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Get the biggest Manchester United FC stories by email Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email David Silva is OUT of Sunday's Manchester derby with a knee injury and fears he could be facing three weeks on the sideline. Silva has had a scan on his knee, which has revealed the Manchester City playmaker has suffered ligament damage that will force him to miss the Etihad clash with neighbours United. The Spanish star had the scan at the private Alexandra Hospital in Cheadle, near Manchester, and champions City are assessing the results to determine how long he will be sidelined. Silva, who was injured when he was fouled by Newcastle's Ryan Taylor, is also set to miss City's must-win Champions League clash at home to CSKA Moscow on Wednesday. Silva's loss is a big blow to the Blues at a pivotal point of their campaign. He has started all but one of their games this season. Manuel Pellegrini is under pressure going into the showdown with Manchester United and Joe Hart has defended him, claiming the players are to blame for City's slump. poll loading What's your prediction for Sunday? 6000+ VOTES SO FAR City win United win Draw all day long, Jeff "We know where we are as a unit," said the England No 1. "We just need a few players, myself included, to step up and we'll be fine. We're big enough and ugly enough to know that this is football. We're prepared to fight through it and put it right." Hart backed Pellegrini to turn City around without needing to resort to chucking teacups around the dressing room. "It's a good thing to have a constant," he said. "We know what kind of a guy he is and what he expects from us. He's someone who doesn't have to smash the room up to show you they're disappointed. "He's got his standards that we try to live up to, and if we don't were just as disappointed as he is. He knows his methods and we've proved in the past playing his way works."

Gov. Jan Brewer signed into law Friday a measure allowing some religious employers to opt out of covering prescription contraceptives as part of their health-care plans. House Bill 2625 applies only to "religiously affiliated" employers, which are defined as non-profit groups that primarily employ and serve individuals of the same religion or religiously motivated organizations with articles of incorporation clearly stating that religious beliefs are central to the organization's operating principles. The original version of the bill would have allowed any employer to opt out, but it was narrowed to get enough legislative support. Opponents said the law attacks a woman's right to make her own health-care choices. Brewer said the law is about religious freedom. "Mandating that a religious institution provide a service in direct contradiction with its faith would represent an obvious encroachment upon the First Amendment," she said in a news release.

There’s a chance that if you played on European servers for a game called Unreal Tournament around 1999, someone calling themselves “sjokz” ripped you apart with the purple blast of a shock rifle. The person behind that name was Eefje Depoortere, a young woman from Bruges, Belgium who had loaded up Unreal one day and never put it down. She’d eventually play at a high competitive level, competing in top tournaments on the continent. Eventually Unreal’s popularity faded; the scene fell apart. But the seed of an esports obsession had been planted. Years later, Depoortere is arguably the most famous esports personality who isn’t a player. She’s the de facto face of European League of Legends, the biggest competitive video game on the planet. As host for the game’s European league, called the League Championship Series, Depoortere takes the dual role of host and sideline reporter, a position that doesn’t really have a parallel in traditional sports. She’s like a Lesley Visser or Pam Oliver, but with some of the responsibilities of a Bob Costas thrown in for good measure. But unlike either of those NFL veterans, Depoortere represents a lot more than her professional role; she’s one of the first TV personalities for a sport that isn’t even on TV. As a serious gamer herself, Depoortere is comfortable peppering the players with tough questions about strategies and tactics. Getting there wasn’t easy. There was no linear, prescribed path for a career that didn’t exist until she made it. Depoortere juggled a series of odd jobs for years as she built her career in esports. While she waited tables, she appeared on various online talk shows about League of Legends. She eventually got a job doing interviews for the well-known European esports organization SK Gaming, and from there caught the eye of Riot Games, the League of Legends developer. The company had just moved its studios for the European LCS, and needed a host. As a serious gamer herself, Depoortere is comfortable peppering the players with tough questions about strategies and tactics. She takes meticulous notes during the matches. She’s also tasked with pulling camera shy gamers out of their shells, which she handles with grace and awkward humor. And her career doesn’t end with the broadcast. Depoortere is entirely enmeshed in the scene, boasting hundreds of thousands of followers on Facebook and Twitter. Fans make mashups of her best and funniest moments; 245,000 people have watched a video in which she explains how to pronounce her real name (good luck, English speakers) and her gaming nickname. That, by the way, is pronounced “shocks” after her favorite weapon from Unreal Tournament. In a sport where gamers’ careers don’t usually last long, Depoortere stands a chance of not just helping define the industry as it grows, but of becoming one of its most indelible stars. What’s your earliest memory of the Internet? When I was about 12 years old we got to use Altavista in history class to look up images of the French revolution, a whole new world! :-) Who are your must-follows on Twitter? My must-follows are @Moobeat, @lolesports and @FroggenLoL – between them, I get my daily fix of esports and League news (and they’re pretty entertaining too). What would you be do doing if the Internet didn’t exist? I’m having a bit of anxiety just thinking about it! Very hard to imagine because so much of my life exists on and through the Internet! Do your parents understand what you do for a living? It took them a while to fully understand, but they did once they came to see a live show—the one in Wembley arena—and saw the huge crowd and production. When I explain what I do to other people, I compare our competitive system to a football league—with weekly games that award points and at the end of a season the teams with the most points qualify for the World championships. My role in all this is doing postgame interviews with the players. Depoortere takes the dual role of host and sideline reporter, a position that doesn’t really have a parallel in traditional sports. What’s the hardest part of your job? Getting our players to open up and speak their mind in front of a camera, especially when there’s translations involved. A lot of these guys suddenly became gamers with worldwide fame and get put in front of the camera and need to open up in front of thousands of viewers and don’t necessarily understand that building up an image for themselves will benefit them in the long run. What advantages do esports have over traditional sports? I don’t really think of the two as one over the other. But if there’s one thing I think is unique about esports is that even though our players have become big stars, they’re still very close to the fans and the community and there’s a high level of interaction between them. In all your time broadcasting for the EU LCS, what moment stands out as your favorite? The warmth and excitement we’ve received from the fans when we took the EU show on the road definitely stands out, the Moscow, London, Tenerife and Paris shows immediately come to mind. On a more personal note, that moment I got to walk onto the stage of the Staples Center to talk to the crowd opening the season 3 World Championship finals, I still get goosebumps thinking about it. Twenty years from now, what’s your legacy in esports and League of Legends? I hope that in 20 years our show has evolved even more and what we are doing now as a production team is regarded as a base for even bigger productions and other huge sports productions get ideas from our shows and vice versa. I hope I am remembered as an objective sideline reporter and that I get to work behind the scenes helping to shape the shows of the future. Illustration via J. Longo

Russia's current military position in Ukraine is very exposed and has come at a great cost relative to its limited political gains. The strategic bastion of Crimea is defensible as an island but is subject to potential isolation. The position of Ukrainian separatists and their Russian backers in eastern Ukraine is essentially a large bulge that will require heavy military investment to secure, and it has not necessarily helped Moscow achieve its larger imperative of creating defensible borders. This raises the question of whether Russia will take further military action to secure its interests in Ukraine. To answer this question, Stratfor examined six basic military options that Russia might consider in addressing its security concerns in Ukraine, ranging from small harassment operations to an all-out invasion of eastern Ukraine up to the Dnieper River. We then assessed the likely time and forces required to conduct these operations in order to determine the overall effort and costs required, and the Russian military's ability to execute each operation. In order to get a baseline assessment for operations under current conditions, we initially assumed in looking at these scenarios that the only opponent would be Ukrainian forces already involved in the conflict. One of the most discussed options is a Russian drive along Ukraine's southern coast in order to link up Crimea with separatist positions in eastern Ukraine. For this scenario, we assumed that planners would make the front broad enough to secure Crimea's primary water supply, sourced from the Dnieper, and that the defensive lines would be anchored as much as possible on the river, the only defensible terrain feature in the region. This would in effect create a land bridge to secure supply lines into Crimea and prevent any future isolation of the peninsula. Russia would have to drive more than 400 kilometers (250 miles) into an area encompassing 46,620 square kilometers, establish more than 450 kilometers of new defensive lines, and subdue a population of 2 million.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A divided Supreme Court has put off the start of early voting in Ohio, which had been set to begin Tuesday. The justices' order by a 5-4 vote Monday granted a request from state officials, who have been trying to trim the number of days for early voting and restrict weekend and evening hours. The moves prompted a lawsuit from black churches and civil rights groups that the new rules would make it difficult for residents to vote, and disproportionately affect low-income and black voters. Early voting in the swing state now will start on Oct. 7, under a state law pushed by Republican lawmakers. A federal judge had blocked the law and also ordered Republican Secretary of State Jon Husted to set additional times that included evening hours. (Photo courtesy Getty Images)

Story highlights New trend in China: wearing plastic sprout hair clips It's unclear who started the fashion Sociologist says trend "enriches mundane life" and meaning doesn't matter Beijing (CNN) Sprouts, grass, and flowers are blossoming from Chinese people's heads -- and nobody quite knows why. We're referring, of course, to sprout hair clips -- a brand new Chinese fashion fad that seems to have grown organically out of the country's tourist spots, where men and women of all ages can be seen rocking the fake plastic plants. In Nanluoguxiang, an ancient stone lane in Beijing, vendors selling the clips are swarmed by excited tourists, who can't wait to take selfies with their new accessories. Yet nobody seems to know where the trend is originated from, according to an informal CNN street survey. Zhou Delai, a vendor holding a tray full of clips, told CNN the trend started in Beijing about two weeks ago. He says he sells 200 clips every three to four hours. Read More

HAGERSTOWN, MD - The BlueClaws scored four times in the eighth inning, taking the lead on a Carlos Duran RBI single, and then held off a Hagerstown rally in topping the Suns 6-5 on Monday night at Municipal Stadium. The BlueClaws four-run eighth inning started with a one-out single by Josh Tobias. With two outs, Damek Tomscha homered, his third of the year, to bring Lakewood within 4-3. Deivi Grullon doubled and Jan Hernandez entered as a pinch runner. Brendon Hayden doubled him in to tie the game, and Carlos Duran singled home Hayden to give the BlueClaws their first lead of the game. All four runs in the eighth were charged to Mick Van Vossen, who fell to 1-2. In the bottom of the ninth, Zach Morris allowed an RBI single to Ian Sagdal to make it a 6-5 game, but with runners on first and second, struck out Randy Encarnacion to end the game and pick up his third save of the year, all in the last five games. The win for the BlueClaws (3-2/32-42) is their first win in Hagerstown (4-1/47-28), snapping a six-game losing streak at Municipal Stadium. It was just the third game this year that the BlueClaws won in which they trailed entering the eighth inning. Josh Tobias had four hits for Lakewood and finished a home run shy of the cycle, singling in his last at bat. Wilson Garcia, Deivi Grullon, Brendon Hayden, and Carlos Duran all had two hits for the BlueClaws in the win. Sutter McLoughlin (1-1), who threw two scoreless innings in relief, earned his first win as a BlueClaw. Hagerstown opened the scoring with two runs in the third inning on a two-run home run by Telmito Agustin, his fourth home run of the season. He drove in Ian Sagdal, who had tripled to start the inning. The BlueClaws got a run back in the fourth on an RBI single by Wilson Garcia but left runners at second and third to end the inning. Then in the bottom of the fourth, Matthew Page's SAC fly made it 4-1 Suns. They added another run in the fifth when a throwing error on Emmanuel Marrero allowed Edwin Lora, who had doubled, to score from second when the BlueClaws threw behind him after a big turn around the bag, and threw it away, making it 4-1, though the lead would not last. The series continues on Tuesday night at 7:05 pm. RHP Alberto Tirado (0-0) starts for Lakewood against RHP Jefry Rodriguez (6-2). - BlueClaws -

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Scotland to reduce drink-drive limit The Scottish government has announced plans to reduce the country's drink-drive limit in time for Christmas. Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill has taken steps which, if approved by the Scottish Parliament, would mean a new limit being introduced on 5 December. Under the plans, Scotland's blood alcohol limit would be cut from 80mg to 50mg in every 100ml of blood. It would mean the legal limit in Scotland would be lower than in England - where the limit is 80mg in blood. The UK Department of Transport said there were no plans to alter the drink drive limit south of the border. In practice the change in Scotland could mean a glass of wine or a pint of beer would put a driver over the legal limit. Draft legislation has been laid before parliament, and will bring Scotland's legal alcohol limits in line with much of Europe. A public awareness campaign will warn drivers not to drink at all. Save lives Mr MacAskill said drinking and driving shattered families and communities, and that it was time to take action to reduce the risk on the country's roads. He told BBC Scotland the plans to change the drink-drive limit had "broad support". The justice secretary said: "The support comes not just from the police and law enforcement. It comes from those involved in road safety." Asked why the government didn't simply apply a zero tolerance approach, Mr MacAskill said: "There are reasons why individuals may have alcohol in their system. It is also quite clear at the 50 (mg) limit, that is when impairment begins to kick in." The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) welcomed the move, and called for the rest of the UK to follow suit. Drink-drive limit Image copyright PA The drink-drive limit in the UK is currently 80mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood. However - like Scotland - the limit in Northern Ireland could be reduced from 80mg in blood to 50mg as part of proposals included in the Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill. The bill is currently being considered by the Northern Ireland Assembly and could become law by early next year. A 50mg limit would mean an average man would be limited to just under a pint of beer or a large glass of wine and women to half a pint of beer or a small glass of wine. Sandy Allan, Rospa's Road Safety Manager in Scotland, said he believed the move would save lives and prevent injuries on Scotland's roads. He added: "There is a considerable body of research which shows that reducing drink drive limits is effective in reducing drink-drive deaths and injuries. We would like to see the rest of the UK follow Scotland's example." 'Blatantly blitzed' When asked about why a joint approach with the Westminster government on the issue was not agreed, Mr MacAskill said: "We did seek that, but it was the United Kingdom government that decided not to lower the limit despite, I think, a great deal of public support for it being lowered down there." The latest estimates are that approximately one in 10 deaths on Scottish roads involve drivers who are over the legal limit. Research has suggested that just one alcoholic drink before driving can make you three times as likely to be involved in a fatal car crash. However, speaking on BBC Radio Scotland, George Goldie from the Institute of Advanced Motorists, said he did not believe the change would improve road safety and he questioned the motivation behind it saying it would "increase income" gathered from fines. He added: "We have very few statistics, if any, to show how many accidents are caused by people who are marginally over the limit. Most of the accidents are caused by people who are blatantly blitzed. "I'm much more concerned about improving driving, as opposed to improving the one in 10. I am much, much more interested in improving the nine in 10." According to UK-wide figures from the Department of Transport, there were an estimated 6,680 road accidents involving illegal alcohol levels in 2012, making drink driving a factor in 4% of all accidents. 'Strengthening enforcement' In 2012, an estimated 230 people were killed in drink drive accidents in the UK - accounting for 13% of all reported road fatalities. These are the most up-to-date figures available. UK Road Safety Minister Robert Goodwill said tackling drink driving was a priority for the government at Westminster. He said ministers were "strengthening enforcement" by removing the automatic right for drivers who failed a breathalyser test to demand a blood test and by introducing mobile evidential breath testing equipment next year. However, he added: "We have no plans to alter the drink drive limit." The Scottish government previously announced its intention to reduce the limit following a consultation which found that almost three quarters of those who responded backed the move.

Lamar Smith Says 'Just Joking...' About Tomorrow; SOPA Markup Postponed from the and-there-it-goes dept Well, look at that. There's been a lot of back and forth over the past few days concerning whether or not Lamar Smith was serious about holding the continuation of the SOPA markup tomorrow morning. Many people believed he was bluffing just to piss off the anti-SOPA folks... and it appears that his bluff has been called. Smith has just announced that the continuation of the markup has been "postponed due to House schedule." In other words, see everyone next year on this... Either way, just saying that the markup was going to continue tomorrow was a pretty cheap political trick designed to piss off lots of people... and to avoid Smith's own promise that he'd actually take time to hear from technology experts on the subject of online security.: And just to continue the joke, we're now hearing rumors that they might try to schedule it.... I can't believe that Smith would be so politically crass, but it's not out of the realm of possibility, if Congress actually is in session next week to argue about other stuff that actually matters.: And now a Smith staffer says nothing scheduled for the rest of the year... Filed Under: copyright, lamar smith, markup, postponed, sopa

‘Most blessed Father,’ five international auditors wrote to Pope Francis on 27 June 2013, three months into his papacy, ‘there is an almost total lack of clarity in the accounts of both the Holy See and the Governorate.’ The letter goes on: This lack of clarity makes it impossible to establish a proper estimate of the real financial position of the Vatican, whether as a whole or with regard to the single elements of which it is made up. It also means that no one can really consider themselves responsible for its financial management. All we know is that the data we examined indicates a seriously negative trend and we deeply suspect that the Vatican as a whole has a serious structural deficit. Six days later the letter, which continues with some scathing criticism of the Curia’s administrators, was part of the documentation for an emergency meeting addressed by Pope Francis himself. In a move some complain is typical of his style of management, he used the occasion not to solicit advice, but to announce a decision he had already taken: the formation of an ad hoc committee to study the economic and administrative structure of the Vatican. Dubbed ‘Cosea’, the committee would have eight members, one of whom, Jean-Baptiste de Franssu (52, French), is now president of IOR, the Vatican bank, while another, Monsignor Lucio Balda (55, Spanish), is in a prison cell charged with leaking the documents that form the basis for the two books under review. Cosea lasted ten months, fighting an increasingly poisonous battle with the various elements of the Curia as it struggled to obtain the information that might afford a clearer picture of what goes on in the Vatican. Since the Curia was overwhelmingly Italian and clerical while seven of the eight-member Cosea were foreigners and five of them laypersons, misunderstandings were inevitable. To make matters worse, the one Italian on the commission was also the only woman (it’s surprising there was a woman at all), and probably the least likely to get on with the elderly cardinals and monsignors. Francesca Immacolata Chaouqui, born in Calabria to an Italian mother and a Frenchman of Moroccan descent, was just thirty at the time of her appointment, a PR expert with a degree in law and a remarkable ability for making influential friends. Pope Francis said recently that he isn’t quite sure how she came to be on the commission, but believes she was recommended by Monsignor Balda. Chaouqui is now charged along with Balda of leaking information to journalists, while the Vatican magistrates accusing her of this have made public some embarrassingly compromising text messages that the two exchanged while serving on the commission. ‘You need to fuck,’ Chaouqui writes in one message. And in another: ‘You should try my cousin. She’s squishy.’ It would be hard to imagine a better set-up for a soap opera. And harder still to work out from these two books whether the Vatican really is on the brink of bankruptcy or, on the contrary, swimming in cash. Emiliano Fittipaldi’s Avarizia opens with a description of an expensive lunch with two unnamed monsignors who have brought along a carload of documents but forgotten their wallets. Acting, they say, in support of the pope’s reforming mission, the clerics give Fittipaldi a list of all the things they feel the world and the pope should know about greed and corruption in the Vatican, a list that reads like an informal index to the book: certain cardinals’ wild spending on their lavish apartments; the hijacking of offerings to the poor for quite other ends; the tendency of priests and nuns to stash away any money that comes their way in tax havens; the difficulty getting IOR and Apsa (the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See, which administers the Vatican’s properties and investments) to conform to international anti-money-laundering regulations; the never-ending habit of giving jobs to relatives and friends even when there is no work to do; the transformation of the process of canonisation into a lucrative business; the exploitation of the Vatican’s tax-free status to sell cheap cigarettes, petrol, clothes and electronic goods to Italian citizens; the Curia’s investments in Exxon, Dow chemicals and other hardly virtuous multinationals etc, etc. Opening every chapter with a stern quotation – ‘Thou shalt not store up treasures on earth,’ ‘Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house’ – Fittipaldi explores these scandals one by one, quoting generously from the documents in his possession, a number of which he presents as facsimiles for the sake of authenticity. The anecdotes are endless: the monsignor who appropriates a room from the adjacent apartment of a poorer priest simply by knocking down the party wall while the other man is in hospital; the diplomat priest who takes advantage of the diplomatic bag to carry mafia money across the Swiss border; the organisation Propaganda Fide, instituted to evangelise the world, that spends relatively little on this mission while owning almost a thousand valuable properties in and around Rome, many of them rented way below market price to friends and favourites. It is striking how many Catholic organisations seem to do a whole range of lucrative things they were never set up to do, while still enjoying tax exemption as religious institutions. When priests in Salerno were granted €2.3 million of public money to build an orphanage in a depressed urban area, they built a luxury hotel instead. Found guilty of appropriating funds under false pretences in 2012, the archbishop of Salerno avoided punishment when the crime lapsed under the statute of limitations before his appeal could be heard. Others went to jail. Overall, however, it is Fittipaldi’s figures rather than his anecdotes that are most fascinating. For example, aside from its vast properties, four major hospitals and several universities, the Vatican possesses stocks and shares worth between €8 and €9 billion (Fittipaldi gives a map of its investments around the world). Real estate the Church owns in Italy is deliberately undervalued in order to lower property taxes (auditors estimated the property was worth four times the sums declared). Thanks to the fiscal law known as ‘otto per mille’, which allows Italian citizens to assign 0.8 per cent of income tax to a church of their choice, the Vatican receives about a billion euros a year in state aid (80 per cent of the total fund). Although the €40 million advertising campaign aimed at persuading taxpayers to opt for the Catholic Church focuses on its humanitarian work in the Third World, only 23 per cent of the money is spent on charity work, and the Church isn’t obliged to offer any public account of how it spends the money. Despite the success of its extraordinary museums (€58 million in profits in 2011), the Vatican earns more through the handful of ordinary shops that operate in its tiny territory: a petrol station, a pharmacy, a tobacconist’s, a supermarket (which sells electronic goods and clothes). According to treaty agreements between Italy and the Vatican, purchases at these shops are restricted to card-holding citizens of the Vatican (fewer than five hundred people), residents (another three hundred) and employees (2800). Yet the pharmacy alone turns over around €40 million a year, many times more than a regular Italian pharmacy. Sales figures from the other shops suggest that the Vatican’s citizens, mostly priests and nuns, smoke, drink and drive far more than any other population worldwide. In short, the restrictions are not respected: the shops in fact serve around 41,000 customers and the Italian state simply accepts the considerable loss in tax revenue. As the auditors commented, the income is welcome, but being responsible for unloading tax-free cigarettes on the Romans doesn’t help the Vatican’s image. Fittipaldi’s most curious section covers the process of sanctification, his most damaging the use of the so-called Obolo di San Pietro. In 1588 Pope Sixtus introduced a strict series of hurdles that have to be got over if a dead person is to be beatified and eventually canonised: in particular, one miracle has to be verified for beatification, two for canonisation. The case for sanctification has to be presented by a lawyer, or ‘postulator’, certified by the Vatican. Miracles – overwhelmingly healings – have to be demonstrated to be ‘true’ by having experts testify to the lack of any possible scientific explanation; all documentation, running in some cases to thousands of pages, has to be presented, and indeed published in Latin. In an attempt to keep the tradition alive, John Paul II encouraged communities to put forward candidates for sanctification. The 482 new saints announced during his long pontificate amounted to almost a quarter of all those canonised in the previous five hundred years. At present some three thousand cases are pending; each one takes many years and requires those proposing a candidate to choose a postulator and open a line of credit at the Vatican bank. The process will not reach a positive conclusion without hundreds of thousands of euros changing hands. Fittipaldi describes the case of the American TV preacher Fulton John Sheen, who died in 1979, which has been handled by the most prolific postulator, Andrea Ambrosi. Proceedings began in 2002 but Fittipaldi only has figures for 2008-13, during which time Sheen’s supporters spent more than €332,000, most of it going into Ambrosi’s pocket. ‘Perhaps it’s just coincidence,’ Fittipaldi remarks, ‘but the bills are always higher for the richer American churches.’ In one year translation expenses were €16,000 and publishing expenses €52,000 (Ambrosi owns a controlling stake in the Vatican publishing house that holds a monopoly on printing the postulators’ findings); in 2011 a two-man research trip to the US cost €13,000. Pope Francis has since warned Ambrosi to tighten his belt, while Sheen remains as yet unbeatified and his supporters frustrated. The Obolo di San Pietro, or Peter’s Pence, is a specific offering made to the pope by Catholics worldwide to support the Church’s mission in the world, specifically to assist the poor and needy. ‘The purpose of the Peter’s Pence Collection,’ the website of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops claims, ‘is to provide the Holy Father with the financial means to respond to those who are suffering as a result of war, oppression, natural disaster and disease.’ In 2013 the offering amounted to €78 million, of which, according to Fittipaldi’s documents, very little went to the poor, while a Peter’s Pence account in the Vatican bank holds €378 million (not cited on the Vatican’s balance sheet). Examining the situation, Moneyval, the Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures, concluded that most of the money that left the account ‘went on ordinary and extraordinary expenses of the Roman Curia’s various departments and institutions’. In fact, in 2013 running costs left the Vatican with a deficit of €77 million, which had to be covered from somewhere. * While Fittipaldi’s book deals in a rather fragmented way with these embarrassments, always acknowledging that Pope Francis appears determined to put the house in order, Gianluigi Nuzzi seeks to offer a narrative of the present papacy as a Via Crucis, the title of his book as it originally appeared in Italian. As well as documents, he has audio recordings of Cosea’s many meetings and even of the July 2013 meeting in which the pope announced its formation. Clearly someone had a recording device in his pocket. ‘There have been too many new jobs,’ Francis insists. ‘Something’s not right.’ He refers to the fact that many suppliers’ invoices are far higher than the original quote, and insists that in these cases ‘You don’t pay! … Even if it means putting the person asking in an embarrassing position, you don’t pay. Lord have mercy, you don’t pay.’ The emphatic, repetitive style, as if speaking to children, is recognisably the one we hear more or less daily on Italian radio and TV. In fact, the pope has made no attempt to deny that the contents of Nuzzi’s book are true, simply announcing to the faithful that they need not worry because he was already aware of these problems and well on the way to resolving them. However, the compelling logic of Merchants in the Temple is that the leaks occurred precisely because someone no longer believes that resistance to the pope’s reforms can be overcome, or not without the aid of a huge public scandal. The shenanigans Nuzzi recounts are many and complicated, but Pope Francis’s strategy is simple enough. Instead of replacing key personnel in the Vatican’s governing institutions, he has attempted to drain those institutions of power by calling in outside auditors and setting up new bodies to monitor them. In 2014 he created a new super-ministry for the economy as well as a new organisation, Vatican Asset Management, to handle all investments. On the evidence of the leaked documents, this approach has generated more heat than light and cost a great deal of money; the old institutions have successfully hung on to most of their power, the new bodies have not been as virtuous as hoped, and mud has been flung in all directions. Francis seems particularly poor at choosing his collaborators. The Australian cardinal George Pell, given the task of running the new ministry, had been in trouble on numerous occasions as archbishop of Melbourne for allegedly protecting paedophile priests, and has himself faced charges of paedophilia. How wise was it to appoint a man who was such an easy target for those he was supposed to discipline? And how wise was it of Pell to bring in a friend and adviser from Sydney on a salary of €15,000 a month tax free, spending €47,000 on furniture for his apartment, whose €2900 a month rent the Vatican was to pay? Nuzzi quotes from his documents even more liberally than Fittipaldi. Readers eager to know how to combine sycophancy with stonewalling will enjoy the letters in which Apsa interminably fobs off Cosea. Those who like to cultivate feelings of indignation will be pleasantly aghast to read the agreement between the Governorate (responsible for the day-to-day running of the Vatican) and Philip Morris in which the former contracts to do some merchandising for the latter. Connoisseurs of the grotesque will warm to the letter written by the secretary of the Governorate to Pell, soon after he was appointed to head the new super-ministry with a brief to cut spending and make the whole Vatican outfit more serious: Most Reverend Eminence, first of all may I beg you to accept my warmest congratulations for your appointment as Secretary for the Economy. Meantime, I am pleased to inform your eminence that the most eminent cardinals are eligible for the following concessions: the purchase of groceries in quantities compatible with your family requirements … at a discount of 15 per cent; a discount of 20 per cent on the list price [already tax free] of up to 200 packs of cigarettes of the 500 packs allowed on a monthly basis; a discount of 20 per cent on the list price of clothing items; an allowance of 400 litres of petrol on the following terms: a) 100 litres paid by the Vatican; b) 300 litres at a discount of 15 per cent on presentation of Cardinal Vouchers (the white ones), to be used inside the Holy See … While I remain at your service for every eventual elucidation, I am pleased to take this opportunity to assure you, in line with my most devoted respect for Your Most Reverend Eminence, that I remain your most devoted Fernando Vérgez Alzaga. If this is wonderfully Malvolio-esque, Nuzzi’s style in presenting his material is tiresomely sensationalist. Events are pronounced ‘unspeakable’ when everyone is speaking of them, ‘dramatic’ when they are played out on a daily basis, ‘unimaginable’ when it is all too easy to imagine them, indeed hard to imagine anything else. However, this has the advantage of making the auditors’ reports, quoted at length in footnotes, more attractive in their sobriety. Oddly, it is the auditors who give profundity to the book. It is they who suggest that it is inappropriate for a religious institution to be taking advantage of its tax-free status to attract Rome’s bargain hunters and hence that its shops should be closed; they who propose that the Vatican introduce a fiscal system in line with Italy’s in order to eliminate embarrassing temptations. Above all they are the ones who point to the need to make a sharp distinction between jobs for the laity and jobs for priests; it makes no sense, they observe, to encourage someone to take ordination so as to follow a career in banking. This appeal for clarity and proper demarcation goes to the heart of the Vatican’s peculiar status as both religious institution and political state. All the scandals Nuzzi and Fittipaldi list spring from the habit of blurring the temporal and the spiritual, of assuming that the awarding of sainthood requires a costly bureaucratic procedure, that priests can determine whether, in the eyes of God, a marriage has really been a marriage, or quantify penitence for every sin in the confession box. Pope Francis seems resolutely opposed to this accountant’s version of Christianity and the complacent, calculating mindset it invites. Sometimes ‘a completely orthodox manner of speaking’, he remarks in his Evangelii Gaudium, ‘does not correspond to the real Gospel of Christ’. Or again: ‘I prefer a Church that is battered, wounded, soiled, because it has been out there in the streets, rather than one that is sick because it has withdrawn in comfortable attachment to certain certainties.’ Not everyone is happy with this line. L’Espresso’s astute and influential Vaticanist, Sandro Magister, who is very much aligned with the old guard of the Italian Church, complains that in organising the present jubilee (a year in which forgiveness of sins is more generously available), the pope has entirely ignored the doctrine of purgatory and indulgences, though it is the hope for a plenary indulgence that has always spurred the faithful to come to the jubilee and pass through Rome’s four Holy Doors, opened only on these occasions. In fact attendance at the present jubilee is well down from John Paul II’s jubilee in 2000, something that a Vatican expert in Il Fatto Quotidiano attributes to the deliberate dissociation between Pope Francis and the Italian Church, such that he is immensely popular worldwide while church attendance in Italy continues to fall. The implication is that it was precisely the formal accountancy of traditional religious practice, the conviction that strict observance would be followed by rewards, that kept many Italians in church. * Those with a more international vision point out that for the first time Pope Francis allowed for the opening of so-called Holy Doors all over the world, thus removing the ‘need’ for a pilgrimage to Rome. Indeed, he inaugurated the jubilee in the Central African Republic, avoided any mention of indulgence and insisted instead on the nobler quality of mercy, which, we know, is ‘not strain’d’ by any calculation. And while in Europe church attendance dwindles and the number of priests has fallen 9 per cent in ten years, in Asia, Africa and South America the trend is upwards. As the writer Manlio Graziano has observed, the ‘charismatic shift’ Pope Francis is seeking to impress on the Church comes from his South American experience; his insistence on the ‘fruits of the spirit’ – joy, mercy, love, peace, benevolence, goodness, mildness – is essentially taken from the manner of the evangelical church, and was adopted in South America in a context of competition with the evangelicals for the hearts of the people. All this may be part of a general strategy of internationalisation, and in particular an attempt to reduce the influence of the Italian Church, held responsible for much of the corruption in the Vatican, but the fact remains that the Vatican is in Rome, and that as long as the Church hangs on to this handkerchief of temporal power, it is tied to Rome and locked into Italy and the Italian mindset, which is notoriously resistant to evangelical fervour, or indeed any spirituality cut loose from bureaucracy, which remains one of the country’s great passions. In this regard, Sandro Magister sees the pope’s revolutionary position on marriage as a test case for the success of his papacy. The pope has of course insisted on the sacredness of marriage, and continues to abhor divorce, but he has also publicly claimed that at least half the marriages celebrated in the Catholic Church are invalid and would be better annulled. In line with his belief that many are suffering in the prison of relationships that are not ‘real marriages’, he has proposed an extreme and ‘merciful’ liberalisation of the present procedure for annulment such that if both partners declare that the marriage never really was a marriage, then no further evidence is required. As Magister points out, aside from the obvious snub of publishing these proposals immediately before the General Synod of Bishops met to discuss the family in the modern world in October 2015, this begins to look very like secular divorce and risks causing huge confusion among the faithful as to what constitutes a marriage and proper behaviour. There is also the question of whether the Italian state would continue to recognise annulments if the rules governing them were to change so radically. Francesca Chaouqui is accused of among other things having tried to use her influence with the owner of L’Espresso to have Magister taken off the pope’s case. Since part of her job on Cosea was to suggest how to reform the Vatican’s media outlets (in 2010 Vatican Radio lost €26 million, while its newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, which employs 85 journalists for average daily sales below one thousand, lost €5 million), it’s understandable that the pro-Vatican media would be looking out for any chance to discredit her. Which brings us to the most intriguing aspect of these books: their very publication marks a turning point in the story they are telling. As we read of the growing tension between pope and Curia we realise that some major upset must have occurred to cause someone inside the Vatican to make so much explosive material available to the press, someone certainly opposed to the old guard, but perhaps not entirely convinced by Pope Francis either. And however much Nuzzi and Fittipaldi do or don’t know, they cannot give an account of that climactic turning point since it would involve revealing their sources and exposing them to eventual punishment. This is a disappointment, but has the advantage of turning readers towards the press as they seek to fill in the crucial gap. Balda has apparently confessed to the leaks, or some of them, but claims he operated under the besotting influence of Chaouqui. Chaouqui denies everything and claims Balda must have made these denigratory remarks under duress; he and others acted, she believes, in a last-ditch attempt to protect the reforms Cosea was designed to introduce. The pope meanwhile is caught between being a charismatic spiritual leader and the authoritarian head of a spendthrift, backward miniature state torn apart by internal divisions. He ‘has been told’, he says with ill-concealed embarrassment, that Balda leaked the information because when Cosea was wound up he didn’t get the appointment he was expecting in the new ministry for the economy. This is an unpleasant insinuation, awkwardly delivered. The pope has spoken of the trial as necessary because the leaks were ‘a crime’. But did the Vatican really need to bring criminal charges against the two Italian journalists as well as the whistle-blowers? For what exactly? Publishing information leaked to them? ‘I have not even been told what information,’ Fittipaldi claims, ‘and so can’t even begin to defend myself.’ In any event, the Vatican will not allow the journalists or Chaouqui, all Italian citizens, to use their own lawyers. From revolutionary reformer, Francis suddenly risks being seen as the Grand Inquisitor. On closing these books many readers will feel that the only way out of the Vatican impasse would be to wind up the territory’s anomalous statehood, hand it over to the Italian government and free the Church and above all Pope Francis to get on with their Christian mission. However, it is equally clear that this will never happen, if only because attachment to temporal power is so visceral. Many of the priests she met during her travels to the Third World, Chaouqui enthused on one of the many talk shows to have hosted her since the scandal exploded, were utterly devoted to charitable works, but those she encountered during her time at Cosea were mainly concerned with ‘defending the loot they had hidden under the sink’.

BEIJING (Reuters) – One of China’s most prominent Christian dissidents, Yu Jie, has gone into exile to the United States after he said he was tortured in a crackdown on dissent, he told Reuters on Friday. Yu said he would give a detailed account of abuse and beating he suffered in detention, probably when he testifies before a U.S. Congressional panel planned for next week. He said his treatment deteriorated sharply after his fellow dissident, Liu Xiaobo, won the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize. “My circumstances dramatically worsened, and I experienced extremely cruel torture,” Yu said by telephone from near Washington D.C. “A few days before the ceremony for awarding Liu Xiaobo the Nobel Prize, I was kidnapped and several people stripped me and beat me to the point where I collapsed and had to be taken to hospital to be saved,” he said. Afterwards, Yu said, he suffered from months of memory loss, sleeplessness and pain. “They were outraged about Liu Xiaobo receiving the prize, and vented their outrage on me. They believed that as one of his best friends, I shared a role in what he did,” he said. Liu was convicted in 2009 on charges of inciting subversion and sentenced to 11 years in jail. His jailing and the secretive house arrest of his wife Liu Xia, have become the focus of an international outcry over China’s punishment of dissent. China’s Communist Party is preparing for a leadership handover late this year, when its determination to fend off political challenges to its rule is likely to intensify. Yu’s testimony could focus attention on that crackdown ahead of a planned visit to the United States by Vice Premier Xi Jinping, who is likely to succeed Hu Jintao as president. “For the past year, for long periods I had no freedom and was under house arrest,” Yu told Radio Free Asia, in an interview published on its website (www.rfa.org) late on Thursday. “Without any freedom to express myself through writing and my freedom of religious belief, I’ve chosen to live elsewhere.” For much of 2011, Chinese police held hundreds of dissidents, activists and protest organizers in a crackdown when the Communist Party sought to prevent protests inspired by anti-authoritarian uprisings in the Arab world. Bookish-looking Yu, 38, has been among the most outspoken critics of the Communist Party’s controls on religion and expression. In 2006, he and two other dissidents met President George W. Bush in the White House. Yu’s writings have been banned from published in mainland China for over five years. But before that he drew nationwide attention as a member of a cohort of young essayists who challenged party-blessed orthodoxies. A Christian since 2002-2003, Yu has also criticized the government’s closures of “house churches” that refuse to accept official controls. Yu, who lived on the outskirts of Beijing, has continued publishing in Hong Kong and abroad, and in 2010 he issued a scathing condemnation of Premier Wen Jiabao, who has a reputation as one of the party’s most liberal leaders. Yu called him a “film idol” who failed to act on vows to promote rule of law and protect ordinary citizens’ welfare. “Before I left, a senior officer with state security told me that I’d be allowed to go to the United States and can return, but I should know that if I do things in the U.S. that they don’t like, they won’t let me back,” said Yu. Authorities had stopped him from meeting foreign reporters and diplomats before he left, he said. He was finishing writing a biography of Liu, he said. (Editing by Robert Birsel) Mochila insert follows … [Image via Shutterstock.]

West Bromwich Albion 0-4 West Ham United PL2 FT: So, with Blackburn drawing against Aston Villa, we leapfrog them into fifth, meaning we'll face Wolves away in the semi-final. Had Fulham not scored a late consolation at Wolves, we'd be making a third trip to Newcastle's St. James' Park... FT: That's how it's done! West Ham qualify for the Premier League 2 play-offs in style! 90+3: Blackburn have drawn with Villa! So, barring a four-goal swing in this one in one minute, West Ham are in the play-offs! 89: As things stand, the Hammers will finish fourth and face Newcastle away from home! Fulham are 4-0 down to Wolves, meaning West Ham would overtake the Craven Cottage side on goal difference, also leapfrogging Blackburn who are still being held by Villa. 87: Great stuff from the West Brom keeper! Knoyle plays a dangerous ball forward for JHI, and the stopper comes out to head clear! 81: Final change for the Hammers. Joe Powell is introduced and off comes Holland, who's been fantastic. 78: A fifth was close, just there! Hannam gets forward again, taking Samuelsen's pass in his stride, and squaring for Hector-Ingram. A defender *just* gets there first, though. 77: That change sees Samuelsen drop into the No10 role and sub Hector-Ingram leads the line. 76: Diangana, who's put in a great shift, is replaced by Jahmal Hector-Ingram. 74: Assuming we've done the job at the Hawthorns, all eyes are on Blackburn-Villa. 0-0 still with 15 left to play... 69: GOOOOOOOOAAAAAAALLLLLLLL!!!! It's four!!!! What a beauty this one is! Nathan Holland is allowed time and space to cross and Samuelsen converts his second with a superb diving header. Brilliant! 68: Albion make their third and final change with Callum Morton replacing Tahvon Campbell. 62: A super ball from Browne picks out Samuelsen in the box, but the Norwegian attempts to head at goal when he probably had enough time to bring it down. 60: It remains goalless at Ewood Park... 58: Lovely piece of skill from Samuelsen forces McCourt to make the challenge and the full-back is booked after committing a foul. 54: It looks as though it's like-for-like, with Browne sitting alongside Makasi. Not Browne's natural position, but he's shown this season he's a handful anywhere! 53: Sub now for West Ham. Marcus Browne comes into the game for Sylvestre, who received a couple of minutes' treatment moments ago. 52: Not too much action the opening seven minutes of the second half. That will suit West Ham. 47: A much brighter start by the hosts to the second half. Edwards has some space to run into and curls narrowly over from the edge of the box. 46: We're back underway. Another 45 like the first will do nicely! HT: It's goalless at half time between Blackburn Rovers and Aston Villa at Ewood Park, so the Hammers currently occupy the final Premier League 2 play-off spot. HT: It doesn't get much better than that! A sensational first half performance from the Hammers has them three up at the break. 43: Sylvestre on the ball, 35 yards out...why not?! The Swiss' powerful drive is batted out by Palmer. Great effort! 42: Albion put together a decent move and McCourt's deep cross is dangerous, but is cleared. West Ham deal with the resulting corner when Spiegel claims comfortably. 40: It's so nearly four. Samuelsen gets in behind but is then halted by a last ditch tackle. It comes to Kemp who curls about an inch or two wide of the far stick. 37: Not long to go in this first half and it couldn't have gone any better. What a performance so far from Westley's boys! 32: IT'S THREE!!!! Nathan Holland gets on the scoresheet and what a strike! Dan Kemp is fouled 25 yards from goal and Holland lines up the free-kick, curling into the top corner. What a goal!!! 28: Chance and it's almost an U23s debut to remember for Reece Hannam! Kemp slips in the attacking full-back who side foots just wide of the far post. Close! 27: To keep you updated with things from Ewood Park, it's currently 0-0 between the hosts and Aston Villa. As things stand, the Hammers will qualify for the play-offs. 25: It's whipped in with plenty of pace, but nobody is on the end of it. Goal kick. 24: Another free-kick in a dangerous area for the Hammers. Holland to take from the left... 23: What a start this has been by West Ham. West Brom were slow out the blocks and they've paid for it. It's been a masterclass by the visitors so far. 17: GOOOOALLL and it's two!!! Martin Samuelsen races down the right, cuts in onto his left and fires low under the keeper! A brilliant break and West Ham have some breathing space! 13: What a save that is! Raphael Spiegel stops Tulloch from point-blank range, sticking out a smart right leg. The cross in was flicked by Dec Rice, taking it away from debutant Reece Hannam and Tulloch found himself in a great position. Spiegel denies. 11: The lead looks to have given Terry Westley's men a great deal of confidence. The youngsters haven't been in the best of form but since taking the lead, they've controlled possession and look comfortable so far. Start as you mean to go on... 8: Well held. Spiegel saves with ease after Bradley struck with power from 25 yards. 6: West Brom go forward for the first time and win a set-piece in a good area, but Edwards lashes well over from the dead ball. No danger. 3: GOOOOOALLLLLLLL!!!!! We lead and it's Dan Kemp with the goal! Grady Diangana had a free-kick blocked by the wall and as it ballooned up in the air, the midfielder won his header and Kemp raced clear to finish with his right foot. Get in there! 2: It's been a very fast start from the Hammers and Dan Kemp has already got in behind on the right hand side. His dangerous cross was palmed away by Palmer - ironically - and West Brom clear though. 1: Tonight's mission is underway! COYI! 6:45pm: It's a sunny but cool evening in the midlands this evening and the Hammers are just about to head back into the dressing for one last chat with manager Terry Westley before they begin tonight's massive mission. 6:15pm: You can see how tight things are in the table below. Fulham have all but done enough in terms of their play-off spot, leaving just one more up for grabs. Blackburn face Villa, with both hoping for a win to get fifth-place, but the Hammers can also still finish there themselves. West Bromwich Albion: Palmer, Melbourne, McCourt (Wilding 63), Chambers, Howkins, O'Shea, Tulloch (Soleman 46), Bradley, Francis, Edwards, Campbell (Morton 68). Subs not used: Pierce, House. Bookings: McCourt 58, Bradley 75 PL2: Spiegel, Knoyle, Rice, Akinola, Hannam, Makasi, Sylvestre (Browne 53), Kemp, Diangana (Hector-Ingram 76), Holland (Powell 81), Samuelsen. Subs not used: Forde, Wells. Goals: Kemp 3, Samuelsen 17, 69, Holland 32 6pm: Good evening! We take on West Bromwich Albion in a crucial final Premier League 2 clash this evening at the Hawthorns as we chase the final play-off spot in the division. Tonight, we hope Blackburn Rovers drop points when they take on Aston Villa and we take all three points away from the midlands to qualify for the top five and have a stab at promotion. It's a huge evening. Team news to follow shortly.

The I-96 construction project is ahead of schedule. Jeff Horne, a transportation engineer for thesaid Friday that the department anticipates reopening I-96 as soon as late September. The scheduled completion date had been Oct. 11. “There is still a lot of work left to do so it’s difficult to pinpoint a date, but all indications at this time point to an early opening,” Horne said. The construction project has closed the seven-mile stretch of I-96 from Telegraph Road to Newburgh Road since April to bring the freeway up to current safety standards, which includes road restructuring, and repairing 37 bridges and on and off ramps. Funding for the $148 million project has been 80 percent from federal sources and 20 percent from the state, 12.5 percent of which is paid for by the city of Livonia. The main contractor for the project is Shelby Township-based, who has hired more than 35 subcontractors to work on the project. Horne said contractors will receive a $150,000 bonus daily up to $4.5 million if they finish early, and if it takes longer to finish, contractors will be penalized the same amount daily for an unlimited amount of days. For details about the construction project including alternative routes visit www.96fix.com Anjana Schroeder: [email protected] Twitter: @anjanaschroeder

Video: Illini scrapbook: The legend of Dee Brown » more Videographer: Mike Pearson No. 11 did wonderful things in his four years at Illinois, including a magical run to the 2005 Final Four. Questions? Ask 'em here CHAMPAIGN — Part of John Groce’s opening statement at Illinois basketball media day Friday was a note on the unavailability of his assistant coaches, who had recruiting commitments with a prospect on campus. Groce also mentioned Dee Brown would not be available. “He’s dealing with some personal matters, and we want to give him his privacy and space at this time out of respect for Dee,” the Illini coach told the assembled media Friday afternoon. Three days later, Brown had stepped away from the Illinois basketball program, resigning his position as director of player development and alumni relations and citing personal reasons in a series of tweets. “Friends/Followers- I know you’ve haven’t heard from me in a while,” Brown’s tweets began. The active social media user had just four retweets from Oct. 1 until Monday’s tweets. “I’ve been dealing with some personal issues that have weighed heavily on me,” Brown’s tweets continued. “After much thought, I’ve made the tough decision to leave my position. I will always have love for my school and basketball program. “I have grown so close to the coaches and players and want nothing more than to see them have a successful season. I hope everyone understands this can be a difficult time for my family right now. We thank you in advance for respecting our privacy. Thanks for your support and love. I-L-L Go Illini!” Brown returned to Champaign in July 2015 after the conclusion of his professional basketball career to serve as special assistant to then-athletic director Mike Thomas. He transitioned to his role on Groce’s coaching staff in April of this year and was receiving a $200,000 salary. A statement from first-year Illinois athletic director Josh Whitman officially announcing Brown’s resignation was released at the same time Brown started tweeting. “For reasons that are personal to him, Dee Brown has decided to step down from his role with our program,” Whitman’s statement read. “We respect his decision and his privacy and will have no additional comment. Beginning with his time as one of the great student-athletes in our history and continuing in the years since, Dee has remained steadfast in his passion for the Fighting Illini. We look forward to Dee’s ongoing support in the years ahead and wish him nothing but the best.” Brown earned Illinois Mr. Basketball honors at Proviso East and was the 2002 News-Gazette All-State Player of the Year. Illinois went 114-23 in four seasons with Brown in the starting lineup and reached the 2005 NCAA championship game. Brown was the 2005 Sporting News Player of the Year and the 2006 Bob Cousy Award winner as the nation’s top point guard. Brown’s addition to the Illinois basketball staff was seen as a serious boon for the Illini and was already paying dividends in recruiting. “The guy’s a comedian,” Class of 2017 point guard Trent Frazier told The News-Gazette when he committed in August. “He’s funny and outgoing, and spending a lot of time with him (during a visit) really felt special.” “It’s appealing to a young guy,” Frazier’s high school coach, Matt Colin, added about having Brown on the extended coaching staff. “Here’s this former All-American, and he’s someone Trent can really look up to as a big brother. He’s got a guy on campus he can go to at any time or any hour, and that guy’s going to have his back.” Attempts by the News-Gazette to reach Brown were unsuccessful. Groce declined comment through team spokesman Derrick Burson.

While Russia is on a land-grabbing binge, South Ossetia hopes Moscow will not forget about its aspirations, too. The region’s separatist leadership is drawing up an agreement meant to insert the disputed territory into the Russian Federation. The agreement is influenced by a recent integration plan that Moscow offered to South Ossetia’s separatist twin, Abkhazia, but reportedly goes far beyond it. Both regions maintain de-facto independence from Georgia and almost existentially rely on backing from Russia. Abkhazia, however, insists on some ground rules in its relationship with Moscow, such as keeping space for sovereignty. Many Abkhaz construed Russia’s recently proposed Agreement on Alliance and Integration as a plan for creeping annexation. The region’s separatist parliament, reworked the accord and came up with its own draft, renamed the Agreement on Strategic Partnership. The particulars of the changes made by the Abkhaz remain under wraps, but, reportedly, they took out the clause on bilateral simplification of naturalization of each other’s citizens. Also, reportedly, axed was the most contentious part that proposed to allow Russians to take the command of a joint military force in times of war in Abkhazia. But if the Abkhaz found the Russian integration plan overbearing, the South Ossetians believe that such a deal would not be going far enough. “The version of the agreement, which is being prepared for signing between Russia and Abkhazia, would not reflect all the yearnings of the South Ossetian people, their aspirations for the Russian Federation,” said the region’s de-facto parliamentary speaker, Anatoly Bibilov. Apparently sensing that there’s no time like the present, he noted that the South Ossetian accord will be ready by year’s end. Georgia, which hopes to regain control over the two regions and bring hundreds of thousands of displaced ethnic Georgians back to their homes, is watching with alarm what it sees as Moscow moving pieces around on its territory. In the latest attempt to lure the separatists back into the fold, Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili offered the two regions a broad autonomy and sharing of the prospective benefits of Georgia’s integration with the European Union. Both Abkhazia and South Ossetia dismissed the offer as being out of touch. Georgia’s Reforms Associates, a Saakashvili-friendly, Tbilisi-based think-tank led by former officials, called on the Georgian government to come-up with an “anti-annexation” strategy. To counter the continued Russian takeover of Georgia’s de-jure territories, the group recommended Tbilisi taking Russia to international courts, launching a vocal and consistent diplomatic campaign for international sanctions and using Georgia’s leverage as a World Trade Organization member to try block Russia’s policies toward the two regions. Georgia held a National Security Council meeting on October 28 to discuss what tactic to adopt toward Russia's Abkhazia plans, but no official sign that any of these ideas might be in the works.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - A Russian court on Wednesday sentenced a blogger to five years in jail for what it said was his extremist activity on the Internet after he urged people to attend a protest against high transport fares and criticized Russian intervention in Ukraine. Vadim Tyumenstev, 35, from the Siberian region of Tomsk, was also banned from using the Internet for three years in a case which Russian human rights activists said violated his rights to a proper defense. Tyumentsev irked local authorities in Tomsk with a series of blogs in which he accused them of corruption and incompetence. He had also sharply criticized pro-Kremlin separatists in eastern Ukraine, saying he did not see why ordinary Russians should go and fight with them. A statement from Tomsk's regional court said Tyumentsev had urged people to overthrow the authorities, a reference to an appeal he made for people to attend an unsanctioned meeting to protest against a hike in local bus fares. He had also urged people to take hostile action against Ukrainian refugees, the court said, referring to a video in which he complained about their presence in Tomsk and said they should be deported. Footage of the sentencing showed Tyumentsev, clad in a thick gray sweater, standing in a courtroom cage making notes as he listened to the verdict. He said he would appeal. Sign up for daily Foreign Desk updates By signing up, you agree to receive emails from The Foreign Desk. The Memorial human rights group said the jail sentence was "outrageous" and called for the verdict to be overturned. Pavel Pryanikov, a prominent Russian blogger, said the verdict recalled the excesses of the Stalin era and such behavior should not be a criminal offense. "We have quietly returned to Stalinist sentencing for 'thought crimes'," he wrote. (Reporting by Andrew Osborn and Denis Dyomkin; Editing by Richard Balmforth)

Everything you need to know about the descent of the conservative movement into a hypocritical caricature is illustrated by two of its proudest constituencies: Republican deficit hawks and so-called "born again virgins." Having already violated the moral strictures they claim to hold dearest, each now asks the American people to join them in pretending their sin never happened. But unlike a generation of Republican leaders who built a mountain of national debt for the United States, the secondary virgins only screwed themselves. The Republicans' shameless cynicism was perfectly captured by Vice President Dick Cheney, who in 2002 proclaimed, "Reagan proved deficits don't matter." Not, that is, if a Republican is in the White House. But when Barack Obama stepped into the Oval Office and the $1.2 trillion deficit George W. Bush left for him there, the GOP quickly changed its tune. While the national debt tripled under Ronald Reagan and doubled again under President Bush, House Minority Leader John Boehner in February decried the $787 billion emergency economic recovery spending as "one big down payment on a new American socialist experiment." By June, Boehner warned of the "crushing debt Washington Democrats are running up." And Senator Judd Gregg (R-NH), Obama's aborted choice for Commerce Secretary, slapped the President last month, "we're basically on the path to a banana-republic-type of financial situation in this country." And, Gregg added: "You can't keep throwing debt on top of debt." Of course, throwing debt on top of debt is precisely what Gregg and his GOP allies have done for over a generation. The Republicans' fiscal rot didn't begin with George W. Bush, but with Ronald Reagan. It was the legendary Gipper whose financial recklessness and tax-cutting fetish came to define the modern GOP. The numbers tell the story. As predicted, Reagan's massive $749 billion supply-side tax cuts in 1981 quickly produced even more massive annual budget deficits. Combined with his rapid increase in defense spending, Reagan delivered not the balanced budgets he promised, but record-settings deficits. Even his OMB alchemist David Stockman could not obscure the disaster with his famous "rosy scenarios." Forced to raise taxes twice to avert financial catastrophe (a fact conveniently forgotten in the conservative hagiography of Reagan), the Gipper nonetheless presided over a tripling of the American national debt. The $998 billion debt he inherited in 1981 exploded to $2.9 trillion by the end of his second term. By the time he left office in 1989, Ronald Reagan equaled the entire debt burden produced by the previous 200 years of American history. For his part, George H.W. Bush hardly stemmed the flow of red ink. And when Bush the Elder broke his "read my lips, no new taxes" pledge to address the cascading budget shortfalls, his own Republican Party turned on him. While Bush's apostasy helped ensure his defeat by Bill Clinton, it was Clinton's 1993 deficit-cutting package (passed without a single GOP vote in either house of Congress) which helped usher in the surpluses of the late 1990's. Alas, they were to be short-lived. Inheriting a federal budget in the black and CBO forecast for a $5.6 trillion surplus over 10 years, President George W. Bush quickly set about dismantling the progress made under Clinton. Bush's $1.4 trillion tax cut in 2001, followed by a second round in 2003, accounted for the bulk of the yawning budget deficits he produced. Like Reagan and Stockman before him, Bush resorted to the rosy scenario to claim he would halve the budget deficit by 2009. Before the financial system meltdown last fall, Bush's deficit already reached $490 billion. (And even before the passage of the Wall Street bailout, Bush had presided over a $4 trillion increase in the national debt, a staggering 71% jump.) By this January, the mind-numbing deficit figure reached $1.2 trillion, forcing President Bush to raise the debt ceiling to $11.3 trillion. But despite studies showing that the payday for the richest Americans accounted for half of the mushrooming budget deficits of the Bush years, Judd Gregg in an interview with Forrest Sawyer on PBS Frontline tried to maintain the tried and untrue GOP talking point that tax cuts produce revenue gains for the Treasury: SAWYER: Way back in 2000, there were surpluses projected, and that had come after some good luck with the economy and some hard work. And then came along this massive tax cut. Was that in retrospect a mistake? GREGG: No, absolutely not. The surpluses that were projected weren't lost because of the tax cut. They were lost because of...the fact that we went into a recession as a result of 9/11 and the Internet bubble bursting...much like the real estate bubble we are going through today...The surpluses which we were running, which we thought we were going to run for a long time, simply weren't realized as a result of those two events. Sadly for Gregg, his revisionist history is both transparent and wrong. As David Leonhardt documented in the New York Times in June, "President Obama's agenda, ambitious as it may be, is responsible for only a sliver of the deficits, despite what many of his Republican critics are saying." (Click to see the full image.) In that jaw-dropping chart illustrating how today's trillion-dollar deficits were created, the Times concluded that even before the Bush recession commenced in December 2007, Dubya's dangerously irresponsible tax cuts and unfunded spending produced an ocean of red ink that dwarfed the impact of President Obama's stimulus and other spending programs: "The economic growth under George W. Bush did not generate nearly enough tax revenue to pay for his agenda, which included tax cuts, the Iraq war, and Medicare prescription drug coverage." Looking at the fiscal year 2009 data, former Reagan Treasury official Bruce Bartlett three weeks ago destroyed the mythology of the born again Republican deficit hawks: Now let's fast forward to the end of fiscal year 2009, which ended on September 30. According to CBO, it ended with spending at $3,515 billion and revenues of $2,106 billion for a deficit of $1,409 billion. To recap, the deficit came in $223 billion higher than projected [in January], but spending was $28 billion and revenues were $251 billion less than expected. Thus we can conclude that more than 100 percent of the increase in the deficit since January is accounted for by lower revenues. Not one penny is due to higher spending. It should be further noted that revenues are lower to a large extent because of tax cuts included in the February stimulus. According to the Joint Committee on Taxation, these tax cuts reduced revenues in FY2009 by $98 billion over what would otherwise have been the case. This is important because the Republican position has consistently been that tax cuts and only tax cuts are an appropriate response to the economic crisis... I think there are grounds on which to criticize the Obama administration's anti-recession actions. But spending too much is not one of them. Indeed, based on this analysis, it is pretty obvious that spending - real spending on things like public works - has been grossly inadequate. The idea that Reagan-style tax cuts would have done anything is just nuts. And to be sure, making the Bush tax cuts permanent would make the federal government's fiscal picture worse - much worse. As the AP detailed in October, continuing President Bush's massive tax windfall for the wealthiest Americans who need it least constitutes a grave threat to the nation's fiscal stability: No doubt, the announcement this week that the monthly deficit for October reached a record $176 billion is a stark reminder of the dark clouds hanging over the U.S. budget. But given the magnitude of the economic downturn gripping the United States, deficit cutting will have to wait. As for what shape that will take, the early signs are not promising. President Obama is said to be investigating a freeze of domestic spending in next year's budget, and may even advocate a 5% cut. But if that sounds like a warmed over version of Congress' Gramm-Rudman monstrosity of the Reagan years, the calls from some moderate Senate Democrats like Evan Bayh (D-IN) to outsource responsibility by creating a "deficit commission" is even worse. As the New York Times groused in March 1989, President George H.W. Bush tried that something like that, too: The National Economic Commission's majority report on balancing the budget is a shamelessly superficial summary of President Bush's proposals. It endorses them all and rejects higher taxes. A minority report by six Democrats is more analytical and more critical of Mr. Bush. But it ducks the tax question, too. The enterprise thus ends, just as Mr. Bush had hoped, as a bipartisan flop. Of course, President Obama is unlikely to follow in Bush 41's footsteps, who "scorned the commission publicly." In addition to pushing for the savings contained in the health care reforms now before Congress, Obama is more likely to back a package of entitlement reforms, spending cuts and tax increases. (Whether the President ultimately reverses course on his campaign promise not to raise taxes on those households earning less $250,000 a year, post-recession budgetary realities may off him no alternative.) As for the Republicans, their formula is more of the same dogma that produced the deficit catastrophe in the first place. Butchering history and the truth, Sarah Palin regurgitated the Republican recipe in Hong Kong and (in almost identical language) in her book: Ronald Reagan, he was faced with an even worse recession, and he showed us how to get out of here. If you want real job growth, you cut taxes! And you reduce marginal tax rates on all Americans. Cut payroll taxes, eliminate capital gain taxes and slay the death tax, once and for all. Get federal spending under control, and then you step back and you watch the U.S. economy roar back to life. But it takes more courage for a politician to step back and let the free market correct itself than it does to push through panicky solutions or quick fixes. Then again, Sarah Palin is also among the ranks of Republican crusaders for abstinence-only education. Her daughter, a poster child for its failure, has emerged an ambassador of sorts for teen abstinence despite her belief that "it's not realistic at all." Neither is believing born again Republican deficit hawks. UPDATE: Almost on cue, Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) this week offered a comical response to President Obama's plans for post-recession deficit cutting. Boehner, who voted for the Bush tax cuts and the unfunded Medicare prescription drug program in 2003, claimed, "Washington Democrats' so-called 'war on deficits' is about a year late and more than a trillion dollars short."

Photo: Skip Bolen/2011 Skip Bolen Photo: Skip Bolen/2011 Skip Bolen When we asked Girl Talk mastermind Gregg Gillis to put together his ultimate summer playlist, he immediately thought of a party he went to last year. “My friend Lord Grunge from the rap group Grand Buffet had this cookout,” he remembers. “People were drinking all day, relaxing, listening to tunes. At night, it got crazy, and by noon the next day we were all swimming in the pool and trashing his kitchen.” Gillis is just coming off the raucous Governors Ball Music festival, so we asked him for something a bit mellower. “At the Girl Talk show, people really want to rage,” he said, “but here I was thinking more about what you want to listen to while hanging out on your porch all afternoon.” Summer is all about ease, so Gillis has taken care of your summer soundtrack: queue these up, hit shuffle, and warm up the grill. (And then go download last year’s summer mix, from Danger Mouse.) Aaliyah, “Try Again” Aerosmith, “Sweet Emotion” Alice Cooper, “School’s Out” Alicia Keys, “Unbreakable” America, “Sister Golden Hair” Amerie, “1 Thing” Annie, “Heartbeat” The Apples in Stereo, “Tidal Wave” Ash, “Goldfinger” A Tribe Called Quest, “Electric Relaxation” Baby ft. Clipse, “What Happened to That Boy” Anita Baker, “Sweet Love” Bananarama, “Cruel Summer” David Banner ft. Lil Flip, “Like a Pimp” Beach Boys, “Feel Flows” The Beatles, “Here Comes the Sun” Beyonce ft. Bun B and Slim Thug, “Check on it” Big Boi ft. Gucci Mane, “Shine Blockas” Big Tymers, “Oh Yeah!” Blue Öyster Cult, “Don’t Fear the Reaper” Blur, “Boys and Girls” Boards of Canada, “In a Beautiful Place Out of the Country” Bone Thugs-N-Harmony ft. Eazy-E, “Foe tha Love of Money” The Breeders, “No Aloha” Joe Budden, “Pump It Up” Bobby Caldwell, “What You Won’t Do for Love” Camp Lo, “Luchini AKA This Is It” Cam’ron, “Hey Ma” Mariah Carey, “Shake It Off” The Cardigans, “Lovefool” Carl Carlton, “She’s a Bad Mama Jama” The Cars, “Let the Good Times Roll” The Chairman of the Board, “Give Me Just a Little More Time” Chicago, “Saturday in the Park” Da Backwudz, “You Gonna Luv Me” Daft Punk, “Digital Love” DeBarge, “Rhythm of the Night” De La Soul, “Stakes Is High” DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, “Summer Time” “If people end up dancing, no, I won’t be pissed. It’s all good!” DMX, “Ruff Ryders’ Anthem” The Doobie Brothers, “What a Fool Believes” Dr. Dre, “Let Me Ride” Earth Wind & Fire, “Fantasy” Electric Light Orchestra, “Sweet Talkin’ Woman” Missy Elliott, “Pass That Dutch” “Maybe only 10 to 15 percent of these — like this track or the new Lil Wayne, ‘6 Foot 7 Foot’ — I’ve used either on an album or in a live show.” Fleetwood Mac, “Dreams” Fountains of Wayne, “Sink to the Bottom” The Game ft. 50 Cent, “Hate It or Love It” The Gap Band, “Outstanding” Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, “Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing” Ghost Town DJ’s, “My Boo” Grateful Dead, “Touch of Grey” Guided by Voices, “Game of Pricks” “On the tour bus, people will be passing around the iPod, and there’s a feeling of ‘Oh, man, no one thought he’d put this on’ or ‘What is this again!?’ That sensation is also important for a tight summer mix.” Daryl Hall and John Oates, “I Can’t Go for That (No Can Do)” Harvey Danger, “Flagpole Sitta” The Honey Cone, “Girls It Ain’t Easy” Hot Boys, “We On Fire” Huey Lewis & the News, “If This Is It” “Girl Talk is heavily influenced by American radio culture. Classic songs that weren’t necessarily huge but that have carried on — songs you’re always hearing in the grocery store.” R. Kelly, “Step in the Name of Love” Len, “Steal My Sunshine” Ice Cube, “It Was a Good Day” Jackson Browne, “Somebody’s Baby” The Jackson Five, “It’s Great to Be Here” Janet Jackson, “When I Think of You” Jadakiss ft. Styles P, “We Gonna Make It” Jane’s Addiction, “Jane Says” Jade, “Don’t Walk Away” Jay-Z ft. Foxy Brown, “Sunshine” Billy Joel, “It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me” Juelz Santana, “Oh Yes” Junior M.A.F.I.A., “Player’s Anthem” Junk Culture, “West Coast” Kelis, “Milk Shake” Killer Mike ft. Big Boi, “A.d.i.d.a.s.” “I’d almost forgotten about this one, which came out in the early 2000s. There’s so many feel-good hip-hop songs from the last ten years that came and went. You never hear them, but they’re classics.” Level 42, “Something About You” Lil Flip, “This Is the Way We Ball” Lil Kim, “Lighters Up” Related: Danger Mouse Gives Vulture His Endless Summer Playlist Ludacris, “Saturday (Ooh! Oooh! Oh!)” LL Cool J, “Around the Way Girl” “There’s songs on here where it’s like ‘Ooooh, yeah, I haven’t heard this one in ten years, but this was the jam in 1993.’ Or 2002, or whatever.” Cheryl Lynn, “Got to Be Real” Manfred’s Mann’s Earth Band, “Blinded by the Light” Martha Reeves & the Vandellas, “(Love Is Like a) Heat Wave” Masta Ace, “Born to Roll” Michael McDonald, “Sweet Freedom” MGMT, “Congratulations” Kylie Minogue, “Love at First Sight” µ-Ziq, “Brace Yourself (Remix)” Nas, “Memory Lane (Sittin’ in da Park)” Naughty by Nature, “Feel Me Flow” Next, “Too Close” Nirvana, “Molly’s Lips” The Notorious B.I.G., “Juicy” “These songs were designed to work in the daylight hours but can still be effective when it gets dark and people start partying a little harder.” Outkast, “Ms. Jackson” Freda Payne, “Band of Gold” P.Diddy, “Bad Boy for Life” Pastor Troy, “Are We Cuttin’?” Pavement, “Range Life” CeCe Peniston, “Finally” Katy Perry, “Teenage Dream” Peter Bjorn and John, “Amsterdam” The Pharcyde, “Runnin” Phoenix, “If I Ever Feel Better” The Pixies, “Here Comes Your Man” Prefuse 73, “Nuno” Billy Preston, “Nothing From Nothing” Raekwon ft. Ghostface, Cappadona, and Method Man, “Ice Cream” Smokey Robinson, “Crusin’” Tommy Roe, “Dizzy” Diana Ross, “Stoney End” Rufus ft. Chaka Khan, “Sweet Thing” Scarface, “On My Block” Seals and Crofts, “Summer Breeze” Shawty Lo, “They Know [Dey Know]” Paul Simon, “You Can Call Me Al” Sly & the Family Stone, “Hot Fun in the Summertime” Smashing Pumpkins, “1979” Snoop Dogg ft. Pharrell, Uncle Charlie Wilson, “Beautiful” Sonic Youth, “100%” Soulja Boy Tell’em, “Donk” Spinners, “I’ll Be Around” Squarepusher, “My Red Hot Car” Stardust, “Music Sounds Better With You” Starr, “Twenty Five Miles” Steve Miller Band, “Swingtown” Stone Temple Pilots, “Big Bang Baby” The Strokes, “Hard to Explain” “This weekend, we played one of my mixes before we went onstage. I was eager to see how the crowd reacted because some of it was on this playlist — selecting songs to hear is so different from sampling. But they were way into it!” Superdrag, “Sucked Out” Swing Out Sister, “Breakout” “I love stuff like this: There’s that kind of eighties music that’s hard to describe, it’s a little funky, it sometimes has horns, it relates to Lionel Richie’s ‘All Night Long.’” Supergrass, “Alright” SWV, “Right Here” 10cc, “I’m Not in Love” “This is one of my favorite songs, one that doesn’t find a place in anything I do, so I’m psyched to include it.” T.I., “Why You Wanna” That Dog, “Never Say Never” Three 6 Mafia, “Stay High” Trick Daddy, “I’m a Thug” Thunderclap Newman, “Something in the Air” TLC, “Waterfalls” Max Tundra, “Which Song” 2pac, “I Get Around” U.G.K. ft. OutKast, “International Player’s Anthem” Waka Flocka Flame ft. Kebo Gotti, “Grove St. Party” Weezer, “In the Garage” Matthew Wilder, “Break My Stride” Bill Withers, “Lovely Day” “Over half of these songs you would like to party to, and the other half are songs you relax to. That’s the essence of summertime — you can be sitting around drinking beer outside or you can be up celebrating.” Wiz Khalifa, “The Thrill” Stevie Wonder, “Living for the City” Xscape, “Just Kickin’ It” “There are so many of those nineties feel-good R&B tracks, and this one is the top to me.” Wreckx-N-Effect, “Rumpshaker” Yg, “Toot It and Boot It” Yo La Tengo, “Season of the Shark” Young Gunz, “Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop” Young Jeezy, “Go Crazy” Zhane, “Hey Mr. DJ” We’ve also assembled all of the songs into four alphabetical YouTube playlists if you want to score your barbecue directly from Vulture. Just hit play and get grilling: Related: Danger Mouse Gives Vulture His Endless Summer Playlist

Finnish Prime Minister Juha Sipila leaves after an EU summit on the refugee crisis, Brussels, 16th October 2015. ©AP, Martin Meissner The Finnish Centre Right Prime Minister has proposed replacing all its means tested welfare programmes with a Basic Income Guarantee giving every citizen 800 euros a month. Although the details still remain to be worked out and the plan is far from certain, over 68 per cent of Finns already support the idea. Forty-six years since Richard Nixon proposed it to Congress (it passed the House, but died in committee in the Senate), the Basic Income Guarantee is back in the news. Last year, over 130,000 Swiss signed a petition demanding a Basic Income Guarantee that would grant every citizen 2,500 Swiss Francs a month (£21,000 a year). According to a recent poll 49 per cent of the Swiss support the programme and a referendum on Basic Income will be on the ballot in Switzerland within the year. Although it comes in a variety of flavours, the essential principle is straightforward. A Basic Income Guarantee replaces all means tested benefits with a simple monthly cash payment to all citizens. Everybody gets it: you don’t have to be deserving, or unemployed, or even poor. Supporters for the idea of a basic income come from both left and right. Milton Friedman and Friedrich Hayek both were fans. Conservatives like it because it fights poverty without enlarging the nanny state. It also avoids the distortion to incentives inevitable with most means tested programmes. Sam Bowman of the Adam Smith Institute notes that the current welfare system creates “situations where people are better off out of work or taking fewer hours of work. The Basic Income Guarantee eliminates most of those perverse incentives while still providing a safety net for the poor.” Read more on income inequality: How Corbynomics could work Workers vs pensioners: the battle of our time What we should really do about inequality What should Labour’s economic policy look like? Community organiser and Basic Income advocate Barb Jacobson agrees. “The marginal tax rate for benefits ranges from 75-98 per cent, which is where the poverty trap originates—it is often not worth getting a job.” She adds, “Conservatives like the idea of getting rid of the Byzantine bureaucracy of most state benefit systems, progressives like the prospect of ending poverty, and the shame of means-testing. Both, I think, are attracted to the prospect of freedom which Basic Income holds for most people.” Opponents of Basic Income fear that it will destroy incentives to work. Jacobson doesn’t think so. “People need money in order to be able to work. If you haven’t food, a stable place to live, clothes, transport—and, increasingly, access to the Internet—it is impossible either to find or hold down a job.” A recent experiment in rural India suggests she might be right. In eight villages, every inhabitant was given 200 rupees a month (around £2) for 18 months. Compared to the control group, both economic growth and paid employment increased. Childhood nutrition and school attendance also improved. Money in their pocket liberated villagers, giving them the freedom to find better paying work. Bowman suggests the difference between conservative and progressive advocates of Basic Income is in the size of the grant. “The left typically [wants] it to be high enough for someone to be able to live on it reasonably comfortably, the right typically [wants] it to be low enough that people can survive on it but are still going to find work attractive. What we need to do is find the optimal level where people are able to survive when they’re out of work and to live decently when they’re in low-paid work.” All well and good but can we afford it? When the Green Party advocated a BIG of £72 a week during the last general election, its leader Natalie Bennett stumbled badly when asked how she planned to pay for it. She should have done better. The Citizens Income Trust has shown that by eliminating all welfare payments and the personal tax exemption, a Basic Income Guarantee can be made close to revenue neutral. But making Basic Income revenue neutral might obviate one of its most profound benefits. Since the financial crisis, central banks have tried to stimulate the economy mostly by creating money and giving it to banks, hoping that would entice them to lend. So far, the results have been mediocre. The Basic Income would instead “helicopter drop” money straight into individual’s bank accounts, thus enabling them to spend. Conservatives generally favour stimulating the economy through tax cuts. Although they often don’t like to admit it, this is textbook Keynesianism. If government spending remains the same, a tax cut puts money in consumers’ pockets and so stimulates demand. The problem with tax cuts is they disproportionally benefit the richest among us and rich people are as likely to save their tax cut as spend it. From a stimulative perspective, the Basic Income Guarantee can be thought of as a tax cut given to those most likely to spend it, giving the economy the demand it craves. Traditionally, progressives have focused on stimulating employment and raising wages. But automation and software today are job killers. The “Rise of the Robots” threatens to destroy up to 47 per cent of all existing jobs within the next two decades. A robot may be able to build an iPhone but it cannot buy one. A Basic Income Guarantee will eliminate poverty, lessen inequality, destroy bureaucracy, and empower the most vulnerable among us but perhaps even more important, it would solve capitalism’s most basic and growing problem, lack of demand. 16619317255c75c5f70fef36.58449088

ROTHERHAM Council faces accusations of an abuse cover up in a Government-ordered investigation. A catalogue of abuse-failings emerging from Rotherham include claims whistle-blowers were made redundant, laptops with abuse data were stolen and staff allowed to leave with severance packages rather than facing disciplinary action. Louise Casey was asked by Communities Secretary Eric Pickles to inspect the council following the Jay Report last year which found that more than 1,400 children had been subjected to rape, violence and trafficking by gangs of mainly Asian men in the South Yorkshire town between 1997 and 2013. Today, in her inspection report, Ms Casey said: “This inspection revealed past and present failures to accept, understand and combat the issue of child sexual exploitation, resulting in a lack of support for victims and insufficient action against known perpetrators.” The report says that when dealing with staff acting inappropriately “severance payments and compromise agreements were too often used, sometimes instead of hearing grievances or disciplinary cases, which was not always appropriate.” Officials, the report later adds, often chose to “shoot the messenger rather than learn from mistakes that have been made.” It cites the case of a Serious Case review into a child’s death were the council redacted information relating to the child’s links to the local authority. Those who wanted to speak out on widespread abuse were told not to, the report adds. “Staff at the council have spoken to Inspectors of being afraid to speak out, told to keep quiet, instructed to cover up, and of a culture where ‘if you want to keep your job, you keep your head down and your mouth shut.’” Cover-up claims were added to with the revelation that 21 laptops containing abuse information were stolen from council offices in October 2011. There was no sign of a break in and the council did not notify the Information Commissioner’s office. “The investigation report shows that the matter was discussed with the police and information relating to CSE was present on the laptops, including the names of adults who may have been offenders,” the report says. READ MORE... Rotherham ‘in denial’ over abuse - report ‘How Rotherham Council tried to cover up child abuse scandal’

Flowers, jewelry, chocolate, teddy bears — the conventional Valentine’s Day gifts have a decidedly feminine slant to them, but a new survey shows that men think they’re the ones really cleaning up when it comes to Valentine’s Day: Guys think their significant others will spend $230 on them, while women expect that their main squeezes will spend, on average, $196 on them. Both men and women who are in relationships expect an average of $240 will be spent on them. According to the Chase Blueprint Valentine’s Day Survey, though, both genders might be a little overly optimistic when it comes to their expectations for Valentine’s Day. Women said they plan to spend an average of $27 less than the $98 guys say they’ll shell out — which means neither gender plans to spend nearly as much as they want to have spent on them. Not into shelling out the big bucks? A new RetailMeNot.com survey hints at one way couples can avoid breaking the bank this Valentine’s Day: Two-thirds of men and 30% of women say they’d rather have sex than get a gift for the holiday. Chase found that 43% of men and about half as many women don’t want a Valentine’s Day gift. Fewer people are celebrating Valentine’s Day this year by buying gifts. The National Retail Federation’s new survey of more than 6,4000 people finds that respondents celebrating the holiday plan to spend an average of just under $134, about three bucks more than last year, but the number of people planning to celebrate it this year has fallen — just 54% compared to 60% last year. RetailMeNot finds that almost 20% of people don’t plan to spend anything on their significant other for Valentine’s Day. The Brief Newsletter Sign up to receive the top stories you need to know right now. View Sample Sign Up Now About 70% of the more than 1,200 respondents to the Chase survey say they’d rather be surprised than pick out their own present for Valentine’s Day. Gift recipients prefer chocolate over flowers, tech toys over jewelry and dinner out over a home-cooked meal, although RetailMeNot finds that the number of people who want to stay in for the evening has gone up 10 percentage points since last year. The NRF survey finds that more than a third of people will give flowers or take their significant other out for the evening, about half of people will give candy and around 20% plan to buy jewelry. The NRF survey also looks at Valentine’s spending beyond what people get for their significant others: Almost 60% will get something for a family member, 22% get gifts for friends and almost 20% get Valentine’s Day presents for their pets. Contact us at [email protected].

Academic Medical Centers Get An F In Sharing Research Results Enlarge this image toggle caption Simone Golob/Corbis Simone Golob/Corbis In a study powered by the labor of medical students, my colleagues and I found that two-thirds of clinical trials led by scientists at our finest academic institutions didn't share their results publicly within two years of the study's completion. Moreover, none of these research institutions has a good record of sharing results. Many are much worse than the average. For all the focus on the need to speed up science for cures, we have a bottleneck at our nation's bastions of research excellence. Too many times, study results are neither reported on the government website dedicated to that purpose, clinicaltrials.gov, nor published in a medical journal. Our findings were published Wednesday in The BMJ, formerly the British Medical Journal. The failure to share results is so pervasive that it seems inappropriate to blame individuals. Instead, it is a systemic problem. Academic medicine has fostered a culture in which the sharing of our results is considered discretionary, rather than mandatory. And if researchers decide to pass on sharing, there is no consequence to them. Not reporting results violates the basic principle of the scientific method. It hurts patients, society and science. It also dishonors the people who gave their consent and bore the risk of participating in the studies. Who would agree to be in a study with the knowledge that the results wouldn't be shared? It seems a fair assumption that these studies were worth doing and were designed to generate meaningful information. Academics at leading universities led these studies. Human studies oversight boards at these institutions approved these studies. Given all that, the holding back of the results impedes progress toward scientific breakthroughs, corrupts the medical literature and wastes research funding. I am a strong advocate for data sharing and open science. I believe that scientists share data in the spirit of advancing knowledge. But those goals are a step beyond what we are talking about here: simply sharing the results of the research. Some people are intent on finding the underlying factors within the culture that has produced this behavior. I have heard people say that they aren't eager to publish results that seem weak or counter to what they believe. Some claim that other responsibilities occupied their time or that they ran out of research funds in the final stages. I must admit that I don't care. I don't want to study this problem further. I just want to see it fixed. Posting results on clinicaltrials.gov, the government website, could be done in less than an hour. Publishing the results, with or without peer review, could be done if people are determined to do it. Sharing the results is just not that hard and should not be considered optional. The problem isn't new. I first encountered the selective sharing of research findings during my work as an expert for plaintiffs in the Vioxx litigation 10 years ago and we subsequently published an article about it. Before that experience I never imagined that people would conduct human studies and not share results. To investigate this issue further, colleagues and I took a broader look at research and found that this wasn't a problem unique to industry, but was pervasive throughout medicine. In a 2009 study, we were shocked to see that results of only about half of trials were published within four years of study completion. Our first reaction was that we couldn't be right. We pored over our results to be sure they were true. We published them with trepidation because despite repeated checks, we still thought that someone would find an error. How could it be so bad? And yet, our conclusions were true and others soon replicated the findings. When we published a study that showed even results from studies funded by the National Institutes of Health commonly went unshared, our findings were met by disbelief at NIH until scientists there repeated the study and found the same thing. As these studies emerged, industry began to adopt policies to ensure reporting and publication. But not academic institutions. To zero in on this issue, the most recent study looks specifically at the performance of academic centers. I teach at Yale University and one of my students, Ray Chen (now a resident at the University of California, San Francisco), wanted to do a meaningful study as part of his degree. We began talking about researchers not sharing their results. We thought it would be useful to produce a national report card for the leading academic institutions. They are, after all, ultimately responsible for the studies conducted under their auspices. We didn't want to embarrass anyone, but we felt that maybe some stellar performers could help enlighten the others about how to improve. There was only one problem: It would take a lot of work. I mean, a lot of work. There was no easy way to track down the information about study publications without going one by one and searching for them in many different ways. Ray said that he thought he could recruit other medical students to help. They would have to spend hours tracking down whether studies led by people at the top academic institutions had shared results by reporting them on clinicaltrials.gov or publishing them. The students persevered, knowing that they might be questioning the practices of the powerful. And they were dismayed by what they found. What should be done about the problem? If I were a funder of research and the recipient academic institution didn't share the results, I would ask for a refund. If I were representing the interests of study participants, I would ask for apologies and forbid future research until there was a plan for sharing all results. There's no excuse for not reporting all results within two years of finishing a study. And, I'd argue, the time should be much shorter. This is about taking science seriously and our commitment to move faster on behalf of patients and society. This is medical research. It is ultimately about providing practical benefit. We have a moral imperative to share what we learn. We need the systems in place that guarantee researchers adhere to the final step of the scientific method and share what they find. In the end, it would be particularly sweet if it were the labor of medical students that led the established researchers to correct their ways. Harlan Krumholz is a cardiologist and the Harold H. Hines Jr. Professor of Medicine at Yale School of Medicine. He directs the Yale-New Haven Hospital Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation and is a co-director of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars Program.

How to structure components in React? Bartek Witczak Blocked Unblock Follow Following Oct 13, 2017 Programming is quite a complex task. Especially crafting clean code is hard. We need to take care of many elements — naming variables, scoping functions, handling errors, ensuring security, monitoring performance etc. Still to name single most difficult thing in programming I would go with writing loosely coupled & highly cohesive components. It doesn’t matter if we’re talking about object-oriented or functional programming. Structuring system is the hardest thing and it has a big impact on the overall project. It takes years to become proficient in designing software architecture (& probably one can never really master it — in such a fast moving industry mastery is always one step ahead, there is always a way to improve design). I really enjoy working with React & I think its biggest advantage is how simple React is. There is a difference between simple & easy https://www.infoq.com/presentations/Simple-Made-Easy. And I really mean React is simple. Of course, you need to spend some time to get to know it. But after you understand core concepts, everything else is just a consequence. The hard part comes next. Coupling & Cohesion Those are the metrics that more or less describe how difficult it will be to change the behaviour of the code. Coupling & cohesion are used in object-oriented programming and refer to some form of classes. We’ll use them in reference to React components since the same rules apply. Coupling is connection or dependency between elements. If changing one element requires changing another element then we say there is tight coupling. If elements are loosely coupled, changing one element does not imply changes in the other. For example, let’s take a look at displaying bank transfer amount. If displaying amount knows how rates are calculated, then anytime internal structure of transfer changes, displaying code also needs to be updated. If we design system to be loosely coupled, based on the interface of an element, then changes to transfer shouldn’t result in changes to the view layer. Loosely coupled components are easier to manage and maintain. Cohesion tells if element’s responsibilities form one thing. That metric is connected with Single Responsibility Principle or Unix principle: Do one thing and do it well . If account balance formatter also calculates interest rates and checks the permission to display history, then it has many responsibilities and those are not related to each other. Probably, there should be different components for permission handling or interest rates. On the other hand, if there are multiple components one for integer part, one for floating and one for currency, then anytime programmer wants to display balance, they would need to find all elements. The challenge is to create highly cohesive components. Structuring components There are many ways we can structure components. We want components to be reusable, but only to the degree that is reasonable. We want to build small components that can be used to build bigger concepts. Ideally, we want to build loosely coupled & highly cohesive components, so our system is easier to maintain and grow. In React components props can be treated like function arguments and that’s exactly the case for functional stateless components. How we define props in a component, defines how a component can be reused. We’ll use expense manager domain and we’ll analyze expense details formatter. Let’s suppose that expense model looks like this: There are several possibilities to model expense details formatter: no props at all passing expense object passing only required properties passing map of properties passing format as a child We’ll discuss each of them to see what are benefits and flaws of using each and every. Keep in mind that context is the king and everything depends on the system. That’s exactly what we’re paid for — building proper abstraction. No props at all The simplest solution & the one that is often the starting point is building a component with hard-coded data. Passing no props, of course, doesn’t give us any flexibility and component is suitable to be used only in single place. Of course, in the example of expense details, we can see from the beginning that component needs to accept some props. Nevertheless, there are cases that components without any props is good solution. Firstly, we can use components without props for “constant” content like badges, logos, company info etc. Building even small components makes a system more maintainable. Keeping information in one place allows making changes in one place. Don’t repeat yourself. Passing expense object In case of expense details definitely, we need to pass data to the component. First, we’ll take a look at passing expense object. Passing expense object to expense details component makes perfect sense. Expense details formatter is highly coherent -> it displays data of expense. Whenever we want to change formatting, this is the only place that’s going to change. Also changing expense details formatter does not introduce any side effects to expense object itself. The component is tightly coupled to expense object. Is that a bad thing? Definitely not, but we must be aware how that influences our system. Passing expense object as props, results that expense details component relies on the internal structure of expense. Whenever we change the internal structure of expense, we’ll also need to change expense details. Of course, we’ll only need to make changes in one place. How does that design affect future changes? If we want to add, change or remove a field, we’ll only need to change one component. What if we want to add different date formatters? We could add another prop for date formatting. We start adding additional properties to make the component more flexible. As long as there are only a few options, everything is great. The problem starts after system grows and we have a lot of props for different use cases. const ExpenseDetails = ({ expense, dateFormat, withCurrency, currencyFormat, isOverdue, isPaid ... }) Adding props makes the component more reusable, but it can also be a sign that there are multiple responsibilities of the component. The same rule applies to the function. We can create a function with a number of parameters, but as soon as that number is greater than 3–4, it starts to do a lot of things. And probably that’s the time to split function into smaller one. As number of component props grow, we can decide to split component into more defined ones like: OverdueExpenseDetails , PaidExpenseDetails etc. Passing only required properties To be less coupled with expense object itself, we can pass only required properties. We’re passing each and every property separately, so we’re moving the responsibility a bit to one who is using component. If internal structure of expense changes, it’s not affecting expense details formatter itself -> but probably it can affect every place that is using component because props need to be changed. When passing props as separate properties, a component is more abstract. How passing only required fields affect future design? Adding/updating/removing fields is not easy now. Whenever we want to add a field, we not only need to change the implementation of expense details but also change every place where component is used :( const ExpenseDetails = ({ category, description, amount, date, account, comment, case ... }) => ( ... ) On the other hand, supporting multiple date formatting is done almost out-of-the-box. Since we’re passing date as a prop, we can pass formatted date. Deciding how to display particular field is in the hands of the one who uses the component. That is no longer the case of expense details component implementation. Passing map/array of properties Going even more abstract, we could pass a map of properties. The one who uses component is in control over formatting expense details. The object passed to the component has to be properly formatted. That solution has many flaws. We have very little control over how the component will look. The order of reduce is not specified, so we’ll need to add some kind of order. Instead of a map, we could pass an array with objects to overcome that problem, but it still will have drawbacks. Passing map/array as props is not coupled to expense at all but is also not coherent at all. Adding/removing new properties is only a matter of changing prop, but we have no control over the formatting of the component itself. If we want to change only the formatting of the category, it’s not possible it this solution. (To be precise, there is always a way to tweak stuff. For example by passing another props with formatting config. Yet that solution is no longer clean and straightforward.) Passing format as a child We could also take as little responsibility as possible and pass data as a child. In that case, expense details is only a container to provide some structure and styling. To display details the one using component has to provide all information. Probably in case of expense details, it’s not a good solution, since we’ll need to repeat a lot. Still, flexibility is huge and there are a lot of different formatting possibilities. Adding/removing/updating fields is only a matter of changing the use of the component. The same goes with date formatting. We lose coherence, but that’s the price we had to pay. Context is the king As you can see, we’re exchanging different advantages and possibilities. Which one is the best? It depends on: on project itself on stage of project on the component — do we want more specific components or few with options on one’s preferences on requirements — is that component supposed to change frequently & used frequently There is no single good solution. One size doesn’t fit all. How we structure our components has a great impact on how we’ll maintain a system and how expandable it will be. It all depends on the context. Thankfully we have plenty of options and we can pick and choose. Components are a great abstraction to build both small and big systems. It’s only a case of picking right solution.

Lawmakers Offer Legislation To Allow Importation Of M1 Rifles FAIRFAX, Va. –-(Ammoland.com)- In 2009, the Obama administration approved the importation and sale of collectible, American-made M1 Garand rifles and M1 carbines from South Korea. However, the administration reversed its decision in March of last year, deciding instead to prevent these rifles — legal to make and purchase in the United States — from entering the country. As we reported last October, U.S. Senators and Representatives from both sides of the aisle urged Secretary of State Clinton to revisit her department’s decision. Now, S. 381—the Collectible Firearms Protection Act—sponsored by U.S. Senator Jon Tester (D-Mont.), and its House companion bill H.R. 615, sponsored U.S. Representative Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), seek to once again allow these American-made firearms to be re-imported and sold in the U.S. NRA-ILA Executive Director Chris W. Cox made the following statement in support of the legislation: “The importation restrictions on M1 rifles and carbines was a defacto gun ban. These firearms are sought after by gun collectors as they are a part of America’s history. They are also commonly used for lawful purposes such as hunting, sports shooting and self defense. On behalf of the tens of millions of law-abiding American gun owners, I would like to thank these legislators for their leadership in presenting a legislative fix to this backdoor gun ban.” “This is a common sense bill that is designed to allow law-abiding Americans to own a piece of history,” said Tester, Chairman of the Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus. “This is a simple issue of making sure that a government bureaucracy doesn’t stand in the way of our Second Amendment rights.” Under the bill, firearms that are lawfully possessed by a foreign government—and that are more than 50 years old and considered antiques or relics—may be re-imported to properly licensed groups and sold without written permission from the U.S. Departments of State or Defense. About: Established in 1871, the National Rifle Association is America's oldest civil rights and sportsmen's group. Four million members strong, NRA continues its mission to uphold Second Amendment rights and to advocate enforcement of existing laws against violent offenders to reduce crime. The Association remains the nation's leader in firearm education and training for law-abiding gun owners, law enforcement and the military. Visit: www.nra.org

China’s central government is considering consolidating its three largest nuclear companies. The move closely follows the impending merger of the country’s two biggest train manufacturers. Beijing has evidently decided to go big in a bid to dominate export markets. Early this month, Reuters reported that the State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, better known as SASAC, was studying the consolidation of China National Nuclear Corp. and China General Nuclear Power Corp. “The merger between CGN and CNNC is inevitable,” said Xu Lianyi, a former government official, to the news service. The official China Daily, going one step further, this month reported that Beijing was thinking about merging the country’s three largest nuclear enterprises. The third firm, according to the paper, was State Nuclear Power Technology Corp. Not everyone agrees with Xu Lianyi, who has ongoing ties to State Nuclear Power Technology. For instance, Wu Zongxin of Tsinghua University in Beijing, speaking to the China Daily, believes there is a “slim chance” of such a merger at this time. Lu Jinyong of Beijing’s University of International Business and Economics also is a skeptic. “The three companies were intentionally put into competition for markets,” the paper paraphrases Lu as saying, “so it would be difficult to merge them into one, given their different agendas and backgrounds.” Lu is correct that at one time progressive-minded technocrats in the Chinese capital wanted to break up monopolies so that state firms would vie with one another, but there has been a noticeable change in thinking. “Officials hope that such a move would end intense competition and boost technology exports,” China Daily reports, referring to the contemplated merger of the three nuclear companies. Chinese technocrats had the same reason in mind when they planned the merger of China CNR Corp. and CSR Corp., China two largest train makers. “Sources close to the State Assets Supervision and Administration Commission said that the move was intended to create a single strong player, because vicious competition has undermined the government’s efforts to boost exports of high-speed railway technology,” China Daily reported. The State Council, which ordered the consolidation in September, was reportedly upset that the two state firms vigorously competed against each other for a contract to build 284 subway cars for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. Ultimately, CNR submitted the winning bid of $566.6 million. “The price offered by CNR was about half of the highest bid and a quarter lower than the second lowest bid,” said Lawrence Li of UOB Kay Hian to the South China Morning Post. The rail merger, as can be seen from the proposed nuclear consolidation, is not just a one-off reaction to the bargain Boston riders will soon enjoy. “It will become China’s long-term strategy,” a source, referring to the CNR-CSR deal, told the Shanghai Securities News. “Actually, it could become a model for other State-owned enterprises.” Xie Jilong, CNR’s board secretary, confirms the combination was initiated by Beijing, not the two firms. Since the end of the 1990s, analysts have been hailing the breakup of Mao Zedong’s gigantic state monopolies. CNR and CSR, for instance, were split off from the same enterprise, China National Railway Locomotive and Rolling Stock Industry Corp., at the turn of the century. Now, however, Beijing is beginning to reverse that process. This reversal, more than anything, indicates that regressive elements are at work in Beijing political circles. Because Maoist-style economics are evidently back in favor, it appears that China will not embark on much of the promised economic restructuring, at least of the progressive kind. Chinese leaders may have the power to repeat history and ruin their own economy, but they don’t have the right to disadvantage foreigners. Beijing’s monopolist moves have two important implications for outsiders. First, Beijing’s application of its 2008 Anti-Monopoly Law to foreign business looks even more discriminatory than it did last year. China’s officials obviously are not interested in competition, as they maintained when challenged on this issue. The law is a club, selectively applied to multinationals, and Beijing’s enforcement of it is undoubtedly a violation of its World Trade Organization obligations to provide national treatment. Second, the merger of Chinese competitors will allow them to raise bids in foreign markets. CNR and CSR, for instance, are currently participating in California’s high-speed rail project, and they will certainly not bid against each other for additional phases. Some may doubt that Beijing will be able to merge its nuclear concerns, but there are other industries where large state players can be joined together. Chinese technocrats have often tried to make the small big. For decades, they have been consolidating industries plagued by both overcapacity and a multitude of enterprises, especially cement, steel, aluminum, and shipbuilding. What’s new is that they are now consolidating sectors where there are already only a few competitors, all of them state-owned. And now Beijing is not shy about openly declaring that it is doing so to bolster its competitive position overseas. The word for that is “predatory.” Chinese leaders evidently think they have the power to set prices not just at home but elsewhere as well. That seems unrealistic in most industries, but they have grand ambitions these days. Follow me on Twitter @GordonGChang and on Forbes

NEW DELHI: Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje could land into more trouble as the latest media reports suggest that she had recommended former IPL chief Modi for a Padma award in 2007.According to a news report in Dainik Bhaskar, Lalit Modi was recommended for the Padma Award in 2007 by Vasundhara Raje led-Rajasthan government.The Rajasthan Sports Council had recommended Modi’s name on July 28, 2007. Raje, in her first stint, was Rajasthan chief minister from 2003 to 2008.Raje had reportedly forwarded Lalit Modi's name through the sports council on the ground of his vast business empire and his contributions in development of cricket in the state.The Sports Council had recommended Lalit Modi’s name for his contributions to sports and business in the state. As per reports, council had sought application from Lalit Modi to recommend his name for the coveted award. Secretary of the council at that time, UD Khan, had reportedly sent the form for the award to the then Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA) secretary, Subhash Joshi. Modi was president of the RCA at that point in time.Council forwarded the form to Rajasthan chief secretary for further action. One recommendation for Modi was exclusively for him and his name was clubbed with international archer Limba Ram, when his name was sent for Padma awards. Government had cited how much money Modi had invested in the state and his contributions towards development of sports in the state. Modi had organized Champions Trophy in 2006.However, Union government had ignored the state government recommendation for Padma award to Modi. Limba Ram was decorated with Padma Shri in 2012.Former Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA) secretary Subhash Joshi said there was nothing objectionable about former IPL chief Lalit Modi being recommended for a Padma Shri award in 2007, as he was fulfilling his responsibility at that time."At that time, Lalit Modi was the president. The cricket work was going on well. Six international matches of the Champions' Trophy took place here and a world class academy was also built. So, a good amount of work was done. It is entirely upon the state government to decide whom to honour and how. Be it the government of Bharatiya Janata Party or CPM," he said."They recommend some names from their side from different sectors. Similarly, his (Lalit Modi) name was also recommended. So, it is not unusual and there is nothing controversial about it because good work happening at that time and all the newspapers praised it as well," he added.Joshi further said that he fails to understand the issue in this because real work was done at that time."Moreover, it is completely upon the Central government to either accept or reject it. I don't understand how this has become an issue. Sending recommendation is a constitutional right of any state. I think it was all done as a part of the routine work," he added.(With inputs from ANI)

SOUTH HACKENSACK - Township Police Commissioner William Regan has been arrested and charged with assaulting his wife, according to a municipal court complaint. Regan, 52, who was sworn this month to his third term on the township committee, was arrested Thursday on a charge of simple assault with bodily injury. The complaint accuses William Regan of "grabbing (his wife) by the arms and pulling her to the ground and causing injury to her arms and knees." He was charged with a disorderly person's offense and given a Feb. 9 court date. However, Municipal Court Administrator Diane Brando said Tuesday that the case will be forwarded to the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office to "avoid a conflict." A determination will be made by the county prosecutor on where to hear the case, Brando said. $1M in drugs found in minivan The complaint states the alleged assault occurred last Wednesday in South Hackensack but gives no other details. A voicemail message left for William Regan was not returned. There was no answer Tuesday morning at the Regan home on Dyer Avenue. A South Hackensack police spokesman was not available to comment on Tuesday. According to his LinkedIn page, Regan has served as police commissioner since Jan. 2016. He served as mayor of South Hackensack from 2014-2016, deputy mayor from 2012-2014 and worked for nearly seven years as a loss-prevention manager for CVS Pharmacy in New York. Regan lists his current position as an armed guard for celebrities and CEOs, also conducting corporate investigations and providing event security. Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Democrats and their allies in the health-care advocacy community have taken notice, sounding alarms in a bid to mobilize the same level of opposition to the new bill as they were able to do successfully against previous GOP proposals. “This is a red siren moment for the entire country,” Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer said at a press conference Monday. “If this bill becomes law, our health-care system will be dramatically curtailed, and there will be chaos in many states.” The Graham-Cassidy bill would repeal Obamacare’s individual and employer mandates for health insurance but differs from some earlier proposals by keeping most of the law’s tax increases. That revenue is then converted into a block grant for states, which could choose how to use it to best fit their needs. Graham and Cassidy are trying to appeal to the conservative preference for federalism and attract the support of governors by offering them maximal flexibility. They could keep Obamacare’s standards and requirements, or they could ditch almost all of them, including some of the protections intended for people with preexisting conditions. But as my colleague Vann Newkirk explains, the proposal is not as much of a compromise as it might appear to be, since the measure scales back funding for Medicaid over time, and the states that would be most likely to keep Obamacare’s structure would receive substantially less money from the federal government. According to Cassidy, the bill has the private support of 49 GOP senators, putting it, again, just one vote shy of the 50 needed to clear the Senate under the budget reconciliation rules that expire at month’s end and that allow Republicans to avoid a Democratic filibuster. Cassidy’s rosy claim is impossible to verify, because plenty of GOP senators have said little or nothing publicly about the proposal. But even if it were true, the 50th vote has always been the hardest for the party to get, and it’s unclear what in the Graham-Cassidy proposal would secure the backing of either Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska or McCain—two of the three senators who opposed the last repeal proposal in July. Already, two of the 52 Senate Republicans appear to be out of reach for Graham and Cassidy. Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky has declared the proposal to be “Obamacare lite” and debated its merits with Cassidy on Twitter. “Graham/Cassidy keeps Obamacare and tells the states to run it. No thanks,” Paul concluded Monday morning. Senator Susan Collins of Maine hasn’t taken quite as strong a stance, but she had opposed each and every one of the previous GOP repeal proposals and does not appear inclined to back this one. “Senator Collins has a number of concerns with the Graham-Cassidy proposal, including the cuts to the Medicaid program and the impact to the requirement that insurers provide coverage to people with preexisting conditions,” Collins spokeswoman Annie Clark told me on Monday. “She will be examining the forthcoming CBO analysis.”

While a large number of Los Angeles-area music fans dealt with the frustrations of the shuttered Hard Summer event at the Forum, our Chicago friends had a bounty of music this weekend. Lollapalooza, aside from scorching heat and a bit of rain, appears to have gone relatively smoothly, and Greg Kot's Turn It Up blog offers detailed day-by-day takes of what went down. Sets from Bat for Lashes, Lou Reed, Dhani Harrison's newno2, the Gaslight Anthem and Chicago newcomers He Say, She Say sound like they were more than worth braving the air-conditioned buses and crowds of 70,000 or more. But Lolla was just one of Chicago's main events this weekend. Later, Them Crooked Vultures was unveiled at Wrigleyville club Metro, featuring Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones on bass/keyboard, Foo Fighter Dave Grohl on drums and Josh Homme from Queens of the Stone Age on guitar/lead vocals. Little was known heading in, but Kot was at the post-Lollapalooza show late Sunday/early Monday, and the news sounds good. Kot wrote:

Photo In a report it issued last week about the widespread abuse of detainees in China’s criminal justice system, Human Rights Watch interviewed dozens of people who claimed to have been mistreated and tortured while in police custody. Nearly all of them were given anonymity so they could speak to investigators without fear of retribution from the Chinese authorities. But one witness in the report stood out: Stuart Foster, an American sociology professor who spent nearly eight months in a southern Chinese detention center after he was arrested on theft charges in 2013. The testimony provided by Mr. Foster was notable, not only because he allowed his name to be used, but also because he is one of the few foreigners to have witnessed conditions inside China’s pretrial detention centers, a shadowy world characterized by filth, hunger, violence and forced labor. He and his fellow inmates at the Baiyun Detention Center in Guangzhou, he said, spent their waking hours assembling Christmas lights for export. In an interview last week, Mr. Foster said he wanted the world to know about the mistreatment that ordinary Chinese endure after they are arrested by the police but before they are formally charged or tried in court. Mr. Foster, who later confessed to stealing money from an American colleague at Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, said he shared a bare concrete cell with upward of 30 people. There were no beds, let alone bedding, and each cell was run by sadistic inmates, anointed by the guards, who terrorized detainees with frequent beatings. “It was a living nightmare,” said Mr. Foster, 50, speaking from his home in South Carolina, where he is writing a book about his experience. After his conviction for theft, he was sentenced to time served and deported. “I’m amazed such a world exists, but I’m equally amazed they allowed me to witness it.” In China, most foreigners accused of crimes are kept in segregated facilities where the conditions, while unpleasant, are far better than those that hold Chinese citizens. Mr. Foster says he is unsure why he was placed in the B Cell Block at Baiyun, home to about 5,000 inmates who had been arrested on a variety of charges, including shoplifting, illicit drug use and fraud. Some of his fellow inmates, he said, insisted they had no idea why they had been arrested. “From Day 1, you were forced to work, no matter what your crime was or whether or not you were innocent,” Mr. Foster said. None of the inmates, he added, were paid for their toil. At Baiyun Detention Center, the guards handed over day-to-day control to the hardened men Mr. Foster described as “the regime,” inmates who were in charge of setting quotas for Christmas light assembly — and for enforcing their own whims through random and gratuitous brutality. Those who were slow putting together the twinkling icicles ubiquitous in American suburbia, he said, would be kicked, karate chopped and occasionally whipped with the braided strands of wires. Other times, the violence was prompted for flubbing the recitation of prison rules, for complaining about abuse to guards or for no discernible reason. “A few times I was kicked, only because I was kneeling down and facing the wall with everyone else, and because my head was shaved, they couldn’t see that I was a foreigner,” Mr. Foster said. “When they saw who I was, they would immediately apologize.” Mr. Foster recalled inmates disappearing into solitary confinement or chained to the floor for days without food or access to the toilet. “You could hear them screaming,” he said. During their months in detention, inmates were denied access to visitors, even their own lawyers. Mr. Foster’s description of life inside Baiyun dovetails with the accounts of other detainees who were interviewed by Human Rights Watch. The abuse continues despite a number of recent regulations that seek to address problems in China’s pretrial detention centers, which are run by the Ministry of Public Security. In 2009, the ministry introduced measures that include surveillance cameras in detainees’ living quarters, alarm bells in cells that can alert guards to abuse and an explicit ban on the use of so-called cell bosses to manage inmates. The new rules were put in place after a farmer in Yunnan Province was fatally beaten in custody. Officials initially said the man had died during a game of hide-and-seek, a claim that met with widespread public skepticism. Since 2011, according to the state news media, independent “special supervisors” have been making surprise visits to 70 percent of the nation’s pretrial detention centers in an effort to reduce the mistreatment of detainees. Mr. Foster and other recent detainees, however, say they saw little evidence of such changes. “We might see a guard come by once or twice a day,” Mr. Foster said, “but sometimes you wouldn’t see them for four or five days.”

Most photographs in Pakistan depict something awful or its immediate aftermath: suicide bombings, a horrible earthquake, even more horrible floods, unimaginable grief. The Spanish photographer Diego Ibarra Sánchez, who made Pakistan his home for five years, saw something different amid all the tragedy: hope. His latest project, called “Resilience, Pakistan,” is the culmination of small moments from his time there, until he left in 2014 after visa problems and intimidation by the country’s main spy agency. Mr. Ibarra divided this work into two categories: “Nightmare,” for the kind of images one expects from Pakistan, and “Hope,” for less frequently seen images of daily life, like a taxi driver in his car at night, young men playing pool, even a model at a fashion show. “I started realizing that whatever happened, Pakistanis keep moving forward,” Mr. Ibarra said. “They don’t lose their hope, they don’t stop moving to the future. I thought it was my duty to show more, to show more than the terrorism, the nightmare, that there is hope for the future.” Mr. Ibarra, 33, left Barcelona for Pakistan in 2009 almost on a whim. He won a photo contest for taking pictures at a mall, bought a secondhand lens with his winnings, went on a brief trip to Pakistan and then packed up his belongings to move there six months later. He started working on “Resilience” almost immediately, but didn’t realize how his photographs knit together until 2010. Everywhere, he looked for hope. He started a workshop to teach survivors of acid attacks to take pictures, and he constantly reminded himself of how Pakistanis would rush to give him anything — biscuits, curry, tea — even when they had little of their own. Many of his photographs are moody, even dark, with shafts of light that highlight a man walking, or sitting in a jail cell. Photo “I’m always searching for this ray of light,” Mr. Ibarra said. “You know, after the storm, this ray of light that illuminates everything. This is what I’m trying to use, to explain, that no matter the nightmare there is hope.” He walked the streets without security to take photographs, and after five years on the project, he said that the story remained unfinished and that he couldn’t pick a favorite image. “Each picture has its own moment, its own soul,” Mr. Ibarra said. “For me, each picture is some kind of gift.” Some have a dramatic story behind them. In one, young men are silhouetted at night by fires raging after a Taliban attack on NATO supply trucks heading for Afghanistan. No one was killed in the blaze near the tribal agencies, but Mr. Ibarra, who didn’t have a permit to be there, had to flee when agents from the country’s main intelligence agency, Inter-Services Intelligence, or ISI, showed up in the early-morning hours. There are also photographs of small acts of protest: a man nervously watching a movie in the Swat Valley, even though the Taliban loathe cinema. Pakistan can be a maddening place to be a foreign journalist, as much of one’s effort goes toward figuring out how to work despite efforts by the government and the ISI to control stories and news events. It is a country where journalists are constantly followed, where they can be kicked out for seemingly innocuous reasons, where the daily grind of shaking someone from ISI can range between humorous and scary. Photo No one gets away unscathed: Mr. Ibarra started working with the New York Times Pakistan bureau chief Declan Walsh in 2012. Agents started following them. Shortly before Mr. Walsh was expelled in May 2013, Mr. Ibarra’s home was broken into in the middle of the night, and his mobile phone was taken from his jeans pocket, he said. After that, he said, every day there was a car in front of his home, waiting to follow him. When Mr. Ibarra applied for a visa extension, he had problems. In the beginning of 2014, agents visited his home and inexplicably took his television, a traditional Pakistani set, a blanket and some water taps, Mr. Ibarra recalled. He decided it was time to go. Mr. Ibarra then moved to Beirut, Lebanon, where he finished working on “Resilience,” a project he felt he couldn’t show while still living in Pakistan. The photographs are now visible on Mr. Ibarra’s website, and he is shopping for a publisher. When asked about plans to return to Pakistan, a place he considered home, Mr. Ibarra initially said he wasn’t entirely certain. “I’m not sure,” he said. “In a way, I would like to be back in Pakistan. I think there’s no finished story. You can always keep shooting, you can always keep adding, you can always spend more time.” Then Mr. Ibarra thought about the idea a bit longer: “Of course, why not?” he said. Follow @diegoibarra_s and @nytimesphoto on Twitter. Lens is also on Facebook.

Q: A shopkeeper hires an apprentice for his store which gets one customer per minute on average uniformly randomly. The apprentice is expected to leave the shop open until at least 6 minutes have passed when no customer arrives. The shop keeper suspects that the apprentice is lazy and wants to close the shop at a shorter notice. The apprentice claims (and the shopkeeper verifies), that the shop is open for about 2.5hrs on average. How could the shopkeeper back his claim?A: Per the contract, at least 6 minutes should pass without a single customer showing up before the apprentice can close the shop. To solve this lets tackle a different problem first. Assume you have a biased coin with a probability \(p\) of landing heads. What is the expected number of tosses before you get \(n\) heads in a row. The expected number of tosses to get to the first head is simple enough to calculate, its \(\frac{1}{p}\). How about two heads? We can formulate this recursively. We need to get to a head first. Following this, you need to toss the coin one more time for sure. With a probability \(p\) you get the second heads or with a probability \(1 - p\) you have to start over again. The number of tosses to two heads is thus \(\frac{1}{p} + 1 + \frac{1}{p}\times(1-p)\).Extending this out to get \(n\) tosses, if you assume that \(y(n)\) is the expected number of tosses to get to \(n\) heads in a row then the following state transition diagram shows how the transitions happen.From the state \(y_{n-1}\), with probability \(1- p\) you start over again. Stated recursively$$y_{n} = y_{n-1} + 1 + (1-p)y_{n}\\py_{n} = y_{n-1} + 1$$Using the above expression, it is easy to derive the general expression for \(y_{n}\) as follows, keeping in mind \(y_{0} = 0\)$$y_{1} = \frac{y_{0}}{p} + \frac{1}{p} = \frac{1}{p}\\y_{2} = \frac{1}{p}(y_{1} + 1) = \frac{1}{p^{2}} + \frac{1}{p}y_{3} = \frac{1}{p}(y_{2} + 1) = \frac{1}{p^{3}} + \frac{1}{p^{2}} + \frac{1}{p}$$Being a sum of a geometric series, the \(y_{n}\) can be evaluated to$$y_{n} = \frac{1}{1-p}\big(\frac{1}{p^{n}} - 1\big)$$Now, back to the original question. Assume the apprentice waits \(k\) minutes before no customer shows up and he chooses to shut the shop. The situation is "similar" to the coin tossing and awaiting for a string of heads. (Note: Strictly speaking, it's similar only in the limiting case when the time interval is very small). In this case each "head" signifies the absence of a customer showing up in a minute. As the customers arrive uniformly at random we can assume they follow a Poisson process. The probability that \(m\) customers arrive in a one minute window if the rate parameter is \(\lambda\) (in this case \(\lambda = 1min^{-1}\)) is$$P(m,\lambda) = \frac{(\lambda)^{m}e^{-\lambda}}{m!}$$When \(m =0\) we get \(p = e^{-\lambda}\). Plugging this value back to our equation for \(y_{n}\) we get$$y_{n} = \frac{1}{1 - e^{-\lambda}}\big(e^{k\lambda} - 1\big)$$for small \(\lambda\) the denominator of the first part of the equation can be approximated as \(\frac{1}{\lambda}\) yielding$$y_{n} = \frac{1}{\lambda}\big(e^{k\lambda} - 1\big)$$Note, if you plug \(k=6\) into the above equation you get \(\approx 7\) hours whereas for \(k=5\) you get \(\approx 2.5\) hours. Due to the exponential connection between \(y_{n}\) and \(k\) the values for \(y_{n}\) are super sensitive to changes in \(k\).If you are looking to buy some books in probability here are some of the best books to learn the art of Probability

Please enable Javascript to watch this video Huntington Beach police were seeking potential additional victims of a former Disneyland employee who has been accused of attempting to trade theme park tickets in exchange for sex with a minor, the Orange County District Attorney's Office said Monday. Darreck Michael Enciso, 27, was charged with one felony count of attempted lewd act upon a child, one felony count of contacting a child with intent to commit a specified sex crime and one felony count of meeting a minor with the intent to engage in lewd conduct, a news release from the DA's office stated. The charges, filed Monday, stemmed from an incident that began on July 1 when Enciso allegedly posted an ad on Craigslist seeking a woman willing to participate in sex acts in exchange for Disneyland tickets, according to the release. Deputy DA Bobby Taghavi described the ad as "graphic." “The ad on Craigslist was pretty graphic and specific as to the sex acts part," he told KTLA. Enciso was then accused of communicating with an undercover officer from the Huntington Beach Police Department -- whom he thought was a 14-year-old girl -- regarding the sex-for-tickets proposition, officials with the DA's office said. The pair agreed to meet up at a location on Beach Boulevard in Huntington Beach, the release stated. Eight days later, Enciso allegedly showed up at the pre-arranged location with condoms and Disneyland tickets, according to the release. The suspect, who is accused of working for Disneyland at the time of the incidents, also allegedly posted similar ads on Craigslist. Anyone who may have been a victim is asked to call Supervising District Attorney Investigator Mark Gutierrez at 714-347-8794, or Huntington Beach police Detective Angela Bennett at 714-536-5960. If convicted on the charges, Enciso faces a maximum sentence of four years and eight months in state prison, and would be registered for life as a sex offender, the DA's office said. He was scheduled to be arraigned in Santa Ana on Monday, but he did not enter a plea and the arraignment was continued. Disneyland released a statement following his arrest, telling KTLA that, “He was immediately relieved of his duties as a dishwasher." Please enable Javascript to watch this video

At Wednesday's presidential debate, Mitt Romney said he would cut funding to PBS. | AP Photos PBS: 'Romney does not understand' Mitt Romney’s promise Wednesday night to gut federal funding for PBS has suddenly made it a campaign issue, prompting PBS to accuse the GOP nominee of not understanding public broadcasting’s value to America. ”We are very disappointed that PBS became a political target in the Presidential debate last night,” PBS said in a statement. “Governor Romney does not understand the value the American people place on public broadcasting and the outstanding return on investment the system delivers to our nation.” Story Continued Below During Wednesday’s debate, Romney told moderator Jim Lehrer, a longtime PBS anchor, “I’m sorry, Jim, I’m going to stop the subsidy to PBS. I’m going to stop other things. I like PBS. I love Big Bird. Actually, I like you too. But I’m not going to keep on spending money on things to borrow money from China to pay for us.” Romney’s remark immediately lit up Twitter — Big Bird was still among the top trending topics at midday on Thursday — and became a talking point on cable TV. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart said Thursday that PBS and Big Bird will survive without federal funds that could be better spent elsewhere. “Big Bird will be fine, trust me,” the Florida Republican said on CNN. “Big Bird is always going to be on TV, but the questions is, should we be sending hard-earned taxpayer money to an entity that is a multimillion dollar entity that’s going to be there with or without taxpayer subsidy?” The government funds the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private, nonprofit corporation that distributes the subsidy to local PBS stations. In the 2012 fiscal year, CPB was given $444 .1 million — about 0.012 percent of the entire federal budget, as astrophysicist and radio host Neil deGrasse Tyson accurately tweeted Thursday. By law, CPB must give around 72 percent of its appropriation directly to stations, with lesser amounts going to PBS and other public TV and radio broadcasters. In the 2011 fiscal year, for example, PBS received just $22.3 million of CPB’s total $429 million appropriation, according to the most current data available. CPB estimates that for about $1.35 per American per year, “PBS stations return six times that amount in programming and services.” PBS CEO Paula Kerger defended her network earlier Thursday, saying it was “stunning” that Romney said he wanted to slash “America’s biggest classroom” during a debate partly about education. “The fact that we are the focus is just unbelievable to me,” Kerger said on CNN. “Whether you have books in your home or computer or not, almost everyone has a television set. The fact that we are in this debate— this isn’t about the budget. It has to be about politics.” Cuts could prompt some stations, especially in rural areas, to go dark, she said. “So that is actually what is at risk if, in fact, we are defunded because they money is going to stations around the country,” said Kerger, who called Romney’s remark “well-rehearsed.” PBS’s statement cited a 2011 national survey that found that 69 percent of Americans oppose eliminating government funding for public broadcasting, versus 27 percent who favor it. The sudden attention to Big Bird after the debate prompted Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit behind “Sesame Street,” to state: “Sesame Workshop is a nonpartisan, nonprofit, educational organization. We do not comment on campaigns, but we’re happy we can all agree that everyone likes Big Bird.” Sherrie Westin, executive vice president of Sesame Workshop, said the program has partnered with PBS for 43 years. “We’re dependent on PBS to distribute our programs to children throughout the United States,” she said. “That’s how ‘Sesame Street’ reaches all children, particularly low-income children.” Even though Big Bird was on all of America’s lips Thursday morning, Diaz-Balart downplayed Romney’s remark. “You think that was the highlight moment from his debate?” he asked CNN’s Carol Costello. “That is a red herring and I think a pretty light moment.”

As DataTrek's Nick Colas, formerly chief market strategist at Convergex Group, writes overnight, "we’re doing our best to make sure we don’t flood you with bitcoin/crypto information because there are plenty of other issues with broad appeal." However, he finds that hard to do when the topic dominates both financial news headlines and popular imagination... and when it goes from $11,000 to $8,900 in two hours. To address some of the pent-up confusion, here are the three questions (and answers) Colas it getting most about bitcoin at the moment: #1 Where is all the new interest coming from (i.e. is it just the US?) Looking at Google Trends, the top five countries for bitcoin searches over the last 24 hours are: The Netherlands, Australia, South Africa, Singapore, and Switzerland. The US is in 8th place. Searches for “Coinbase” (a popular wallet app) come from Malta, Singapore, the US, Norway and Switzerland (in that order). Within the United States, bitcoin is strictly a bicoastal phenomenon. Google searches come most from New York, California, Hawaii, New Jersey, and Washington. Searches for Coinbase look the same. The upshot is that bitcoin is a tech-enabled (and therefore global) phenomenon, which is a critical feature of its price advance. We can’t think of another financial asset in history where the majority of the world’s citizens can invest as easily as they view an Instagram picture or chat on Twitter. And on that point, one fun (and perhaps telling) statistic: in the US, Google searches for bitcoin are 6-7x greater than those for “Kim Kardashian”. Enough said… #2 When will the rally stop/slow down, and what is bitcoin’s “Fundamental” Value? Our best look at bitcoin’s intrinsic worth is to compare it to the total value of American and European high-denomination bank notes in circulation. Both bitcoin and its fiat currency counterparts are portable stores of wealth, which appeals to buyers/holders of each. Yes, fiats are government backed, but you can’t counterfeit a bitcoin. So we’ll call it a draw in terms of relative attractiveness. There are currently $1.1 trillion in $100 bills in global circulation, and $650 billion in high denomination euro notes. Total value: $1.7 trillion, not counting counterfeit notes that likely add 20-30% (in the case of $100 bills at least). By comparison, bitcoin’s current total value is $167 billion, and total crypto currency outstanding is $307 billion. The question is: what is the appropriate share for crypto currencies like bitcoin in a market defined as “fiat+crypto currencies”? At current levels, bitcoin’s share is 8%, and all cryptos combined have a 15% share. Where could this ratio go? Here is a table to consider, assuming bitcoin remains 50% of the total crypto currency market (a fairly sticky ratio lately): Bitcoin at $20,000: 14% market share of crypto+fiat paper currency market Bitcoin at $50,000: 25% market share Bitcoin at $100,000: 33% market share The calculus here comes down to adoption rates, just as it does with any new technology. One advantage for bitcoin in terms of price: incremental supply comes on very slowly, unlike other tech-enabled products like smart phones where manufacturers produce as many units as possible. Our take: bitcoin remains a highly speculative asset – the spiciest thing we’ve seen in +30 years on Wall Street. We can see pathways where it continues to climb, but even a glance at a historical price chart shows this is a highly volatile situation. More on that in point #3… #3 VERY IMPORTANT: What will the entrance of futures exchanges and bitcoin contracts do to the price? Both the CME and CBOE are set to launch bitcoin futures soon, and today the NASDAQ threw its hat in the ring as well. Moving bitcoin into a regulated structure will allow more sorts of investors and traders to speculate on price moves in the currency. That, the thinking goes, should be good for bitcoin prices. One intriguing point: shorting bitcoin is currently a clunky process, but futures markets will make it much easier. The difficulty of shorting bitcoin has been an underappreciated feature of its meteoric rise, limiting true price discovery. Whether anyone is brave enough to put on a sizable short position remains to be seen. But someone who wants to back up their “Bitcoin is a fraud” talk with dollars will soon have a place to express their viewpoint. * * * And a final, and deeply cautionary, point: yesterday’s plunge in bitcoin’s price may have been caused by a DDOS (Direct Denial of Service) attack on several exchanges. That’s the color from some market observers, anyway. The speed and severity of the decline certainly points to a technological glitch. Put together the ability to short bitcoin easily with what happened today, and you see the problem. The financial incentives to disrupt the bitcoin exchange/wallet ecosystem increase exponentially once futures start to trade. Whether the world’s bitcoin exchanges and wallets are up to that challenge is an important – and unanswered - question.

The EarthThe film is set in the future, but not a postapocalyptic one as far as Earth is concerned. Rather, Mr. Hood was interested in the concept of a “beautiful Earth,” as he called it: he wanted audiences to look at the planet and understand why aliens would covet its resources. “This was a dream of mine, to be able to look down and feel not only that I’m up in space but my planet is beautiful, rather than dystopian and miserable with everything falling to bits,” he said. He asked Mr. Butler and the visual effects crew to enhance the planet’s look ever so slightly to give this shot an even greater sense of wonder. The blue of the ocean grew bluer, and the sunlight reflecting on the water was heightened. “The movie has a lot of dark moments,” Mr. Hood said, “and it felt like we needed some moments of joy.”

Psychologist Ivan Pavlov conditioned dogs to salivate by ringing a bell, but maybe he should have made them play Simon instead. That's the idea behind CleverPet, a device that plans to train your dog to solve simple problems while you're at work. When it begins, all the pooch has to do is push a button to get food, with subsequent puzzles growing in difficulty until it's playing whack-a-mole with the light-up pads. It's the second smart pet device we've seen on Kickstarter in the last few weeks, with Kittyo offering a similar piece of kit for cat owners. CleverPet is currently half-way toward its $100,000 goal, but you can save $100 off the retail price if you make an early pledge of $160. Just be warned that it won't launch until February 2015, so best make sure your dog will still be in the "young and able to be taught tricks" bracket by then.

Pushing hard to at last regulate California’s free-for-all medical marijuana industry, state lawmakers are wrestling with how a tightly regulated cannabis market would work. Increasingly, the answer looks to be a lot like the market for alcohol. Long-standing alcohol laws rigidly separate producers, distributors and vendors. The decades-old “tied-house” formula was conceived largely as an antidote to the gangsterism of Prohibition, seeking to disrupt the liquor monopolies organized crime groups had established. If Assembly Bill 266 passes – as looks more likely than with any previous attempt, given the support of law enforcement, cities and the large majority of Assembly members who voted it off the floor – a similar approach could apply to medical cannabis. Sign Up and Save Get six months of free digital access to The Sacramento Bee At stake is the future of a medical cannabis market estimated to be worth more than $1.2 billion in 2014, from which players profit to which strains of cannabis land in front of consumers. Cannabis vendors and farmers, law enforcement and organized labor have all asserted their vision of what it should look like and whether alcohol laws offer a good model. This is a brand-new industry, so you don’t know how it’s going to develop. Barry Broad, lobbyist representing the California Teamsters “This is a brand-new industry, so you don’t know how it’s going to develop,” said Barry Broad, a lobbyist representing the California Teamsters, who have been advocating the multitier model. “There’s no question that alcohol is more heavily regulated than other products, and marijuana deservedly should be regulated as well.” Under the current version of the bill, farmers who cultivate or sell cannabis could not transport it to dispensaries themselves. The distribution and transportation would fall to entities like the Teamsters drivers Broad represents. They would get licenses unavailable to growers or vendors. Public safety provides part of the justification. Law enforcement officials say having additional sets of eyes on the cannabis would make it tougher to divert it to the black market. The middlemen distributors would essentially serve as a check on the cultivators, ensuring their product remains in legitimate channels. “It’s important to separate the cultivation, the processing, the distribution or sales for the accountability piece,” said California Police Chiefs Association President David Bejarano, who is also chief of the Chula Vista Police Department. “It would be difficult ensuring it doesn’t go to the black market if it’s all clumped together.” $1.2 billion Estimated size of California’s medical cannabis market The other argument for the multitiered system is an economic one. The purpose of scattering the process among multiple license holders, Broad said, is to ensure that large-scale cannabis enterprises don’t take over the fledgling marketplace. “What could happen is a dominant market player could take control of the entire market and freeze out competitors,” Broad said, calling the multitiered model “a mechanism for ensuring everyone gets their access to the market.” Other provisions in AB 266 seek to prevent large-scale operations from monopolizing the market. Companies that hold both cultivating and dispensing licenses would face limits on how many stores they can run and how many acres of land or square feet of indoor space they can have planted. But members of the increasingly assertive cannabis industry lobby warn the system could produce some of the same issues regularly spotlighted by small-scale alcohol makers, particularly that it gives distributors too much power. “We’re very concerned about basically mandating the distribution model for the entire state, because what that will do is allow a few organizations to control the price structure for the entire state, kind of like the exact same way the spirit distributors do it now,” said Nate Bradley, executive director of the California Cannabis Industry Association. Critics also complain of overly complex rules and frequent exceptions carved out with the help of lobbyists for various alcohol entities. Alcohol suppliers are now allowed to own hotels and theme parks or to advertise at some sports venues, for example. Wineries and craft breweries can sell their products on premises. “The current alcohol scheme we have has been chipped away at from the first day,” Bradley said. Last year, Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation allowing beer manufacturers to sell their products at farmers markets and at private events on their premises. This year, small liquor distilleries are seeking something similar, backing legislation enabling them to sell alcohol during on-site tastings and to have ownership stakes in restaurants. California Artisanal Distillers Guild executive director Cris Steller said the liquor bill, which was revived after first faltering in a key alcohol-regulating committee, would disrupt distributors’ control over which products make it onto liquor store shelves. “There’s only so much ability to give up space to smaller brands that don’t have the same brand recognition,” Steller said. “They might have the quality, but they don’t have the name recognition with the public, so the distributors go with larger brands that have much larger advertising budgets and have that ability to influence the market.” That same dynamic could recur with cannabis, warned Steve DeAngelo, executive director of the Oakland-based Harborside Health Center, which the federal government has sought to shut down. “It would give a huge amount of branding and marketing power over to the distributors,” DeAngelo said. “Supply and demand is going to dictate that the distributors will have much more economic power than the farmers would.” Many cannabis farmers see the issue differently. Giving distributors a greater role would minimize the possibility that “a retailer can fill their shelves with only their product (and) can push anyone else out of the market,” said Hezekiah Allen, executive director of the Emerald Growers Association. It would also give small-scale growers logistical assistance, Allen said. “Getting cannabis from the far north in Siskiyou County to the far south in San Diego County is virtually impossible,” Allen said, but “an alcoholic beverage can get from a producer to a distributor to a retailer anywhere in the state in two days.”

Top Twitter Trend Spells Trouble For CNN Retroact1ve Blocked Unblock Follow Following Jul 4, 2017 #CNNBlackmail This story is about an alleged News Channel, a President, and meme creator. Perhaps you have noticed CNN has taken a ton of hits lately and for good reason. As the 2016 election was in full swing CNN (as well as others) were broadcasting opinion and sometimes outright lies as objective facts. The more then candidate Donald J. Trump was winning, the more trash CNN broadcasted. The media, in particular CNN believed that Trump had to be defeated at all costs… even if it meant a complete ignoring of facts, ethics, or even laws. They decided to try and persuade rather than report. This left a bad taste in the mouths of a good amount of their viewers, and non-viewers alike. Fast forward to the present: They had to retract story they fraudulently reported as fact, James O’Keefe released recordings showing various people under the employ of CNN admitting on video the Russia narrative is nothing more than a lie for ratings and that CNN higher ups think of American voters as a whole are “Stupid as shit”. Those last two things are pretty horrible on their own but now… wew lad… they have outdone their selves. They have just threatened to release the personal information of a 15 year old member of the LGBT community. Why would they do such a thing you might ask? Well this 15 year old was the person responsible for creating a popular GIF meme of President Trump taking down CNN WWE-style. A meme that was also tweeted out by President Trump himself: That alone is hilarious in my opinion, and reinforces why I voted for Trump. He is a fighter and does not bow down in the face of overwhelming pressure and that is what America needed more than ever. As an added measure of hilarity he also retweeted his meme from the official @POTUS handle ensuring it will forever be enshrined in the Presidential Archives: CNN’s response was to take it upon their self to find out who it was that created this meme, and to threaten to release his personal information to the public at large. The intention of course is that CNN’s most rabid viewers will personally attack him whether verbally or physically, perhaps both. The creator in turn apologizes most likely out of fear, and then CNN releases a statement that he better keep it that way or else: This coming from a news organization that cried the President was trying to invoke violence towards their journalists with his tweet of the meme. They attacked President Trump the entire election, during the transition, and this entire time he has been President then have the nerve to cry when he fights back. This is the very definition of a cry bully. To instigate, to lie and attack then when someone defends their self the cry bully screams you are attacking them. When CNN does that to a full grown man, and the President that is all well and good. When they coerce a 15 year old into an apology for creating what amounts to nothing more than art with the threat they will release his name and personal information to a psychologically damaged liberal audience that is going too far. Not only is going too far but that is also against the law. By blackmailing a minor to not create more memes/art they have just ensured they will be flooded with them, whether that is in corporate inboxes, snail mail, or twitter those memes will be coming. Not only have they lost their moral high ground they pretend to have, but they compromised their selves legally. CNN is absolutely disgraceful, and they should be ashamed of their selves. If you find my writing of value to you, you can support my articles: https://www.paypal.me/Retroact1ve You can also find me on: Twitter: @Retroact1ve Minds: https://www.minds.com/retroact1ve Steem: https://steemit.com/@retroact1ve

Thanks for subscribing to the Ale Yeah! Newsletter. You will find weekly new arrivals and specials on outgoing seasonal beers! Visit us at www.aleyeahbeer.com! There is a great disturbance in the force... Seems appropriate as Dragon*Con ascends upon the city of Atlanta this week that we steal a line from Star Wars: A New Hope. Princess Leia sought the help of the wise, reclused Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi as an evil force was building, threatening the galaxy's peaceful way of life. Seems we have an Empire as well, but in order to build this mythos perhaps a little back story is needed. Three years ago we submitted a series of trademarks to the United States Trademark & Patent Office (USPTO), including our logo as well as the phrase "Ale Yeah!". We don't want to own the name exclusively but rather submitted the mark under the retail services category. A few months later (there is a lengthy time to oppose, being 'first' in this case means nothing) a group known as the LM Restaurant Group (www.lmrest.com, Twitter @LMRestaurants), parent company of the Carolina Ale House (www.carolinaalehouse.com, Twitter @carolinalehouse, www.facebook.com/CarolinaAleHouseOfficial), opposed our registration under the retail services category, citing first use of the phrase "Ale Yeah!" in 2007. They have used the phrase "Ale Yeah!" on some advertising pieces as well as their menus occasionally. Keep in mind that there are numerous instances of companies holding a trademark that operate within different industries. Beretta (gun/car), Apple (music/computing) are just a couple of said instances. LM Restaurants submitted their own use of the mark within the restaurant services category with the USPTO a few months later and was awarded the mark in 2014. Should we have opposed said registration? Perhaps, but we were confident that sometime in mid 2016 this dispute would be resolved and both companies would be awarded the mark within their respective category. Their lawyers have even admitted that there is no possible confusion between our two businesses. Fast forward to August 2015 and LM Restaurants decided to turn the dick meter up to 11 by filing a Federal lawsuit, in North Carolina no less, a state we don't do business in, claiming trademark infringement of their awarded 2014 mark, citing 'numerous requests for us to change our name and cease using the name "Ale Yeah!"'. The lawsuit completely ignores our now 3 year trademark battle over the phrase and is simply a ploy to spend us into submission. They know they are going to "lose" (let's be honest, there are no winners here) with both companies being granted the use of the phrase, so why not make us spend more money to defend ourselves against a frivolous lawsuit? They even submitted an email after the papers were served asking if we would table the trademark proceedings while the lawsuit was pending. This is clearly an instance of a bully kicking sand in the face of a smaller target, but they really don't know who they are messing with. This is our name. This is our passion. So, what can you do? Well, the obvious answer is support our stores and for that we greatly appreciate each and every one of you. You can also take to Social Media sites such as Facebook, Yelp! and Twitter, voicing your support for us while applying pressure to LM Restaurants and Carolina Ale House (there are 26 locations in 6 states) to drop this frivolous waste of time and money. Hashtags to use: #aleyeah #aleyeahbeer #theREALAleYeah. We are kicking around ideas of possible benefit shows/events and should they come to fruition we will provide those updates. We will not crowd fund our legal fees but offers to help are most appreciated. Thanks for the consideration and being our fans. Can we get an Ale Yeah!!

Watch: In the video above, photographer Lynsey Addario talks about photographing the assignment “The Changing Face of Saudi Women.” You may have heard of Lynsey Addario. She’s the author of It’s What I Do, a bestselling memoir about her life as a photojournalist. And she’s no stranger to working in difficult circumstances—having covered revolution, war, migration, and human rights issues for the better part of 20 years. For 12 years now, Addario has spent time working in Saudi Arabia. The country holds a special place in her heart, but that doesn’t make it an easy society for a visual journalist to navigate. “Every time I go there, I go there with a sort of sense of dread of how difficult it will be to photograph and how impenetrable the place is,” Addario says in the video above. “And then I find myself there and having fun and meeting these incredible women.” View Images Sisters relax as their children play on the slopes of the desert outside Riyadh in Saudi Arabia. Photograph by Lynsey Addario These women are the focus of the February 2016 National Geographic magazine story “The Changing Face of Saudi Women.” The feature reveals multifaceted female lives in a nation that the story’s author, Cynthia Gorney, calls “the most profoundly gender-segregated nation on Earth.” Addario’s images peer into the active lives of these women, highlighting the search for a way to be “truly modern and truly Saudi.” “I want people to learn—to have a better sense of what Saudi women’s lives are,” says Addario. “I hope people walk away with a different perspective.” See more of Lynsey Addario’s photos from the February 2016 National Geographic magaine story “The Changing Face of Saudi Women.”

"The longer I'm prime minister ... the longer I'm prime minister." Stephen Harper heads up the longevity chart. He's pictured here winning in 2008. Photograph by: Leah Hennel/Calgary Herald , Postmedia News He has had the benefit of a weakened and divided opposition, its electoral force blunted by centre-left vote-splitting. His government, unlike those of most developed countries, has overseen a relatively stable national economy and ably weathered a global recession. But whether by political genius, dumb luck or a combination of the two, Stephen Harper has proven — in purely objective terms, from a historical perspective — that he has prime ministerial staying power. Harper, who has passed the eight-and-a-half year mark in Canada’s top political post — and ranks ninth on the list of longest-serving prime ministers — is on the cusp of leapfrogging three of those predecessors to the No. 6 spot, and becoming second only to Sir John A. Macdonald among 13 Conservative PMs in time spent at the helm of the nation. So when Harper (as he surely will) personally leads Canadians in celebrating the 200thanniversary of Macdonald’s birth this coming January, he’ll do so possessing a newfound political kinship with the leading Father of Confederation and Conservative party patriarch. By mid-September, according to the Canadian government’s official time-in-office listing, Harper will move up to eighth, passing post-war Liberal Louis St. Laurent. Then, within a stretch of nine days in November, Harper will overtake Conservative/Unionist Sir Robert Borden, and Conservative Brian Mulroney to stand sixth. It would take Harper until March 2016 to pass Liberal rival Jean Chrétien. “Length of time in office is a serious measure of effectiveness — I don’t think there’s any doubt of that,” says Canadian political historian Jack Granatstein, co-author with Norman Hillmer of the 1999 bestseller Prime Ministers: Ranking Canada’s Leaders. “You have to keep winning elections. You have to keep your party quiet, happy and satisfied. And you have to manage the affairs of the country and its dealings abroad. Anyone who can do that for almost nine years is somebody who is very effective. It doesn’t mean you’re popular — God knows the dislike of Harper is extreme and widespread — but he is effective. He keeps winning elections, and that’s the test.” Harper became the country’s 22nd prime minister on Feb. 6, 2006, two weeks after his party won a minority mandate in the Jan. 23 general election. He is expected to remain prime minister until at least October 2015, when the next federal election is scheduled under new fixed-date rules — though an earlier vote could be called at the Conservative government’s discretion. Harper’s imminent outdistancing of St. Laurent, Borden and Mulroney to join the upper echelon of prime ministerial endurance follows last year’s publication of an award-winning book by senior Maclean’s political writer Paul Wells, The Longer I’m Prime Minister: Stephen Harper and Canada, 2006-, which highlighted the significance Harper attached to mere survival in office for as long as possible — especially during the fragile early phase of his time as PM — to simply get Canadians accustomed again to the idea of a non-Liberal government. The stay-in-power-at-all-costs strategy, Wells recounted, led the Harper Tories to avoid blundering into or orchestrating an early election during their first minority mandate, and was encapsulated in a line Harper is said to have repeated regularly to those in his inner circle: “You know, the longer I’m prime minister … the longer I’m prime minister.”

NEW DELHI: India on Saturday said the new ammunition for Arjun Tank , successfully tested by DRDO , will provide a "quantum jump" in fire-power of the indigenously-developed main battle tank.The new tank ammunition called 'Penetration-Cum Blast (PCB) and Thermobaric (TB) Ammunition' is specially designed for Arjun Tank and was recently tested by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO)."The trials were found to be very effective and the damage was devastating with the firing of ammunition successfully destroying the target tank and severely damaging its turret, barrel, tracks, ammunition bin, various sights, antennas among others," the Defence Ministry said in a statement.The ammunitions have been developed by Pune-based DRDO laboratories Armament Research and Development Establishment ( ARDE ) and High Energy Materials Research Laboratory (HEMRL).During the development phase, these ammunitions were extensively evaluated against different simulated targets - armour plates, concrete structures and fortifications.The trials were conducted jointly with Army and was aimed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the ammunitions on derelict tank fitted with instrumentation to measure the shocks, blast pressure and temperature at various locations and on advanced imaging systems."The trials were unique as for the first time such evaluation is carried out in India which will give a quantum jump in the fire-power of Arjun tanks," the Ministry said.

Tensions about land ownership in the area have run high at least since President Roosevelt’s administration (Theodore, not Franklin). “Adirondack Squatters and Camp Owners Clash,” read a headline from the Nov. 15, 1903, edition of The New York Times, which outlined arguments that still resonate. “They claim that the state’s title to the land, which was obtained by virtue of tax sales, is defective.” Image Credit The New York Times Joseph Martens, the commissioner of the Department of Environmental Conservation, acknowledged that the titles for many of these properties were “very confused,” mentioning a range of mix-ups, including contested tax sales, poor descriptions of property lines, or cases where two landowners both thought they owned the same property. “The state was acquiring pieces of land as it has done since the creation of the park,” Mr. Martens said, “but private landowners had title to the same property and built residences and camps on the land.” This is not the first time that voters have been asked to weigh in on such a local issue, including those in Township 40. In 2007, voters approved the use of forest preserve land for wells in Raquette Lake, where all the disputed Township 40 parcels are. “Forever Wild” has been altered several times since its constitutional inclusion in the 1890s for minor changes like the building of a public cemetery (and cutting down some trees) or extending a runway (into a forest). Voters last said yes to a change to Article 14 in 2009 when the state was allowed to swap six acres to the power company National Grid for a new power line in exchange for 10 acres of forest. But local residents this year are worried, fearing that downstate voters will reflexively reject a complicated land deal about a place they might not have heard of. “I’m afraid that some people will look at it and not know what it is and vote no,’” said Lance Maly, a retired conservation officer, who lives in Old Forge, in neighboring Herkimer County. “As I might for something in Suffolk County.” And Carolyn Gerdin, 77, whose disputed property has been her family’s retreat since the early 1950s, said: “Even people upstate don’t know what you’re talking about when you’re talking Township 40. It’s not a subject that has really come up to the public before.” Proposal 4 is not the only land swap on the ballot this year. Voters will also be asked to decide on Proposal 5, which would allow a mining company, NYCO Minerals, access to 200 acres of forest adjacent to its current mining operation in the northern Adirondacks. In exchange, the state will receive some 1,500 acres of woods and streams, supporters say. The company would use the 200 acres to look for wollastonite, a mineral used in automobile parts and other industries, before returning the land to the state. That proposal has drawn some high-profile supporters like the Adirondack Council and the New York League of Conservation Voters. But Proposal 5 has also drawn the ire of other environmental groups, who say it sets a dangerous precedent.

In a hearing centered on Russian interference in the election, one senator took the opportunity to question the former attorney general who was fired for refusing to defend President Trump's travel ban. Senator John Kennedy (R-Louisiana) asked former acting Attorney General Sally Yates why she refused to defend Trump's initial executive order barring travel from several Mideast nations. "I believed any argument [the Justice Department] would have to make in its defense would not be grounded in the truth," Yates said. "We would have to argue that it had nothing to do with religion," she said. Kennedy asked whether there was no reasonable argument that could be made to defend the order any other way. Spicer: Why Didn't Obama Suspend Flynn's Security Clearance? 'That Is Emotional Manipulation': McCain Slams Obama's 'Courage' Remarks Maxine Waters Presents MTV Award for 'Best Fight Against the System' Yates said she believed the intent of the order was to discriminate against Muslims trying to come to the United States. She added that if it were an act of Congress, she would still have refused to defend it, pointing to the Obama Justice Department refusing to defend the Defense of Marriage Act. Kennedy asked Yates to tell him at which level of government an act becomes unconstitutional. Yates repeated that she could not send lawyers to defend Trump's action without admitting the order's intent was discrimination. "Who appointed you to the United States Supreme Court?" Kennedy asked. Watch the full exchange above. Pearl Harbor Survivor Celebrates His 96th Birthday by Going Skydiving Sheriff Shaq?! Former NBA Star Plans to Run in 2020 Columnist: Hillary's Excuses for Election Loss Point to One Thing – a 2020 Run

You wanna know the best thing about being a black-market organ dealin’ clown? People laugh atcha’ jokes. Sure, a knife to the throat is pretty fricken good incentive, but god-damn! The laughs…that’s what I do it for; the laughs. I mean, I been a clown for twenty-five fuckin’ years, twenty-five fucking years, and I ain’t never heard so many laughs in my life as I have in the last few weeks. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve never had a problem makin’ friends, in fact, Mattie and Mort are the best fuckin friends an old bastard like me could ever ask for. Shit, even talkin’ about them makes me a little teary eyed. Makin’ people laugh though…that’s something different. ‘Specially in today’s world. This fucking technology shit is takin’ over. The worst part? I’ll tell ya the worst part…the worst part is that no matter how fuckin funny I am, the god-damn internet is always funnier. I go to a party now, and some of these little shits actually have the balls to fuckin’ call me out on my tricks. They fuckin’ Google it. Can you believe that shit? They fuckin’ Google my jokes, and then I’m stuck there, standin’ in front of a buncha little snot nosed brats with no jokes and no tricks, because they went and Googled the whole damn show! Now, I’m not gonna tell you the blood doesn’t still make my stomach turn a little. I can’t tell you that, cuz’ I’d be lying. It’s fucking disgusting, but Mort says it’s therapeutic for my anger issues. I’m startin’ to think he might be right, too. “Hey Kev, you okay man?” I glance at Matt in the rear-view mirror and smile, “Yeah, of course. I was just thinkin’, that’s all. Why, what’s up Mattie?” Matt smiles back at me and I notice how much better he’s gotten at applying his face make-up. It doesn’t even crack at the corners anymore. He’s one of the good ones; knows how to honor the fuckin’ uniform. “Well, it’s just that you parked in front of the house, man.” Matt’s concerned gaze meets my own in the mirror, before it darts off to Mort. “I mean, it’s just…I think we might have already fucked this one up a little, ya know? Cuz’ Santiago said one of the big ones was, uhmm…” I watch as Matt closes his eyes and scrunches his face in thought. “I’m pretty sure he said, like, don’t park no wheres near the house of the hit…or something like that.” I look around me and realize the kid is right. I pulled right into the fuckin’ driveway. “Shit.” I look over at Mort, who shrugs his shoulders. “Shit…I did, huh? For fucks sake.” I pull in a deep breath and shake my head. I fiddle with the keys in the ignition and think about how bad breakin’ this rule would really be. What’s the organ dealin’ fucker gonna do, kill us? I chuckle and look up at my boys, “Oh well.” Matt grins back at me and Mort grunts, a small smile curling the left corner of his mouth. “Who’s the hit again? Some broad, right?” After that first time with Jerry, may his alcoholic fuckin soul rest in peace, the organ dealer we had lined up became a partner of sorts. He was kind of hesitant, but I’m a real business man, so we made a deal. We do the work, he pays the money. Personally, I think he’s one of those pansy asses who got that clown phobia nonsense. That just makes it easier for me to negotiate business though, cuz’ that means we got somethin’ over him. So, all it really took was some common fuckin sense logic, and Mort holdin’ a balloon starin the guy down through the whole fuckin conversation, and bada-bing bada-boom, he was sold! Matt looks down at the paper in his hands and nods, “Yeah, that’s right. Some chick named Marsha Duvall,” he looks up and squints toward the house, “at this address.” “Okay.” I pull the latch that opens the trunk and smile, “Time for some therapy, boys.” Mort smiles and glances in the rearview mirror from his spot in the passenger seat, “Don’t forget the duct tape this time, Matthew.” “Oh yeah! Thanks Mort, you’re a real pal man.” We file out of the car and I wait by the front while the boys grab Mort’s bag and whatever else they’ve decided to bring this time. I watch them together and my heart does this stupid little thumpy thing. It feels nice to have a real-life family. I chuckle at how funny they look standin next to each other. Mort all serious and shit, and Mattie all lanky and wide-eyed. Mort is about 6’4 next to Matt’s 5’8…some people get all the luck. I used to be 5’4 before my unicycle accident a few years ago; I lost a god-damn inch to that fuckin accident. That’s okay though, because I got a good face, so whenever I decide to seek out some much-needed lady companionship, I do alright. I’ll never touch a fuckin unicycle again, though, that’s for damn sure. I look down at my water-squirting joke watch and sigh. “Yous guys almost ready? Just cuz we parked in the driveway don’t mean we should be takin our sweet ass time out in plain sight.” Matt looks up and hoists a bag onto his shoulder, “Sorry Kev, we’ll hurry, won’t we Mort?” Mort nods his agreement and closes the trunk, his medical bag in his free hand. “Yup.” I turn around toward the house and frown. Should we go in the front door? I’m pretty sure that was on the list of shit Santiago said not to do, but we already fucked that up by parkin in the driveway, so… “Let’s take the front door. Maybe the neighbors will think it’s a business call, if they see us.” Matt smiles broadly, “Hey, Kev! That’s a great idea.” God, I love this kid. There ain’t a damn person in this world who can make me feel more important than this fuckin weirdo kid. “Thanks, Mattie. I appreciate you sayin that.” “Of course, Kev.” Matt looks over at Mort, “I love you too, man. Just in case you were feeling left out, ya know.” Mort chuckles, a rare fuckin sound, and nods his head. We walk the short distance from the car to the house, and stop in front of the door. Should we knock? I raise my hand to knock, but hesitate. “Yous guys think we should knock?” Matt tilts his head to the side and says, “Maybe just try the handle?” “Try the handle? Try the…what kind of fuckin idiot leaves the door unlocked? There’s dangerous people around here, Mattie. They ain’t gonna just –” I try the handle, just to humor the kid, and it fuckin turns. “Jesus Christ…it’s unlocked. These people are some real fuckin winners, huh?” Matt purses his lips and nods his head, and Mort grunts. “Alright, hand me a bat or somethin’, huh? We got some weapons, right?” I look at Matt, who packed a bag of what he likes to call “end of life” equipment. Matt turns to rummage around in his duffel and says, “Yeah, sure Kev. I think I got one of them travel sized ones in here somewhere.” He feels around for another minute and then pulls a medium sized bat out of the bag, “Here ya go, man.” I take the bat and nod to the bag, “Yous guys should maybe get somethin’ out too. Ya know, just in case she’s a fighter.” I cringe slightly as the memory of the last lady we wasted pops into my head. The bitch kneed me right in the nuts; KO, down for the count. Luckily Mattie was quick thinkin’ and clocked her in the head with his bag, or else the bitch mighta turned my jewels into fuckin crystal dust or somethin’. “Oh, yeah. Good idea, Kev.” Matt reaches into the bag and hands Mort a crossbow, and then pulls out a battle axe for himself. I stare at him for a minute. “Mattie…where the fuck did you get that shit?” He looks back at me in that wide-eyed way he has and says, “Well, I got the crossbow from a flea market,” He pulls a couple arrows out of his bag and hands them to Mort, “and the battle axe is a replica of Gimli’s, from the Lord of the Rings, ya know?” “Lord of tha?” I shake my head, “Nevermind, let’s just get going.” Who the hell brings a battle axe to an organ harvesting? Gotta love the fuckin little weirdo. I push the door open slowly and peek inside. There’s a stair case right in front of me, but it’s dark. I look to the right and see someone sitting in a chair facing away from the door. Bingo. I check behind the door quickly, there’s a kitchen to the left of the stairs, but it’s dark as well. I turn behind me to nod to the boys, and then slowly enter the house. We file in, all quiet like, and I nod at Mort to shut and lock the door behind him. I turn back toward the living room and slowly walk toward the chair, careful not to make too much noise or bump anything with my over-sized clown shoes. The television is blaring and I can’t help but think how stupid this bitch is, leavin’ the door unlocked and the TV on loud enough for burglars and shit to just come traipsin’ in. I hold my bat in the air as I round the chair and yell, “Don’t make no noise, and don’t run, and everything will be –” I look back at Matt and Mort, “What the shit is this?” I point to the person sitting in the chair. The man sitting in the chair, the man who is clearly not Marsha fuckin Duvall. “Oh, god damn it!” Matt peeks around the chair, battle axe held high and says, “Huh. By any chance, is your name Marsha Duvall? I don’t want to like, assume your gender or anything, but you do kinda look like a man…like, a lot.” I smack my free hand against my wig, careful not to mess up my face paint and look up at Mattie from under my lashes. He’s such a thoughtful person, but sometimes I wonder what woulda happened to him if I hadn’t found him. He’s too nice. “Just answer the fuckin kid.” The man’s mouth hangs open, and he shakes his head quickly, “N-no. I’m George Duvall…Marsha is my w-wife.” I sigh heavily. Could this hit get any more fucked up? “God, damn it. God fucking damn it.” I look at George and shake my head, “Well, is your wife home?” He glances nervously from me to Mort, before his eyes land on Matt’s battle axe. “No. No, she’s at the hairdresser.” I purse my lips and look back at Mort and Mattie. “What the fuck do we do now?” Matt itches the back of his head with his free hand and sucks his teeth against his cheek. “Gee…I don’t really know, Kev. I guess we could just take him, but –” The TV cuts from some dumb ass commercial about stain removers and Matt’s head snaps up as the regular program resumes, “Hey! I fuckin’ love this show man!” George shifts anxiously in his seat and laughs weakly as he says, “Yeah? M-me too.” He looks from Matt to me, then up at Mort as he says, “Uhm…you guys want a…uh, you want a beer…o-or something?” Mort laughs, he laughs as he plops his bag down on the floor and crosses the room to sit on the couch next to George’s chair. I stare at him. I guess a beer does sound kinda nice. “Yeah, George. You know, that’s real thoughtful of you. A beer sounds real nice.” I glance at Matt and nod, “Hey Mattie, maybe you should grab the beers, huh?” Matt looks at George and smiles, “Yeah, sure. Good idea, Kev. Your kitchen is past the front door, right George?” George swallows quickly and nods at Matt as he says, “Yeah…I only have Miller lite though. My wife, she only lets me buy lites because she says I’m getting fat.” “Oh, man…that’s not fair at all. I think you have a good body. I mean, I’ve only seen you in that chair, but you look pretty handsome for a random dude who watches TV and drinks beer in the middle of the day, ya know?” Matt shakes his head as he walks toward the kitchen. “T-thanks.” George’s brow rises and he nervously pulls on his fingers. “That’s nice of you to say. My wife is never satisfied with anything.” I shake my head as I move over to sit next to Mort on the couch. “That shit don’t fly with me. Nope, they either appreciate what they got, or they get the fuck out. I can’t take that naggin shit.” George nods his head slowly, “Yeah. It’s just hard, because we’ve been married for seven years now…so it’d be hard to leave.” I look at Matt as he comes back into the room carrying four beers and shake my head, “That’s bull shit pal. Life is too short for that shit, trust me.” George takes the beer from Matt and sighs, “Yeah. I know.” He shifts in his chair and crosses his legs as Matt hands the boys their beers, then takes a seat on the end of the couch near me. “I never understood women.” Matt takes a sip of his beer as he watches the episode of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia that has, so far, spared George’s life. Mort nods his head in agreement. Matt glances at George, “Doesn’t matter what you do, eventually they end up pissed, ya know?” George, Mort and me all nod. The kid is right. “So, uh, what do you do George?” George takes a sip of his beer and replies, “Oh, I’m an accountant.” He looks at the three of us and asks, “What exactly do you fellas do?” I shake my head, because I think it’s pretty fuckin obvious what we do, but answer, “We’re clowns, George. See the uniforms? Clowns. We got some side business right now, but at the end of the day, we’re just some clowns tryin ta make a living in a fucked up, laughless world.” George took a long swig of his beer and laughed. “I didn’t know clowns made house calls.” I look at him for a minute, trying to make sure he isn’t tryin’ to be a wise guy. “You being a wise guy, George?” I look at the bat still in my hand. His eyes get huge and he stutters, “N-no, I just…” I laugh, “It’s okay George, I’m only fuckin’ with ya. You’re a good guy, George.” He laughs again, slightly nervous, but not anywhere as nervous as he should be. I mean, this guy is really not aware of his own safety at all. “You know George, you should really lock your door. I mean, it’s dangerous around here. All kinds of crazy bastards lurkin’ around.” Matt looks away from the TV and nods, “Yeah man, you’re lucky we came by. Think of the kinds of guys who break in houses with guns blazing. You’d be toast, man.” George eyes us as he finishes off his beer and nods slowly, “Yeah…I guess you’re right. Sorry boys, I’ll uhm, I’ll be more careful from now on I guess.” He laughs again and glances at the bat. Matt nods. “Good, man. That’s good.” He turns his attention back to the TV just as the end credits roll on the screen. “That was such a good episode, right Mort? I don’t think we’ve seen that one before, have we?” Mort nods his head and replies, “Nope, haven’t seen it.” He raises his beer to George and says, “Thanks, George.” George’s brow furrows, but he nods. “No problem guys. No problem at all.” I clear my throat and look at my boys, “So, George…I really hate to do this pal, but we’re kinda on a schedule.” I look down at my joke watch and sigh, “We’ll probably have to do you now.” George sits up straight in his chair and his eyes widen to the size of saucers. “I’d really rather you didn’t. I mean, I…I’m not really into that kind of thing.” He chuckles nervously, and it sounds kind of like one of them hyenas from The Lion King to me. What a solid fucking movie. Matt laughs and shakes his head, “No man, he doesn’t mean “do” you like, sex…although it’s a shame you’re so closed minded. You should really be open to more things, George. Except like, locks…you should not have those open, obviously.” Matt looks at me and I nod. George clears his throat, “I’m afraid I don’t really understand what you mean then.” Matt leans forward and his voice is gentle as he explains, “He means we gotta kill you now, Georgey.” George takes in a deep breath and scrambles, “But…I thought you said I was a nice guy, remember? You said I was nice. You want my wife, remember?” I smile politely, “Well, yeah George, you’re great. Thanks again for the beer, by the way.” He nods slowly and waves his hand in the air. “The thing is, your wife ain’t here, and we can’t go back empty handed.” I watch as George presses himself into the chair as his eyes dart from me to Matt, to Mort and back. “You can wait. You can take her. She’s a bitch. She deserves to die way more than I do. For pete’s sake, she buys lite beer!” I look at Matt and Mort and shrug. He has a point. “He has a point.” Matt nods, “He does…plus he was super nice to us. That’s never happened before, ya know?” Mort shrugs and nods. I look back at George, who is crying like a little bitch, and nod. “Okay, we’ll wait for your wife.” “Oh, thank you! She’ll be home soon. You want me to call her? I can call and have her come home early…you know, make up an emergency or something?” I nod, “That works. Do it on speaker phone though, got it?” George nods and pulls out his phone. He punches in the numbers and presses speaker. Hello? George, what do you want? I’m busy. “Hi, hon…I just, I had a bit of an accident. What? What’d you do now? You better not have made a mess, or so help me god. I just cleaned George! “No, baby. I didn’t make a mess, but I need you to come home. It’s pretty bad. Oh, for heaven’s sake George. Fine. I’ll be there as soon as I can. And George? “Yes, babe?” You better be dying. *Click* Matt looked at George and shook his head. “Wow, man. Your wife is kind of a twat.” George ran a hand through his chestnut colored hair and nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, she is.” I shake my head and sigh, “She’s got you by the balls, pal. You want another beer?” George shakes his head, “Nah, I’m good. Thanks, help yourself though.” “I’m okay.” I look at Mort, who is just staring at George. “So how long you think she’ll be?” George straightens his arm and then pulls it toward himself to look at his watch. “Hopefully only a few minutes. Her hairdresser is only just down the road.” “Okay, okay…that’s fine.” I twist the bat in my hands and glance at the TV. The boring ass stain commercial is playing again. “How many times do they play this same fuckin commercial, huh?” George lets out a quick laugh, “A few hundred times a day, I think.” Matt shifts on the couch next to me, and I look up at him. He’s fingering one of the edges of his axe. I look over at Mort. He’s tapping a finger against the trigger mechanism on the crossbow. I clear my throat. This is kind of awkward. “This is kind of awkward, huh?” Matt and Mort nod, and I purse my lips. George giggles. I look at him and feel my face scrunch up. It’s weird to hear a grown man giggle. Maybe he knows we just decided to kill him. He looks up at us, “You’re going to kill me anyway, aren’t you?” Matt, Mort and I nod. George looks at the television and nods. Tears are streaming down his cheeks and snot is glistening in a trail from his nose down into his mouth. “Well, I guess we can start now, huh Mort?” I look over at Mort and he smiles. It is, after all, his turn. He pulls the trigger on the crossbow and…TWANG! Matt leans forward and whistles, “Oh, nice one Mort! Right through the eyeball.” I watch as George’s head turns toward us, his eye is twitching around the arrow. “Oh, shit…he ain’t dead yet fellas.” I stand up and move in front of the chair, George’s head follows me. I lift the bat and whack him in the crotch. “Hnnng! Ugh…” George raises his arms, and I raise my bat again. How the fuck is this bastard still alive? Matt stands up and moves forward, he lifts his battle axe and smashes it down into George’s chestnut hair. His skull makes a cracking noise as blood splatters everything within a five-foot radius of George’s chair. I feel a little nauseous at the sight of all this fucking blood, but the adrenaline keeps me clear-headed. “You okay, Kev? I didn’t really think about all the mess that would make. I’m sorry, man.” “Oh no, Mattie, I’m fine pal. Thanks for worryin’ though.” Mort stands and reaches across us to pull the arrow out of George’s collapsed skull. The arrow comes out easily, and the eyeball is still skewered on the bolt. Mort holds it up in the air and pokes it with his free hand. He smiles. I hear a car pull into the driveway and look to my boys. Their faces light up, and I know in that moment…no matter how fucked up they are, or I am…we’re family. I lift my bat up against my shoulder as a calm the likes of which I ain’t never felt before settles over me. I’d do anything for family. As Marsha Duvall’s key turns in the door, that damn stain commercial plays on the television again. I look around the living room, which is now covered in blood, and think maybe we should get some for the cleanup. I nod toward the television as the door slowly opens, “Maybe we should pick some of that shit up. Might come in handy.” Matt’s eyes widen and he nods enthusiastically, and Mort chuckles. Marsha Duvall closes the door behind her and yells, “George! I’m home,” she shoves her keys into her purse as she mumbles something about George being a man-child. “George? I swear to god if you’ve made a mess –” She freezes in her tracks as she looks up at us. I smile. “Welcome home, babycakes.” Advertisements

Get your mop and bucket at the ready, a certain easily destructible glob of meat is heading to a Playstation near you. Get your mop and bucket at the ready, a certain easily destructible glob of meat is heading to a Playstation near you. Co-creator Tommy Refenes announced the news today on the Playstation.com blog. Refenes gave some background to his and Edmund McMillen's punishingly tricky platformer and wrote about hating leaving Playstation fans without the game, due to "very complicated reasons." But something changed with those, presumably legal, reasons. "Earlier this year, Team Meat got an unexpected gift. The gods smiled upon them and opened up a teeny tiny sliver of a path that could eventually lead them to re-release Super Meat Boy. Even though the path would be difficult they knew they owed it to their fans to at least try." Wrote Refenes. The result is an expected release of Super Meat Boy for PS4 and PS Vita later this year. The game will be free on Playstation Plus at launch. The announcement came complete with meat tossing video. Look what else the PS4 is getting - Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection confirmed for PS4 Online Editors

One of the difficult things with evaluating games on the App Store is how much they tend to evolve over time. It’s especially tricky with free-to-play games that are often set up to be gentle in the early stages and more punishing over time. It’s like waiting for the other shoe to drop a lot of the time, and I think that contributes to why some people are hesitant to get into those kinds of games to begin with. Even though I’ve played Square Enix and DeNA’s new social RPG Final Fantasy: Record Keeper more than anyone at TouchArcade, I won’t be doing the main review. We agreed it would be interesting for readers to get another point of view on the game, so my co-host on the RPG Reload Podcast Eric Ford will be handling that. There is, however, a unique opportunity with this game that we’re not often afforded. I’ve played this game virtually every day for five months, participated in all of the events, and pushed my way through a huge chunk of the game, all without spending even a single yen on anything. I’ve been asked to write up my impressions of the Japanese version of the game up until now, to give you some idea of how the game shakes out over the long term. Consider this a supplement to the main review of the game. A glimpse at how the game looks way down the road, if you will. So, let’s start by answering the question that’s probably on everyone’s mind. Where’s the paywall? The answer is that so far, I haven’t hit anything that has completely stopped my progress. There are some Elite dungeons I’m not quite ready to handle as of yet, but none of the main dungeons have stopped me for very long if at all. I’ve fully completed all but one of the stages up to the point that I’m at with the regular levels, and I could probably go back and finish out the one I didn’t get gold on pretty easily by now. I’ve been able to clear every event and earn every character save the one that was running when I first started playing. Luckily, the characters do occasionally repeat, at least in the Japanese version, so I was able to get that character later. Again, some of the Elite event stages are a bit too tough for my current party, so I haven’t been able to get more than a few of the precious Crystal Souls that allow you to break the level cap, but that doesn’t seem unfair. In total, I’ve collected 40 different characters, 33 of which are named characters while the rest fill the role of the generic job classes. My main party is hovering around an average level of 48, while most of my other characters are between level 20 and level 30. I have tons of gil, enough five star equipment to fully deck a few complete parties, and all but the highest tier of abilities and magic. I’m also sitting on a massive stash of Growth Eggs, so I could certainly boost my character levels more than I have if I wanted to. As mentioned in the last paragraph, I have a few Crystal Souls, so three of my characters can go past the default level cap of 50, onto level 65. I’ve unlocked and played stages from every mainline Final Fantasy game except for Final Fantasy 11 and Final Fantasy 14. I’m not sure if they’re in there or not, but it seems like they haven’t been added yet. Most importantly, I’m still having a lot of fun. I’ll admit, the events are the big thing that keeps me interested these days, but they change out regularly enough that I’m always checking in. Because of the events and the login bonus, the Mythril flows smoothly enough that I’ve been able to take plenty of swings at the relic draw while also expanding my inventory maximum to account for my hoarder mentality. I also like to pop in for certain daily dungeons, especially the ones that give bonuses to experience or high-level crafting materials. Whenever I load up the game to play these time-limited events, I also usually crank out a stage or two of the normal story mode. I like that I haven’t hit a point yet where it feels like I have to spend a lot of time grinding for whatever reason in order to progress. Many other social RPGs start off strong but eventually land you in that kind of situation. Final Fantasy: Record Keeper, after this many months and countless hours of play, has only ever asked me to reconsider my strategy. It has asked nothing worse of me than many of my favorite traditional RPGs, and that’s not something I expected coming into it. Don’t jump in unprepared, and if you get beat, think about why and how you can avoid it next time. This is the very core of what makes RPG battles enjoyable, and Record Keeper reflects that proudly. Even the dreaded stamina meter ended up being less of a factor than I might have expected. As long as you’re playing the regular story mode, you’ll constantly earn stamina crystals. Collecting five of those adds an extra stamina point to your maximum and refills your meter. You can obviously drain it doing events and daily dungeons, since they don’t give you any crystals, but if you stick to the regular stages, it’s kind of impressive how long you can play before you run out of stamina. It also refills quickly enough on its own that you don’t have to wait long before can have another battle. The nostalgia aspect of the game is perfect. There were so many corners that could have been potentially cut, like glossing over using the right music for a special battle or reusing a generic background instead of recreating the proper one, but Record Keeper more often than not goes the extra mile in that regard. Contributing equally to the nostalgia is the fact that bosses and enemies behave in familiar ways. In many ways, this isn’t so much a new game as it is a remix, a bunch of rapid-fire memories from the history of the series, given a bit of spit polish and sent out to shine once more. For this long time Final Fantasy fan, it’s about the best I could imagine from a social RPG take on the series. Five months later, I still love it. Anyway, that’s just where I’m at with Final Fantasy: Record Keeper at the moment. I guess I’ll be starting anew today with the rest of you on the English version. A chance to relive things again, and maybe raise up a totally different main party. Unlike many games where I end up having to do this, I don’t dread rebuilding at all here. Instead, I’m quite looking forward to it. I hope these impressions can set some worried minds at ease. This is very much a social RPG, but it’s a very good one, and for Final Fantasy fans looking for a little filler in their day, it’s hard to imagine it could have been better.

“I should never have done it,” admits Ronde runner-up Having come under considerable criticism on Twitter and elsewhere for his post-race conduct on the Flanders podium yesterday when he pinched the rear of one of the podium girls, Peter Sagan has issued an apology over the matter via his Facebook page. A sombre looking Sagan – who was wearing a plain white T-shirt rather than clothing from his Cannondale team – said that he was wrong and that he wanted to acknowledge that. “I sincerely apologise to Maja [the woman in question] for what I did on the podium yesterday after the race, because it was wrong of me and I don’t [sic] thinking when I was up on the podium,” he said in the clip, which can be seen below. “I never should have done it. I am so sorry and I hope that Maja and anyone else I have offended knows how sorry I am and accept my apology. I promise to act more respectfully in the future.” At 23 years of age, Sagan has emerged as one of the most talented young riders in the peloton but has also attracted a range of responses to his race-end celebrations, which include wheelies and various exuberant victory salutes. Some riders, including yesterday’s winner Fabian Cancellara, have accused him of being disrespectful to others in the manner of his celebrations, while others have said that he makes the sport more entertaining and exciting. Yesterday’s podium appearance elicited less positive responses, though, and he and his team will now hope that his apology will be accepted.

MAHMOODIN, Syria -- We crossed the River Tigris on a rusty barge on our journey from Iraq into Syria. It's a river that helped nurture civilization, but the war that's now raging on its banks has become increasingly barbaric. The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) controls territory on both sides of the border -- land the group refers to as the "Islamic State." But in northeastern Syria, they're meeting resistance from a rag-tag army of Kurdish fighters, and we wanted to meet them. With our Kurdish guide, we headed for the village of Telkocher, on the front line in the fight against the Islamic extremists. But just an hour into our drive, we strayed too close to ISIS snipers and our convoy came under fire. We scrambled for cover in another village, Mahmoodin, which has been under attack for a month. Across the dusty plain that surrounds the village, the nearest ISIS position was visible just a mile away. Mahmoodin's mud brick homes and neat flower gardens were abandoned; we ran down its narrow alleyways and found all of them empty, until we stumbled into a courtyard where a Kurdish commander, Omran Hussein, has set up camp. A strapping former tailor who never stops smiling and pairs his military fatigues with a flower-patterned headscarf, Commander Hussein has just 40 soldiers to hold off ISIS. "Not enough," he told us, "but they're all I have." Ten of his fighters are women -- some of them teenagers -- and according to Commander Hussein, they're some of his best soldiers. Kurdish militia member Akina Akin, 19, cleans her weapon after clashes with ISIS fighters in Mahmoodin, northern Syria, Sept. 27, 2014. CBS "There's no difference between the men and the women," he said. "Some of them are even better fighters than I am." One of them is 19-year-old Akina Akin, a five-foot tall dynamo who's already battle hardened after two years of fighting. We asked her if she was frightened of being captured by ISIS -- which has become notorious for kidnapping and raping women and girls in its territory. "I'm not afraid," she said with a defiant toss of her head. "I'll blow myself up before I let them catch me." In ISIS territory women must cover their faces, and everyone is subject to a strict version of Islamic law. The Kurdish fighters are also Muslims, but they follow a very different version of Islam. Asked if ISIS -- as it claims -- practices a "pure" form of Sunni Islam, Commander Hussein guffawed. "I might be a bit Westernized, but I'm still a Muslim," he told us. "ISIS is killing people, and real Muslims don't kill innocent civilians." Pres. Obama: Confident in the coalition against ISIS It's been a week since the U.S. military and a handful of allied nations began conducting airstrikes against ISIS inside Syria. The latest were reported overnight by Syrian activists, who said several strikes hit ISIS targets in the northeast. But Commander Hussein told us that, so far, the air campaign has had little impact on the ground. He's still hopeful, though, that the U.S. will come to the rescue -- with more airstrikes, and a desperately-needed infusion of weapons to battle the well-armed extremists. "Tell America we need weapons," he said. "If we can't defeat ISIS, their next target will be Europe and the U.S."

Prior to the demolition of Boston’s old West End, another vibrant, multi-ethnic neighborhood of tenement houses and mom-and-pop shops fell victim to so-called ‘urban renewal.’ From February 21 through Fall 2017, The West End Museum hosts The New York Streets: Boston’s First Urban Renewal Project, a new exhibit that tells the story of this lost ‘sister’ community. At the opening reception—February 21, from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m.—attendees can tour the exhibit and enjoy light refreshments. The exhibit and reception are free and open to the public. “The New York Streets project preceded the more infamous redevelopment of the West End,” says Museum Curator Duane Lucia. “But, in much the same way, federal funding was used to demolish an entire neighborhood and displace its residents with total disregard to the hardship it would cause them.” The New York Streets encompassed 24 acres of land comprising 12+ city blocks in the northeast corner of the South End. The area got its moniker when roads there were named after cities along the Erie Canal to commemorate the connection of railroad between Boston and Albany in 1842. They included Troy, Rochester, Genesee, Oswego, Oneida, Seneca and Albany itself, the sole remnant street name from that era in today’s South End. That corner of the Mass. Pike and Interstate 93—now home to the Ink Block complex and other high-rise apartments and a hotel with ground-level shops and restaurants—is otherwise unrecognizable. First to fall under the axe of redevelopment in the City, the largely immigrant working class and working poor neighborhood had no means to fight City Hall when, in 1952, planning began to level the area and make way for the new Boston Herald Traveler newspaper plant and other industrial facilities. The City took control in 1955 and, by 1957, 321 buildings had been demolished and 1,000 residents displaced from their homes and community. Through graphic panels and a collection of original photographs, The New York Streets: Boston’s First Urban Renewal Project, recounts the neighborhood’s history; ethnic, religious and social life; urban renewal and impact; and modern-day status. It also highlights some of the areas most famous residents, including Louis B. Mayer, Jack Levine, Mary Antin and Mel King. The exhibit is free and open to the public at The West End Museum, 150 Staniford Street, Boston.

KPCC's Molly Peterson on a Gilligan's Island style tour of environmental stories in and affecting Southern California. Named for the Yvor Winters poem: "The slow Pacific swell stirs on the sand/Sleeping to sink away, withdrawing land..." Follow the blog at @PacificSwell and Molly at @KPCCmolly. It’s not exactly public transportation, but developers at Google, Inc. are designing technology that allows cars to drive themselves. Democratic State Senator Alex Padilla is so enamored with the plans that he let a Google-designed self-driving Toyota Prius give him a lift to Sacramento to hold a news conference about it. As reported by the Environment News Service, the reason for the occasion was Padilla’s announcement of his legislation, Senate Bill 1298, which would instruct the California Highway Patrol to start “developing guidelines” around testing and ultimately unleashing self-driving vehicles on California roads. The Google system utilizes a “laser range finder” on the car's roof, and no less than four radars mounted on the front and back bumpers. A camera keeps an eye on traffic lights. “It was pretty amazing when Google's vehicle went into self-driving mode,” Senator Padilla said in a press release. “The drive was smooth and safe. It worked flawlessly. It is a testament to human ingenuity and the power of technology in California.” Google product manager Anthony Levandowski returned the sentiments, adding that, “California is our home state. Our self-driving cars have safely traveled more than 200,000 miles here. We're very fortunate to have found a supporter with a strong technical background in Senator Padilla, and we look forward to working with him throughout this process." Nevada was the first state to approve the testing of self-driving cars on public roadways last year. Along with California, Hawaii, Florida and Oklahoma are also considering similar testing. Google is not alone. Automakers BMW, Volvo and Audi are also developing driverless car technologies. “The vast majority of vehicle accidents are due to human error,” Padilla declared, doubtlessly speaking on behalf of countless L.A. drivers who are sick and tired of dealing with, well, L.A. drivers. “Autonomous vehicles have the potential to significantly reduce traffic fatalities and improve safety on our roads and highways.” Would you feel comfortable sitting back, sending text messages and checking your hair in the mirror while the car did all of the driving?

The streets of Universal Studios Japan will run red with blood from this Friday, as the theme park is transformed into a live action replica of Resident Evil's zombie-infested Raccoon City for the annual Halloween Horror Nights event. Taking inspiration from the early games in the long-running survival horror series, the makeover is impressively detailed. The Cyberdyne building from the park's Terminator 2 attraction has been remodeled as the Umbrella corporate headquarters, while props and nifty projection techniques have turned the New York street set into the decaying Raccoon City ruins. Actors playing series characters such as Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine will be on hand to guide tourists through the carnage, and see off any Lickers that may strike. Photos from the launch, below, appeared on Japanese site Game Watch Impress. It might be handy if you, the master of looking at screenshots, take a look at them. This isn't the first time Capcom has teamed up with Universal Studios. In July the publisher took over the park as part of an event called Monster Hunter Real 2012. The Resident Evil experience opens this Friday and runs every night through to November 11th, neatly encompassing both the worldwide launch of Resident Evil 6 on October 2nd and the infernal holiday of Halloween. Thanks to Kotaku.

There are a few things in life that everyone should know: Look both ways before crossing the street. Always eat your vegetables. If you have nothing nice to say, don’t say anything at all. But, most important of this sage wisdom, is that you should never ever tug on Superman’s cape. In the 1950s, Fredrick Wertham did just that as part of his attack on the comic industry. However, unlike the many other combatants that fell victim to Wertham’s attacks, the Man of Steel not only continued to thrive under the scrutiny, but his creators attacked back. As a result, Wertham was humiliated and forced to join the likes of Lex Luthor, Metallo, and Brainiac on the list of many opponents who have been defeated by the greatest and most beloved hero of all time. I will start this article by saying that I could never be impartial when it comes to Superman. Superman is the greatest comic book character ever created. He is the prototype from which all other superheroes follow. Superman has thrived in his never-ending battle for almost 75 years and is as popular now as when he first appeared in Action Comics #1. With apologies to Howard Stern, Superman is truly the king of all media, having conquered music, comics, magazines, newspapers, books, radio, film, television, and even the internet. A Gallup Poll concluded that the public knew more about Superman than about American history. The S shield symbol, one of the most recognizable in the world, is synonymous with everything that is good and decent. In fact, during the 90s, when comics became grim and gritty, Superman still stood for morals and ideals. He was the light in that dark time. On a personal level, Superman’s unwavering dedication to truth and justice had a huge influence on me when I was growing up and still inspires me to this day. My first published work was an historical analysis of Superman’s publication history. My first novel has been called “a love letter to the Man of Steel’s mythology and heroic archetype” and is dedicated, in part, to Siegel and Shuster, his creators. It’s a life-long dream to someday write his adventures. I say all of this so that when it comes to a fight between my hero and Fredric Wertham, the man who help stunt the creative growth of the comic book industry for decades, I wanted you to be clear on whose corner I am in. When Superman first appeared in 1938, he was an anti-establishment social crusader who fought for the common people against the interests of the rich and powerful. His early adventures had the Man of Steel facing off against wife beaters, a corrupt judicial system, lynch mobs, and even corporate robber barons. Mark Waid, in Superman in the Fifties, described this early Superman as a “diamond in the rough: a quick-tempered social activist whose dedication to the ideals of truth and justice apparently put him above the rules and regulations of society.” But, by the 1950s, the Last Son of Krypton had mellowed. Instead of fighting for the oppressed against the government, he embraced the establishment and became its most staunch patriotic supporter and advocate. This change came about through the combination of his radio and film appearances as well as the fact that he was licensed out as the spokesperson for everything from gasoline to cereal. Earlier, in 1940, new editor Whitney Ellsworth instituted a moral code. As Les Daniels explains in his book Superman, the Complete History (page 41): Among Ellsworth’s most important tasks was determining a proper code of conduct for Superman. In the first newspaper adventure, Superman had deliberately torn the wings off a plane full of bad guys…. Such melodramatics worried Harry Donnenfeld: Superman was becoming a valuable property, one that appealed to a younger audience, and the publisher was anxious to avoid any repetition of the censorship problems associated with his early pulp magazines (such as the lurid Spicy Detective). It was up to Ellsworth to impose tight editorial controls on Jerry Siegel. Henceforth, Superman would be forbidden to use his powers to kill anyone, even a villain. A copy of DC’s editorial standards (in the form of a memo by Ellsworth) was submitted to Congress as part of the testimony of Gunnar Dybwad, executive director of the Child Study Association of America, during the 1954 Hearing on Juvenile Delinquency. The memo reads: EXHIBIT No. 21 NATIONAL COMICS PUBLICATIONS INC. EDITORIAL POLICY FOR SUPERMAN D─C PUBLICATIONS 1. Sex. ─ The inclusion of females in stories is specifically discouraged. Women, when used in plot structure, should be secondary in importance, and should be drawn realistically, without exaggeration of feminine physical qualities. 2. Language. ─ Expessions [sic] having reference to the Deity are forbidden. Heroes and other “good” persons must use basically good English, through some slang and other colloquialism may be judiciously employed. Poor grammar is used only by crooks and villains ─ and not always by them. 3. Bloodshed. ─ Characters ─ even villains ─ should never be shown bleeding. No character should be shown being stabbed or shot or otherwise assaulted so that the sanguinary result is visible. Acts of mayhem are specifically forbidden. The picturization of dead bodies is forbidden. 4. Torture. ─ The use of chains, whips, or other such devices is forbidden. Anything having a sexual or sadistic implication is forbidden. 5. Kidnaping [sic] . ─ The kidnaping [sic] of children is specifically forbidden. The kidnaping [sic] of women is discouraged, and must never have any sexual implication. 6. Killing. ─ Heroes should never kill a villain, regardless of the depth of the villainy. The villain, If he is to die, should do so as the result of his own evil machinations. A specific exception may be made in the case of duly constituted officers of the law. The use of lethal weapons by women ─ even villainous women ─ is discouraged. 7. Crime. ─ Crime should be depicted in all cases as sordid and unpleasant. Crime and criminals must never be glamorized. All stories must be written and depicted from the angle of the law ─ never the reverse. Justice must triumph in every case. In general, the policy of Superman D─C Publications is to provide interesting, dramatic, and reasonably exciting entertainment without having recourse to such artificial devices as the use of exaggerated physical manifestations of sex, sexual situations, or situations in which violence is emphasized sadistically. Good people should be good, and bad people bad, without middle ground shading. Good people need not be “stuffy” to be good, but bad people should not be excused. Heroes should act within the law, and for the law. Superman was becoming an American ideal. Superman fought the Axis enemies on the covers of his comics long before America entered World War II. Inside the book, and throughout WWII, Superman supported war bonds, recycling, and other stateside activities to support the troops, all while stopping numerous terrorist attacks on American soil. An impassioned plea from Superman (as performed by Bud Collier on the radio program) inspired over 250,000 listeners to mail in pledges to buy war stamps. In fact, the original opening of the radio program, which described Superman’s fight as “a never-ending battle for truth and justice,” was changed during Word War II to “Truth, Justice and the American way.” In the real world, soldiers named tugs, jeeps, planes, and tanks after the hero. Because Superman so embodied the American ideal, Josef Goebbels, the Nazi Minister of Propaganda, denounced Superman in April 1940, In Das Schwarze Korps, the weekly newspaper of the Nazi S.S. Goebbels, and attacked the comic and its Jewish writers: Jerry Siegel, an intellectually and physically circumcised chap who has his headquarters in New York… The inventive Israelite named this pleasant guy with an overdeveloped body and underdeveloped mind “Superman. At the same time, the German American Bund sent Joe Shuster hate mail and picketed the offices of DC Comics. In Italy, Mussolini banned Superman comics, along with all other American made comics except those featuring Mickey Mouse (apparently Il Duce was mad about the Mouse, but that is a story for another day). While other comics were becoming darker and delving into the macabre world of horror and crime, Superman still served as a beacon of good wholesome fun. The powers that be at DC took steps to associate the character with American ideal products and a team of censors reviewed his books to make sure that Superman maintained his wholesome reputation as “the Big Blue Boy Scout.” Specifically, in 1941, DC formed an editorial board to certify that comic books were being held up to high moral standards. The names of these editorial boards (which consisted of psychiatrists, child welfare experts, and some famous well-respected citizens) were printed on the inside cover of all DC books. The book, and the character, appeared beyond reproach. Well, that is, until Fredrick Wertham came along. As comics fan are aware, Wertham was a child psychiatrist that published an impassioned attack on crime comic books, Seduction of the Innocent, which blamed comics for the growing problem of juvenile delinquency in America. This book is commonly viewed as the stimulus that stirred the public moral panic and created a backlash against comics and their creators. This, in turn, led to the destruction of a large number of comic publishers and to the imposition of the Comics Code, which stifled creativity for decades. Tom De Haven called Wertham the “industry’s real-life supervillain.” But, Superman isn’t a crime comic, some would say. Not according to Wertham, who described Superman and his fellow heroes as: The Superman type of comic books tends to force and super-force. Dr. Paul A. Witty, professor of education at Northwestern University, has well described these comics when he said that they “present our world in a kind of Fascist setting of violence and hate and destruction. I think it is bad for children,” he goes on, “to get that kind of recurring diet … [they] place too much emphasis on a Fascist society. Therefore the democratic ideals that we should seek are likely to be overlooked. David Hajdu, author of The Ten Cent Plague, writes: Unlike many critics of crime, horror, and romance comics in the newspaper columns and state assemblies, Wertham considered superhero comics as dangerous as any others. In fact, he reserved a specially toxic venom for National/DC’s popular trio of heroes, Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, whom he saw respectively, as exemplars of fascism, homoeroticism, and sadomasochism. Wertham goes on to argue that Superman caused children to be narcissistic. Rather than doing good deeds for the sake of morality and character, Wertham wrote that Superman influences children to do a good deed for the sake of fame and potential rewards; Wertham even goes so far as to argue that Superman’s influence is so dangerous that the character encourages children to create accidents and problems in order to be seen solving them. Indeed, even when he testified in front of the Senate, Wertham took the time to single out Superman, noting that the comic books aroused in children “phantasies [sic] of sadistic joy in seeing other people punished over and over again while you yourself remain immune.” Wertham called it the “Superman complex.” Perhaps the most incredible claim leveled at the Man of Tomorrow is that Wertham labels him an un-American fascist, he writes: Actually, Superman (with the big S on his uniform — we should, I suppose, be thankful that it is not an S.S.) needs an endless stream of ever new submen, criminals and “foreign- looking” people not only to justify his existence but even to make it possible. It is this feature that engenders in children either one or the other of two attitudes: either they fantasy themselves as supermen, with the attendant prejudices against the submen, or it makes them submissive and receptive to the blandishments of strong men who will solve all their social problems for them — by force. Wertham argued that Superman was actually the epitome of Nazism. Superman’s speed, strength, and near invulnerability, Wertham argued, drew close the concept of the perfect man and race that was located at the core of the Nazi Party’s ideology and thus provided subliminal support for the Nazi Party. This theme was adopted by CatholicWorld, who stated that Superman personified an ideal “very much in the style of a Nazi pamphleteer.” Gershom Legman, an American cultural critic and essayist, wrote that Superman “is really peddling a philosophy of ‘hooded justice’ in no way distinguishable from that of Hitler….” Wertham and friends’ condemnation of Superman for being an un-American Nazi mere years after the Nazi party condemns him for being a pro-American Jew is dramatic irony on par with the works of Shakespeare. Of course, it should not have really been a surprise since Wertham is also quoted as saying, “I think Hiter was a beginner compared to the comic-book industry.” As a result of these attacks, Wolcott Gibbs, a critic for the New Yorker, warned, “The evidence that Dr. Wertham has gathered is overpowering…. I like to think that Superman and his pals are up against the battle of their perverse, fantastic, and foolish lives.” So, how did the makers of Superman (collectively known as Superman, Inc at the time) respond to these allegations? The safest thing to do would have been to lay low. This was especially true after EC Publisher MC Gaines was crucified in the media after his appearance in the congressional hearings. Clearly, the deck was stacked against comics. Superman’s best move would have been to hide out in his Fortress of Solitude until the whole comics scare blew over. But, then who would challenge Wertham’s views? This looked like a job for Superman! Instead of passively waiting for the tide to turn, Superman forged his way onto a new American frontier: the world of television. In doing so, Superman conquered yet another medium and prevailed in the eyes of the public against Wertham’s smear campaign. Larry Tye in his book, Superman: The High Flying History of America’s Most Enduring Hero, explains: This was no time to launch another Superman experiment. Not in 1951, when the whole comic book world was running scared. Not when the medium into which he was being catapulted, television, was so callow and unclear whether it would succeed, and it was perfectly clear that actors with promise would opt for Hollywood or Broadway. Not when Superman himself was being labeled a sociopath. Tye continues, explaining precisely why Superman pushed through the challenges and into television: But that wasn’t the way National Comics or Robert Maxwell thought. They knew that there more children than ever in America, where soldiers had come home from Europe and made up for lost time by igniting an unprecedented boom in babies. They also knew that radio was dying as a venue for children’s adventure and that movie serials wouldn’t be far behind. While TV might be new and untested, so where comic books when Superman broke through in that medium. Now was precisely the time when the battered Superman of the static page could use a lift onto the small screens that were turning up in America’s dens and playrooms. For Superman’s owners, the question wasn’t whether, but when to push ahead . . . . And push ahead they did. The Adventures of Superman debuted in 1953, with George Reeves playing the Man of Steel (and Ellsworth as producer). Almost immediately, the show became tremendously popular and is considered a television classic. Superman even reached the pinnacle of his day: a guest spot on the 1950s most popular situation comedy, I Love Lucy. Les Daniels explains, “such guest shots were generally reserved for Hollywood icons like John Wayne, Rock Hudson, or Harpo Marx, but in 1956, Reeves joined their illustrious company — or rather Superman did.” (I should add that Reeves was uncredited for the role). The show preached a messages of tolerance and good will. The television show continued to showcase the same all ages positive messages that ran through the comic throughout its 104 episode run. In a 1954 interview, George Reeves explained: In Superman, we’re all concerned with giving kids the right kind of show. We don’t go too much for violence. Once, for a big fight scene, we had several of the top wrestlers in town do the big brawl. It was considered too rough by the sponsors and producer, so it was toned down. Our writers and the sponsors have children, and they are all very careful about doing things on the show that will have no adverse effect on the young audience. We even try in our scripts, to give a gentle message of tolerance and stress that a man’s color and race and religious beliefs should be respected. This apparently did not faze Wertham, who wrote: Some movie writers look in crime comic books for new tricks. For instance the producer of the movie serial Atom Man vs Superman, which was shown in about half the movie theaters of the country, is said to be “an avid reader of the comics, from which he gets many of his ideas.” Television has taken the worst out of comic books, from sadism to Superman. The comic-book Superman has long been recognized as a symbol of violent race superiority. The television Superman, looking like a mixture of an operatic tenor without his armor and an amateur athlete out of a health-magazine advertisement, does not only have “superhuman powers,” but explicitly belongs to a “super-race.” But the fight did not end there. In addition to putting their character in the spotlight in other media, DC Comics took the fight to Wertham. Larry Tye, in Superman: The High Flying History of America’s Most Enduring Hero, explains: Mort [Weisenger] took on Fredric Wertham. In a radio debate, Wertham talked about how all of the two hundred inmates he had interviewed at reform school had read Superman, prompting Weisenger to ask, “Did you get them to confess that they also chew bubble gum, play baseball, eat hot dogs, and go to the movies?” There was no joking in an “investigation” he did for Better Homes and Gardens in 1955 entitled “How They’re Cleaning Up the Comic Books” — and no mention, as he outlined the “stern self-censorship” publishers were pursuing to purge comics of everything from sex to cannibalism and bad grammar, that Weisenger was not a disinterested investigator but a top editor at America’s biggest comic book publisher. The March 1955 issue of Better Homes and Gardens referred to by Tye had a lengthy article that explained the need for the Comics Code and how it functioned. It started out with a description of every comic book ever made “from Action Comics to Ziggy Pig.” (Ziggy Pig appeared in a back-up in the 1940′s Timely Krazy Komics in a short-lived five issue run from 1944-1946.) Weisenger wrote: …some anxious parents concerned with the reading habits of their children will note something new has been added to the familiar [comic book]…. This seal is another and the latest answer to the comic-book industry’s bitterest critics. During the next 30 days, as millions of comic books introducing this seal flood the magazine racks of Candy stores, supermarkets, and pharmacies throughout the country, the public will be informed that the seal is the symbol of the industry’s new policy of stern self-censorship… Comic-book houses are on the hot seal today as a result of conscienceless editing by a minority of unethical publishers within their ranks… it is because of the past activities of the lunatic fringe that the entire industry has been smeared…. I should note that the article also stated that, according to Judge Murphy, the Comics Code hired all women with college backgrounds “because it has been my experience that women are more sensitive than men in most matters of good taste.” Les Daniels, in DC Comics: Sixty Years of the World’s Favorite Comic Book Heroes adds: DC was one of the few comic book publishers to survive [The Comics Code Crunch]. “We didn’t have titles that were really attackable,” says Irwin Donnenfeld. “And I went around the country. I spoke before PTA groups. I was on TV discussing the problems of comics and how helpful they are in teaching kids to read.” In my research, I discovered that Wertham struck back one last time on April 9, 1955 (which was after the imposition of the Comic Book Code and not very publicized), in an article the Saturday Review of Literature called “It’s Still Murder: What Parents Still Don’t Know About Comics Books.” Reading more like a rant, Wertham accuses the Comics Book Code of not being sufficient and the Association (and comic book industry) of being disingenuous. The code itself is a pious document. Liquor advertising is forbidden. There never was any. The word crime “shall never appear alone on a cover.” It never did. “Divorce shall not be treated humorously.” Was it, ever? The code does not even mention narcotics and drug addiction, which have played such an infamous role in crime and love comics. Pools of blood are not mentioned either…. The Code does not forbid cruelty to children…. Kicking in the face, popularized in comics and never practiced by children before the comic book era, is not mentioned in the code… Wertham continues his rant, advocating for further censorship: In the wording of the code, Mr. Murphy [a reference to New York Magistrate Charles F. Murphy, the first head of the organization] has tipped his hand, too. “excessive violence is forbidden.” Should not all violence be toned down? “Brutal” torture is forbidden. Does that mean that refined torture is all right? “Excessive” knife and gunplay are forbidden; so is “unnecessary” knife and gun play. Does that mean that it is all right to stab a guy if need be? Surely this is not a countermeasure, but a cover-up continuation of the cruelty-for-fun education of children. Wertham next goes through several examples in code-approved books. It is important to mention that not one of the examples feature Superman. Wertham concludes the article with an impassioned plea that comics should be legislatively eliminated: At present, it is far safer for a mother to let her child have a comic book without a seal of approval that one with such a seal. If comic books, as the industry claim, are the folklore of today, then the codes are the fables. The problem is really simple. You either close down a house of prostitution or you leave it open. You can’t satisfy both those who want it open and those who want it closed. How long are we supposed to wait for the comics clean-up? Mr. Murphy told the Joint Legislative Committee: “It will take years and years.” It could be done in a few weeks. The way the industry acts, it seems to me that it will take centuries. Wertham further argues for legislation that censors comic books: Mammon is at the root of all this. The comic-book publishers, racketeers of the spirit, have corrupted children in the past, they are corrupting them right now, and they will continue to corrupt them unless we legally prevent it. Of course, there are larger issues in the world today, and mightier matters to be debated. But maybe we will lose the bigger things if we fail to defend the nursery. But it was too late. The battle was over. DC’s steps to keep Superman wholesome, combined with the serials, the radio program, the animated movies, the newspaper strips, and the brand new television show, made the character more popular than ever. Moreover, Wertham’s attacks actually had the reverse effect and made the Superman comics more appealing to rebellious children since it was portrayed as forbidden fruit. Parents and educators took advantage of this by having the character appear in workbooks to teach grammar, vocabulary and spelling. But, perhaps the greatest sign that Superman had emerged unscathed came in the 1960s when the Kennedy administration approached DC to create a book to promote exercise. Like Superman, President Kennedy had utilized the fledging television medium to help attain iconic status. Together, the two helped close the “muscle gap” with “Superman’s Mission for President Kennedy!” Tragically, the issue was delayed when, in November 1963, President Kennedy fell to an assassin’s bullet. The Krypton Companion (in an article entitled “Krypton Meets Camelot”) explains: The most famous of the Chief Executive’s DC appearances was “Superman’s Mission for President Kennedy!” in Superman #170 (July 1964), which has an intriguing backstory. Planned for publication in issue #168 (cover date Apr. 1964) as part of the President’s campaign to encourage physical fitness among youths, “Superman’s Mission,” written by Bill Finger and E. Nelson Bridwell, was originally drawn by Curt Swan. The story was shelved immediately after Kennedy’s November 22, 1963 assassination, but rescheduled for print upon the request of Kennedy’s successor, President Lyndon B. Johnson. Swan’s original pages were, according to conflicting reports either lost or given to Jacqueline Kennedy, and Al Plastino quickly stepped forth to render the tale for publication. Plastino’s artwork for this landmark story is displayed in the Kennedy Library. As Superman’s popularity grew, Wertham soon became a pariah. Les Daniels explains in Comix, A History of Comic Books in America: [The Comics Code Authority] proudly proclaimed itself the most oppressive force of censorship on the American landscape, and nobody batted an eyelash. In addition, it even managed-to provide an indignant scapegoat: Dr. Wertham. The irony is while Wertham was the clever and coherent of the comics critics, he most certainly was not connected with the Authority. I should also add that, perhaps in response to frustration with the success of the Superman show, Wertham attempted to “clean up” early television by writing an anti-televisual thesis, War on Children (1959), which was very similar in theme to Seduction of the Innocent. The book could not find a publisher. In short, Wertham’s cultural influence waned as Superman’s grew. Still, Wertham tried to move on, all the while denying that he was pro-censorship or against comic books. He stated: My main interest is not in comic books or even mass media, but in children and young people. Over the years I have been director of large mental hygiene clinics… And I have done a great deal of work — sometimes with great difficulty — to prevent young people from being sent to reformatories where they are often very badly treated. I have also helped a number of young people so they were not sent to the electric chair. Seeing that so many immature people have troubles and get into trouble, I tried to find out all the sources that contributed to their difficulties. In the course of that work I came across crime comic books. I had nothing whatever to do directly with the comics code. Nor have I ever endorsed it. Nor do I believe in it. Wertham further argues that his actions were not censorship, but intended to protect children. He even notes that he testified against censorship in federal court. In the 1970s, Wertham even wrote a book applauding the subculture of comic fandom, The World of Fanzines (1974), where he concluded that fanzines were “a constructive and healthy exercise of creative drives.” Trysh Travis writes in Romanticizing the Comics: What Wertham Got Right (featured in a 2012 issue of Raritan, A Quarterly Review): In the post-Code years, Wertham routinely received hate mail from comics fans who, like Trombetta [author of The Horror! The Horror! Comic Books the Government Didn’t Want You to Read!], believed that his Senate testimony was “the day comics died.” Because he thought the Code was stupid and ineffective, because he was in fact a lifelong opponent of censorship, and because he seems to have been a remarkably principled and decent man, Wertham made a habit of responding to these letters. His dialogue with fans led him to write, in 1973, The World of Fanzines: A Special Form of communication. Though hardly a great book, Fanzines nevertheless suggests how we might move away from an overdetermined narrative of pop-culture creators, consumers, and forms as “cultural insurgents” (David Hajdu’s term) to construct a more precise, if less anthemic, account of how and why popular art forms matter — as well as of the limitations on that mattering. Wertham’s work on the World of Fanzines earned him an invitation to address the New York Comic Art Convention, where, as expected, he faced a hostile crowd and was heckled. As a result, Wertham never wrote about comics again. So who won? Isn’t it obvious? Please help support CBLDF’s important First Amendment work and reporting on issues such as this bymaking a donation or becoming a member of the CBLDF! Joe Sergi is a life-long comics fan and author who has written short stories, novels, comics, and articles in the horror, science fiction, super hero, and young adult genres. When not writing, he works as a Senior Litigation Counsel in an unnamed US government agency. More information can be found at http://www.joesergi.net/. Superman is (c) DC Comics.

Image caption New gay recruits are warned that their applications may be rejected if the latest ruling is overturned The US military has started accepting gay recruits after a California judge last week struck down the "don't ask, don't tell" policy barring openly gay people from serving. But the US Department of Defense says new gay recruits are warned the repeal of the law may be overturned. The Pentagon is appealing against the decision and had asked the judge to reinstate the ban in the interim. But Judge Virginia Phillips on Tuesday formally refused that request. Some gay activist groups were planning to send people to enlist at recruiting stations to test the Pentagon's announcement that it was accepting recruits who openly state that they are gay. "If they were to self admit that they are gay and want to enlist, we will process them for enlistment, but will tell them that the legal situation could change," Douglas Smith, spokesman for US Army Recruiting Command at Fort Knox, Kentucky, said. Further study Democrats in the US Senate had attempted to overturn the "don't ask, don't tell" policy in September, but failed to muster the necessary votes. President Barack Obama has vowed to end the policy, but most advisers agree the president cannot end the ban on gays serving openly in the military without congressional or legal action. Meanwhile, the Pentagon is due to release a report about the possible impact of allowing openly gay service-members on 1 December. Some Pentagon officials have said allowing openly gay military personnel would necessitate dramatic policy changes on everything from housing and insurance to protocol at social events. In California, Judge Phillips, declared that the policy violated gay military members' rights to free speech and to equal protection under the law. The lawsuit that prompted the injunction against the ban was brought by the Log Cabin Republicans, a pro-gay Republican group, on behalf of openly gay military personnel who had been discharged.

JOS, Nigeria (Reuters) - Two bombs exploded near a bus station in the central Nigerian city of Jos on Thursday evening, witnesses said, the second one killing at least 40 people. Casualties from the first blast could not immediately be ascertained and Nigerian security sources could not immediately be reached for comment. Bomb blasts that bore the hallmarks of Islamist Boko Haram militants killed 118 people in the same area of Jos in May. “I saw a flash of light and heard a loud boom. Afterwards there was debris everywhere and mutilated bodies,” witness Tanko Mohammed said of the blast in Jos’s commercial Terminus district. A Reuters reporter counted 11 bodies at one bomb site and 29 at the other. Boko Haram is a Sunni jihadist movement that has been waging a five-year insurgency to establish an Islamist state in the northeast of the country. President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency in three northeastern states last year. The number of attacks has risen sharply since then, in the run-up to elections in February 2015. The latest blasts came as both Jonathan’s ruling party and the main opposition coalition agreed on candidates to contest the elections, in which security is likely to be a major campaign issue. Former military ruler Muhammadu Buhari will be challenging Jonathan at the polls for the second time.

Tuesday night at the Republican National Convention, Ann Romney hailed her husband's creation of the John and Abigail Adams Scholarship Program, “Under Mitt, Massachusetts's schools were the best in the nation. The best. He started the John and Abigail Adams scholarships, which give the top 25 percent of high school graduates a four-year tuition-free scholarship.” The John and Abigail Adams scholarship program is described on Massachusetts Department of Higher Education's Office of Student Financial Assistance as "a non-need-based state-supported undergraduate tuition waivers to students who are awarded John and Abigail Adams Scholarship by the Department of Education," and is only available to students who are "enrolled full-time in a Massachusetts public college or university." So, as Governor, Mitt Romney established and funded a program that used taxpayer dollars to send students exclusively to publicly-funded institutions. Though Mrs. Romney finds this achievement praiseworthy, her husband has pledged to do nothing of the sort as President. Strike that. He has pledged to do the opposite as president. Romney has endorsed his running mate's budget, which includes the largest reduction in Pell grant funding in the history of the program, and he has pledged to fold private lenders back into the federal student loan market. When he introduced the Adams scholarship, he said: 'Talented and hardworking students, particularly those faced with economic challenges, deserve whatever financial help we can give them. They have earned it with their good grades, and we want to make it easier for them to pursue their college education right here in Massachusetts" Now, when discussing student aid, he skips over scholarships, and right into loans, saying: "It is very tempting as a politician to say, ‘ You know what, I will just give you some money. The government is just going to give you some money and pay back your loans for you,’” he said. “I am not going to tell you something that is not the truth, because you know, that is just taking money from your other pocket and giving it to the other pocket. "I am not going to promise all sorts of free stuff that I know you are going to end up paying for,” he continued. This all goes toward our theory that Mitt Romney is running against himself from 10 minutes ago.

US Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton has dismissed the idea that the American people do not see her honest and trustworthy to take the White House, insisting that they “should and do trust” her. “I have every confidence that during the course of this campaign, people will know who will fight for them when they need them, and that’s the person who I am and what I will do if I am president,” Clinton said during her first national TV interview as a 2016 presidential candidate. She blamed the “barrage of attacks that are largely fomented by and coming from the right” for fueling a perception of untrustworthiness among the majority of voters in the United States. Clinton claimed that she faced “the same kind of onslaught” in her two New York Senate campaigns and her confirmation as secretary of state. And that is why a majority of Americans say they do not see her as honest and trustworthy, Clinton told CNN.

I ran into a guy I know at the gym the other day, a card-carrying liberal from Berkeley. He was puzzled. “Why didn’t Obama go down to the border?” he wanted to know. When a lefty from lib Mecca is wondering what the heck is going on, you know the president has a problem. In fairness, the president almost went to the border, but he stopped several hundred miles away where he raised millions from fat cats to help the Democratic Party. Hey, we all have our priorities. But his failure to visit the kids on the border was such a blatant screw up that it’s almost as if he doesn’t care what any of us think. He’s not running for re-election. He knew that if Americans saw pictures of him with those poor children, they’d blame him for letting it happen (especially when he was warned about the surge in kids heading for the U.S. several years ago). When those pictures got out, he would have owned the crisis. That’s not something he wanted. So he did what the more contemptuous of our politicians do when they’re in a mess of their own making. He blamed his critics. Having tens of thousands of kids in what amounts to refugee camps in the United States of America provides him with an opportunity he never passes on: Blame the Republicans — in this case, for not passing immigration reform. You know what they say in the Obama White House: Never let a crisis go to waste. But why should Republicans sign on to immigration reform when they don’t trust this president. Republicans want the border protected as part of any deal and they have no confidence Mr. Obama has the same level of concern, no matter what he says. A cynic might actually think he wants as many immigrants from Mexico and Central America to come in to the United States, because almost all of them, someday, will vote for Democrats. I don’t put anything past this president. To give his side of it, Mr. Obama said he wasn’t going to the border because a trip there would amount to nothing more than a photo-op. This from a man who while running for President of the United States tried to deliver a campaign speech in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin (but the Germans said no). You think candidate Obama might have been thinking photo-op? What about the speech he delivered in Denver after winning his party’s nomination for president — in front of Greek columns. And remember when he strolled the devastation of super storm Sandy with New Jersey Governor Christie? That photo-op helped the president get re-elected. And what should we make of a man who supposedly disdains photo-ops but blasted President Bush for not visiting the victims of Hurricane Katrina, which almost certainly would have been portrayed by Mr. Bush’s liberal critics in an out of the media as … a photo-op? On February 7th, 2008, at Tulane University in New Orleans, candidate Barack Obama said this about President Bush, who flew over the city hit by Katrina instead of visiting the victims on the ground: “When the people of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast extended their hand for help, help was not there. When people looked up from the rooftops, for too long they saw an empty sky. When the winds blew and the floodwaters came, we learned that for all of our wealth and our power, something wasn’t right with America. We can talk about what happened for a few days in 2005, and we should. We can talk about levees that couldn’t hold, about a FEMA that’s seen as not just incompetent but paralyzed and powerless, about a president who only saw the people from the window of an airplane.” He gets away with this kind of rank hypocrisy because his pals in the media let him get away with it. There’s been naïve chatter lately by some media analysts that the press has finally turned on Mr. Obama, that they’re finally getting tough on him. Nonsense! Like my pal from Berkeley, reporters may wonder out loud why this oh-so-smart president whom they have adored for years wouldn’t visit the border. They care because they know it hurts him with the American people. But if they were really starting to behave like real journalists, more of them would plaster his remarks at Tulane on page one and put that sound bite on their evening news — to show how he says one thing and does the opposite, both in the interest of … himself. Thank God for conservative media. Without them we might not know how two-faced Barack Obama can be. Magic is a powerful force. And Barack Obama had it. Big time. But when the magic fades, the magician is left just standing there – his incompetence no longer hidden by the fog of lofty rhetoric and a million dollar smile. And all that’s left is the pathetic image of a man who told us he would make America a newer, better, different place where old-fashioned politics had no place – looking like the old-fashioned politician that he is and always was.

A man passes with an umbrella in front of the United Nations Headquarters in New York, March 24, 2008. REUTERS/Mike Segar UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations is encouraging its New York staff to trade wool business suits for cooler attire this summer so the organization can slash air conditioning costs and help the environment. “There is going to be a relaxing of the dress protocols and people are being encouraged to wear lighter clothing,” said U.S. architect Michael Adlerstein, who is overseeing a $1.8 billion renovation of the 60-year-old U.N. skyscraper. Adlerstein said about $100,000 would be saved by turning the thermostats up 5 degrees to 77 Fahrenheit (25 Celsius) in the U.N. secretariat building and to 75 F (24 C) in conference rooms, during a trial run in the scorching month of August. It would also help the environment in New York City, he said. About 4,400 million pounds of steam — equivalent to several hundred tons of carbon dioxide — would be saved by reducing air conditioning at the landmark midtown Manhattan building. He said staff were being encouraged to shed their trademark dark suits and switch to lighter business casual clothing. Adlerstein sported a white shirt with neither jacket nor tie as he addressed reporters at U.N. headquarters. “I don’t want to get involved in the fashion police of determining exactly what people can wear, but the encouragement of business casual is where we are going,” he said. If the trial is a success, thermostats will be turned down 5 degrees in winter. The year-round changes could save up to $1 million annually, Adlerstein said. Japanese diplomats will likely have an easy time making the transition. In 2005, Japan launched a “Cool Biz” campaign encouraging people to dress down in summer to reduce air conditioning use and greenhouse gas emissions.

By Linda Cole The Parson, Jack Russell, and Russell terriers are actually three different breeds, even though they’re related and look much alike. The Russell Terrier was introduced at the National Dog Show in 2012 as a new breed recognized by the AKC. The Jack Russell is not a recognized breed, despite the dog’s popularity in this country. There is a good explanation as to why, but it can be a bit confusing. The Parson, Jack Russell and Russell terrier breeds were all named after the Reverend John “Jack” Russell (1795 – 1883), a parson who lived in Devonshire, England during the 1800s. He was an avid fox hunter, when he wasn’t attending to his duties at his church. The Reverend was also quite fond of fox hunting dogs, and bred them. His first terrier, a female named Trump, was likely the foundation for Russell’s working dogs. Reverend Russell, also known as “The Sporting Parson,” wanted a working dog that was feisty, strong and confident ,to hunt fox and go to ground to flush out fox or other prey from a hole. The Reverend lived in the southern part of England where the terrain wasn’t as hilly, and a short legged dog met his needs. The small dog ran with hunters on horseback, and hounds following a fox. When the hounds chased the fox underground, it was the terrier’s job to follow and flush the fox out of the hole so the hunt could resume. It was after Reverend Russell’s death when the JRT breed began to evolve into the Parson Terrier. Hunters living in areas where the land was more uneven and hillier wanted dogs with longer legs that allowed them to better navigate rougher terrain so they could keep up with the hounds and horses. They were also more interested in hunting other prey, primarily badger. If a pup was born with shorter legs, they were kept at home as companion pets, to roam around the barn and home catching vermin, and as watchdogs. Eventually, it was discovered that the dogs with shorter legs could be useful on a hunt. The dogs were easy to carry over rougher landscape in terrier sacks slung over the hunter’s shoulder or across their saddle. And because of their smaller size, it was easier for them to get into smaller dens underground. This is when the Parson and Jack Russell terriers began to split off into two separate breeds. The traditional Jack Russell terrier was created in England, and developed in Australia into the breed we know today. Both the Jack Russell and Parson terriers were bred as working breeds. However, it’s the Parson terrier that was bred as a hunting dog with a higher energy level. The Jack Russell terrier was bred more as a companion dog. Although both breeds share the same intensity in prey drive, the JRT understands when it’s time to chill out, and they are mellower than their cousin, the Parson terrier. There are not a lot of differences between the Parson, Jack Russell, and Russell terrier, but all three are considered different breeds, and this is where it can get confusing. The Russell terrier is actually a shorter version of the Jack Russell terrier. Australia and other FCI (an international federation of kennel clubs) countries call the Russell terrier a Jack Russell terrier, which is the traditional old style JRT. In the US, the Russell terrier is the same size as the Australian Jack Russell terrier. Both the Russell and Parson terrier are recognized by the AKC, but the Jack Russell terrier isn’t. The standard height for the Parson is 12 ½ -15 inches, the Jack Russell Terrier is 10-12 inches, and the Russell – also known as the “Shorty JRT” – is 8 -12 inches tall. The Parson is known as the dog with the square body, and both the Russell and JRT have rectangular bodies. Why isn’t the JRT recognized by the AKC? This, too, is a little complicated. The Jack Russell Terrier Club of America (JRTCA) wanted to make sure the breed kept its working dog status. When AKC was considering adding the Jack Russell terrier to their list of recognized dogs in the early 1990s, the JRTCA opposed it, fearing the working ability would be bred out of the breed, with an emphasis placed on conformation over hunting ability. In 2001, the issue was brought up again when the Jack Russell Terrier Breeders Association filed a petition requesting the Jack Russell be recognized as a legitimate breed. Because there’s a variation in the JRT in size and appearance, all Jack Russell terriers that met a specific standard were renamed as Parson terrier. The newly recognized Russell terrier is the same breed as the Jack Russell terrier recognized in Australia and other FCI countries, and the JRT is still not a recognized breed. This seems to have made everyone involved happy, for the time being. Top photo by Vidar Hoel Middle and bottom photos by Chris Martin Read more articles by Linda Cole Find CANIDAE Retailers Near You! The personal opinions and/or use of trade, corporate or brand names, is for information and convenience only. Such use does not constitute an endorsement by CANIDAE® Pet Foods of any product or service. Opinions are those of the individual authors and not necessarily of CANIDAE® Pet Foods.

Day in the Life: Karine Thomas Karine Thomas is an Olympic athlete on the Canadian National Team and 3X Gold-Medalist at the Pan-Am Games. She placed fourth in the London 2012 Summer Games during the synchronized swimming team event and will be competing with Jacqueline Simoneau in the Rio duet event. The two took gold together in the 2015 Pan-Am Games and according to CBC , “They will go to Rio in August armed with a new routine called Heartbreak they say is revolutionary in synchronized swimming for its emphasis on emotion and artistic expression.”The daughter of two water polo Canadian National Team members fell in love with synchronized swimming while watching the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Six years later, she left her hometown of Gatineau to join the Canadian Junior National Team at the 2006 FINA World Junior Championships in China, still her best memory so far in this sport.Thomas then joined the national team in 2007 and made her debut at the FINA World Championships that year. She helped the team to fourth place finishes at the next two world championships. She was also a member of the team that won gold at the 2011 Pan Am Games. Thomas began competing in the duet competition shortly after the 2012 London Olympics.Studying health sciences to possibly work in the pediatric area, Karine’s favorite part about the sport are the friendships it fosters with her teammates. Location: Montreal, Canada Favorite Exercise: Other than swimming, I love yoga and running. Favorite Healthy Snack: Fresh fruit is my favourite snack! Or… anything with peanut butter. Favorite Way to Center: 10 minutes of meditation every morning. Starts my day off right! Favorite Book: Chris Hadfield’s An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth Favorite YouTube Video: Any “What I eat in a day” from vegan or plant-based YouTubers. Personal Motto: Do it with passion or not at all! What gets you out of bed every morning? Knowing that I can have breakfast soon! What is your #1 wellness habit? Eating right and resting. What is the most important part of your daily routine? For me, the most import part of my day is starting it off right. A small 10 minutes of meditation and a big breakfast is key. What about your daily routine do you think is unique or special? I train up to 8 hours a day for my sport. So I guess the amount of excercise I do is a little out of norm. Whose “O” would you most love to see? Michael Phelps – the greatest athlete and inspiration of all time. What is your favorite part about living a healthy lifestyle? The way it makes me feel, being happy and energized is everything. What is the best piece of health advice you’ve ever received? Recovery is just as important as training. Describe your sleep ritual. I like to decompress before bed, no phone, no iPad or computer. Tell us about a time you were stuck in an unhealthy cycle and how you got out of it. What was the main inspiration for positive change? At one point I was training full-time, working part-time and trying to maintain a social life. I had to make some real changes as I was totally burning myself out. I came back to what was important to me. Prioritizing is what’s important in the end! If you could give one piece of health advice to your future kids, what would it be? Listen to your body, it will tell you what it needs. ? A post shared by Karine Thomas (@karinethomas) on Jan 24, 2015 at 4:09pm PST Karine Thomas is an Olympic Synchronized Swimmer, Canadian National Team Member and 3X Gold Medalist at the Pan-Am Games. For more inspiration from Karine, follow her on Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat “@karinethomas”. Owaves 101 is a blog series showcasing tips for work-life balance from fitness experts and successful professionals. Olympians, Ironmen, inspiring yoga teachers, physicians, and clinical dietitians, among others collaborate and share ideas in a common mission of leading healthier, fuller and more balanced lives. Learn how uber athletes and hard-working professionals manage work-life balance and plan their days. Gain insight and tips on how to elevate your “O”. To get involved, email:[email protected] and to follow our Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter feeds. Owaves is the World’s First Wellness Planner! Plan meals, sleep and exercise into your day. This day planner for health is FREE for iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch: Download NOW!

Photo credit: Diversityinc.com Detectives have revealed that a group of men wearing masks stormed a hotel lobby near the Galleria and made off with the ATM. The authorities have revealed that seven to 10 men entered the Houston Marriott West Loop just before 3 a.m. Tuesday. According to the investigators, the men threatened the hotel security guard and a cleaning lady after making their way in the building. It turns out that the robbers had an easy time since the ATM was not bolted down. The detectives revealed that the men made their way to the back of the lobby, tipped over the ATM, and carried it out the front door. A report released by police indicated that the suspects threw the ATM in the back of a Dodge Magnum and took off in a second Dodge Magnum and a Chevy Impala. The incident left no one hurt since at the time of the robbery, no guests were at the lobby. Detectives have surveillance video of the incident but are not releasing it at this time. The police have also warned that if you have an ATM at your business, make sure it's bolted down, and make sure it's far away from the front doors of the premise. Source: http://abc13.com/at-least-7-masked-men-storm-hotel-lobby-and-steal-atm/2771895/

Abe has been into prickly pears as a crop for a year or so, and his enthusiasm has now really caught on with the rest of us. Planting When Abe originally told me that he wanted to plant 5000 prickly pears over the next few years, I kind of smiled and patted him gently on the shoulder. However, we have now started gathering pads for real and that goal seems easily attainable. Last year, he cut five pads from a cold-tolerant, spineless variety, which he planted in and around the forest garden. This year, he was able to cut and plant 22 pads off of those original five, and even since he did that they have re-grown so that we could probably cut another 20. These will be used mainly for the pads as a vegetable, and will be planted close to the house. Last year, he also planted about 100 pads with spines around the contours of the property. These are designed to help mark future swales that we wish to make. Not only do they show the contour, but they also help retain run-off. This year, we have gathered at least another 150 pads of various different kinds. When we cut a pad, we generally leave it a couple of weeks for the “wound” to callous before planting it. Plating is easy, just make a small hole and plant the pad vertically, with about half below ground We have had almost zero losses propagating them this way. This year’s harvest are almost ready and so we’ll soon be planting them every 6 feet or so around the perimeter fence. Then, next year, we will be able to take pads from those and fill the space between plants. After a few years, this will become continuous, impenetrable wall of spines encircling the property.

March 6, 2015 Inside a former bowling alley in Pittsburgh, the future of environmental protection could be taking flight. It’s 3.5 pounds of technology and it’s whipping around a vacant floor above a robotics lab. “We can fly up to 40 miles an hour,” says Dick Zhang, the founder and CEO of Identified Technologies, a startup making drones for use in the oil and gas industry. Zhang is showing off what he’s calling the ‘Boomerang’—basically a tiny, four-propeller helicopter programmed to return to a docking station. It’s rigged with several devices tucked inside a small carbon fiber body. It’s got a camera, an ‘optical flow’ sensor—the same technology a computer mouse uses to track its movement—and an ultrasound sensor. “The ultrasound is basically a proximity sensor—'I'm close to the ground—I’m not close to the ground,'" Zhang says. Zhang has already leased several units to oil and gas companies in the Marcellus Shale region. Right now, they’re using the flying bots to map and survey their sites. The drones could also be outfitted with other sensors—ones that could detect plumes of harmful chemicals seeping out of oil and gas operations. That represents a growth opportunity, Zhang says. “There’s a huge opportunity to get into methane detection,” Zhang says. CHECKING FOR LEAKS With new rules anticipated from the EPA to keep methane leaks at a minimum, the oil and gas industry may need to become better at checking for leaks. Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas and the main component of natural gas. It’s also a highly flammable commodity, so companies spend a lot of time trying to prevent its release. Right now pipeline companies look for leaks with handheld devices either on the ground or in helicopters. But these are expensive and time consuming. Zhang thinks drones like his could take over some of this work, “and hopefully one day be able to prevent pipeline explosions.” Scientists who have been trying to resolve an ongoing debate about how much gas is leaking out of oil and gas operations could also stand to benefit from drones. “I think there's tremendous potential to use unmanned vehicles to monitor wellpads to identify the few percent of operations where leaks are pretty high to the atmosphere,” says Rob Jackson, an environmental scientist from Stanford who is studying air and water impacts of the oil and gas boom. Jackson says the primary users for drones would be companies themselves. But he also sees a potential for scientists and regulators to monitor wellpads and other oil and gas infrastructure. FLIGHT DELAYS Despite the high hopes, drones aren’t yet ready for prime time in the field. It’s difficult to get FAA permission to fly them. They’re also fighting a stigma from their original use, as weapons used by the military. “Right now people think drone—they think missile coming out of it,” says Pei Zhang (no relation to Dick Zhang), an electrical and computer engineer at Carnegie Mellon University. Pei Zhang thinks public attitudes could change. He’s studying how to use drones in hard-to-reach and dangerous places—like a leaky nuclear reactor or in a burning building. He thinks they’re well-suited to looking for potential problems for oil and gas. “They don’t get tired, and they don’t get forgetful, and they’re always paying attention,” Pei Zhang says. Oil and gas companies have already started using drones, like BP's operations in the Arctic. But there’s a potential for more deployment, says Maryanna Saenko, an analyst with Lux Research. “In the oil and gas market you have an enormous amount of existing infrastructure spread out over a massive landmass,” Saenko says. “We’re talking about millions of miles of pipelines, offshore oil rigs, onshore drilling facilities.” Saenko says the market for oil and gas drones could top $247 million a year in 2025. “And we foresee it only growing past that,” she says. WHO OWNS THE DATA? This could yield much more data than companies currently report. This could raise interesting questions about what happens with all this new data. “How much data can we really require these companies to give the EPA?” says Saenko. “And will the EPA be able to deal with this data in an effective way?” The question will likely have to wait on an answer. The FAA’s recently proposed regulations limit the range of flights by mandating operators be in the ‘line of sight’ of their drones. Advocates for drone use say if those regulations were loosened, by allowing for 'line-of-sight' to include video monitoring of drones, for instance, it could help oil and gas companies keep a better watch on their operations. Saenko says the concerns that drones could pose a safety risk or violate privacy would be minimal because oil and gas infrastructure is usually in sparsely or unpopulated areas. “We’re not talking about flying drones in the middle of a city,” says Saenko. “It would be silly if it didn’t happen. There’s a lot more benefits to using drones to do inspection than there are potential pitfalls.” Photo of drone: Reid R. Frazier. Video production by Reid R. Frazier and Kathy Zhao.

We talked about counterfeiting for a bit with Bunnie Huang. And he gave us some good advice to share with the world, especially if you’re a looking to scale production in China. If you don’t know Bunnie, well, a quick Google search will bring you up to speed. And if you know Bunnie, you probably also know that he is in the process of releasing The Essential Guide to Electronics in Shenzhen. Hey Bunnie, we hear lots of stories that sometimes sound like urban legends. If I can’t get your book and travel to Shenzhen, is there a real risk that the Chinese factory I contracted remotely will substitute components, or is it a myth? Yes, I think there is a real risk that would happen. It’s not always done with bad intentions, or even with bad results. But it does happen. If I have a prototype, not too much money and a bunch of pre-orders, what are the top 3 biggest mistakes I can make when picking up partners in China to produce at scale? I think the first mistake is to have not too much money and a bunch of pre-orders. That sounds like the price of the product was set below the cost of production. It’s tempting to try to hit “magic price points” or oversell a product based on unrealistic pricing, but that story rarely ends well. You can’t make up a loss in volume. But let’s say you’ve got enough money to run production. Here’s three mistakes you can make: 1) going too big. Big brand name factories are attractive because they have amazing capabilities and astonishing portfolios. The problem is you have not too much money, and they have not enough engineers to support all the projects they take on. Guess which project they’re going to stick the new guy on. 2) going too small. Smaller factories are attractive because you have more leverage, more control, and full attention of the management. Unfortunately, if they don’t have a critical process you need, you’ll need to invest time and money to bring it up; or else you’re outsourcing that process, in which case you’re effectively back to square one picking factories, except you’ve got less control because it’s a subcontractor to your contractor. 3) going with a broker, not a factory; or similarly, confusing the sample room with production floor. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard people be like “man the engineering samples were awesome but the production was crap”. And when they finally reach ground truth, they find out the samples were hand made on a different line, using different technicians; or the factory outsourced a key process to a different factory. Sometimes its because the “factory” actually brokers capacity from a network of other local producers. They’ll have some equipment to show you, but the real production happens elsewhere. Or perhaps significant sub-assemblies actually come from third parties. I’ve seen this a couple of times in tablet manufacturing. Some tablet “brands” outsource the motherboard assembly to a third party, so all they do in-house is a box build: integrating LCD, battery, case and motherboard modules with a final test (but don’t knock it, even that’s really hard to do). Contracting to one of these factories thinking they also make the motherboard leads to all kinds of confusion down the road when you ask for a minor tweak to the electronic design and get all kinds of bewildering responses about why it’s not possible. For bootstrap startups who are not working with accelerators to get off the ground, it’s easy to look for cheaper alternatives and end up purchasing from dodgy suppliers. What are some simple quality control assessments they can do to evade working with counterfeit parts? Err…tough one. If it was that simple, we’d all be doing it. Getting a transparent paper trail is helpful. You should be able to know which distributor/reseller/importer the parts are coming from, and you should be able to demand to see receipts and customs paperwork for the inventory. Even so that can all be faked. Physical samples are a good check, but of course they can always send you a “golden” sample and use whatever for production. However, a large number of counterfeiting issues actually aren’t the fault of the factory itself. The upstream distributors or brokers they buy from will often swap out parts, and doing spot inspection of goods can help catch a problem before it gets out of hand. The worst is when an upstream distributor is blending fakes into genuine parts at rate of a few %. This is extremely hard to catch, since this gets around even spot checks. But, distributors make razor thin margins, so blending fakes, rejects, or old material in at a rate of a few % can greatly boost their profitability on a deal. Because the incentive exists, the problem can happen. This is particularly problematic on high-value inventory sold in tray format. China is always the designated culprit. But we ship our e-waste to China where parts are harvested, cleaned and remarked. What could we do to prevent the easy harvesting of used components? Why is the harvesting of used components such a bad thing? It’s way better for the environment than trying to melt the stuff down for the gold contained within. Oh right, because “fakes”. Maybe instead of fighting this problem, we should find a way to regulate/legitimize it. But like legalizing weed or prostitution, it’s hard to get around the stigma of used parts. On the other hand, well-designed silicon can operate flawlessly for decades… One measure to take to prevent ghost-shift parts? Serialization and/or activation codes/keys that require contact with a server not located in the factory — and that only you control — can help in some situations. Or at least, it can help you assess how many ghost shift units are being created.

With 13 Days of Shot On Video I’ll be reviewing a new shot-on-video horror film every weekday for the last two weeks of October. You can view all entries HERE. Well, the day has arrived: this is the final entry in my two week-long odyssey into the belly of the bare-bones beast, “13 Days of Shot on Video”. Honestly, it went a lot smoother than I thought it would. It wasn’t until today that I became afraid I wouldn’t make it. I know, it sounds silly to say but I really didn’t think I’d complete my final entry. I can only liken it to what I assume runners experience when they hit “the wall” miles into their marathon, right before they reach the finish line. Not only am I mentally exhausted from churning out a new review (for what are essentially identical movies) everyday for almost two weeks straight, but my tolerance for the camp and low-budget whimsy of these monsters is totally deep-fried. I’m beginning to no longer appreciate their shortcomings, which is unfair to them and makes for an impartial review. I said it before and I’ll say it again: I am in major need of a detox! One other reason I was concerned I wouldn’t finish: it was getting increasingly difficult for me to track down honest-to-goodness SOV movies. Every list I found online that claimed to itemize “shot on video horror movies” was rampant with mistakes; many of the movies they listed were either shot on Super 8, 16mm, and 35mm, or at some point has been transferred or converted, or only included a few scenes that were SOV. This caused me to start and stop several films, which was a total pain. But thankfully I stumbled upon Death Row Diner , a movie I’d never even heard of before, and it ended up saving the day. Death Row Diner begins in the late 1940s; a well-known movie executive is being put to death by electric chair after being framed for murder. As he’s being led to ol’ Sparky, he keeps complaining about how he didn’t receive his last meal. Even as he’s strapped in, he keeps begging for food, and his final words as the switch is thrown are: “I’m hungrrrryyyy!” It’s actually a pretty hilarious and promising start to the movie. Flash forward to modern day, and his film company is still in business and hard at work in his absence. In fact, they’re filming a movie in the same prison he was executed in! Apparently his spirit isn’t too happy with the low budget crud the studio is churning out nowadays though, so he comes back from the dead and wreaks havoc on the cast and crew, killing them off one by one. Now, the movie may sound like a straight up horror film, but I assure you it is anything but. It’s full of jokes and bizarre humor, and it even explicitly references Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers at several points (some reviews have pointed out that this movie, which was released by Camp Motion Pictures, is essentially one big promo for several Camp Motion Pictures releases.) One of the leads (the new exec) has this heavy brooklyn accent and a “don’t give me no shit” type of attitude that kept reminding me of the great and under-appreciated James Loriz, and it just added to the overall joke factor of the movie. One thing I wanna point out is what a genuinely good and believable actress Michelle Bauer is in this. She’s so likable and sweet, even when she’s playing the catty, cheating wife. The b-actresses of the 70s and 80s blow the modern b’s out of the water, man. It’s not even a contest. It feels like these actresses from back then shouldn’t have even been considered “b-actresses”; the more movies I see, the more I think that nomenclature was chosen solely on the fact that these actresses were willing to bare it all. But I digress. Michelle does an awesome job and pretty much carries the movie. Ultimately, the movie ends up being fairly uneven — the humor shifts between really dumb groan-inducing stuff to actually funny, weird and enjoyable. And like every SOV movie I’ve watched, it drags like a sonofabitch, even though it clocks in at only an hour long. There is some okay gore and make-up in the movie, and there is a GREAT death scene at a ping pong table. Aside from it’s bizarre humor, it’s a fairly typical, standard entry in the sub-genre. Lastly, there are some really funny bloopers during the closing credits that almost mirror the same fictional snafus the “crew” was experiencing “on set” while filming the movie (within this movie) exactly. It’s a pretty fun way to close out the picture. A gigantic, massive thank you to everyone who has read these and followed along! I enjoyed doing them, and I hope you enjoyed reading them. Your support is really truly appreciated. That’s all for now — let’s see what next October brings!

news, local-news, Jarrod Mullen drugs, Drugs, ASADA, Doping, Steroids, NRL, Jarrod Mullen doping, Jarrod Mullen ban Former Newcastle Knights star Jarrod Mullen has launched a new career, signing a five-year partnership deal with new property investment company Luxland. Mullen has begun a four-year suspension for taking a banned steroid, but he has wasted little time in pursuing a new profession, teaming up with Luxland founder and chief executive Zah Azmi and co-owner Dane Crawford. The company lists an address in Sydney but specialises in property investment and development in Newcastle and the Central Coast. Mullen, 30, appears on the front cover of the first edition of the group’s quarterly Future magazine. A company spokesman said Mullen would act as an ambassador, liaise with the firm’s partners and clients, including some of his former rugby league colleagues, and invest in his own projects. “Obviously I engage with footballers who are earning a good income and don’t know where to go next,” Mullen is quoted as saying in the magazine. “I resonate with that demographic as I am from the same background. My goal is to help as many players as I can by education and sharing my experience and knowledge of the success of property investment.” Mullen is no stranger to property. He bought a one-bedroom unit in Honeysuckle for $482,500 in 2006 and sold it recently for $640,000. He has just completed an extensive renovation of his house at Merewether. “I am looking at trying my hand at property development as it was always the plan for when I finish up playing football,” he told the magazine. “I’m 30 years old and always knew my time would be coming to an end around this age. So preparation for the next chapter in my life was critical.” https://nnimgt-a.akamaihd.net/transform/v1/crop/frm/TFWurqJd3WWgt5tunziPf4/7b573e45-72ee-4215-a2ad-5d93ea8b3e0a.jpg/r0_4_950_541_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg

The Gujarat government on Saturday imposed the Disturbed Areas Act in Surat city covering the Central zone of Surat Municipal Corporation and in several residential colonies within the Bapod police station limits of Vadodara. Advertising With the imposition of the Act, the owners of land and other immovable properties in these areas will have to seek permission from the district collector before selling their assets. An official release stated that the Act seeks to keep a tab on illegal transfer of properties in the communally sensitive areas, officially described as disturbed areas. The notification has come two months after BJP MLA Sangeeta Patil submitted a memorandum to the district collector for the implementation of the Ashant Dhara Act (Disturbed Areas Act) in 25 residential societies of the Limbayat area. The MLA demanded the imposition of the Act to “prevent Muslims from acquiring residential properties of Hindus”. The Congress leaders had however opposed this. BJP MLA from Surat West Purnesh Modi had sent a similar proposal. Purnesh said, “I am happy that the state government accepted my proposal to implement the Ashant Dhara Act. It is for the betterment of the people.” Advertising Responding to the notification, Patil said, “Three days ago, I received a copy from state government in which they said that my proposal of implementation of Ashant Dhara Act in 25 residential societies in Limbayat area was in pipeline and it will soon be done. I will now submit another proposal for covering remaining residential societies in same area under the Ashant Dhara Act.” with PTI inputs

On Thursday, Condé Nast released Vogue Cover Exclusive for the iPad. This app is the first iPad-entry for the Vogue brand in North America (British Vogue and Japanese Vogue already have apps). The $0.99 app [iTunes link] isn't the full issue of Vogue magazine; instead, Vogue Cover Exclusive features the full cover story and additional images, video clips and audio. Vogue says it won't be producing the app every month but will be releasing new versions when the content is appropriate. The inaugural issue features Lady Gaga in all her Gaga-glory. Beyond the cover story and photographs, the app also includes a behind-the-scenes video from the cover shoot and a set of audio diaries from the author of the piece. The app, like some of Condé Nast's other titles, uses the Adobe Digital Publishing Suite as its base. Users of the Wired iPad app will find themselves at home with the layout. Because this is an app that is focused on the cover story and cover subject, photography is an important aspect of the experience. Fortunately, the app features great photography that has been optimized for landscape and portrait viewing. The notable additional content in the app is the inclusion of audio diaries from Jonathan Van Meter. These diaries add context to the story and the interview process that truly give an additional sense of value in the app itself. We think this is an interesting approach to offering digital publication content. We expect that Vogue will offer its own full-version magazine app for iPad, but in the interim, a lower-priced preview focused primarily on the content of the cover is a provocative monetization play. In the future, we would like to see Vogue utilize more exclusive content — especially by way of video — to make the $0.99 purchase more enticing. What do you think of bite-sized iPad-focused magazine previews? Let us know.

One of the best things about true competition in cord cutting is watching the services fight for you. In the past you may have felt like the cable company could care less if you signed up or not. Now watching these services fight for your dollars is a rather rewarding feeling. All of the services have been directly going after each other recently and none more so than Sling TV. Now even Sling TV is once again turning up the fire by directly comparing its price point to its competitors’. It will be interesting to see how Hulu, DIRECTV NOW, and PlayStation Vue respond as it becomes more apparent than ever that Sling TV has different strategy from the others. For now it seems like Sling TV has decided to be the perfect add-on to cord cutters who have an antenna. As other services are rushing to add locals Sling TV has decided to offer to come and install an antenna in or on your house. The question now is how effective will this be. Even with Sling TV’s huge lead in subscribers services such as DIRECTV NOW have been reporting strong subscriber growth with over 500,000 new subscribers. While many Americans live in areas that have easy access to over-the-air TV tens of millions of Americans live in areas that have difficulty getting over-the-air TV. So it is possible that both plans could be successful. But for now Sling TV’s decision to make locals a low priority stands out in comparison to all other live TV streaming services. So what do you think? Is Sling TV making the right move by trying to be different with a lower price point? Or do you think DIRECTV NOW, Hulu, and PlayStation Vue are on the right path? Leave us a comment and let us know what you think. Please follow us on Facebook and Twitter for more news, tips, and reviews. Need cord cutting tech support? Join our new Cord Cutting Tech Support Facebook Group for help.

Croquet at the Olympics There was only ever one croquet competition in Olympic Games history, held in 1900 in Paris. France won all events, which is not surprising as mostly French competitors took part. There were three women competing, but they did not win any medals. These were some of the first women to take part in the Olympic Games. This tournament was also not a success with the spectators. Only one fan watched the events - an Englishman who had traveled from Nice especially for the occasion. No wonder we have not seen this event at the Olympics again. Results One Ball Singles: Aumoitte (1st) John (2nd) Waydeliche (3rd), all from France. Aumoitte beat John 21-15 in the final Aumoitte (1st) John (2nd) Waydeliche (3rd), all from France. Aumoitte beat John 21-15 in the final Doubles : Aumoitte & John, France. No silver or bronze awarded : Aumoitte & John, France. No silver or bronze awarded Singles - Two Balls: Waydelich (1st) Vignerot (2nd) Sautereau (3rd), all from France Waydelich (1st) Vignerot (2nd) Sautereau (3rd), all from France Singles Handicap - Two Balls: Vignerot, France Share: Facebook Twitter Related Pages see also the similar sport Roque which was in the 1904 Games. Full list of all Discontinued Events. Popular Content Comments Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.

It’s really hard being a customer these days. If there isn't enough for me, there must be a problem. If things don’t go exactly to plan or mistakes happen, well that just won’t do. What about ME?!?! Apologies? That's not good enough. Lost Abbey made some mistakes. You can read about the whole story here along with what I believe is a sincere apology. Mistakes were made, people were inconvenienced, and time was wasted. In the Instagram comments you’ll find a variety of sad tales and angry threatening messages. What I find the most fascinating about this whole ordeal is the reaction people are having. What if you got shitty service at a restaurant? Would you keep going back the next day and trying again? At a certain point you have to ask yourself “what the fuck is wrong with me?” How many of these people screaming their heads off about how unfair it is will be back next year? Every single one of them without question.

Colonel Sanders is graciously received at the United Nations by the current president of the General Assembly Last week we got sent a press release about a KFC publicity stunt at the UN, and shrugged it off because we're not corporate tools who reblog each and every publicity stunt (unless it involves American Apparel). But what makes this one interesting is that the stunt has deeply embarrassed UN security, who allowed a guy dressed like Colonel Sanders into restricted areas of the UN without security clearance. The guy even got a photo op with current president of the United Nations General Assembly, Libya’s Dr. Ali A. Treki! A publicist for KFC tells us "the Colonel and a photographer were able to talk their way into the UN building to talk to officials about the request that Grilled Nation 'earn a seat' as the 193rd UN member state." Acceptance by the international community is long overdue! How long can the UN keep sitting on its hands? Security is "still trying to find out exactly what happened," says Michele Montas, spokeswoman for UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. "It should not have happened—that I will stress, and very strongly. There was some lapse in security and the individual in question... was, on the initiative of one security guard, taken... into the UN." Perhaps a little free chicken greased the right palm? But despite the photo-op, Treki's spokesman insists, "There was no meeting. No appointment scheduled with the actor impersonating Colonel Sanders . . . there was a brief encounter with the president of the General Assembly." And Treki only shook the Colonel's hand because "he's a very polite man." (Which could apply to Treki or Colonel sanders.) Perhaps the best part of this fiasco is that the spokeswoman for the United Nations Secretary General has been reduced to acknowledging the Grilled Nation's letter demanding UN membership, telling the National Post of Canada, "That letter is absolutely void to us; it has no meaning whatsoever. The UN cannot be involved in a commercial venture. Period. This is being touched upon by our legal department." Good to see they're keeping busy over there!

Selling To The Fortune 500, Government, And Other Lovecraftian Horrors Hiya guys! Patrick (patio11) here. You asked to get emails from me about making and selling software. Last time we talked about SaaS pricing, focusing on people paying in the tens to hundreds of dollars range. Today, we're going to talk about bigger fish. A lot of folks have asked me about selling software to Big Freaking Enterprises. Big Freaking Enterprises are utterly price insensitive at price points you are contemplating (all amounts below $500 a month sound like rounding error), and having a few BFE clients grants you social proof to help sell other BFEs and smaller customers, as well. Nobody ever got fired for picking IBM, but if nobody at IBM got fired for picking you, then you must be good enough for Dr. Smith's office, right? I was under a common engineer misapprehension that BFE sales requires playing golf, inviting clients to steak dinners, and having budgets beyond to reach of small businesses. This is not 100% true: you can hack the BFE procurement process to your advantage. Let's dig into how. Understanding The B2B Purchasing Cycle So You Can Exploit It Most folks reading this have seen one-half of the B2B purchasing cycle at their day jobs: they fill out a form or ask a manager for X (a copy of MSOffice, a new computer, etc), and six weeks later X arrives. You may have wondered whether the intervening six weeks required dark rituals of eldritch power. Nope, but don't tell Purchasing, as they treasure their reputations. Here's the typical workflow for a big business buying something "fairly small," i.e. below six figures. Feel free to skip this section if you're aware of it already -- there's meatier stuff below. 1. A User Needs Something. An internal user (i.e. low-ranking peon) discovers they need something. They ask for it. 2. Purchasing Agent Looks For Solutions Either that user or a person in the Purchasing Department identifies something to fit the need. They'll usually do this the exact way normal customers would: by Googling, sometimes assisted by an internal list of Vendors We've Worked With Before And Not Had To Sue To Get Delivery. 3. Purchasing Agent Sends Out Questions The person in charge of the purchase will ask a few businesses whether their product fits the needs identified on their paperwork (again, quite possibly written by a different person). This stage will often literally involve a spreadsheet with identified requirements listed on it. (Note how that matches up very well with those obnoxious checkbox charts you've seen on your competitors' websites? That is right, they know how this game is played.) Expect the overwhelming majority of these questions to be stupidly obvious and answered on the website, which the Purchasing Agent has not perused in its entirety because it is much easier to have you fill in the spreadsheet than to do it themselves. 4. Purchasing Agent Requests Quotes Businesses which replied with a spreadsheet containing almost all checks are asked for a formal quote. These are simply written attestations that Product X is available at price Y, with no shenanigans going on. (There are plenty of shenanigans going on, but this forces disclosure of the most obvious shenanigans, or at least the Purchasing Department thinks so.) In most cases for small purchases (again, less than six figures), the Purchasing Agent will only bother asking for one quote. 5. Purchasing Department Generates a Purchase Order (PO) The Purchasing Department will then create a Purchase Order (PO), which is a paper document saying "We accept your quote for Product X at Price Y, and request delivery, with payment to be made after delivery according to the following terms and conditions which we'll probably violate anyhow." 6a. Business Delivers The Product You know this part, right? You deliver your product to the internal user named on the documents, who may be shocked to receive it after only six short weeks. Their Purchasing Agent may not have told them the status of their request. 6b. (Approximately Contemporaneously) Business Invoices Accounts Payable You send an invoice (a formal demand for payment) to the Accounts Payable department at the business, which may or may not be the same as the Purchasing Department, depending on the peculiarities of your customer's org chart. 7. Accounts Payable Pays The Business Accounts Payable will then pay the business in the manner specified on the invoice. No, actually, they will ignore your instructions (especially about payment timeframes), and send a check to an address picked randomly from the set of them printed on the invoice. (Make sure you give them one easy, obvious option for where to send the checks, and that that mailbox is monitored for discrete envelopes containing paper worth potentially tens of thousands of dollars. You can get a check reissued but it will be extra pain and take another several weeks.) The Easiest Hack Around The Purchasing Process All internal users hate the purchasing process because it inhibits their ability to get work done. Successful Enterprise sales is about finding an internal champion who really wants your product like they want oxygen, and then allying with that person against their own employer. One of the easiest ways to do this is allowing them to exercise any loophole their Purchasing Department provides. Because the whole rigamarole costs several hundred dollars in employee salary to approve any PO, most internal Purchasing Departments have a few enumerated exceptions. One is an upper limit on expenses a worker or low-level manager can approve on their own authority without ceremony, generally by putting them on a corporate credit card. This limit is customarily $500 or $1,000. The greatest hack the software industry came up with in the last twenty years is monthly billing, because it lets you sell a four-figure product for $499 a month, evading the internal purchasing controls which hamper your users from getting their work done. This is why substantially every SaaS business should have a plan priced between $250 and $499 a month, because corporate employees will expense it on the card. It is not their money so it doesn't matter whether it is $99, $250, or $4999 a month, as all those figures are literally rounding error to this customer, which is why they don't bother controlling for purchases that small. Accordingly, you should price to the high end of that range. Some businesses do not have a corporate card available and will request to pay by PO all of the time. Your policy should be we are happy to take POs if you pre-pay for a year (optionally with a minimum plan level specified), which gets you out of the business of chasing two-figure POs every month, something which you urgently do not want. Your customer will be pleased with this, because they hate the work *they* have to do to get POs approved, Dealing With The "You're Not Big Enough" Objection You may be dealing with a larger transaction than the $500 exemption or with a more conservative business than the typical megacorp. (For example, hospitals and school systems are often very strict. Hospitals actually have money, so it is worth putting up with their layers of protective horsepuckey to get at it. As someone who sold to teachers for six years let me strongly suggest pounding your own hand with a hammer prior to selling to school districts. It is less painful and approximately as lucrative.) One obstacle to making these sales at Stage 2/Stage 3 is that customers really want to see social proof, because they have the get-fired-if-this-doesn't-work-out worry. A typical phrase you will hear from customers at this point is "We don't want to be your biggest client." There are a variety of ways you can smooth over this objection, which I have stolen flagrantly from my friend Jason Cohen at WPEngine. The best way is to contrast the level of service you can offer with that the competition can offer. You will always win this comparison if you phrase it correctly, regardless of whether e.g. the competition offers phone support and you do not. The magic words are "I appreciate that you'd feel safer going with Brand Name X, and Brand Name X will indeed have someone around to answer your phone call at 2 AM. Unfortunately, they won't be able to do anything for you. Their only job is getting you off the phone before you can speak to someone capable of resolving your problem, because those people cost money. And you know what happens if you call at 2 PM? You get the same guy." "On the other hand, when you send us an email, you may have to wait a few hours, but you'll get your response from me, every single time, and I will do my best to fix your problem. I built this product from the ground up and I am fanatical about taking care of you because you'd be my biggest customer, and if I don't take care of you, the business is over." This is part of the magic founder advantage, by the way. Customers hate speaking to salespeople: they're pushy and poorly informed. Customers love talking to founders: they're transparently passionate about the product and always, always have an answer at their fingertips or know how to get one. You can press your founder advantage such that even "We'd love to do that but for X, Y, and Z it isn't feasible right now" sounds like a better response than "Oh, sure, we do that like we do everything. So how much can I put you down for?" will from your competition. Bootstrapping Social Proof For Targeting Enterprises I built Appointment Reminder as a one-man band (prior to selling it). A particularly nationally renowned hospital included Appointment Reminder in the list of twelve companies it sent out spreadsheets to about a project it needed appointment reminders for. (Why'd they include AR? Because I rank #1 on Google for Appointment Reminder, and "If you're good enough for Google..." Seriously, direct quote.) The particular project this hospital was engaging on did not have a six figure budget. (It is NDAed, but let's call it a $10k sale. It isn't, but it could be.) As a result, the sales teams for my competitors (smelling a non-motivational commission) perfunctorily sent back their standard data sheets and didn't persue the sale aggressively. $10k is not a hugely motivational amount of money for me (believe me, I never, ever thought I'd be saying that) but I really, really wanted this hospital as an anchor client for Appointment Reminder. I wanted to be able to use their logo on my website and use that social proof as a wedge into the (large and extraordinarily lucrative) healthcare market. So I crazily overdelivered on the questions and concerns the user at the hospital had. You can crush arbitrarily large/sophisticated competition on small deals that are uneconomical for them to pursue with the goal of expanding into the core of the business. Clayton Christensen calls this "disruptive innovation." I personally like to think of the old line about how to eat an elephant: in small bites, starting at its vulnerable underbelly. Twelve companies, with my competitors ranging from 10-man boutique consultancies to Fortune 500 companies, were asked whether their products would work for the hospital's needs. They sent perfunctory emails with just the generic attached data sheet. I sent 2,000 word emails with paragraphs starting with "*Multi-user account isolation: yes*" and continuing with 200 words explaining exactly why that mattered for the particular hospital. (Copywriting tip #1: if you're ever talking to someone, use their name and their employer's name. Use it just a little more than you would think would be natural. Straight out of How To Win Friends and Influence People, still works as good as ever.) All of my emails suggested CCing to the internal team. The hospital wanted a follow-up phone call with Appointment Reminder and the main competitor that survived the feature-grid comparison. If you're familiar with my market you can probably guess who they are, but suffice it to say they have 8 figures of sales a year and conservatively 100 man years in their software for every one I have in mine. I should lose on any comparison with them every single time. Their sales rep answered the questions on the call perfunctorily and superficially, and then went back to his more important leads. When the hospital asked for the phone call with me, I remembered the name of the nurse doing the purchasing (we'll call her Jill), and thanked her for the email back-and-forth, then introduced myself as (again) "in charge of the product." She asked questions. I told her, every time, "I can go as deep into detail as this as you require, but I think XXXXX is about what your hospital cares about. Would you like to hear more?" When she got to questions which were actually hard, I said "I don't have a good answer for you right this minute, but I will follow-up with you over email with the specifics." Immediately after the phone call, I sent her an email (again, requesting a CC to the internal team) covering every question asked on the call, with a callout on the top that paragraphs 3, 7, and 9 were the ones I had promised to follow-up on. Amusingly, in the phone call, Jill asked "I have to ask, is this product your baby? I mean, are you the only one there?" I said "Well, short answer: yes." I then cribbed liberally from Jason and said "It's a one-man company and, while I might have employees in the future, at present I don't. I wrote the product myself, answer all the questions myself, and do all the support myself. And, like you can imagine, I take very good care of my baby." The hospital had an internal meeting with ten attendees to decide which product to go forward with. Every person other than Jill understood the meeting as "Deciding between Appointment Reminder and whatever that other company is", because their inboxes had had two emails with extensive commentary from Patrick at Appointment Reminder and a PDF filed forwarded from "some guy" which every doctor had promised to read some day when there were no lives to be saved. The lead doctor wanted to go with the 8,000 lb gorilla. Jill relayed the baby story, with a strong personal recommendation. And that's how I outcompeted my biggest competitor and won an enterprise sale as a single guy running his business from Japan. If you're curious as to who the hospital is, keep an eye on the Appointment Reminder home page, as in only a few more short months I should be able to mention them publicly. I won't lie to you: doing Enterprise sales is long, hard work. I've probably invested 25 hours into pushing paperwork on this one over six months, and there have been another dozen stories which started like this one and then ended at the select-down prior to the in-depth phone calls. But hey, sale made and beachhead established in an extraordinarily lucrative market segment with huge barriers to entry. Interestingly, after you have a beachhead, broadening it is a hundred times easier. In addition to the next "But you're so small" objection being answerable with "I'm good enough for $NAMEDROP_LIKE_A_PRO but if you're still concerned...", it turns out that the hospital was using the service with several partner hospitals, all of some reputation. I essentially picked up eight customer logos for the "price" of one. Customers Sometimes Want To Opt-In To Enterprise Pricing. Let Them. Your pipeline is to high-touch sales as your funnel is to low-touch sales via your website. That's how I've always seen at it, coming from a low-touch background. Sales guys see it as something like "You become aware that a hundred prospective customers exist. You winnow your list down to 20 of them who are qualified leads, the ones with the best prospect of purchasing your product. You call them and get meaningful interaction with 10 decisionmakers. You get three product demos. One of them converts into a sale, and you get a commission check." You will eventually want to get past the point where all sales comes from one of the founders doing a time-intensive song and dance yourself. This desire eventually results in the dreaded Defined, Repeatable Sales Process. You can hack your way around needing to have one of those (and/or a sales team), though. These strategies also transition perfectly well to doing Enterprise sales "for real." Your self-service low-touch software/SaaS product, for example, can serve as a source of extraordinarily qualified sales leads for a higher level of offering. For example, a big company happily using the $250 a month plan could, quite possibly, be happy to upgrade to a $5,000 a month contract if you offered them the right incentive. (Twenty times as much, you ask? No, transitioning from "pocket lint" to pennies. Stop thinking like a human. Think like a corporation. Corporations are like humans whose smallest increment of currency is the largest paycheck you've ever received.) How would you segment folks who need a higher offering? In many cases, they'll self-segment by asking you questions, such as "Does the software have auditing capabilities? There are three easy answers to this question: No, it doesn't. Sorry. No, it doesn't, but we can build that for you. Yes, it does. We just have to do the X and the Y and the Z and, bam, auditing. Smack yourself if you ever say any one of these answers. Auditing is one of several Enterprise pricing trigger words. (See also: "compliance", "administrator", "permissions", "firewall", "multi-lingual", "contract", "SLA", etc), If you sincerely care about auditing, you have more money than God. Accordingly, the right answer is some variation of "We make auditing available to our Enterprise customers. When would you like to have a call about your needs?" You then close that sale at an unpublished enterprise price point, which will probably be thousands of dollars a month. This is important: Enterprise pricing is discontinuous with normal pricing. If the $250 a month plan entitles you to 500 foozles and an Enterprise needs 5,000 foozles, that costs thousands or tens thousands of dollars per month. If an Enterprise only needs 500 foozles, that costs thousands or tens of thousands of dollars per month. If an Enterprise only needs 50 foozles, that costs thousands or tens of thousands of dollars per month. This is partially justified by the amount of pain you're signing up for by doing an Enterprise sales process, but is mostly just pure, naked price discrimination. Enterprises are not price conscious*. Don't attempt to sell them based on your price. (* For prices customarily contemplated by software companies.) I meet a lot of developers who learn about pricing primarily through reading other people's SaaS pricing pages. Like we discussed in the email on SaaS pricing, even if the pricing page doesn't explicitly say it, there is *probably* an option to pay an arbitrarily high amount for any SaaS you have ever heard of. I know of companies who have policies against doing this sort of thing (37signals famously does, for example) but there are many successful SaaS companies who have a magic lever available to make your experience of them totally disconnected from their standard offering. The existence of that lever is not often disclosed. Here's an example I know won't rub anyone wrong: Github has Enterprise pricing available, and the magic segmenting feature is "behind your firewall." Did you know you can trivially pay five or six figures a year for a Github account? Quick, guess, where does Github make more money: all of their $7 a month personal accounts put together or their largest single Enterprise customer? I know which one I'm betting on. Scaling Your Sales Pipeline Up Sometimes customers won't come out and tell you "Hey, I'm price insensitive, please charge me 20 times as much." They can often demonstrate it through behavior, though. For example, let's say you hypothetically wanted to get people to talk to you about their auditing requirements. You could put Call Us copy on your pricing page. Many of your customers (because they know how the game is played) will correctly read that to mean "We have Enterprise service available and it is, as you would expect, expensive." Where else can you collect that lead, without requring ongoing involvement from the founding team? Have you considered asking for it in your application? For example, just drop a setting in the Account Settings menu. "Auditing: turn on". If someone clicks it, display a message saying "Your plan level doesn't include auditing but we'll be in touch. Click here if you don't want to hear from us." If they don't click that link, fire yourself an email saying "Bob Smith ([email protected]) was interested in: Auditing." Then follow up with Bob personally. You just turned 5 minutes of engineer time into the start of a repeatable pipeline for getting six-figure deals. Good on you. (If you're discomfit by that idea, you can write microcopy which you'll be more comfortable with, like "Auditing: click here to schedule a phone call about Auditing with our sales team." But that's extra work and, believe me, you care more about the difference than your customers do. This is not their first rodeo -- as an Enterprise, they have institutional experience of dealing with Enterprise sales thousands of times.) Another method: send your customers a sequence of emails, often called "drip marketing", with a mixture beginning with straight-up education as to how to use the software to solve their problems. Gradually, you can transition the emails from less education and more selling on the benefits available of transitioning to your Enterprise model. (If you want to be really sophisticated, send this only to folks whose accounts suggest possible enterprise-ness about them. Myself, I'd be inclined to suggest e.g. "A one-month email course on getting the most out of X" to everyone at signup, making sure the typical customer would enjoy the first few emails, and then giving everyone a one-click opt-out if the Enterprise sales material doesn't ring their bell.) You can pitch the benefits of your Enterprise services, such as e.g. dedicated support staff or a Service Level Agreement or what have you. Your happy internal customer might recognize the benfits of upgrading to these or (the same for your purposes) be required to take advantage of them by internal rules, and accordingly those emails might spark fruitful conversations with your sales teams. Not sure what I mean by "internal rules"? Consider a Pricing Department which, having been burned on a software purchase before, has a bullet-point "All software purchases must include one year of maintenance with a minimum service level guarantee of tier two support being available within 6 hours." You know what that means from your perspective? "This Purchasing Department will reject any PO for the $250 a month plan and require that our customer upgrade to the $5,000 a month plan, if it is communicated to us that the $250 plan does not come with an SLA." This strongly adding the following line-item to quotes: "Support: Email support on a best-effort basis. No SLA purchased; available separately. price: (included)" That line will virtually never torpedo a purchase, but will sometimes result in 20x-ing the purchase price. Still another method: You've got a dashboard with everyone who signed up in the last day on it, right? (RIGHT?) If someone with an email address ending with e.g. boeing.com signs up, make sure they get a hand-written letter from the founder or project manager offering to talk about their concerns. (I see no particular reason why you can't give everyone who signs up the same letter, but I'd devote more of my concentration to making sure a conversation actually happened if a customer was from boeing.com versus a generic gmail address.) Anyone Can Do Enterprise Sales One of the most common objections I hear from folks thinking about moving upmarket into the enterprise is that they're not cut out to be Sales Guys. Guys, believe me, I used to play World of Warcraft and still often stare at my own shoes while talking. Nobody is less qualified to be a Sales Guy than me. It is a skill, though, like any other. Try it. Fail a few times. You'll get better at it, eventually. I had maybe a 5% hit rate when I started out doing sales on Appointment Reminder, if that. It is 20% now, which (when you multiply by the formidable budgets of companies in the space) works out to be quite a bit of money. As my father always counselled me with regards to dating advice: "Don't come up with reasons for them being out of your league. Make them come up with them. Someday, someone -- perhaps someone surprising -- will say Yes." (n.b. Equally good advice in the original context.) Until next time. Regards, Patrick McKenzie P.S. I always appreciate getting email from you about what you'd like to hear about next.

MINNEAPOLIS -- Opening night can't get here fast enough for the New Orleans Saints and Minnesota Vikings. Saints safety Darren Sharper is engaging in some serious trash talk on Twitter with former teammates Bryant McKinnie and Visanthe Shiancoe of the Vikings, with Brett Favre right in the middle of it. Sharper touched things off after Favre announced he was having ankle surgery last week. The talkative safety tweeted "X marks the spot" in reference to the quarterback's ankle. The comment touched a nerve with the Vikings, who believe the Saints took several late hits on their 40-year-old quarterback in New Orleans' overtime victory over Minnesota in the NFC title game in January. The Vikings responded in kind on Thursday, first after practice and then in cyberspace, more than three months before the teams kick off the NFL season in New Orleans on Sept. 9. "Sharper had surgery, too. And it was the knee," Shiancoe told members of the media on Thursday morning. "So if 'X' marks the spot on Brett, I wonder what would mark the spot on Sharper? I know which one it is. I know exactly which one it is." The words quickly got back to Sharper, who challenged Shiancoe to a bet on the season-opening game, throwing in a playfully juvenile twist on the tight end's name for good measure. "So visanthe stankoe X marks the spot on me, how bout X marks the spot for how many catches and TDs you'll have come Thursday night," Sharper fired back. "X [equals] zero. "If you feeling yourself put your game check on it. No TDs and less than 3 catches you give me your game check. Now whose talking." Shiancoe, one of Minnesota's most active tweeters, did not immediately respond to Sharper's baiting, but McKinnie did not hesitate. "Oh so I heard u was on twitter going in, but I missed it! Man u don't want these problems." Favre has yet to inform the Vikings if he will return for a second season in purple. But most view his decision to have surgery as an indicator that he will be back. McKinnie, the big left tackle, tweeted to Sharper that the Vikings offensive line is "the secret service and Brett is Obama, so try 2 get thru if u want 2! Now this is ur warning!" Sharper was one of the most popular Vikings during his four seasons in Minnesota and was friendly with Shiancoe and McKinnie, so this all could be playful banter. He left before last season and joined the Saints, helping them to a Super Bowl victory over the Indianapolis Colts. Whatever the sentiment is behind it, there is no doubt that it will get plenty of attention from fans and media. "I bet all this trash talk [at] sharper42 is doing has yall Viking Fans excited 4 the season 2 start!" McKinnie said.

Sketch Tutorials The Most Efficient Way to Use Icons If You’re A Designer or Developer. Not just how to do it, but WHY it’s better than any other way. Jon Moore Blocked Unblock Follow Following Jun 11, 2017 Confession: This article is intentionally polarizing so that someone will write an angry comment and give me a more efficient solution. Maybe it’s manipulation. I call it The Predictability of the Internet 😉 Icons are a huge pain in my ass: They have to look homogenous (similar visual style) They have to have bounding boxes They have to work when they’re really big and really small and really small They have to be easy to design with They have to be easy to code with They have to be performant (side note: Peter Nowell is the king of SVGs) They have to not piss off your design team They have to not piss off your development team Okay, so what about icon fonts? Icon fonts like FontAwesome came out as a way to soften the agony of working with icons, but they still aren’t perfect. Designing with them is just…okay; you still have to go look up the glyph, copy it, and paste it into the text layer. You can’t really symbolize them, and if you do, changing their color requires some text symbol trickery. Developing with icon fonts is simple, but not without issues. If the browser fails to load the icon font, then you’re up shit creek without a paddle. And you’re alone. In a kayak. Sad. Well…now what? So…use SVGs then? Well for designers, SVGs are certainly easier to symbolize in Sketch, but it can be kind of a pain to change their color. So just don’t make them symbols, right? Then you can use layer styles to make them different colors! But what if you want to update the little dropdown arrow from a caret to a triangle? Well good luck finding all 398 occurrences of that little arrow and updating them one-by-one. So that’s…well, not great. And I know from experience that developers love nothing more than using standalone SVGs for each and every icon in my design. Don’t worry guys, there are only 207 unique icons. That shouldn’t affect page load. I promise. /s Ugh, then what?! Keep reading, knucklehead 🤗 And before we dive in, here’s something free. This will help you follow along with the rest of the tutorial.

In my interviews with families of kids who see ghosts, I notice that every family has a unique way of supporting the gifted child. As the Perry family demonstrates in this story, those with a child who sees ghosts also has a family member(s) who is unusually empathic. The adorable book, The Sid Series ~ A Collection of Holistic Stories for Children, was authored by Yvonne Perry, who truly understands kids who see ghosts. She is the paternal grandmother of Sidney, the main character in her 12 stories that share a message about holistic living and understanding spiritual intelligence. She unknowingly started the book when she began to write about her adventures with her first-born biological grandson as he began exhibiting the ability to see in the spirit realm. The next thing Yvonne knew, she had a collection of stories to help parents and grandparents support kids who see ghosts and have other paranormal experiences. Perry's own psychic gifts began manifesting in childhood. She was raised in a family where seeing and hearing spirits was not an unfamiliar experience-yet one that they didn't talk about. Having a near-death experience (NDE) in 1952, the matriarch of the family privately confessed to communicating with angels, spirit animals, and disembodied loved ones. During her NDE, "Nanny," as the family lovingly calls her, was sent back to Earth to finishing raising her children who were young at the time. It's only natural that Ms. Perry and her children and grandchildren would manifest clairvoyant, clairaudient, or clairsentient gifts. As a teenager, her daughter, now 26, had dreams that gave her accurate premonitions about future events. It was common for her to have dj vu or see something in "real" life that she had already witnessed in a dream or vision. As a passenger in the car while her mom was driving down the road, Saya emphatically said, "Slow down!" "I'm not speeding," Yvonne said. "Just slow down, okay?" she said. Yvonne slowed the car. "Enough?" she asked her daughter. About that time, they topped the hill where a car accident had just occurred. Had the mom maintained driving at the former speed, they would have been right in the middle of the wreck. "How did you know that was going to happen?" Yvonne asked her daughter. "I just knew. There's going to be a grey car at the entrance of the trailer park." The trailer park wasn't even in sight for another twenty seconds, but sure enough, a grey car started to pull out as the mother-daughter duo approached. Yvonne blew the horn and averted yet another accident. "How did you know?" Yvonne asked a little more sternly. "I dreamed it last night," the fourteen-year-old replied. Yvonne honored her daughter's spiritual gifts from that day forward. However, Saya shut down the gift and never mentioned it after her parents divorced two years later. Perry's son, being empathic himself and married to a woman who is frequently visited by spirits, is more accepting of psychic gifts and was not at all surprised when his first-born son was able to communicate telepathically from a very early age. The entire family began learning from this little boy who called himself an "old soul" when he was only three years old. Sidney channeled his higher self and used a magic potion to heal a crippled dog when he was four years old. At age nine, he continues to receive guidance in his sleep through his astral travel. "I knew we had a special child on our hands and I wanted to do everything I could to help him develop his spiritual gifts," says Perry. "-the same gifts that had been considered unacceptable by the Christian churches I had attended. Sidney's spiritually enlightened mother encouraged him to use his gifts as a tool to help himself and others. Most psychically-gifted children do not have this type of adult influence. In fact, many adults are afraid of the supernatural. Because my son, daughter-in-law, grandson, and I can effortlessly talk about our spiritual experiences, there is no fear of the spirit world-just awe and appreciation." Perry's main reason for writing The Sid Series ~ A Collection of Holistic Stories for Children is to help others see how easy it is to open a dialog and comfortably share human connection with the spirit world. Sidney's ability to see in the spirit realm was confirmed when he was about four years old. He was with his grandmother, whom he calls "Von-Von," in her office when she asked him to go get something in another room. He jumped up and started toward the door. Then, all of a sudden he stopped and wouldn't go through the door. He walked backward to where Von-Von was sitting. "What's wrong, Sid?" she asked. "Who is that?" He pointed toward the hallway. Von-Von immediately knew what was happening. She had seen a ghost of young boy flash across her foyer several days prior. "I'm not sure what his name is," she said as she pulled Sid into her lap. "But, he will not harm you. Let's call upon Archangels Chamuel and Michael to help." Sidney would not take his eyes from the spirit at the doorway. "Archangels Michael and Chamuel," Von-Von said, "We have the spirit of a lost boy in our house. Please come and help him see the light and go to a safe place where he can find his friends and family. Thank you." After a few moments Sidney said, "He's gone!" Then, he slid off his grandmother's lap and walked through the doorway without hesitation. Perry is currently writing a book to serve as a guidebook for empaths-those who are affected by the thoughts, emotions, and feelings of people around them. Teaching Sidney how to protect himself from the psychic energy will be important later on if his guardian adults notice that he's picking up detrimental energy from others. So far, this has not been the case. Even though Sidney is very sensitive and compassionate, he is able to move smoothly along on his own spiritual journey. This lack of fear and psychic onslaught (common to many teens and adults) may come from the way his family treats paranormal events as an ordinary part of life. It could also be due to the loads of love and light that surround him as a result of the beneficial prayers of his parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, and yes, even his great-great-grandmother. Nanny, at age 94, sees and hears in the spirit realm more than ever. The stories in The Sid Series are as much for the parents as for the kids.

That’s right. PAINT. Look, not every blog post is going to be some profound exposition simmering with political limericks and philosophical commentary on modern society AND/OR me falling super hard on my butt. Sometimes I’m going to write about a stupid thing I did, and that stupid thing I did this week is PAINT A WALL. FOR THE FIRST TIME. BY MYSELF. …SORT OF. I MEAN LIKE I HAD A SMALL BIT OF HELP BUT MOSTLY IT WAS JUST ME. Let’s begin: My at-home filming studio is like Orlando Bloom’s acting ability. It gets the job done, but is still really sad. Unlike Orlando Bloom, however, my studio has been unpleasant to look at, what with my green screen being pinned to the wall with thumbtacks, my lights held together with pink rubber bands, and my microphone stand elevated by three empty LootCrate boxes. PROFESHUNALIZM. I decided to mount my green screen proper-like and paint the other big empty wall with cool colors. That way I’ll have a background when I start making stupid YouTube videos that will waste my talent and really disappoint my mom. Win-win! Here was my sketch: Pretty great, right? And to think I was able to hire an actual preschooler to draw it for me. FIRST, I did what any intelligent individual would do. I contacted a seasoned professional for painting advice. I was advised to start by covering the room in plastic like I was a vigilante serial killer. Then, I gathered my cheap Walmart painting supplies. AND MY PAINT, DUHHHHH. It was about 5 minutes later that I realized my air conditioning had stopped working and I was doing manual labor in a room that was, give or take, 3 degrees colder than the surface of the sun. This made me grumpy. Note the grumpiness: That is a picture of all-natural unmake-up’d beauty right there. Just soak that in for a bit. BUT THEN I FINISHED THE BASE COAT AND MY MIRTHQUAKE COMMENCED. LOOK HOW GOOD I DID. But nay, my journey was only halfway journey’d. THE NEXT DAY, I picked up this homeless UFC fan from somewhere in the slums of North Vegas to help me tape the walls in preparation for the stripes. Homeless Shawn and I decided to consume Wisdom Juice to give us a steady hand in our taping endeavor. The following moments occurred but I can’t be expected to recall them in full detail. Thanks, Samuel Adams and your two-row malted barley and Bavarian Noble hops. I’M TRYING TO PAINT A WALL HERE, SAM. Diligent. Precise. Buzzed and quietly wondering if my bug guy has been spraying for Bearspiders. FINALLY, after many hot hours of inhaling paint fumes, my wall was painted. And dammit, I was proud of myself. And tired. Mostly the tired thing. So, if you think about it… this blog was literally you watching paint dry. THANKS FOR THE VIEWS HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Scribbles in my notebook after the Cleveland Browns lost to the Green Bay Packers in overtime Sunday, 27-21: 1. DeShone Kizer said he does not feel any "doubt" when the score is close late in the game. He says he doesn't think of how the Browns could lose. Maybe that's true. Or probably, he doesn't want to think about it. If he answers "Yes, there is doubt..." then there is an even bigger problem with Kizer and the Browns. 2. Of course, there is "doubt." How else do you explain blowing a 21-7 lead in the fourth quarter at home? It's not as if the Packers had future Hall of Famer Aaron Rodgers at quarterback. Sometimes, a comeback is led by a great player ... and that's what happens ... a team loses to a great player. 3. But it was Brett Hundley at quarterback for Green Bay. He entered the day with a 2-4 record as a starter, five TD passes compared to eight interceptions. He is much like Kizer, a young turnover-prone quarterback trying to figure out how to win in the NFL. 4. Rodgers (broken collarbone) is expected back next week for the Packers. Meanwhile, Hundley grew as a quarterback on this day, delivering one clutch pass after another. He also had some determined runs. Hundley was 35-of-46 passing for 265 yards, three TDs and zero interceptions! 5. Then there's the Browns defense. They were without five starters: Jamie Collins, Emmanuel Ogbah, Briean Boddy-Calhoun, Jabrill Peppers and Danny Shelton. But they had a 21-7 lead after three quarters. Closing out that game isn't too much to ask. 6. Trevor Davis had a 65-yard punt return with 2:57 left in the game. The Browns had a 21-14 lead. Yes, it was a special teams collapse. But the Packers still were 37 yards away from the goal line. How about stopping them? Instead, the Packers scored a TD with 17 seconds left in the fourth quarter to set up the overtime. 7. From the moment the fourth quarter opened, the defense could not make a single, significant stop. You could feel the game slipping away. That's what happens when a team is 1-28 in the last two years. 8. In the overtime period, Kizer threw a horrible interception. The Packers still had the ball on the Cleveland 42-yard line. How about stopping them? At least make them try a field goal? Instead, the Packers roared into the end zone. Gregg Williams is a good defensive coordinator. His stats over a long career show it. But he seemed helpless to come up with anything to stop Green Bay when it mattered. 9. As for Kizer, he needed to throw his last pass of the day away. As Jackson mentioned, "the play fell apart." Josh Gordon was the original target, but he wasn't open. He actually was held by a defender, but no matter ... he was not a primary target. 10. Then Kizer scrambled around, trying to heave the ball downfield to Rashard Higgins. Packers linebacker Clay Matthew crunched Kizer as the quarterback threw the ball. It fluttered. Lousy pass. Picked off. 11. Kizer said if he could have delivered the ball to Higgins, it was would have been a TD: "You strike up the band and enjoy our first win of the year." 12. Instead, it was time for the Browns and their fans to sing the blues ... once again. 13. Kizer's mistake was a huge key to the game because Hundley didn't make any plays like that. The Browns defense probably thought they could force Hundley into some turnovers. Along with eight interceptions, he had lost two fumbles. Not on this day. 14. Green Bay's Devante Adams scored the winning TD on a 25-yard pass. Actually, the pass went about 3 yards and he ran the rest into the end zone. Myles Garrett appeared to have a grip on Adams close to the line of scrimmage, but Adams broke free ... and no one else in an orange helmet was there to stop him. 15. The Browns could not develop much of a pass rush. They had one sack (Nate Orchard). Carl Nassib, Derrick Kindred and Garrett each had a quarterback hit. But it was not enough to shake up Hundley. 14. Corey Coleman had an excellent game catching five passes ... he was targeted only six times. He caught a 2-yard TD pass when he was blasted at the goal line ... and hung on to the ball. 15. It was encouraging to see Coleman play so well after not catching a pass last week in the 19-10 loss to the Chargers. Also, this was a very cold weather game (15 degree wind chill), and Coleman seemed bothered by cold weather as a rookie in 2016. 15. Isaiah Crowell rushed for 121 yards in 19 carries. It was good to see the Browns ground game working. 17. Josh Gordon had a sensational leaping 18-yard TD catch. He also caught a pass for 38 yards. Both of those were on Browns first possession of the game. After that, Gordon caught only one more pass ... for 13 yards. He was drawing a fair amount of defensive attention. Kizer said the Packers often had two men covering Gordon after that first TD. 18. The only surprise was the Packers failing to double-team Gordon from the opening snap. He is the Browns biggest weapon on offense. The extra defensive attention given Gordon allowed Coleman more room to get open, and he capitalized on it. 19. The Browns have three games left. Jackson didn't want to talk about all the losing being "psychological." He said: "I don't know. I will look at everything ... This is what it is. Losing is not good for anybody." 20. There were a lot of Packer fans in the stands. No surprise. They love their team and Browns tickets are far easier to secure than tickets to see their team in Green Bay. Until the Browns start to win, you will often see a lot of fans supporting the visiting team in the stands. That's just reality.

NEW YORK (CNN) -- He's only 5½ years old, and yet he's practically memorized the entire New York subway grid. Gwenyth Jackaway started to wonder if Donor-X passed on a genetic component to her son, Dylan, who is autistic. He reads at the fourth-grade level, plays two-handed piano compositions and is better versed than most adults about the Fibonacci code, a complex mathematics sequence. Dylan loves Italian music and draws pictures that artist Jackson Pollock would be proud of. He also happens to be autistic. Gwenyth Jackaway, Dylan's mother, is a professor at New York's Fordham University. She's single but had always wanted to have a child. So she contacted California Cryobank, one of the largest sperm donor banks in the country. Cryobank doesn't reveal the identities of donors but allows people to choose based on the traits they'd like their child to have. Jackaway decided on "Donor X" because he appeared philosophical and intelligent on paper. He liked music, loved to travel and had a high IQ and a degree in economics. What she couldn't know then is that her son would have autism. So she started to wonder whether Donor X might carry a gene that could have contributed. Dylan tells Randi Kaye how to take subway back to work » The cause or causes of autism are not known and are hotly debated. Most experts believe that genetics are a component, making a child predisposed to autism or responsive to an environmental trigger. "It's a combination of being genetically vulnerable and then having some kind of social or toxicant exposure that tips you over," according to Dr. Gary Goldstein of the Kennedy Krieger Institute. Unraveling the mystery Meet Dylan on Anderson Cooper 360° at 10 p.m. ET. Then, Dr. Sanjay Gupta shows us how autistic people experience the world in "Finding Amanda" at 11 p.m. ET. Watch AC360°, 10 p.m. ET see full schedule » Researchers have found some genetic areas associated with autism, but it could take years before the gene or genes that cause autism or contribute to it will be determined. Until then, Geri Dawson, chief science officer for the Manhattan-based advocacy group Autism Speaks, says there's no way to screen for those genes and prevent them from being passed to a child. "We wouldn't be able to screen a donor for autism because we don't yet know the specific genes that are contributing to autism," Dawson said. "But there is a lot of research going on, and I would say in the next five to 10 years, we will have identified between five and 10 genes that we know raise the risk for autism." Once the autism gene or genes have been identified, it would theoretically be possible to screen for those genes, according to Dawson. Jackaway says she went into a period of mourning when Dylan's autism was diagnosed at age 2. "When you're handed a diagnosis of some sort of developmental disorder, you have to let go of the child you thought you were going to have," Jackaway said. "There's a sense of loss of the child, a grieving process. There's denial, there's rage, and then there's the tremendous sadness, and hopefully you get to a place of accepting." Jackaway says she had to accept that "I don't have that child I thought I was going to have. But I have this child instead, who's right here in front of me." Through a Web site called Donor Sibling Registry, she reached out to other women who used Donor X. She found six families who had used the same donor. Two years ago, she visited Theresa Pergola in the New York area; she had given birth to triplets using sperm from Donor X. Just minutes into their meeting, Jackaway noticed Pergola's son, Joseph, 2, exhibiting some of the same behavior as her son. "He was walking on his toes; he was flapping his hands. There seemed to be eye contact issues," recalled Jackaway, who immediately suggested screening Joseph for autism. "She told me that she saw characteristics of autism, and it was very upsetting to me at that time," Pergola said. "I didn't know what to expect from that point on. I know I was scared, and she was there to let me know that it was going to be OK." Pergola says she was afraid because she had an image of autism in her head and believed her son would be "in the corner and rocking and not talking." She says Jackaway reassured her that wouldn't be the case. One month later, a test confirmed what Pergola already knew: Joseph was autistic. The diagnosis brought her to tears, and now these two women whose sons share a father were immediately connected by another bond: autism. "She was terribly upset," Jackaway remembered. "That moment is a terribly frightening moment. You get handed a diagnosis, and you get handed an entirely new future." Health Library MayoClinic.com: Autism In six families Jackaway contacted that had used Donor X, three of the children are autistic, and one is showing signs of autism. But would Jackaway be happier today if there had been a way to screen Donor X for an autism gene? "I've done a lot of thinking about this, and to say yes to that is to say that I wish Dylan isn't Dylan," Jackaway said. "I love my son and everything about him, and that means loving his autism also. Loving your children means loving everything about them. Our children don't have autism; they are autistic. It's part of who they are." There is currently no way to screen for autism, and in a statement, the company said in part: "There is no current genetic test to detect autism. California Cryobank (CCB) employs one of the most thorough and rigorous donor screening processes in the industry, with less than 1% of all applicants actually becoming donors. The standard CCB procedure for screening donors involves extensive physical, genetic and health screening ..." Since the discovery of autism in some of the families that used Donor X, Cryobank had this to say about his samples: "... per CCB policy, the donor's samples were removed from the general catalog. These vials may only be sold to a client who has previously used specimens of this donor and is interested in ordering additional specimens. In this case the client is made aware of the new medical information and potential issues ..." The families don't blame the sperm bank. In fact, Theresa Pergola says she's still uncertain about an autism screening process, if and when it ever becomes available. "It can go either way, on the one hand it could be helpful so that people could make choices about what risks they want to take," says Pergola. "On the other hand it's like, what else are they going to screen for, you know? Are they going to screen for certain personality traits? It's hard to say. It's really hard to say." E-mail to a friend All About Autism

Thank you for supporting the journalism that our community needs! For unlimited access to the best local, national, and international news and much more, try an All Access Digital subscription: We hope you have enjoyed your trial! To continue reading, we recommend our Read Now Pay Later membership. Simply add a form of payment and pay only 27¢ per article. *Introductory pricing schedule for 12 month: $0.99/month plus tax for first 3 months, $5.99/month for months 4 - 6, $10.99/month for months 7 - 9, $13.99/month for months 10 - 12. Standard All Access Digital rate of $16.99/month begins after first year. *Introductory pricing schedule for 12 month: $0.99/month plus tax for first 3 months, $5.99/month for months 4 - 6, $10.99/month for months 7 - 9, $13.99/month for months 10 - 12. Standard All Access Digital rate of $16.99/month begins after first year. *Introductory pricing schedule for 12 month: $0.99/month plus tax for first 3 months, $5.99/month for months 4 - 6, $10.99/month for months 7 - 9, $13.99/month for months 10 - 12. Standard All Access Digital rate of $16.99/month begins after first year. *Introductory pricing schedule for 12 month: $0.99/month plus tax for first 3 months, $5.99/month for months 4 - 6, $10.99/month for months 7 - 9, $13.99/month for months 10 - 12. Standard All Access Digital rate of $16.99/month begins after first year. Thank you for supporting the journalism that our community needs! For unlimited access to the best local, national, and international news and much more, try an All Access Digital subscription: We hope you have enjoyed your trial! To continue reading, we recommend our Read Now Pay Later membership. Simply add a form of payment and pay only 27¢ per article. Thank you for supporting the journalism that our community needs! For unlimited access to the best local, national, and international news and much more, try an All Access Digital subscription: We hope you have enjoyed your trial! To continue reading, we recommend our Read Now Pay Later membership. Simply add a form of payment and pay only 27¢ per article. Sustainable Development Minister Cathy Cox was quick to point out the year isn't over, meaning the province has until the end of the fiscal year in March to ramp up its public awareness spending. The news comes after the government boasted to the Free Press in July its zebra mussel program was a "four-fold increase over what was budgeted in 2015 by the NDP, when $168,000 was set aside to address zebra mussels." Actually, the former Selinger government spent $450,000 in 2015/16 on the program, and a spokesman for the government confirmed almost $100,000 of that went to advertising. A freedom of information request filed by the Free Press revealed the only dollars spent on advertising since the election has been a $38,000 radio ad campaign and $1,000 in print ads. As part of its $700,000 budget for the zebra mussel-fighting program, $130,000 was supposed to be allocated for public awareness. The Pallister government missed the boat in its information war against zebra mussels by leaving more than $90,000 of its advertising unspent during the height of the boating season, the Free Press has learned. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 19/10/2016 (859 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 19/10/2016 (859 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. The Pallister government missed the boat in its information war against zebra mussels by leaving more than $90,000 of its advertising unspent during the height of the boating season, the Free Press has learned. A freedom of information request filed by the Free Press revealed the only dollars spent on advertising since the election has been a $38,000 radio ad campaign and $1,000 in print ads. As part of its $700,000 budget for the zebra mussel-fighting program, $130,000 was supposed to be allocated for public awareness. MANITOBA CONSERVATION AND WATER STEWARDSHIP A thick coating of Zebra mussels on a sampler (trap) removed from Gimli Harbour last year. The news comes after the government boasted to the Free Press in July its zebra mussel program was a "four-fold increase over what was budgeted in 2015 by the NDP, when $168,000 was set aside to address zebra mussels." Actually, the former Selinger government spent $450,000 in 2015/16 on the program, and a spokesman for the government confirmed almost $100,000 of that went to advertising. Sustainable Development Minister Cathy Cox was quick to point out the year isn't over, meaning the province has until the end of the fiscal year in March to ramp up its public awareness spending. "Obviously there is a period of time next year that we will be able to spend, but we are results focused. So we are looking at increasing communications in different ways," Cox said Wednesday. She boasted that literature is being handed out to people when they come into provincial parks and social media have been used heavily to spread the word. "I think we've done a really good job with the social media. The younger generation doesn't read a lot of print. And I have tweeted on my own site the importance of 'Clean, drain, dry and dispose,'" Cox said, quoting the message being sent to boaters to prevent their spread. "Perhaps there are other options we can look at." The invasive species was first reported in Lake Winnipeg in 2013. It was later found in the Red River in June 2015 and in Cedar Lake the following October. Earlier this month, the Free Press reported an invasion of the molluscs at Island Beach — a cottage development just north of Beaconia Beach. Residents in the area reported thousands were washing up on the shoreline. Zebra mussels are a barnacle-like shellfish that are usually smaller than an 2.5 centimetres in length. Cox admits they were late starting their prevention program, which only began in early July when five decontamination units were placed at key points in Lake Winnipeg and Red River. It was a delay she attributed to her government being sworn in in May following its victory in the April 19 provincial election. "We are going to be out there very early, full tilt (next year). We are going to make sure we are out there when the boats get on the water and people are fishing," Cox said. Biologist Eva Pip from the University of Winnipeg said the war on zebra mussels has already been lost in Manitoba and decontamination efforts are futile. She said the government's efforts should focus on education and awareness. Pip said she was shocked when she visited Lake Winnipeg last month for research and found many people using the lake had no idea what a zebra mussel was or looked like. "We have to be in the schools, we have to have a lot of community advertising, newspapers, more TV exposure, social media," she said. "Even those mobile washing stations, they get only a small fracture. So if we have the public themselves doing the policing, then you multiply the effectiveness of your program. We are beyond the stage where we should be spending the money on eradicating them locally because that is fruitless." Not controlling the spread of zebra mussels into other lakes could cost the province billions, Pip said. The mussels can damage hydro infrastructure, hurt property values and interfere with communities that have drinking water around the Lake Winnipeg basin. "It is a huge domino effect," she said. The provincial government was unable to provide a breakdown of what has been spent so far of the $700,000 budgeted to combat zebra mussels. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the day’s breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every morning. A breakdown given in July explained the lion’s share of the money, about $500,000, was budgeted for decontamination units, while the remaining funds were for public awareness ($130,000), monitoring and research ($30,000) and enforcement ($25,000). A three-page email from government spokesman Kalen Qually noted launch signs have been distributed throughout the regions of the province, staff have been distributing information, 500 posters were given to vendors who sell fishing and other licences, and six print ads were placed, along with public presentations. Rob Altemeyer, the NDP critic for sustainable development, laughed at the idea the government would do any public awareness campaigns this late in the season. He defended his government's $100,000 spent on advertising, arguing it was money well spent. "I don't know how many Manitobans you'd have to survey to find out there isn't a lot of boating happening once winter comes," said the MLA for Wolseley. "The experts I talked to agree that public education is the best tool now that the zebra mussels are here. We have to prevent them from reaching any additional watersheds." Altemeyer's government famously spent $500,000 in 2014 on a failed plan to use potash to sterilize four key harbours — Gimli Harbour, Boundary Creek Marina/Winnipeg Beach Harbour and Balsam Bay Harbour. After the potash mission was initially declared a success, zebra mussels were rediscovered and have since spread. [email protected]

WASHINGTON (AP) — A consumer advocacy group petitioned the government Thursday to pull the birth control patch off the market, calling it far riskier than the pill. “Ortho-Evra is a poor choice for women,” Dr. Sidney Wolfe of the group, Public Citizen, wrote the Food and Drug Administration. Warnings about the Ortho-Evra weekly patch have escalated since a 2005 investigation by The Associated Press found that patch users had higher rates of life-threatening blood clots than did women who took birth control pills. Blood clots are a rare side effect for estrogen-related products. Some studies of the risk suggest that patch users have twice the risk of clots in the legs and lungs as do women who swallow the pill because patients absorb up to 60 percent more estrogen with the patch. The Food and Drug Administration updated the patch’s label in 2005, 2006 and earlier this year with clot warnings. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Demand has dropped, to 2.7 million prescriptions filled in 2007 from the 9.9 million filled in 2004, Dr. Wolfe wrote. But he argued that the patch offered no better contraception in return for the extra risk. And he said lawsuits by women who claim they were harmed by the patch had unearthed two previously unpublished studies from Johnson & Johnson researchers who found higher estrogen exposure from the patch even before it won federal approval in 2001. A spokeswoman for the patch’s maker, Ortho Women’s Health & Urology, a Johnson & Johnson company, said, “Ortho-Evra is a safe and effective hormonal birth control option when used according to its labeling.”

In "American Hustle,", Amy Adams and Jennifer Lawrence play the mistress and the wife, respectively, of a con man played by Christian Bale. That keeps the two actresses apart for much of the film, but they do share one incredible moment together. At a press conference for "American Hustle" in New York on Sunday, Adams opened up about the scene, which finds her in a bathroom with Lawrence's character, and ends with an aggressive kiss. "Well, I feel like Jennifer really made that contribution. I came up with the idea, but she executed it in a way that felt driven purely from character," Adams explained of the kiss, which happens at a key juncture in the film's plot (and is perpetrated by Lawrence's character). It wasn't the kiss itself, however, that had Adams bragging about her steamy on–screen action, but rather the feelings behind the lip-lock. "It didn’t just feel like a moment where two girls are going to kiss onscreen -- it felt emotional," she said. "And the laugh [Lawrence] gives after? That was genius."

Azealia Banks penned a lengthy open Tumblr letter to Sarah Palin on Tuesday, April 5, following the former Alaska governor's threat to sue, and the rapper claimed in her apology note that she is actually a fan of the politico. "Dear Sarah Palin, I hope this message reaches you in good spirits and in good health," the "212" rapper, 24, wrote on Tumblr. "I want to start this letter off by telling you that I actually, really like you. While many other American people may see you as someone to be ridiculed, I truly believe that you possess a certain 'je ne sais quoi,' (a french term which is often interpreted to denote one’s inexplicable charisma.) … There is something very charismatic and misunderstood about you. The misunderstood bit oftentimes reminds me of myself. You’re very passionate about the things you believe in, super determined, and most certainly aware of who you are and where you stand in this world, as a parent, as a politician, but most importantly, as a woman." Banks went on to pinpoint the source of her own outburst: a satirical article that fake-quoted Palin as saying something incredibly offensive. Without grasping the full scope of the situation, Banks had railed against Palin earlier in the day and tweeted some incredibly NSFW and gruesome comments about how Palin should "get headf–ked by a big veiny, ashy, black d–k," while being filmed. Banks added in her now-deleted tweets that she "would never wish a woman to be raped," but figured someone should "'BANG' as in bang some sense into that ho." Palin, who caught wind of the violent remarks, replied to Banks via Facebook on Tuesday: "In this life, you're blessed to have been given an influential platform. So have I. Why don't we strengthen both our platforms and work together on something worthwhile – like condemning racism, along with empowering young women to defend themselves against a most misogynist, degrading, devastating assault perpetrated by evil men – rape." The 2008 GOP vice presidential candidate also threatened to sue Banks for her "dangerous" attack in a statement to People. A contrite Banks publicly apologized to Palin hours later. "Now since learning that the article was not published officially, I sincerely apologize for any emotional distress or reputational scarring i may have caused you," the artist wrote. "In my honest defense, i was completely kidding. I happen to have a really crass, New-York-City sense of humor, and regularly make silly jokes in attempts to make light of situations which make me uncomfortable. As the fabric of the American Nation is EMBEDDED with racism, I merely made a raCIALly driven joke to counter what i believed to be real, raCIST rhetoric." However, Banks took up several issues with Palin's response to her tweets. "I never said you should be raped. I used the term 'run a train,' which is slang for group sex, NOT for 'rape,'" she wrote, adding later: "I am an EXTREMELY intelligent woman, Mrs. Palin. 'Hey Female Rapper,' was your way to euphemize what you REALLY wanted to say. What you wanted to say was, 'Hey little Stereotypical Black, Thing!'" In all, the outspoken rapper wanted to make one point clear. "I cherish my ability to express myself freely, yet remain totally aware that for every action, there will be a reaction. All in All, Woman to Woman, I hope you will accept my sincerest apology." Sign up now for the Us Weekly newsletter to get breaking celebrity news, hot pics and more delivered straight to your inbox! Want stories like these delivered straight to your phone? Download the Us Weekly iPhone app now!

Google’s new In the news box for search results is surfacing some non-traditional “news” sources, including Reddit. Search Engine Land noticed that Reddit links were showing up in Google’s new search results field. Google confirmed that it was populating the field with more than traditional news sources. It told Search Engine Land, “We will be pulling from all over the web which means that we will present as diverse a range of voices as possible to ensure we get users to the answer they are looking for.” Of course Reddit being Reddit, when you currently search for “TSA,” this is what you’ll find in the In the News search result box: Internet news searches just got a little more blue. ➤ Google’s “In The News” Box Now Lists More Than Traditional News Sites [Search Engine Land] Read next: Opera Mini will let you browse the Web on your Samsung Gear S smartwatch

Illustration by Jonathon Rosen The Science of Why We Don’t Believe Science How our brains fool us on climate, creationism, and the vaccine-autism link. Chris Mooney Blocked Unblock Follow Following Jun 18, 2013 By Chris Mooney “A MAN WITH A CONVICTION is a hard man to change. Tell him you disagree and he turns away. Show him facts or figures and he questions your sources. Appeal to logic and he fails to see your point.” So wrote the celebrated Stanford University psychologist Leon Festinger, in a passage that might have been referring to climate change denial—the persistent rejection, on the part of so many Americans today, of what we know about global warming and its human causes. But it was too early for that—this was the 1950s—and Festinger was actually describing a famous case study in psychology. Festinger and several of his colleagues had infiltrated the Seekers, a small Chicago-area cult whose members thought they were communicating with aliens—including one, “Sananda,” who they believed was the astral incarnation of Jesus Christ. The group was led by Dorothy Martin, a Dianetics devotee who transcribed the interstellar messages through automatic writing. Through her, the aliens had given the precise date of an Earth-rending cataclysm: December 21, 1954. Some of Martin’s followers quit their jobs and sold their property, expecting to be rescued by a flying saucer when the continent split asunder and a new sea swallowed much of the United States. The disciples even went so far as to remove brassieres and rip zippers out of their trousers—the metal, they believed, would pose a danger on the spacecraft. Festinger and his team were with the cult when the prophecy failed. First, the “boys upstairs” (as the aliens were sometimes called) did not show up and rescue the Seekers. Then December 21 arrived without incident. It was the moment Festinger had been waiting for: How would people so emotionally invested in a belief system react, now that it had been soundly refuted? At first, the group struggled for an explanation. But then rationalization set in. A new message arrived, announcing that they’d all been spared at the last minute. Festinger summarized the extraterrestrials’ new pronouncement: “The little group, sitting all night long, had spread so much light that God had saved the world from destruction.” Their willingness to believe in the prophecy had saved Earth from the prophecy! From that day forward, the Seekers, previously shy of the press and indifferent toward evangelizing, began to proselytize. “Their sense of urgency was enormous,” wrote Festinger. The devastation of all they had believed had made them even more certain of their beliefs. IN THE ANNALS OF DENIAL, it doesn’t get much more extreme than the Seekers. They lost their jobs, the press mocked them, and there were efforts to keep them away from impressionable young minds. But while Martin’s space cult might lie at the far end of the spectrum of human self-delusion, there’s plenty to go around. And since Festinger’s day, an array of new discoveries in psychology and neuroscience has further demonstrated how our preexisting beliefs, far more than any new facts, can skew our thoughts and even color what we consider our most dispassionate and logical conclusions. This tendency toward so-called “motivated reasoning” helps explain why we find groups so polarized over matters where the evidence is so unequivocal: climate change, vaccines, “death panels,” the birthplace and religion of the president (PDF), and much else. It would seem that expecting people to be convinced by the facts flies in the face of, you know, the facts. The theory of motivated reasoning builds on a key insight of modern neuroscience (PDF): Reasoning is actually suffused with emotion (or what researchers often call “affect”). Not only are the two inseparable, but our positive or negative feelings about people, things, and ideas arise much more rapidly than our conscious thoughts, in a matter of milliseconds—fast enough to detect with an EEG device, but long before we’re aware of it. That shouldn’t be surprising: Evolution required us to react very quickly to stimuli in our environment. It’s a “basic human survival skill,” explains political scientist Arthur Lupia of the University of Michigan. We push threatening information away; we pull friendly information close. We apply fight-or-flight reflexes not only to predators, but to data itself. We apply fight-or-flight reflexes not only to predators, but to data itself. Consider a person who has heard about a scientific discovery that deeply challenges her belief in divine creation—a new hominid, say, that confirms our evolutionary origins. What happens next, explains political scientist Charles Taber of Stony Brook University, is a subconscious negative response to the new information—and that response, in turn, guides the type of memories and associations formed in the conscious mind. “They retrieve thoughts that are consistent with their previous beliefs,” says Taber, “and that will lead them to build an argument and challenge what they’re hearing.” In other words, when we think we’re reasoning, we may instead be rationalizing. Or to use an analogy offered by University of Virginia psychologist Jonathan Haidt: We may think we’re being scientists, but we’re actually being lawyers (PDF). Our “reasoning” is a means to a predetermined end—winning our “case”—and is shot through with biases. They include “confirmation bias,” in which we give greater heed to evidence and arguments that bolster our beliefs, and “disconfirmation bias,” in which we expend disproportionate energy trying to debunk or refute views and arguments that we find uncongenial. That’s a lot of jargon, but we all understand these mechanisms when it comes to interpersonal relationships. If I don’t want to believe that my spouse is being unfaithful, or that my child is a bully, I can go to great lengths to explain away behavior that seems obvious to everybody else—everybody who isn’t too emotionally invested to accept it, anyway. That’s not to suggest that we aren’t also motivated to perceive the world accurately—we are. Or that we never change our minds—we do. It’s just that we have other important goals besides accuracy—including identity affirmation and protecting one’s sense of self—and often those make us highly resistant to changing our beliefs when the facts say we should. Scientific evidence is highly susceptible to misinterpretation. Giving ideologues scientific data that’s relevant to their beliefs is like unleashing them in the motivated-reasoning equivalent of a candy store. MODERN SCIENCE ORIGINATED from an attempt to weed out such subjective lapses—what that great 17th century theorist of the scientific method, Francis Bacon, dubbed the “idols of the mind.” Even if individual researchers are prone to falling in love with their own theories, the broader processes of peer review and institutionalized skepticism are designed to ensure that, eventually, the best ideas prevail. Our individual responses to the conclusions that science reaches, however, are quite another matter. Ironically, in part because researchers employ so much nuance and strive to disclose all remaining sources of uncertainty, scientific evidence is highly susceptible to selective reading and misinterpretation. Giving ideologues or partisans scientific data that’s relevant to their beliefs is like unleashing them in the motivated-reasoning equivalent of a candy store. Sure enough, a large number of psychological studies have shown that people respond to scientific or technical evidence in ways that justify their preexisting beliefs. In a classic 1979 experiment (PDF), pro- and anti-death penalty advocates were exposed to descriptions of two fake scientific studies: one supporting and one undermining the notion that capital punishment deters violent crime and, in particular, murder. They were also shown detailed methodological critiques of the fake studies—and in a scientific sense, neither study was stronger than the other. Yet in each case, advocates more heavily criticized the study whose conclusions disagreed with their own, while describing the study that was more ideologically congenial as more “convincing.” Since then, similar results have been found for how people respond to “evidence” about affirmative action, gun control, the accuracy of gay stereotypes, and much else. Even when study subjects are explicitly instructed to be unbiased and even-handed about the evidence, they often fail. And it’s not just that people twist or selectively read scientific evidence to support their preexisting views. According to research by Yale Law School professor Dan Kahan and his colleagues, people’s deep-seated views about morality, and about the way society should be ordered, strongly predict whom they consider to be a legitimate scientific expert in the first place—and thus where they consider “scientific consensus” to lie on contested issues. In Kahan’s research (PDF), individuals are classified, based on their cultural values, as either “individualists” or “communitarians,” and as either “hierarchical” or “egalitarian” in outlook. (Somewhat oversimplifying, you can think of hierarchical individualists as akin to conservative Republicans, and egalitarian communitarians as liberal Democrats.) In one study, subjects in the different groups were asked to help a close friend determine the risks associated with climate change, sequestering nuclear waste, or concealed carry laws: “The friend tells you that he or she is planning to read a book about the issue but would like to get your opinion on whether the author seems like a knowledgeable and trustworthy expert.” A subject was then presented with the résumé of a fake expert “depicted as a member of the National Academy of Sciences who had earned a Ph.D. in a pertinent field from one elite university and who was now on the faculty of another.” The subject was then shown a book excerpt by that “expert,” in which the risk of the issue at hand was portrayed as high or low, well-founded or speculative. The results were stark: When the scientist’s position stated that global warming is real and human-caused, for instance, only 23 percent of hierarchical individualists agreed the person was a “trustworthy and knowledgeable expert.” Yet 88 percent of egalitarian communitarians accepted the same scientist’s expertise. Similar divides were observed on whether nuclear waste can be safely stored underground and whether letting people carry guns deters crime. (The alliances did not always hold. In another study (PDF), hierarchs and communitarians were in favor of laws that would compel the mentally ill to accept treatment, whereas individualists and egalitarians were opposed.) Head-on attempts to persuade can sometimes trigger a backfire effect, where people not only fail to change their minds when confronted with the facts—they may hold their wrong views more tenaciously than ever. In other words, people rejected the validity of a scientific source because its conclusion contradicted their deeply held views—and thus the relative risks inherent in each scenario. A hierarchal individualist finds it difficult to believe that the things he prizes (commerce, industry, a man’s freedom to possess a gun to defend his family) (PDF) could lead to outcomes deleterious to society. Whereas egalitarian communitarians tend to think that the free market causes harm, that patriarchal families mess up kids, and that people can’t handle their guns. The study subjects weren’t “anti-science”—not in their own minds, anyway. It’s just that “science” was whatever they wanted it to be. “We’ve come to a misadventure, a bad situation where diverse citizens, who rely on diverse systems of cultural certification, are in conflict,” says Kahan. And that undercuts the standard notion that the way to persuade people is via evidence and argument. In fact, head-on attempts to persuade can sometimes trigger a backfire effect, where people not only fail to change their minds when confronted with the facts—they may hold their wrong views more tenaciously than ever. Take, for instance, the question of whether Saddam Hussein possessed hidden weapons of mass destruction just before the US invasion of Iraq in 2003. When political scientists Brendan Nyhan and Jason Reifler showed subjects fake newspaper articles (PDF) in which this was first suggested (in a 2004 quote from President Bush) and then refuted (with the findings of the Bush-commissioned Iraq Survey Group report, which found no evidence of active WMD programs in pre-invasion Iraq), they found that conservatives were more likely than before to believe the claim. (The researchers also tested how liberals responded when shown that Bush did not actually “ban” embryonic stem-cell research. Liberals weren’t particularly amenable to persuasion, either, but no backfire effect was observed.) Another study gives some inkling of what may be going through people’s minds when they resist persuasion. Northwestern University sociologist Monica Prasad and her colleagues wanted to test whether they could dislodge the notion that Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda were secretly collaborating among those most likely to believe it—Republican partisans from highly GOP-friendly counties. So the researchers set up a study (PDF) in which they discussed the topic with some of these Republicans in person. They would cite the findings of the 9/11 Commission, as well as a statement in which George W. Bush himself denied his administration had “said the 9/11 attacks were orchestrated between Saddam and Al Qaeda.” One study showed that not even Bush’s own words could change the minds of Bush voters who believed there was an Iraq-Al Qaeda link. As it turned out, not even Bush’s own words could change the minds of these Bush voters—just 1 of the 49 partisans who originally believed the Iraq-Al Qaeda claim changed his or her mind. Far more common was resisting the correction in a variety of ways, either by coming up with counterarguments or by simply being unmovable: Interviewer: [T]he September 11 Commission found no link between Saddam and 9/11, and this is what President Bush said. Do you have any comments on either of those? Respondent: Well, I bet they say that the Commission didn’t have any proof of it but I guess we still can have our opinions and feel that way even though they say that. The same types of responses are already being documented on divisive topics facing the current administration. Take the “Ground Zero mosque.” Using information from the political myth-busting site FactCheck.org, a team at Ohio State presented subjects (PDF) with a detailed rebuttal to the claim that “Feisal Abdul Rauf, the Imam backing the proposed Islamic cultural center and mosque, is a terrorist-sympathizer.” Yet among those who were aware of the rumor and believed it, fewer than a third changed their minds. A key question—and one that’s difficult to answer—is how “irrational” all this is. On the one hand, it doesn’t make sense to discard an entire belief system, built up over a lifetime, because of some new snippet of information. “It is quite possible to say, ‘I reached this pro-capital-punishment decision based on real information that I arrived at over my life,’” explains Stanford social psychologist Jon Krosnick. Indeed, there’s a sense in which science denial could be considered keenly “rational.” In certain conservative communities, explains Yale’s Kahan, “People who say, ‘I think there’s something to climate change,’ that’s going to mark them out as a certain kind of person, and their life is going to go less well.” This may help explain a curious pattern Nyhan and his colleagues found when they tried to test the fallacy (PDF) that President Obama is a Muslim. When a nonwhite researcher was administering their study, research subjects were amenable to changing their minds about the president’s religion and updating incorrect views. But when only white researchers were present, GOP survey subjects in particular were more likely to believe the Obama Muslim myth than before. The subjects were using “social desirabililty” to tailor their beliefs (or stated beliefs, anyway) to whoever was listening. A predictor of whether you accept the science of global warming? Whether you’re a Republican or a Democrat. Which leads us to the media. When people grow polarized over a body of evidence, or a resolvable matter of fact, the cause may be some form of biased reasoning, but they could also be receiving skewed information to begin with—or a complicated combination of both. In the Ground Zero mosque case, for instance, a follow-up study (PDF) showed that survey respondents who watched Fox News were more likely to believe the Rauf rumor and three related ones—and they believed them more strongly than non-Fox watchers. Okay, so people gravitate toward information that confirms what they believe, and they select sources that deliver it. Same as it ever was, right? Maybe, but the problem is arguably growing more acute, given the way we now consume information—through the Facebook links of friends, or tweets that lack nuance or context, or “narrowcast” and often highly ideological media that have relatively small, like-minded audiences. Those basic human survival skills of ours, says Michigan’s Arthur Lupia, are “not well-adapted to our information age.” IF YOU WANTED TO SHOW how and why fact is ditched in favor of motivated reasoning, you could find no better test case than climate change. After all, it’s an issue where you have highly technical information on one hand and very strong beliefs on the other. And sure enough, one key predictor of whether you accept the science of global warming is whether you’re a Republican or a Democrat. The two groups have been growing more divided in their views about the topic, even as the science becomes more unequivocal. So perhaps it should come as no surprise that more education doesn’t budge Republican views. On the contrary: In a 2008 Pew survey, for instance, only 19 percent of college-educated Republicans agreed that the planet is warming due to human actions, versus 31 percent of non-college educated Republicans. In other words, a higher education correlated with an increased likelihood of denying the science on the issue. Meanwhile, among Democrats and independents, more education correlated with greater acceptance of the science. Other studies have shown a similar effect: Republicans who think they understand the global warming issue best are least concerned about it; and among Republicans and those with higher levels of distrust of science in general, learning more about the issue doesn’t increase one’s concern about it. What’s going on here? Well, according to Charles Taber and Milton Lodge of Stony Brook, one insidious aspect of motivated reasoning is that political sophisticates are prone to be more biased than those who know less about the issues. “People who have a dislike of some policy—for example, abortion—if they’re unsophisticated they can just reject it out of hand,” says Lodge. “But if they’re sophisticated, they can go one step further and start coming up with counterarguments.” These individuals are just as emotionally driven and biased as the rest of us, but they’re able to generate more and better reasons to explain why they’re right—and so their minds become harder to change. That may be why the selectively quoted emails of Climategate were so quickly and easily seized upon by partisans as evidence of scandal. Cherry-picking is precisely the sort of behavior you would expect motivated reasoners to engage in to bolster their views—and whatever you may think about Climategate, the emails were a rich trove of new information upon which to impose one’s ideology. Climategate had a substantial impact on public opinion, according to Anthony Leiserowitz, director of the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication. It contributed to an overall drop in public concern about climate change and a significant loss of trust in scientists. But—as we should expect by now—these declines were concentrated among particular groups of Americans: Republicans, conservatives, and those with “individualistic” values. Liberals and those with “egalitarian” values didn’t lose much trust in climate science or scientists at all. “In some ways, Climategate was like a Rorschach test,” Leiserowitz says, “with different groups interpreting ambiguous facts in very different ways.” Is there a case study of science denial that largely occupies the political left? Yes: the claim that childhood vaccines are causing an epidemic of autism. So is there a case study of science denial that largely occupies the political left? Yes: the claim that childhood vaccines are causing an epidemic of autism. Its most famous proponents are an environmentalist (Robert F. Kennedy Jr.) and numerous Hollywood celebrities (most notably Jenny McCarthy and Jim Carrey). The Huffington Post gives a very large megaphone to denialists. And Seth Mnookin, author of the new book The Panic Virus, notes that if you want to find vaccine deniers, all you need to do is go hang out at Whole Foods. Vaccine denial has all the hallmarks of a belief system that’s not amenable to refutation. Over the past decade, the assertion that childhood vaccines are driving autism rates has been undermined by multiple epidemiological studies—as well as the simple fact that autism rates continue to rise, even though the alleged offending agent in vaccines (a mercury-based preservative called thimerosal) has long since been removed. Yet the true believers persist—critiquing each new study that challenges their views, and even rallying to the defense of vaccine-autism researcher Andrew Wakefield, after his 1998 Lancet paper—which originated the current vaccine scare—was retracted and he subsequently lost his license (PDF) to practice medicine. But then, why should we be surprised? Vaccine deniers created their own partisan media, such as the website Age of Autism, that instantly blast out critiques and counterarguments whenever any new development casts further doubt on anti-vaccine views. It all raises the question: Do left and right differ in any meaningful way when it comes to biases in processing information, or are we all equally susceptible? There are some clear differences. Science denial today is considerably more prominent on the political right—once you survey climate and related environmental issues, anti-evolutionism, attacks on reproductive health science by the Christian right, and stem-cell and biomedical matters. More tellingly, anti-vaccine positions are virtually nonexistent among Democratic officeholders today—whereas anti-climate-science views are becoming monolithic among Republican elected officials. Some researchers have suggested that there are psychological differences between the left and the right that might impact responses to new information—that conservatives are more rigid and authoritarian, and liberals more tolerant of ambiguity. Psychologist John Jost of New York University has further argued that conservatives are “system justifiers”: They engage in motivated reasoning to defend the status quo. We all have blinders in some situations. The question then becomes: What can be done to counteract human nature? This is a contested area, however, because as soon as one tries to psychoanalyze inherent political differences, a battery of counterarguments emerges: What about dogmatic and militant communists? What about how the parties have differed through history? After all, the most canonical case of ideologically driven science denial is probably the rejection of genetics in the Soviet Union, where researchers disagreeing with the anti-Mendelian scientist (and Stalin stooge) Trofim Lysenko were executed, and genetics itself was denounced as a “bourgeois” science and officially banned. The upshot: All we can currently bank on is the fact that we all have blinders in some situations. The question then becomes: What can be done to counteract human nature itself? GIVEN THE POWER OF our prior beliefs to skew how we respond to new information, one thing is becoming clear: If you want someone to accept new evidence, make sure to present it to them in a context that doesn’t trigger a defensive, emotional reaction. This theory is gaining traction in part because of Kahan’s work at Yale. In one study, he and his colleagues packaged the basic science of climate change into fake newspaper articles bearing two very different headlines—”Scientific Panel Recommends Anti-Pollution Solution to Global Warming” and “Scientific Panel Recommends Nuclear Solution to Global Warming”—and then tested how citizens with different values responded. Sure enough, the latter framing made hierarchical individualists much more open to accepting the fact that humans are causing global warming. Kahan infers that the effect occurred because the science had been written into an alternative narrative that appealed to their pro-industry worldview. You can follow the logic to its conclusion: Conservatives are more likely to embrace climate science if it comes to them via a business or religious leader, who can set the issue in the context of different values than those from which environmentalists or scientists often argue. Doing so is, effectively, to signal a détente in what Kahan has called a “culture war of fact.” In other words, paradoxically, you don’t lead with the facts in order to convince. You lead with the values—so as to give the facts a fighting chance. This story first appeared in Mother Jones magazine.

SEATTLE -- In 2012, the co-owner of Club El Reventon in Georgetown sold his share of the club to his partner for only $1 weeks before the club was declared a chronic public nuisance for ongoing brawls, gang conflicts and sexual assaults and then sued by its landlord for nearly $19,000 in unpaid rent, taxes and utilities, according to the Seattle Police Department. That same co-owner moved on to own and manage Citrus in South Lake Union, which was just itself declared a chronic public nuisance for ongoing brawls and shootings and a lack of cooperation with police. Now, Daniel Yarbrough is attempting to take over ownership of the University District's Fusion Ultra Lounge, where he has also spent time as a manager, a tenure the Seattle Police Department states has been plagued with the same problems as Club El Reventon and Citrus before it. In response, the Seattle Police Department has sent two letters to the Washington State Liquor Control Board asking the Board not to grant a new liquor license to Yarbrough. "Yarbrough's current management of Fusion and tumultuous history in nightclub ownership raises significant concerns for the City of Seattle," Assistant Chief Michael Sanford writes in a March 4 letter. "As such, the City of Seattle does not believe that Yarbrough is fit to possess, hold, control o manage a liquor license." According to police, officers have been called to Fusion, located at Northeast 45th Street and Eighth Avenue Northeast more than 30 times in the past year for events ranging from traffic-stopping, 50-person brawls, to shooting, to security staff pulling a gun on a drunk patron. In a Feb. 28 letter to the Liquor Control Board, Community Police Team Officer Loren Street writes things at Fusion are so bad two officers usually spend most of the Friday and Saturday night shift outside the club. And, backup officers are still often called to deal with unruly crowds, Street writes. Sanford agrees in his letter to the Board. "Due to its high call volume and potential for danger, Seattle Police has mandated that four officers and a sergeant monitor Fusion every Friday and Saturday night," he writes. "Additionally, all patrol officers have been instructed to supplement police efforts at closing time. Despite this, issues at the club persist." In addition to being a drain on police resources, one of the biggest concerns laid out in the letters from Sanford and Street is the seeming lack of desire from Yarbrough and his staff to work with police and the community to fix the problems. According to Sanford's letter, before being granted a liquor license for Club El Reventon Yarbrough told the Liquor Control Board his goal was to provide a safe, controllable business and would be open to input from the community. Less than a year later, the club was declared a chronic public nuisance. Street tells the Board he has established a good report with owners and staff at businesses throughout the University District during his time with the Community Police Team. The exception is Yarbrough and Fusion Ultra Lounge. In his letter, Street writes Fusion's owners, manager and staff all have a clear disinterest in forming a relationship with police despite meetings and frequent 911 calls. "This attitude, coupled with an increase in violence and lack of cooperation with police, has made Fusion a dangerous venue," Street writes. Sanford points to two incidents to illustrate that point. According to his letter, instead of waiting to speak with police following a report of shots fired outside the club, Fusion staff closed up and left before officers could talk to them. In addition, security staff was unable to provide details to police following a 30-person brawl inside the club, Sanford writes in his letter. In his application for a new liquor license, Yarbrough plans to change Fusion's name to Library Sports Grill. Despite the name change, police believe it will continue on as a night club. "There is little proof that Library Sports Grill will be different from Fusion in anyway but name," Sanford writes to the Board. Street closes his letter stating his belief that if Yarbrough is allowed to take over ownership of Fusion, the situation at the club will only worsen. The Liquor Control Board is currently reviewing the city's objections to Yarbrough's application. Regardless, it's possible Fusion Ultra Lounge could soon join Citrus and Club El Reventon in Yarbrough's history of chronic public nuisances, according to police.

In an opinion piece for Vice Impact, U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) discusses what he believes America actually needs to become "great": High-quality higher education delivered to citizens for free. What would help is "not spending tens of billions more on weapons systems or providing trillions in tax breaks for the rich," he writes. "It is having a well-educated population that can compete in the global economy, and making it possible that every American, regardless of income, has the opportunity to get the education they need to thrive." However, he writes, "we are moving further and further away from that goal," thanks to the high cost of college. More than 44 million Americans have taken out student loans to pay for school, with their debt totaling $1.4 trillion. The average debt for 20-year-olds is $22,135. For 30-year-olds, it's $34,033. And while wages aren't rising much, the cost of tuition is. That could explain why the number of loan defaults has reached a new high.

All it took was two words. Two simple words from Dick Cheney -- two words we're used to seeing in a completely different context -- settled a question I had been ambivalent about since Barack Obama was elected president last month. The question was, "Should Democrats go after Bush administration officials for the extra-legal activity of the last eight years?" Thanks to Cheney, I think that the Justice Department should investigate the criminal activities of, at the very least, the soon-to-be (but not soon enough) ex-vice president relating to the U.S. practice of torturing prisoners. What were the two words? "I do." ABC News correspondent Jonathan Karl interviewed Cheney on Monday and, at one point, asked him: "[O]ne of those tactics, of course, widely reported was waterboarding. And that seems to be a tactic we no longer use. Even that you think was appropriate?" To which Cheney replied: "I do." Earlier in the interview, Karl asked Cheney, "Did you authorize the tactics that were used against Khalid Sheikh Mohammed?" and Cheney replied: "I was aware of the program, certainly, and involved in helping get the process cleared, as the agency in effect came in and wanted to know what they could and couldn't do. And they talked to me, as well as others, to explain what they wanted to do. And I supported it." (Keith Olbermann pointed out on Countdown last night that Cheney lied when he made that statement, since he and Bush first authorized the tactics used against Mohammed, and then the CIA came back looking for confirmation of the legality of the practices. Olbermann cited the bipartisan senate report on the abuse of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib on this point.) In other words, the sitting vice president of the United States of America went on national television and admitted to millions of viewers that he was a war criminal. Think I'm exaggerating? I'm not. Waterboarding has been established in international law as a form of torture that is unlawful. After World War II, American prosecutors cited waterboarding as a war crime committed by Japanese officers. They used different names, like the "water cure" and "water torture," but the practice was essentially the same. Cheney denies that the U.S. tortured prisoners during the Bush years, but his denial is weak, since he is admitting to putting into place practices that have nearly universally been considered to be torture. Let's be clear what we are talking about here: As Evan Wallach, a judge in the U.S. Court of International Trade who teaches the law of war at Brooklyn Law School and New York Law School, and a former JAG officer, wrote in the Washington Post in November 2007: "The media usually characterize the practice as "simulated drowning." That's incorrect. To be effective, waterboarding is usually real drowning that simulates death." In another article by Wallach, he describes the practice in more detail, using testimony by American military personnel who experienced waterboarding. It is chilling to read, so disturbing that I have chosen not to reproduce the passages here. If you want to read it for yourself, click on the link and do so. Let's just say that the practice is more than just unpleasant; it results in the victim experiencing actual drowning. As angry as I was (and continue to be) about the blatant disregard for the constitution and the rule of law showed by Bush and his administration, I was always hesitant over whether going after them would do more harm than good. When the Democrats won control of Congress in November 2006, there were calls by many on the left for the party to bring impeachment charges against Bush, Cheney and others. Rep. Dennis Kucinich did, in fact, introduce impeachment resolutions against Bush and Cheney, but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi did not allow the resolutions to move forward in the chamber. After living through the ridiculous and baseless impeachment charges brought by the Republicans against Bill Clinton, I am leery of Congress using the impeachment hammer inappropriately. I also felt like such action would turn the truly abhorrent actions of the Bush administration into a political circus, having the effect of giving Bush and his cronies cover for their shocking behavior. "See, the Democrats are trying to score political points." And since, with 49 Republicans in the senate, it was highly unlikely any convictions would be secured, impeachment attempts would have handed Bush and the others exonerations, making it look like they had not committed any wrongful acts. So I opposed bringing impeachment charges against anyone in the Bush administration. But the idea of Obama's Justice Department examining possible criminal charges against them raised different issues. In 2009, when Obama takes over, the country will be facing an array of difficult problems, including the worst economic downturn since World War II and wars in two countries, not to mention potentially explosvie situations in Asia from the Middle East to Pakistan. Remember, all it takes is 41 Republican senators to filibuster and kill any legislation. Addressing these problems will require Obama to gain at least some support from the Republicans. The question becomes: Do we want the new administration fighting the battles of the last president or working full-time on the problems facing the country today? Related to that, do the Democrats want to drive the Republicans into defense mode, leading to obstruction, or is it time to try and forge a more civil relationship so that Obama can get his programs through Congress? But at the same time, I was troubled at the precedent that would be set by allowing government officials to flout the law and not be held responsible for their illegal actions. The message should be sent at all times that nobody is above the law. Say what you want about corruption in Illinois, but no shortage of the state's recent governors have found themselves behind bars (or, possibly, in Rod Blagojevich's case, on his way). Something seemed wrong -- and weak -- to me about letting Bush spend eight years taking actions that struck at the heart of American democracy, and then not holding his administration responsible for its actions. What kind of message would that send? I was torn. And then Dick Cheney uttered those two simple words: "I do." And the scales tipped. Here's the thing: If members of the Bush administration would have at least acted like they might have done something wrong, a truth-and-reconciliation-type Congressional commission like the one currently under consideration could have found out what happened, and we could have learned our lesson and moved on. At least maybe. But if Cheney is going to go on national television and endorse torture, I feel like he has tied the hands of the country. How can we change our image, both to the rest of the world and to our own citizens, if we allow a sitting vice president to confess to supporting a policy of torture and do nothing about it? No, Cheney has tipped the scale. I would hope that he has now forced the hand of Obama's choice for Attorney General, Eric Holder (yes, it will be Holder, the GOP whines about Marc Rich and Elian Gonzalez are acts of pathetic grandstanding that should go nowhere). I think Holder now has to investigate, in some fashion, allegations of criminal activity by members of the Bush administration, at the very least relating to torture. And he should do so, even if Bush pardons some or all of the actors involved.

Two years before the T-Mobile G1 introduced the world to Android, Google presented carriers with the "Google Phone — a device that looked a lot more like the portrait QWERTY Android prototype shown in early 2008. At the time, Google bemoaned that "basic phone user interfaces and the ability to integrate as a 3rd party are still a barrier," telling T-Mobile that Mountain View's expertise combined with the carrier's unlimited data plan would be a win-win. (Of course, six years later, unlimited data plans are an endangered species.) The designs have surfaced in Oracle's case against Google over Java, with Oracle's attorneys pointing out that Java is a frequent mention across the original slide deck: "Leverage Java for its existing base of developers. Build a useful app framework (not J2ME). Support J2ME apps in compatibility mode. Provide an opTMobileized JVM (Dalvik)," one slide reads. Google emphasized even in 2006 that it wasn't trying to undermine carriers — at least, that was the message they were conveying to T-Mobile — pointing out that the phone would run T-Mobile's SIM and would be T-Mobile's bill every month. Google, meanwhile, would provide the hardware and the "integrated services." To quote the deck, "low acquisition cost, high end data customers." Driving customers to high-end data plans has become part and parcel of the smartphone revolution — carriers are always looking for higher average revenue per user (ARPU), a figure commonly cited in quarterly earnings reports. The baseline specs required two soft menu keys, indicating that touchscreens weren't really in the plan at all Exact specs for those first concepts aren't detailed, but Google does spell out what it had in mind for the least common denominator across Android devices. An ARMv9 processor of at least 200MHz, GSM (3G preferred), 64MB of RAM and ROM, miniSD (yes, mini, not micro) external storage, a 2-megapixel camera with a dedicated shutter button, USB support, Bluetooth 1.2, and a QVGA display with at least 16-bit color support — a far cry from today's 720p screens. At that time, touchscreen support wasn't a requirement — in fact, the baseline specs required two soft menu keys, indicating that touchscreens weren't really in the plan at all. Optionally, phones could also include a QWERTY keyboard (as the G1 did), Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR, a "secondary display," Wi-Fi, GPS, and hardware graphics acceleration. Back in 2006, Google had Android working on TI's OMAP850 processor "in three form factors," and functional apps included the dialer, home screen, messaging app, contacts, and an early example of Android's ubiquitous WebKit-based browser; implementations of Google Talk, Gmail, Calendar, MMS, "chat-based SMS" (presumably a threaded messaging app), and POP email were expected for Q3 of that same year. That's a lot of functionality considering that it would be another year and a half before we'd see the first Android prototypes on display. All told, Google expected Android to be certified by carriers between June 1st and August 31st of 2007, at which point it'd be released to manufacturers. Of course, it wasn't until October of 2008 that the G1 hit shelves.

To all BPB readers who produce DnB and dubstep, our friends at BHK Samples are giving away unlimited free copies of their superb BHK Selections sample library until April 11th! Read on to get more info about the product and to claim your free copy in this BPB exclusive freebie offer. We have released some of the best drum and bass samples packs on the market so its our pleasure to bring those of you who never got a taste of these wicked sample packs a chance to fire up a cool selection of some of our best works. BHK Selections features a collection of audio loops and one shot samples which were hand-picked from BHK’s most popular commercial sound libraries for DnB and dubstep producers. The pack contains a set of 409 audio samples in 24-bit WAV format, adding up to 760 MB of royalty free audio material. Normally, you’d pay €29.95 in order to grab a copy this sample collection. For the next 48 hours it can be yours for free, right here on BPB! Contents BHK Selections features a set of royalty free samples and loops which have been selected from the following commercial BHK Samples products: D’n’B Rough Connections Vol.1 D’n’B Rough Connections Vol.2 D’n’B Rough Connections Vol.3 D’n’B Rough Connections Vol.4 Special Edition 1st Drum’n’Bass Special Edition 2nd Drum’n’Bass Special Edition 3rd Dubstep Special Edition 4th Drumstep LEDM DNB BHK Fidget UK Mash Up HEAVY ReFill NI Massive Dubstep Abandon FM8 D’n’B Bass A.R.A.M Essentials vol.1, 2 & 3 Neuro Funk Breaks Premium Drumz Snare 1960 – 63 Adding to the resources listed above, the BHK Selections pack features an additional set of bonus sounds which have been created exclusively for this sample library. Inside the pack, you’ll find breakbeats, shuffles, percussion loops, SFX sounds, bassline loops, atmospheres, reese bass samples, drum samples, processed vocals, etc. Of course, all included samples and loops are 100% royalty free. Once you’ve claimed your free copy of the library, you’ll be able to use these sounds in your commercial releases. Audio Demo Check out the BHK Selections audio demo: https://soundcloud.com/bhksamples/bhk-samples-selections About BHK Samples BHK Samples is a provider of authentic royalty free sound libraries for bass music producers. The company focuses on quality and originality of their products, offering mix ready audio material designed for use in electronic music genres such as DnB, dubstep, garage, techno, grime, and electro. BHK libraries are crafted for the creative heads out there looking for an inspirational source of cutting edge samples. Acclaimed artists like Black Sun Empire, Mindscape, Noisia, Audio UK, have shared positive reviews about the BHK Samples product line. You can take a look at their reviews on the Testimonials page. On a related note, BHK Samples and Neurofunk Grid have recently launched a music production contest with some pretty awesome prizes. The goal is to create a track based on the sample pack which is provided as the source of audio material for the competition. You’ll find more info about the contest in the official announcement. The Giveaway Before getting the coupon code to download your free copy of the BHK Selections sample library, please consider following BPB on one of the social networks listed in the form below. This way you’ll be informed about similar offers in the future (this is our third giveaway in less than a month!) and you’ll also receive instant updates about the latest releases on the freeware scene. To skip this step, click the close button in the upper right corner of the form. THIS OFFER HAS EXPIRED! Once you have the coupon code, visit BHK Samples and use the code to get your free copy of BHK Selections. After adding the product to your shopping cart, enter the code provided above in the Apply Coupon field and update the cart. The price will be reduced to $0 and you’ll be able to proceed to free checkout. The download will be delivered to you via email (make sure you also check your spam folder). Please note that this is a time limited offer which ends exactly 48 hours from now! The coupon code will stop functioning at 12 PM (GMT) on April 11th. Also read: Top 20 Freeware VST Plugins From 2013! A huge thank you goes out to BHK Samples for sponsoring this giveaway and offering their commercial pack as a free download to all BPB readers! You’ll find loads more top of the line sample libraries by these guys in their Shop. Also, thank you guys for reading BPB! Feel free to spread the word about this giveaway and make some great music with your brand new collection of BHK sounds!

The BMP-3 is a Soviet and Russian infantry fighting vehicle, successor to the BMP-1 and BMP-2. The abbreviation BMP stands for Boevaya Mashina Pehoty (Боевая Машина Пехоты, literally "Infantry Combat Vehicle").[3][4][5] Production history [ edit ] The design of the BMP-3 or Obyekt 688M can be traced back to the Obyekt 685 light tank prototype with an 2A48-1 100 mm gun from 1975.[6] The prototype did not enter series production, but the chassis, with a new engine, was used for the next-generation infantry combat vehicle Obyekt 688[7] from A. Blagonravov's design bureau. The Ob. 688's original weapon configuration consisting of an externally mounted Shipunov 2A42 30 mm autocannon, a 7.62mm PKT machine gun and twin Konkurs ATGM launcher was rejected; instead the new 2K23 armament system was selected. The resulting BMP-3 was developed in the early 1980s and entered service with the Soviet Army officially in 1987. It was shown for the first time in public during the 1990 Victory Day parade and was given the NATO code IFV M1990/1.[8] The BMP-3 is designed and produced by the Kurganmashzavod ("Kurgan Machine Building Plant") some variants however are built by the Rubtsovsk Machine Building Plant (RMZ), for example the BRM-3K.[9] In May 2015, the Russian Defense Ministry signed a three-year contract to receive "hundreds" of BMP-3 vehicles to maintain its armored vehicle force until its replacement, the Kurganets-25, completes research and development. In the process of the BMP's serial production, the vehicle's design underwent 1,500 amendments.[10] In the Army-2017 show, the Russian Defence Ministry signed a contract covering the first deliveries of an unspecified number of BMP-3 infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) fitted with the Bumerang-BM turret.[11] Operational history [ edit ] First Chechen War [ edit ] The BMP-3 saw action with the Russian forces during the First Chechen War. Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen [ edit ] The BMP-3 also saw military use with Emirati forces during the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen, where it is currently deployed.[12] Design [ edit ] Weaponry and optics [ edit ] The BMP-3 is one of the most heavily armed infantry combat vehicles in service, original version of BMP-3 has a turret fitted with a low-velocity 2A70 100 mm rifled gun, which can fire conventional shells or 9M117 Bastion ATGMs (AT-10 Stabber). 40 100mm-rounds and 8 ATGMs are carried. A 2A72 30 mm dual feed autocannon with 500 (300 HEI and 200 APT) rounds and a rate of fire of 350 to 400 RPM, and a 7.62mm PKT machine gun with 2,000 rounds, all mounted coaxially in the turret. The main gun elevates from −5° to +60°.[13] There are also two 7.62mm PKT bow machine guns, again with 2,000 rounds each. The BMP-3 is capable of engaging targets out to 5,000–6,000 meters with its ATGM weapon system 9K116-3 "Basnya". With conventional ammunition, such as the HE-Frag shell 3OF32, the 2A70 gun has a range of 4,000 meters. BMP-3 of the UAE with "Namut" thermal sight According to the manufacturer's web-site, all weapons can be fired from the halt, on the move, and afloat with the same effectiveness. The ability to hit targets on the move with missiles was successfully demonstrated during competitive evaluations in the UAE in 1991.[14] The turret is fitted with the 2K23 system, which consists of an autoloader with 22 rounds (the remaining 18 rounds are stored in the hull), a 1V539 ballistic computer, a cross-wind sensor, a 2E52-2 stabilising system, a 1D16-3 laser range finder, a 1K13-2 gunner's sight/guidance device, a PPB-1 gunner's sight and an OU-5-1 IR searchlight. Optional autoloader for ATGM missiles is also available. The commander has a combined optical sight 1PZ-10, a day/night vision device TKN-3MB and an IR searchlight OU-3GA2.[6] Since 2005, the BMP-3 can be fitted with a new fire control system from the "Peleng" Joint Stock Company from Belarus. This consists of a SOZH-M gunner's main sight with an integrated laser range-finder and missile-guidance channel, a Vesna-K targeting system with thermal imaging camera and automatic target tracker AST-B, an armament stabilisation system, a ballistic computer with data input sensors and a PL-1 IR laser projector.[15][16][17] Since 2017, the BMP-3 is fitted with a new fire control system from the "Vologda Optical-Mechanical Plant" from Russia. This consists of a Sodema two-plane stabilized gunner's main sight with an integrated laser range-finder and missile-guidance channel plus a SOZH-M thermal imaging camera.[18] Standard equipment includes five firing ports with associated vision blocks, an R-173 tranceiver, an R-173P receiver, a GO-27 radiation and chemical agent detector, an FVU filtration system, an automatic fire extinguisher and six 902V "Tucha-2" 81 mm smoke grenade launchers. BMP-3M is equipped with Bakhcha-U turret, which has similar weapons to the original BMP-3 turret but with a new dual-channel FLIR gunner's sight, commander's panoramic thermal imaging device, vertical-storage conveyor, new autoloader, and a new sighting system. It also has a stronger armor on the turret, and two-axis stabilisation.[8][4] The turret of the BMP-3 has been fitted to the Patria Armoured Modular Vehicle.[19][20][21] In August 2017, a BMP-3M was presented with a new ATGM remote weapon station fitted on the standard turret carrying two 9M120 Ataka (AT-9 Spiral-2) missiles.[22] In June 2018, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that BMP-3s would be fitted with the AU-220M combat module equipped with a 57 mm cannon. The module can carry 80 rounds and fire 80 rounds per minute including high-explosive, fragmentation, armor-piercing and guided munitions with a maximum range of 14.5 km (9.0 mi).[23][24] Mobility [ edit ] The vehicle has an unconventional layout. The engine is in the back of the vehicle to the right (unlike most other IFVs, which have the engine located forward in the hull). As a result, the driver is seated forward in the hull (in the center) together with two infantrymen (one on each side of the driver). The vehicle has a double bottom and the engine is located under the floor of the vehicle (troops enter/leave the vehicle over the engine).[25] The remaining five infantrymen are seated aft of the two-man turret.[6] Early models were powered by a 450 hp engine UTD-29, but most BMP-3s are now equipped with the 500 hp UTD-29M version. The engine was developed at the Transmash Diesel Engine Plant in Barnaul.[6] The BMP-3 has a range of 600 km, an altitude of operation of up to 3,000 m and it is transportable by train, truck, sea, and air. The BMP-3 engine is a diesel four-stroke, liquid-cooled design. The transmission is a four-speed hydromechanical power unit, with power takeoff to its water jets. The suspension is independent, with a torsion bar and six hydraulic shock absorbers. Steering is by gear differential with hydrostatic drive. The track adjusting mechanism is remotely controlled from the driver's station, with tension force indication. The water-jet propulsion unit is single-stage, axial, auger-type.[26] Countermeasures [ edit ] The hull and turret are made of a high-strength aluminum alloy, with the front of the hull being provided with an extra steel plate welded over it plus spaced armor from the trim vane. The turret is also provided with a thick steel spaced armour shield over its frontal arc. Over the frontal arc, the vehicle is protected against 30 mm gun rounds at a range of 200 m.[27] In addition to "hard" protection, the BMP-3's self-sealing fuel tank is located in front of the driver, directly behind the front armour plating. It is specially constructed to act as armour, effective against shaped charge warheads as well as any auto-cannon shells that managed to go through the front armour. The BMP-3 can create a smoke screen by injecting fuel into the exhaust manifolds.[28][29] A chemical agent detector, an FVU filtration system, an automatic fire extinguisher and six 902V "Tucha-2" 81 mm smoke grenade launchers are standard. At least two distinct sets of explosive reactive armour kit are currently available, giving the BMP-3 protection from less advanced rocket propelled grenades. One of them is the Kaktus ERA kit, which has a unique design that creates minimal acoustic and kinetic backlash to the armour behind it upon detonation, thus ensuring that the occupants will not be harmed by shockwaves from the ERA block. The ERA blocks will completely disintegrate after detonation. According to Kurganmashzavod, the BMP-3 may also be fitted with additional side armor tiles, which can resist .50 caliber armour-piercing ammunition perpendicularly at close ranges. They give the BMP-3 added side protection from autocannon fire as well. The BMP-3 also has the ability to carry a Shtora-1 electro-optical jammer that disrupts semiautomatic command to line of sight (SACLOS) antitank guided missiles, laser rangefinders and target designators. Shtora is a soft-kill, or passive-countermeasure system. Standard weight of the vehicle is 18.7 tonnes. If additional armour overlay (metal sheet of armour and Kaktus ERA) is installed, weight will reach to 22.2 tonnes. The body covered from the sides and the top. In such kit, it is protected against 12.7 mm machine gun rounds in the range of 100–200 m.[27] Variants [ edit ] Russian Federation [ edit ] BMP-3 – Basic version, as described. [30] – Basic version, as described. BMP-3M – KBP and Kurganmashzavod have upgraded the vehicle with a new engines and turret with a new ATGM system 9K116-3 Basnya. The upgraded vehicle is called the BMP-3M and the new turret includes a new automatic fire control system with ballistic computer, new SOZH gunner's sight with laser rangefinder and an ATGM guidance channel, thermal imager, TKN-AI commander's vision device with laser illuminator and new ammunition loading system for ATGM. [31] [32] The BMP-3M is also able to fire various ammunition types, including new 100 mm laser-guided projectiles, new 100 mm HE-FRAG (high explosive fragmentation) rounds and new 30 mm APDS (armour piercing discarding sabot) rounds. Its additional auxiliary armour shields are effective against 12.7 mm armour-piercing rounds from a range of 50 m. Explosive reactive armour is available as an option. The new uprated engine is the UTD-32, which is rated at 660 hp. [33] There are actually several different M models, some fitted with additional armour, "Arena-E" or "Shtora-1" active protection systems, air conditioner etc. [34] – KBP and Kurganmashzavod have upgraded the vehicle with a new engines and turret with a new ATGM system 9K116-3 Basnya. The upgraded vehicle is called the BMP-3M and the new turret includes a new automatic fire control system with ballistic computer, new SOZH gunner's sight with laser rangefinder and an ATGM guidance channel, thermal imager, TKN-AI commander's vision device with laser illuminator and new ammunition loading system for ATGM. The BMP-3M is also able to fire various ammunition types, including new 100 mm laser-guided projectiles, new 100 mm HE-FRAG (high explosive fragmentation) rounds and new 30 mm APDS (armour piercing discarding sabot) rounds. Its additional auxiliary armour shields are effective against 12.7 mm armour-piercing rounds from a range of 50 m. Explosive reactive armour is available as an option. The new uprated engine is the UTD-32, which is rated at 660 hp. There are actually several different M models, some fitted with additional armour, "Arena-E" or "Shtora-1" active protection systems, air conditioner etc. BMP-3M Ataka – BMP-3M version with a two men turret armed with 30 mm 2A72 autocannon, and 9M120-1 Ataka ATGM. [35] – BMP-3M version with a two men turret armed with 30 mm 2A72 autocannon, and 9M120-1 Ataka ATGM. BMMP ( bojevaya mashina morskoj pekhoti ) – Version for naval infantry, fitted with the turret of the BMP-2. ( ) – Version for naval infantry, fitted with the turret of the BMP-2. BMP-3K ( komandnyi ) – Tactical command variant, includes additional radio R-173, an intercom for seven users, an AB-R28 independent portable power unit, a navigation device TNA-4-6 and the "Ainet" air burst round detonation system. The BMP-3K lacks the bow machine guns and has its whip antennas mounted on the rear hull. Crew: 3+3. [36] ( ) – Tactical command variant, includes additional radio R-173, an intercom for seven users, an AB-R28 independent portable power unit, a navigation device TNA-4-6 and the "Ainet" air burst round detonation system. The BMP-3K lacks the bow machine guns and has its whip antennas mounted on the rear hull. Crew: 3+3. BMP-3F – Specially designed for operations at sea, with improved seaworthiness and buoyancy, capability to move afloat at sea state 3 and fire with the required accuracy at sea state 2. Compared to the basic model, the vehicle design features changes increasing floatability and vehicle stability: the self-entrenching equipment is omitted, a lightweight anti-surge vane and an air intake tube are introduced; the BMP-3F turret is also protected by anti-surge vanes. Water jet propellers develop a speed of 10 km/h when afloat. The BMP-3F design allows the vehicle to come ashore under rough sea conditions and to tow the same-type vehicle. A new main sight, the SOZH, which has an integrated laser range finder and an ATGM guidance channel, is installed. This version can endure continuous amphibious operation for seven hours with the running engine. [37] – Specially designed for operations at sea, with improved seaworthiness and buoyancy, capability to move afloat at sea state 3 and fire with the required accuracy at sea state 2. Compared to the basic model, the vehicle design features changes increasing floatability and vehicle stability: the self-entrenching equipment is omitted, a lightweight anti-surge vane and an air intake tube are introduced; the BMP-3F turret is also protected by anti-surge vanes. Water jet propellers develop a speed of 10 km/h when afloat. The BMP-3F design allows the vehicle to come ashore under rough sea conditions and to tow the same-type vehicle. A new main sight, the SOZH, which has an integrated laser range finder and an ATGM guidance channel, is installed. This version can endure continuous amphibious operation for seven hours with the running engine. BT-3F – Amphibious version based on BMP-3F with the original turret replaced by a smaller remote weapon station with either 7.62, 12.7 or 14.5mm machine gun. It can accommodate a crew commander, driver, gunner, and 14 troops, and can use optional ERA armor. [38] [39] – Amphibious version based on BMP-3F with the original turret replaced by a smaller remote weapon station with either 7.62, 12.7 or 14.5mm machine gun. It can accommodate a crew commander, driver, gunner, and 14 troops, and can use optional ERA armor. BRM-3K "Rys" (Ob.501) ( boyevaya razvedivatel'naya mashina ) – Surveillance and reconnaissance variant with 1PN71 thermal sight (3.7x/11x, 3 km range), 1PN61 active-pulse night vision device ( 3 km range), 1RL-133-1 ("TALL MIKE") I-band surveillance radar (3 km man, 12 km vehicle), 1V520 computer and a TNA-4-6 navigation system. The armament consists of the stabilized 30 mm autocannon 2A72 (600 rounds) and a coaxial 7.62 mm machine gun (2,000 rounds) or AU-220M Baikal remote weapon station with 57 mm BM-57 autocannon. [40] [41] Combat weight: 19 t, crew: 6. [42] In 1993 started quantity production of BRM-3K vehicles. [43] [44] ( ) – Surveillance and reconnaissance variant with 1PN71 thermal sight (3.7x/11x, 3 km range), 1PN61 active-pulse night vision device ( 3 km range), 1RL-133-1 ("TALL MIKE") I-band surveillance radar (3 km man, 12 km vehicle), 1V520 computer and a TNA-4-6 navigation system. The armament consists of the stabilized 30 mm autocannon 2A72 (600 rounds) and a coaxial 7.62 mm machine gun (2,000 rounds) or AU-220M Baikal remote weapon station with 57 mm BM-57 autocannon. Combat weight: 19 t, crew: 6. In 1993 started quantity production of BRM-3K vehicles. BMP-3 Dragoon – New IFV version with an unmanned turret which can be armed with a variety of combat modules, including standard BMP-3's Bakhcha-U turret with a 2A70 100 mm cannon, a 2A72 30 mm autocannon and a PKTM 7.62 mm machinegun, the AU-220M Baikal remote weapon station module with a 57 mm BM-57 gun and a module with a 125 mm 2A82-1M tank gun, the new 816 h.p. turbocharged UTD-32T engine and powerplant moved to the front, and a hydraulic ramp fitted to the rear. It is reported that its trials were finished in October 2017.[45][46] BREM-L "Beglianka" of the Russian army BREM-L "Beglianka" (Ob.691) (bronirovannaya remontno-evakuatsionnaya mashina) – Armoured recovery vehicle with five-tonne crane and 20/40 metric tonne capacity winch.[47][48][49] 9P157-2 "Khrizantema-S" – Anti-tank version with Khrizantema (AT-15) system with radar and laser guidance. The 9P157-2 carries two 9M123 missiles on launch rails, which are extended from a stowed position; the radar is also stowed during transit. The missiles are re-loaded automatically from an internal magazine with 15 rounds (missiles are stored and transported in sealed canisters) and can also accept munitions manually loaded from outside the vehicle. The manufacturer claims that three 9P157-2 tank destroyers are able to engage 14 attacking tanks and destroy at least sixty percent of the attacking force. The dual guidance system ensures protection against electronic countermeasures and operation in all climatic conditions, day or night. NBC protection is provided for the crew (gunner and driver) of each 9P157-2 in addition to full armour protection equivalent to the standard BMP-3 chassis and entrenching equipment. [50] The 9M123 missile itself is supersonic, flying at an average speed of 400 m/s (Mach 1.2) and a range of between 400 and 6,000 meters. [51] Entered service in 2005. [52] More than 10 sets of new anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) complexes "Khrizantema-S" on the crawler, which replaced the complexes "Shturm", entered the artillery units of the Southern Military District, based in Ingushetia, in November 2012. [53] Khrizantema vehicles are fielded with artillery units. [54] – Anti-tank version with Khrizantema (AT-15) system with radar and laser guidance. The 9P157-2 carries two 9M123 missiles on launch rails, which are extended from a stowed position; the radar is also stowed during transit. The missiles are re-loaded automatically from an internal magazine with 15 rounds (missiles are stored and transported in sealed canisters) and can also accept munitions manually loaded from outside the vehicle. The manufacturer claims that three 9P157-2 tank destroyers are able to engage 14 attacking tanks and destroy at least sixty percent of the attacking force. The dual guidance system ensures protection against electronic countermeasures and operation in all climatic conditions, day or night. NBC protection is provided for the crew (gunner and driver) of each 9P157-2 in addition to full armour protection equivalent to the standard BMP-3 chassis and entrenching equipment. The 9M123 missile itself is supersonic, flying at an average speed of 400 m/s (Mach 1.2) and a range of between 400 and 6,000 meters. Entered service in 2005. More than 10 sets of new anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) complexes "Khrizantema-S" on the crawler, which replaced the complexes "Shturm", entered the artillery units of the Southern Military District, based in Ingushetia, in November 2012. Khrizantema vehicles are fielded with artillery units. 9P163M-1 "Kornet-T" – Anti-tank version with Kornet (AT-14) missile system. Some sources call it the 9P162 . The Kornet is similar in function to the Khrizantema missile system. The 9P163M-1 carries two 9M133 missiles on launch rails, which are extended from a stowed position during transit. Missiles are re-loaded automatically by the tank destroyer from an internal magazine with 16 rounds (missiles are stored and transported in sealed canisters). [55] Nuclear, biological and chemical protection is provided for the two crew members (gunner and driver) in addition to full armour protection equivalent to the standard BMP-3 chassis. The guidance system of the 9P163M-1 allows two missiles to be fired at once, the missiles operating on different guidance (laser) channels. The first Kornet-T missile carriers were delivered in 2003 to replace the Shturm-S, and the first batch of 20 vehicles entered service in 2012. The Kornet-T is used by motorized units. [56] – Anti-tank version with Kornet (AT-14) missile system. Some sources call it the . The Kornet is similar in function to the Khrizantema missile system. The 9P163M-1 carries two 9M133 missiles on launch rails, which are extended from a stowed position during transit. Missiles are re-loaded automatically by the tank destroyer from an internal magazine with 16 rounds (missiles are stored and transported in sealed canisters). Nuclear, biological and chemical protection is provided for the two crew members (gunner and driver) in addition to full armour protection equivalent to the standard BMP-3 chassis. The guidance system of the 9P163M-1 allows two missiles to be fired at once, the missiles operating on different guidance (laser) channels. The first Kornet-T missile carriers were delivered in 2003 to replace the Shturm-S, and the first batch of 20 vehicles entered service in 2012. The Kornet-T is used by motorized units. 2S18 "Pat-S" (Ob.697) – Self-propelled version of the 152 mm howitzer 2A61 "Pat-B". This was only a prototype, further development led to the 2S31. [57] – Self-propelled version of the 152 mm howitzer 2A61 "Pat-B". This was only a prototype, further development led to the 2S31. DZM "Vostorg-2" ( dorozhno-zemlerojnaya mashina ) – Combat engineer vehicle with a dozerblade and excavating bucket. Prototype. ( ) – Combat engineer vehicle with a dozerblade and excavating bucket. Prototype. UR-07 ( ustanovka razminirovaniya ) – Mine clearing system. The UR-07 might replace the UR-77 "Meteorit". It has the same chassis as the BMP-3 but a bigger steel hull with two launch ramps in the rear. The ramps are used to fire rockets towing hose-type mine-clearing line charges to clear mine fields. [58] ( ) – Mine clearing system. The UR-07 might replace the UR-77 "Meteorit". It has the same chassis as the BMP-3 but a bigger steel hull with two launch ramps in the rear. The ramps are used to fire rockets towing hose-type mine-clearing line charges to clear mine fields. UNSh (Ob.699) ( unifitsirovannyj shassi ) – Basic chassis for specialised variants. [59] ( ) – Basic chassis for specialised variants. KhTM ( khodovoj trenazhor ) – Driver trainer. ( ) – Driver trainer. Hermes or TKB-841 – Air-defence vehicle with high-velocity missiles and radar system. Prototype. [60] or – Air-defence vehicle with high-velocity missiles and radar system. Prototype. 2S25 Sprut-SD – Tank destroyer with 2A75 tank gun based on BMP-3 chassis. – Tank destroyer with 2A75 tank gun based on BMP-3 chassis. 2S25M Sprut-SDM1 – Modernized version of 2S25 Sprut-SD with 2A75M cannon and new fire-control system. [61] – Modernized version of 2S25 Sprut-SD with 2A75M cannon and new fire-control system. 2S31 Vena – Self-propelled mortar carrier equipped with a 120 mm mortar based on BMP-3 chassis. It entered production in 1996 and service in 2010.[62][63][64] 2S38 BMP-3 Derivatsiya-PVO Operators [ edit ] Current operators [ edit ] A row of Emirati BMP-3 armoured vehicles during a parade Potential operators [ edit ] Saudi Arabia – Application for 950. [82] Saudi Arabia – Application for 950. Philippines – The Philippine Marine Corps is also interested for the BMP-3F.[104] Failed bids [ edit ] See also [ edit ]

The Trust for Governors Island (The Trust) has announced its 2014 public season. Visitors to Governors Island will enjoy 30 new acres of extraordinary park that open for the first time. Additionally this season, visitors will enjoy more arts, cultural, recreational and educational programs than ever before. Governors Island opens to the public on Saturday, May 24 and will be open every day through September 28. “We want every New Yorker to feel like they are personally invited to enjoy the 2014 season on Governors Island,” said Leslie Koch, President of The Trust for Governors Island. “Governors Island is the shared place for art and play for the entire City.” The new 30 acres of park that will open for the first time on May 24 is designed by acclaimed landscape architecture firm West 8. The new park includes Liggett Terrace, a sunny, six-acre plaza with seasonal plantings, seating, and public art; Hammock Grove, a sunny ten-acre space that is home to more than 1,500 new trees, play areas and 50 red hammocks; and the Play Lawn, 14 acres for play and relaxation that includes two natural turf ball fields sized for adult softball and Little League baseball. The new park also features site-specific art by artists Mark Handforth and Susan Philipsz. These pieces are a part of Art Commissions GI, the Island’s public art commissioning program. Visitors to the Island will see the next phase of park, the Hills, under construction. Made of recycled fill materials, the Hills will rise 25 to 80 feet above the Island, and the summit of the tallest Hill will provide visitors with a 360-degree panoramic view of the Harbor. The Hills will be complete in 2015. In addition to the new park, the entire Historic District will be open to the public, as will much of the promenade around the Island. The promenade will be open from just south of the new ball fields through the Historic District over to Yankee Pier. The promenade will be closed on the eastern side of the Island south of Yankee Pier to just south of the ball fields due to ongoing construction. Info and image source

Kenya run up a record score against Zimbabwe to reach an all-time high in the World Rugby Rankings on a weekend when Africa’s RWC 2019 qualification process kicked off with a convincing win for Morocco. Kenya produced a superb second-half performance to overpower Zimbabwe 61-15 in Harare and begin their Africa Cup Division 1A campaign in fine style. Leading 24-15 at half-time, the Simbas piled on 37 unanswered points after the break to register their biggest ever win over Zimbabwe and their first in Harare for six years. With 1.35 rating points awarded to Kenya, the Simbas move up two places - above Belgium and Germany - to 24th in the World Rugby Rankings. They are now just over two tenths behind Spain. VIEW THE FULL RANKINGS >> The Simbas were rampant against Zimbabwe and got the scoring underway as early as the fourth minute when Tony Onyango dotted down and Darwin Mukidza added the conversion. Two minutes later, Zimbabwe clawed three points back through the boot of Lenience Tambwera but David Ambunya stretched the Simbas’ lead out to 12-3, touching down after incessant pressure and slick handling from the Kenyan backs. Once again Zimbabwe responded, through Boyd Rouse, but further converted tries from Ambunya and Dennis Muhanji put the Simbas in a commanding position at 24-10. Zimbabwe crossed for an unconverted try just before the interval but they were unable to sustain their challenge in the second half as Kenya cruised to their biggest away win since registering an 80-9 victory over Botswana in August 2003. Mukidza extended the Simbas’ lead with a penalty after the restart and when Tony Owuor scored for Kenya, there was seemingly no way back for the hosts who trailed 32-15 at this point. Muhanji bagged his brace before converted tries from second-half replacement Dan Sikuta and scrum-half Edwin Achayo moved the Simbas past the half-century mark. Further tries from Sikuta and Max Adaka rounded off the result, Kenya's first win in the Zimbabwean capital since a 23-18 triumph over the Sables in July 2010. “We were out for the win, the team smelt victory and got it in the end after a great all round team performance,” said assistant coach Dominique Habimana. This weekend Kenya will take on Namibia in Windhoek. Namibia kicked off their campaign on 2 July with a 40-31 win over Uganda. Zimbabwe fall two places in the rankings to 33rd as a result of their loss, with Switzerland and Moldova the beneficiaries. BIG WIN FOR MOROCCO The road to Japan got underway for African nations on Sunday as the RWC 2019 qualifiers began at the COC Stadium in Casablanca, Morocco. And it was Morocco who took the early initiative in the Africa Cup Division 1C round-robin competition with a convincing 68-3 win over Mauritius. The result did not affect either side's ranking due to the 30-place difference between Morocco, in 56th, and Mauritius in 86th. Nigeria provide the next opposition for Mauritius, at the same venue on Wednesday, before the Division 1C action concludes with Saturday’s decisive game between Morocco and Nigeria. Following the tournament, the winner will be promoted to Division 1B in 2017 and continue to challenge as part of the RWC 2019 qualifiers.

The NHL's ad campaign for this year's playoffs is brilliant in so many ways: First, it's cheap: Recycle some old footage, add a song -- only one surprisingly effective song needed -- and a tagline, and you have an instant tear-jerker for most NHL fans. (Every time I see the Mario Lemieux one, I suddenly get a few allergens in the eyes thanks to where I was and who I was with when that goal happened.) Second, it's ready-made to go viral, and perhaps best of all, it's the inspiration for what will be countless ax-grinding imitations and truly hilarious various parodies. Make no mistake, even if the NHL doesn't endorse videos making fun of Kerry Fraser or poor Patrick Stefan (minus points for not being a playoff event), the fact signature moments from league history are being spread and replicated is good for the NHL. It's educating a new generation of fans on the history that makes this league so damn addictive. History ... "history" ... say, that reminds me. You know what clip absolutely has to be included in this campaign? Of course you do. It's the goal that started the league's only true uninterrupted "dynasty" of the last three decades. It's a goal that helped define a franchise. A goal scored by a player who so embodied that franchise, he has the team's annual fan-vote MVP award named after him. At 7:11 of OT on the afternoon of May 24, 1980, history was made. What if Nystrom didn't beat his man? If you need any more evidence, ask yourself this: With apologies to Uwe Krupp, how many times has a competitive Stanley Cup been won with an overtime goal? And if we really want to get into what-ifs, we could extend the campaign forever: Two years later, the only team in NHL history to win 19 consecutive playoff series would never have accomplished that feat if John Tonelli hadn't tied it up 2-2 (assist: Coliseum ice) with just 2:21 left in regulation in the decisive opening-round Game 5 against the Penguins. Tonelli being Tonelli, he then won it on a Herculean effort in OT after first being hauled down on a breakaway. Without those heroics, the Cup streak stops at a very Penguins- or Oilers-like two in a row. No dynasty. What if Tonelli didn't get up? [Video of each after the jump.] Tonelli Ties it up against the Penguins with 2:21 left in Game 5 Tonelli Wins it in OT This is not just one more Isles fan digging up the increasingly ancient past; no, this is one of the league's greater moments from the past 30 years. It belongs in this playoff ad campaign, and teenage Western Conference fans whose home broadcast teams pan up to all those white, orange and blue banners -- during their lone visit to the Coliseum every other year -- deserve to know why, and how, those banners got there. It's not just Islanders nostalgia; it's part of the league's glorious mystique which, some days, is the best asset it has.

Named after famed race car driver of the 1930s, Louis Chiron, and already being termed as the hypercar of the century, the all-new Bugatti Chiron is already stirring up quite a storm with reports of having the most amazing and out-of-this-world engine and model stats. This marks the end of the reign of Bugatti Veyron – one of the greatest sports cars the world has ever seen. With a W-shape, 16-cylinder quad-turbo engine which will produce a whopping 1,100KW of power and 1500Nm of torque, the Bugatti Chiron is expected to go from 0-62 mph (0 to 100 km/h) in just 2 seconds, with a horsepower ranging near to 1,500 and a top speed of 288 mph (463.4 km/h), making it 20 mph faster than the Veyron Super Sport. This, apart from making the Bugatti Chiron the fastest car in existence, also represents the technical ambition of the former Chairman of the VW Board, Ferdinand Piech. Ferdinand was the man responsible for giving the Bugatti Veyron the go-ahead. The Chiron is also expected to include cylinder deactivation, electronically actuated turbochargers (for non-existent turbo-lag), a combined 16.8L/100km consumption cycle and a speedometer that goes all the way up to 500 km/h. It is expected to make its first appearance at the 2016 Geneva Motor Show.

SHIELD WEEK continues right here on WrestlingDVDNews.com… …and today we’re giving you a first look at the “Destruction of The Shield” WWE DVD in the flesh, with these exclusive pre-release photos of the full artwork. Do you believe in The Shield? Then pre-order your copy before the release date later this month. Get the DVD ($19.99) by clicking here, or the Blu-ray edition ($22.99) here. The new 3-disc WWE DVD set (2-disc Blu-ray set) will include an extended documentary and will compile more than 20 matches from FCW, NXT and WWE, along with new interviews with Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns discussing their time as The Shield. Thanks goes out to WDN reader @JayJayRock206 for these first look photos. For the first time ever, The Destruction of The Shield highlights “The Lunatic Fringe” Dean Ambrose, “The Juggernaut” Roman Reigns and “The Architect” Seth Rollins as they join forces to lay down the law and dish out their own brand of personal justice in WWE. From The Shield’s days as rookies in NXT, to their shocking debut, to the eventual destruction of The Shield, this set covers the entire journey of the most dominant trio in recent memory. With never before seen interviews and hard-hitting match-ups from The Shield’s illustrious run, you will bear witness to what happens when the Hounds of Justice are off their leash! Runtimes Disc 1: 2 hours and 15 minutes. Disc 2: 2 hours and 12 minutes. Disc 3: 2 hours and 58 minutes. (Extra footage will be featured on the Blu-ray edition). – Full Content of WWE “Destruction of The Shield” DVD/Blu-ray…

Why India is Apple’s new love iPhone sales in India grew 56 per cent last year -- at a time when the company saw it's first-ever sales decline globally, in over a decade. Little wonder then that Apple CEO Tim Cook has his eyes set on the country. Apple patents hybrid wired/wireless headphones Technology giant Apple has filed a new patent application for a wireless hybrid headphone system. The Indian government has reportedly rejected smartphone giant Apple 's request to sell refurbished iPhones in India. According to a report in Bloomberg, "The US company's application has been turned down." The report quotes telecommunications ministry officials.Apple had sought permission from the government to import pre-owned iPhones for sale in India. In a written reply to Rajya Sabha telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said, "An application from Apple regarding import of certified pre-owned iPhones for sale in India and manufacturing certified pre-owned iPhones for sale in India has been received in the ministry of environment and forests."The decision is said to have involved several ministries as well as the Prime Minister's Office. Earlier this month, the Department of Electronics and Information Technology had told the environment ministry and the director general of Foreign Trade that it does not support the import of second-hand consumer products as they contribute to electronic waste being dumped in India.A previous application by Apple was also rejected by the environment ministry on grounds that this would add to the local e-waste burden as the phones would be close to end of life. Android smartphone makers in the country too are said to be putting pressure on the government to reject Apple's application. According to them Apple's plan to sell 'used iPhones' in India will negate government's Make in India programme.Mobile and Communications Council of India had written a directly to the government opposing Apple's application. The group's members include the largest phone brands In India like Micromax, Intex and Samsung.Sudhir Hasija, chairman of Karbonn Mobiles , had said, " Make in India could turn into Dump in India."Recently, Apple has also sent an application for approval to the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) for setting up retail outlets in India.For this, a government panel has recommended exempting the iPhone and iPad maker from mandatory local sourcing norms. This would pave the way for the company to open single-bits brand retail stores in the country.As per the foreign direct investment (FDI) norms, the government may relax the mandatory local sourcing norms for entities undertaking single-brand retailing of products having state-of-the-art and cutting edge technology and where local sourcing is not possible.

Crossposted from the Raleigh News & Observer. This week, the Concerned Women for America of NC – a conservative group with a history of anti-Muslim incitement – briefed North Carolina’s legislature on the phantom threat that Islamic laws and customs (commonly referred to as “sharia”) pose to the American legal system. This briefing came on the heels of House Bill 695, a ban on foreign law that was approved by the House last month. Although the ban is packaged as an effort to protect the rights of North Carolinians from all foreign laws, it is fueled by a fringe anti-Muslim movement bent on demonizing the Islamic faith. But HB 695 is more than just an attack on the Muslim community. It will also create a series of damaging, unintended consequences for North Carolinians of all faiths. The foreign law ban before the Senate purports to stop the state’s courts from applying foreign law in family law proceedings if doing so violates constitutional rights. Sounds harmless, right? It’s not. For decades, American courts have applied foreign law so long as it does not violate U.S. public policy. International business disputes end up in our courts all the time. Americans who marry abroad or adopt children overseas rely on our courts to recognize these relationships. Courts follow this rule because it helps Americans – it makes international relationships, both business and personal, easier. The respect that our courts show for foreign law is not a one-sided affair; we want other countries to respect the judgments of our courts as well. In an increasingly interconnected world, the advantages of the current system cannot be overstated. This system has worked well for decades, and supporters of the ban have not pointed to a single case where foreign law has been used to violate the constitutional rights of North Carolinians. But the proposed law would upend this carefully calibrated approach. As detailed in a new study by the Brennan Center for Justice and the Center for American Progress, these types of laws actually go beyond requiring that our courts respect state and federal constitutions (which they are required to do anyway), in ways that are likely to create genuine problems. HB 695 bans North Carolina courts from applying “any component of a [foreign] legal system” that violates U.S. or state constitutional rights. In other words, it tells courts to reject any law or judgment from a country that does not protect rights in the same way we do. This would mean that a North Carolina court faced with a run of the mill case – such as whether to recognize a prenuptial agreement from France – would have to evaluate whether the French legal system complies with the federal and North Carolina constitutions. Courts shouldn’t be concerned with passing judgment on a foreign system as a whole, but rather with deciding the case before them. The issue only gets more complicated when you throw religion into the mix. Take marriages performed in accordance with an individual’s religious beliefs. Should a North Carolina court asked to recognize a Jewish or Muslim marriage pass judgment on the entire faith? Wouldn’t that involve courts in the types of religious matters that we generally require them to avoid? Of course, courts must – and do – consider whether a religious marriage demonstrates certain basic characteristics: for example, whether both husband and wife freely consented to the marriage, and whether the legal documentation is in order. But asking them to do more is opening the door to myriad problems. The law would cast a cloud of uncertainty over the personal lives of North Carolinians who have family relationships overseas. The implications of a court not recognizing a foreign marriage can be enormous: a person could lose lower tax rates, immigration benefits for a foreign spouse and the ability to make life-and-death decisions on behalf of a spouse in medical emergencies. If a divorce is not recognized, a person wouldn’t be able to remarry. Rights to marital assets, alimony and child custody would also be in jeopardy. The effort to ban foreign law is motivated by an imagined threat, but it creates a host of very real problems. That’s why Florida recently rejected an attempt to pass a similar law and the governor of Missouri vetoed one. North Carolina should follow suit and reject this harmful and unnecessary bill. Faiza Patel is co-director of the Liberty and National Security Program at the Brennan Center for Justice. Amos Toh is a Fellow at the Brennan Center for Justice.