Albuquerque, New Mexico--Need a strong elastic fiber? Try black widow silk. The thread spun by these deadly spiders is several times as strong as any other known spider silk--making it about as durable as Kevlar, a synthetic fiber used in bulletproof vests, according to a report presented here at the annual meeting of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology.
For several years, materials scientists and biologists have been studying the silk spun by orb spiders, such as the common garden spider Araneus diadematus, because the draglines that frame their flat, circular webs stretch without breaking and could be the basis for new synthetic fibers. But biologist Anne Moore of Scripps College in Claremont, California, is the first researcher to study silk used in cobwebs--three-dimensional, tangled networks of silk. She found that in some respects these strands are superior to those spun by orb spiders.
The black widow's cobweb consists of support scaffolding--a region in the middle for catching prey--and a series of silk anchor lines that hang down and snag walking insects. Moore cut pieces of the scaffold silk from the webs of five spiders and mounted each on a piece of cardboard with a slit in it. Next, she measured the amount of force needed to break the threads. Moore found that the black widow uses two kinds of silk for scaffolding. One can stretch an extra 25% of its length before breaking and is twice as strong as the orb spider's dragline. The other is even stronger than the first but slightly less elastic.
"It's astounding that the [black widow] silk has a combination of that strength and that extension," says spider-silk researcher John Gosline from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, who says it's "very remarkable" that black widow silk is stronger than orb spider draglines.
Moore's team next plans to investigate the silk from other parts of the black widow web and study the chemical ingredients of this material to try to understand its unique blend of properties. From this information, Moore hopes that eventually "we can design our own materials." In that case, the venomous arachnid may have a greater impact on society than simply providing work for emergency-room doctors.


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https://blogs.wsj.com/cio/2015/06/14/ibm-wants-to-push-spark-real-time-big-data-tool-into-mainstream/
IBM Wants to Push Spark, Real-Time Big Data Tool, Into Mainstream
Steve Rosenbush
BiographySteve Rosenbush
@Steve_Rosenbush
ciojournal
steven.rosenbush@wsj.com
IBM's Watson Experience Center in New York
Steve Rosenbush/WSJ
International Business Machines has thrown its weight behind Spark, an increasingly popular tool that is used to analyze large amounts of data in real time. Spark opens up all sorts of emerging business applications, such as the ability to quickly target ads toward people passing in front of a digital billboard.
The number of such uses is expected to greatly expand as Internet-connected sensors become pervasive in physical objects, a phenomenon known as the Internet of Things. By working to push Spark into the mainstream now, IBM hopes to catch an emerging market at the very early stages.
IBM isn't the first company to embrace Spark, and Spark isn't the only tool that can be used to analyze real-time data. But given the scale of IBM and its customer base, its support for the technology, already one of the fastest-growing open-source software projects, could be significant.
Spark, which emerged from the University of California at Berkeley in 2009, addresses some of the limitations of Hadoop, an older open-source software framework that employs a distributed architecture to analyze large amounts of data. Hadoop is less suited for analyzing data in real time, and it has a reputation for being tricky for developers to use, according to Bob Picciano, senior vice president of IBM Analytics. Gartner has characterized the adoption of Hadoop as steady but slow, with 26% of surveyed companies saying they had a Hadoop project underway, and 46% saying they expected to within a few years. Some users have found it difficult to scale, as the Wall Street Journal has reported.
"We think this will help take Big Data to a whole new space and unleash much more developer innovation, which has been somewhat encumbered by the limitations in Hadoop architecture and the limitations in how easy it is for developers to take their skills and apply them to things like real time understanding of customer sentiment or risk analysis," Mr. Picciano said. "Hadoop is good as a collection point of large amounts of historical information, and it can use data that is both structured and unstructured. One thing that is missing is the ease of use for developers and the speed to gain insights from data moving in and out of repositories."
He said Spark is less intricate for developers than MapReduce, the Hadoop case that allows it to scale. Spark can run on top of other software, such as the Hadoop HDFS file system, or on its own, according to Mr. Picciano. That means developers don't need to write different versions of Spark applications for different platforms, he said. And it picks up speed, he said, by achieving more efficient clustering and in-memory operations.
IBM is expected to formally announce Monday that it will embed Spark into its analytics and commerce platforms, and to offer Spark as a service on its Bluemix development platform. IBM also is expected to announce that it will assign more than 3,500 engineers and developers to work on Spark-related projects around the world, and that it will donate its IBM SystemML machine learning technology to the Spark open-source ecosystem. It also is expected to launch a Spark technology center in San Francisco and help educate data scientists and engineers in the use of Spark on a mass basis.
The announcements are expected to coincide with the opening of the Spark Summit on Monday in San Francisco.
Under Armour Inc. is using Spark as it seeks an advantage in the burgeoning market for quantifying peoples' health, CIO Journal reported. Data scientists at the company's nutrition software unit, MyFitnessPal, are using the technology to comb through calorie data crowdsourced from its 80 million users. Chul Lee, the unit's head of data engineering and science, says the team originally relied on Hadoop to process the 2.5 terabytes of data in its database. But it took days to churn through the data.
Spark is part of a broader group of tools and companies that are pushing the frontiers of data analytics. Jeremy Burton, president of products and marketing at EMC Corp., told CIO Journal in March that the information infrastructure giant was launching a faster, more up to date, more scalable, and open data platform.
Several startups are working on analytics technology that approaches real-time, too. "What we can do is know everyone who is on the call right now, and analyze whether they were at Starbucks yesterday," said J. Andrew Rogers, the founder and CTO of a startup in Seattle called SpaceCurve Inc. Mr. Rogers, a database expert who said he worked on large-scale analytic and geospatial systems with Google Earth, developed new technology for SpaceCurve. He told CIO Journal it opens up new business applications such as targeting ads in real time to people within the vicinity of digital billboards.
Bottlenose Inc., a startup based in Los Angeles, has developed technology that helps companies analyze what co-founder Nova Spivack calls "streaming data." It can be used to spot real-time trends on social media, with applications in areas such as business, politics and government.
IBM has bet on Spark from the very beginning. It was one of the founders of the Berkeley lab where Spark was first developed.
Previous MasterCard Hackathons Uncover Coders to Advance Digital Payments Next The Morning Download: IBM Embraces Spark at Big Data's Real-Time Frontier

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


The most famous menu is the Soto Daging (meat soup), well it was too heavy for a breakfast, so I shared one portion with my friend. We tried Soto Rawon and Nasi Pecel (vegetable with peanut sauce) as well. They were all good.
The heavy breakfast portion came with tempe, tofu and many other side dishes on the table. This is the place to be if you are looking for a heavy breakfast in Malang.
Other Malang food review could be found in this link.


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Postmaster's Libel Lawsuit Towards Venture Veritas (Over Claims of Voter Fraud) Can Go Ahead
Postmaster's Libel Lawsuit Towards Venture Veritas (Over Claims of Voter Fraud) Can Go Ahead – #historical past #conspiracy
From Weisenbach v. Venture Veritas, determined immediately by Erie County (Pa.) Court docket of Widespread Pleas Choose Marshall Piccinini:
Venture Veritas is a non-profit media group based by James O'Keefe, III. On November 5, 2020, simply two days after the November 3, 2020, presidential election, it printed a narrative claiming to have uncovered a voter fraud scheme orchestrated out of america Postal Service Basic Mail Facility in Erie, Pennsylvania. Particularly, the article and accompanying video alleged that Erie Postmaster, Robert Weisenbach, directed the backdating of mail-in ballots to be able to sway the end result of the presidential election in favor of candidate Joseph Biden. The report relied upon an nameless whistleblower, later revealed to be Richard Hopkins, a postal worker who claimed he overhead a dialog between Weisenbach and one other supervisor. Hopkins acknowledged that Weisenbach's motive for backdating mail-in ballots was that he was a "Trump hater," though, in actuality, Weisenbach was a supporter of President Donald Trump and voted for him on election day.
Within the days that adopted, Venture Veritas posted two extra video interviews with Hopkins the place he repeated his false claims, the latter after it was reported by information shops that Hopkins had recanted his earlier allegations when confronted by postal inspectors, though Hopkins later claimed that recantation was coerced. The story quickly gained traction amongst these amplifying claims of voter fraud, together with President Trump himself. Weisenbach was compelled to depart Erie for a time after private particulars, together with his tackle, have been found and disseminated by readers of the Venture Veritas tales. Venture Veritas nonetheless maintains that the tales have been investigated and printed in step with requirements of "skilled, moral and accountable journalism."
Weisenbach disagrees. He brings this lawsuit in opposition to Hopkins, Venture Veritas, and O'Keefe, alleging claims of defamation and concerted tortious exercise. Defendants now search to dismiss the claims earlier than discovery has even begun by submitting Preliminary Objections to Weisenbach's First Amended Grievance. That events body the motion in broad phrases as implicating competing beliefs mendacity on the coronary heart of our republic. Weisenbach argues that the tales have been "not investigative journalism[,]" however slightly "focused character assignation geared toward undermining religion in america Postal Service and the outcomes of the 2020 Presidential election" having "no place in our nation." Defendants contend that this case raises basic issues concerning freedom of the press, and that, pursuant to the First Modification to america Structure, we rely not on judges or juries to root out pernicious speech, however on competitors in an uninhibited market of concepts the place the reality will in the end prevail.
Regardless of the deserves of those lofty assertions, the Court docket's activity immediately in reviewing Defendants' Preliminary Objections is rather more modest. First, the Court docket should resolve whether or not it lacks subject material jurisdiction over the claims in opposition to Hopkins in gentle of the Federal Tort Claims Act, which vests federal courts with unique jurisdiction over actions introduced in opposition to federal staff who trigger harm whereas appearing throughout the scope of their employment. Second, in assessing Defendants' Objections within the nature of demurrers, the Court docket should merely decide "whether or not, on the details averred, the regulation says with certainty that no restoration is feasible." For the explanations that comply with, the Court docket solutions each of these questions within the detrimental and consequently overrules Defendants' Preliminary Objections to the First Amended Grievance….
It's obvious that the events understand the occasions of the times following the 2020 presidential election via wildly completely different lenses. Right now's Opinion recounts these days via the eyes of Robert Weisenbach. [This is because in deciding a motion to dismiss, the court must assume the accuracy of a plaintiff's plausibly pleaded factual assertions. -EV] As he sees it, Richard Hopkins was appearing effectively outdoors the scope of his employment when he provided false claims of mail-in poll backdating to Venture Veritas, and so, jurisdiction over the claims now levied in opposition to him doesn't lie solely in federal courtroom pursuant to the Federal Tort Claims Act.
Likewise, Weisenbach's averments are legally ample to make out claims of defamation and concerted tortious exercise in opposition to all Defendants, even below the demanding precise malice normal. Whether or not Weisenbach will be capable to supply satisfactory proof to help his claims, and whether or not a jury would in the end be keen to credit score such proof after listening to either side of the story, stays to be seen. For now, it is sufficient to maintain that the averments set forth within the Amended Grievance are ample as a matter of regulation to allow the motion to proceed to discovery, the place the reality of those claims can start to be examined within the crucible of our adversarial system.
The opinion is 58 pages lengthy, and I am afraid I haven't got the time to get via it now, however I believed I might briefly excerpt it right here.
Congratulations to David Houck of Ogg, Murphy & Perkosky, P.C and John Langford of Defend Democracy for the pointer.
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Why Does Justice Kavanaugh Write Concurrences?


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Clayton County Archway Partnership recognized with community service award
The Georgia Public Health Association recently recognized UGA's Archway Partnership for the expansion of the Federally Qualified Health Center in Clayton County with the Al Dohany Award for Community Service.
Established in 1999, the award annually recognizes individuals and organizations for their work in promoting public health in Georgia. The award was presented at the GPHA Annual Awards Luncheon on April 23 in conjunction with GPHA's annual meeting in Atlanta.
The award recognized Jim Crissey, president and CEO of Southern Regional Medical Center; Dr. Alpha Bryan, district health director for District 3-3; and Gail Webb, Clayton County Archway Partnership professional for their leadership on securing Clayton's Health Professional Shortage Area designation and the FQHC located in Lovejoy.
After years of research and work by graduate students from UGA's College of Public Health, in June 2012, Clayton County was designated a low-income Primary Care HPSA. In September 2012, the FQHC was opened in Lovejoy. Lovejoy was selected because of its high population of low-income residents, lack of access to affordable healthcare and a move-in-ready building, which made for a seamless transition to a state-of-the-art FQHC.
The Archway Partnership, a unit of UGA's Office of the Vice President for Public Service and Outreach, is an initiative to strengthen UGA's land-grant mission. It creates portal counties through which the university's teaching, research and service missions can address community-driven issues.


Dr. Amir Zeki is a pulmonologist from Sacramento, California. He has an extensive medical experience. Dr. Zeki graduated from the University of Washington School of Medicine. He completed both his residency and fellowship at the University of California-Davis. Dr. Zeki is a board-certified specialist in Critical Care Medicine and Pulmonary Disease. He is also a prolific researcher who contributed to a large number of studies. Some of the topics he covered are fluticasone furoate and vilanterol trifenatate combination, therapeutic strategies for adult obese asthmatics, soluble epoxide hydrolase inhibitor. Dr. Zeki is currently affiliated with the VA Northern California Health Care System in Martinez and the VA Northern California Health Care System in Mather.
Dr. Amir Zeki has contributed to 3 publications.
The combination of fluticasone furoate and vilanterol trifenatate in the management of asthma: clinical trial evidence and experience.
Albertson, T. E.,Richards, J. R.,Zeki, A. A.; Ther Adv Respir Dis. 2015 Dec 17.
Novel Therapeutic Strategies for Adult Obese Asthmatics.
Linderholm, A. L.,Bratt, J. M.,Schuster, G. U.,Zeki, A. A.,Kenyon, N. J.; Immunol Allergy Clin North Am. 2014 Oct 06.
Autophagy in airway diseases: a new frontier in human asthma?
Zeki, A. A.,Yeganeh, B.,Kenyon, N. J.,Post, M.,Ghavami, S.; Allergy. 2015 Sep 04.


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Q: update data of arcgis app with python arcgis api I created an web app in ArcGIS Online (map journal). I want to update the underlying data of the map journal (e.g. text) as a step in an automation workflow. However, i am unable to update the data. I isolated the problem to the following code:
from arcgis.gis import GIS

# Login
arcgis_username = ""
arcgis_password = ""

gis = GIS("http://rhk.maps.arcgis.com", arcgis_username, arcgis_password)

# item is a map journal app
item = gis.content.get("6116f1493f214bed8018a4e62e4a8324")

item_data = item.get_data()
item.update(data=item_data)

when i try to run this code i get an error:
File "C:\Anaconda3\envs\iReportAutomation\lib\urllib\request.py", line 1319, in do_open
    raise URLError(err)
urllib.error.URLError: <urlopen error [Errno 11001] getaddrinfo failed>

I think a don't use the update function in a proper way. What am I doing wrong? And how can I update the data of an arcgis online app?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Tell Lilly that my prince was poor, too. He didn't live in a cave, but he definitely didn't like going out. He's still very 'prince-y' though.
What a great thing to get for your kids!! I may have to go find some of those books.


text:
New York|Mayor de Blasio's Hired Guns: Private Consultants Help Shape City Hall
https://nyti.ms/1WvGE5E
Mayor de Blasio's Hired Guns: Private Consultants Help Shape City Hall
Mayor Bill de Blasio in February as he delivered his second State of the City address.Credit...Damon Winter/The New York Times
By Thomas Kaplan
On a wintry Sunday in February, Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York huddled at Gracie Mansion with a trusted adviser, John Del Cecato, to polish his marquee speech of 2015, the annual State of the City address.
In the days before the address, Mr. de Blasio and Mr. Del Cecato would spend hours together, meeting at City Hall and Gracie Mansion. Those sessions, according to the mayor's schedules, were among roughly 60 they shared in the first 17 months of his administration.
Mr. Del Cecato is not on Mr. de Blasio's staff — at least not officially. He is one of several political consultants advising the Democratic mayor whose firms have been paid using money contributed by private donors.
These consultants helped guide Mr. de Blasio's campaign for mayor in 2013, and they have remained at his side as a kind of privately funded brain trust, offering strategic advice and helping to shape the message that comes from City Hall. Their involvement also poses conflict-of-interest concerns, as some of the consultants' firms have clients that do business with the city.
For their place in the mayor's orbit, these consultants have been well compensated: In the first year and a half of his term, their firms have collected nearly $2.3 million in payments. Most of the money has come from a nonprofit organization, the Campaign for One New York, that was created by political professionals from his mayoral campaign as a vehicle to push his initiatives, and whose donors have included real estate developers and unions.
Through the middle of this year, 77 percent of the group's spending went to several consulting firms that also worked for Mr. de Blasio's 2013 campaign.
The mayor's reliance on private consultants seems to run contrary to the image he has cultivated. As mayor, he has criticized the role that the "consultant class" played in politics; in his previous elective office, as the city's public advocate, he assailed the influence of political donors hiding behind "political committees that masquerade as tax-exempt nonprofits."
Yet a review by The New York Times of hundreds of pages of the mayor's daily schedules, as well as email correspondence and other records, shows the central role that private consultants have played in his administration. The correspondence highlights how some consultants have almost unfiltered access to City Hall, with the dialogue conveying a casual atmosphere.
The communications strategy for the Campaign for One New York's work to promote the mayor's agenda has been overseen by BerlinRosen, a public affairs consulting firm known for its political work. It represents numerous clients that do business with the city, including real estate developers and nonprofit organizations. The firm had a central role in Mr. de Blasio's successful bid for City Hall, and one of its principals, Jonathan Rosen, is a close friend and adviser.
Mayor de Blasio's Private Advisers: Who Gives the Money and Who Gets It
Some deep-pocketed interests top the list of contributors to the Campaign for One New York, which has paid large sums to the firms of several private consultants who advise the mayor.
It is not unusual for elected officials to seek the counsel of outside advisers or friends as they formulate policy or navigate turbulent political waters. But Mr. de Blasio has given new dimension to that practice, meeting with some consultants more often than some senior members of his administration.
Mr. de Blasio's press secretary, Karen Hinton, said the mayor "obtains advice from a range of people representing community groups, the business sector and nonprofits." Ms. Hinton said that most of his outside advisers were not paid and did not work on the mayor's campaign, and that none of them lobbied City Hall.
There is nothing that forbids the mayor from using private consultants, but government watchdog groups say the practice could create situations in which consultants wind up advising the mayor on important decisions, while, simultaneously, their firms are paid by clients that would be affected by those decisions.
Some of the consultants' firms have clients with a vested interest in decisions made at City Hall, including major developers as well as Airbnb and Lyft.
"You cannot serve two masters," said Susan Lerner, the executive director of Common Cause New York, who criticized the prominent place of consultants in Mr. de Blasio's mayoralty.
"The concern is he's building a shadow government," Ms. Lerner added, "and that leaves a lack of transparency and a lack of accountability."
Mr. Del Cecato — who is credited with developing the attention-grabbing television advertisement during the 2013 mayoral race that featured Mr. de Blasio's son, Dante — has regularly met with the mayor in planning meetings that also include other consultants and high-ranking City Hall officials, as well as in smaller gatherings. He declined to comment on his relationship with the mayor.
Mr. Del Cecato is one of several major players from the 2013 campaign who have remained in Mr. de Blasio's orbit. Others include Mr. Rosen and Nick Baldick, a top campaign adviser who is managing partner at another firm, Hilltop Public Solutions.
Mr. de Blasio, a former campaign manager himself, has not always been an evangelist of political consultants. At an event this spring, discussing why other Democrats, in his view, had shied away from talking about issues like income inequality, he pointed to the advice they had received.
John Del Cecato, a partner at AKPD Message and Media, continues to advise the mayor. He created the television ads, including the one showing Mr. de Blasio's son, Dante, that were influential in the 2013 campaign.Credit...Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times
"I think what we have developed in this country is a consultant class and an insider class," he said, "that often is very unimaginative and not necessarily connected to the grass roots."
Unlimited Donations
As public advocate, Mr. de Blasio condemned the growing role of "shadowy" nonprofit groups, calling them "a threat to our democracy."
But as mayor, Mr. de Blasio has embraced the Campaign for One New York, the nonprofit group that has provided steady income for several consulting firms he relies on.
The campaign was started in December 2013, just after Mr. de Blasio was elected. Bill Hyers, who had been his campaign manager, serves as its chairman. The group has supported the mayor's agenda, advocating, for instance, the expansion of prekindergarten that was the signature issue of the de Blasio campaign. It has also retained a lineup of consultants who are close to the mayor.
Ms. Hinton said the nonprofit's involvement did not contradict the mayor's previous stances because of its mission, and because it disclosed its donors and expenses. She said the group "does not engage in politics" but "exists solely to advance the administration's agenda," and she called its creation "not unprecedented or unique or anything."
Mr. de Blasio has been active in helping to raise money for the Campaign for One New York, which can accept unlimited donations. By doing so, he has bypassed the city's campaign finance laws that would ban or strictly limit certain contributions, including those from corporations and limited liability companies and from people who have business dealings with the city. The nonprofit has received a number of six-figure donations, including $350,000 from the American Federation of Teachers and a pair of $250,000 contributions from 1199 S.E.I.U. United Healthcare Workers East.
People and companies that do business with the city have also given money. Two Trees Management Company, for example, gave $100,000 this year, a year after reaching a deal with the city to redevelop the Domino Sugar refinery in Brooklyn. The lobbying firm Capalino & Company gave $10,000; a day after the contribution, James F. Capalino, the firm's chief executive, lobbied the mayor on behalf of a client.
Dick Dadey, the executive director of Citizens Union, a government watchdog group, called the mayor's use of the nonprofit "a new way of subverting the intent of limiting how big money influences government decisions."
"They know that when asked, they better pony up," Mr. Dadey said of the group's donors. "It's not how our democracy should be operating."
Jonathan Rosen of BerlinRosen, a public affairs consulting firm that played a major role in the de Blasio campaign, is a close friend and adviser to the mayor.
Credit...Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times
Big Income for Firms
One of the biggest beneficiaries of the mayor's reliance on consultants has been Mr. Rosen's firm, BerlinRosen. From the mayor's inauguration on Jan. 1, 2014, through the middle of this year, the firm was paid about $490,000 by the nonprofit, according to lists of expenses provided by the group.
The firm where Mr. Del Cecato is a partner, AKPD Message and Media, which works on communications strategy and advertising for political campaigns, was paid more than $1.1 million, most of which went toward television airtime.
During that 18-month period, Mr. Baldick's firm, Hilltop Public Solutions, where Mr. Hyers is now a partner, was paid about $230,000, along with about $100,000 paid by the 2013 campaign. (The city's Campaign Finance Board limits what expenses are allowed after an election; the de Blasio campaign asserted the payments were appropriate.)
Hilltop, a political consulting and public affairs firm, said it did not lobby city government, but it has clients that are keenly interested in decisions made at City Hall. Its clients include Airbnb and Fortis Property Group, which is redeveloping the former Long Island College Hospital complex in Brooklyn.
Hilltop has numerous ties to City Hall beyond Mr. Baldick and Mr. Hyers. Another partner, Rebecca Katz, went to work for the administration as a top adviser, only to rejoin the consulting firm.
When she left City Hall, Mr. de Blasio suggested in an interview at the time that those close to him never strayed far: "I borrow the line from 'Hotel California' by the Eagles: 'You can check out anytime you want, but you can never leave.' "
Hilltop also employed Stephanie Yazgi, who worked on Mr. de Blasio's 2013 campaign and was the founding secretary of the Campaign for One New York. This year, Ms. Yazgi, whose girlfriend, Emma Wolfe, is one of the mayor's top aides, moved from Hilltop to the de Blasio administration, where she was hired for a $150,000 position in the Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs.
Ms. Katz said Hilltop's partners "do not offer lobbying services anywhere in the country and are mindful about not engaging in lobbying activities." She declined to disclose the firm's full list of clients in New York City, saying, "It is the firm's policy to not discuss its clients with the media."
First Lady's Attendance
One day in April last year, New York City's first lady, Chirlane McCray, stood at a lectern in the Pierre hotel on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. The nonprofit Coalition for the Homeless was holding an annual luncheon that is an important fund-raising event for the organization.
Bill Hyers, Mr. de Blasio's former campaign manager, is chairman of the Campaign for One New York, the nonprofit that has provided steady income for several consulting firms the mayor relies on.Credit...Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times
"I bring you greetings from my husband, our mayor, Bill de Blasio," Ms. McCray said. "Isn't he doing a terrific job?"
Her appearance at the event was months in the making.
The Coalition for the Homeless is a client of BerlinRosen's. In January 2014, Mary E. Brosnahan, the coalition's president and chief executive, emailed Mr. Rosen with an invitation for Ms. McCray to be the keynote speaker at the luncheon.
A half-hour later, Mr. Rosen forwarded her email to City Hall, adding his own pitch.
"It's a great event that Hillary Clinton and Arianna Huffington have keynoted in the past," Mr. Rosen wrote, echoing a similar message from Ms. Brosnahan.
He concluded with a request: "I really hope you will consider doing it."
Three minutes later, Ms. Katz, who at the time was a mayoral aide, wrote back. "Looks interesting," she wrote, copying Ms. McCray's newly appointed chief of staff and her scheduler. "Thanks, Jonathan."
The luncheon raised about $240,000 to support a job-training program, the coalition later said.
Mr. Rosen's request was one of a number of instances in which he dealt with City Hall on behalf of BerlinRosen clients — during the same period that he was advising Mr. de Blasio, and his firm was being paid by the mayor's nonprofit. Some of BerlinRosen's clients include the real estate companies SL Green Realty Corporation, Forest City Ratner Companies and Two Trees Management, as well as the ride-hailing company Lyft.
"We do not lobby the mayor — or anybody else for that matter — and all of our communications with the administration are entirely appropriate," said Dan Levitan, a vice president at BerlinRosen. Mr. Levitan is a good representative of the firm's multilayered work for the mayor: He serves as the spokesman for the Campaign for One New York, and was a spokesman for Mr. de Blasio's 2013 campaign.
Last year, BerlinRosen successfully recruited Mr. de Blasio to record a video paying tribute to Forest City Ratner's executive chairman, Bruce C. Ratner, and its president and chief executive, MaryAnne Gilmartin, that was played at a gala dinner for the Municipal Art Society of New York at which Mr. Ratner and Ms. Gilmartin were being honored.
Mr. Rosen appears on the mayor's schedules roughly two dozen times in the first 17 months of the administration, particularly toward the beginning. His wife, Debbie Rosen, who had served in the administration of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, was hired last year by the de Blasio administration, serving as chief of staff at the Office of Management and Budget.
Earlier this year, Mr. de Blasio described Mr. Rosen as a close friend who "doesn't represent the interests of his clients when he talks to me."
Chirlane McCray, the first lady of New York City, appeared at a 2014 luncheon fund-raiser for the Coalition for the Homeless through the efforts of Jonathan Rosen, a close friend and adviser to the mayor whose firm has the coalition as a client.Credit...John Lamparski/WireImage
But emails obtained by The Times under the state's Freedom of Information Law show that Mr. Rosen has represented the interests of his clients in exchanges with members of the de Blasio administration.
Several of Mr. Rosen's requests to City Hall concerned invitations for the mayor to attend events for his firm's clients.
In one instance, Mr. Rosen made what he described as "a shameless plug" for the mayor to appear at a gala for the Brooklyn Public Library. "Benefits public library system of our fav borough. (full disclosure I do their P.R.)," he wrote. The mayor did not attend the event.
Before St. Patrick's Day in 2014, Mr. Rosen suggested arranging an event with the mayor and one of his clients, the Irish Arts Center, for the holiday.
Lindsay Scola, the mayor's director of scheduling, seemed almost deferential to Mr. Rosen. "I am still trying to make this fit but not feeling super possible," Ms. Scola wrote. "Do you feel like this is a must do?"
"Not at all," Mr. Rosen responded.
The event was never arranged, but another administration official confirmed that Irish Arts Center officials had been invited to a morning reception at Gracie Mansion. The official, Ellyn Canfield, then extended the invitation to BerlinRosen staff members: "Does anyone at BerlinRosen want to come drink Irish coffee at Gracie at 7am on Monday?"
"Thanks," Mr. Rosen replied. "I'll ask. Wow. 7 am."
In another example, a few weeks after the mayor's inauguration, Mr. Rosen forwarded an invitation from the Democracy Alliance, a group of liberal political donors that is a BerlinRosen client, for the mayor to speak at a conference in Chicago.
Michael Vachon, an adviser to the billionaire George Soros, had asked Mr. Rosen to pass along the invitation. (Mr. Soros endorsed Mr. de Blasio for mayor in 2013, and when Mr. de Blasio was public advocate, a Soros foundation donated $400,000 to a nonprofit that supported the public advocate's work.)
Mr. Rosen emailed Ms. Wolfe and Ross Offinger, a fund-raiser for the Campaign for One New York who had been finance director of the mayor's 2013 campaign, writing, "Would this be at all possible. Vachon = Soros."
Three months later, Mr. de Blasio flew to Chicago to deliver the keynote address. This year, a Soros nonprofit, the Fund for Policy Reform, donated $250,000 to the Campaign for One New York.


Find Deals on Heavy Rain' in PS 3 Games on Amazon.
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What Is the Tropical Wet Climate Zone?
How Does Elevation Affect Precipitation?


Ubuntu 17.10 is finally here and along with it are some significant changes like the use of swap files, installation of applications via snaps, and a refreshed Linux kernel. Aside from improvements in performance, critical bug fixes, and UI tweaks from everywhere, Ubuntu appears completely the same as before.
Nevertheless, this article focuses on providing Ubuntu users new direction and further information about the latest Ubuntu update. So, let's get to the things you need to do after installing Ubuntu 17.10.
Checking for new updates will always help you to keep your system secured from any issues and bugs, so ensure you have the latest protection patches, key apps, and bug fixes.
Updating your Ubuntu system will allow you to install needed permissions from the PPA repositories, so you will never encounter any issues, and also it will improve the performance of your system as well. Even though you updated recently, checking up on future updates is a must when you want to keep up with improvements in the system.
Since you're operating a modern Linux system, to assure that you will get the best performance, you have to enable the needed proprietary drivers. It is an important step if you are planning to run the latest Linux apps and games that need the excellent speeds from an uncertain Wifi card, or use specifically advanced processor hallmarks.
By default, Ubuntu doesn't offer media codecs due to issues with copyright. However, Ubuntu does give users a simple way to install these codecs so that they can play MPEG4, AVI, MP3, and other various media formats. You may install all these media codecs via the Ubuntu Restricted Extra package.
Once you've updated the system and installed the needed codecs, it's now time to install various software. There are several ways to install essential software in Ubuntu. The simplest, most reliable and most convenient way is by using the Software Center to look for and install the latest apps you want to download.
This step typically happens when you want to open a particular file in an application that you find the best for it to operate.
For instance, you would like to run a torrent file in BitTorrent, but the Transmission is set to "run such file by default"; you can manually set up a suitable app that can open the file. Similarly, fix the Preferred Programs by "Default" in your settings.
Gnome Shell Extensions are probably the best tools to personalize your Linux device. You can enhance the appearance of your Linux Operating System with various customized fonts, excellent skin packs, awesome icons, and many more.
The Gnome shell has some cool extensions that can offer you extra aesthetical points. However, you need to activate the tweak tool first before installing all the extensions you want.
Most modern computers can handle Ubuntu 17.10. It's Better to install the needed proprietary drivers rather than of the open source drivers to get the best work and performance particularly if you own AMD or Nvidia. Plus, this step is significant if you are running high definition apps and games on your system.
Ubuntu offers a set of classic looking default icons and themes, but there are times that it may feel dull and need some customization. There are so many GTK icons and themes out there to make your Ubuntu fantastic and amazing. For other personalization of the looks of Ubuntu, you can use the Gnome tweak tools.
You can do many things in Ubuntu without the use of the terminal. However, you may notice that other guides are showing how to do particular tasks on terminal commands instead of using the graphical interface since the terminal is more capable across other distributions of Linux.
It's fast and easy to learn and discover how to open the terminal and start to work using the basic commands. Also, consider reviewing other guides on how to operate the file system so you can navigate the terminal easily.
To determine if there is a proprietary definition suitable for your video card, run the Software & Updates application, then navigate to the Additional Drivers tab.
Ubuntu is the most famous distribution of Linux on the laptop, desktop, or personal computers, while most Ubuntu aims attention on its use in the market. Thus, Ubuntu is intended primarily for personal computers, but a server version is also existing.
If you own a Linux device, and you have just updated it to Ubuntu 17.10, think of following the items listed above to ready your device for work and play. For more of tech updates, you can browse tech sites online like Deal Wiki to pick up the latest updates.


Driving a solar-charged electric car means you save money — and it's also patriotic. After all, you're fueling your car with 100 percent domestic solar sunshine generated electricity.
Would you like to drive for free?
I bet you would. And I bet you're not coming anywhere close, unless you don't drive but walk, bike, or take public transportation, or a combination thereof, and/or you subscribe to some sort of car sharing plan — all of which I strongly support.
I'm not driving my 2014 Nissan LEAF SV for free, but I'm coming pretty close by taking advantage of what I will call the EV + PV Free Ride.
Across my two-year lease (which includes 12,000 miles per year), I will pay a total of $10,000 to Nissan to drive my LEAF. But that's not what my out-of-pocket costs will actually amount to. They will be half that.
In 14 months with my LEAF, thanks to my 5.6 kW home solar system (installed in June 2010), which has cranked out enough electricity to power both my home and my LEAF 100 percent for the past 14 months, I haven't paid at all for gasoline, thereby saving about $2,000 — I say about because the price of gasoline has fluctuated so much in the past five months, it's hard to say for sure (BTW, I'm glad I don't have to think at all about roller-coaster gas prices).
I will be getting a $3,000 State of Colorado EV tax rebate as well. Doing the math, $10,000 – $5,000 = $5,000. That's right, just $5,000 to drive a brand new, all-electric, 100 percent home solar-charged Nissan LEAF and drive it for two years.
You couldn't buy a reliable used car and pay just $5,000 to drive it for two years. In fact, I'd say you're looking at at least $8,000 to buy, maintain, and fuel a reliable used car across two years in the Denver, Colorado area.
[Yes, I did have to pay $8,500 for my 5.6 kW home solar system; however, after just five years, my system has already paid itself off, thanks in part to EV + PV].
So much for the myth that electric cars are "too expensive", eh?
As for the inevitable argument that I'm driving at "the taxpayers' expense", I don't buy that bogus claim for a second.
Those people can talk to me about true cost economics, according to which so-called "externalities" such as pollution caused on the back end of things, such as burning fossil fuels, MUST be paid for one way or another.
The same people spewing this critique are, more often than not, the same folks driving gas guzzling, air pollution spewing cars and light trucks that cause costly health damage — to your lungs, to mine, and to theirs, and who are contributing to the insane costs of CO2 buildup in the global atmosphere.
And the rabid "anti-subsidy" crowd (who typically say nothing about subsidies for fossil fuels) can agree to a carbon tax — which would raise the cost of gasoline substantially, to what it should cost. Then, maybe, I'll talk to them about "unfair" subsidies for electric cars and for "rich" (last time I checked 65k per year doesn't make me, or anyone, "rich") people like me.
You gotta love driving EV + PV for free, or something pretty damn close to it. It's fun, it's clean, it's freedom! And it gets exactly the right people, people who, in theory, should be very much for EV + PV Freedom, frothing at the mouth.
Why are some libertarians so anti-EV + PV?
Does using solar offset to 'fuel' an EV make it a zero air pollution car – or is that lying?


Four Seasons Resort the Biltmore Santa Barbara's new Luna Terraza offers a unique, intimate spot for dining and cocktails. Courtesy photo.
One of the swankiest spots in town, Four Seasons Resort The Biltmore, got even more wow-worthy with the recently opened Luna Terraza, which offers an exclusive and intimate outdoor private space just outside of the recently renovated Ty Lounge.
Lucky me, I got to try it out last week. My friend Nancy and I felt like royalty for the night as we were escorted onto the beautiful new terrace. Suitable for parties of up to eight guests, the stunning Luna Terrace feels like a journey to Morocco, complete with cushy curtains and couches in a rich palette of red, blue, camel and gold.
Enjoying a cocktail at the Four Seasons Resort the Biltmore Santa Barbara's new Luna Terraza. Courtesy photo.
Guests can enjoy several "Elite Experiences" including Tangier Bottle Service, Private Brunch, Casablanca Romance and Moroccan Feast.
Additional highlights from the menu include: Mezze featuring dips, such as yogurt herb, charred eggplant and warm housemade hummus (the best I've ever tasted); Moroccan Mezze plate, which comprises a whole roasted cauliflower (delicious), Moroccan chicken skewers, grilled lamb kefta and vegetable tagine; and a Private Brunch, with a Bloody Mary bar including a selection of house-made garnishes like hickory smoked bacon, mozzarella pearls, pickled asparagus and fried jalapeno. Bottomless Bellinis or Mimosas are also available, along with Chef Marco Fossati's select brunch menu with seafood platter.
Originally published in Santa Barbara Seasons on April 28, 2017.
The Bottlest Bistro Bathtub Martini, photo by Leslie Dinaberg.
I pride myself on being a bit of a cocktail connoisseur, but last week I saw one of the cleverest cocktail embellishments I've seen: a little rubber ducky floating in the Bathtub Martini at the new Bottlest Winery Bar & Bistro in Buellton. Made with Andrew John's Premium Gin and a twist of lemon, this isn't the only clever cocktail on the menu.
The Bottlest Bistro Lavender Gin Paloma, photo by Leslie Dinaberg.
Gin is clearly having a moment, as evidenced by the lovely Lavender Gin Paloma (made with house-infused lavender gin, simple syrup and grapefruit juice) on the Bottlest menu.
We also liked the Dirty Flamingo (made with Giffard pamplemousse liqueur and crushed Prosecco), the Happy Canyon Daiquiri (comes standard with Real McCoy 3 year rum, lime, simple syrup and a dehydrated lime wheel, but can also be upgraded with Mount Gay Eclipse or even Plantation 5 Year Old Grand Reserve), and The Vandenberg (made with Milagro Silver Tequila, lime, simple syrup and a soda sidecar).
The Bottlest Margarita with Pinot Noir Salt Rim, courtesy photo.
Also getting rave reviews is the Bottlest Margarita, made with Sauza Blue Reposado Tequila, orange liqueur, and a Pinot Noir salt rim—a clever touch that brings the wine and cocktail worlds together, as does this delicious new restaurant.
Hibiscus Lemonade and Lew's Gimlet from Bottlest Bistro, courtesy photo.
The restaurant is new (with a fabulously elevated menu from former Head Chef of Barbareño Owen Hanavan), but the space (in conjunction with Terravant Winery) still offers its trademark "Wine Wall" of 52 constantly changing wines available by the taste, half glass or full glass. This is a definitely a destination that's well worth the drive!
Cheers! Bottlest Winery Bar & Bistro is located at 35 Industrial Way in Buellton (805/686-4742, bottlest.com/bistro).
Bottlest Bistro Old Fashioned cocktail, photo by Leslie Dinaberg.
Originally published in Santa Barbara Seasons on April 21, 2017.
Santa Barbara Food and Wine Weekend, photo by Coast Photography.
If your ideal weekend involves food, wine and philanthropy in a beautiful setting, then the 4th Annual Santa Barbara Food and Wine Weekend April 7-9 at the Bacara Resort & Spa is the spring event for you.
Sponsored by The Julia Child Foundation for Gastronomy and the Culinary Arts, this three-day weekend features a dazzling array of culinary celebrities and wine wunderkinds and pays tribute to the late Julia Child. Among the featured rock stars are wine pioneer Richard Sanford, Chef Nancy Silverton, and Child's Great-Nephew, author Alex Prud'homme.
Richard Sanford hosts a "Celebration of Santa Rita Hills" dinner as part of the Santa Barbara Food and Wine Weekend, courtesy photo.
"Celebration of the Santa Rita Hills" Dinner on Saturday, April 8 at 7 p.m.
This year's Grand Dinner features wine pioneer Richard Sanford as the guide for a "Celebration of the Santa Rita Hills." The evening traces the evolution of this unique Santa Barbara appellation, founded by Sanford, as eight wines from four Santa Rita Hills wineries will be paired with a special four-course menu created by Bacara's Executive Chef Vincent Lesage.
Featured Wineries & Guests include hosts Thekla and Richard Sanford, along with Jeanette and Nick de Luca, from Alma Rosa Winery; Diana and Rick Longoria, from Longoria Winery; Sonja Magdevski and Greg Brewer, from Brewer Clifton and Diatom Wineries; and Justin Willett and Mandy Willett, from Tyler Winery.
Santa Barbara Vintners' Wine Reception with Chef Nancy Silverton on Friday, April 7 at 7 p.m.
Join celebrated Los Angeles chef and multiple James Beard Award-winner, Nancy Silverton, and the Santa Barbara Vintners Association for a magical evening of tastes and sips. The Bacara's ocean view Angel Oak restaurant makes a glorious setting for this extensive wine tasting reception featuring local wines and a specially curated menu by the talented Chef Silverton.
Scratch Kitchen's Phillip Frankland Lee and Margarita Kallas-Lee will do a cooking demonstration as part of the Santa Barbara Food and Wine Weekend, courtesy photo.
Cooking Demonstration with Scratch Bar & Kitchen on Saturday, April 8 at 10:15 a.m.
Join the husband and wife duo behind the new Scratch Bar Montecito coming to Montecito Inn later this year, Executive Chefs and Owners Phillip Frankland Lee and Margarita Kallas-Lee. Experience how their collaboration in the kitchen has inspired the menu for their award winning restaurant and sample a preview of their latest Santa Barbara installment. Philip was named "Best Young Chef in America" by San Pellegrino and holds the record with The Food Network for Most Consecutive Wins, beating out the competition on Chopped, Guy's Grocery Games and Cutthroat Kitchen. A few of Margarita's accolades include Zagat's "30 Under 30" and being nominated for the Young Gun award.
Craft Brewer's Garden on Saturday, April 8 at 2 p.m.
The Bacara's lush Ocean Lawn hosts tastings of craft cider, mead, beer, kombucha, spirits and cocktails—all produced locally. With your tasting you'll have the opportunity to meet the talented brewers and mixologists to discover what makes their delicious libations unique. In between sips, savor bites of the specially-made culinary pairings. To complete the experience, live music by Rent Party Blues will entertain and enchant.
The Julia Child Foundation for Gastronomy and the Culinary Arts mission is to honor and further Julia's legacy, which centers on the importance of understanding where food comes from, what makes for good food, and the value of cooking. Headquartered here in Santa Barbara, the Foundation is a nonprofit which makes grants to support research in culinary history, scholarships for professional culinary training, internships in food writing as well as professional development and food literacy programs.
Originally published in Santa Barbara Seasons on March 31, 2017.


In Delhi, gold of 99.9 and 99.5 per cent purity, in thin trading, ended flat at Rs 33,210 and Rs 33,060 per ten gram, respectively.
Sovereign gold, also remained unaltered at Rs 25,500 per piece of 8 grams.
Gold prices held steady at Rs 33,210 per 10 grams at the bullion market on Thursday in scattered deals even as the precious metal weakened overseas, reported news agency Press Trust of India (PTI) quoting the All India Sarafa Association. Silver prices, however, turned weak and fell by Rs 210 to Rs 39,950 per kg due to reduced offtake. The fall in silver to subdued demand from industrial units and coin makers at the local spot market, said the report citing traders.
1. In Delhi, gold of 99.9 and 99.5 per cent purity, in thin trading, ended flat at Rs 33,210 and Rs 33,060 per ten gram, respectively. The precious metal had lost Rs 115 on Wednesday.
2. Sovereign gold, also remained unaltered at Rs 25,500 per piece of 8 grams.
3. Globally, gold held steady on Thursday, supported by a softer dollar due to concerns the prolonged US government shutdown will limit economic growth even as concerns of slowing global growth grew, reported news agency Reuters.
4. Spot gold was mostly steady at $1,282 per ounce in intraday trade, while US gold futures were down 0.2 per cent at $1,281 per ounce.
5. Silver ready lost Rs 210 to Rs 39,950 per kg while weekly delivery fell rather sharply by Rs 993 to Rs 38,994 per kg. Silver coins, however, held flat at Rs 77,000 for buying and Rs 78,000 selling of 100 pieces.


We think we have been able to compose a highly varied Lucifer, with both scientific, philosophical and religious subjects.
The article The Mathematics of Religion discusses the deepest essence of religion, but it also outlines how the most noble aspect of human consciousness can degenerate. Living in a world where religion often does much more harm than good, it is extremely useful to consider the content well.
The degeneration process of religion often starts, because people believe that logical thinking and philosophy contradicts religion. In the article Does thinking exclude spirituality? an attempt is made to explain that spirituality and thinking are not in conflict with each other: something many people - including theosophists – often assume.
In two articles we try to shine a light on meditation. What kind of meditation leads to expansion of consciousness and what kind does not? In this issue we publish part 1, in one of our next Lucifers part 2.
We often get questions about the subjects illness and healing. We therefore think that many readers will appreciate the article The scientific approach of classical homeopathy. This article not only deals with homeopathy but also tries to answer the question what disease actually is.
Finally, we answered a number of interesting questions, asked by a reader, about human and animal consciousness. We hope that this Lucifer may clarify some aspects of Theosophy, so that we are all able to better express The-osophy in our daily lives. As always, we are open to your comments, feedback and questions.
In an article about the Mystery Schools, we travel back to the past when the Mystery Schools exercised a lofty influence on society. But we also look to the future. The question is asked whether the Theosophical Movement will assume the function of a Mystery School in the nearby future.
In the article about nonviolence – Ahimsa – it is shown that you never have to accept injustice. You can always work actively and nonviolently for a just and harmonious society. The means however should always be as noble as the goal you are pursuing.
The article about ADHD addresses the growing problem amongst today's youth, that they are no longer able to concentrate. Or is this really a problem?
In the article "Questions children ask" Gottfried de Purucker provides some valuable suggestions for answering intuitive questions from children.
Finally, we have good news to announce, that the I.S.I.S. Foundation has recently posted the books by Katherine Tingley on the web.
We hope that this issue of Lucifer, the Light-bringer will contribute to a better understanding and – most importantly – a better application of the theosophical teachings.
We look forward to your questions and response.
This first issue of the digital Lucifer the Light-bringer of the year 2017 has been realized for an important part due to the cooperation of different theosophical groups. One of the reasons we started in 2013 with the English Lucifer is to create a forum for exchanging ideas with Theosophists all over the world.
If you look at the state of the world, it is clear that cooperation between all Theosophists is urgently needed. We have to work hard, unselfishly and cooperatively in order to give Theosophy its rightful place in the world.
We have the idea that Lucifer can play a significant role in this work. Not only because our readership is expanding, but also because our readers may use the articles in this magazine as a source of inspiration for their promulgation work.
At the International Theosophical Conference (I.T.C.) in Naarden, in 2014, the term cross-pollination was coined in theosophical fields. Theosophists can learn from each other. They can help each other. Visit the new ITC website to read this declaration.
Two contributions in this Lucifer are lectures held at an Annual Convention of the Theosophical Society Adyar. The first is a lecture from 2016 by the vice-president of the TS Adyar. The thoughts in this lecture are so important that we gladly offer it to our readers.
In 2017, for the second time a representative of the Theosophical Society Point Loma Blavatskyhouse gave a talk in Adyar. In this lecture the keys are given how to make unity a living power in your life, and in your theosophical work.
In this Lucifer you will also find a lecture on Gandhi by an associate of the United Lodge of Theosophists (ULT), which was held during the ITC 2016 in Santa Barbara. Theosophy was probably Gandhi's fundamental source of inspiration.
Finally, we have included a very interesting article about the causal factors behind gravity, a subject that evokes a lot scientific interest, but it certainly will not only be appreciated by scientists.


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"Ask Me No Questions If You Can't Take The Answer": Ruth Bader Ginsburg Abandons All Subtlety Towards Trump
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg dipped her toe into the political waters last week, conceding to the Associated Press that she'd rather not "think about" the possibility of a Donald Trump presidency. "If it should be," she added, "then everything is up for grabs."
A couple of days later, Ginsburg went just a little further while speaking to the New York Times. Reflecting again on a possible Trump administration, the justice said, "For the country, it could be four years. For the court, it could be – I don't even want to contemplate that." Echoing a sentiment from her late husband, Ginsburg said a Trump victory in November would mean "it's time for us to move to New Zealand."
Apparently, the more she answers these questions, the stronger Ginsburg's feelings on the subject.
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg called Donald Trump "a faker" Monday night, doubling down on her critical comments about a potential Trump presidency.
"He has no consistency about him," Ginsburg told CNN. "He says whatever comes into his head at the moment. He really has an ego…. How has he gotten away with not turning over his tax returns? The press seems to be very gentle with him on that."
It's at this point that objective observers have to start wondering whether Ginsburg is going further than she should.
I realize, of course, that justices' ideologies are not exactly a secret. The fact that Ruth Bader Ginsburg wants to see Donald J. Trump lose should surprise literally no one. It's a safe bet that Clarence Thomas is equally eager to see Hillary Clinton lose. There's no great mystery here.
But as much as I admire and respect Ginsburg, critics are raising a legitimate question. If I'm being honest, I probably wouldn't be at all pleased if, say, Samuel Alito started giving a series of media interviews, playing the role of election pundit and intervening in the electoral process. If the question today is whether Ginsburg is breaking with judicial protocol, fairness dictates that the answer is yes.
Paul Butler, a former federal prosecutor and a Georgetown University Law professor, wrote a piece for the New York Times defending the progressive justice for speaking her mind.
Normally Supreme Court justices should refrain from commenting on partisan politics. But these are not normal times. The question is whether a Supreme Court justice – in this case, the second woman on the court, a civil rights icon and pioneering feminist – has an obligation to remain silent when the country is at risk of being ruled by a man who has repeatedly demonstrated that he is a sexist and racist demagogue. The answer must be no. […]
When despots have ascended to power in other regimes, one wonders how judges should have responded. Should they have adhered to a code of silence while their country went to hell? Not on the watch of the Notorious R.B.G. She understands that if Trump wins, the rule of law is at risk.
I can appreciate the argument. I even want to agree with it. If Trump is a unique threat to the American political system and a genuine menace, it's unreasonable to think people of good conscience should stay silent in the name of propriety.
But Ginsburg isn't just another voter; she's a sitting justice on the Supreme Court. If there were a crisis along the lines of the 2000 election, and the high court was asked to adjudicate a case related to this election's outcome, would Americans have confidence of Ginsburg's impartiality? Would she have to recuse herself, thus affecting the outcome?
I appreciate the broader context and the fact that Ginsburg may be understandably worried about her own role in sending the nation in a radical and regressive direction. But the fact remains, those who've said she's going too far are raising a legitimate concern that is not easily dismissed.
July 13, 2016 Posted by raemd95 | Donald Trump, Politics, Ruth Bader Ginsburg	| Clarence Thomas, Hillary Clinton, Racism, Samuel Alito, SCOTUS, Sexism | Leave a comment
"An Unholy Trinity For Discrimination": Far-Right Justices Warn Of 'An Ominous Sign'
The state of Washington has a law that requires pharmacies to dispense medications, even if individual pharmacists have religious objections. One family-owned pharmacy challenged the law in court, saying it shouldn't be required to sell emergency contraception, which the pharmacy's owners consider immoral.
An appeals court sided with the state, and the case was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. Yesterday, the justices announced they would not hear the case, which has the effect of leaving the lower court's ruling intact.
And while that would ordinarily be the end of the dispute, yesterday offered a bit of a twist. The Supreme Court said it wouldn't hear the appeal out of Washington, but at the same time, Justices Samuel Alito, John Roberts, and Clarence Thomas released an angry rebuttal, saying they not only wanted to hear this case, they also consider the majority's disinterest in the matter to be "an ominous sign."
MSNBC's Irin Carmon highlighted yesterday's "unusual" statement.
"This case is an ominous sign," Alito wrote in an unusual, 15-page response to the court refusing to hear Stormans v. Wiesman…. "If this is a sign of how religious liberty claims will be treated in the years ahead," Alito continued, sounding a lot like a man who foresees a bleak future for his side, "those who value religious freedom have cause for great concern."
No, actually, they almost certainly don't.
As is always the case, especially in Supreme Court disputes, the details matter. In Washington, state law still allows individual pharmacists to raise religious objections to helping a customer, so long as some other employee can step in and provide the prescribed medication. The plaintiffs in Stormans v. Wiesman, however, wanted to go much further – refusing to stock Plan B altogether, regardless of public needs.
The state's policy is based on the entirely reasonable idea that consumers should have access to medications that are safe and legal, and pharmacies shouldn't have the authority to simply turn people away. The far-right trio on the high court obviously disagree, and Slate's Mark Joseph Stern explained the broader implications of their dissent.
…Alito, Thomas, and Roberts seem to believe that, under the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment, states are proscribed from requiring for-profit religious businesses to treat all customers equally. If this unholy trinity ever managed to rewrite the First Amendment this way, they could effectively bar states from protecting women, gays, and other minorities from religious-based discrimination. […]
Neither [Alito], Roberts, nor Thomas thinks refusal of service is a big deal when patients can hop back in their cars (presuming they have them) and drive to the nearest pharmacy that will deign to provide them with the proper medication. (Live in rural Washington? Hope you can find another pharmacy before the Plan B window closes!)
This cavalier dismissal of women's interest in nondiscrimination flies in the face of precedent. The court used to say that when a religious accommodation burdens other people's rights, the accommodation itself violates the separation of church and state. Now Alito wants to push that rule through the looking glass, arguing that there's a possibility states must give religious employers the right to burden others – a burden that will fall disproportionately on women and gays.
Keep in mind, if four justices agree to hear a case, the Supreme Court takes the case. Were it not for Antonin Scalia's passing, it's very likely Stormans v. Wiesman would be on its way towards oral arguments.
By: Steve Benen, The Maddow Blog, June 29, 2016
June 29, 2016 Posted by raemd95 | Discrimination, Religious Liberty, U. S. Supreme Court	| Clarence Thomas, Emergency contraception, John Roberts, Samuel Alito, Stormans v Wiesman, Women's Health, Women's Rights | Leave a comment
"Juries And Racial Bias": The Supreme Court Cracks Down On Racist Prosecutors
The Supreme Court tends to expend more energy detangling questions of law than it does sorting through questions of fact. But on May 23rd, in a decision that could spare the life of a death-row inmate in Georgia, the justices took a microscope to the jury selection process in the trial of Timothy Tyrone Foster, a black man sentenced to die by an all-white jury in 1987 for murdering an elderly woman a year earlier. After examining evidence that emerged in 2006, the justices decided, by a 7-1 vote, that prosecutors were illicitly motivated by racial bias when they struck two blacks from Mr Foster's jury pool. Justice Clarence Thomas, the lone dissenter, wrote that there were "credible" non-racist reasons for dismissing them from the list of potential jurors; his colleagues' dive into a three-decade-old trial, Justice Thomas charged, was "flabbergasting".
In his majority opinion in Foster v Chatman, Chief Justice John Roberts methodically marched through rather damning evidence that the men prosecuting Mr Foster were hell-bent on keeping black people off the jury. The prosecutors' notes during voir dire (jury selection) showed certain names highlighted in green, a colour that, the legend helpfully explains, "represents blacks". The prospective black jurors were labelled "B#1", "B#2" and "B#3" with capital letter "N" (meaning "no") written next to each. All of the prospective jurors were asked to fill out a questionnaire including a question about their race; on the black individuals' answer sheets, prosecutors drew attention to their race by circling the answer. And one of the lawyers scribbled out this sentiment: "If it comes down to having to pick one of the black jurors, [this one] might be okay".
All of this, Mr Foster's lawyer said at the November oral argument, adds up to "an arsenal of smoking guns" that race was at the forefront of the prosecutors' minds. Such bias, the Supreme Court decided in Batson v Kentucky, a ruling that came down a year before Mr Foster's trial, is impermissible during jury selection. When eliminating potential jurors via peremptory challenges (as opposed to challenges "for cause"), lawyers can be called upon to present a race-neutral explanation for their strikes. Mr Roberts wrote that the Georgia Supreme Court had "clearly erred" when it determined that racial considerations played no part in the selection of the jury. The host of reasons cited for nixing the black jurors—too young to care about a 79-year-old victim, too (apparently) bored, too shifty-eyed, too biased by relatives who were social workers—were not persuasive, as they applied just as readily to several non-black prospective jurors who were not challenged. These justifications, the court held, were mere pretext. Add to this "the shifting explanations, the misrepresentations of the record and the persistent focus on race in the prosecution's file" and the justices are "left with the firm conviction that the strikes…were motivated in substantial part by discriminatory intent".
Very late in the game, and in the face of all those smoking guns, Georgia tried to defend the apparently racist strikes with a brazenly duplicitous mind-game defence. The prosecutors were keenly aware that they would be held to a higher standard since Batson had been decided just a year earlier. They called such flamboyant attention to the race of the prospective jurors only so they could keep track of the black jurors in the event they were called upon to supply a race-neutral reason for their dismissal. This argument, Mr Roberts wrote, "falls flat" and "reeks of afterthought", since it had not been made "in the nearly 30-year history of this litigation: not in the trial court, not in the state habeas court, and not even in the state's brief in opposition to Foster's petition for certiorari". All the lights and whistles flagging the individuals' race, he wrote, "plainly demonstrates a concerted effort to keep black prospective jurors off the jury."
That the sole African American member of the Supreme Court bench saw the case so differently is less surprising than it might seem. In recent rulings, Justice Thomas has found himself increasingly alienated from his seven colleagues. Three times in the past two weeks, he has cast a lonely dissenting vote from an otherwise unanimous decision. But the implications of his colleagues' ruling in Foster v Chatman remain to be seen. Mr Foster can ask for a new sentencing trial, but he has no guarantee another jury will be more lenient. And it's unclear how much of a constraint Foster will be moving forward. Prosecutors are on notice that incriminating notations during jury selection are a very bad idea. That may lead, on the margins, to less racial discrimination in the criminal justice system—but it will do little to curtail subtler methods of jury manipulation.
By: Steve Mazie, The Economist, May 23, 2016
May 31, 2016 Posted by raemd95 | Criminal Justice System, Jury Selection Process, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Racial Bias	| Clarence Thomas, Georgia Supreme Court, John Roberts, Racial Discrimination, SCOTUS, Timothy Tyrone Foster | Leave a comment
"Scarier Than His Friend Ted Cruz": Why Right-Wingers Want Sen. Mike Lee On SCOTUS
The Republican battle to make Barack Obama's Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland go away, and the efforts to pin down GOP presidential candidates on pre-vetted lists of potential Supremes, have all led to increased speculation about the next justice. At present, there's a major boom among conservatives for Senator Mike Lee of Utah.
Today the Washington Post's James Hohmann offers a rundown on all the reasons Lee is enjoying this attention. For one thing, the Utah senator has long been considered Ted Cruz's best friend in the upper chamber, so if Cruz is elected, it's a bit of a no-brainer if Lee wants a robe. For another, Lee would probably have an easier time getting confirmed by his colleagues in the clubby Senate than some law professor or circuit-court judge, and might even avoid a Democratic filibuster (assuming Republicans haven't already killed the SCOTUS filibuster via the "nuclear option").
But one of the two most important reasons for the Lee boom is buried pretty far down in the story:
Lee is just 44. That means he could squeeze four or more decades out of a lifetime appointment.
Yep. If nominated next year for the Scalia seat, Lee would be the youngest nominee since Clarence Thomas, who has now been on the Court for nearly a quarter of a century, with many years of extremism probably still ahead of him. Before Thomas, you have to go all the way back to Bill Richardson's favorite justice, Whizzer White, in 1962, to find a nominee as young as Lee would be. As you may have noticed, life expectancy has been going up for Americans in recent decades. For conservatives seeking a permanent grip on the Court and on constitutional law, someone Lee's age is money.
But the second reason Lee would be significant is only hinted at by Hohmann in the praise lavished on the solon by the Heritage Foundation and longtime right-wing legal thinker Senator Jeff Sessions (the two most likely sources for SCOTUS advice for Donald Trump, as it happens). Lee's not just any old "constitutional conservative"; he's a leading exponent of what is called the Lochner school of constitutional theory, named after the early-twentieth-century decision that was the basis for SCOTUS invalidation of New Deal legislation until the threat of court-packing and a strategic flip-flop resolved what had become a major constitutional crisis.
Lee has, on occasion, suggested that child labor laws, Social Security, and Medicare are unconstitutional, because they breach the eternal limits on federal power sketched out by the Founders. Like most Lochnerians, he views the constitution and the courts as designed to keep democratic majorities from stepping on the God-given personal and property rights of individuals and corporations alike. So it's no surprise he's been a bitter critic of the deferential view towards Congress expressed by Chief Justice Roberts in the decision that saved Obamacare.
In effect, Mike Lee could become a more influential successor to Clarence Thomas — after overlapping with Thomas on the Court for a decade or two. If Democratic senators have a problem with that possibility, they might want to begin making noises about it so that at least the supposition that Lee is pretty easily confirmable may be called into question.
By: Ed Kilgore, Daily Intelligencer, New York Magazine, April 7, 2016
April 8, 2016 Posted by raemd95 | Mike Lee, Ted Cruz, U. S. Supreme Court Nominees	| Clarence Thomas, GOP Presidential Candidates, Jeff Sessions, Lochner Constitutional Theory, Merrick Garland, New Deal, Republicans | 1 Comment
"First They Must Take A Stand": Who Can Save The GOP From Trump? Women
Donald Trump is the kind of man women are taught to avoid.
He's arrogant. He blusters about physical violence. Listening is not really his thing, because his mouth is usually running full steam. And, worst of all, he has a special loathing for women who are intelligent, accomplished and not deferential to him. When challenged on this, he veers to smarmy protestations that he loves women.
These are the attributes of a toxic male acquaintance, boss or leader (not to mention husband or boyfriend).
This is not to knock his current wife, Melania Trump. She is everything that Trump wants women to be: unquestioningly devoted, strikingly gorgeous and willing to have sex with him.
Unfortunately for Trump, women who do not share this profile comprise virtually the entire female electorate. And that, in turn, is a problem for the Republican Party. Women are 53 percent of all voters, and Trump has a 73 percent negative rating among those who are registered.
Two questions present themselves: How much damage is the GOP willing to let Trump do to the party's image with women? And what can it do to stand up to him on this issue?
This week, there was a sign that Trump has reached the limit of tolerance within his party. A recent convert to the pro-life point of view, Trump made a gaffe that embarrassed the entire movement when he busted out the idea that women who have an abortion should be punished if the procedure is ever outlawed.
No, no, no, Donald. One doesn't say such things in public. Uncharacteristically, he retracted his remarks. Even he sensed it was a blunder on the order of the musings on rape and pregnancy that sank Republican frontrunners in two 2012 Senate races.
Add that screed to The Donald's on-going attacks on Megyn Kelly, the putdowns of Carly Fiorina and so many other women who have dared to displease him, and it is easy to imagine a cumulative effect that spells crushing defeat in the general election if he is the nominee.
So far, the men of the GOP have been subdued in their response. Note the vile scuffle between Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz over their wives. It wasn't until Heidi Cruz was personally attacked that her husband reacted strongly and defended her, as he should.
One would imagine that at some point a cohort of leading Republican women would take a principled stand, calling out Trump for betraying the party's supposed commitment to gender equality. But, alas, they've been eerily silent, apparently too fearful of crossing their party's likely nominee.
Some, like Sen. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire and Rep. Barbara Comstock of Virginia, are in re-election campaigns and may fear losing support from Trump voters. (Comstock at least had the good sense to re-gift a $3,000 Trump donation to her campaign, buying a little bit of distance from him.) What a lost opportunity to stand up to sexism!
The Democrats will not waste the opportunity.
Recall the politically charged Senate judiciary hearings in 1991 to consider the nomination of Clarence Thomas to the U.S. Supreme Court. The nomination was controversial from the start, owing to Thomas' positions on a range of issues. But when testimony was reopened — and televised — after disclosure of Thomas' alleged history of sexual harassment, things exploded.
The hearings turned to belittling questions and overt displays of sexism by the panel of male senators, as they grilled Anita Hill, Thomas' accuser, about her allegations.
Women were outraged by what they witnessed. As a direct result, they became politically motivated to increase their numbers in the Senate. The following year, four women — all Democrats — were elected to the Senate, tripling female representation in the chamber.
Women in Congress remain overwhelmingly Democrats. According to the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers, the U.S. Congress is about 19 percent female. Of the 104 women, 76 are Democrats and only 28 are Republicans. Moreover, the women in Congress who have been given plum committee posts tend to be Democrats. In the U.S. Senate, there are only six Republican women, compared to 14 Democrats.
And although Republican women tend to fare well in state politics, their more moderate voices haven't been able to make it through the increasingly conservative primary process to reach national office.
There couldn't be a better time for women to demand a greater role — and be the voice of reason — in the GOP. They have a compelling pretext to halt a candidate who almost certainly will damage their party. And even if they cannot derail him on his path to the nomination, they may be able to pick up the pieces in the aftermath of the election.
But first they must take a stand.
By: Mary Sanchez, Opinion-Page Columnist for The Kansas City Star; The National Memo, April 1, 2016
April 2, 2016 Posted by raemd95 | Donald Trump, GOP, Women	| Abortion, Anita Hill, Barbara Comstock, Clarence Thomas, Heidi Cruz, Kelly Ayotte, Melani Trump, Sexism, Women's Health | Leave a comment
RT @SouthernCoca: Jim Jordan went to law school. He is not an attorney because he failed the Ohio bar exam three times.-----------	21 hours ago


A hearty, full bodied red wine with rich red fruit and earthy aromas. The brilliant acidity of this wine adds excellent structure and length.
Cuvée d'Amour (vitis Amurensis) is a winter-hardy grape native to the wilds of southern Siberia and northern China. Crossing of vitis Amurensis with numerous varieties of European wine grapes have yielded early-ripening vines that thrive in colder climates. The 2014 Cuvée d'Amour is a spectacular vintage that produced a bold, dark colored, fragrant wine that is firm and flavorful on the palate yet displays a pleasant piquant, crisp finish, reminiscent of a fine Bordeaux or Barolo. Serve with beef, game and hearty pasta dishes.
No accolades listed yet for the current vintage (2014) of Dr. Konstantin Frank Cuvée d'Amour.


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Syd took the small blue device, turning it over in her hands.
"This is really important," he said. "We can't be leaving evidence around, okay? You see why I need you here?" At last she nodded. Dol whined faintly.
"You're going to come back, right?" she asked when they reached the door.
Victor looked over his shoulder. "Of course I will," he said. "That's my favorite lighter."
Sydney almost smiled as the door shut.
"I get burning the papers, but why one page at a time?" asked Mitch as he and Victor were headed down the stairs.
"To keep her busy."
Mitch thrust his hands into his coat. "We're not coming back then, are we?"
"Not tonight."
THREE HOURS UNTIL MIDNIGHT
THE THREE CROWS BAR
Eli sat in a booth along the back wall of the Three Crows and waited for Dominic Rusher to show up. He'd checked with the bartender when he first arrived, and had been assured that Rusher came every night around nine o'clock. Eli had been early, but he had nothing else to do besides wait for midnight and whatever that would bring, so he'd ordered a beer and retreated to the corner booth, savoring the time away from Serena more than the booze.
The drink was mostly for appearances anyway, since regenerating negated its effect, and alcohol without inebriation was far less enticing (he'd been carded, too, and the novelty of that had long worn off). But the distance from Serena was important—vital, he'd found—to maintaining his slim hold on control. The longer he was with her, the more things seemed to blur, an intoxication Eli's body didn't overcome so easily. He should have killed her when he had the chance. Now, with the police involved, it was messy. Their loyalty was to her, not to him, and they both knew it.
A new city, that's what he needed.
After midnight and Victor and this whole mess was sorted out, he'd find a new city. Start over. Away from Detective Stell. Away from Serena, too, if he could help it. He didn't even mind the prospect of his old method, the time and dedication it took, the weeks of searching for the mere moments of payoff. Things had gotten too easy lately, and easy meant dangerous. Easy led to mistakes. Serena was a mistake. Eli took a sip of beer and checked his phone for messages. There were none.
Eli had hunted here once, a few years back, before Serena, when he was still a ghost, just passing through. The place was loud, and crowded, made for people who liked to surround themselves with chaos instead of quiet; ambient noise built of glass and shouting and music to which you could never discern the lyrics. It was an easy place to be invisible, to vanish, swallowed by the low light and the din of drunk and drinking and angry people. But even knowing that, Eli was neither bold enough nor foolish enough to perform a public execution. Serena might have secured him the police, but the people in the Three Crows weren't much for cops or conformity. A problem could escalate into a disaster in a place like this, especially without Serena to soothe the masses.
Eli reminded himself again that he was glad to be rid of her influence, both over others and over him. Now he could, out of want and necessity, do this his way.
He checked the time. Less than three hours until... until what? Victor had set the deadline to rattle him, put him on edge. He was disturbing Eli's calm, like a kid dropping rocks into a pond, making ripples, and Eli saw him doing it and still felt rippled, which perturbed him even more. Well, Eli was taking back control, of his mind and his life and his night. He drew his fingers through the ring left by his beer glass on the old wood table, before writing one word in the film of water.
LOCKLAND UNIVERSITY
"Why Ever?"
Victor posed the question from across the table. Eli had just died. Victor had just brought him back. Now the two were sitting in the bar a few blocks down from their apartment, buzzed from several rounds (or at least Victor was) and the fact they'd been lucky enough to survive an acute attack of stupidity. But Eli felt odd. Not bad, just... different. Distant. He couldn't put his finger on it yet. Something was missing, though, he could feel the absence of it, even if he couldn't deduce the shape. Physically though—and he supposed that mattered most, all things considered—he felt fine, persistently so, suspiciously so, given that for some time that evening he had been an inanimate object instead of a living being.
"What do you mean?" he asked, sipping his beer.
"I mean," said Victor, "you could pick any name. Why pick Ever?"
"No," said Victor, waving his drink. "No, Eli. You don't do anything like that."
"Without thinking. You had to have a reason."
"Because I know you. I see you."
Eli drew his fingers through a ring of water on the table. "I don't want to be forgotten."
He said it so softly he worried Victor wouldn't hear, not over the chatter of the bar, but he clamped his hand down on Eli's shoulder. For a moment he looked so serious, but then he let go and slumped back in his seat.
"Tell you what," said Victor. "You remember me, and I'll remember you, and that way we won't be forgotten."
"That's shit logic, Vic."
"It's perfect."
"And what happens when we're dead?"
"We won't die, then."
"You make cheating death sound so simple."
"We do seem awfully good at it," said Victor cheerfully. He lifted his glass. "To never dying."
Eli lifted his. "To being remembered."
Their glasses clinked as Eli added, "Forever."
TWO AND A HALF HOURS UNTIL MIDNIGHT
Dominic Rusher was a broken man. Literally.
Most of the bones on his left side, the side nearest the IED, were pinned or screwed or synthetic, the skin pocked with scars beneath his clothes. His hair—for three years buzzed to military standards—had grown out, and now hung shaggy around his eyes, one of which was fake. His skin was tan and his shoulders strong, his posture still too straight to blend entirely with the bar's regulars, and despite it all he was clearly broken.
Eli didn't need the files to tell him any of that; he could see it as the man walked up to the counter, slid onto a stool, and ordered his first drink. Time was ticking past and Eli's grip tightened on his own glass, as he watched the ex-soldier kick off his night with a Jack and Coke. He had to resist the urge to abandon the booth and the beer and shoot Dominic in the back of the head, just to be done with it. Eli did his best to smother the flare of impatience; his rituals existed for a reason, and he would—and had—compromised them on occasion, but would not abandon them, even now. To slay without cause would be an abuse of power, and an insult to God. The blood of EOs washed from his skin. The blood of innocents would not. He had to get Dominic out of the bar, had to get a confession, if not a demonstration, before he executed him. Besides, Dominic would make fine bait. So long as he was instilled at the bar, and in Eli's sight, he was as useful alive as he was dead, because if Victor came looking for the broken man, and made his way here before midnight, Eli would be waiting, and he would be ready.
Victor drove, while Mitch lay sprawled across the backseat, as out of sight as possible given his mass. The city slid by, the greens and reds and office-window whites streaking past as Victor wove the car through the gridded streets, out of the downtown and into the old sector. They kept to the roads that curled through the side streets of Merit instead of the main grid that ran in and out of the city, avoiding any street that eventually led to a toll or a bridge or any other potential checkpoint. They watched their speed, pacing traffic when it went too fast because going slow would stand out just as much as speeding. Victor guided the stolen car through Merit, and soon the numbered avenues and lettered roads gave way to named streets. Real names, trees and people and places, clustered buildings, some dark, boarded, abandoned, and some bulging with life.
"Take a left," said Mitch, consulting the card-sized, shifting map on his phone. Victor checked his watch and ticked off the time it was taking to get to the bar, subtracted it from midnight to figure out how long they really had. He couldn't be late. Not tonight. He tried to find calm, find peace, but excitement rattled inside of him like loose change. He rapped his free hand on his leg and swallowed the whisper that this was a bad idea. It was better than sitting still. Besides, they had time. Plenty of time.
"Left again," said Mitch. Victor turned.
They'd spent the first half of the drive going over the plan, and now that it was laid out, and all that remained was to execute it, they drove in a silence punctuated only by Mitch's directions and Victor's restless tapping, and the roads rolling away beneath them.
While Victor drove, Mitch wondered.
Wondered if he would survive the night.
Wondered if Victor would, too.
Wondered what tomorrow would bring if they both did.
Wondered what Victor would do to occupy his thoughts once Eli was gone. If Eli was gone.
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Concerning Duck Dynasty, according to Drew Magary, contributor over at GQ and the guy who penned the now infamous interview with patriarch Phil Robertson, : "The Robertsons are immensely likable. They're funny. They look cool. They're 'smarter than they look,' says sportswriter Mark Schlabach, who co-writes the family's books. And they are remarkably honest both with one another and with the viewing audience: Phil's old hell-raising, Si's traumatic stint in Vietnam, the intervention that the family staged for Jep when he was boozing and doing drugs in college — all of it is out in the open. The more they reveal, the more people feel connected to them." And all this really confirms that people really do appreciate frank honesty. However, this is not where the interview ends.
I do not believe this good-ole country feller really hates anyone and, just how Seth Rogen stated on his Twitter feed, "It's strange that A&E hired a guy for being a backwoods redneck and then were surprised when he started talking like a backwoods redneck." However, "there is also nothing surprising or noteworthy about a company suspending an employee because of their personal behavior." Like it or not, Phil and the duck family are licensed products of A&E, and Phil when being interviewed, not because he in his own right is popular, but because his character on Duck Dynasty is popular, the fallout of the things he said will and did blow back on A&E because Phil is, again lets face it, a character on one of their shows. See what I mean?
Dearest Conservatives, please take a step back and look at the guy who has got you all worked up in a frenzy. This is a simply man stating his beliefs, and while he does use scripture that doesn't make him a prophet nor does it make him a martyr. This man also works for a company who also has a set of standards, shouldn't we respect those (A&E's) beliefs just as much as we respect Phil's? PS: lets not pigeon hole any group or people, including Christianity. Not ever Christian agrees with Phil's comments, so… ipso facto, this isn't a religious persecution issue insomuch as hating on Westboro isn't a religious persecution issue.


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In this Alert, we provide a framework to take a more holistic view of incentive plan design that moves beyond performance metrics and award opportunities into considering the overall risk and competitiveness of a firm's compensation program. We continue to assert that risk comes in many forms and represents both upside and downside opportunity. Since banks are in the business of taking risk, risk minimization should not be the goal, but, rather, profit maximization at an acceptable risk level, defined within the banks' stated tolerances. We recognize that communication of this goal does not role off the tongue the way "risk minimization" does, but it is an important distinction. To help ensure that a firm's incentive plans support their business objectives (including risk-taking) while attracting, retaining and motivating employees, we recommend that the risk posed and market competitiveness of incentive plans be thoroughly reviewed.
In this section, each element of incentive plan design is identified and leading questions are asked to explore the current incentive plan structure. In a full review of incentive plan design, a firm's structure would be compared versus the external market and best practice, including risk management. Risk within one element of incentive plan design may be offset by another element of plan design. A classic example would be high award opportunities being offset by larger deferrals / long-term awards. Another example would be producer plans that measure performance based on net-interest revenue rather than profitability, but offset by stringent underwriting standards and high collateral requirements. This list is not intended to be exhaustive, but rather a framework for firms to review existing incentive plan design and consider enhancements both from a competitive and risk management perspective.
What is the business mandate and risk appetite?
Peer Group – Size (Assets, Revenues, and Employees), Geographic Proximity, Business Competitors and Labor market Competitors?
Benchmark jobs – What jobs are most similar? Realistic employment opportunities?
Market positioning – Follow (25th %tile), Meet (50th %tile) or Lead (75th %tile) Market Compensation?
Attract – How do you assess, select and on-board the right candidates?
Retain – How do you keep the right employees? How much turnover is acceptable / encouraged?
Motivate – What actions / behaviors do you want to encourage or discourage?
Specific business or functional responsibility? Responsibility for risk-taking or management?
Level in organization – Corporate Title versus Functional; Producer versus Manager? Front-office versus support/infrastructure roles?
Time in position, promotion / transfer, minimum individual performance, salary threshold, incentive/commission threshold?
Annual – Commission, Target-based, Balanced Score-Card, Managed Accrual, Discretionary?
Long-term – Deferral, Add-On, Retention or Incentive oriented? Vehicle?
Measured at Firm, Division, Business, Team and / or individual level?
Year-over-year? Versus Absolute / Budget? Versus Index / Peers?
Formula (Top-down) or budgeted (bottom-up)? Variable or fixed percentage?
At what level does funding take place (e.g., Division, Product/Team)?
Weighting at Firm, Division, Business, Team and/or individual level?
For a given level of production at a given level of risk?
Acceptable from an internal equity point of view?
Over what time period? Does it align with the business/performance cycle?
Salary, annual incentive and long-term incentive as percentage of total compensation?
Consistent with risk alignment / realization of profits?
Practical management of cash flow, expense and retention of key individuals?
Who is responsible for overseeing administration of each plan?
Are the current tracking systems accurate?
Are payments made on a timely basis?
Is there an independent audit of all payments?
Is communication and disclosure transparent to internal and external stakeholders?
Caps on overall incentives, specific transactions or both?
On/Off Switches and ability to override division/business plans based on aggregate firm performance?
Termination Provisions – How are incentives treated under various termination scenarios?
Is their coordination of incentive programs with benefit and severance programs?
Do you have an independent risk function that sets, reviews, monitors and enforces the risks of each plan?
To whom does this risk function report?
Do risk people rotate to and from business management?
Is there regular firm-wide stress testing and scenario analysis to ensure that the plans will be able to pay out under a wide range of potential scenarios?
Are risk charges regularly updated?
Do risk analyses regularly trigger corrective action?
Does the risk process include credit, legal, operations, compliance, treasury as well as the business areas?