Dhaka Metropolitan Police commissioner Md Asaduzzaman Miah on Wednesday said Indian intelligence agency did not interrogate arrested Gulshan attack mastermind Sohel Mahfuz but local intelligence agencies found his involvement in the cafe attack.
Police arrested Sohel Mahfuz alias Nasrullah from Chapainababgonj on July 6. He is suspected to be one of the main suppliers of explosives and firearms of the banned Islamic outfit Neo JMB.
Md Asaduzzaman Miah said the chargesheet in the Holey Artisan Cafe attack case will be submitted very soon.
'The investigating agency has already received the forensic report in connection with the case,' he added.
The DMP commissioner came up with the remark after a vehicle handing over programme at the DMP headquarters. Dutch Bangla Bank donated two microbuses for police at the function.
Earlier, addressing the function, Asaduzzaman Miah said the incidents of crime will come down if the mobility of police increases to control traditional crimes.
The two vehicles, which have been donated by Dutch Bangla Bank, will be used for providing security to people, not for the personal use of police officials, he added.


text:
Sapy – wieś w Polsce położona w województwie mazowieckim, w powiecie żyrardowskim, w gminie Puszcza Mariańska.

W skład sołectwa Sapy wchodzą Sapy i Emilianów.

W latach 1975–1998 miejscowość położona była w województwie skierniewickim.

Zobacz też
 Sapy

Przypisy

Puszcza Mariańska (gmina)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
In order to secure a conviction in Washington, D.C. for Assault on a Police Officer (APO), the government must prove that: (1) the complainant was a law enforcement officer working in D.C., (2) the defendant "assaulted" the officer,(3) the defendant did so voluntarily and on purpose, not by mistake or accident, and (4) the defendant did so while the officer as engaged in the performance of official duties, and (5) the defendant knew or had reason to believe that the complainant was an officer.
"Assault" is defined as either an attempted battery or an intent-to-frighten. The penalty for a conviction for misdemeanor APO is imprisonment for not more than 6 months and a fine of $1,000. This offense is "jury-demandable" even as a misdemeanor. In other words, it means you are entitled to have your case tried in front of a jury.
If the government can also prove that the defendant caused significant bodily injury to the officer or that the defendant committed a violent act that created a grave risk of significant bodily injury, then the offense is punishable as a felony. "Significant bodily injury is defined as an injury that requires hospitalization or immediate medical attention. Included within the protection of the statute is any active member of a D.C. police department (i.e., Metropolitan Police Department, Park Police, Capitol Police), any "reserve or designated civilian employee of the Metropolitan Police Department, any officer or member of the D.C. fire department, and any officer/employee of a D.C. penal or correctional institution, including juvenile facilities.
APO as a felony is punishable by imprisonment of up to 10 years and/or a fine of $25,000. D.C. Crimes Code §22-405.
The assault on a police officer statute was amended substantially in 2016 through enactment of the Neighborhood Engagement Achieves Results (NEAR) Act. The new law was enacted in large part to correct the "overinclusiveness" of the prior statute. For example, the former statute included actions — such as resisting, intimidating, obstructing, impeding, or interfering with a police officer — that are now part of a separate statute on resisting arrest. As former D.C. Chief of Police Cathy Lanier described the former statute: "The language is too broad, overly broad. That allows for too many things to fit into that category. Some of what's included in that is not physical assault at all."
The other major change was to change the penalty for violating the statute from a maximum sentence of 180 days incarceration to 6 months. Although this change does not sound like much at all, it allows the defendant who is charged with this offense to demand a jury trial.
The first D.C. Court of Appeals opinion to interpret the new statute is Coleman v. United States, 194 A.3d 915 (D.C. 2018). The opinion concluded, among other things, that the standard for asserting self-defense with respect to this offense is still whether or not the police officer used excessive force. This is true even if the government charges the offense as simple assault to preclude the demand for a jury trial.
Please contact Jamison Koehler at 202-549-2374 or jkoehler@koehlerlaw.net if you have been charged with APO in D.C. Mr. Koehler has extensive experience representing clients who have been charged with this offense.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


What is installed on the machine image?
All language images are built FROM a base image that corresponds to the OS version. For example, the language image for Node,js u16nodall is built using u16all as the base image, and hence has all the packages, CLIs and services installed in the base image.
We have the following base images, one for each supported OS version.
Cassandra and Neo4j are not supported on v6.9.4 images because they are incompatible with Java 10. You can use openjdk8 on an earlier machine image if you need these versions of Cassandra and neo4j.


We partner with and support numerous patient organizations worldwide to achieve our common mission: advocating for and addressing the needs of patients with serious medical conditions.
As part of our commitment to supporting optimal patient care and sustainable health care systems globally, we recognize the importance of fully understanding the needs of the patient communities we serve. We've learned that one of the best ways to accomplish this is by working with the patient organizations that are closely connected to and understand the concerns and interests of patients.
While partnering with patient organizations has always been fundamental to our culture and approach, in 2001 we established our internal Patient Advocacy group to formalize our collaborations with the advocacy community. Championing the patient perspective within Sanofi Genzyme, this team works with rare disease organizations to advocate for access to therapies and foster a sense of community among patients and their families.
Our Patient Advocacy Leadership (PAL) Awards grant program supports the work of patient organizations focused on lysosomal storage disorders (LSDs), sparking innovation in disease awareness programs and patient support initiatives.
Established by Sanofi Genzyme in 2006, our Expression of Hope program raises awareness of lysosomal storage disorders (LSDs) by inviting patients and families to express their unique stories through original artwork. More than 450 pieces of art have been shared to date.
With the launch of our multiple sclerosis (MS) franchise, we established a fully dedicated MS Advocacy team focused on supporting the needs of this patient community. The team supports critical research and broad registry initiatives, in addition to educational and awareness programs in local and global markets. We're proud to partner with patient organizations on key, large scale initiatives with the goal of meeting critical unmet needs in the MS community.
Administered in close compliance with all relevant regulations, we also provide financial support to patient organizations in the form of grants which help fund the organizations' events, outreach efforts, and other activities.
We recognize that as a global company, we are subject to often differing laws, rules, and regulations in the many locations in which we do business, and we will always comply with local rules involving interactions with patient organizations.
We will respect and ensure the independence of patient organizations in their policies, decisions, and activities, never perceiving or placing their interests as subordinate to our own.
We will neither request nor expect patient organizations to promote any Sanofi Genzyme product or service.
The scope and objectives of any collaboration with a patient organization will be open, transparent, and ethical.
We will respect the privacy of all personal information and data we may receive from patient organizations and will not expect them to provide us with any personal patient or family information.
We never require that a patient organization receive funding solely from Sanofi Genzyme, nor will we seek to exclude anyone, including competitors, from making contributions to these organizations. Although there may be occasions when we are the sole source of support, we strongly encourage organizations to pursue and establish multiple funding sources.


text:
One Lens Exhibit Offers Accessible Storytelling Opportunities
Earlier this month, Pennsylvania First Lady Frances Wolf announced the launch of the One Lens: Sharing our Common Views project. In a statement released by the First Lady's office, Frances Wolf outlined the project's main goal - to demonstrate the unified spirit of Pennsylvanians battling the Coronavirus Pandemic.
The project is a collaboration between the First Lady's Office, PA Council on the Arts, PA Historical and Museum Commission, the PA Tourism Office, and the Library of Accessible Materials for Pennsylvanians. The exhibit is accepting submissions to the project online and by phone. Originally, the project launched with only photo submissions in mind, but as of February 19, the project has expanded its submission form to accept audio content as well.
The Governor's office issued a press release stating, "this new collaboration increases accessibility to Pennsylvanians who are blind or living with visual, physical, or reading disabilities, and those with limited Internet access." Pennsylvanians are encouraged to submit content that captures:
· Our Heroes - Paying homage to the pandemic heroes who could not simply stay home.
· Our Lives - A look at how Pennsylvanians spent their time when no one was watching.
· Our Communities - A showcase of Pennsylvanians coming together during an unprecedented time.
Participants have until March 8, 2021 to submit photographs online, and until March 15, 2021 to submit audio images via voicemail at 215-683-3218. If selected, your snapshot could be shared online and through the Commonwealth's social media channels.


Erica Morrell is currently a Mellon C3 postdoctoral fellow at Middlebury College. She conducts research and teaches at the intersection of social movements, the sociology of knowledge, and food justice. She holds a Ph.D. in public policy and sociology from the University of Michigan. In her free time, you are mostly likely to find her outside with her family – including her husband, children, dog, and chickens.


PLEASE NOTE: MY SHOP IS CURRENTLY CLOSED UNTIL FRIDAY 19TH APRIL 2019. ALL ORDERS WILL BE COMPLETED AFTER THIS DATE.
- All of my jewellery is handmade personally by me.
- Items purchased over £30 come with a FREE unique hand decorated Gift Box (worth £2.50). Also if your total amount spent comes to £30 or more each item will be boxed for free.
- If your item is a gift, I can post to an alternative address and include a FREE personalised card from you.
- Gift Boxes are available to order additionally for any piece of jewellery at only £2.50 each. Please add to order when at Check out.
Handmade sterling silver wire wrapped earrings with a lovely touch of pearl in three different colours. Finished with handmade sterling silver ear wires.
Approx width at widest point is 18mm and the length is 47mm (not including ear wires).
Choose whether to have these gift wrapped in tissue paper and organza for free or packaged in one of my hand decorated gift boxes for £2.50.
Please note this is currently the only pair available and you will receive the exact pair shown. They will be posted within 2-3 working days.
This item will be posted to you by Hannah Banks Jewellery within 3 days of receiving payment.


Estimate your monthly loan repayment at a glance.
Whether you are getting your business started, investing in new equipment, or realising your goals to expand, we'll help you find a competitive pharmacy finance solution fast.
Use this handy repayments guide to estimate your monthly loan repayments for pharmacy equipment.
* Figures are based on a principal and interest loan and are intended as a guide only. Individual loan contracts may vary. Based on a 7 year loan term.
For a personalised assessment of equipment finance solutions available to you, or if you'd simply like a question answered contact Daniel Green, the Green Team's dedicated Healthcare Finance Specialist, on 07 3899 2866 or fill out your details below.
Register for our newsletter as well as great finance deals and offers.
© Copyright Green Finance Group. All Rights Reserved.
Australian Credit Licence Number 390222. Download Credit Guide.


text:
Canadore College | North Bay, Ont. | Founded 1967
Courtesy of Canadore College
Canadore college offers degree, diploma, certificate, apprenticeship and academic upgrading programs in aviation studies, business management, Indigenous studies, trades and technology, and biotechnology and environmental studies. The college recently launched a bachelor's degree in nursing. The school has three campuses in North Bay and one in Parry Sound. Three apartment-style residences are available near North Bay's College Drive campus.
In 2018, Canadore opened the Village, a spacious facility that focuses on the integration of Indigenous, Eastern and Western healing and wellness practices. It acts as a model for intergenerational living, combining community and senior care with teaching, skills training and applied research.
Twenty-five per cent of Canadore's students identify as First Nations, Métis or Inuit. Among the school's resources for Indigenous students is the First Peoples' Centre, which has a design inspired by natural elements and the teachings of the medicine wheel.
Canadore offers specialized facilities for media studies, including a post-production centre that features a mix stage, a colour correction room and dialogue replacement equipment. A new genomics laboratory has state-of-the-art technology, including two DNA sequencers for research in areas such as addictions and disease prevention.
• Entrepreneurship Management: Students convert ideas into businesses with opportunities in a range of industries.
• Mobile Application Development: Students get hands-on experience designing apps for mobile devices.
• Health Care Administration: This program emphasizes leadership in health care settings.
• Aircraft Maintenance
• Game Design and Development
• Bachelor of Science in Nursing
• Functional Genomics and Clinical Consultation
• Entrepreneurship Management
Mid-sized
• Degree: $7,871
• Diploma: $3,628-$4,345
• Certificate: $3,628-$4,345
• Post-Grad: $3,628-$5,077
Residence Offerings
More Schools: Nipissing University, Cambrian College of Applied Arts and Technology, Confederation College of Applied Arts and Technology, Conestoga College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning, Loyalist College of Applied Arts and Technology
FILED UNDER: Canadore College of Applied Arts and Technology College Profiles Ontario


text:
Residential Bulk Trash Pick Up
September 1, 2022 - September 26, 2022
644 W. Pima Street
League Coordinator
$100/team (late fee is +$25/team)
Adult Co-Ed Volleyball Registration
This is an adult co-ed league for players 16+ years of age. Play is on a sand volleyball court.
2022 Season runs from 10/4 to 11/15, weekly on Tuesday nights at Community Center Park. Time TBD. Registration deadline is Sept. 26. A late fee of $25/team will be added after the 26th. No registration will be accepted after Sept. 30. Registration packets are available at Town Hall between 8AM and 4PM, Monday - Friday.


Home » Press Release – Naked Solar Wins Another Award!
Newquay's 'Naked Solar' wins Solar PV Installer of the Year at the South West Energy Efficiency Awards.
Newquay, Cornwall based Solar PV experts, Naked Solar were shortlisted and won the Installer of the Year Award. One of only five companies across the South West to be shortlisted for this prestigious award.
Their enthusiasm for the renewables industry and focus on putting the customer first has really shone through.


Backwoods Recording Studio is a Nashville recording studio for songwriters and independent artists who are seeking the highest-quality recording services from acclaimed professionals with deep industry experience.
Novice to professional in need of quality and affordable music demos and finished CD projects makes Backwoods a great place to start!
"We specialize in Country, Acoustic, Americana, Folk, Bluegrass and Christian Music" projects for beginners, novice and professionals.
Music artist and songwriters from all over the country have sent us rough mixes on Cassettes, CD's, MP3's to structure, arrange and put the finishing touches of mixing and mastering. We employ professional studio musicians and Demo Singers; Male and Female from Nashville ensuring you receive the finest quality recording.
Our mission is to inspire the artist at every level to reach the dream of transforming their music into a professional sounding project. We take your creative ideas and produce it into a finished professional demo that you can use to pitch to artists, publishing companies or just sell it at your gigs or websites.
News and updates for May 2018 "Lodge at Backwoods and Record!
Now available an alternative to your hotel search in growing "Music City" Nashville!
Backwoods Recording Studio is now offering our own affordable lodging on 4 wooded acres in a 43' 2016 Heartland Cyclone 4200 Luxury RV.
Enjoy a unique experience with all the adult conveniences and comforts of home while recording at our studio. This modern RV will Sleep up to 6, has a master King suite, 2 full baths, dinette, porch, 4 TV's, located on 4 wooded acres and surrounded by Nashville habitat. Click here to find out more….
Joviehost.com is another professional service from Backwoods Recording Studio supporting Singer Songwriters and Musicians to create and maintain a stunning and powerful website – Built on The Power of WordPress and Optimized for all mobile devices.
Please visit Backwoods Recording Studio where soundproof rooms and live recordings take place every day. If you can't travel to Nashville just send us your material and we will do the rest. If you do visit us you will find the experience in the studio on our 4 acre property, professional, private and comfortable.
Call us or email us today and lets discuss your goal and needs.
Thank you for trusting us with your music!


text:
Q: Como obfuscar um e-mail em PHP preenchendo parte dos caracteres antes do @ (arroba) com * (asterísco)? Eu preciso de obfuscar os caracteres do e-mail, como já vi muitos sites fazendo, preenchendo alguns caracteres desse e-mail com asterisco.
Eu gostaria que o código fosse o mínimo completo possível.
Exemplo:
 'wallacemaxters@teste.com' => 'wa*********rs@teste.com'

Como fazer isso de maneira bem simples?

A: Eu pensei em elaborar de maneira bem simples usando a função substr_replace combinada com strpos.
Veja:
$mail = 'wallacemaxters@teste.com'

substr_replace($mail, '*****', 1, strpos($mail, '@') - 2);

O Resultado é
'w*****s@teste.com'

A explicação do código é a seguinte: o terceiro argumento (1) faz com que a posição a ser substituída seja a partir do primeiro caractere. Já o quarto argumento strpos($mail, '@') nos dará a posição final onde deve ser substituída, que é o @. Nesse caso, usei o -2 para que nem o @ nem o último caractere antes dele fosse substituído.
O tamanho da substituição será determinado a partir da posição inicial. Se fosse necessário exibir 2 caracteres no início e 2 antes do @, teríamos que alterar a função da seguinte forma:
substr_replace($mail, '*****', 2, strpos($mail, '@') - 4);

A: Pode usar sub_str_replace() para inidicar onde e quantos caracteres substituir e str_repeat() para gerar a string que substituira o email original.
function ofuscaEmail($email, $inicio, $qtd){
  $asc = str_repeat('*', $qtd);
  return substr_replace($email, $asc, $inicio, $qtd);
}

$str = 'wallacemaxters@teste.com';
echo ofuscaEmail($str, 2, 8);

A: Você também pode fazer através da função preg_replace.
Com a regex abaixo você consegue agrupar os dois primeiros caracteres e os dois caracteres anteriores ao @.
^([\w_]{2})(.+)([\w_]{2}@)

Com o poder do regex você poderá criar regras bastantes específicas para seu problema.
<?php

$pattern     = "/^([\w_]{2})(.+)([\w_]{2}@)/u";
$replacement = "$1********$3";
$email       = "wallacemaxters@teste.com";

echo preg_replace($pattern, $replacement, $email);

//Output: wa********rs@teste.com

E com a mesma regex, você também poderá utilizar a função preg_replace_callback e trabalhar com mais liberdade utilizando uma função específica para determinado problema.
<?php

function ocultarEmail($matches)
{
    return $matches[1] .
        str_repeat("*", strlen($matches[2])) .
        $matches[3];
}

$pattern     = "/^([\w_]{2})(.+)([\w_]{2}@)/u";

for($i = 1; $i <= 20; $i++) {
    $email       = str_repeat("a", $i)."@teste.com";
    echo preg_replace_callback($pattern, 'ocultarEmail', $email);
    echo PHP_EOL;
}

Demonstração

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Essential C
Getting started with C Language
Versions HTML
K&R n/a @Feb 22, 1978
C89 ANSI X3.159-1989 @Dec 14, 1989
C90 ISO/IEC 9899:1990 @Dec 20, 1990
C95 ISO/IEC 9899/AMD1:1995 @Mar 30, 1995
C is a general-purpose, imperative computer programming language, supporting structured programming, lexical variable scope and recursion, while a static type system prevents many unintended operations. By design, C provides constructs that map efficiently to typical machine instructions, and therefore it has found lasting use in applications that had formerly been coded in assembly language, including operating systems, as well as various application software for computers ranging from supercomputers to embedded systems.
Despite its low-level capabilities, the language was designed to encourage cross-platform programming. A standards-compliant and portably written C program can be compiled for a very wide variety of computer platforms and operating systems with few changes to its source code. The language has become available on a very wide range of platforms, from embedded microcontrollers to supercomputers.
C was originally developed by Dennis Ritchie between 1969 and 1973 at Bell Labs and used to re-implement the Unix operating systems. It has since become one of the most widely used programming languages of all time, with C compilers from various vendors available for the majority of existing computer architectures and operating systems.
Common Compilers
The process to compile a C program differs between compilers and operating systems. Most operating systems ship without a compiler, so you will have to install one. Some common compilers choices are:
GCC, the GNU Compiler Collection
clang: a C language family front-end for LLVM
MSVC, Microsoft Visual C/C++ build tools
The following documents should give you a good overview on how to get started using a few of the most common compilers:
Getting started with Microsoft Visual C
Getting started with GCC
Compiler C version Support
Note that compilers have varying levels of support for standard C with many still not completely supporting C99. For example, as of the 2015 release, MSVC supports much of C99 yet still has some important exceptions for support of the language itself (e.g the preprocessing seems non-conformant) and for the C library (e.g. <tgmath.h>), nor do they necessarily document their "implementation dependent choices". Wikipedia has a table showing support offered by some popular compilers.
Some compilers (notably GCC) have offered, or continue to offer, compiler extensions that implement additional features that the compiler producers deem necessary, helpful or believe may become part of a future C version, but that are not currently part of any C standard. As these extensions are compiler specific they can be considered to not be cross-compatible and compiler developers may remove or alter them in later compiler versions. The use of such extensions can generally be controlled by compiler flags.
Additionally, many developers have compilers that support only specific versions of C imposed by the environment or platform they are targeting.
If selecting a compiler, it is recommended to choose a compiler that has the best support for the latest version of C allowed for the target environment.
Code style (off-topic here):
Because white space is insignificant in C (that is, it does not affect the operation of the code), programmers often use white space to make the code easier to read and comprehend, this is called the code style. It is a set of rules and guidelines used when writing the source code. It covers concerns such as how lines should be indented, whether spaces or tabs should be used, how braces should be placed, how spaces should be used around operators and brackets, how variables should be named and so forth.
Code style is not covered by the standard and is primarily opinion based (different people find different styles easier to read), as such, it is generally considered off-topic on SO. The overriding advice on style in one's own code is that consistency is paramount - pick, or make, a style and stick to it. Suffice it to explain that there are various named styles in common usage that are often chosen by programmers rather than creating their own style.
Some common indent styles are: K & R style, Allman style, GNU style and so on. Some of these styles have different variants. Allman, for example, is used as either regular Allman or the popular variant, Allman-8. Information on some of the popular styles may be found on Wikipedia. Such style names are taken from the standards the authors or organizations often publish for use by the many people contributing to their code, so that everyone can easily read the code when they know the style, such as the GNU formatting guide that makes up part of the GNU coding standards document.
Some common naming conventions are: UpperCamelCase, lowerCamelCase, lower_case_with_underscore, ALL_CAPS, etc. These styles are combined in various ways for use with different objects and types (e.g., macros often use ALL_CAPS style)
K & R style is generally recommended for use within SO documentation, whereas the more esoteric styles, such as Pico, are discouraged.
Libraries and APIs not covered by the C Standard (and therefore being off-topic here):
POSIX API (covering for example PThreads, Sockets, Signals)
Share Essential C on


text:
Lit Mags
Reading Into Everything.
The Last Assignment: On Truth
0% of article read
A former Rolling Stone fact checker on a story that changed the course of history
Eric Magnuson
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"I have no doubt this book reflects the flaws of my memory and biases I've developed, many unconsciously, over a lifetime. I ask the reader's forbearance for these shortcomings."
 — Gen. Stanley McChrystal, retired
"What do you think is going to happen to him?" Michael asked me over the phone from his home in Vermont.
With the receiver pressed against my ear, I looked up from my cubicle's computer in Rolling Stone's Midtown Manhattan office. This was June, 2010. It was after 10 p.m. and I was tired after another long day at work. A painting of a shirtless Axl Rose hung from the opposite wall. In the office behind me, the art director finalized the issue's cover featuring Lady Gaga, a pair of machine guns militantly pointed from her black bustier. My desk was empty aside from the computer and a stack of papers that I had printed in order to keep track of my work. I had just spent the previous week fact checking a feature profile of Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the commander of all U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
By that point in the week, as we wrapped up the latest issue of the magazine, I knew strangely intimate details about McChrystal. I knew his wedding anniversary. I knew his graduate ranking at West Point. I even knew a beer that he liked to drink. But aside from how the profile provided me with my last paycheck as an assistant editor at Rolling Stone, I didn't really care about any of these McChrystal facts.
I didn't even really believe that something could be factual — so what did it matter what we printed?
That isn't to say that I had anything against McChrystal. I simply didn't care about facts in general. I didn't even really believe that something could be factual — so what did it matter what we printed? Most journalists — and probably most nonfiction readers — would take issue with my indifference when my main responsibility as an editor was to simply verify the facts.
But that's how cynical I'd become with journalism by the time that Michael Hastings asked, "What do you think is going to happen to him?"
Michael had gained unprecedented access with the general and his inner circle over a month in Europe that spring. In those weeks abroad, Hastings heard McChrystal's aides make juvenile jokes about Vice President Joe Biden ("Biden? Did you say, 'Bite Me'?"). Another called National Security Advisor James L. Jones a clown. McChrystal himself was quoted as being critical of U.S. diplomats Karl Eikenberry and Richard Holbrooke. The relationship with the latter was apparently so strained that one of McChrystal's aides insinuated that Holbrooke's emails were as welcomed as piss sprayed across the general's legs. President Obama came off as weak in the comments made by McChrystal's men, who supposedly referred to themselves as Team America, further making themselves out to be the ill-advised, drunken miscreants that Hastings portrayed them as in an extended scene in a Parisian bar.
It was a big story for Michael — his first for Rolling Stone. I had never worked with him prior to that week. As for myself, I was scheduled to quit Rolling Stone just a week after closing the McChrystal story. After six years of growing apathy in New York, I was finished with journalism, and for months, possibly years before quitting the magazine, I was finished with facts. I'd become so jaded with "truth" that I never bothered to think about how the comments attributed to McChrystal and his staff would lead to one of Time magazine's Top 10 U.S. News Stories of the year.
I'd become so jaded with "truth" that I never bothered to think about how the comments attributed to McChrystal and his staff would lead to one of Time magazine's Top 10 U.S. News Stories of the year.
"I don't know," I told Michael over the phone, aloof about the article's content. "He'll probably just get a slap on the wrist."
"Yeah," he said, sounding much farther away than Vermont. "You're probably right."
And for the next three years, I believed Michael when he agreed with my blasé response. For another day, I believed in my own detachment.
But when the story was leaked to Politico and Time over the weekend, facts suddenly mattered to me again.
As a Rolling Stone fact checker, it was my job to verify any detail that could be proven wrong. The wedding anniversary. The favorite beer. But also the quotes. Many major publications have fact checkers, of course, but not all magazines check the quotes. Rolling Stone's research department verifies quotes through the reporter's notes, interview transcripts, or in some cases, through the original source (albeit worded differently in order to confirm the essence of what was said). Michael's story was nothing without the quotes. Whether or not McChrystal and his staff said anything cited in the article made the story international news. The quotes would lead to the end of McChrystal's 34-year-long military career. Whether the quotes were true would also determine Rolling Stone's reputation.
Michael's story was nothing without the quotes.
As the leaked story rapidly circulated across the media, however, there was a major problem: I didn't know if any of the quotes were true.
A journalist doesn't stop believing in facts over night. After majoring in journalism in Minneapolis, I moved to New York in 2004 for an internship with The Village Voice and then The Nation. After spending my college years covering topics as disparate as campus protests and high school equestrian sports, I dreamed of working on major stories — the types of articles that might actually change history. Within a year of living in New York, however, I found myself at Rolling Stone as a freelance fact checker.
I obviously knew Rolling Stone. I had subscribed as a teenager but that was when the magazine was better at covers of Laetitia Casta posing naked on a bed of rose petals than it was at generating buzz with its political coverage. I was mostly embarrassed to be working for Rolling Stone in 2005. Us Weekly was just down the hall. The Dave Matthews Band was on the cover.
I was mostly embarrassed to be working for Rolling Stone in 2005. Us Weekly was just down the hall. The Dave Matthews Band was on the cover.
But after working on a few issues, I was put on a political article, and then another one, and very quickly I realized that Rolling Stone was essentially doing the type of left-leaning political work that I had envisioned for myself after graduating. It was not a dream job. I considered it a stepping stone to something better. But that stepping stone stretched for five years. It was a very long five years. Without having actually read any Nietzsche in that time, I slowly developed the rather Nietzschean thought that there are no facts, only interpretations.
In my first months, I immediately noticed some journalism school red flags: Editors often told fact checkers that we could rely on whatever source material the reporter supplied, even if we couldn't be sure of where it came from — something that could easily lead to a Stephen Glass or Jayson Blair episode of fabulism. In other cases, some reporters edited quotes far more than is generally allowed in a newsroom. At least one writer put words in a speaker's mouth.
Being a young and naïve purist made the job wildly more difficult for not only me but any editors working above me. In my first couple of weeks on the job, I had an issue with a tiny blurb related to the marriage of the White Stripes' Jack White and the model and singer-songwriter Karen Elson. In a tiny photo caption running only a few words long, the editor wanted to refer to Elson as "Mrs. White." It was a last-minute addition to the magazine just before going to press. At 11 p.m. on a Friday, however, we weren't going to get official confirmation on whether Elson was actually taking White's last name.
It seems ridiculous to me today. But it didn't when I was 23 and everything had to be correct. As far as I knew, an inaccuracy could mean my job and tenuous livelihood in New York. Perhaps it could even mean any future work in journalism. It's forgivable to be naïve at 23. But the argument with that editor over "Mrs. White" lasted more than 20 minutes and involved the input of at least two other Rolling Stone employees. "Mrs. White" was what ended up on the page. Though Elson never actually changed her name.
As far as I knew, an inaccuracy could mean my job and tenuous livelihood in New York.
Despite these learning experiences, I still fully embraced the fact as a somewhat holy thing in that first year. Everything had to be true. An editor might have final say over a fudged detail. But at some point in the editorial process, I needed to cover myself by documenting how I had at least tried to make the detail as true as possible. As a fact checker, your job is to never be wrong. And since the magazine did employ fact checkers, the blame over errors was rarely placed on the writer. The blame was placed on the person whose one job was to never be wrong.
This created an anxiety that grew out of me like a fully-grown twin, taking over my body, making me incredibly irritable and on edge. Being a purist was bad for my health. It was bad for my relationships. Trying to feel better about myself, I'd scrutinize new issues of other magazines, like Harper's, to see if they published any corrections. On the rare occasion that they needed to set the record straight, I felt incredibly relieved: If Harper's isn't perfect, my mistakes must not be so bad. But I didn't make mistakes because I was too tightly wound to let any errors leave our office for the printing press. I was a truly great fact checker. The editors appreciated it. I was given more high-profile work. No error could get past me. But I slowly became borderline neurotic in the process.
A month after leaving Rolling Stone, I took a road trip with three of my long-time friends from Minneapolis. We drove west from the Twin Cities to meet more friends scattered across the Rockies. I don't know if the trip had any particular meaning for them. But for me, it was a time to decompress and cleanse myself of the five years that I had just wasted sitting tense behind a computer at Rolling Stone.
Photo courtesy of Eric Magnuson
After the first day's 12-hour drive in our rented conversion van, my friends and I stood on a gravel road cutting down the middle of a Nebraska cornfield. By July, the stalks rose high above our shoulders, swaying like silk handkerchiefs beneath the night sky. Before moving on, we needed to piss or smoke weed or both. But I'd stepped out of the van at 9 p.m., stretching my legs as if I'd just stood up from another incredibly long day at Rolling Stone, and I cheerfully cursed the same way that I might if I'd never seen rain or snow.
I'd stepped out of the van at 9 p.m., stretching my legs as if I'd just stood up from another incredibly long day at Rolling Stone, and I cheerfully cursed the same way that I might if I'd never seen rain or snow.
The sky wasn't sequined by only Ursa Major or Ursa Minor. Nor was it only Cygnus's beak or Sagittarius's bow and arrow. The arena of blinking constellations lit up the mosquitoes bobbing around our heads.
While looking straight up at the stars, I jogged across the dirt and gravel with my arms spread out as if taking flight. After living six years among the artificial lights of New York City, I wasn't the least bit sarcastic or even stoned when I said, "It feels like traveling through space."
After a year at Rolling Stone, I was anxious to move on. I wasn't writing for the magazine. I was still fact checking. I was only freelance without any security. But I had done something rare in the research department: I had gained the trust of the national affairs editor Eric Bates. I was fact checking most of the magazine's political coverage, and Bates had a big assignment for me: I'd contribute research and fact checking to a massive story by Bobby Kennedy Jr. that purported to uncover how the 2004 presidential election was stolen by Republicans.
I had done something rare in the research department: I had gained the trust of the national affairs editor Eric Bates.
It was a major project. One of our national affairs writers was also assigned to the task. After Bobby handed in the article, we worked for four months to clean it up and provide substantial additions to the reporting. I was essentially told to make it better. I wasn't, however, really made aware of how extra research was needed because Bobby's previous story was a mess. In the weeks before I began working for Rolling Stone in 2005, Bobby had written a terrible article connecting autism to vaccines, which was simultaneously published by Rolling Stone and Salon. The list of corrections and clarifications that it led to was laughably long. (Salon, unlike Rolling Stone, later retracted the story.) I was never told this but Bobby essentially needed a babysitter on his new article. That's not how I felt, though. I felt like I was being given a truly important assignment — working with a Kennedy no less.
The article covered a wide array of malfeasances, from shoddy electronic voting technology to voter suppression in its many forms. It was enough to make most observers say that the country's elections needed better oversight. But an odd thing happened as we inched closer to our June publication date: 350,000 suddenly became the magic number. That was the number of uncounted Ohio ballots that we needed to tally in order to say that, if counted, the election should have tipped to Kerry instead of Bush. So rather than focusing on the glaring tools of suppression that definitely needed to be addressed, we were suddenly trying to figure out how to come up with that specific number. We did this in as many roundabout ways as we possibly could. If Bates wanted 350,000 votes, we were going to find them.
If Bates wanted 350,000 votes, we were going to find them.
Nearly as soon as the article went to press, however, Farhad Manjoo wrote a Salon article that eviscerated every vague word choice and piece of half-baked logic that we tried to pass off as fact. One of the most glaring discrepancies in the article was when we wrote, "a total of 72,000 [Ohio] voters were disenfranchised through avoidable registration errors — one percent of all voters in an election decided by barely two percent." That number wasn't wholly invented on our part. A report by the Greater Cleveland Voter Coalition did say that about 42,500 votes "may have been lost" across the state. But in our quixotic search for the magic number, we also included 30,000 votes that the report said were only "at risk" of being lost. So nearly half of those voters weren't disenfranchised. Perhaps they were at risk of being disenfranchised. But who knows? I personally didn't care about the magic number. The other voting oddities made the article important. The number, however, was what ended up on the cover of the magazine.
The print magazine never addressed the discrepancies outlined in Manjoo's Salon article. I was racked with so much stress over Bobby's story that I never even read Manjoo's article in full until I did research for this essay. As the letters poured in from across the country that month, my second self constantly clogged my throat, constricting tighter any time the article was mentioned.
At one point, reporters from a major Nevada newspaper wrote to question info about their state that we'd included in a sidebar. In a last-minute addition to the story, we said that "the state's two most populous, Democratic-leaning counties recorded no presidential vote on 10,000 ballots." That would be a lot of people showing up at the voting booth in a presidential election only to not actually vote for president. The Nevada journalists said that they hadn't heard of any such issues. The U.S. Election Assistance Commission, for example, found that Nevada counted only 1,976 such votes statewide, which might sound like a lot but it certainly wasn't 10,000 in two counties.
I'm not sure how I let the much larger number into the story. A Nevada citizen had brought a lawsuit that included the number. But I had no idea where she was getting it herself. I tried reaching out to her without success. But Bates did not want to run a correction. He told me to keep searching. I was tasked with finding a source that would make the number real. And this is the mentality that would slowly become my mantra. Anything could become true if you made it true.
I was tasked with finding a source that would make the number real. And this is the mentality that would slowly become my mantra. Anything could become true if you made it true.
But I hadn't yet fully succumbed to it then. After much more research and a growing panic, I went to Bates again and apologized. I couldn't make the number true. So I was given the fact checker's most dreaded task: He told me to write a correction. My heart sank. I couldn't believe that one of my articles would need a correction. And it was an article that I worked so hard on, contributing a swath of new reporting. I was more than just a fact checker in this story. But in the end, I had only one job. I had to be right. And I was wrong. So I wrote up the correction.
Looking at recent corrections printed by the magazine then, I decided to end it by writing, "We regret the error." When I showed the correction to Bates, he told me to cut that line. We apparently didn't regret the error. After a few more hours of fearing that I'd be sent back to the dregs of American Idol articles, I learned that the entire correction had been cut from our Letters page. It wouldn't show up online either.
I could not make the number true on my own. But a higher editor had. We ran no corrections in relation to Kennedy's piece. I realized that facts didn't always need to be true.
"It does!" my friend Chris said as he tilted his head back in the middle of the Nebraska night. He softly jogged between the rows of corn under the blanket of constellations. "It does feel like being in space!"
Despite my "clean" record, the fear of publishing a correction grew overbearing in my five years at the magazine, so much so that all possible errors, no matter how mundane, became equal to me. It didn't matter if it was correctly spelling Lil Wayne's name without an apostrophe or triple-checking that a public figure truly said something potentially slanderous in our pages. Fact checking, or needing to be right, or at least believing to be right at all mental costs at every hour, created such enormous stress that I largely grew blind to any actual reality around me. Journalism, by its very nature, pushes people toward this sort of detachment. It encourages people to approach life in ways that most professions — or at least decent people — would never accept.
Fact checking, or needing to be right, or at least believing to be right at all mental costs at every hour, created such enormous stress that I largely grew blind to any actual reality around me.
In 2007, I worked on an article by Erik Hedegaard, a reporter who primarily did stories on celebrities, like Robert Downey Jr. or Carrot Top. But for some reason he decided to do a feature on E. Howard Hunt, a controversial figure in America's Cold War-era spying world who supposedly knew WHO REALLY KILLED J.F.K.
The article ended with the not-at-all-likely conspiracy theory that Lyndon B. Johnson ordered Kennedy's assassination. Two years into my tenure with Rolling Stone, I was well-acquainted with the magazine's relationship with facts. But I wasn't yet prepared to let an error onto the page. The L.B.J. theory was one thing but Hedegaard had at least attributed it to somebody. That wasn't even the weirdest thing about the story:
The article also included a strange anecdote about the actor Kevin Costner offering to pay Hunt for the truth about Kennedy's assassination. Costner had supposedly been in contact with Hunt numerous times. The actor even visited the former spy's home in the hopes that he'd be able to finally extract this incredibly important correction in American history. But the anecdote had come solely from Hunt's son. Hedegaard never attempted to confirm it. He merely left it in the article as if it was fact. He didn't even attribute it anyone. So I thought, What the hell? Let's see if Costner has anything to say about this.
I sent Costner's people a list of questions about the anecdote that I hoped to confirm.
Catching me completely off guard, the actor actually called me after receiving the questions. He said he wouldn't comment on them and went on to make a somewhat serious threat about "severe consequences" if we printed anything untrue about him. This was highly atypical of a celebrity. Usually an actor would just say "no comment" through their publicist. So perhaps he was being weirdly paranoid. Or maybe he was just bored that day. But unlike a normal adult who'd respect what would be a reasonable request in other circumstances, I continued to harass him:
"So you're saying that this story is untrue?" I asked.
"I'm not commenting on that. I'm saying that if you print anything false about me, there will be consequences."
"So you're saying that the story is true?"
"That's not what…"
"So parts of it are true?"
Our van careened down the western slope of the Rocky Mountains a day after leaving the Nebraska cornfield. Chris pressed the accelerator, sending the speedometer over 85 miles per hour, swerving in and out of slower traffic down the steep interstate. A metal guardrail lined our right side, flush with the edge of the narrow lane. Past that cliff stood rows of pointy green fir tops that were rooted far below us. Iggy Pop and the Stooges blared from the speakers: The tin-can lead guitar of "Search and Destroy" kicked back and forth from my passenger-side door back to the rear end ten feet behind. The friends who were spread across the backseats seemed unaware of how many times we could have landed in a hawk's nest or been impaled by a Colorado pine. Chris noticed me looking at the speedometer.
"Vince says we gotta get to Hotchkiss by three," he said.
"Why three?" I asked.
"Tibetan monks."
"Tibetan monks?"
In 2007, I was finally offered a full-time job as an assistant editor. The managing editor Will Dana approached me at my desk. He had a big goofy grin on his face, and said, "Do you want a job?" as if it was going to be the best news I'd ever heard.
But I looked up at him and said, "I don't know."
He walked away as if I'd just ruined his day.
Admittedly, fact checking for the magazine did at least lead to good stories to tell people. I once spoke to Cormac McCarthy, who was so wonderfully reclusive that when I told him, "It's an honor to speak to you," he nearly said the same thing to me until he realized that he was Cormac McCarthy. For another story, I spoke to Heidi Fleiss, the former "Hollywood Madam" who made headlines in the 1990s. Based on my speaking voice over the phone, she told me that I should fly to Nevada and be a prostitute at a new male brothel that she was planning to open. And then some days I'd come into the office to see The Band's Robbie Robertson with his feet up on the desk at another cubicle.
I once spoke to Cormac McCarthy, who was so wonderfully reclusive that when I told him, "It's an honor to speak to you," he nearly said the same thing to me until he realized that he was Cormac McCarthy.
But fact checking at a pop culture magazine like Rolling Stone provides a different type of stress every issue. Sometimes you need to talk to a famously difficult scientist who refuses to dumb down any of his work for a popular readership (or for the fact checker who's at least trying to be dumbed down right). Sometimes a Pentagon spokesperson doesn't want to admit that the crew on a multibillion dollar defense shield uses Adirondack chairs on top of the thing. Sometimes the reporter can't remember the restaurant that he ate at with Zac Efron. He tells you that all he can remember is that it was on L.A.'s Riverside Drive and a Bob's Big Boy was across the street, and this is still a couple years before every single restaurant is on Google Maps, so you're stuck calling the manager at Bob's Big Boy, asking if there's a diner with a green awning across the street, and even after you track the place down, you realize years later that you spelled the diner's name wrong.
But sometimes you feel like you're doing incredibly important work, so the stress is worth it. Sometimes you work on a Matt Taibbi article about wasteful defense contractors in Iraq that feels so necessary that for a moment, you believe in the power of facts, that they could change, say, the direction of a war. They don't. But you believe it at the time. At least you do until the next issue when Taibbi writes a story with the following lede: "Quietly and miserably, like an anxious mother tiptoeing away from an autistic child who has fallen asleep with his helmet on…" And you wonder how you could have ever been so naïve.
But sometimes, in exceedingly rare moments, you realize that the "facts" in these articles aren't just entertainment to everyone. They aren't only filler between ads. I worked on a story that documented the deaths of eight soldiers who had served in Iraq or Afghanistan. Again, this was a story written by a reporter who didn't normally cover politics. The reporting was generally sub-par. So I ended up speaking to the families of nearly all of these men and women, going over the excruciating details of their short lives. I'd listen to these mothers and fathers tear up, one after another. But they each got through it. They all wanted the story to be told. And they wanted the story told right. When I returned home to my Brooklyn apartment on those nights, I completely broke down, crying on my bed, feeling helpless to do anything.
They all wanted the story to be told. And they wanted the story told right.
That might have been the last time that I full-heartedly cared about facts.
Our van wound along the narrow county roads that twisted through the mountains and hills leading to Hotchkiss, Colorado, population 944. The music shouted over us, none of us saying a word as we barreled into our friend Vince's hometown. The tires squealed as we cut corners. The guys laughed out of excitement and nerves. We plunged into Hotchkiss's tiny downtown, circling its few blocks for the Creamery Arts Center, where Vince told us to be by three o'clock. It was 3:05.
Chris parked the van askew. We ran to the Creamery's front door, bursting in as if searching a burning house for children, and found an incredibly crowded but completely silent hall. We turned heads with our laughter until we realized that we were ruining the quiet. A third of the town's population — sun burnt men and women with starkly blue eyes who wore southwestern patterns — quietly waited as nine Tibetan monks slowly filed into the room.
I could make a simple graph that charted the trajectory of my career at Rolling Stone alongside my belief in facts. The line charting my years at the magazine would consistently go up at a 45-degree angle, of course. The line charting my belief in facts, however, would start high but consistently go down at a 45-degree angle. The midpoint of that graph, the dead center of the X, came along with one of our features reporters.
When fact checking a piece that he wrote on the War on Drugs, I turned up information from his sources that was so drastically different from what he originally reported, that Bates felt obligated to give me a research credit on the story — a rarity at Rolling Stone. In a story about a flawed medication, the reporter actually invented dead bodies. He wrote that numerous corpses had been found neglected in the basement of Danvers State Hospital in Massachusetts. This wasn't true at all. The closest corollary that I could find was a hospital in Salem, Oregon, that had retained urns full of ashes of its unclaimed deceased patients. I'm not sure how he got his information. Another fact checker told me that he said he only dreamed something that he put into another one of his articles.
…it's impossible to fact check a dream.
Despite this, he continued to write for the magazine. It was infuriating because it's impossible to fact check a dream. You inevitably waste hours searching for something that never even existed. But by the midpoint of my time at Rolling Stone, I realized that good reporting didn't make a successful reporter. You just needed to be able to present things in a way that would be interesting — perhaps it could even be turned into a fictional movie.
The Tibetan monks circled a table displaying a sand mandala that they'd meticulously created for a week in this tiny Colorado town. The monks wore orange and maroon robes. Their hats spiked over their heads like yellow mohawks. One of them began throat singing: The ominous grumble forced from his mouth sounded like a bullfrog bellowing into a didgeridoo. The others rhythmically chanted along. In finely timed flourishes, each introduced a new instrument to the song: a drum, cymbals, six-foot-long horns that reverberated into the floor, more horns sounding like trumpets. The mandala's red, blue, and green sands glittered between them.
Tibetan Buddhists believe that deities are present in the sand, and the artwork is supposed to convey positive energies to the community viewing it. But as soon as the instruments were put aside, one of the monks revealed a hand brush and hunched over the sand. He slowly swept away the intricate designs of the mandala, letting days of work disappear with small flicks of his wrist.
By 2009, my fourth year at the magazine, I was in a strange stage with my relationship to facts. The stress of being right all of the time never really abated. But I also didn't really see the point in anything that we were doing. I needed to be right in order to continue receiving paychecks. But I hated my job. So I began to shut down, largely becoming unfeeling, completely indifferent to anything. This affected more than my work life. I was finally dating a woman who had been my dream girl since 2001 — but I broke up with her because I had very little grip on reality. I drank more than usual. I'd worked on so many stories about other people that I didn't really know who I was anymore. I certainly wasn't a journalist but I'd played one for many years.
I'd worked on so many stories about other people that I didn't really know who I was anymore.
I worked on Matt Taibbi's infamous Goldman Sachs article where he equated the banking giant to "a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money." I didn't think that the joke would work because the vampire squid doesn't actually have a "blood funnel." I told Taibbi this. Certainly the marine biologists would write in. But he didn't really care. I told the editor, Bates again, the same thing. But he may have cared even less. Perhaps it was obvious that the vampire squid didn't have an appendage as ridiculously named as a "blood funnel." Bates seemed surprised that even the "vampire squid" was real. But I was beyond jokes at that point in my career. I was only droning along, waiting for each day to end. But then there'd just be another day.
With the mandala's sand swept into a small pouch, the monks led everyone in the room out the front door and into the sun. A couple hundred people casually walked down the town's main street, filling both lanes as the monks continued playing their drums, cymbals, and horns. My friends and I followed along, grinning over what we'd stumbled upon as the monks led us down to the North Fork Gunnison River, a thin waterway that bubbled westward.
"What do you think is going to happen to him?" Michael asked me.
Who could have guessed that my last assignment for Rolling Stone would actually be one of those very few articles that truly changes the course of history, the type of thing that I'd wanted so badly five years earlier?
I was so misanthropic that I wasn't even aware of it.
I was primarily annoyed with the article. Working with Michael did not go smoothly. A responsible reporter sends all of their relevant notes to the fact checker. If somebody at Rolling Stone considered how inflammatory the comments would be, there probably should have been interview transcripts. Michael sent me a couple of notebooks that were half-full of indecipherable scribblings that needed a Rosetta Stone for translation. This is odd considering how he later wrote in his book The Operators that after his month with McChrystal, he had "seventy pages of single-spaced notes [and] over twenty hours of audio recordings." I never saw any single-spaced notes. When I asked him for the audio, he refused to send it, telling me that it would be impossible to go through all of it in time prior to our deadline. Though he managed to go through it all himself when writing the article in 48 hours and sending it to Bates, as he notes in The Operators.
After a raucous night in Paris described in the article, Hastings also writes in The Operators that upon returning to his hotel, he "typed up what happened that night, down to the last detail." I never saw anything written in detail. I vaguely recall seeing the word "AFGHANISTAN!" written in his notes, but like nearly everything, there was no context around the word. The capped name could have meant anything. That was the case with nearly all of the quotes, at least the quotes that were legible in his notebook. Most of them were not. Did the notebook say "Bite Me"? If it did, it wasn't clear to me.
It was my last assignment. I wouldn't need to fact check anything again. What did it matter if the quotes were accurate?
But whatever. It was my last assignment. I wouldn't need to fact check anything again. What did it matter if the quotes were accurate? Almost as an afterthought, I sent McChrystal's spokesperson a list of details that I wanted to confirm.
But when I woke up on the morning after the story had leaked to the media overnight, the spokesperson was already fired for letting the general seem so careless in the press. Within hours of the leak, McChrystal was called back to Washington by President Obama.
I was internally panicking. I had no idea if the quotes were true. I could already envision myself testifying in court due to a defamation case. Bates wanted me to come into the office as soon as possible.
I ticked off the minutes of the day, waiting for McChrystal to deny everything said in the article. I knew that something must be coming: My last assignment would be a grand fuck-up that nobody could have predicted, no matter how apathetic I'd become.
But as the day wound to a close, McChrystal never denied the major details. He actually issued an apology. I thought that I was going to collapse at any moment. Perhaps Michael was as well. In The Operators, he also notes how "they weren't denying it… By apologizing, they had confirmed the validity of the story. I was relieved," which is a strange thing to admit if he was certain about the story himself. Why would they deny it if he'd done diligent reporting? But Michael went on to cover for himself, saying that a denial "would have been difficult to do anyway because of the tape recordings and notes I had of the interviews." Though he wouldn't even let me, his fact checker, see or hear the majority of those records.
It was a terrifying and exciting week. In Kandahar on another assignment, Michael was supposedly getting absurd warnings from friends about how Americans "might try to take" him out. While sitting in the stands at a Mets game on the following Saturday, my coworker and friend Meredith sent me a text saying that my list of questions had been leaked to the Washington Post. The newspaper actually published all of them on its website. I immediately panicked but I didn't even have a smartphone so I couldn't look them up.
"Is it bad?" I texted back. My three friends next to me immediately pulled out their phones as I cringed over what they might say. "Does it say my name?" I asked, trying to not become frantic.
I had made a national news headline: "Rolling Stone fact checker sent McChrystal aide 30 questions." But to my relief, the article didn't name me. It barely contained any information outside of the email exchange with McChrystal's aide. It only said, "The questions contained no hint of what became the controversial portions of the story." This can be read two ways: 1.) I'd either pulled off a sly journalistic move to cover our intentions, or 2.) I simply didn't care enough about the article to run some of the info by the spokesperson.
I had made a national news headline: "Rolling Stone fact checker sent McChrystal aide 30 questions."
Rather than deny the comments in the article, McChrystal resigned from his post. I couldn't believe it. I'd somehow taken part in one of my biggest goals as a naïve journalism student years earlier. But I'd droned through it like it was the most useless white collar work imaginable.
By the day that my email had leaked, however, I did feel something like a celebrity. I obnoxiously told my parents, "I'm the most famous fact checker in the world." I went to Meredith's apartment to celebrate her birthday with friends. The place was full of leftwing journalists. Some reporter with military contacts approached me to say, "The Army hates you." Apparently the entire Army, if that's possible. Some of us drank Bud Light Lime, mocking McChrystal's favorite beer. At least we said it was his favorite beer in the magazine. Talking to his press aide, that probably wasn't exactly true. But that detail was funnier so we left it in.
All three of us — Hastings, McChrystal, and I — knew to some extent that there was no such thing as a fact. Humorously, McChrystal notes in his memoir My Share of the Task that on the night of the story's leak, he was actually at a meeting attended by both Eikenberry and Holbrooke, the two men who he'd disparaged in the article. McChrystal obviously doesn't rehash any of those comments in his own book. For his part, McChrystal dedicates little more than a page of his 452-page memoir to the downfall precipitated by Rolling Stone. Michael Hastings is never named in the book.
All three of us — Hastings, McChrystal, and I — knew to some extent that there was no such thing as a fact.
McChrystal shapes his own narrative: "With us would be a reporter from Rolling Stone who was periodically interacting with our team, to give him an appreciation for the difficulty of the task they faced." From McChrystal's perspective, his team had a difficult task. That's all they had to show the reporter. There is no reason for him to remember any other narrative. Nobody reading only his book could remember anything different.
In Tibetan folklore, a creation myth says that the stars first appeared in the sky "because of the past good deeds of the gods." Along with the sun and moon, the constellations are a reminder that "our world was once a peaceful, beautiful place, free from suffering and pain." Elsewhere, the Dali Llama emphasizes how the Buddha taught followers to have a "correct view of reality."
I barely knew Michael but I'd later learn that we each suffered the same pain — the overbearing need to find reality.
My future wife's mother asked her, "Are you sure he'll still want to quit after all of the excitement?" Bates said, "People think it's crazy that you worked on this and you're just going to stop now." Michael went on to be fairly famous. He made numerous television appearances, talking about and often defending the story. He went on to write more damning reports on government officials, the types of things that likely created a torrent of anxiety that, in my opinion, wasn't balanced by the journalistic payoff. McChrystal largely went quiet for the next year, waiting out the storm. A couple months after leaving Rolling Stone, I briefly became a cheesemonger.
Despite my one connection to McChrystal, I liked him after reading his memoir. I was largely indifferent to him in the week that I was first acquainted with his life. But after seeing his side of the story, he was more than a drunken buffoon gallivanting across Europe. He was an intelligent man. A man who cared about the soldiers working for him. A man who obviously faced an unwinnable battle and sometimes needed to blow off some steam over the decisions he wasn't able to make himself. He was every single person who's ever had a boss.
"Life would go on," he wrote in My Share of the Task. "In April 2011, the Department of Defense inspector general's office would release a summary of its review into the allegations outlined in the Rolling Stone article. The investigations could not substantiate any violations of Defense Department standards and found that 'not all of the events occurred as portrayed in the article.'"
Michael, however, wrote that the report "reads comically," and went on to deride its inconsistencies. He particularly disliked how the report stated, "We were unable to establish the exact words used or the speaker."
But here's the thing: Neither could I. Considering my experience, that line sums up the incidents better than anything else I've heard. The article may have given Michael's interpretation of his time with McChrystal. But who knows what's completely true?
"These conclusions came out quietly," McChrystal continues, "almost a year after the tornado of controversy the article created, but they were important to me."
And why wouldn't they be important to him? McChrystal gets to have his truth. It might not be what everybody remembers. But who really remembers Stanley McChrystal anymore? Brad Pitt's upcoming straight-to-Netflix movie based on Michael's book doesn't even use McChrystal's real name. My mother-in-law sometimes sends me articles on Gen. David Petraeus, mixing up the two men and their indiscretions. And I recently saw a teenage girl on a field trip at an art museum: She wore a t-shirt that had a picture of the Rolling Stone cover with the McChrystal story. Lady Gaga stares across the page, the two machine guns violently pointing from her breasts like a nightmare. The girl wearing the shirt likely had no idea what the words "Obama's General" in the bottom corner of the cover meant as she must have been no more than seven years old when the story appeared. The facts matter very little in the end.
McChrystal gets to have his truth. It might not be what everybody remembers. But who really remembers Stanley McChrystal anymore?
The copy of McChrystal's memoir that I checked out from the San Diego Public Library happened to be a copy signed by the general himself. The signature couldn't convince the book's original owner to save it on their own shelves. In the end, most of us are the equivalent of that unloved memoir. We believe in something so wholeheartedly that we'll tell the story until it is true. Some of us will even publish those "facts." We'll even sign our names, saying, This is who I was. But in the end, even those versions of the truth will be lost with so many other unread books. That isn't necessarily something to be sad about.
Everyone crowded around the monks as they concluded their ceremony. People pushed through thorny scrub brush lining the river. Others stood on a low bridge that barely cleared the water. Children climbed trees to see from above. While some of my friends stood farther back on shore, I made sure to stand where the water met land, getting a clear view of the robed monks at the river's edge. The sun warmed my scalp as I freed myself from the brush and trees looming overhead.
A single monk stood ankle-deep in the river, wetting the ends of his robe. I watched him slowly shake out the colored sands from his pouch. The grains poured into the water, slipped and slid over each other, and drifted free.
Michael Hastings is dead now. On June 18, 2013, at 33 years old, he sped through Los Angeles in his Mercedes, launched over a median, smashed into a palm tree, and was trapped in a fireball when his car exploded at 4:25 a.m.
I didn't really know Michael outside of Rolling Stone. But he was apparently "paranoid by nature," as he notes in The Operators. In the book, he goes on a long tangent imagining how a woman at a bar in Berlin is likely a spy trying to extract information from McChrystal and his team. "The idea that this woman might be a spy — sent by a foreign intelligence agency to snoop on General McChrystal — seemed both dangerous and hilarious." The paranoia, however, seems to have fallen more squarely into the former category in the year leading up to his death. His stories' subjects had reportedly made him increasingly paranoid. According to a New York magazine article, Michael told a neighbor that he'd noticed more helicopters flying over his house than usual. He said that his family and friends were being interviewed by the FBI. He told one employer that he needed to hide for a while.
When Michael asked me "What do you think is going to happen to him?" I honestly believed him for three years when he agreed with me. It'll probably just be a slap on the wrist. Even in his book, he repeats what he essentially told me: "I didn't think it was possible for him to be fired. No way." But after learning more about Michael, my memory of that conversation doesn't make him sound so sure. He sounds worried. He doesn't know what's going to happen to him next. Knowing what I know now, both about Michael and my own experience, I wonder if the assignment had created so much stress for him that he just wanted somebody to say that everything was going to be okay — that the career that he'd built for himself wasn't going to be swept away. But as a journalist, that's exactly what I needed.
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Raab wants to 'heat up' Brexit talks
Britain's Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, Dominic Raab and European Union's chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, arrive ahead of a meeting in Brussels, Belgium July 19, 2018. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Britain's new Brexit negotiator Dominic Raab on Thursday said he was looking forward to intensifying talks with the European Union, as an October deadline draws nearer.
"I am looking forward to with renewed energy, vigour and vim looking at the detail of all of this," Raab said in a brief statement ahead of a meeting with EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier.
"I am looking forward to intensifying, heating up the negotiations and making sure we are in the best position to get the best deal," he added.
Brexit campaigner Raab was appointed to the government last week after his predecessor quit.
Reporting by Robert-Jan Bartunek and Alissa de Carbonnel


Classic, LLC and Classic Asset Management LLC, (the "firms") have developed a Business Continuity Plan on how we will respond to events that significantly disrupt our business. Since the timing and impact of disasters and disruptions is unpredictable, we will have to be flexible in responding to actual events as they occur. With that in mind, we are providing you with this information on our business continuity plan.
Contacting Us - If after a significant business disruption you cannot contact your registered representative or investment adviser representative as you usually do, you should call our number 1-701-364-9390 or go to our website at www.classicassetmanagement.com. If you cannot access us through either of those means, you should contact the firm listed on your quarterly statement at the phone number that they publish on the statement for instructions on how they may provide prompt access to funds and securities, enter orders and process other trade-related, cash and security transfer transactions.
Our direct business partners back up their important records in a geographically separate area. While every emergency situation poses unique problems based on external factors, such as time of day and the severity of the disruption, we have been advised by our direct business partners that their objective is to restore their own operations and be able to complete existing transactions and accept new transactions and payments within a reasonable time. Your orders and requests for funds and securities could be delayed during this period.
Varying Disruptions - Significant business disruptions can vary in their scope, such as only our firm Home Office, the business district where our firm is located, the city where we are located, or the whole region. Within each of these areas, the severity of the disruption can also vary from minimal to severe. In a disruption to only our firm Home Office, we will transfer our operations to a local site when needed and expect to recover and resume business within one trading day. In a disruption affecting our business district, city, or region, we will transfer our operations to a site outside of the affected area, and recover and resume business within a short reasonable time. In either situation, we plan to continue in business, and notify you through our representatives, our website or our customer emergency number 701-364-9390, how to contact us. If the significant business disruption is so severe that it prevents us from remaining in business, we will assure our customer's prompt access to their funds and securities via the account custodians.
For more information - If you have questions about our business continuity planning, you can write to us at Classic, LLC/Classic Asset Management, LLC, 1220 28th Ave N., Fargo, ND 58102, Attn: Chief Compliance Officer.


text:
Език и етнокултурна идентичност на българските турци преселници в Република Турция
Language and Ethno-Cultural Identity of the Bulgarian Turks, Resettled in the Republic of Turkey
Author(s): Mila Maeva
Summary/Abstract: The article discusses the role of the language in building the ethno-cultural identity of the Bulgarian Turks resettled in the Republic of Turkey. All the languages and dialects used by them are considered with great detail: the old Turkish dialect brought from Bulgaria, its running counter to the official Turkish language, the use of Ottoman Turkish, Arabic and Bulgarian, after settlement in the new country. The mastering of literary Turkish is judged to be a way of successful adaptation and joining the Turkish nation. The Turkish dialect, brought from Bulgaria, is only used in the resettlement community and is perceived to be a means of preserving the cultural specificity of the local group of "Bulgarian" Turks. The Ottoman language enables the migrants to read historical sources or literary works by outstanding Ottoman authors. In these narratives they look for evidence of their relationship with the other Turks and a confirmation of their Turkish ethnic and cultural belonging. The Arabic is the language of Islam, and through its use they are accepted in the Muslim community. The resettlers use the Bulgarian language on returning to Bulgaria and in contacts with the Bulgarian state institutions. Its usage is not just a necessity but also a reflection of the preserved connection with Bulgaria, of their local identity, as well as of their sense of belonging to the Bulgarian nation. In the the migrants' use of the different languages there can be no question of their hierarchical arrangement. The use of one or another language is strictly situational and often depends on the age, gender and educational characteristics of the resettlers. What influences this is the degree of their adaptation in Bulgaria and in Turkey as well as the economic, political and cultural development of the two countries.
Втора студентска етноложка конференция "Многообразие на културата" Second University Students Ethnological Conference on Cultural Diversity 1999 The image of the Turks in the republic of turkey through the eyes of the Bulgarian Turks who have moved to Turkey The image of the Turks in the republic of turkey through the eyes of the Bulgarian Turks who have moved to Turkey 2006 Божидар Алексиев. Фолклорни профили на мюсюлмански светци в България. 2005 Bozhidar Alexiev. Folklore Profiles of Moslem Saints in Bulgaria. 2005 2006 История и идентичност на българите мюсюлмани от град Неделино History and Identity of the Bulgarian Muslims from the Town of Nedelino 2009 Приемственост и трансформация в религиозния живот на имигрантки мюсюлманки в България Continuity and Transformation in the Religious Life of Immigrant Muslim Women in Bulgaria 2010


text:
June 15th (current)
We're grateful you're here to play this game of life with us.
And we're excited you're here on our website. It's the fulfillment of our purpose to share this ancient Knowledge with you. So, thank you for participating in our joy!
Because you are born on the date of June 15th, it means you are born to play the 2 of Diamonds with a Jack of Spades personality.
The 2 of Diamonds is the primary pattern of your life. It is like your Avatar. It's your entrance token to the game of your life.
The Jack of Spades is the secondary pattern of your life. It reflects your outward personality and may rule your behavior.
Here's Your Birthday Card...
Know Someone Born Today?
You can share this page on their social media or email them the link.
You can also download this Birthday Card.
Email The Page Link Download Birthday Card
Famous people born on June 15th
All of these people share your cards to play. Like you, they were born to play the 2 of Diamonds overlaid with a Jack of Spades personality.
Notice the recurring themes in their lives.
Edward of Woodstock
Born to play the 2 of Diamonds / Jack of Spades
His father, King Edward II left him in France to lead the English army starting at age 16; he routed the French army and earned distinction as one of the most successful English commanders during the Hundred Years War; regarded by his English contemporaries as a model of chivalry and one of the greatest knights of his age, he is on the other hand remembered in France for his well documented brutality and the massacres he ordered; he died of dysentery before he could ascend to the throne; he is known to history as the Black Prince and historians don't know why he earned this moniker, but we do
Ramón López Velarde
Considered by some to be Mexico's National Poet; his work was marked by a novel approach to poetic language; at the same time, it was framed by duality, whether it be the Mexican struggle between rural traditions and the new culture of the cities, or his own struggle between asceticism and pagan sensuality
German developmental psychologist famous for his articulation of the life-stages of personal development; he coined the phrase "identity-crisis"
Chicago Mob boss who was recruited into the CIA to help assassinate Fidel Castro
Yuri Andropov
General Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party from 1982 until his death in 1984
Erroll Garner
Jazz pianist who enjoyed considerable commercial success and whose best-known composition, the ballad "Misty" has become a jazz standard
Sher Muhammad Khan
Better known by his pen name Ibn-e-Insha, he was a Pakistani poet and humorist who was regarded as one of the best humorists of the Urdu language of Pakistan
Current General Secretary of the Communist Party of China and President of the People's Republic of China; he has introduced far-ranging measures to enforce party discipline and to ensure internal unity, as well as initiating an unprecedented campaign against corruption; he has been criticized for brutal crackdowns and on the minority Muslim population in rural China and the "re-education camps" that they are confined to
American actress who rose to fame on the sitcom "Mad About You"
American actress who starred in the hit sitcom "Friends"
O'Shea Jackson
Better known by his stage name Ice Cube, he is an American rapper and actor who rose to fame with the hard-hitting gangster rap song "F*ck The Police"
American actor who has starred in multiple successful sitcoms including "Doogie Howser" and "How I Met Your Mother"
Your Name Goes Here
What will it look like for you to play your cards right? What will you be remembered for?
Click here to live the life that will fulfill your destiny.
Yes! I Want To Live My Best Life!


text:
Adriaen van de Venne – pittore, poeta, disegnatore, incisore ed editore olandese
 Huijbregt van de Venne – pittore olandese
 Pieter van de Venne – pittore olandese


Paul Sandip's much appreciated 10 min sketch of Radisson, Candolim has been framed at the grand reception of the iconic property. The objective of the sketch was to etch a memory of the wonderful stay at the beautiful property which still retained the old charm of Portugese architecture and Goan hospitality.
Radisson, Goa | Feb 2018.


Principles of business behavior should be based on the following ethical values: legality of work and business, professionalism, competence, conscience, objectivity, independence, transparency and impartiality in work, responsibility and zero tolerance of corruption.
Board of Directors, management, and employees should apply and obey laws in their work, as well as other HEP's regulations and acts. They should also apply and carry out professional, business standards and norms as well as ethical principles and in this way ensure HEP's business reputation and market position.
Board of Directors, management, and employees should avoid participating in all activities that may damage their professionalism, competence, conscience, objectivity, independence, transparency, impartiality and responsibility. They should also refrain from activities opposed to HEP's interests.
If they own a stake, or have other interest in a company outside HEP, they cannot offer services or be engaged as advisors or auditors without the agreement of the company's Board of Directors, i.e. the Supervisory Board.
Employees' human rights, relation towards customers, business partners, the media, the public and all interest groups must be established and maintained at a very high ethical level.
Discrimination of any person is unacceptable, and HEP's employees cannot be discriminated against their race, gender, age, religion, nationality, sexual orientation, marital status, membership or non-membership in a political party or a trade union, physical or mental difficulties or against any other foundation.
In the procedure of hiring or selecting employees, as well as their promotion, ethical principles about hiring and promoting employees should be respected. Hiring and promoting employees should be based solely on professionalism, effort and results of their work.


Specialties: anxiety, depression, relationship issues, substance abuse, eating disorders, postpartum treatment, and Trauma (trained in EMDR).
Specialties: anxiety, depression, trauma, EMDR, relationship issues, substance abuse, cultural issues and eating disorders.
Specialties: anxiety, depression, Substance abuse/ dependence, Bipolar disorder, and relationship issues.
Specialties: anxiety, depression, relationship issues, eating disorders, self-esteem, trauma, and substance abuse.
Specialties: anxiety, depression, relationship issues, bipolar disorder, substance abuse, body-image, and grief/loss.
Specialties: anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, relationship issues, grief/loss, eating disorders, substance abuse, and body image issues.
Specialties: Anxiety, Panic, Depression, Trauma, Attachment, Relationship Issues and Self-Esteem in Children and Adults.
Specialties: Anxiety, Depression, Trauma/PTSD, Relationship/ Marital Issues, Infidelity and Sexual Addiction/ Compulsions.
Specialties: PTSD, Trauma, Depression, Anxiety, Panic Disorders, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Eating Disorders, Personality Disorders, Bipolar Disorder, ADHD and relational issues.