oppose the death penalty even if the killer raped and murdered his wife, Kitty.
1988: Vice presidential candidate Dan Quayle compared himself to Jack Kennedy and got hammered by Democratic rival Lloyd Bentsen: "Senator, I served with Jack Kennedy, I knew Jack Kennedy, Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy."
1992: George H.W. Bush checked his watch and tucked in his shirt during his debate with future president Bill Clinton, looking impatient when asked about the economy.
2000: Al Gore sighed during a debate with George W. Bush, which was widely perceived as condescending. It was so bad, aides made him watch the "SNL" parody of the gaffe before the next debate.
2008: Hillary Clinton attacked Barack Obama for allegedly lifting lines from the speeches of Massachusetts politician Duval Patrick. She had a good zinger... that didn't quite have the effect she was hoping for. "Lifting whole passages from someone else's speeches is not change you can believe in, it's change you can Xerox," Clinton said -- but the audience booed.
2008: When a moderator asked Hillary Clinton if she had the personal appeal to overtake Barack Obama, the future president interjected that Clinton was "likable enough."
2008: While illustrating a point about a Bush/Cheney energy bill that Obama had signed, Arizona Senator John McCain referred to the future president as "that one."
2011: Texas Gov. Rick Perry shifted his reputation from budget-slasher to bungler when he blanked on the names of all three federal agencies he proposed to eliminate as president: "I can't, the third one. I can't. Sorry. Oops."
2012: Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney claimed that Obama didn't call Benghazi a terrorist attack. Obama confidently asked Candy Crowley to clear up the charge, which she does, pointing out Romney's mistake.
2016: When asked during an interview in September what he would do about Aleppo, the epicenter of the Syrian refugee crisis, Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson asked, "And what is Aleppo?" That line became a viral sensation, even earning some rather funny spoofs. Johnson then made things worse when later that month he couldn't name a single world leader -- dead or alive -- during a town hall with Chris Matthews. And just to be sure this second flub would get some traction, Johnson told Matthews he was having an "Aleppo moment." Talk about about a triple whammy.
2016: Green Party presidential candidate JillS Stein was hoping to be the answer to Bernie Sanders after he dropped out of the primary race. But answer she gave during an AMA reddit sesh put a damper on her plans. Stein, a Harvard Medical School graduate, raised some eyebrows when she took a decidedly anti-vaxxer stance: "As a medical doctor, there was a time where I looked very closely at those issues, and not all those issues were completely resolved. There were concerns among physicians about what the vaccination schedule meant, the toxic substances like mercury which used to be rampant in vaccines. There were real questions that needed to be addressed." Stein later clarified that she was not, in fact, an opponent of vaccines.
From Richard Nixon's flop sweat to Rick Perry's "Sorry oops," candidates have often stumbled at the podium
By Tony Maglio | May 10, 2017 @ 10:13 AM
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TheWrap's up-to-the-minute daily, weekly ratings reports, trends and analysis


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Q: Comparing MySQL varchar and IBM DB2 varchar dataype I've a small doubt about MySQL varchar data type. As we all know.
char is a fixed-length data type. So, the storage size of the char value is equal to the
maximum size for the column. But, in case of "varchar" it is a variable-length data type,
so, the storage size of the varchar value is the actual length of the data entered, not the maximum size for this column. That's why, varchar generally more used when it need to store character/text kind of data and preserve un-used memory for future use.
Recently, I got to know that... in case of IBM DB2 if you use any varchar column in middle of rest of the columns of table then, the storage size of characters in that particular column is equal to the orignal size of the varchar column.
EX: if in a table there 3 columns like this:

*

*firstName   : char(50)

*lastName    : varchar(50)

*emailId : char(50)

So, now if you want to store this text( 'Majhi' ) in to the coloumn "lastName" which of datatype varchar(50) then it'll take full 50char storage size rather than taking only 5chars which is the actual size of the actuall text( 'Majhi' ).
That's why, in IBM DB2 including of any varchar data type coloumn in middle of rest of coloumns of table whill also works same as char datatype works. So, memory optimization doesn't happen.
So, i just want to know is our MySQL works in same way or it dosen't differentiate where ever that varchar dataype coloumn exist and work accordingly as varchar datatype column need to work.

A: There are two aspects here.
First one is the on-disk storage. In this case for each row only as much data as needed is stored and it's not important if there are any other columns after varchar or not.
Second one is the table loaded into memory. In this case MySQL internally converts VARCHAR(n) to CHAR(m)[1] where m is the maximum length of data in given column. So if your column is declared VARCHAR(60), but the longest string stored in it has a length of 10, then the in-memory field will have a fixed length of 10. This results in a compromise between minimizing the memory footprint and maximizing the performance of data access (it's easier to fetch specific column if you know where it starts).
[1]: Kind of simplification here. It's not really a CHAR or any other MySQL datatype.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Bodyguards for MPs: 'Politicians're wicked; they don't care about the people' – A Plus
Satirist Kwame Asare Obeng (A Plus) has described politicians as "wicked people" who "don't care" about the ordinary Ghanaian.
Speaking to Abdul Karim Ibrahim on Class91.3FM's Executive Breakfast Show on Wednesday, 14 October 2020 about the clamour for MPs to have bodyguards and the subsequent decision by the Minister for the Interior to grant that request, A Plus said it was high time politicians sought the welfare of the entire citizenry and stopped being selfish, or risked bearing the brunt of the people's anger one day.
"The problem that this country has, the problem that the politician has is that they are very wicked people", A Plus said, explaining: "They don't care about the people".
The rally for bodyguards for MPs resurfaced following the murder of Mfantseman MP Ekow Hayford on Friday, 9 October 2020 by armed robbers while returning from a campaign trip.
On Tuesday, 13 October, Mr Ambrose Dery told journalists that the Ministry for the Interior has directed the Inspector-General of Police to release 200 more police officers to provide guard duties for the MPs who are neither part of the leadership of the house nor members of the Executive arm of government.
However, A Plus argued that if the politicians ensured the safety of everybody in Ghana, they would not need to clamour for bodyguards.
"Who wants to kill the king of Dubai? The king of Dubai drives himself around town; who wants to kill him?" he asked.
"If he attempts to commit suicide, the people won't allow him to die because he has taken good care of them; because he has built a country for them, the people love him, the people want him to live long, they pray for him", he added.
In contrast, he wondered: "Who is praying for any Ghanaian politician?"
In his view, the utterances and posturing of politicians are rousing the anger of the ordinary citizens, and warned that things could get to a head if they do not amend their ways.
"You were in this country when parliamentarians took double salary. Were they charged?
"They were not but the Deputy Speaker of Parliament proposed that when people engage in galamsey, they should be shot on sight.
"You think the people are not watching? The people are angry. And good people, good politicians, must start speaking against things like this: that; 'listen, let's make this country better for everybody", he admonished.
"… When the people rise up, it won't be NDC against NPP, it will be the people against the politicians and the ear that does not listen will follow the head when it is chopped off.
"So, the good politicians in this country who care about the people must not be like the ear that will be chopped off with the head", he advised.
SC stops Justice Wuni from hearing Ken. Agyapong contempt case, transfers matter to different judge
2020 polls: NPP commends Ama Sey for resisting temptation to go independent
Election Petition: Heavy security at Supreme Court
https://youtu.be/7iWnceMy0bY


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Posts posted by david robertson
Glass-buttoned early 56-key Edeophone for sale
in Buy & Sell
Posted October 8, 2022 · Edited October 8, 2022 by david robertson
The glass rod is set into a brass ferrule, and the combination is much sturdier than Wheatstone's wooden-cored buttons.
As for the weight, Robert, I suppose they may be marginally heavier than the usual Edeophone hollow metal buttons. Out of idle curiosity, I weighed a bunch of metal ones, which come in at 1.36g each, or 76.2g for a set of 56. If we assume the glass buttons are 10% heavier, the difference is less than the weight of an English pound coin!
The whole instrument, by the way, enters the ring at 1.27kg. For comparison purposes, my Jeffries, with 17 fewer buttons, weighs in at just over 1.5kg. No wonder I feel tired all the time!
Posted September 12, 2022 · Edited September 12, 2022 by david robertson
Price omitted!
A beautiful example of an extended treble Edeophone - Mr Lachenal's top model, with the rare riveted action and the even rarer glass buttons. It also comes with its original leather case in serviceable condition.
I'm selling it on behalf of a regular customer... a man with an eye for a bargain! When he bought it about 40% of the fretwork on both ends was missing. But behind that damaged facade lurked a lovely, unmolested instrument, and now, with all fretwork restored, plus new pads, valves and bushes, and re-tuning to modern concert pitch, it's a little cracker! Remarkably rapid and responsive, with a lovely wooden-ended tone, it's a joy to play.
Price: £2300
Richard and Chris Bird
in General Concertina Discussion
This is a bit of a long shot, but I wonder if anyone out there in the concertina community knows Richard Bird and/or his wife Chris? He plays a 45k Jeffries, which is currently sitting on my shelf, with restoration almost complete.
Here's the problem: I stupidly omitted to take his phone number, and I'm getting no reply to copious emails. So if anyone has his contact details, I'd be very grateful if you'd share them with me, or give him a nudge to contact me.
Jeffries oddity?
in Instrument Construction & Repair
Many thanks for that, Paul. It's obvious from the reedpan layout that there wouldn't be room for another chamber. Still, I'd have thought the path of least resistance might have been simply to leave out the thumb button completely!
On my bench at the moment is a 46k Jeffries Anglo. While mapping the layout, I noticed that on the left hand, the 4th button on the innermost row and the single outlier button both play F4/C4. And when I opened it up, I discovered why: both buttons operate on the same pair of reeds!
This is not an arrangement I've come across before, and I'm having trouble imagining a reason for it. Any ideas?
Interesting Edeophone at auction!?
Congratulations... enjoy!
Hammer price £2200 - that's about £2750 with buyer's premium (don't get me started!)
It's a beautiful instrument, but isn't that a bit lofty for an unrestored Jeffries Duet?
2 exceptional Jeffries for sale
Both instruments are now sold, one via my own website and one via concertina.net (donation made).
A regular customer of mine is about to emigrate to Australia, so he has asked me to help him find a good home for two superb Jeffries.
The first is a 30-key (bone buttons) in C/G, restored by me about 3 years ago, with new pads, valves, bushes and straps. The woodwork was stripped and refinished in French polish, and I made and fitted new 7-fold bellows, which are now beautifully played-in. This is a cracking player - rapid, responsive, well-balanced and incredibly loud, with that unique Jeffries sound.
The second is a 38-key (metal buttons) in the rare keys of Ab/Eb. This one was restored by Colin Dipper about 4 years ago, with new 7-fold bellows by Rosalie. It could be a long, long time before you find another Jeffries in these lovely growly keys, let alone one in such exceptional condition.
The seller is looking for £4900 for the 30k, and £5400 for the 38k.
I should add that both instruments come in an expensive (and virtually bomb-proof) Peli Storm hard case.
You'll find details and pictures of both concertinas on my website, and as always, if you're within striking distance of Norwich, you're more than welcome to come and have a squeeze.
Advice wanted on getting concertina restored
Yes, still in Norwich and plying for hire. And thanks largely to Brexit, the waiting list isn't what it used to be!
You can find out more about me and what I do at concertina-restoration.co.uk. And if you'd like to talk about your instrument, feel free to call me on 01603 702644 or 07840 838899.
Anyone recognise this one?
Whatever the truth of its history, its appeal to the beetles makes it rather less appealing to me. Big flight-holes too! Reminds me of one I once bought from Peru, whose frames consisted of veneer on the outside, a wafer-thin sliver of timber on the inside, and nothing much in between. One particularly industrious grub had chewed an impressively straight line through every fold of the bellows.
If anyone else is brave enough to take this one on, it's in Gorringes sale in Lewes on the 18th of this month.
Posted October 12, 2021 · Edited October 12, 2021 by david robertson
OK, we have a serial number stamped in the reed pan, and inked on the back of the action box... looks like 2013 (or possibly 6).
It has a pair of squeakers fitted close to the centre of the left-hand reed pan, so I guess it may also have a whistle on the other end.
It also has significant damage by wood-boring insects, which makes me wonder if it started life as a wooden-ended instrument, converted to metal ends when the fretwork began to wriggle under the player's hands?
The plot thickens! The auctioneer describes the pivots as looking like the staples he uses for attaching wire to fence-posts! Did Lachenal ever use staples rather than slotted plates?
Tomorrow he's going to bring a screwdriver to work, and we'll play hunt the serial number!
Thank you all for your suggestions. I do realise that a serial number and a view of the internals would be helpful, but the instrument currently resides with an auction house in Lewes. I'll call them and see if they'll send me some more pictures.
1 hour ago, Stephen Chambers said:
I think somebody has probably made new ends for it.
True, the edges are suspiciously un-stepped, but it's far from being a home-made horror. I'd be a happy man if I could muster this kind of skill and fluency with a scrollsaw!
Leaving aside the engraving round the edges, which I guess could have been added at any time, would anyone care to hazard a guess at the maker of this concertina?
It's a 36-button Anglo, with Lachenal-style green white and gold papers, and gold-tooled bellows ends... but I don't recognise the fretwork as Lachenal. It has some distinctive little features (circled) that I'm sure I've seen somewhere before, but I'm damned if I remember where!
Lovely 34-key C/G Lachenal Anglo - PRICE CUT!
Sorry Julia - this one has now found a new home in Ireland.
48-key Boyd at auction!?
On 9/23/2021 at 10:05 AM, Stephen Chambers said:
Otherwise, maybe only the (more-usual) 56-key treble ones had that feature?
I had a 48k Lachenal with H Boyd fretwork a couple of years ago...
They do now show the RH end, and there's no 'H Boyd' in the fretwork. Does this indicate that it was sold by Boyd, but not made for them?
Call me a self-destructive fool, but I've reduced my asking price for this one by £100.
It's a cracking example of an earlyish 34k Lachenal - the sort with solid rosewood ends and wide, comfortable buttons. I've made and fitted new 7-fold bellows, and reamed and bushed the button-holes to keep it quiet and smooth.
In addition, it has new pads, valves, bushes and straps, and all the woodwork has been rubbed down and refinished in French polish. It is, of course, tuned to modern concert pitch. It looks good, and plays wonderfully - fast, bright and loud. In fact, I defy you to find a better example.
Finally, it also comes with a note of provenance, and the RAF Navigator's wing badge from a previous owner who was sadly killed in action during WWII
As always, if you're within striking distance of Norwich, you're welcome to come and have a squeeze. If not, get in touch anyway, and we can probably arrange a trial without obligation.
NOW ONLY £1750
34-key rosewood-ended Lachenal Anglo in C/G
I really can't imagine what inspired Mr Lachenal to add a whistle and a duck-call to his perfectly good 32-key instruments, but this is one of those. I suppose it keeps small children amused...
Anyway, it's quite easy to ignore those two buttons, since they are located at the dusty end of the G row on either hand. Apart from the novelty keys, this is a cracker of an Anglo... one of those with ends cut from beautifully-figured solid rosewood rather than veneer. The buttons on these were normally un-bushed, but I have reamed and bushed the buttonholes to keep the action quiet and smooth.
I have also made and fitted new 7-fold bellows. The downside is that the extra fold means it will no longer fit in its original case - but it probably deserves something better anyway.
As usual, I have replaced all pads, valves , bushes and straps, stripped and French polished the woodwork, and tuned it to modern concert pitch. In short, it's a lovely example of the breed - loud, agile, and a pleasure to play.
One more thing: it comes complete with an RAF Navigator's wing badge from the uniform of Charles Freebairn, a previous owner who was killed in action. The vendor thought it should stay with the instrument, and I agree.
I'm asking £1850 for this one, and as always, if you're within striking distance of Norwich, you're welcome to come and give it a squeeze.
New bellows of non standard sizes.
On 12/27/2020 at 5:05 PM, Geoff Wooff said:
I see that Concertina Connection in the USA offers a replacement bellows making service but I live in Europe . Who offers such a service in the UK or Europe ?
Hi Geoff,
Using Bob Tedrow's method, I make bellows of any size using cylindrical jigs - most recently, a big baritone set for Theo Gibb.
Geometry being what it is, you don't actually need a jig with 6 or 8 sides... just a tube of the appropriate size.
This, of course, applies only to bellows of symmetrical shape. For asymmetric bellows, a custom-made jig would be indispensable, and frankly, it's not worth making one when it would probably never be used again!
38-key Bb/F Jeffries
Posted April 22, 2020 · Edited April 25, 2020 by david robertson
Comprehensively restored, with new 7-fold gold-tooled bellows, this is as nice a 38k Jeffries as you could hope to find.
As always, the restoration work includes new pads, valves, bushes and straps. The woodwork has been stripped and refinished in French polish,
and the instrument has been tuned to modern concert pitch (A=440Hz).
It's not unusual to find a fairly eccentric keyboard layout with Jeffries instruments, but I have ironed out most of the eccentricities in this one, and restored it to a more typical layout (though one or two oddities remain!) You'll find a full diagram of the layout among the pictures below.
Under normal circumstances, I would invite you to come and have a squeeze in Norwich. But since that's clearly not an option at present, let me know if you're interested, and let's see if we can arrange a no-obligation trial.
I'm asking £4250.
Making hand straps
Sheer stupidity!
On 4/4/2020 at 6:33 PM, rcr27 said:
Of course... I really must resist the temptation to post messages before I'm fully awake!
and might as well make a pair for my english one).
Bear in mind that English thumbstraps are composite devices, made up of a sandwich of canvas, chamois or felt, and thin leather, all enclosing the L-shaped steel or brass former.