text:
A lot of people seem to have lost the thread when it comes to nuclear weapons. They think that nuclear weapons are like other weapons, and are designed to be used in war. But this is pure mental inertia. According to all the evidence available, nuclear weapons are anti-weapons, designed to prevent weapons, nuclear or otherwise, from being used. In essence, if used correctly, nuclear weapons are war suppression devices. Of course, if used incorrectly, they pose a grave risk to all life on Earth. There are other risks to all life on Earth as well, such as runaway global warming from unconstrained burning of hydrocarbons; perhaps we need to invent a weapon or two to prevent that as well.
Some people feel that the mere existence of nuclear weapons guarantees that they will be used as various nuclear-armed countries find themselves financially, economically and politically in extremis. As "proof" of this, they trot out the dramaturgical principle of Chekhov's Gun. Anton Chekhov wrote: "Если вы говорите в первой главе, что на стене висит ружье, во второй или третьей главе оно должно непременно выстрелить. А если не будет стрелять, не должно и висеть.»" ["If you say in Act I that there is a gun hanging on the wall, then it is a must that in Act II or III it be fired. And if it won't be fired, it shouldn't have been hung there in the first place."]
And if you point out that we are talking about military strategy and geopolitics, not theater, they then quote Shakespeare's "All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances…" and believe that it is QED. Now, I happen to agree wholeheartedly with Chekhov, when it comes to dramaturgy, and I agree with the Bard as well, provided we define "the world" as "the world of theater," from which the worlds of geopolitics and nuclear physics are both dramatically different.
Let me explain it in terms that a drama major would understand. If there is a nuclear bomb hanging on the wall in Act I, then, chances are, it will still be hanging on that wall during the final curtain call. In the meantime, no matter how many other weapons are present on stage during the play, you can be sure that none of them would be used. Or maybe they will be, but then the entire audience would be dead, in which case you should definitely ask for your money back because this was billed as a family-friendly show.
Back in the real world, it is hard to argue that nukes haven't been useful as deterrents against both conventional and nuclear war. When the Americans dropped nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, they only did this because they could do so with complete impunity. Had Japan, or an ally of Japan, possessed nuclear weapons at the time, these attacks would not have taken place. There is a considerable body of opinion that the Americans didn't nuke Japan in order to secure a victory (the Japanese would have surrendered regardless) but to send a message to Joseph Stalin. Stalin got the message, and Soviet scientists and engineers got cracking.
There was an uncomfortable period, before the USSR successfully tested their first atomic bomb, when the Americans were seriously planning to destroy all major Soviet cities using a nuclear strike, but they set these plans aside because they calculated that they didn't have enough nukes at the time to keep the Red Army from conquering all of Western Europe in retaliation. But in August 29, 1949, when the USSR tested its first atomic bomb, these plans were set aside—not quite permanently, it would later turn out—because even a singular nuclear detonation as a result of a Soviet response to an American first strike, wiping out, say, New York or Washington, would have been too high a price to pay for destroying Russia.
Since then—continuously except for a period between 2002 and two days ago—the ability of nuclear weapons to deter military aggression has remained unquestioned. There were some challenges along the way, but they were dealt with. The Americans saw it fit to threaten the USSR by placing nuclear missiles in Turkey; in response, the USSR placed nuclear missiles in Cuba. The Americans didn't think that was fair, and the result was the Cuban Missile Crisis. Eventually the Americans were prevailed upon to stand down in Turkey, and the Soviets stood down in Cuba. Another threat to the deterrent power of nuclear weapons was the development of anti-ballistic weapons that could shoot down nuclear-tipped missiles (just the ballistic ones; more on that later). But this was widely recognized to be a bad thing, and a major breakthrough came in 1972, when the USA and the USSR signed the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.
Over this entire period, the principle that kept the peace was Mutual Assured Destruction: neither side would provoke the other to the point of launching a nuclear strike, because such a move was guaranteed to be suicidal. The two sides were reduced to fighting a series of proxy wars in various countries around the world, which were so much the worse for it, but there was no danger of these proxy conflicts erupting into a full-scale nuclear conflagration.
In the meantime, everybody tried to oppose nuclear proliferation, preventing more countries from obtaining access to nuclear weapons technology—with limited success. The cases where these efforts failed testify to the effective deterrent value of nuclear weapons. Saddam Hussein of Iraq didn't have any "weapons of mass destruction" and ended up hung. Muammar Qaddafi of Libya voluntarily gave up his nuclear program, and ended up tortured to death.
But Pakistan managed to acquire nuclear weapons, and as a result its relations with its traditional nemesis India have become much more polite and cooperative, to the point that in June of 2017 both became full members of Shanghai Cooperation Organization, along with China, Russia and other Eurasian nations. And then North Korea has made some breakthroughs with regard to nuclear bombs and ballistic missiles, and as a result of that the US has been reduced to posturing and futile threats against it while South Korea has expressed some newfound respect for its northern neighbor and is now seeking rapprochement.
In 2002 the prospect of continued nuclear deterrence suffered a major setback when the US pulled out of the ABM treaty. Russia protested this move, and promised an asymmetrical response. American officials ignored this protest, incorrectly thinking that Russia was finished as a nuclear power. Since then, the Americans spent prodigious amounts of money—well into the trillions of dollars—building a ballistic missile defense system. Their goal was simple: make it possible to launch a first strike on Russia, destroying much of its nuclear arsenal; then use the new American ABM systems to destroy whatever Russia does manage to launch in response. On February 2, 2018 the Americans decided that they were ready, and issued a Nuclear Posture Review in which they explicitly reserved the right to use nuclear weapons to prevent Russia from using its nuclear deterrent.
And then, two days ago, all of that came to a happy end when Vladimir Putin gave a speech in which he unveiled several new weapons systems that completely negate the value of US missile defense shield—among other things. That was the response the Russians promised to deliver when the US pulled out of the ABM treaty in 2002. Now, 16 years later, they are done. Russia has rearmed with new weapons that have rendered the ABM treaty entirely irrelevant.
The ABM treaty was about ballistic missiles—ones that are propelled by rockets that boost the missile to close to escape velocity. After that the missile follows a ballistic trajectory—just like an artillery shell or a bullet. That makes its path easy to calculate and the missile easy to intercept. The US missile defense systems rely on the ability to see the missile on radar, calculate its position, direction and velocity, and to launch a missile in response in such a way that the two trajectories intersect. When they cross, the interceptor missile is detonated, knocking out the attacking missile.
None of the new Russian weapons follow ballistic trajectories. The new Sarmat is an ICBM minus the "B"—it maneuvers throughout its flight path and can fly through the atmosphere rather than popping up above it. It has a short boost phase, making it difficult to intercept after launch. It has the range to fly arbitrary paths around the planet—over the south pole, for instance—to reach any point on Earth. And it carries multiple maneuverable hypersonic nuclear-armed reentry vehicles which no existing or planned missile defense system can intercept.
Among other new weapons unveiled two days ago was a nuclear-powered cruise missile which has virtually unlimited range and a nuclear-powered drone submarine which can descend to much larger depths than any existing submarine and moves faster than any existing vessel. There was also a mobile laser cannon in the show, of which very little is known, but they are likely to come in handy when it comes to frying military satellites. All of these are based on physical principles that have never been used before. All of these have passed testing and are going into production; one of them is already being used on active combat duty in the Russian armed forces.
The Russians are now duly proud of their scientists, engineers and soldiers. Their country is safe again; Americans have been stopped in their tracks, their new Nuclear Posture now looking like a severe case of lordosis. This sort of pride is more important than it would seem. Advanced nuclear weapons systems are a bit like secondary sexual characteristics of animals: like the peacock's tail or the deer's antlers or the lion's mane, they are indicative of the health and vigor of a specimen that has plenty of spare energy to expend on showy accessories.
In order to be able to field a hypersonic nuclear-powered cruise missile with unlimited range, a country has to have a healthy scientific community, lots of high-powered engineers, a highly trained professional military and a competent security establishment that can keep the whole thing secret, along with an industrial economy powerful and diverse enough to supply all of the necessary materials, processes and components with zero reliance on imports. Now that the arms race is over, this new confidence and competence can be turned to civilian purposes.
So far, the Western reaction to Putin's speech has closely followed the illogic of dreams which Sigmund Freud explained using the following joke:
1. I never borrowed a kettle from you
2. I returned it to you unbroken
3. It was already broken when I borrowed it from you.
A more common example is a child's excuse for not having done her homework: I lost it; my dog ate it; I didn't know it was assigned.
In this case, Western commentators have offered us the following:
1. There are no such weapons; Putin is bluffing
2. These weapons exist but they don't really work
3. These weapons work and this is the beginning of a new nuclear arms race
Taking these one at a time:
1. Putin is not known to bluff; he is known for doing exactly what he says he will do. He announced that Russia will deliver an asymmetric response to the US pulling out of the ABM treaty; and now it has.
2. These weapons are a continuation of developments that already existed in the USSR 30 years ago but had been mothballed until 2002. What has changed since then was the development of new materials, which make it possible to build vehicles that fly at above Mach 10, with their skin heating up to 2000ºC, and, of course, dramatic improvements in microelectronics, communications and artificial intelligence. Putin's statement that the new weapons systems are going into production is an order: they are going into production.
3. Most of Putin's speech wasn't about military matters at all. It was about such things as pay increases, roads, hospitals and clinics, kindergartens, nurseries, boosting retirements, providing housing to young families, streamlining the regulation of small businesses, etc. That is the focus of the Russian government for the next six years: dramatically improving the standard of living of the population. The military problem has already been resolved, the arms race has been won, and Russia's defense budget is being reduced, not increased.
Another line of thought in the West was that Putin unveiled these new weapons, which have been in development for 16 years at least, as part of his reelection campaign (the vote is on March 18). This is absurd. Putin is assured of victory because the vast majority of Russians approve of his leadership. The elections have been about jockeying for a second place position between the Liberal Democrats, led by the old war horse Vladimir Zhirinovsky, and the Communists, who have nominated a non-communist oligarch businessman Pavel Grudinin, who has promptly disqualified himself by failing to disclose foreign bank accounts and other improprieties and now appears to have gone into hiding. Thus, the Communists, who were previously slated for second place, have burned themselves down and Zhirinovsky will probably come in second. If Americans don't like Putin, then they definitely wouldn't like Zhirinovsky. Putin is practical and ambivalent about "our Western partners," as he likes to call them. Zhirinovsky, on the other hand, is rather revenge-minded, and seems to want to inflict pain on them.
At the same time, there is now a committee, composed of very serious-looking men and women, who are charged with monitoring and thwarting American meddling in Russian politics. It seems unlikely that the CIA, the US State Department and the usual culprits will be able to get away with much in Russia. The age of color revolutions is over, and the regime change train has sailed… all the way back to Washington, where Trump stands a chance of getting dethroned Ukrainian-style.
Another way to look at the Western reaction to Russia's new weapons is using Elizabeth Kübler-Ross's stages of grief. We already saw denial (Putin is bluffing; weapons don't work) and the start of anger (new arms race). We should expect a bit more anger before moving on to bargaining (you can have the Ukraine if you stop building Sarmat). Once the response comes back ("You broke the Ukraine; you pay to get it fixed") we move on to depression ("The Russians just don't love us any more!") and, finally, acceptance. Once the stage of acceptance is reached, here is what the Americans can usefully do in response to Russia's new weapons systems.
First of all, Americans can scrap their ABM systems because they are now useless. Russia's Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu had this to say about it: «То, что сегодня создаётся в Польше и Румынии, создаётся на Аляске и предполагается к созданию в Южной Корее и Японии — этот "зонтик" противоракетной обороны, получается, "дырявый". И не знаю, зачем за такие деньги теперь этот "зонтик" им приобретать.» ["What is being built in Poland and Romania, and in Alaska, and is planned in South Korea and Japan—this missile defense 'umbrella'—turns out to be riddled with holes. I don't know why they should now buy this 'umbrella' for so much money."]
Secondly, Americans can scrap their aircraft carrier fleet. All it's useful now for now is threatening defenseless nations, but there are much cheaper ways to threaten defenseless nations. If Americans are still planning to use them to dominate sea lanes and control world trade, then the existence of hypersonic cruise missiles with unlimited range and drone submarines that can lurk at great ocean depths for years make the world's oceans off-limits for American navy's battle groups in the event of any major (non-nuclear) escalation because now Russia can destroy them from an arbitrary distance without putting any of their assets or personnel at risk.
Lastly, Americans can pull out of NATO, which has now been shown to be completely useless, dismantle their thousand military bases around the world, and repatriate the troops stationed there. It's not as if, in light of these new developments, American security guarantees are going to be worth much to anyone, and America's "allies" will be quick to realize that. As far as Russian security guarantees, there is a lot on offer: unlike the US, which is increasingly seen as a rogue state—and an ineffectual and blundering one at that—Russia has been scrupulous in adhering to its international agreements and international law. In developing and deploying its new weapons systems, Russia has not violated any international agreements, treaties or laws. And Russia has no aggressive plans towards anyone except terrorists. As Putin put it during his speech, «Мы ни на кого не собираемся нападать и что-то отнимать. У нас у самих всё есть.» ["We are not planning to attack anyone or take over anywhere. We have everything we need."]
I hope that the US doesn't plan to attack anyone either, because, given its recent history, this won't work. Threatening the whole planet and forcing it to use the US dollar in international trade (and destroying countries, such as Iraq and Libya, when they refuse); running huge trade deficits with virtually the entire world and forcing reserve banks around the world to buy up US government debt; leveraging that debt to run up colossal budget deficits (now around a trillion dollars a year); and robbing the entire planet by printing money and spending it on various corrupt schemes—that, my friends, has been America's business plan since around the 1970s. And it is unraveling before our eyes.
I have the audacity to hope that the dismantling of the American Empire will proceed as copacetically as the dismantling of the Soviet Empire did. (This is not to say that it won't be humiliating or impoverishing, or that it won't be accompanied by a huge increase in morbidity and mortality.) One of my greatest fears over the past decade was that Russia wouldn't take the US and NATO seriously enough and just try to wait them out. After all, what is there to really to fear from a nation that has over a 100 trillion dollars in unfunded entitlements, that's full of opioid addicts, with 100 million working-age people permanently out of work, with decrepit infrastructure and poisoned national politics? And as far as NATO, there is, of course, Germany, which is busy rewriting "Deutschland, Deutschland, über alles" to be gender-neutral. What are they supposed to do next? March on Moscow under a rainbow banner and hope that the Russians die laughing? Oh, and there's also NATO's largest Eurasian asset, Turkey, which is currently busy slaughtering America's Kurdish assets in Northern Syria.
But simply waiting them out would have been a gamble, because in its death throes the American Empire could have lashed out in unpredictable ways. I am glad that Russia chose not to gamble with its national security. Now that the US has been safely checkmated using the new Russian weapons systems, I feel that the world is in a much better place. If you like peace, then it seems like your best option is to also like nukes—the best ones possible, ones against which no deterrent exists, and wielded by peaceful, law-abiding nations that have no evil designs on the rest of the planet.
John Meyers said...
Very good read, thank you.
JustTruth said...
Thank goodness Russia has had Putin as a leader. We are all safer for it.
Just left this comment on a favourite website:
http://members5.boardhost.com/xxxxx/msg/1520353267.html
SELFQUOTE:
Dmitry Orlov: 'Better Nukes For A Safer Planet' (Complete, no paywall) -
Posted by Rhisiart Gwilym on March 6, 2018, 4:21 pm
I'm chuffed to see that I seem to be on the same page as Dmitry, regarding nuclear MADness. Seems that we're both feeling a lot more cheerful about the -reducing - prospects for nuclear war, since Dydd Gŵyl Dewi - St. David's Day - 1March.
As I posted earlier today, I'm really quite surprised that no-one on the Lifeboat, apart from me, seems to have picked up on the epoch-changing thing that's just happened with VVPutin's 'State of the Nation' speech last Tuesday. Is the crew losing its edge...? In a nutshell, the malign (but regrettably necessary) balance of MAD has just been announced to have been restored by sixteen years of steady, impressively-focussed, Putin-overseen Russian determination to do just that - asymmetrically, at a fraction of the USukiznato-axis's militarism budget.
Already, as well as the predictable, know-nothing yapping of the power-steno hacks of the West's Permanent Bullshit Blizzard, aka the Western lamestream 'news' media, a number of thoughtful and informed commentators have drawn out the implications of this news. Yet no-one amongst the Western cyber-chatterati is saying all that much about it. Very odd, given what a - perverse - relief it is. Maybe the implications will trickle in to our collective understanding in the West slowly over the next little while; starting with the saner people in the Pentagon, we have to hope...
http://cluborlov.blogspot.co.uk/2018/03/better-nukes-for-safer-planet.html
Trmist said...
I've notice more frequent references to the Perrodollar and its role underpinning the US dominated world in geopolitical analysis. I'm certain powerful rivals to the USA are well aware of the dollar's role in providing US with a massive economic subsidy. I can't help feeling the time is fast approaching when the US dollar will be severely devalued.
Such a great article written with the right amount of levity, as only you are capable of, Dmitry. I only hope that the insanely irrational US neocons, who have captured the Trump Admin in a soft coup, get the memo before it's too late. The likes of Lindsay Graham are making noises that a nuclear war against the DPRK, causing millions of Korean (and thousands of American) deaths, would be "worth it." And rumor is that DJT is becoming increasingly unstable, with no one of substance willing to serve in his Admin. I would feel much safer if we had men of stature like Ike, JFK, or even Nixon in charge. The fact that the 2016 election was between Trump v Hillary shows how far this country has sunk.
Pantalones Frescos said...
Great post. I guess I feel some sense of relief that a more reasonable nation holds this powerful deterrent. Mostly I just feel very sad. The hardest thing is that most Americans aren't aware of the larger story you tell. They think the announcement by Putin this week was an aggressive act.
I think it took a pretty determined ideologue to believe in the old anti-ballistic system. Multiple maneuverable warheads, loads of cheap chaff -- & it gets very expensive to collect all the incoming bombs. When you miss one (etc?), you just have a fine funeral for all those fine folks who used to live in Fresno... etc? The whole program was basically a heap of huff&puff to keep more military contractors on the payroll without letting them do anything too practical.
Better to huff&puff than to rip throats out -- but people believe their own huff, consequently get scared & irrational (and/or smug & irrational).
How many foolproof schemes to insure peace have we tried over the centuries? The nuclear one has so far worked sort of... but a true failure would be a mess: 'The stupidest experiment we could possibly try' as a Soviet scientist is said to have put it.
Rationally-planned mechanisms with irrational moving parts? Hmm, wasn't that what kept the nations of Europe from attacking each other until WW I? And assured the peace afterwards almost until WW II? And assured American victory in our War Against Vietnam?
Great perspective and good news.... for the rest of the planet. Meanwhile the USSA is still busted with a good start on a police state infrastructure. A good time to get yourself a Quidnon or other sail powered home and vote with your feet out of the impact zone.
rippon said...
Dmitry,
Please explain why the Americans didn't develop weapons like this.
And what have other powers, e.g. China, been doing over the decades?
Is it only Russia that is capable of such innovative weapons-development work?
rippon -
OK, good question. I'll take that up in another post. As to your last question, the answer seems to be "yes".
Great piece, Dmitry - I too felt considerably safer after Putin's speech. Really appreciate your helpful as well as satisfying ironic analysis!
So, Forrest, that shambolic helicopter departure from the roof of the US embassy in Saigon was USAmerica 'winning' the Vietnam War, was it? Odd perspective.
Rippon,
I would suggest that necessity is the mother of invention. Russia developed the weapons because it needed to. It also has both reduced military industry corruption and taken a steady incremental approach to development. The Chinese have been focused on trade deals and haven't as much concerned themselves with military threats. With the slowly stewing conflict over the South China Sea that might change and we might get to see what military toys the Chinese have. The US, as dominant military power, has long since succumbed to decadence and corruption. Without an imminent threat to drive a cleanup of corruption or necessity of new weapons, the US has halfheartedly been pursuing 'perfect' all purpose weapons. The F35 is one example of this policy, but there are many others.
Christopher,
What do you mean by 'perfect' weapons?
Do you mean something along these lines:
I recall reading (months ago) something (from TheSaker I think) about Russian airforce generals laughing at American fighters. He was saying something about personnel constantly clearing the tiniest debris from runways so that F16s (or whatever) didn't get damaged when landing. He said (something like) the Americans were making 'Ferraris' - sophisticated, but delicate, machines, good for airshows but not for war situations, where your fighters may well have to land on rough/damaged runways.
Damn good piece.
OK Americans, when erupting into mindless patriotic chants, it's now "WE'RE NUMBER 2!! WE'RE NUMBER 2!!". Please stay tuned for further downgrades, enjoy #2 while it lasts, which probably won't be too long.
Cindy Shirar-Conaway said...
::Laughing hard...:: Rippon, I love you. You are describing what are (NOT affectionately) known as "FOD walks." FOD (Foreign Object Detection) walks are assigned to hapless/clueless, low-ranking U.S. military personnel, stationed on U.S. air bases around the world, as punishment for such infractions as getting sunburned, (considered "malingering,") and "insubordination" (i.e., questioning, out loud, the bombing of a funeral or wedding party, for clarification purposes only.) You can imagine how highly-motivated these individuals actually are on the myriad U.S. military flightlines and runways around the world...LOL...
On another note: I am not surprised--but still somewhat disappointed--that statesman Putin won't "invade" the U.S. We don't deserve it...because it would be an IMPROVEMENT. God help this miserable hell hole, the U.S....
markg420 said...
Great article Dmitry - I too feel considerably safer after Putin's speech and hope USA's allies wake up to the fact that America has been outplayed and their military protection now rendered obsolete.
Mike Donathan said...
The thing that concerns me the most is the current class of politicians running the show in the Swamp. The country is worse than bankrupt and who knows what kind of stunts said politicians might try in order to focus the attention of an angry citizenry somewhere besides where it belongs.
All I was saying was "These massive rational plans to achieve this or that don't seem to have a great track record, overall."
karlos said...
great news from Putin - unfortunately believe the morons that run the US will test the new military systems; hope for the best!
Robban said...
I just want to make a remark on the U S intensions of the bombs. The intended date of theire release with 3 days difference and independant of Japan response tells us that the bombs (of 2 different types) was a military experiment to see "what happens when you cast a nuclear bomb on a city with hundreds of thousands of people?" They didn´t cast them to win the war but could do this qruel experiment hidden behind the war.
bairdseymour said...
Too bad you don't have any competition in US media.
Russell Bentley said...
Dmitri Orlov is one of the best political writers writing today. I am glad that a Russian who moved to America and an American (well, Texan) who moved to (Novo) Russia can come to the same conclusion on the new era of history that began March 1st. But I must admit he put it more eloquently than I.
http://www.russelltexasbentley.com/2018/03/letter-to-america-opportunity-and.html
wagelaborer said...
US response to Putin's announcement: "He's bluffing, there are no such weapons".
US response to DPRK's launching missiles that fall into the nearby ocean: "Everyone in Hawaii take immediate cover, you're all going to die".
Wednesday, March 7, 2018 at 12:28:00 PM EST
J Elio said...
Regarding the US making similar weapons--my opinion is that the actual funds for this endeavor are minimal once the siphoning off of military research money is done. Very little is actually left for the real job of development. Most of it is a dog and pony show to solicit more funds.
And IMHO the real Achilles heel of the US and the whole Western alliance is not its weapons, but the lack of reality in the economic system. The value of its money is close to zero when the debts are called in (since its based on debt) and from what we've seen of countries with declining energy sources, the debt call in may happen in less than 10 years.
Wednesday, March 7, 2018 at 1:21:00 PM EST
sandykrolick, ph.d., editor FIBP said...
Молодец, Дима!! ;-)
PatOrmsby said...
@Robban, indeed, they had two kinds of atomic bombs they wanted to compare on an actual killing field, one based on uranium and the other on plutonium. The latter won out, being found "ten times more efficient" https://www.atomicheritage.org/history/little-boy-and-fat-man The race to obtain plutonium is what gave the world atomic power, with claims of it being necessary for our energy future, all propped up by government subsidies. Everybody wants the bomb, and Dmitry has laid out the case for that brilliantly. Now if we could just do something about cesium-137...
herepog2 said...
The US mil-ind-complex has siphoned off some $21 trillion.
"$21 trillion of unauthorized spending by US govt discovered by economics professor"
The US government may have misspent $21 trillion, a professor at Michigan State University has found. Papers supporting the study briefly went missing just as an audit was announced.
Two departments of the US federal government may have spent as much as $21 trillion on things they can't account for between 1998 and 2015. At least that's what Mark Skidmore, a Professor of Economics at MSU specializing in public finance, and his team have found.
They came up with the figure after digging the websites of departments of Defense (DoD) and Housing and Urban Development (HUD) as well as repots of the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) over summer.
The research was triggered by Skidmore hearing Catherine Austin Fitts, a former Assistant Secretary in the HUD in the first Bush administration, saying the Inspector General found $6.5 trillion worth of military spending that the DoD couldn't account for. She was referring to a July 2016 report by the OIG, but Skidmore thought she must be mistaking billion for trillion. Based on his previous experience with public finances, he thought the figure was too big even for an organization as large as the US military.
"Sometimes you have an adjustment just because you don't have adequate transactions… so an auditor would just recede. Usually it's just a small portion of authorized spending, maybe one percent at most. So for the Army one percent would be $1.2 billion of transactions that you just can't account for," he explained in an interview with USAWatchdog.com earlier this month.
After discovering that the figure was accurate, he and Fitts collaborated with a pair of graduate students to comb through thousands of reports of the OIG dating back to 1998, when new rules of public accountability for the federal government were set and all the way to 2015, the time of the latest reports available at the time. The research was only for the DoD and the HUD.
"This is incomplete, but we have found $21 trillion in adjustments over that period. The biggest chunk is for the Army. We were able to find 13 of the 17 years and we found about $11.5 trillion just for the Army," Skidmore said.
https://on.rt.com/8uzn
Private debt in the trillions has been transferred to the public while the assets underlying the debt are now private and very likely invested in a massive space program. The US space weapons program went black in the mid 1960s and is at least 3 generations (think anti-grav) more advanced than the ordinary intellect would imagine.
Thursday, March 8, 2018 at 1:29:00 AM EST
Gary Sellars said...
Good article, but may I correct one point: the cruise missile with the nuclear propulsion system and unlimited range is subsonic, not M10. The M10 missile is the 2,000km air-launched Kinzhal.
Friday, March 9, 2018 at 4:09:00 AM EST
Mr. Wasim said...
Personally,I would suggest that necessity is the mother of invention. Russia developed the weapons because they needed to. It also both reduced military industry corruption and taken incremental approach to development
Sunday, March 11, 2018 at 3:24:00 AM EDT
An argument in support of nuclear weapons is surely to be rejected. Fission weapons require plutonium, which requires breeder reactors. In a perfect world, yes, these reactors and their waste products would be managed properly into perpetuity, but then, in such a world, there would be no need for nuclear weapons to begin with.
Ixtlan said...
@Dimitry Your analogy of the kettle reminds me of the scene from the movie "Asterix and Obelix":
- Objection, demand, protest! I accuse the Gauls in the abuse of the magic elixir !!!!
- Have you taken it yourself?
- What's the difference? I didn't win, anyway!
Anselmo said...
Dear Dimitry
I think that you are very naive describing the nuclear weapons as tools of peace.
History teach us that all the weapons will be employed sooner or later.
I understand that Russia has the right to ensure his safety and for this purpose needs to modernize his nuclear weapons, but I am sure that is inevitable that some state, some time will employ them. I a similar way that in an imaginarian time , was opened the Pandora´s box of the famous mithological tale.
Anselmo - the US already has used them, albeit an early version, and they did so pretty much for the hell of it. Which is why everyone else figures they need to have them too, in case the US decides to do it again. I think Dmitry's point is valid. It's not that Russia imagines they are now safe - only, given the history lesson in Japan, a little safer than if they didn't have them, with a delivery system that is a serious threat.
Ike said...
Great article. I particularly like the idea that the flow on effect of these weapons for other countries is to make them realize that sheltering behind Uncle Sam's military might is a poor strategy. Hopefully this induces a little more independence in the UN and other international forums
Unfortunately it seems to have caused the English to double down on stupidity regarding their unfounded accusations in the poisoned spy case, although this probably has more to do with sour grapes and disrupting the Football World Cup in Moscow.
Yes, I agree totally with Anselmo. Human beings are genetically naive (as are all animals). We´ve always believed in Gods of all kinds, a trait which also manifests itself in our utopian belief in eternal growth of everything, especially economic growth. The future is always better than yesterday!
But nature isn´t organized that way, it follows rules of its own (the laws of thermodynamics) which some of us know but the great majority don´t even care to know. That I call a belief in the bloody ridiculous. That´s the way we are but are hard to realize.
John Michael Greer wrote a similar treatise on nukes a while ago:
http://www.resilience.org/stories/2012-11-15/deterrence-in-an-age-of-decline/
Yesterday, my own $0.02 musing. Yeah, trusting the US government isn't healthy. Ask Native Americans.
https://peakfuture.wordpress.com/2018/03/13/nukes/
Nuclear weapons are "used", but not in their traditional sense.
They might be used in some sort of terrorist situation, but nation-states (as JMG so eloquently opined) don't seem to use weapons of mass destruction against other nation-states. Even the Germans didn't use poison gas at the end of WW2.
For current conflicts, it seems many traditional bombs might get used, but the cost-benefit of WMDs seems to be too high for "traditional" use.
While I am glad to know that the Anglo-Israeli Empire has been checkmated again, the ultimate cost for achieving temporary peace will be severe in the long run. Humans may be the only species that deliberately digs its own grave. (Two Mile Island, Chernobyl, Fukushima, _____?______)
Joe Katzman said...
The carrier battle groups are still fine. It's not as easy to find them as you'd think, and without that it doesn't matter what weapons you have. Frankly, Russia's existing Mach 5 Zircon missiles are a bigger problem than the Mach 10 Kinzhal, because they're far less limited in their firing platforms. If any container ship or fighter can suddenly spit Mach 5 missiles at you, that's a much more serious problem.
The hypersonic skip-riders instead of MIRVs are very, very clever. Minor change for major results.
The nuclear torpedo (really a UUV sub)... that's not bad for limited uses in shutting down ports, but it carries its own intercept risks.
The nuclear powered cruise missile is Insane with a capital "I". The USA wisely shelved Project Pluto. The supersonic ICBM class range is great, but leaving a long trail of radiation everywhere you go whenever you fly.... bad, bad idea.
Saturday, March 17, 2018 at 12:40:00 AM EDT
Dear Dmitry, your conclusions about nuclear weapons are based on the completely false assumption that we are fully rational beings. We are, as a species, not rational and this fact prevents us both from realising that we are nuts and to handle any weapons in a rational way, especially nuclear ditto. This means: we are not going to handle nuclear arms correctly (=rationally).
Your own monologue about correct/incorrect behaviour is just a way of make ourselves believe that we are intelligent beings who know what we are doing (=we just fool ourselves).


One of our latest rooflight projects in Chelsea turned out to be one of our favourites. These rooflights we're constructed by our very own team. Due to the size of the rooflights most manufacturers provide these sized rooflights with bulky frames to take the weight, however at Thames Windows and Doors we like to think outside the box. A slimline aluminium frame was constructed with the addition of a thermal break and high performance, Solar control, self-cleaning double glazing. As the client wanted to keep the budget down but at the same time not compromise on quality we knew we were the right company for the job. We explained to the client about the system we could create and not have to sacrifice any of the upgrades/quality and the rest is glazing history.
High Quality flat rooflights are currently the most popular rooflight on the market. With glass specs and add-ons available to suit any project.


This is a regularly updated list with movies, series and documentaries with Jack Black on Netflix. The best rated item with Jack Black on Netflix is "The Sheik" and appeared on screen in 2014.
Below you find an overview of all movies and series with Jack Black on Netflix. We found 36 titles with Jack Black on Netflix.


Sergey Ionov presents the most spectacular games of Alexander Khalifman. The article also contains a nice selection of Khalifman's wins in the Catalan Opening (gambit variation) and the Volga (Benko) Gambit. Added to the "Creativity" section.
A first time I paid attention to Alexey Shirov's creative play was when I saw his games against experienced Latvian master.


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Hartshorne on local algebra
Posted on January 11, 2019 by Johan
In the paper "Varieties of small codimension in projective space" Hartshorne has the following conjecture.
Conjecture 5.1. Let A be a regular local ring of dimension n. Let P be a prime ideal of A such that A/P has an isolated singularity. Let r = dim(A/P) and suppose that r > 1/3(2n – 1). Then A/P is a complete intersection.
We don't have any positive results on this conjecture (as stated) this except in the case where r = n – 1. Namely, if r = n – 1, then A/P is a hypersurface as a regular local ring is a UFD.
We do have a negative result, namely, the conjecture seems to be wrong for n = 6 and r = 4. Namely, Tango constructed a nonsplit rank 2 vector bundle on P^5 in characteristic 2. A general section of a high twist of this vector bundle will give a codimension 2 smooth subvariety of P^5 which is not a complete intersection. Pulling this back to punctured affine 6-space will give the desired counter example.
This is related to what Hartshorne says just before stating his conjecture, namely that his local version is actually stronger than the original conjecture. If we don't make the conjecture stronger then in 5.1 we would put the inequality r > 1/3(2n + 1). And Tango's example no longer gives a counter example. Let's call this the corrected conjecture.
Let us, as is customary, strengthen the corrected conjecture as follows.
Conjecture E.1. Let A be a regular local ring of dimension n with spectrum S and punctured spectrum U. Let V be a closed subscheme of U which is a local complete intersection, whose closure in S is equidimensional of dimension r. Suppose that r > 1/3(2n + 1). Then there exists a complete intersection Z ⊂ S with V = U ∩ Z scheme theoretically.
Conjecture E.1 again holds for r = n – 1. Work in the projective case suggests that E.1 is not much stronger than the corrected conjecture 5.1.
Lemma 1. Let A be a Noetherian local ring with spectrum S. Let E be a vector bundle on the puncture spectrum U of A. Let Z ⊂ S be a complete intersection of codimension c such that E|Z ∩ U is a trivial vector bundle. If depth(A) > 2 + c, then E is a trivial vector bundle.
Proof. Using induction on c we reduce to the case c = 1. Then Z = Spec(B) where B = A/f for some nonzerodivisor f in A. Hence depth(B) > 2. Thus we have H^1(Z ∩ U, O_Z) = 0. Thus we see that E is trivial on a formal neighbourhood of Z ∩ U in U by a standard deformation argument. But the functor from vector bundles on U to vector bundles on the formal completion of U along Z ∩ U is fully faithful by a Lefschetz type result, see Tag 0EKS, and hence we conclude.
Lemma 2. Let A be a Noetherian local ring with spectrum S. Let E be a vector bundle of rank c on the punctured spectrum U of A. Let Z ⊂ S be a complete intersection such that Z ∩ U is the vanishing scheme of a global section s of E. If depth(A) > 2 + c, then E is a trivial vector bundle.
Proof. Note that E|Z ∩ U is the normal bundle of Z in U. Since Z is a complete intersection we find E|Z ∩ U is a trivial vector bundle. We conclude by Lemma 1.
Lemma 3. Let A be a regular local ring. Let B = A/I be a complete intersection of codimension t. If c < 1/3(dim(B) – 2t – 1) and conjecture E.1 holds, then any vector bundle of rank c on the punctured spectrum of B is trivial.
Proof. Let E be a vector bundle of rank c on the punctured spectrum of B. Choose a finite B module M corresponding to E. Choose a "random" element s of m_B^N M for some N ≫ 0. Denote V inside the punctured spectrum of B the vanishing scheme of s. Observe that dim(V) = dim(B) – c = n – t – c where n is the dimension of A. The inequality n – t – c > 1/3(2n + 1) is equivalent to the inequality of the lemma and hence E.1 tells us that V is the intersection of the punctured spectrum of A with a complete intersection Z in Spec(A). Because we chose N ≫ 0 we find that we may choose the first t generators for the ideal of Z to be the t generators for I. Thus we see that Z is a complete intersection in Spec(B). Then we conclude that E is trivial by Lemma 2.
The lemma tells us that complete intersection rings B should have few interesting low rank vector bundles on their punctured spectra provided E.1 is true. But the appearance of the term -2t in the inequality is annoying. By Grothendieck we know that any invertible module on the punctured spectrum of B is trivial if dim(B) > 3. In other words if 1 < 1/3dim(B) or put another way 1 ≤ 1/3(dim(B) – 1). So let's ask the following question (where we have dropped the -2t and replaced < by ≤ in the inequality).
Question E.2. Let B be a Noetherian local ring which is a complete intersection. Let E be a vector bundle on the punctured spectrum of B. If rank(E) ≤ 1/3(dim(B) – 1), then is E trivial?
So for example if the rank is 2 the inequality gives 7 ≤ dim(B). If true this would be sharp by what we said above. Anyway, I don't insist on the exact formula for the inequality; I'm not sure why Hartshorne chose 2/3 as the leading coefficient in his inequality. Really, a much more reasonable question is the following.
Question E.3. Given an integer c does there exists an integer n(c) such that if B is a Noetherian local complete intersection of dimension > n(c), then any E vector bundle of rank c on the punctured spectrum of B is trivial?
For those who prefer projective geometry over local algebra, we ask whether there exist indecomposable rank 2 vector bundles on complete intersection varieties of arbitrarily large dimension… Please let me know if you have interesting examples! Thanks.
Nonexistence of flip
This is a write-up of an exercise I did in my office with Alex Perry and Will Sawin. Namely we made an example where you can't flip a Weil divisor. I couldn't immediately find one by googling; I hope this helps those who google; all mistakes are mine. For the exact notion of flip, please see below (it may not be the same as your notion of flip).
Let C be an elliptic curve. Let E = L_1 ⊕ L_2 be a direct sum of two invertible modules of degree 1 on C. Let L be a third invertible module of degree 1 on C. We will assume L, L_1, L_2 are Z-lineary independent in Pic(C). Let p : X = P(E) —-> C be the corresponding projective bundle which with my normalization means that p_*O_X(1) = E. Observe that O_X(1) is ample on the surface X because E is an ample vector bundle on C.
Let A = ⨁ H^0(X, O_X(n)). Then Z = Spec(A) is the projective cone on X wrt O_X(1). Thus X gives a nice threefold singularity. Denote U the complement of the vertex in Z. There is a morphism U —> X. The pullback of L via the composition U —> X —> C is of the form O_U(D) for some Weil divisor (class) D on Z. If we take the closure Y of the graph of U —> C in Z x C then we see that D pulls back to a Cartier divisor on Y which is moreover ample on Y (equivalently relatively ample with respect to Y —> Z). Finally, note that the fibre of Y —> Z over the vertex has dimension 1.
Another way to construct Y is to consider the graded A-algebra
B+ = ⨁ d ≥ 0 H^0(U, O(dD)) = ⨁d, n ≥ 0 H^0(X, O_X(n) ⊗ p^*L^d)
(with grading given by d) and then Y = Proj(B+). Proof omitted.
OK, so now we can ask: can we flip (Y —> Z, D)? What I take this to mean is that we want to find a proper morphism Y' —> Z which is an isomorphism over U, whose fibre over the vertex has dimension < 2 and such that -D determines a Q-Cartier divisor on Y' which is ample on Y'. Note the sign in front of D!
It turns out that Y' exist if and only if the algebra
B- = ⨁ d ≥ 0 H^0(U, O(-dD)) = ⨁d, n ≥ 0 H^0(X, O_X(n) ⊗ p^*L^-d)
is finitely generated; you can find this in the literature when you google the question. Using p_*O_X(n) = Sym^n(E) this becomes
B- = ⨁a, b, d ≥ 0 H^0(C, L_1^a ⊗ L_2^b ⊗ L^-d).
Thus we get a natural Z^3-grading for this algebra. By our choice of L_1, L_2, L above we see that we have nonzero elements in the graded piece with (a, b, d) = (0, 0, 0) and in the graded pieces corresponding to (a, b, d) with a + b – d > 0. Thus B- is not finitely generated, because the elements in degrees (a, b , a + b – 1) are all needed as generators for the algebra B-.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Last meal at the dairy bar. Doesn't Crispin look excited!
We're good when we're sleeping!
Now that we're 4 weeks old, bigger adventures begin. We come up to the kitchen and stay there most of the day. We only go in the whelping box at night to sleep. We had our last meal at the "dairy bar". Now that we have teeth, Mom isn't very interested in feeding us anymore. We've been outside on the deck and we're learning to climb through things and around things and we bark A LOT.


As hoteliers we don't need to care too much about machine learning, AI and so forth. But we should have a grasp of the subject. AI is hailed as the new electricity and AI needs machine learning to live. The reason it's the new electricity is that it will soon be powering just about every IT system at different levels. Personalisation is a huge one and in hotels we'll need that. So while we don't need to be engineers we should have at least a grasp of how it works so it appears less like magic and more like logic.
It is arguable that Google Maps is the most used travel app. The reviews are growing at an incredible pace, the contributor community is actually a community with exclusive events at Google Offices and that's just a small part of it. With recommendations this is growing even more and removing the travelers "where should we eat tonight" struggle. For hotels and trips this eventually means more (paid) opportunities to get discovered at the right moments.
Hotel marketing has changed a lot over the last few years, the really short version is that today marketing a hotel is more about building a brand (through the experience) and great revenue management. The search for hotels is mostly about matching price, experience and location than it ever has been. As search platforms grow it more accessible building fewer generic hotels and more personalised experiences. There will always be tension between direct and third parties because third parties will try to lower costs to consumers and increase fees to partners, but they don't matter if one can charge the right price to the right guest.
"Over the past two years, travel start-ups raised a cumulative $30 billion in funding - almost totalling the amount raised over the past 10 years." Deloitte's recent look into the future of travel tech is quite interesting and includes a very easy to understand overview of the 5 main sectors of travel technology that will shape the future: Artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, Voice, Automation and Blockchain.
That voice technology is coming to hotels is not new. We know it is coming, the problem with such new technologies is what should hoteliers do, today, to prepare for it when it comes. It isn't viable to invest into such technologies heavily today since we don't know where it will go. But if anything, online distribution has taught us that waiting it out is a bad idea. Because nobody knows exactly when and how it will change, the only thing to do now is get prepared. This article has some pragmatic steps to do to prepare for the coming changes.
The movie industry has built one of the most efficient marketing machines we know. The risks are huge, the costs are extraordinarily high and the product has a limited lifecycle. Many similar (but smaller) conditions exist in the hotel industry, so learning from some of their marketing ideas can only help. Even if they have the star power, budgets, storytelling and graphic teams that beat any hotel or hotel group, there is still something to learn.


Is the sun about to set on the C7 in Europe?
This will be the 14th Corvette to have pace car duties at the Indy 500.
Each one will cost ¥12,800,00, or about $115,000.
Z06 Lite goes on sale in the U.S. this summer.
Chevrolet presented New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning, the recipient of the Super Bowl XLVI MVP Award, with a 2012 Corvette Grand Sport Convertible Centennial Edition.


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TOWER WITH MANY NAMES!
The bell tower of the City Hall has many names. Although it is currently known as Torre degli Anziani (Tower of the Elders), it is also referred to as Tower of the Commune, Old Tower, High Tower or Tower of all Saints (since its bell used to ring in the major festivals). Like as if those names were not enough, it was also named the White Tower because once it was covered with plaster to contrast with the old Red Tower. An earthquake partially destroyed the brick tower, and only a brick base remains today. Both the red and the white towers represent the two colours of the local flag.
Towering over the Palazzo Comunale (Town Hall) in Piazza Della Frutta, the Torre degli Anziani rises 47 meters high. It is the tallest building in the historic centre of Padua from where you can see the entire city.
The tower, made of brick and stone, stands on an eight-metre spur that is largely buried. As was the custom in ancient times, these building materials dating back to Roman times were reused to build this tower.
When the municipality acquired the tower, two interventions were carried out: straightening it since it leaned to one side and making it higher by adding a new bell tower.
Formerly the tower housed two bells, which warned the population of possible catastrophes. The bell named"di Terza" was withdrawn in 1750, while the large bell was used practically until the beginning of the 20th century. This larger one, brought to Padua at the end of the third century, suffered several incidents. In August 1749, while it was ringing during the San Rocco procession, it fell. It was remade, this time a little lighter so that it can fit better, but again it broke. Bad luck? Or just a rushed-up lousy job?
Finally, it was decided to melt down the bell to create a new and more solid one, similar to the original, weighing 3336 kg. and a diameter of 175 cm.
The new bell was fixed in an octagonal lantern decorated with marble balustrades. With this new top, the tower reached56 meters high. Subsequently, a plenary session of the council decided to remove the baroque lantern (due to overweight problems) and leave the tower with a simple battlement decoration, similar to medieval castles.
In 2004, the tower was opened to the public thanks to a concession to an astronomical association. It was described as "the tower to gaze at the stars".
A " controversial " metal cover was recently installed to hold back the tiles that were falling off.
Guglielmo Oberdan, 18
Open every day from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.
GELATO, PER PIACERE!
Being in an Italian city and not trying their ice cream is a sin. Moreover, the ones who think that ice-creams are only for summer are thoroughly mistaken. Any time of the year and day is perfect to taste its infinite flavours and freshness.
Gelato derived from the Latin word "gelatus", which means frozen. It is an artisan product, elaborated with great care, and, without a doubt, one of the main elements of Italian gastronomy.
In Classical Rome, it was kept underground, covered in ice and snow brought from the top of the mountains. Natural products such as milk and fruit juice were mixed with sugar or honey and served chilled.
The recipe was refined and reached its peak during the Renaissance. It first appeared at Medici banquets, and the social elite became fond of it when the Florentine cook Bernardo Buontalenti added some cream and egg. And that´s how modern gelato was born in 1565.
In Sicily, the fisherman Francesco Procopio Dei Coltelli developed the first ice cream machine in 1686.
The gelato arrived from the Florentine ice cream parlours to the court of France through its queen, the Florentine Catherine de Medici. Its success quickly spread through the European courts.
However, it only reached the public in the first third of the 20th century, when the ice cream cart was invented in the city of Varese.
One of the secrets of its success is its artisan production with high-quality fresh products, with no additives, aromas or preservatives. The tradition has been passed down through generations, and today it is deep within the Italian gene. There is not a single town in the whole of Italy that does not have some gelateria.
By reducing the fat (between 4 and 8%) and getting less air into the production process, you get creamier ice cream, low in sugar (between 16 and 22%) and with such an intense flavour, you won´t be able to resist.
The only tricky thing is choosing the flavour! There are so many aromas and combinations that it may take you a longtime to decide.
It is very light and healthy. You can have it in a cup or a cone, covered or not with chocolate.
What is your favourite flavour?
SWEET OF THE SAINT!
The item that we want to highlight when shopping locally is a typical pastry from Padua and the surrounding area, Il Dolce del Santo.
It was created to praise Saint Anthony and is especially consumed on the day of his festivity, every June 13.
Everyone knows the infinite love of Saint Anthony towards the poor and the beggars, who used to come to the Saint to ask for bread. Charity is one of the oldest precepts of the Catholic Church. "Feed the hungry": Ecclesiastes 11: 1
The monks used to give bread to the needy. Nevertheless, it got better over time, adding butter, egg, and sugar. This sweet is the evolution of bread, to which they kept adding more and more passion and devotion.
It is so easy to prepare that you can do it at home. Please feel free to try out the following recipe:
60 gr. of butter
1 roll of puff pastry
2-3 tablespoons apricot jam
50 gr. raisins
candied orange at will
30 gr. crushed almonds
90 gr. sugar
75 gr. flour
25 gr. cornstarch
Melt the butter in a saucepan and then let it cool.
Spread the puff pastry on its wrapping, forming a 19 cm square mould. Unfold the edges to the outside so that they can be wrapped later.
Fill with the jam, then the crushed almonds, the raisins and the candied orange. Turn the oven to 175 degrees.
Beat the eggs with sugar and a pinch of salt until the mixture is clear and puffy.
Add the seeds of the vanilla bean. Then add the butter.
Sift the flour with the cornstarch and add it to the egg without disassembling it
Finally, add it to the other ingredients of the puff pastry.
Fold the puff pastry mould sheets inwards to close them and place them in the oven for 30-35 minutes. Check the cooking and observe how the bread browns and puffs up. Its shape will remind the dome of the Basilica del Santo, doesn´t it?
Once you take it out of the oven, let it cool before cutting.
MONUMENTAL SQUARE… OR A SQUARE MONUMENT!
Can you picture yourself in the middle of the largest square in Italy, both elegant and monumental and surrounded by nature?
Well, this square can be found in Padua. Il Prato Della Valle has an elliptical shape with 90,000 m2. In the middle, there is L´Isola Memmia, a green "island" covered with grass and rows of trees crossing in the centre.
A water canal with 78 monumental statues surrounds the islet. Initially, there were 88 of them representing influential personalities born in the Republic of Venice, such as Popes, politicians, painters, Doges of Venice, procurators, and ecclesiastics. Forty of these statues can be found in the outer ring and thirty-eight in the inner circle. This ring is a great place to sit and admire the magnitude of this square. There are so many angles from which you can take great photos that it can become challenging to decide.
Until the first third of the 17th century, Il Prato Della Valle was a marshy area. Starting from that time, a group of prominent citizens financed the construction of a theatre where horse battles were performed. The opening music at the beginning of each performance developed into the first operas in 1637.
After whom the islet is named and whose statue is part of the 40 statues in the outer ring, the politician Andrea Memmo is the architect of the present-day square. The city´s benefactor lived in the Palazzo Angeli, where the Cinema Museum is located today, adjacent to the Umberto I avenue. This 15th-century Palace is just one of the many built between the 14th and 18th centuries that embellish the square.
On the other side of the square stands the huge Abbey of Santa Giustina, 118.5 m. long by 82 meters wide. The remains of its patron saint, Santa Giustina and the evangelists Saint Matthews and Saint Luke rest inside.
Today, the square is a popular social gathering place. Many of Its inhabitants, mostly students, roam around here frequently, and countless tourists come to enjoy its monumentality. Due to its large dimensions, markets, fairs and festivals are often held here.
KNOWLEDGE DOES NOT TAKE PLACE!
The University of Padua, founded in 1222 by professors and students from the University of Bologna, is the second oldest University in Italy. It is also one of the most important in the country as it taught science, which was banned in medieval Europe. The Inquisition persecuted scientists who were defined as " lecturers ", convicting them as heretics.
In addition to the usual subjects such as law, theology and medicine, Art and Science were established here. It covered letters, philosophy, dialectics, grammar and astronomy.
The Bo Palace is the main building of the University of Padua. Built-in the s. XVI, in Renaissance style, is located in the heart of the city via 8 Febbraio 1848 nº 2.
Inside the Palace, several elements stand out:
The inner courtyard, one of the best examples of Renaissance architecture, with a double loggia with Doric columns on the lower floor and Ionic columns on the upper floor.
The anatomical theatre, which was attended to see autopsies, is the oldest in the world. Built in 1594, it was used for teaching until 1872.
Galileo´s Chair, made of walnut wood, in the Aula Magna. Galileo Galilei taught astronomy for 18 years between 1592 and 1610 and is considered the father of modern astronomy. He perfected the telescope and even lost the vision in one eye from so much use.
The University had several distinguished professors and students. Nicolaus Copernicus taught at the University between 1501 and 1506. He formulated the heliocentric theory of the solar system, considered the most important theory in the history of science.
John of Nepomuk, Patron Saint of Prague, studied here between 1340 and 1343 until he graduated in canon law. He would end up becoming the confessor of Sofia of Bavaria, queen consort of Bohemia. Her refusal to break the secret of confession provoked the ire of her husband, King Wenceslas IV, who had him sacrificed, ripped out his tongue and thrown into the Vltava River.
Elena Lucrezia Cornaro Piscopia was the world´s first woman to graduate, with a degree in philosophy, in 1678.
It currently has 13 faculties and some 65,000 students. Given its international prestige, it is one of the favourites for international students.
URBAN ART!
Human beings have always felt the need to express their thoughts and ideas in a graphic, free and very subjective way. One of the multiple means is graffiti, which expresses that popular feature, as old as humanity, turned into street art.
Prehistoric people already made their graffiti inside the caves they inhabited, and, over time, they have been considered works of art.
So are the graffiti by local artist Kenny Random. His real name is Andrea Coppo, born in Padua in 1971, and his works have crossed borders. Nowadays, because of Wikipedia, it is almost impossible for him to remain anonymous. He is uncomfortable around people and prefers to draw at night. He never appears in photos, not even during his exhibitions.
His works began to colour the city in the 80s. They are easily recognizable by the black silhouettes of a cat and an elf dressed in a smock and top hat, which appear in many of his graffiti. Other standard features are elongated faces and cartoon or comic characters.
The city adores him. His drawings have been respected and maintained even in many home renovation works. However, some of his murals have suffered vandalism, and he has been criticized for lack of originality, although no one has ever accused him of plagiarism.
In 2012 there was a very authentic experience known as " El Regalo " (the gift). Heart-shaped balloons were released with a photo of their graffiti attached; whoever found the balloon had to locate the depicted graffiti in the city. Now, every time a photo with a new one of his graffiti is tagged, the search begins again.
Imagine a treasure hunt where the reward is seeing the original Kenny Random graffiti in situ. It´s up to you to find out where they are.
If you cannot find the location, there is a detailed map at the following link
www.ilpensieroviaggiatore.com
SAINT ANTHONY OF PADUA!
Padua is a monumental city, but without a doubt, it is mainly known for its Patron Saint, Saint Anthony of Padua.
The Basilica of San Antonio, whose magnitude represents the greatness of his labour in life, was built to guard the remains of one of the most beloved and venerated Saints of the Catholic Church.
All the city roads converge at this place, a true Mecca for the 6.5 million pilgrims who come to venerate his tomb and his relics. The beautiful Chapel of the Relics keeps and exhibits different objects like the Saint´s robe and his intact tongue, which embodies his passionate and emotional preaching.
San Antonio was a saint much admired and prayed to around the world. Miracles attributed to him include the visit of the Child Jesus while he was praying in his cell when he was still a friar. This is the reason why he is traditionally represented with the Child in his arms. Let us tell you some other famous miracles:
When Tomasito´s mother found her son drowned in a well, she prayed to Saint Anthony. She promised him that if he brought him back to life, she would give the Child´s weight in bread to the poor. The Child revived, and, therefore, many parents seek Saint´s protection for their children.
Once a pupil stole the book of psalms from him when St. Anthony was teaching. Rather than accuse anyone, the Saint prayed for his book to be found until the repentant pupil returned the book. For this reason, he is prayed to in order to find lost objects.
Young Leonardo self-amputates his leg after kicking his mother. Saint Anthony, who scolded him for his action, reattached it to the severed limb to Leonardo´s body so that he could walk again.
A large crowd of faithful attended his mass, which he had to give in the courtyard since it was impossible to accommodate all of them inside the church. Despite the storm that raged, none of the attendees got wet.
It is well known that single women pray to San Antonio to find a boyfriend!
Piazza del Santo, 11
Open every day from 6:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
WHAT SQUARES!
Padua has many stunning squares scattered throughout its historic centre, making it one of the most beautiful in Italy. A tour of the squares of Padua and its most characteristic buildings will allow you to discover how fascinating it is.
Piazza Delle Erbe is known for being one of the two market squares in the city. The stalls sold mainly leather, fabrics, wrought iron and cereals. It was also the scene of capital executions during the Middle Ages.
The main building is the imposing Palazzo Della Raggione, a medieval masterpiece completed in 1218, with 82 m. long by 27 m. wide, was the seat of the Public Courts.
The most precious assets of the Palace include 333 frescoes, painted in 1525 and represent astronomical cycles, allegories and fantastic animals. There is also the Pietra del Vituperio or Stone of Shame (the place where defaulters were forced to sit in cotton hose) or the ligneous horse (a medieval wooden horse of 5, 75 m).
Piazza delle Frutta, the other great market in the city, where horticultural products were sold.
Its most impressive building is the Pallazzo Comunale, the seat of the city council since 1285. It is an amazing architectural complex made up of buildings of different styles.
Still in the square, under the loggia of the Palazzo del Consiglio, you can find some of the oldest shops in the city, such as Ai due catine d ´oro, an 18th-century spice shop, and the Graziati patisserie, founded in 1919.
Piazza Dei Signori was born in the 14th century to become, for centuries, the scene for all kinds of civic celebrations: tournaments, battles, duels, performances and concerts.
Among its most interesting buildings is Torre dell´ Orologio (Clock Tower), built between the first half of the 13th century and the beginning of the 14th century. The Triumphal Arc at its base was added to highlight the monumentality of the square. Its astronomical clock is the oldest in the world, dating back to 1344.
NATURE SCIENCE!
There is nothing as relaxing as being surrounded by lush greenery. A shelter of peace where silence reigns. Suddenly, most of the pressing needs that seem essential disappear from this world.
The University Botanical Garden of Padua (Orto Botanico Università di Padova) has no less than 7000 species of plants.
It is the oldest in Italy and the world´s first botanical garden, dating back to 1545.
This pioneering condition makes the city a forerunner in the relationship between Botany and Science, contributing to the development of other closely related disciplines such as medicine, chemistry, ecology, pharmacy or herbalism.
Its primary function is the conservation and research of biodiversity. Only about 10% of the world´s plants have been identified, which is why any studies relating to them are so important. Its dedication and involvement in the interaction between science, culture, and nature made it enter the Unesco World Heritage List of 1997, being declared a "cultural asset".
The Senate of the Republic of Venice originally conceived the garden as Hortus Simplicium, which means a garden to grow medicinal plants. It was essential to identify plants to apply them to medicine and avoid mistakes that could be fatal in treating diseases.
The initiative for the garden was undertaken by the humanist Daniele Barbaro, who entrusted the project to the architect of the famous abbey of Santa Justina.
The result was a circular area of ??2.78 hectares, divided by a central axis formed by two intersecting avenues. They divide the total area into four squares that enclose circular rings arranged parallel and crossed by their central axis.
There are also three sundials: cubic, spherical, and cylindrical.
We can find poisonous, medicinal, insectivorous, native, foreign and endangered plants within its collection.
In the biodiversity garden, there are 1,300 species typical of environments with extreme climatic conditions. This space shows the role of plants in human evolution.
Vía Horto Botánico 15
Timetable: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. from November to March
9 a.m. to 7 p.m. April
10 a.m. to 7 p.m. from May to September
10 a.m. to 6 p.m. October
Price: € 10 entry, € 8 reduced.


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Nothing About Us Without Us is For Us: The Poverty Truth Commission approach
The Poverty Truth Commission is a unique and powerful way of developing new insights and initiatives to tackle poverty, developed in Glasgow and Leeds over the past six years. The key principle behind a Poverty Truth Commission is that decisions about poverty must involve people who directly face poverty. Its uniqueness is derived from the fact that half of its members are people with senior roles in civic and business life in the city – and the other half are people with direct personal experience of what it is like to live in poverty in the city. The process is a culmination of relationship building, fact-finding and deep thinking over a 12 month period between people with a direct experience of poverty and civic and business leaders within the city. The aim is to ensure that people who have experienced poverty first-hand are at the heart of how the borough thinks and acts in tackling poverty and inequality.
"What if people living in poverty could take the lead on challenging the city's leaders to work with them on tackling poverty? Would it make a difference to the decisions that are being made? Would new solutions to poverty be discovered? Would people listen and, if they did, would they better understand the challenges that poverty brings?"
Ordinary people will be given the chance to relate their personal experiences of struggling against poverty. By creating safe spaces for people to tell their stories and opportunities for those making and influencing decisions to listen, it is hoped that the project will have deepened understanding of the difficult and entrenched issues of poverty, improve perceptions and challenge stereotyping, and lead to better decision making by the city's leaders across business, public and voluntary sectors.
Other Poverty Truth Commissions in the Country-
Leeds Poverty Truth website
Scotland Poverty Truth website
West Cheshire Poverty Truth website
Wolverhampton Poverty Truth website
Birmingham Poverty Truth website
Salford Poverty Truth Facebook Page


Thin toasted strips of crispy green nori, mild and sweet. A healthy snack and versatile, fun condiment. Delicious eaten right out of the bag. At tasty addition to miso soup. Garnish grains, noodles, and salads. Very low sodium, fat free, and a good source of vitamin C.
Eden Toasted Nori Krinkles are made from the species of nori, Porphyra yezoensis. Once grown wild along the rocky shores of Japan, but for the past 300 years, to meet the ever growing demand for this delicious and nutritious nori, it has been cultivated. Its crispy yet soft texture, mild flavor and mouth watering aroma have made it one of the most popular varieties of nori in Japan today. It is considered to be premium quality and is often found in gourmet food shops.
Eden's nori is cultivated off the west shore of Ise (ee-say) Bay in Japan, an area surrounded by National forests and mountains, known as the 'Ocean by Mountains'. Pristine mountain rivers nourish the bay creating a mineral rich environment. This area leads all of Japan in ecology movements. Development is forbidden to ensure future generations the legacy of this famous edible seaweed resource.
Nori cultivation is an intricate craft in that spore quality, water temperature, a pristine growing environment and proper drying methods are crucial to producing the best quality product. Eden's nori is cultivated in the traditional manner, using a system of woven rope nets that are tied to bamboo poles and horizontally suspended in the bay. This intricate substratum is placed in the shallow bay in late September or early October. Over the autumn, winter and early spring months, with the coming in and out of the tide, and the cooling of the water temperature, the nori spores attach to the netting and slowly develop into nori fronds or leaves. In spring the fully developed fronds are harvested at low tide by scraping the nori from the netting and taking it ashore. The nori is washed with pure water, and spread on wood frame drying screens where it is dried by hot air into thick, cake-like layers. After drying for several hours the cakes of nori are broken into smaller pieces or flakes. The nori flakes are now ready for a final drying, using the unique processing equipment called a 'steam toaster'. The steam toaster is a relatively new system, that uses hot steam to evaporate the moisture in the nori. Regular oven toasting is not able to toast as evenly as this new process. The end result is perfect, evenly toasted flakes of nori, that are so light and crispy they almost melt in your mouth.
Eden Nori Krinkles are fat and cholesterol free, and a good source of vitamin C. According to the FDA, "Low fat diets rich in fruits and vegetables (foods that are low in fat and may contain dietary fiber, Vitamin A, or Vitamin C) may reduce the risk of some types of cancer, a disease associated with many factors." Also, "Diets low in sodium may reduce the risk of hypertension or high blood pressure, a disease associated with many factors." Eden Nori Krinkles are very low in sodium (5 mg per serving). For those who use sea salt that contains low amounts of iodine, nori is an excellent source of iodine providing 70 percent of the daily value (DV).
Eden Toasted Nori Krinkles can be eaten right out of the package for a great tasting, healthy snack. Traditionally used to make quick miso soup in place of wakame, and adding directly to the bowl of soup when done without cooking. It can also be used to make sushi, as a condiment on top of cooked grains and traditional noodles with broth, and it also great on salads, vegetables and in stir fries. One popular Japanese dish called 'Ochazuke', is delicious with Nori Krinkles. Place a little cooked rice in a bowl with a small piece of Eden Umeboshi Plum or dash of Eden Wasabi (Japanese Horseradish) Powder, and add the Eden Nori Krinkles and pour hot, steeped, Eden Organic Sencha Tea over the ingredients. Garnish with chopped scallions and eat.


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Marbella San Pedro'In Marbella we need to catalogue our heritage before doing the Urban Plan'
No te conformes con en el titular. Descubre el valor de la verdad
Malaga - Costa del Sol
'In Marbella we need to catalogue our heritage before doing the Urban Plan'
Moreno talks about the rich heritage of Marbella and what can be done in order to protect and preserve its historical remains
JOAQUINA DUEÑAS Monday, 19 July 2021, 10:17
It is now 25 years since Francisco Javier Moreno brought together a group of people who were concerned that the local heritage was being neglected and founded the Cilniana association. He was its first president and a quarter of a century later he is still studying, defending and providing information about Marbella's wealth of history, which for many goes completely unnoticed. At the moment the town's new Urban Plan (PGOU) is in the process of being drawn up and he sees this as a golden opportunity for Marbella to protect its heritage.
What are the main examples of the heritage of Marbella?
Our heritage is dispersed all over the municipality. That from the Roman era is very important, with the villa at Río Verde, the paleochristian basilica and the Roman baths. Then we have the castle in the Old Town centre, which is from the caliphal period and is still very well preserved, and our other major heritage, which sadly has been abandoned, is the industrial one, especially mining. There are some good remains left from that era, but unfortunately nothing has ever been done to revitalise and preserve them. Most are in private hands and have been completely neglected. While other places are clearly committed to their industrial heritage, like the Río Tinto basin, for example, Marbella has turned its back on it and has yet to do anything about it.
What opportunities for improvement does the new PGOU bring?
We have the precedent of the last Urban Plan, which established three types of protection: integral, exterior and the surrounding area, depending on the way each site is classified for protection. That would be an important starting point, but I would go further and say we need to create a catalogue, drawn up by a multidisciplinary team and with scientific criteria for contemporary architecture, archaeological sites and monuments, as well as historical spaces. That type of heritage catalogue would need to be drawn up before the PGOU is finished, and then incorporated into the document.
And where are we with this protection at the moment?
They had made good progress in the most recent plan, which created protection not only for archaeological sites but also contemporary architecture. However, when that plan was annulled they all ended up unprotected. A huge heritage, with no protection whatsoever. Everything concerning the archaeological sites needs to be reviewed because a lot of things are new, there are a lot of different classifications now. Not everything can be protected in the same way.
Why include contemporary architecture?
In the 1960s in Marbella there was possibly the best architecture in Spain, it was vacational architecture, the work of the best Spanish and international architects of the time. Marbella was a place for creativity and free expression, freed from the corsets that had previously restricted architects and they created fantastic buildings which have been neglected or destroyed, often through ignorance. That's why we need a specific catalogue of contemporary architecture.
I'm sure we must pass emblematic buildings every day without noticing them.
There are so many! For example, the Guadalmina urbanisation was largely built by architect Luis Gutiérrez Soto, and is a top quality example. His famous Aldeas de las Águilas are often referred to in architectural manuals. And the houses built by Robert Byron Keeller Mosher, too. They are in urbanisations and go completely unnoticed. Only an expert eye can spot them. We also had very good examples by Casto Fernández Shaw, one of the top architects of the 20th century, and they have all disappeared now. There is a huge list. There are some very good works by Fernando Higuera, who was an exceptional architect with works such as the Jardines del Mar, in front of the Don Pepe hotel, and Terrazas de las Lomas del Marbella Club, which is a fabulous complex. There's La Virginia urbanisation, which is beautiful, and the Residencia de Tiempo Libre which is the only example of 1960s architecture which is protected because it is a Site of Cultural Interest.
Could they have learned from the Old Town and all the problems there have been there?
The degradation of the Old Town mainly started in the time of GIL, when they started to indiscriminately demolish buildings and modernise them without any criteria and we lost so many of the historical buildings. When the town hall set up its management committee, which I served on for 13 months, we approved a transitory regulation to protect the Old Town, to save what was left of it. Since then it has protected the area, but when the new plan comes into force that will be annulled. We hope that, at least, the regulation will be incorporated into the new plan with the same parameters as it has at present.
What could be done to improve the situation of the Old Town?
For many years we have been talking about special protection. It needs to be cared for down to the last millimetre, looked after in a different way to the rest of the town, because it is very fragile. It is a permeable historical complex that is very open to all kinds of aggressions. It can't just be considered as separate buildings, it needs an overall protection plan.
El partido amistoso del Málaga contra el Waasland-Sportkring belga, en imágenes
Pinos, alcornoques y encinas como antídotos a las torres en los terrenos de Repsol
La final de la Supercopa, en imágenes
Las mejores imágenes de la gala de The Best


Find out how do we keep our junk safe!
Besides the music itself, I think personal perspectives are a very interesting topic to share because it helps us relate each other inside our culture. In the social communications sciences there's a very interesting area called Semiotics that study every trait in human communication: images, words, media and even behavior. Inspired by this, I wanted to gather experiences in a very simple, yet common and personal, action: music storage.
Why do we keep physical media, despite having the opportunity to store digital music in the ghost dimension of bits & beeps? Everyone can have their own attitude towards this question. But, I think the strength of our Toilet ov Hell community is how passionate we are regarding our music consumption.
If you are a certified melomaniac like most of us, you will like this post, in which we share our music library. To this article, I asked our staff to talk about their collections; I think some of us will get good advices or ideas about it, because when you buy and buy and buy you will end up like a music adict version of Hoarders (Stanley made that pun, I'm in debt with him).
"I don't have nearly enough shelf space for all my CD's so I keep them in two very large CD books under my bed. I always keep the album cover inserts with the CDs, and very special inserts or other artwork is kept in a drawer".
Also, he uses a scrap book made by his lovely Mrs. W to store gig tickets, guitar picks "and other swag" (whatever he think Swag is).
The funnish bear, Karhu, explained that he have his CD's behind a tall door-shelve, along some films and other DVD's (Including a kickass Heaven & Hell show).
What it dragged my attention is that he put them in alphabetical order. This must be popular around some of you if you have an extensive collection like the Bear.
Karhu's favorite possession is a signed copy of the self-titled Unhuman record, mailed to him directly by Youri Raymond himself. That's cool.
Karhu's large shelf in which he store his swag.
Celtic Frosty, our expert in ice-cream flavored black metal, explained that he have his collection of vinyl in an Ikea book case, meanwhile he have his CD's "stacked haphazardly in the top shelf of the crappy book case in my guest bedroom". Our frozen friend buys mostly vintage vinyl (ONLY ANALOG IS REAL) but he gets his favorites new releases if it is special for him.
I think those Ikea shelf are perfect for music library if you have enough space in your room to put it in a corner, or next to you sound player of choice. And, of course, I feel bad for the poor CD's (#LeaveCDsAlone T-T).
Favorite Frosty's item is a 7″ boxed set of Johnny Cash's Sun Records singles and a re-issue of Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness that Mrs. Frosty gave to him as wedding gift. That's sweet!
Spear, the handsome wizard that brings you This Toilet Tuesday column, has another varied CD collection with some signed material.
Battlecross' War of Will and Allegaeon's Formshifter are part of his autographed albums; and even the mighty Hansi Kürsch from Blind Guardian have signed a copy of the Fly single and his Nightfall in Middle Earth record because his Toilet ov Hell work. Really, Hansi love the Toilet ov Hell.
Spear stores his music in cabinets for CD's size. This make it even more helpful to organize them and use them. Sadly, he still doesn't know the spell to auto-organize his library, so he has a mess over there.
If he had to travel far away with just 4 of his records he would pick: Crack the Skye, from Mastodon; The Malkuth Grimoire, from Alkaloid; A Celebration of Guilt, from Arsis and Shogunate Macabre, from Whispered.
"All my CDs are sitting in a storage bin in my basement along with CDs of my own band that was never sold. I do however have the last 2 Gaza CDs prominently displayed on a shelf in my living room".
Ronny Boy has his CDs inside a box. Sometimes, keeping it simple if you do not have enough space is the best.
Ron Deuce put two Gaza albums in front of his door to scare the malandros away.
Jack Bauer expanded his own collection since he became one of the Toilet ov Hell writers. It seems that fighting terrorists always pays (and I think I can learn a pair of tricks from him to gain some dollars because he has some albums too!).
He stores his Widdlies and Birudilis magic in the shelf in which he have his stereo system. Like Frosty example, that's another good idea: acquiring a furnishing big enough to store the audio player with drawers or crystal doors down to store the CDs.
Jack shows those birudilis to all his friends.
Sarah Lafayette told me that he has an entire collection with all the Accept CDs and two retro 70's Batman and Superman albums on vinyl. 365 Days of Horror, like every zombie, put everything inside two boxes covered with filth, brains and dust on the floor. Dagon have all Backstreet Boys albums (seriously); and Joe Thrashnkill has four Ikea bookcases separated by genre for his vinyl (metal, punk, rock & country, like a good old fashioned Texan); his favorite items are: an original press of Slayer's Show No Mercy, Heartbreaker, from Ryan Adams and an obscure compilation of 60s Japanese surf rock. Tubular!
Me? Well, since I don't have a large collection of physical media (and most of them were pirated) I put the few original media I have in my book shelf along my J.R.R. Tolkien books. Every record here is a gift, so all are very appreciated by me. This birthday, Mrs. Leonhart gave me last Scorpions album and Helloween's Straight out of Hell, so, they will sit right next with my other media, and I love every piece.
Archibaldo is my mascot and he take care of my stuff from the malandros' claws when I'm out.
If my collection grows bigger, hopefully, and since I live in a tiny room, I can make Wooden Ledge in the walls to put the CDs in order. These aerial ledges serves very well and I can install it very fast with just a drill. I put two with the help of my mother to storage the kitchen appliance and they are very good.
So, here are some of the our cases.
As a conclusion, I think, as a whole, that music passionate people really put effort in having organization due the big volume of media they have. It seems categorization of the music is not a frivolous action; it is important, probably, as a form of expression and helps in the music listening. But, I think that the pattern in our behaviour is that we like to have an space for the listening, one that is sacred.
Aside from this aspect, my main advice is that you have to check your room first to see which option is the best for you. According to your space and budget you can use any of the options we shared here so you can have your records stored in a distinct way. Also, this is a necesary activity, not only good for you, but for the lifespan of your media.
It is your turn now. Give me your opinions. Share with us your ideas, stories, precious items, signed media and your swag in the comments.


No. Bad Autocorrect. Don't Do That.
No. Bad Autocorrect. Don't Do That.
FDA-developers. No, I meant XDA-Developers. Blame autocorrect. Undoubtedly, all of us have a love-hate relationship with our phone's autocorrect and suggestions engine. At times, it saves us from embarrassing typos, but other times, it smothers us with its over-the-top suggestions–especially for proper nouns and uncommon words. Like FDA XDA.
Disabling autocorrect won't work, because it does do a lot of good after all and without it, we'll end up typing nnosense txet. So what can be done? Well, XDA Senior Member theknut saves the day with his Suggestions Toggle Xposed Module which allows you to quickly toggle autocorrect by double tapping the text field that you're typing in. Yes, its that simple.
Head over to the module thread to get started. The module works on both Swiftkey and Google Keyboard, and the only requirement is that you have Xposed Framework installed.


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Team Upton selected for national Get Set community fitness campaign
Please note this story is taken from https://theisleofthanetnews.com/2019/01/16/team-upton-selected-for-national-get-set-community-fitness-campaign/
Upton Junior School in Broadstairs is a leading light in a special Get Set Beacons campaign across the UK.
It is one of 40 schools nationwide – and one of only four in the south east – selected by Get Set, the education programme from Team GB and ParalympicsGB.
Team Upton has already met with its fellow Get Set Beacons in Birmingham to discuss ways to get their community active as part of the year-long programme designed to empower schools and youth organisations to build local links to encourage active lifestyles for young people.
Deputy Head of School Dave Walker said: "Our original bid was to involve children and their families in sport together, building on our Community Sport programme that we already have in place.
"We were able to reference our sustained impact on sports participation at Upton, the impact we have with events we run in Thanet, and the fact that we have been a National Primary School for Sport in the past.
"Once our application was chosen I attended the launch event on behalf of Team Upton during which we examined the barriers to participation from different areas of Great Britain and discussed ways forward."
Head of School Darci Arthur said: "We are proud of our sports heritage at Upton and the way we work with the community.
"We are looking forward to being actively involved in supporting the excellent Get Set Beacons initiative during the next year."
The campaign has offered access to funding, training and materials to help get communities active.
Jan Paterson, CEO, British Olympic Foundation said: "Now in its 10th year, Get Set is celebrating the positive social impact its programmes and activities have had on the lives of young people across the UK prior to and since the hugely successful London 2012.
"We are extremely excited about Get Set Beacons which will bring together schools and their communities, by promoting active lifestyles and community cohesion opportunities for young people to be advocates for."
The scheme to deliver community projects with the biggest impact is supported by sessions from organisations including Activity Alliance, England Athletics, Get Set partner UK Anti-Doping and from campaign partner ukactive.
It is hoped that by building sustainable relationship between schools and venues, the Beacons campaign will help create active networks that will benefit children and communities for years to come.
Jack Shakespeare, Head of ukactive Kids, said: "Physical activity has a huge role to play in tackling some of the biggest challenges we face as a nation. From addressing social isolation to childhood obesity, physical activity is the golden thread which can improve the physical and mental wellbeing of our communities.
"Get Set Beacons is a fantastic example of harnessing the true power of physical activity. ukactive is delighted to be working with Team GB and ParalympicsGB to develop long-lasting relationships between community leisure centres and schools to give children and young people better access to a range of fun activities."
The campaign aims to help people find opportunities within their own surroundings that they didn't know were available before, and to help them discover new sports and hobbies to establish lifelong healthy habits.


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Southerrn rock legends Lynyrd Skynyrd headlined their sold out Saturday, Sept. 1, 2018 concert at Cellairis Amphitheatre at Lakewood. Robb Cohen Photography & Video /RobbsPhotos.com
Photo: Robb Cohen Photography & Video/
Lynyrd Skynyrd's 'Free Bird' channel returns to SiriusXM
A Cher channel also debuted on satellite radio last week
Lynyrd Skynyrd's spotlight channel, "Free Bird," is back on SirusXM through May 23.
The Southern Rock Channel (30) will highlight music from the band's career – including live cuts and rarities – and also feature songs from other Southern rockers including The Allman Brothers Band, The Marshall Tucker Band, Molly Hatchet and 38 Special.
Listeners can also hear Skynyrd's live performance at Stagecoach on April 27, as well as encore broadcasts of the band's 2018 SiriusXM concert from the Buckhead Theatre and their last concert from their hometown of Jacksonville, Fla., which took place in September.
Last week, SiriusXM unveiled The Cher Channel, which will commandeer Channel 4 through May 1. The legendary singer-actress is being celebrated for her decades of music and the current hit biographical musical, "The Cher Show," on Broadway.
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