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The man accused of plowing into a group of people at the South By Southwest festival has been charged. "A man suspected of drunken driving is charged with capital murder in the deaths of two people at the South by Southwest conference in Austin, Texas." (Via NBC) KCEN reports police attempted to pull over 21-year-old Rashad Owens around 12:30 a.m. Thursday for not having his vehicle's headlights on, but Owens allegedly took off. (Via KCEN) ​"Police say Owens sped up as he drove through the crowd on Red River Street then got out of the car and ran." (Via KHOU) According to KSAT, the police affidavit states Owens admitted to seeing flashing lights in his rearview mirror, but he was scared to pull over because there are warrants out for his arrest and he did not want to go to jail. The Daily Texan reports Owens allegedly injured 23 people and killed two others, 35-year-old Steven Craenmehr and 27-year-old Jamie West. The police affidavit reads, ​"Victims were reported to have been flying everywhere as they were being struck by the Honda." According to KXAN, Owens was allegedly driving under the influence. "Police say Owens took a breath test and blew a .114. The legal limit in Texas is .08." The Austin American-Statesman reports this would not be Owens' first DUI. "Public records show Owens pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor DUI charge in Fairbanks, Alaska, in 2011." According to KVUE, Owens' penalty is not yet clear. "A judge set Owens' bail at $3 million. Even if the the district attorney's office does not pursue the death penalty, he could spend the rest of his life in prison." WFAA says six people are still in the hospital. "Tonight we know Deandre Tatum is still listed in critical (condition) in the ICU. His girlfriend, Kartisha Davis, is listed in good condition." KVUE added there is a long legal process facing Owens due to the large number of victims and witnesses involved in the incident.

I live in Barangay Holy Spirit, Quezon City, adjacent to the Camanava district in Northern Metro Manila. Early morning, Friday, August 18, the Northern Police District was wrapping up their overnight drug sweep of Camanava that yielded 24 deaths, and 36 arrests. That same Friday, at around 1:30 am, I went home later than usual because of a deadline at work as a news researcher/producer. Our street is almost pitch black. The light post has been broken for nearly a year. The feeling of uneasiness is always there every time I go home especially with stories about our neighbors being robbed in front of their houses. I shrugged off the thought because I do not have a choice. My work shift is late; I go home late. That night was unusual. As I was getting off the tricycle, I saw from my periphery, silhouettes of two men carrying one rifle each. Riding a motorcycle, they stopped at the intersection in front of our house. I ignored them since our street is a designated Mabuhay Lane to Regalado Avenue and a lot of vehicles use this as shortcut. With our closed van parked in front of our house, I lost sight of them. I went straight to our gate and rang the doorbell. A few moments after, blinking lights from their motorcycle flashed on me. They were close to our truck. I continued to ring the doorbell, pressing it repeatedly as hard as I can. My mind went blank and next thing I knew, I was running towards the adjacent street near the light post. On that street, another man riding a motorycle passed me by as I slowed down to stop, catching my breath. “Bakit Ka Tumatakbo?” He asked me, “Bakit ka tumatakbo? At bakit takot na takot ka?” (Why are you running, why are you so scared?) I told him that there were men with guns so I ran towards a lighted street. That’s when the armed men approached us. On their t-shirts it said: “NCR POLICE.” The man who asked me why I was running introduced himself to the policemen as a BPSO or Barangay Public Safety Officer. “Sir, BPSO po ako. Nakita ko ‘to tumatakbo.” (Sir, I’m BPSO. I saw this one running) The BPSO left me with the armed cops who demanded that they inspect my bag. I opened my bag, not letting them touch it. While showing them the content, I got my media ID. “Sir, kakauwi ko lang po galing trabaho,” I told them. (Sir I just got home from work.) “Yung bulsa, patingin din.” (Let me see the pocket.) I emptied my pocket to fulfill their demand. The other police asked, “Bakit ka tumakbo?” (Why did you run?) “Sir, marami na po kasing na-hold-up sa street namin sa tapat ng bahay nila. Akala ko po mga holdupper kayo kasi may mga baril po kayo e. Kaya tumakbo po ako,” I explained. (Because people have been held up in this street in front of their houses. I thought you were going to rob me because you had guns. That’s why I ran.) “Bahay ko po ‘yung dino-doorbell ko.” (That’s my house, where I was ringing the doorbell.) “Bahay mo ba ‘yun? Samahan ka na namin.” (Is that your house, we’ll take you there.) We walked towards our house as I called my mom to open the gate for us because there were policemen with me. The cops inquired about my work in media and asked why I didn’t recognize that they were policemen. I stayed silent. I didn’t want to risk raising their temper. But in my head, I was explaining. I was trembling as I went inside the house. I sat at the dining room thinking about what happened. Then it began to hit me hard. “Bigyan Mo ng Baril” On Wednesday, August 16, two days before my encounter, the Caloocan police picked up 17-year-old Kian Delos Santos as he was closing up their small shop in Barangay 17. The police claim he shot at them. But witnesses and CCTV footage from the barangay tell a different story. Kian was supposedly dragged into a dark alley and then given a gun, told to fire it. He was told to run. He did. And that’s when they shot him. See I also ran, in the same week that the police held simultaneous anti-drugs raid that have killed almost 90 since Monday, August 14. Called ‘one-time, big-time’ operations, the raids are criticized as an incentive-laced operations by cops with a quota to reach, emboldened to pull triggers by a President who had vowed to always protect them, no matter what. In a speech last year, President Rodrigo Duterte told the cops: ‘If he has no gun, give him a gun.’ TokHang I do not want to accuse the policemen but the circumstances haunt me. What if the roving policemen were part of the overnight sweep that same morning? What if when they saw me running, they also shot me? I can’t help but think that it was my Media ID that saved me. I almost left it that morning; I even had to go back for it. What if the BPSO did not pass by that street? But why did the barangay officer even leave? I couldn’t stop thinking about the possibility of me being dead, part of the rising death toll in the administration’s ruthless war on drugs. It has made people paranoid. It made me paranoid. I should be safe in front of my house. But when two men with high-powered guns stop in front of your house, behind you, would you feel safe? Would you have stayed there or would you have run like I did? In the wake of 90 deaths this week, people are enraged. Some are starting to be cautious. I have been receiving messages from friends to try to avoid going home late. The lyrics of the song ‘Tatsulok’ is spreading online as a reminder: Totoy makinig ka, wag kang magpa-gabi. Baka mapagkamalan ka’t humandusay diyan sa tabi. (Boy, listen to me, don’t stay out late, you might be mistaken and lie dead on the street.) How can you trust policemen who have created terror in this country? Ironic that they want to stop drugs and curb crime so Filipinos feel safe. But no, Mr. President, I do not feel safe. [Entry 238, The SubSelfie Blog] About the Author: Serafin Gozon is the head researcher, segment, interview and field producer of GMA News TV’s State of the Nation with Jessica Soho. Advertisements

McLaren morale dropped again today with news that frustrated Fernando Alonso has bought himself a Mercedes engine. ‘Mercedes sell customer engines, so Fernando has become a customer,’ explained a source close to the Spanish driver. ‘It’s being delivered tomorrow and then he’ll insist the team fits it to his Mp4-30, even if it makes the engine cover a bit lumpy.’ The installation of a Mercedes engine to Alonso’s McLaren is certain to change the tone of radio messages the former champion relays to his pit wall during the race, moving from ‘there’s a funny noise and everything’s stopped working’ and ‘What do you mean save fuel? If I go any slower I’ll be stopped’ to more upbeat communications such as ‘It’s saying mode 2, could you look in the manual in my bag in the motorhome to see what I do next?’ and ‘There’s a blue light come on with, like, a picture of a desk fan or something, can you run down to the Merc pit and ask them what it might mean’. Meanwhile, beleaguered Jenson Button has yet to follow his team mate in buying a Mercedes engine but is said to be more optimistic about his pace in the next Grand Prix having just picked up some Toyo R888s off eBay.

Louis van Gaal has issued a robust defence of his managerial approach at Manchester United, insisting “I am not a dictator”, after confirming that Wayne Rooney and Michael Carrick raised concerns over morale within the playing squad. Van Gaal, whose team face Liverpool at Old Trafford on Saturday evening, has seen his methods subjected to intense scrutiny this week following revelations of the dressing-room disharmony which prompted Rooney and Carrick, United’s captain and vice-captain, to speak to the manager last month. But in a passionate and detailed response to question marks over his management, Van Gaal claimed that the concerns raised by his players were a positive development, highlighting the trust he feels from the squad. “All the players are communicating with me,” Van Gaal said. “They are coming to my office. Believe me, it is like that, but I am not a dictator, I am a communicator. “Rooney and Carrick came to me and said the dressing room is flat – they told me because they wanted to help me. They try to warn me. “I then went to my dressing room and discussed with my players and we discussed a lot of aspects, but I think I have a superb relationship with my players. “In my career as a manager, I didn’t have so many who come to say something about the atmosphere in the dressing room or the way we train, or something like that. It is very positive that they are coming to you and that they trust you. “But it was Carrick and Rooney and that was alarming for me because they are the captains. That’s why I went to the dressing room.” • De Gea's deal is good for United - but he could still end up at Real While Van Gaal insists that Rooney and Carrick simply expressed concerns over the “flat” dressing room, rather than suggesting discontent with the Dutchman’s training methods, the manager conceded that he has since made changes to his approach and insists he will continue to show flexibility. “The players have to explain why [we should change], and how, and then I’ll listen,” Van Gaal said. “Not only I will listen, also my assistants are listening, and then we discuss it and then I have to change it. But, yes, if you come with strong arguments, I adapt.” Van Gaal was unrepentant, however, on his insistence on several meetings during the week with his players. “I have read there are a lot of meetings, but that’s the philosophy,” he said. “You have to analyse opponents, then you need a meeting to show that. Then you have to make a game plan, then you have to hold a meeting about the game plan. “Then you have to practise, then we have to discuss with the players, on the pitch, how they feel. Then you have to evaluate a performance. Maybe we then have to change – and when they have good arguments, we change.” Despite concerns among some players and supporters over United’s uninspiring style of football, Van Gaal claims that his squad are given an input into how they play. “I have changed the way that I say the game plan to them,” Van Gaal said. “Now, I ask in advance and they can say what they want. Most of the strategy is always the same because they like the way we have done it.” Van Gaal, who insisted he has increased the number of days off for his players due to the off-field demands of playing for the “most commercial club in the world”, believes that the “flat” atmosphere described by Rooney and Carrick was due to the uncertainty of the transfer window and large-scale overhaul of the United squad during his year-long reign. “The whole dressing room has been changed,” Van Gaal said. “Can you imagine when your friend must leave? What are your feelings then? “Friends are going away, and then we have problems with [Victor] Valdés, then we have problems with the transfer of David de Gea, who has a great influence in the dressing room. That is why it was flat. “But I am pleased that they come to say that to me, because I can communicate about that, and then we can change or not change. It’s dependable on the arguments. “When I went to the dressing room, after that the atmosphere was much better and after that we won again. “We have managed the Champions League, which is also not bad I think, and then we have managed the transfer [new contract] of De Gea. “Some players are coming to me to apologise about what has been said in the papers, but the fans are shouting every week ‘Louis van Gaal’s army’. They are very satisfied and the players are satisfied.”

Cuando dos hermanos crecen viendo películas juntos, haciendo comentarios sobre esas mismas películas, analizándolas, desmenuzándolas e incluso imitándolas, terminan casi inevitablemente desarrollando un lenguaje propio. Un idioma que puede llegar a resultar impenetrable para el resto de la humanidad, repleto de unas referencias que sólo ellos entienden y de un sentido del humor indescifrable, de una visión particular del mundo basada en unos cánones construidos desde cero por esos dos hermanos en el oasis de sus infancias. Normalmente, la revelación de esta idiosincrasia queda reservada para las personas allegadas a ellos, salvo que, como en el caso de Ethan y Joel Coen, terminen dedicándose al cine. Es entonces cuando remodelan y atemperan su universo particular, haciéndolo más comprensible, adaptándolo para que otras muchas personas y no solamente ellos dos puedan echar un breve vistazo a su interior. Quizá por ello el trabajo de los hermanos Coen sigue teniendo ese toque levemente surrealista, esos ocasionales momentos de sinsentido propios de dos hermanos que redefinieron la cultura en sus propios términos desde el sofá de su casa. A través de sus películas podemos echar un vistazo a su microcosmos particular, aunque nunca estaremos completamente seguros de entender el 100% de lo que estamos viendo. Basta con contemplar o leer algunas de sus entrevistas: los Coen, cuando se encuentran cómodos ante el entrevistador, hablan intercalando frases el uno en el discurso del otro, dándose continuamente la alternativa para darle vueltas a las referencias comunes y causando la impresión de que comparten una única memoria común de la que ambos se alimentan por sus respectivos cordones umbilicales. Provenientes de una familia con un elevado nivel cultural —los padres de los Coen eran un profesor de economía en la Universidad de Minnessota y una profesora de Bellas Artes—, Joel y Ethan no eran los únicos niños en la casa. De hecho, había también una niña, la hermana mayor, Debbie Coen. Aunque la verdad es que resulta fácil imaginar que Debbie se sintiese con frecuencia desinteresada respecto a las extravagancias de sus dos estrambóticos hermanos pequeños. Es probable que no se sintiese especialmente fascinada por el microcosmos de Joel y Ethan, secuestrados por ese efervescente amor al cine que los hizo rodar sus primeros cortos con una cámara de Super-8, pintando al hijo de unos vecinos como un nativo del África para filmar grandes aventuras situadas supuestamente en el corazón del continente del misterio. Imaginación infantil: el caldo de cultivo de los grandes creadores. Sabemos que esa hermana mayor, Debbie estudió medicina y se mudó a Israel. Todo muy judío, se dirán ustedes en un giro a lo Woody Allen. Ahora Debbie es la doctora Coen; estaría bien preguntarle sobre lo que recuerda de sus dos hermanos. ¿Qué pensará ella sobre sus películas? ¿Verá en esos filmes un reflejo de las extravagancias adolescentes de las que fue testigo tantos años atrás? Porque puede que incluso ella quedase fuera del microcosmos de celuloide de Joel y Ethan, pero aun así debe de tener una perspectiva única, conociendo muchos detalles que a los demás se nos escapan. Ah, y sobre las influencias del judaísmo sobre los dos hermanos poco diremos por ahora, ya que pasaron muchos años antes de que ellos mismos decidieran plasmar la naturaleza de esa influencia en pantalla, con todo el ácido sarcasmo propio de los hijos descreídos hacia la religión de sus ancestros. Todo llegará. Pero mientras podemos decir que nacieron y crecieron en Minneapolis, una de las ciudades más educadas de los Estados Unidos. De hecho, incluso el propio nombre de la ciudad fue ideado por un profesor, aunando un topónimo indio con la terminación griega “polis”: el teatro y la música, desde el jazz a la clásica, tienen gran importancia allí, así como las artes plásticas; no en vano uno de los grandes museos estadounidenses está radicado en la ciudad. Las influencias cinematográficas de los jóvenes Joel y Ethan fueron diversas, pero creciendo como crecieron a finales de los sesenta, desarrollaron una extraña fijación hacia las comedias ligeras de Jerry Lewis, Tony Curtis e incluso las de Doris Day. Muchas de estas películas eran sencillamente infumables, pero los propios Coen recuerdan con cariño el tono surrealista que inevitablemente terminaban adquiriendo en su atropellada ligereza. Un tipo de comedia intrascendente e inofensiva que, sin pretenderlo, a menudo bordea la psicodelia. Muchos de los admiradores del cine de los Coen quizá no soportamos ese tipo de película, pero así es la infancia: una piedra filosofal que convierte la basura en oro, y para aquellos dos niños, tan funestos filmes constituyeron una influencia que daría frutos inesperados. Los niños tienen mejor vista y mejor oído que los adultos, pero además poseen una mirada limpia y desprovista de prejuicios culturales. Para dos chavales de imaginación excitable como lo eran ellos, cualquier material podía servir de inspiración. Hemos de admitirlo casi con dolor, pero sí: hay mucho Jerry Lewis y mucha Doris Day en el cine de los Coen. Triturado, reciclado, incluso irreconocible, pero lo hay. También hay mucho de las sesiones de “cine en casa” de programas televisivos como el Mel Jazz’s Matinee Movie. No, probablemente el nombre de Mel Jazz no les suene demasiado a los lectores, pero los Coen lo consideran una influencia básica, un “precursor” y un “visionario”. En sus ciclos de cine matinal se atrevía a programar casi cualquier cosa, desde el 8 ½ de Federico Fellini hasta películas de serie B como El hijo de Hércules. Todo mezclado, sin distinción: cine europeo de autor y estupidísimos subproductos de acción para un mismo público anhelante de sensaciones nuevas. Además, Jazz rompía la famosa “cuarta pared” del cine, interrumpiendo las películas para decir cosas como “¡Wow! ¡Esta película es realmente salvaje!”, lo cual sólo acentuaba el tono irreal del programa y hacía que los espectadores más perceptivos, como los Coen, se diesen repentinamente cuenta de que estaban viendo cine y empezasen a prestar atención a cómo estaba hecho ese cine, además de a lo que la propia película contaba. Otro de los programas favoritos de los hermanos era el Downtown Chevytown Theater, donde a menudo programaban películas de Tarzán y, lo que es más, desangelados “spin-off” de esa serie de Tarzán protagonizados por el actor que había interpretado a Boy —el amigo del rey de la jungla— en los filmes originales. Más películas de relleno y subproductos decididamente estrambóticos, mezclados con ocasionales perlas de calidad. No resulta extraño, pues, que la cinefilia de los Coen y hasta su propio trabajo estén con frecuencia teñidos de cierta distancia y cinismo autoconsciente respecto al cine mismo. Lógicamente, hay que añadir otros ingredientes al crisol de sus influencias; ingredientes más de peso que expliquen mejor la pericia narrativa de los dos hermanos. No sólo de comedia estúpida y serie B vivieron los Coen: conforme se hacían más mayores, films como El tercer hombre, El largo adiós o El sueño eterno se engarzaron como broches en el conjunto del confuso bagaje de matinés televisadas. Los “thrillers” de argumento oscuro y alto octanaje visual propios del film noir de los cuarenta y cincuenta fueron una de sus principales fuentes de inspiración y se convertirían años más tarde en su gran especialidad como creadores; ningún otro tipo de película la han perfeccionado tanto. El amor al cine termino convirtiéndose en una vocación seria y ambos decidieron intentar dar el salto profesional; primero Joel, más tarde Ethan. El mayor de los dos hermanos, Joel, ingresó en la Universidad de Nueva York para estudiar cine mientras Ethan, tres años más pequeño, se conformaba con estudiar filosofía en Princeton. Pero el hilo de celuloide que los unía no se rompió por ello. Joel había crecido admirando y aprendiendo del cine con su hermano y recurrió a su ayuda cuando hubo de iniciarse profesionalmente en el mundillo. Sus padres, que como decíamos eran gente de alto nivel intelectual pero además con una visión flexible de las cosas —al menos en el campo laboral— no vieron con malos ojos las inclinaciones artísticas de sus hijos, lo cual constituyó un apoyo importante, o al menos una ausencia de obstáculos innecesarios. Esos inicios fueron modestos, pero trabajados. Tras terminar su programa de estudios cinematográficos, Joel Coen ejerció como asistente de montaje, guión o dirección en películas de bajo presupuesto, la mayoría de ellas del género de terror. Así fue como empezó a curtirse en la confección de largometrajes y así fue como conoció a Sam Raimi, un joven cineasta que por entonces andaba metido en la producción de The Evil Dead, su primer film como director. Fue la única película destacable en la que Joel participó duranteaquel periodo de formación, ya que The Evil Dead se convirtió en un inesperado éxito comercial y puso a Sam Raimi en el candelero. Aquello le sirvió a Joel Coen como tarjeta de presentación, ya que podía incluir en su currículum que había trabajado codo a codo con el ahora famoso Raimi, con quien además había trabado amistad. Y el propio Raimi se interesó por el progreso de Joel Coen en la profesión. Por ejemplo, ilustró a Joel sobre la manera de obtener fondos para conseguir rodar su propio debut. Primero, creando una entidad jurídica con el fin de que toda la posible recaudación obtenida tuviese soporte legal —algo que a Joel no se le había pasado por la cabeza— y después recurriendo a Hadassah, la Organización de Mujeres Sionistas de América. Suena muy solemne y oscurantista, pero así fue como Joel Coen obtuvo el presupuesto para su primera película: a través de la organización obtuvo una lista de judíos adinerados que solían aportar donativos a Hadassah. Por consejo de Raimi, Joel y Ethan —rescatado para la causa— rodaron un trailer ficticio de la película que pretendían dirigir. Proyectaron el trailer una y otra vez ante aquellos posibles inversores privados, para convencerlos de que aquella historia merecía ser rodada. Fue una tarea ardua, costosa y casi descorazonadora… pero finalmente consiguieron reunir el dinero. Los hermanos habían escrito un guión llamado Blood Simple (Sangre fácil) pensando de antemano en que debería ser una historia adaptada a un presupuesto muy limitado. Huyeron del género de terror, en el que Reimi acababa de triunfar y donde Joel Coen se había formado, y se acomodaron en uno de sus viejos amores de la adolescencia: el cine negro. Las influencias para aquella película fueron claras y reconocidas por ellos mismos: por ejemplo, el título del film fue extraído de una novela de Dashiel Hammett. Antes del rodaje, los hermanos estuvieron viendo películas cuya atmósfera querían captar en su debut: El tercer hombre de Carol Reed y El conformista de Bernardo Bertolucci estuvieron entre las elegidas, aunque cómo no, los hermanos abrían el abanico de referencias y también citaban a Chuck Jones, el dibujante de Looney Tunes, como otra de las fuentes de inspiración, muy especialmente por sus cortometrajes de Correcaminos y el Coyote. No es una referencia baladí: incluso los críticos terminaron reconociendo el poso de Chuck Jones en el cine de los Coen, sobre todo en algunas de sus siguientes películas. Los Coen admiten escribir sus guiones originales de manera instintiva, sin elaborar grandes esquemas previos, simplemente dejándose arrastrar por la misma historia que van creando. Quizá por ello hay en su cine un esquema que se repite con frecuencia: el de la intriga criminal enrevesada y marcada por un destino aciago, que en ocasiones es producto de embrollos pasionales y otras veces sencillamente consecuencia de la avaricia ciega. También existe cierto grado de desestructuración argumental y un cierto caos controlado en sus argumentos, donde prima más la iconografía y el carácter de los personajes que la perfección de la trama. Esa es la “etiqueta Coen”, bajo la que han creado varias de sus mejores películas. Sangre fácil entra en el supuesto citado del embrollo pasional, porque la película describía un retorcido triángulo amoroso que, como bien anuncia el título, termin aadquiriendo tintes sangrientos. Con medios limitados y con Joel Coen figurando como director —aunque no tardaríamos en averiguar que lo suyo con Ethan era un tándem— la película despertó numerosos elogios entre los críticos más avezados. Llamó mucho la atención en festivales de cine independiente como Sundance e Independent Spirit, en los que se recibió con considerable expectación el interesante primer trabajo de estos novatos que parecían poseer un gran potencial por explotar. Vista hoy, Sangre fácil es un más que prometedor debut, lógicamente todavía lejos de la cúspide creativa de los hermanos, pero donde ya están plantadas muchas de las simientes de su mejor cine. Quizá el gran descubrimiento del film fue la actriz Frances McDormand, quien además de casarse con Joel Coen tras el rodaje, se convirtió en una importante pieza en alguna de sus futuras grandes obras. Su siguiente película, Raising Arizona (Arizona Baby) introdujo otros dos de los tópicos fundamentales del cine de los Coen: la temática del secuestro. Esta vez en tono más ligero y cómico, huyendo de la oscuridad de Sangre fácil. Se acentuaba el recurso de los personajes coloridos como contrapeso cinematográfico al argumento mismo. Los Coen, como decíamos, casi siempre han cuidado mucho los personajes, incluso más allá de lo que han cuidado la sinopsis de sus películas. De algunos de sus mejores films resulta difícil resumir el argumento tras el primer visionado, pero rara vez deja de haber algún personaje memorable: cuando no los hay, sabemos que la película, por lo general, no estará entre sus mejores. Esto incluye algunas de sus costumbres más recurrentes, como la de incluir en los argumentos una pareja de personajes bastante inútiles —por lo general delincuentes— cuya torpeza introduce un elemento de humor descabezado, casi a lo Laurel & Hardy, en sus películas. Raising Arizona, pues, jugaba fuertemente la baza de los personajes. Además de los protagonistas, Nicolas Cage y Holly Hunter, los Coen recurrían por primera vez a uno de sus actores-fetiche: John Goodman. Frecuentemente infravalorado por entonces, quizá por su bagaje en la comedia televisiva o quizá sencillamente por su físico, Goodman es uno de los mejores ejemplos de cómo los Coen se obstinan en demostrar al mundo que saben encontrar un filón de oro y explotarlo. Hoy en día es ya un actor universalmente respetado, y además de a su propio talento, tiene mucho que agradecer a la fe que —justificadamente— los dos hermanos han tenido siempre en él y en su enorme presencia escénica. Pero ya habrá tiempo de hablar más sobre ello. El caso es que Raising Arizona siguió en la senda de despertar elogios y de anticipar un futuro brillante para los dos jóvenes cineastas de Minneapolis. Y lo más importante: fue la primera vez en que colaban una de sus películas entre las cincuenta más taquilleras del año en los EEUU, aunque si bien en la parte baja de la lista. Puede no parecer un éxito rotundo, pero es que los Coen nunca han dado un gran bombazo en taquilla. A nivel de público podríamos calificarlos como cineastas de “éxito modesto”: son bastante conocidos y algunas de sus películas se han convertido incluso en hitos culturales, pero en las salas de cine nunca han llegado a poder competir de tú a tú con los “blockbusters” del momento. A veces obtienen recaudaciones positivas, pero francamente, el gran público nunca se ha matado por llenar las salas en sus largometrajes. De todos modos, los Coen parecen asumir bien ese papel: mientras puedan seguir financiándose las películas que les gustan, han seguido fieles a sí mismos y en muy contadas ocasiones han sucumbido a la tentación de la “comercialidad”. Y cuando lo han hecho, ha sido, sospechamos, más por necesidad que por otra cosa. Lo cual es muy respetable, pero va un poco en contra del tipo de cine característico en ellos: levemente oscuro, levemente irreverente, levemente intelectual. No lo bastante levemente, sin embargo, como para convertirlos en los preferidos del gran público. Con todo, el relativo éxito de Raising Arizona les permitió afrontar su siguiente producción con más medios y una ambición renovada. Optaron por una película de época situada en la era de los gangsters, lo cual se salía bastante de su ámbito presupuestario acostumbrado hasta entonces, ya que los costes de producción se elevaban considerablemente a causa de la ambientación, etc. Con Miller’s Crossing (Muerte entre las flores) los Coen daban una muestra más de su afición a dar giros repentinos en su carrera. Dejaban de lado la comedia que les había supuesto cierto tirón comercial y retornaban a una intriga criminal tratada con la lente del film noir, nuevamente con fuertes influencias de Dashiell Hammett, pero ahora con un mayor esteticismo y unos aires de cierta grandilocuencia hasta entonces inéditos en sus films. Aparecían otras de sus características idiosincrásicas: el preciosismo visual, un hábil uso de la música y la introducción de profusa imaginería simbólica que no siempre tiene necesariamente un sentido (por ejemplo, los sombreros: parecen tener algún significado en el film, aunque los Coen aclararon después que “no significaban nada” y que se trataba de una mera ocurrencia estética). Miller’s Crossing tenía una cinematografía muy cuidada que no escondía el hecho de que se habían encontrado con serios problemas para elaborar el argumento por culpa de su tendencia improvisadora. El resultado fue que mucha gente encontró que la historia de gangsters era confusa o difícil de seguir. Miller’s Crossing era una película visualmente atrayente pero que no sumergía al espectador en su argumento. Con todo, la crítica volvió a elogiar la cinta. Aunque como suele suceder con cualquier fenómeno que empiece a adquirir prestigio en los círculos “de tendencias”, había quien empezaba a tachar el cine de los Coen como de “efectista” o “superficial”, un cine que cuidaba más la apariencia que la sustancia. Una acusación de superficialidad que hubiese tenido algún sentido si su cine no hubiese adquirido profundidad por otra vertiente, la audiovisual, en la que empezaban a dar muestras de estar desarrollando una maestría considerable. También se ponía de manifiesto su sólido criterio para construir un reparto eligiendo acertadamente a actores y actrices con carácter: Gabriel Byrne, Marcia Gay Harden, Albert Finney, Jon Polito… aunque sería John Turturro quien destacaría por encima de todos ellos y terminaría convirtiéndose en otro de los intérpretes favoritos de los hermanos Coen. Miller’s Crossing, sin embargo, era como decíamos una película difícil y fracasó en taquilla. Los Coen, tan norteamericanos ellos, estaban construyéndose sin pretenderlo una imagen de “auteurs” a la europea: directores que complacían a la crítica y a los cinéfilos de morro fino, pero que estaban alejados de los gustos del espectador medio. Muy especialmente en América, el visitante tipo de las salas de cine los consideraba un producto para consumo exclusivo de culturetas e incluso un capricho para cinéfilos “snob”. La combinación entre clasicismo en las formas y el cinismo en el trasfondo de su cine era químicamente difícil de asimilar para la gran audiencia. Cierto es que los Coen se estaban ya cultivando una fiel base de seguidores entre personas con gustos o formación similares a la suya propia, pero era una base numéricamente reducida. Corrían el riesgo de ser condenados con ese sambenito de “veneno para la taquilla”. No terminaban de llegarle al gran público. Tampoco lo intentaban. Su siguiente film, Barton Fink, era todavía más oscuro. Nuevamente con un presupuesto pequeño, ya sin la parafernalia de producción de Muerte entre las flores, su nuevo trabajo también resultaba áspero y poco comercial. La extraña historia giraba en torno a un guionista que se aísla en una habitación de hotel para intentar superar a un bloqueo creativo. Allí conoce al inquilino de la habitación de al lado, quien es totalmente ajeno al arte de escribir pero intenta ayudarle con el guión. Un argumento aparentemente meta-cinematográfico que iba transformándose lentamente en un thriller de connotaciones sórdidas, casi demoníacas. La manera en que la película arrancaba con un argumento casi pedestre y discurría hacia tonos más propios del cine negro, para terminar en un clímax de pesadilla —llegando incluso a presentar algunas imágenes de carácter onírico— encandiló a los críticos. Era un recorrido paralelo al de Psicosis de Alfred Hotchcock, el de la que justamente podría considerarse la más hitchcockiana de las películas de los hermanos. Los dos actores-fetiche de los Coen por entonces, John Turturro y John Goodman, bordaban sus respectivos papeles. Seguía apareciendo simbología sin sentido explícito, como la del papel pintado de las paredes. Casi todo en la película resultaba artísticamente brillante y pocas voces se resistían ya a admitir que los Coen se habían establecido como el futuro del cine. Barton Fink fue la película que les abrió las puertas del respeto unánime de la crítica, a la que no parecía importarle —más bien al contrario— la escasa salida comercial de los Coen. Porque la taquilla seguía dándoles la espalda, aunque el reconocimiento de su talento fuese unánime tanto en la industria como en la crítica. Por ejemplo, con Barton Fink arrasaron en Cannes: Palma de Oro a la mejor película, premio a Joel Coen como mejor director y para John Turturro como mejor intérprete. John Goodman fue nominado al Globo de Oro como mejor actor, aunque no pudo hacerse con el trofeo. La película recibió incluso algunas nominaciones secundarias en los Oscars de las que no ganó ninguna: aquello fue como un guiño condescendiente de la gran industria a aquellos dos hermanos que hacían cine “de autor” pero no dejaban de unos “outsiders” en la cinematografía estadounidense. Qué buenos son los Coen… lástima que la gente no esté interesada en sus películas. Aún así, pese a la modesta recaudación del film, la brillantez de Barton Fink hizo pensar a algunos productores que los Coen podrían explotar comercialmente realizando un producto más ambicioso, más para todos los públicos. Con su creciente prestigio llegaron expectativas renovadas y los Coen cayeron en la tentación de creer estar por encima de donde estaban, de intentar convertir demasiado explícito su mundo particular. Para la siguiente película, The Hudsucker Proxy, contarían con un presupuesto que triplicaba el de Barton Fink y con un reparto más estelar: Tim Robbins, Jennifer Jason Leigh y la colaboración de una leyenda del cine, Paul Newman. Además, por primera vez, iban a disfrutar de una verdadera distribución internacional. Pero la historia a lo Frank Capra que escribieron, sobre un individuo que asciende accidentalmente a la jefatura de una gran empresa para descubrir la soledad que se siente en la cumbre, no convenció ni a la crítica ni al público. La deliberada atmósfera de cuento, muy artificiosa, o los toques oníricos y pseudo-fantásticos, parecían ahora repentinamente forzados y fuera de lugar. Por no hablar del romance introducido con calzador y de las constantes autorreferencias —o referencuias al vacío— que dejaban impertérrito al espectador. La película tenía momentos muy curiosos e incluso memorables, especialmente a nivel visual, pero casi nadie entendió qué habían pretendido los dos hermanos con el film. No funcionaba. El intento de encasquetarle a la audiencia un universo propio al modo de Tim Burton, no tuvo éxito y los espectadores no consiguieron romper la barrera de incredulidad ante lo que estaban viendo. The Hudsucker Proxy fue un sonado fracaso de taquilla en los EEUU y tampoco funcionó especialmente bien como debut en el mercado internacional, donde los Coen se habían puesto de largo con un trabajo que fue bastante publicitado. Pero la película no gustó y el marketing no pudo paliar ese grave defecto. Ni con la modesta recaudación mundial —una suma de exiguas recaudaciones nacionales— pudieron los Coen evitar que The Hudsucker Proxy se convirtiese en un fiasco y perdiese mucho dinero. Nunca recuperaron lo invertido y se vieron nuevamente confinados a presupuestos reducidos. Su intento de hacer “grand cinema” a lo Hollywood había terminado en desastre. Era hora de regresar a las pequeñas películas de sus inicios y ya había quienes empezaban a preguntarse si Joel y Ethan Coen terminarían convertidos en unos juguetes rotos. Pero si los Coen han demostrado una cualidad a lo largo de sus carreras, una que por ejemplo quisiera para sí M. Night Shyamalan, es la de aprender con rapidez a partir de sus errores. Cuando afrontaron su siguiente película habían dado varios pasos atrás en su estatus en la industria y disponían de medios casi ridículos dada su adquirida fama: contaban con solamente la cuarta parte del presupuesto de The Hudsucker Proxy, así que no les quedaba más remedio que optar por un trabajo muchísimo más sencillo. Se olvidaron de aquellos “toques mágicos” que habían resultado fascinantes en Barton Fink pero que se antojaban incomprensibles o incluso ridículos en The Hudsucker Proxy, y retornaron al cine negro, a un thriller oscuro y desnudo de artificios en la línea de su primera película. Pero algo había sucedido en el camino: tras cinco largometrajes, los Coen habían pulido sus talentos y descubrieron que, con un presupuesto reducido y un enfoque realista, eran capaces de seguir creando magia. Ahora la magia estaría no en el argumento sino en el cuidado tratamiento esteticista de panoramas aparentemente convencionales —todos recordamos ese aparcamiento nevado filmado desde arriba, ¡la magia está en la lente!— y en el siempre hábil uso de la música, en ese preciosismo discreto y sin ínfulas que les sirvió para envolver una retorcida historia de secuestros, deudas y sangrientos malentendidos. El resultado, Fargo, es para algunos —yo entre ellos— la obra maestra de los hermanos Coen. Una película redonda que era el reverso luminoso de The Hudsucker Proxy: como dos buenos alumnos, los Coen evitaron todo aquello que no había funcionado en su anterior film y optaron por hacer todo lo contrario. Eso sí, teniendo mucho cuidado de no exagerar con la reacción para no pecar por defecto allá donde ante shabían pecado por exceso. Fargo era, pues, comedida, pero no demasiado. Modesta, pero no demasiado. Sencilla, pero no demasiado. Le sacaron todo el partido a los medios disponibles apostando más por el cómo filmar mágicamente un guión convencional, que por el erróneo “escribamos algo mágico y si lo filmamos seguirá siendo mágico en pantalla”. Dicho de otro modo: dejaron de intentar ser tan mágicos y, como consecuencia, lo fueron más que nunca. Porque Fargo es la perfecta combinación de una historia pedestre y prosaica con un enfoque audiovisualmente poético: ninguna de las dos vertientes domina sobre la otra, porque una prevalece en el contenido y la otra en el continente. Es, a un mismo tiempo, una película sencilla y barroca. Sencilla porque no intentaba artificios extraños y porque evitaba cargar las tintas allá donde no era necesario. Y barroca porque estaba repleta de pequeños detalles, de naderías aparentemente insustanciales cuyo significado o sencillamente cuya fuerza expresiva, uno iba descubriendo en posteriores visionados. Los Coen, además de recurrir a colaboradores cercanos como Frances McDormand —que bordó el papel coprotagonista— o a actores de carácter como Steve Buscemi o Peter Stormare, contaron con un acertadísimo William H. Macy para encarnar al agobiadísimo y chapuceramente manipulador protagonista del film, un vendedor de coches que tras estafar a varios clientes, organiza el secuestro ficticio de su mujer para hacer frente a sus deudas. Fargo no fue un superéxito de taquilla, pero sí se convirtió en su película más recaudadora hasta entonces, lo cual ya era algo remarcable: al menos no volvían a nadar en las turbulentas aguas de los números rojos. Y sobre todo dejó totalmente boquiabiertos a los críticos y a los espactadores cinéfilos más exigentes. Tras el tropezón de The Hudsucker Proxy, los Coen retornaban en su mejor forma y con su mejor película, decididos a sacarle pleno rendimiento a su ajustado presupuesto y a convivir cómodamente con la readquirida condición de cineastas “marginales” dentro de Hollywood. La crítica, pues, se rindió en pleno… aunque la industria seguía resistiéndose aún a considerarlos como el verdadero presente y futuro del cine, ya que no fabricaban dinero a espuertas. El mejor resumen de esta situación: Fargo fue nominada para siete Oscars, de los que ganó solamente dos (al mejor guión y a la mejor actriz para McDormand), porque en la ceremonia fue eclipsada por la “más seria” y desde luego más corporativa El paciente inglés (que ganó nueve Oscars frente a los dos de Fargo). Pero bueno, al menos los Coen pudieron decir que finalmente se llevaban algunas estatuillas y que habían obtenido un reconociento al máximo nivel en su país. Joel Coen ganó además su segunda Palma de Oro como mejor director en Cannes, un festival donde sí se los trataba como a los grandes que para muchos de nosotros ya eran. así pues, cualquier duda y cualquier censura sobre la integridad del talento de los Coen se esfumó definitivamente con aquella maravilla llamada Fargo. Los dos hermanos recordaron al mundo que tenían un lenguaje propio y que, para resultar originales y distintivos no necesitaban artificios ni veleidades fantasiosas. Les quedaba demostrar que, si bien no parecían destinados al triunfo masivo en taquilla, al menos podrían seguir ofreciendo grandes películas y labrarse con letras de oro un lugar en la historia del cine. Estaban dominando el lenguaje clásico de la gran pantalla, estaban un paso más allá que la mayor parte de sus contemporáneos; con Fargo, habían empezado a hacer cine con tal facilidad, que incluso había quienes confundieron esta facilidad con ligereza. Pero en general, al menos a nivel crítico, nya nunca volvieron a ser menospreciados. Podría decirse que con Fargo se resignaron a ser quienes eran y a hacer el tipo de cine que pensaban debían hacer. No es que en lo venidero no intentasen coquetear con un mayor éxito comercial, que lo irían obteniendo progresivamente, pero lo harían con una actitud similar a la de Clint Eastwood en ciertos momentos de su carrera como director: las películas más comerciales deberían servir para financiar obras más personales, difíciles y arriesgadas. Un equilibrio difícil de mantener, desde luego, pero que ellos han ejercido muy conscientes de que la marabunta de las masas no acudirá a ver su cine en tropel con cada estreno y que, sin embargo, la crítica desmenuzará ansiosa y con precisión quirúrgica cada cosa que hagan. Los Coen se deben a su arte mucho más que a la taquilla, ellos lo saben, nosotros lo sabemos, y precisamente por eso les hemos perdonado sus devaneos con la comercialidad. Porque aún se guardaban alguna que otra magna obra en sus bolsillos y porque para algunos de nosotros son los cineastas más importantes, en lo artístico, de su generación. Sí, por qué no, podríamos decir que son básicamente los mejores. Seguiremos hablando de ello en la próxima entrega. Si te ha gustado este artículo ¡Haz un donativo online! 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Why, oh WHY, do those #?@! nutheads use vi? The VI Gang Sign by Jon Beltran de Heredia, May 16th, 2007 Yes, even if you can't believe it, there are a lot fans of the 30-years-old vi editor (or its more recent, just-15-years-old, best clone & great improvement, vim). No, they are not dinosaurs who don't want to catch up with the times - the community of vi users just keeps growing: myself, I only got started 2 years ago (after over 10 years of being a professional programmer). Friends of mine are converting today. Heck, most vi users were not even born when vi was written! Yes, there are definite reasons why the vi/vim editing model is just superior to any other out there. And you don't need to be a Unix whiz to use it, either: vim is available for free for almost any platform out there, and there are plug-ins to get the functionality inside all major IDEs. Let's try to break a few misconceptions, and see some real examples of why it's the killerest: Misconception #1: modal editing The first time you stumble into vi or vim, you are shocked and disgusted that you have to use 'i' to start typing text. Can't remember which of hjkl moves in which direction. And you need to press 'a' if you want to insert after the last character of the line. Since you're already probably used to other editors, and if the arrow keys work in insert mode (they do if the system is configured properly, which is over 90% of the cases), you will stay in insert mode and not go back to normal mode except if absolutely necessary. You'll probably spend 20 minutes with it, and never go back. And also complaining: "How on earth am I going to remember whether I'm in insert or normal mode?" Turns out, this is just a completely wrong way to use vi or vim. Using vi/vim properly, you don't use it modally. You are always in normal mode, and only enter insert mode for short bursts of typing text, after which you press <Esc> to go to normal mode. Thus, the remembering-the-mode problem just doesn't exist: you don't answer the phone in insert mode to get back to vi and not remember where you were. If you are typing text and the phone rings, you exit insert mode and then answer the phone. Or you press <Esc> when you come back. But you never think about insert mode as a mode where you stay. Let me explain the philosophy behind this. Commands in vi/vim are meant to be combined - 'd' means delete, 'e' means 'move to end of word', then 'de' is a complete command that deletes to the end of the current word (something like Ctrl-Shift-Right, Left, Del in most regular editors). One good benefit of this is that the '.' command repeats the last complete, combined editing command (not movement commands). After doing 'dw', '.' will act as a command to delete to the beginning of the next word. You can move around at will with all the powerful navigation commands, and press '.' at will to delete to the next word quickly. This turns out to be incredibly powerful. And now we come to insert commands. These commands enter insert mode and let you type text until you press <Esc>. Ok, in the case of these commands, the full command includes all the text you typed between 'i' (or whatever command you used to enter insert mode, as there are several) and <Esc>. What this means is that if you type 'iHello<Esc>', which enters the text 'Hello' at the cursor's position, what now '.' does is "Type 'Hello' at the cursor's position". All of it. And you can understand that is pretty powerful. But it's better than this. 'A' goes to the end of the current line and enters insert mode there. So, after completing the insert by pressing <Esc>, you can press '.' anywhere to go to the end of the line and do the same thing. One other even more powerful example: let's take the 'ce' command, which is composed of 'c' and 'e'. The 'c'hange command deletes the range specified by the next motion command, and also enters insert mode. It's the same as 'd', but with the distinction that it enters insert mode, instead of staying in normal mode. The boon is that the text you type in the next (short) input session is also part of the command. So if you do 'ceHello<Esc>>', what you do is replace from the cursor to the end of the word by 'Hello', and the '.' command afterwards will work exactly like that: replace up to the end of the word with 'Hello'. Motions (cursor-moving commands) can also get more complex, and there are all sorts of insert-mode-entering commands ('o' to create a new line below, 'O' to enter one above, 'S' to delete to the end of line, etc... all of them entering insert mode afterwards) so you can imagine what type of powerful editing mini-ops you can build and repeat with simple '.'s! Example #1: the wonderful dot command Let's see a concrete example. Say you have declared three new functions in your header file, and you need to implement them in the module. You copy the following text and paste it into your implementation file: All code starts like this, doesn't it? Now you have to remove their semicolons, and adding an empty body would be a good idea. With the cursor as above, you can use 'A' to go straight into insert mode at the end of the line: After 'A' - see the insert mode cursor (vertical line) at the end Now you delete the semicolon with <backspace>: Deleting is simple And type <return> { <return> } <return> to insert the body: Inserting too, as in any other editor And finally, type <Esc> to return to normal mode: And now, quickly!, we return to normal mode And now you have to repeat this with the other two. How do you do it? Easy: first, press 'j' to move the cursor down. And then, press '.' to repeat the last full editing command (the 'A' command with the backspace and the inserted text). If you do 'j.j.', that is, twice, you get the following: Just j.j. to do this! The vi command architecture was key here, together with the fact that <backspace> is as part of the editing sequence as regular typing, and the editing operations being pretty repetitive. But think about it, how much of your daily editing is repetitive? Yeah, I thought so. Misconception #2: it's not all about regular expressions Vi/vim is pretty powerful handling regular expressions. All half-serious editors have regular expression support for searching, replacing, etc, but only vi (that I know) can use them in highly complex ways, such as doing a certain regex search and replace in the second occurrence of 'begin' after lines that contain 'proc', or whatever you think up. So this is not to demean the power of regexes, or the vi/vim regex-using power. But the main power of vi, and the power that you can't live without after you've got used to it, is the power of the basic editing model: One- or two-key motions to move directly anywhere on the line, or on the screen Operators such as 'd' or 'c' that can be combined with any motion to directly modify some text and maybe enter insert mode, and being able to repeat it all as many times as you wish with '.' Anything can be done without moving your hands away from home row! No more suffering when editing on a laptop with a braindead keyboard layout (most of them) Example #2: smart ranges Let's see the following typical example. It's just a function call embedded in a somewhat complex expression: Complex expression and function call As you see, we have the cursor positioned at the start of the call. Now imagine that we want to extract this and assign it to a local variable. The first part is selecting the relevant call, then copying and deleting it to move above, typing the var name, and moving above to type the declaration. In regular editing models, you will play hunt-and-peck with Ctrl-Right and left/right until you get it exactly right. Not with vi or vim. The '%' motion moves from a parenthesis (or similar grouping character) to its matching one - but if you're not positioned at one of these special characters, it will scan character by character to the right, until the first one is found, and then moving to the character matching that one. So, in the above situation, it will move to the right closing parenthesis! Knowing about the 'c' command, which deletes the extents of the next motion (also copying it to the clipboard) and enters insert mode, we can type just 'c%' ("change match") from the above case and we get the following: After just 'c%' ("change match") The relevant call has gone to the clipboard, and we're also ready to type the name of the variable. Not bad for just two keystrokes! After typing the variable name and pressing <Esc> to go back to normal mode, it will look like this: Typing and <Esc> Now in normal mode, you can type 'O' to open a new line above the current one and enter insert mode, and start typing the declaration: Just pressed 'O' and typed the start of the declaration And now, when we have to insert the previous expression, since we have it in the clipboard, we can use Ctrl-R, " to paste it in insert mode (admittedly a bit unintuitive to remember, but it's the key to simple multiple-clipboard support). This will bring in the function call we deleted at the previous point. So Ctrl-R, ", we type a semicolon, and <Esc> to get back to insert mode gest us here: Finished! Misconception #3: you gotta be nuts and/or a genius to use it Well, I hope that with the above explanations and examples, you have already seen some of the power that vi/vim provides. Learning it is tough (see below), but if you're going to be editing code 8 hours or more a day for years, it's the second best investment after learning touch typing (which you already know, right? If not, don't bother with vi, learn that first). A learning curve of weeks make sense for such a lifetime investment. And, at least, you won't have a dumb assistant to annoy you to death. The point is, with vi, your keyboard becomes a huge specialized text-editing gamepad with almost a hundred buttons. Each of them has at least two functions, shifted and unshifted, so you have almost two hundred functions at a single keypress (not counting Shift). Commands are incredibly powerful for text editing, and you can even combine them to obtain the best results. While typing some text, it is a regular keyboard, but when you're back to normal mode you have the best-designed text-editing machine there is, and it shows. Example #3: manipulating delimited blocks One other simple example. This one only works with vim (uses one of vim's specific motions). Say you are inside an angle-bracketed section, as is so common in these days of XML: Life at an XML tag... How do you select the text inside for copying/deleting/modifying it? In regular editors, once again, you have to move your hands off their current, comfortable position, and go for the arrow keys or, even worse, the mouse. Any of those is probably a pain, especially when working on a laptop. How do you do it in vim? You just use one of the text-object motions, which all start with 'i' or 'a' (they can only be used after an operator like 'd' or 'c'). 'i>' refers to "the current 'i'nner angle bracket block", so you can do 'di>' ("delete inner angle-block") to just delete all the contents from the above situation: After typing di> ("delete inner angle-block") You can use '(' or ')' for the current parenthesized block (or even 'b' from 'b'lock), '[' or ']', '{' or '}', 'w' for punctuation-delimited-word, or 'W' for the current space-delimited word, prepending 'i' to any of them for the 'inside' contents, or 'a' to include the delimiting characters too. Misconception #4: hjkl to move around? Many people find it weird to use hjkl instead of arrow keys for moving around. The actual reason for this implementation seems to be that terminals of the time didn't reliably have arrow keys, and that this terminal in particular had hjkl keys doubling as cursor keys. But the side effect is that you don't need to move your hands off the home row to move around, which is great. But in any case, although you will use hjkl to move around at first, once you master vi/vim you probably won't use 'h' and 'l' ('left' and 'right') at all, and you will use 'j' and 'k' sparingly. Why is that? Because there are other, more powerful motions, that will often get you where you want to go much faster. When moving inside a line, I find that there is always a motion to take me straight to where I want to go, so I use those motions: 'f' followed by any other character to find its next occurrence, '%' to use matching parens to go where you want to go, etc... When navigating the file, you have motions to go to the top/middle/bottom of the screen directly, '/' which is effortless to type to search for a string, ']]' and the likes to navigate by functions, etc. Example #4: nice commands Some commands are just so useful that you would miss them if you knew them. 'H', 'M' and 'L' take the cursor directly to the 'H'ighest, 'M'iddle, or 'L'ower line on the screen. 'zt', 'zz' and 'zb' keep the cursor at the current position, but scroll the view so that it falls at the 't'op, 'z' center, or 'b'ottom of the screen. '*' searches forward for the next occurrence of the word under the cursor ('#' does the same backwards, at symmetrical positions so its easier to remember). And there are dozens more... Misconception #5: since you are thinking 90% of the time, and editing 10%, the productivity gain might be there, but it's useless anyway Well, those are exaggerated figures, but this fact is often mentioned against any editing gains being important to development productivity. I'll wager that this is wrong. First thing, in the chances where I really have to think a problem, and there is no need to look at code, I pick my bike and go for a one hour ride. Or a two hour ride. At least if the weather is good. It's much nicer than staying in front of the computer. Also, when I have to analyze some hard problem and design a solution, I often bring out a notebook (a real notebook, made of paper with cardboard covers and bound with a spiral), and a pen, and try to clarify my thoughts there. You can bet that, with a few exceptions, productive work can't be done away from the computer. This is because, most of the time, you have to look at the code to think and design. And this involves navigating the code with an editor. And also, very often, you *are* indeed typing or editing continuously. You maybe just think for 1 minute, but then you spend one other full minute editing the changes you just thought about. And when you are editing, you want to have the best damn tool for the job. Comfortable editing helps you stay in "the zone", the state of concentration that gets you the maximum productivity. As you master a powerful tool such as an editor, it just disappears from your conscious, and you are free to concentrate in the problem, and your editing happens unconsciously. Regular editing makes you hunt-and-peck, use Ctrl-Right, Ctrl-Right, Ctrl-Right, Ctrl-Right, Ctrl-Right to get to where you want to go, it makes you move your hand to your mouse, open a menu, select an option, enter stuff into a dialog and click 'Ok' to accept it. In vi/vim most stuff is a surprisingly small number of keystrokes away, in a direct fashion. Other vi users have also shared this with me, so I know I'm not alone in the feeling: once you start to master vi, there are times in which, after finishing a 30-second-long full-steam editing session, you kind of 'wake-up' to a faint memory of the sound of a continuous stream of keystrokes. It feels like you have been hearing them in the back of your head while you were dicing and slicing lines of text, blocks, motions and modifications. And this during this period of editing, you are feeling a tremendous sensation of power. Example #5: indenting a block Vi and vim know your code has some structure. Many of the commands reflect this. Say 'aB', as described in example #3 above: it selects the current '{' and '}' delimited block, including the braces themselves ('a}' does the same). And let's take it and combine with the '>' operator, a useful operator that indents the region indicated by the next motion. Picture the following code: Improperly indented How often do you encounter such a case? Yes, you can paste with auto-reindent (just ']p' in vim), but often you forget to, or you reach this case not because of pasting the block, but because you added or removed stuff above. You just have to indent it a bit, and you'll be done. In other editors, you move around, you select, you type TAB or the shortcut to auto-indent. Not so with vim, just three keystrokes: '>aB' ("indent a Block") and you get this: We didn't even have to move the cursor! How cool is that? You didn't move or select, you just told it directly what you wanted to do, and it did it. I believe it's this type of "straight" editing that gives you the feeling of power and helps you enter and stay in "the zone". Misconception #6: it's just sticking to a disappearing past Vi has been around for 30 years, and it's still there. Vim, a full-vi-clone which introduces even more improvements than vi has features, has been alive and kicking for 15 years, available for free on almost every single platform on earth. People who love vi have found a way to use it everywhere: there is a plug-in to get vi emulation in Eclipse, a plug-in to get vi emulation in many Mac OS X apps, a plug-in to add vi emulation to IntelliJ IDEA, even Emacs has not one, but several built-in vi emulators (when I end up tinkering lisp code in emacs, I start by trying to use emacs keybindings, and always end up typing "M-x viper-mode"), I develop and sell ViEmu, a family of plug-ins to get vi/vim emulation in Visual Studio, SQL Server, Word and Outlook, Paul Graham still uses it for his lisp and arc hacking, Tim O'Reilly is a confessed vi-er, SlickEdit and Crisp have vi emulation... Of course, the vi/vim community is not a majority: most computer users are not even touch-typists, and vi adds yet another steep learning curve. Those who have seen the light, though, won't go back to other, poorer, editing systems - so vi/vim editing is guaranteed to survive for many years to come. Actually, using vi(m) keybindings is probably the closest you can get to ensure you have it available in any environment you are or will be in the future, from old Unix systems to the latest popular IDE. Example #6: visual nature And as a final example, even if it seems vi is just about cryptic and unreadable commands, we are going to see some of the more visual aspects (actually, they are vim features, rather than vi original ones). One of them: with 'hlsearch' enabled (off by default in vim, but easily enabled with ":set hlsearch"), when you search for a string, all its matches are highlighted on the screen. Say you have the following html code: Some html source If you press '*', the word under the cursor ('div') is searched for. It results in this: Powerful asterisk! As you see, the cursor has moved, and the different occurrences are conveniently highlighted. Let's see some more. We've seen operators like 'd' and 'c' act upon the region given by the next command. Well, if we want visual feedback, we can use visual mode: press 'v', move around while you see the region from the initial point highlighted, and then press the operator directly to see its effect. Search commands work here as well. If you use 'V' instead of 'v', highlighting will be done by lines. Let's press 'V' and then 'k' (up) after the above: After Vk ("visual-lines, up") As you see, the two lines are highlighted as selected. Say we want to select until the closing div tag (the search highlight shows it). Type 'N' (previous match), and we get the following: After 'N' ("previous-match") And now we can do whatever we want, say, the 'gU' operator to make everything upper-case (and return to normal mode): Lovely upper case And now, let's just go for a correct common 'conception' about vi/vim: Correct-conception #1: steep learning curve There is one thing which is a commonly held piece of knowledge, and which is true as well. It is shown on this page to the best effect. It's the fact that learning vi/vim is an activity that will take a long time (weeks to months), and that the first experience is not pleasant. I take it this is the main reason why vi/vim editing isn't, and will never be, a popular thing. You need to invest quite some effort to learn, memorize, and internalize the 30 or so commands that start making you more productive than with other editors. Since they're all arbitrary one-key commands (although all of them have some easy mnemonic to aid in remembering them, and even some form of coherence), this is not an easy task. It's easy to throw in the towel and go back to familiar jedit or pico, ultraedit or textmate, or even emacs. But once the effort to learn it has been made, I know of no one who goes back. And I know dozens of people that have told me that they've been using 'vi' for over 10 years, and that they're accustomed to and expecting even the smallest details. Closing words Do whatever you want. Don't learn it if you feel it's too much effort just for nothing. Learn emacs instead. Or stay in your IDE using a lousy editor. Whatever. But in any case, don't ever claim again that those 'vi guys are nutheads' - I hope that I have succeeded in showing you why they (we) stick to it, and you should at least be able to understand its power, even if you prefer to stay away from it. If you want to research vi/vim editing some more, here are some useful references: And of course: (Special thanks to Ivan Vecerina, Andrey Butov, Jose Gonzalvo, Mark Petrik Sosa, Aitor Garay and Woody Thrower for commenting on early drafts of this article) (All captures taken from Visual Studio with ViEmu, my (commercial) vi emulator, and with codekana, my upcoming product, providing the enhanced syntax highlighting) You can comment the article at my blog

James FitzGibbon was an outstanding soldier and a hero of the War of 1812, but his rise in the military cost him. Born in Ireland in 1780, he was not quite 32 when the War of 1812 was declared. It was not his first war. By 1812 he had already distinguished himself in Isaac Brock’s 49th Regiment in Europe. Brock was his commanding officer, lieutenant colonel of the 49th Regiment. At the time, officers were usually men from wealthy families who “bought” their commissions and promotions. But Brock promoted FitzGibbon because he was intelligent and hard-working – from sergeant major in 1802, to ensign and adjutant in 1806, and lieutenant in 1809. However, as an officer, FitzGibbon had to equip himself, and every promotion led to more expenses. FitzGibbon managed impressive feats as a young officer. After the War of 1812 began, he brought a small fleet of boats from Montreal to Kingston, including through the rapids in full view of the American side of the St. Lawrence River. In the dead of winter, he led 45 sleighs of supplies from Kingston to Niagara. After acting as a company commander at the Battle of Stoney Creek in 1813, FitzGibbon took 50 “chosen men” into action with the mandate to “be employed in advance of the army, and with the authority to act against the enemy as he pleased and on his responsibility solely.” FitzGibbon and his men harassed the U.S. troops so effectively the Americans sent an expedition to take him out of action. Led by Lt.-Col. Charles Boerstler, the Americans camped at Queenston for the night and marched towards Beaver Dams the next morning. Warned of the attack by Laura Secord, FitzGibbon dispatched about 400 First Nations warriors to intercept the Americans. The First Nations warriors, led by Capt. William J. Kerr and Capt. Dominique Ducharme, both Metis, attacked at the beech woods. After three hours of fighting in the bush, FitzGibbon approached the Americans. Taking a page from Brock’s playbook at Detroit, he led the Americans to believe they were vastly outnumbered by his troops and in danger of falling into the warriors’ hands. Boerstler surrendered and 462 Americans were marched away by 50 British and Canadian soldiers. General Edward Baynes praised FitzGibbon for his “most judicious and spirited exploit,” and the press of the day, the Montreal Gazette, cheered “the cool determination and the hardy presence of mind evinced by this highly meritorious officer.” He was promoted to captain in the Glengarry Light Infantry Fencibles, where for the rest of the war he and his men acted as scouts for the army. After he resigned his commission as an officer, he held a number of public service jobs in Canada. But in addition to his officer’s expenses, FitzGibbon frequently lived beyond his means and his debts were mounting. During the 1837 rebellion against William Lyon Mackenzie, FitzGibbon managed to whip a poorly trained rabble into shape to meet – and stop – the rebel menace marching down Yonge Street towards Toronto. In gratitude for “rescuing them from the horrors of a civil war”, Toronto citizens proposed a reward but it never materialized. The Upper Canadian legislature requested a 5,000-acre land grant from the Queen, but it was suggested FitzGibbon instead be given money for his civil and military services. However, it wasn’t until 1845 that the legislature rewarded him with the sum of £1,000, half of what he owed and nowhere near the value of the proposed land grant. FitzGibbon returned to Britain in 1847. He became a knight at Windsor Castle, an honorary position with a pension, and lived there until his death at the age of 83.

Computers keep getting more powerful because silicon transistors keep getting smaller. But that miniaturization can’t continue much further without a change to the transistors’ design, which has remained more or less the same for 40 years. One potential successor to today’s silicon transistors is silicon nanowires, tiny filaments of silicon suspended like the strings of a guitar between electrically conducting pads. But while silicon nanowires are certainly small enough to keep the miniaturization of computer circuitry on track, there’s been doubt about whether they can pass enough electrical current for high-speed computing. At 2008’s International Electron Device Meeting, researchers at MIT’s Microsystems Technology Laboratories demonstrated silicon nanowires with twice the electron mobility — which indicates how easily current can be induced — of their predecessors. Now, the same group has shown that they can build chips in which up to five high-performance nanowires are stacked on top of each other. That would allow nanowire transistors to pass up to five times as much current without taking up any more area on the surface on the chip, a crucial step toward establishing the viability of silicon-nanowire transistors. A transistor is basically a switch: when it’s on, it passes an electrical current, and when it’s off, it doesn’t. Flipping the switch requires charging a part of the transistor called the “gate.” In today’s design, the gate sits on top of the transistor. But if the transistor gets small enough, electricity will leak across it whether the gate is charged or not. Turning the switch off becomes impossible. Because silicon nanowires are suspended in air, the gate can be wrapped all the way around them, like insulation around an electrical wire, which improves control of the switch. But the narrowness of the nanowires limits the amount of current they can pass. Electrical-engineering professor Judy Hoyt and her graduate students Pouya Hashemi and Leonardo Gomez improved the performance of silicon-nanowire transistors by, basically, prying the atoms of the silicon slightly farther apart than they would be naturally, which allows electrons to flow through the wires more freely. Such “strained silicon” has been a standard way to improve the performance of conventional transistors since 2003. But Hoyt was one of the early researchers in the field. “Starting in the early 1990s, she’s really played a pioneering role in strained-silicon technology,” says Tahir Ghani, director of transistor technology and integration for Intel’s Technology and Manufacturing Group. “She did a lot of this pioneering work that for the first time demonstrated that you can have significant performance gains by implementing strain into silicon technology.” Hoyt and her group’s work on strained-silicon nanowires, Ghani says, “combines the two key elements of transistors” — performance and space efficiency — “both of which are very key to scaling in the future. And so from that standpoint, it makes it very relevant for industry.” Handling stress To build their stacked nanowire transistors, the MIT researchers begin with a normal silicon wafer, on which they deposit a silicon-germanium composite. Because germanium atoms are bigger than silicon atoms, the distances between atoms in the silicon-germanium layer are greater than they would be in a layer of pure silicon. When the researchers deposit another layer of silicon on top of the composite, the silicon atoms try to align themselves with the atoms beneath them, so they, too, end up spaced slightly farther apart. This layer of strained silicon is bound to a second silicon wafer, and the other layers are removed, leaving the second wafer covered with a base layer of strained silicon. The researchers then stack alternating layers of silicon-germanium and silicon on top of the base layer, passing its strain on to each successive layer of silicon. Using a technique called electron-beam lithography, the researchers pattern fine lines onto the stacks and then etch away the material between the lines. Finally, they etch away the remaining silicon-germanium, and they’re left with several layers of suspended silicon nanowires. Hoyt and her students have manufactured nanowires with a diameter of only eight nanometers, which they described in a 2009 paper in the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers journal Electron Device Letters; by contrast, the smallest elements of today’s computer chips are 45 nanometers across. Hoyt says that her group can create silicon with two times the strain seen in chips built by commercial vendors. “We increase the germanium fraction of the initial layer, so we therefore build more stress into the silicon,” Hoyt says. Moreover, says Hashemi, “we are the only group in the world that has showed that we can maintain this strain after suspension” — that is, once the underlying layers have been cut away. So far, Hoyt’s group has built nanowire transistors in which charge is carried by moving electrons. But to maximize computational efficiency, a standard computer chip in fact uses two types of transistors. In the other type, charge is carried by so-called holes. A hole is simply the absence of an electron in a crystal of semiconducting material. When an electron slides over to fill the hole, it vacates its own spot in the crystal; another electron slides over to fill that spot; and so on. In this way, the hole in effect moves along the length of the crystal. Increasing the mobility of holes in such transistors requires a different type of strain: the atoms of the crystal actually have to be jammed closer together than is comfortable. So Hoyt’s group is now working to build nanowires from a silicon-germanium composite, where intervening layers of pure silicon cause compression rather than tension.

An Opinion Savvy poll of likely South Carolina voters in next Saturday’s Republican Primary there continues to show Donald Trump leading by a relatively wide margin. The poll of likely voters was conducted February 10-11 by phone and mobile devices. The poll was weighted by age, race, gender, evangelical vote, and region. It has a margin of error of 3.5% and 95% confidence level: The Results: Trump: 36% Cruz: 19% Rubio: 15% Bush: 11% Kasich: 9% Carson: 5% Undecided: 5% Analysis by Matt Towery (Sr.) Political Analyst FOX5 Atlanta/columnist and frequent pollster for Morris Newspapers: “The poll conducted by Opinion Savvy (which is owned and managed by Matt Towery, Jr.) is one of the most detailed surveys I have seen conducted in a South Carolina primary. Looking at the various cross tabulations, it is easy to see why Trump has such a strong lead at this point in the race. Trump carries every age group except for the youngest (18-29) where Rubio nudges Trump out by 7 points. But Trump has comfortable leads among the other age groups in the poll. Trump has the highest support from almost every segment of respondents grouped by political philosophy. Trump leads among those describing themselves as “very conservative,” “somewhat conservative,” “moderate” and “somewhat liberal.” John Kasich leads among the few South Carolina GOP voters who describe themselves as “very liberal.” Nearly 60% of the voters in the GOP primary identify themselves as “evangelical” in the poll. But even among these evangelical voters, Trump leads Cruz by ten points. Of course South Carolina primaries can be very volatile and turnout can greatly impact the final numbers. But it appears Trump has consolidated and expanded upon his lead in South Carolina after New Hampshire in this poll. This is notable given that recent Opinion Savvy surveys of this race in South Carolina have shown Trump in a closer race there than most other surveys. The battle for second place now appears to be wide open. Cruz would seem to have the best opportunity to finish second but both Rubio and Bush are in contention as well. The poll does seem to indicate that Rubio’s post-New Hampshire debate “hangover” may be lifting. Just as in Iowa it would be wise to keep an eye out for last minute rise in his support should he turn in a stronger debate performance this coming week. Finally, we will keep an eye on the well-known negative “push polls,” mailers, and ads for which the South Carolina contest is famous for producing. My guess is that Trump is at his high “water mark” in this survey and that any failure on his part to have a strong ground game or to not respond to the usual tough campaign tactics in South Carolina will result in a tightening of this race.” Full poll and crosstabs can be found HERE

UPDATE (11:30 a.m. Sunday): Head coach Brad Stevens confirmed in his pregame news conference that Jae Crowder would start for the Boston Celtics in Game 4, replacing Marcus Smart. The Boston Celtics have employed the same starting lineup for 21 of their last 23 games, but a shakeup likely is in store for their pivotal Game 4 matchup with the Cleveland Cavaliers. “When the Celtics opened practice to the media on Saturday, players were stretching to end the session,” ESPN.com’s Chris Forsberg wrote. “Among those in the green practice shirts that typically denote starters were Evan Turner, Avery Bradley, Jae Crowder, Jonas Jerebko, and Tyler Zeller. Marcus Smart and Brandon Bass, who started the first three games of the series, were wearing reserve white.” Though head coach Brad Stevens would not confirm any lineup changes, Crowder reportedly confirmed to media members that he was planning to start. “We’re just trying to come hit first,” Crowder said, via ESPN.com. The Turner-Bradley-Crowder-Jerebko-Zeller lineup was Boston’s most effective Thursday in Game 3, recording a collective plus-10 rating in 15 minutes together. Stevens sent out those five — with Crowder and Jerebko replacing Smart and Bass — to begin the second half in the Celtics’ eventual 103-95 loss. The Celtics must find some sort of a spark Sunday in Game 4, as another loss would put an end to their season. The Cavaliers won Games 1 and 2 of the first-round playoff series in Cleveland before taking Game 3 at TD Garden. “I’m excited for everyone (Sunday),” Bradley told reporters. “I think our lineup is different (for Game 4), and I know that we’re just going to go out there and play as hard as we can and play well.” Forward Jared Sullinger reportedly sat out Saturday’s practice with a bruised tailbone suffered during Thursday’s loss. He is listed as probable for Game 4. Thumbnail photo David Richard/USA TODAY Sports Images

yellow truck The truck is the same conspicuous yellow that it was when it went missing. (Courtesy Kalamazoo County Sheriff's Office) (Courtesy KCSO) KALAMAZOO COUNTY, MI -- Two men were arrested Wednesday morning at the Barton Lake Public Access near the intersection of XY Avenue and Portage Road, and a truck they are accused of stealing was recovered from that spot. The men, 27 and 28 years old, are lodged in county jails in Kalamazoo and Van Buren County, facing a laundry list of changes that include receiving and concealing stolen property, retail fraud, possession of narcotics, and outstanding warrants, according to a news release from the Kalamazoo County Sheriff's Office. Detective Sgt. Jim VanZile from the Kalamazoo County Sheriff's Office said that when authorities caught up with the men, the extended-cab Dodge Ram pickup truck was still the conspicuous bright yellow color it had been when it disappeared from the Otsego home of its owner. "They had changed the tires and rims" to attempt to disguise the truck, VanZile said. "We expected it to be in a million pieces, or bright purple." The sheriff's office and the Michigan State Police SCAR unit received information concerning the stolen Otsego truck and the suspects were believed to be connected to various stolen vehicles and thefts from Kalamazoo County, Portage, Otsego, and other jurisdictions as far north as Cadillac. Several stolen vehicles had been previously recovered in Kalamazoo County as well as Allegan County. Rosemary Parker is a reporter for MLive. Contact her at rparker3@mlive.com.

Who doesn’t love ice cream? It’s sweet, delicious and refreshing. Frozen yet creamy. It’s no wonder that Americans consume more than 20 litres (about 42 pints) each a year(!). I love ice cream. I’m the kind of person that would eat ice cream at any time, no matter the weather. You could dunk me into a frozen lake and then ask me if I’d like some ice cream and I’d probably say yes. If I have to die of hypothermia, I might as well do it while eating ice cream. But what is ice cream? What is it made of? And who invented it? A short history of ice cream Iced drinks and myths We’re not entirely sure how ice cream was invented or by whom. The earliest evidence of iced food is from a couple of thousand years ago: the Persians used to eat grape juice mixed with ice. The ice was stored in specially built cooling evaporators the size of a small building called yakhchals. The Romans also enjoyed mixing fruit juices with ice taken from the mountains. But, to get from the precursors of the modern granita (or other iced drinks, like the frappuccino) to proper ice cream took more than a thousand years. There are several myths on the origin of ice cream. Some say that Marco Polo witnessed ice creams being made on one of his trips to China and then introduced them to Italy. A version of this myth involves the Mongol riders taking provisions of cream in animal-skin satchels. During the winter, in the sub-freezing temperatures of the steppe, the galloping of the horses churned the cream and turned it into ice cream. As the Mongols conquered China, this knowledge spread and was well known by the time of Marco Polo’s little jaunt to Cathay. Other accounts tell the tale of a cook under Charles I inventing ice cream. Charles then offering the cook a lifetime pension in exchange for never giving up the recipe to the royal treat. These, however, are just myths. There is no historical evidence giving them any credence. In fact, the easiest way to trace the history of ice cream is to follow the development of refrigeration. As Chris Clarke writes in his book “The science of ice cream”, the history of ice cream can be divided into 5 stages: 1. Cooling food and drink by mixing it with snow or ice. 2. The discovery that dissolving salts in water produces cooling. 3. The discovery (and spread of knowledge) that mixing salts and snow or ice cools even further. 4. The invention of the ice cream maker in the mid-19th century. 5. The development of mechanical refrigeration in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. -Chris Clarke, “The Science of Ice Cream”, page 4 Salt and ice There are no chemical reactions involved in making ice cream, but plenty of physical ones. At its core ice cream is what the name implies: very cold dairy cream. However, if we were to freeze pure cream it would just become a big, hard block of frozen dairy. Ice cream, frozen dessert, gelato In some countries, like the United States, different names are used for different kinds of frozen cream. By law, only frozen dairy desserts that have a fat content of more than 10% are allowed to be called ice cream. In other countries, like Italy, a single word is used to describe all (gelato in this case). For sake of clarity I’m going to use ice cream as a catch all term and not the more specific definition. – Photo by Alessio Damato To avoid this sugar is added to the cream. What sugar does is decrease the melting point of the mixture. By decreasing the melting point it is possible to have a solution of milk and ice with partially frozen water. The free liquid water contributes enormously to the creamy texture of ice cream. However, this causes an issue. Since the melting point of the cream and sugar mixture is lower than that of water we can’t simply use ice to freeze it. Ice, on its own, is stuck at a temperature of 0 degrees Celsius (32 Fahrenheit). The cream and sugar mix needs to be cooled far below that. If we were to place some cream and sugar in a container, and then submerge the container in a simple bath of ice and water, ice cream is never going to form. Which brings us to an important discovery in the realm of refrigeration: there is a way to make ice water colder than zero degrees centigrade. By adding salt. Anyone who lives in a cold climate will probably be very familiar with the effect of salt on ice. Salt is used to melt snow or ice on pavements and roads. So, if salt is added to an ice bath, it decreases its melting point. A saturated solution of ice and salt will reach a temperature of -21.1 degrees Celsius (-6 F). It is then possible to use this salted ice bath , which is at a sub-zero temperature, to freeze cream and sugar. There is a detailed description of the effect of salt on ice in an Arabic medical textbook from 1242. Around the same period a book was also published containing recipes for sorbets. This knowledge eventually spread to Italy. In the late 16th century, a Neapolitan scientist called Giambattista Della Porta “discovered” the cooling effect of a salted ice bath. This knowledge spread around Europe and by the mid-17th century it was not uncommon to be served frozen ice desserts at banquets. These desserts were still more granita-like and lacked the cream that gives the name to my favourite treat. Putting the cream in ice-cream The first written mentions of ice cream as frozen dairy appear around the end of the 17th century. Ice cream was served at a feast in Windsor in 1671 (though only at Charles II’s table). Harold McGee, in his book On Food and Cooking, reports these two old recipes for ice cream: Neige de fleurs d’orange (“Snow of Orange Flowers”) You must take sweet cream, and put thereto two handfuls of powdered sugar, and take petals of orange flowers and mince them small, and put them in your cream… and put all into a pot, and put your pot in a wine cooler; and you must take ice, crush it well and put a bed of it with a handful of salt at the bottom of the cooler before putting in the pot… And you must continue putting a layer of ice and a handful of salt, until the cooler is full and the pot covered, and you must put it in the coolest place you can find, and you must shake it from time to time for fear it will freeze into a solid lump of ice. It will take about two hours. -Nouveau Confiturier, 1682 Fromage à l’angloise (English Cheese) Take a chopine of sweet cream and the same of milk, half a pound of powdered sugar, stir in three egg yolks and boil until it becomes like a thin porridge; take it from the fire and pour it into your ice mould, and put in the ice for three hours; and when it is firm, withdraw the mold, and warm it a little, in order more easily to turn out your cheese, or else dip your mould for a moment in hot water, then serve it in a compôtier. -François Massialot, La Nouvelle instruction pour les confitures, 1692 The recipes in the sidebar show a development from the simple ice and flavouring mixtures to more complex ones involving dairy cream. Another recipe from the time detailed the ultra-rich glace au beurre — literally iced butter — which involved 40 egg yolks per litre of cream! Another important development was the realisation that constant stirring of the sugar and cream mix would decrease the size of the ice crystals. As we’ll see later, this is fundamental to the creamy texture of ice-cream. Mechanisation and mass production The next big step involves a woman called Nancy Johnson, who lived in Philadelphia in the 19th century. In 1843 she was awarded a patent for the first mechanised ice-cream maker. Until then ice-cream had to be made by hand and in small batches. It was a tedious, laborious and inefficient process. Johnson’s ice-cream maker was composed of a bucket to hold the salt and ice and a sealed cylinder for the ice cream mix. The mix could be continuously stirred by a hand-cranked rotating spatula. This design was later improved by William G Johnson of Baltimore, who added the rotation of the sealed cylinder in the brine to improve cooling. As Harold McGee puts it: “The Johnson-Young freezer allowed large quantities of ice cream to be made with simple, steady mechanical action.” The beginning of the mass production of ice cream is usually attributed to Jacob Fussell, a Baltimore milk dealer, who started using his seasonal surplus of cream to make ice cream on a grand scale, which allowed him to sell it at a far lower price. He founded the first ice cream factory in 1851 in Baltimore before expanding to New York, Washington and Boston. The advent of modern refrigeration increased the mass availability of ice cream. In fact, modern industrial ice cream freezers are not that different from the Johnson-Young machine. They still have a barrel with a rotating scraper enclosed in a cooling bath. However, the coolants used have a lower temperature than ice and salt (liquid ammonia, an often used one, has a temperature of -30 C, almost 10 degrees lower than a salted ice bath) and the barrel in which the ice cream is formed is now horizontal rather than vertical and allows for continuous use. Ice cream mix is pumped in at one end and ice cream is pumped out at the other. Since the rate of cooling is dependent on the difference between the temperature of the mix and the coolant, the lower temperature of the coolant allows faster cooling. This produces smaller ice crystals which improves texture. In fact, some restaurants offer almost-instant ice cream, made right at your table by using liquid nitrogen. As liquid nitrogen has a ridiculously low temperature (-196 C to be exact), the ice cream mix turns into ice cream almost instantly. Artisanal ice cream, like the gelato found in many Italian ice cream parlours, is still made in a batch process. The industrialisation of ice cream provided several refinements (though some might say that not all were positive ones). To achieve more and more smoothness of texture, manufacturers began to add other ingredients such as gelatin or powdered milk. In the United Kingdom, during the Second World War, the use of dairy cream to make ice cream was banned for rationing purposes. British manufacturers began using vegetable oil as a fat replacement. Even though this ban was lifted after the war, the British public had become used to the taste of vegetable oil ice cream (gross) that some manufacturers still use it. Of course, it helps that vegetable oil is also cheaper. (As a side note, British chocolate is also made with vegetable oil and not cocoa butter. Some countries have very strict requirements on what can be sold as “chocolate”. Chocolate made with vegetable oil cannot be sold as such in these countries. But that’s a topic for a different article.) Manufacturers began to add stabilisers to ice cream to ensure minimal texture disruption during transport in home freezers, which are much less stable and reliable than industrial ones. Other modern ice cream additives include emulsifiers, flavourings and colourants. (More on stabilisers and emulsifiers in the next section where we’ll have a look at the structure of ice cream). One definitely positive effect of industrialisation is the widespread use of pasteurisation, which vastly reduces the risk of spoilage and makes ice cream a safer food. The science of ice cream Ice cream, at its most basic, is composed of three elements: air bubbles created by the mixing and churning, ice crystals made of pure water, and concentrated cream that is formed as the water in the cream turns into the crystals. It is both an emulsion (a mixture of water and fat) and a foam. In fact, it contains all three states of matter: solid, liquid and gas. But first, let’s have a look at the fundamental ingredient of ice cream: cream. Cream is milk that has been enriched with fat. Traditionally this process occurs naturally under the action of gravity. If milk is left to sit for a few days, the fat globules in milk will rise and form a layer at the top of the container (fat is lighter than water). This layer can be then skimmed off and either used as cream or churned to make butter. These days cream is separated from milk using centrifuges. Compared to milk, which has about equal amounts of protein and fat, cream is much fattier and richer: it has about 10 parts of fat to 1 of protein. The fat in milk and cream is suspended into globules. A membrane of phospholipids covers each globule. Phospholipids are emulsifiers and allow the fat to be soluble in water as well as keeping the globules from sticking to each other. When cream is churned, these membranes are broken and the fat can pool into a large mass: butter. Let’s get back to the micro-structure of ice cream. Ice crystals form from the water in the cream as the mix is frozen. The size of the crystals determines the smoothness of the ice cream. Large crystals will give the ice cream a coarse and grainy texture. About three quarters of the water in the mix is frozen into crystals at -18 C (0 F). The rest of the water forms a highly saturated thick liquid solution with sugars, milk proteins and stabilisers (if used). This solution forms a matrix in which the other particles are suspended. Air bubbles are introduced into the ice cream via mixing and, in some industrial processes, by directly injecting air during the freezing. Air is fundamental as it disrupts the matrix formed by the ice crystals and the cream. It makes the ice cream easier to scoop and bite into. The increase in volume due to the air bubbles is called the overrun and is measured as a percentage of the original mix volume. Obviously, the higher the overrun the less dense the ice cream. Soft-serve ice cream, for example, has an overrun of as much as 100%. Artisanal ice creams tend to to have a much lower quantity of air. Finally, the fat globules from the concentrated cream provide stability to the air bubbles and prevent their collaps, much like they do in whipped cream. They also provide plenty of creaminess and flavour. Other emulsifiers can also be added to the mix to improve the stability of ice cream. Egg yolk is also sometimes used as an emulsifier and also to add flavour. For example, “base gialla” is an Italian ice cream base which contains eggs. Stabilisers are large molecules that increase the viscosity of ice cream. This has several beneficial effects including increasing the perceived smoothness of ice cream in the mouth, reducing the rate of melting, increasing the stability of the foam as well as increasing the ease of pumping ice cream in an industrial setting. Too much stabiliser and the ice cream will be too firm and chewy. However, sometimes this may be desirable: chewy Turkish ice cream is made with the addition of a natural stabilisers. Thawing and refreezing ice cream causes the ice crystals to increase in size as they melt, coalesce and reform. Poorly stored and transported ice cream will have a very coarse and unpleasant texture. It’s always disappointing to buy ice cream at a supermarket only to find it composed of large crunchy crystals. In my experience I’ve found that different supermarkets and shops treat their ice cream with different levels of care and I avoid buying it from those I don’t trust. To make good ice cream one must consider the delicate balance of all the ingredients and how they affect the micro-structure. The less water in the mix the easier it is to make smoother ice cream. But if there is too much sugar the ice cream might end up syrupy as well as increasing the risk of sugars crystallising (which give an unpleasant texture). Too much fat and the mixing action may cause it to churn into butter. Industrial ice cream is made by first preparing the mix with the desired balance of milk solids, fat, water and additives. Then it is frozen in an industrial freezer which often also introduces air bubbles by injection. As the mix gets colder so does its viscosity. There comes a point at which the heat introduced by the mixing blades is equal to that taken away by the coolant (around -5 C). At this stage the ice cream can’t be cooled any more by the freezer and only half of the water is frozen. The ice cream is quickly extruded and hardened, often by blowing -40 C air on it. During this process some of the liquid water migrates to the already formed ice crystals. The ice cream can then be packaged or formed into a variety of shapes and confections. Serving and storing ice cream Keeping ice cream in a home freezer for a long time can alter its structure and flavour. Home freezers are sometimes not very stable: their internal temperature can fluctuate. This can cause the growth of ice crystals. It’s also possible for the fat in the ice cream to absorb off-flavours from other items in the freezers and, if dried out by the air in the freezer, can also go rancid. It’s best to store ice cream at temperatures of at least -18 C (0 F) which is a typical home freezer temperature. Industrial cold stores are usually around -25 C. When serving ice cream, it’s best to wait a little while. At a warmer temperature of -13 C the ice cream is softer (and easier to scoop). At -18 C taste buds are numbed by the cold temperature of the ice cream and can pick up less flavour. Waiting for the ice cream to thaw a bit can thus improve taste. How to (not) make ice cream at home As I was researching this article I had the idea of making ice cream at home the old-fashioned way. I don’t own an ice cream machine, but really, at its core ice cream is just milk, cream and sugar. How hard can it be? (I mean, I’ve only just spent several thousand words describing the complexity of ice cream). The project was doomed from the start. My trusty kitchen thermometer decided to take an announced vacation and measured the unsalted ice bath as a balmy 22 degrees Celsius instead of the expected 0 C. Fantastic. It meant I could’t measure how cold my salted ice bath was or if my ice cream mix was getting colder. Undeterred, I poured about 4 trays of ice cubes into a salad bowl and added a little water and a LOT of salt. Then I mixed about 500 grams of milk, 100 g of cream and 150 g of granulated sugar and poured it into a metal pot. I was trying to make an “Italian-style” ice cream, with fat content around 6-7%. I was not using any emulsifiers or stabilisers because I could not find any at the supermarket and I didn’t using egg yolk as an emulsifier because: a) I was trying to make a so-called “base bianca”, one of the ice-cream bases used by italian gelatai which can then be used to make a bunch of different flavours (including what I’m making today, stracciatella) and not “base gialla” which contains eggs b) using egg yolk would require heating the mixture up to pasteurise it and I could not really be bothered (and I wouldn’t have been able to measure the temperature anyway, stupid broken thermometer). So far, a disaster. I placed the metal pot in the ice bath and started whisking. Within seconds, much like a marriage to a stripper in Las Vegas, I realised that this was not going to work out. There is far too much ice cream mix. It would take forever and far more ice to freeze it all. I decided to pour half of the mix into an ice cube tray and placed it in the freezer. At least I would have something to compare it to once I’m done. I used ice-cube trays because I figured that thanks to the increased surface area the mix should freeze faster than if i just froze it in a big bowl. Faster freezing should mean smaller crystals. I kept on working on the mix in the metal pot. I whisked, I stirred vigorously. At some point, it looked like it was getting a bit thicker but I couldn’t really tell for sure. I added more ice, more salt and keep whisking. Nothing. Forty-five minutes in, all I had was boredom, a sore wrist and a metal pot with some slightly cold sugary milk. Boredom won out and I decided to mix in some chopped chocolate and pour what I have into another ice-cube tray and stick it in the freezer. A couple of hours later, the moment of truth. Have you ever had milk ice cubes? Because that is exactly what I made. It actually tastes quite nice. Milky and sugary. It’s a shame that the crystals are enormous. It’s not creamy or chewy at all. I do find another use for the “ice-cream” cubes. They make a pretty good iced cappuccino. Lessons learned: There is a reason why we use emulsifiers and stabilisers in ice cream. An ice bath is useless if you can’t tell how cold it is. Making ice cream is more difficult than just freezing some milk, cream and sugar. Don’t let my misadventure dissuade you from making ice cream at home. With a little more preparation and care it’s definitely possible. Also, now I’m hungry for ice cream. -Francesco References and further reading

It looks like the Left will have a big, dragged-out fight over what exactly constitutes their philosophy and agenda. I am a conservative, but if I can offer my liberal friends advice, it is this: drop your misguided pursuit of a multicultural society. It will continue to get you nothing but heartache. Let me hasten to add that I don’t mean a multiethnic society, obviously. That exists, and in fact it has always existed in America. Only cranks would decry it. No, I mean multiculturalism, the idea that several cultures and national identities should co-exist under one American roof and even be cultivated by our government and institutions. The bureaucracy creates multiple cultural groups out of thin air (Hispanics, Asians, soon to come: Middle-East and North-African Americans), and before you know it they acquire ascribed statuses and group rights, and even their own congressional districts. America meanwhile drifts further in an ethnic proportional system akin to Lebanon’s. We have certainly had our problems recently, but this is not the model we want to follow. The people promoting this view are blowing through the historical compromise that allowed America to remain united and have a strong national identity even as it took in immigrants. That was called assimilation. Multiculturalism Is About Amassing Power for Elites The opposite, victimhood-mongering, has taken its place. To maintain intra-group solidarity, group members must be told again and again that the nation represses them. Group dissenters are to be treated as sympathetically as Snowball in “Animal Farm” or Piggy in “Lord of the Flies.” It doesn’t take too deep a study of how the multicultural raj in America has been erected and maintained to understand that its stated purpose is transferring power among groups. Antonio Gramsci’s cultural Marxism and Saul Alinsky’s “Rules for Radicals” are the lodestars. In the long term, their embrace of such a multicultural dystopia erodes the social solidarity that liberals used to cherish. In the medium term, it will continue to beget societal angst. In the short term, living by the multicultural handbook cost Hillary Clinton the election. When the Left decides to hit the pause button on its current massive freak-out about how this election was a “whitelash” against the “browning” of America, it should ask itself some hard questions. Sound liberal minds may want to ask, for example, if the angst that roiled the country had to do with immigrants per se or with the balkanization our leaders have been promoting. Identity Politics Is a Double-Edged Sword Even if we can agree that adding millions of immigrants after a long lull would have created unease under the best of circumstances, we should also agree that reversing assimilation and forcing immigrants into subnational identities only stoked the normal anxieties of the people already here. People tend to care about national identity, and when you mess with it, you get the identity crisis that has hit the West like a tsunami. Clinton and the Democrats’ inability to speak to millions of working-class white Americans is one consequence of the diversity mess they have created. If only they had read some of their own, they would have gotten the message. Thomas Edsall at The New York Times and former senator Jim Webb have been sounding the alarm for years on how the Democratic Party dropped blue-collar whites. Clinton didn’t even get the “minority” groups on which the whole “majority-minority” architecture relies. African-American voters didn’t show up in high numbers, and 8 percent voted for Trump. When you live by the sword, you die by it. Cuban-Americans helped deliver Florida to Trump, as I demonstrate here. So rather than riot, cry in a safe space, or move to Canada, the adults in the liberal room should raise the question of whether it was a good idea to abandon an economic-based analysis of social ills in favor of an ethnic-based view of the country that old-time liberals would have found repugnant. But if liberals don’t want to follow my advice, I can assure them we conservatives will be discussing this when we do our own self-assessment.

Assemblymember Jesse Kiehl was recently elected to the State Senate Seat for District Q and will be taking office in January 2019. In anticipation of his resignation from the District 1 City and Borough of Juneau Assembly seat, the Assembly will be accepting Letters of Interest and Declaration of Candidacy forms beginning November 30, 2018 through close of business on January 2, 2019. While it is unusual to announce the anticipated resignation of an Assembly member, the goal is to advise the public in a manner that allows ample time for citizens to consider serving on the Assembly. Residents eligible for the District 1 seat must live in Downtown Juneau, Douglas, North Douglas, Lemon Creek or the Airport area. If you have questions about which Assembly District you reside in, please contact the Clerk’s Office to confirm your eligibility! Per the CBJ Code 11.10.040(a), the appointed candidate will serve “until the next regularly scheduled election” in October of 2019, at which time the District 1 seat will be placed on the municipal ballot for the remaining year of the term. The Declaration of Candidacy forms are available by clicking here or in hardcopy at the Municipal Clerk’s office. In addition to the requirement to file a Declaration of Candidacy form and Letter of Interest, the person appointed to the District 1 Assembly seat will be required to file an Alaska Public Offices Commission Public Official Financial Disclosure Statement within 30 days of taking office. For more […]

In 1860, an ill-fated Pony Express rider, whose name has been lost to history, was crossing the trackless wastes of Nevada when he vanished, likely killed by Indians. Two years later, in May 1862, the mail pouch from that doomed mission, still containing letters bound for the East, was recovered. Today, only a few remnants from the contents of that saddlebag survive. Among them is an envelope—a rare artifact of the mid-19th-century’s legendary Pony Express mail service, founded 150 years ago. (The letter that was inside has long since disappeared.) The philatelic treasure will reside on long-term loan at the Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum (NPM). Recently, the envelope’s owner, William H. Gross, a passionate stamp collector since childhood, donated funds for a new 12,000-square-foot gallery at the museum, scheduled to open in 2012. The envelope will take pride of place in the new exhibition space. “There are only two pieces of what collectors call ‘interrupted mail’ from the Pony Express known to exist, and they were in that rider’s pouch,” says NPM curator Daniel Piazza. The concept of expedited mail delivery by a relay of single riders on fast horses—a kind of grass-fueled FedEx—echoed the vision that won the West. Established in April 1860, the Pony Express failed to win a major contract from the federal government and was replaced by a stagecoach line after only 18 months. Yet its bravado has colored the mail service ever since. The transcontinental delivery system was marvelous in its simplicity. Across 1,900 miles, at 186 stations between St. Joseph, Missouri, and Sacramento, California, fresh horses awaited carriers who rode at full gallop in 10- to 12-mile segments (judged to be the maximum distance that a good mount could maintain a speedy clip). At each station, the rider leapt off one horse and onto the next, then sped on. The tough, wiry horsemen covered up to 125 miles at a stretch—a punishing pace that commanded a then-substantial salary of $25 per week. William “Buffalo Bill” Cody and James “Wild Bill” Hickok boasted they had earned their spurs as young Express riders. “Or so they claimed,” says Piazza. (There is no evidence that either did so.) The rare 1860 envelope attests that hard riding was not the most daunting aspect of the job. Routes passed through deserted, often forbidding, territory. A note scrawled on the front of the artifact alludes to its tragic backstory: “Recovered from a [sic] mail stolen by the Indians in 1860.” The nameless victim is thought to have been the only Pony Express rider killed, though a few station agents died when Indians attacked their outposts. The letter at last reached its destination—a New York City business recorded only as Fred Probst & Co.—in August 1862. Says Piazza: “So much happened between when the letter was sent and when it arrived—Lincoln’s election, the secession crisis, the beginning of the Civil War.” (In March 1861, the Pony Express set a record for transcontinental delivery—7 days 17 hours—when riders carried Abraham Lincoln’s Inaugural Address to the West Coast.) The envelope bears an oval stamp that reads “The Central Overland California & Pikes Peak Express Company,” the enterprise that administered the Pony Express. It had disbanded nine months before, on October 26, 1861. The envelope also bears a basic 10-cent stamp, which normally would have meant a two-month trip, as the letter traveled from San Francisco by ship down the West Coast, across the isthmus of Panama and by sea up the East Coast to New York City. The additional cost for Pony Express service—guaranteed to reach the East Coast in about 12 days—was $5 (roughly $133 in today’s currency) per half-ounce. Ultimately, says Piazza, even the envelope’s stamp, with its image of George Washington, offers a history lesson. “Although the letter was delivered,” he says, “the 10-cent stamp was no longer valid. At the beginning of the [Civil] War, all existing postal stamps were demonetized so the Confederacy couldn’t use them.” Owen Edwards is a freelance writer and author of the book Elegant Solutions

A 15-year-old girl was crushed under the wheels of a car driven by eve-teasers after they failed to drag her inside the vehicle, in Shiva Ji Nagar, Nazirabad in Kanpur on Sunday. The Class 11 student suffered multiple fractures in her leg and was admitted to KMC hospital, where she narrated the incident to her family on gaining consciousness after an hour of admission. One accused was identified as Mohammad Zafar, son of noted builder, Mohammad Shakeel. He fled from the scene along with his accomplice after the incident, leaving the car behind. Police reluctantly registered an FIR on charges of stalking and assaulting the girl with intent to outrage her modesty. They, however, could not make any arrest. The girl, who resides in Shastri Nagar, was returning on her bicycle from tuition classes in Lajpat Nagar when the miscreants intercepted her and tried to drag her inside their car. The girl fell on ground and raised an alarm. However, before help could arrive, the eve-teasers crushed her under the wheels of their car and left her seriously injured. Later, passers-by took her to hospital On getting information about the incident, the girl’s family members rushed to the hospital from where they called the police, but the cops reached only after three hours. The girl also told her family that the miscreants had been stalking her since many days. First Published: Nov 10, 2013 23:05 IST

One day before the Senate votes whether to begin debate on repealing the Affordable Care Act, President Trump called the 2010 law “death” and a “nightmare” that has wreaked havoc on the lives of Americans. Speaking from the Blue Room in the White House Monday, Trump argued that Republicans who fail to support the motion to proceed on repealing the health care law will be supporting the existing law in essence. “The question for every Senator, Democrat or Republican, is whether they will side with Obamacare’s architects, which have been so destructive to our country, or with its forgotten victims,” he said. “Any Senator who votes against starting debate is telling America that you are fine with the Obamacare nightmare.” Trump seemed to have an endless supply of insults for the Affordable Care Act and the promise of reforming the healthcare system, which he called a “big, fat, ugly lie.” He labeled Democrats “obstructionists” for not supporting legislation to overturn the Affordable Care Act, though Republicans have the majority in both chambers and need just 50 votes to pass the bill. The Brief Newsletter Sign up to receive the top stories you need to know right now. View Sample Sign Up Now The Senate is poised to vote on repeal and replace legislation this week, though it is not exactly clear which version of the bill will be up for a vote. The Senate effort is facing an uphill battle regardless, given some Republicans feelings on the bill who are wary about some of the bills’ proposals. President Trump, however, intensified the pressure he has been adding to the healthcare debate via Twitter during his fiery speech on Monday afternoon. “The American people have waited long enough. There has been enough talk and no action. Now is the time for action,” he said. “Obamacare has broken our healthcare system. It’s broken. It’s gone.” President Trump issued a warning to Republicans on Twitter on Sunday, saying the “repercussions will be far greater than any of them understand” if the GOP does not repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. Contact us at editors@time.com.

Troubled nonprofit asks Oakland for 2nd bailout An Oakland nonprofit that has controlled millions of dollars in federal job training funds despite a troubled history is counting on city officials to help bail it out of its financial gloom. The Oakland Private Industry Council, which Oakland officials contract to run the city’s federally funded job training program, says it needs more public money to continue offering those job training services through June 30. But the Industry Council told the city it was having financial difficulty due to a reduction in funding and depletion of reserves and that its staff had lost wages in the past several years. City staffers are recommending that the City Council vote Tuesday night to award the nonprofit a $250,000 grant. It’s the second such bailout the Private Industry Council has requested to sustain employment services it offers under the federal Workforce Investment Act, a program intended to assist job seekers, laid-off workers, youths, veterans, persons with disabilities and employers. Last year the council granted $50,000 with no stated intent or expected outcome, according to a staff report from the city administrator’s office. But the nonprofit has had its share of problems. A 2010 state audit showed that it mishandled nearly $1 million in federal stimulus funds that the city had allowed the nonprofit to manage. Under the Private Industry Council’s management, money intended for job creation was instead spent by other nonprofits on field trips to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, church repairs and car allowances, among other things. In addition to those problems, records from the state’s Registry of Charitable Trusts show the Private Industry Council has failed to file tax forms on time. President raised concerns The city has repeatedly considered the group for grant money that no other nonprofit could hope to get, said former Council President Pat Kernighan, who was the lone “no” vote on the $50,000 grant last year. At a June 2014 council meeting to approve the grant, Kernighan said it was unprecedented for city officials to set aside money for a group and expect nothing in return. Scores of well-intentioned nonprofits contract with the city to do all kinds of work, she said, and if the city handed over money to one of them, the rest would expect the same treatment. “My concern with this is that we set a precedent whereby every single one of these nonprofits is now coming to the city and saying, ‘Well gee, I did a lot of work, and you didn’t pay me the full value of it,’” Kernighan said at the meeting last year. Members of the council’s Community and Economic Development committee initially directed the city administrator to address the Industry Council’s funding gap at their March 24 meeting. Interim city administrator John Flores, said he recognized the value of the program and the emergency at hand. He cautioned the Industry Council to live within its means, noting it was the second year there had been a problem. Private Industry Council CEO Gay Plair Cobb could not be reached for comment, but in statements filed with the city she argues that the money is not a grant, but rather money owed to the nonprofit because of poor city practices. In a memo submitted to the council on May 19, the Industry Council claimed the city failed to determine how much money the group needed to manage the federal job training program that the city entrusts the nonprofit to do. “As a result, the funding available under various RFPs has been arbitrary and without foundation either legally or by simple acknowledgment and analysis of the real costs of providing workforce services in the City of Oakland,” the memo states. It went on to accuse the city of poor budgeting, causing a financial gap that Industry Council members claimed they had covered for years. Yet Kernighan wasn’t the only elected official to say that the organization, and not the city, has a poor track record for managing money. Management questioned City Auditor Brenda Roberts also questioned the Private Industry Council’s ability to manage the millions in public funds it receives each year. According to the group’s tax filing in 2012, it received more than $50 million from various government sources between 2008 and 2012. “I share staff’s concerns that OPIC has not stayed within their authorized budget and now requires additional funding to meet their contractual obligations to the City,” Roberts wrote in a memo to the mayor, city council and city administrator in May. Roberts suggested that if the $250,000 grant is approved Tuesday, a portion of it should be used to hire a professional accountant to help the Private Industry Council deal with its internal financial controls. The Private Industry Council balked at the suggestion. In its memo, it touted the organization’s 30-year history of managing public and private resources. “We find the city administrator’s recommendation regarding involvement of the City Auditor in this matter to be perhaps well-intentioned, but certainly misguided,” read a statement from the Industry Council to the City Council. Rachel Swan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: rswan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @rachelswan

Bort's Life or Death Variants The threat of losing your character is one of the most import fears a player faces. In a world of magic its often lost exactly how impactful and threatening a situation should be. Easy access to healing, resurrection and quick recovery of your resources means a marathon adventure is rarely the tiresome, troubling and grueling undertaking it was designed to be. The following rule changes are certainly imperfect but the design goal I set out for myself was one where players can think hard on a choice to continue, rest or retreat and treat the threat of falling unconscious and dying with the gravity it should warrant. I will present change to the following three areas of the game, that work together to hopefully drive a grittier story without being overly unfair to the players: Hit Points Rest and Recovery Resurrection Hit Points Level 1 At first level, characters are extremely frail. The game has devised a series of fractional Challenge Ratings for these characters to face but most of them are capable with a single roll bringing a character down. This is by design I believe to drive the feeling of fragility of low level characters and a feeling of dread. My umbrage with this situation is that randomness is often the most important factor in an outcome instead of player ingenuity and careful decision making. It also creates a dichotomy of how the game works between early levels and the rest of the game. I believe a little padding is better, to allow the randomness to regress to the mean - while sometimes good and bad luck swing the situation, every roll isn't a potential death knell. Level 1 Hit Points When you generate your characters, instead of receiving your Level 1 hit points as your maximum Hit Die value + Your Constitution Modifier, your starting Hit Points are your maximum Hit Die + Constitution Score. This is functionally going to raise most hit point totals from between 10 and 12 points. Your level 1 Wizard with a 12 Constitution will have 18 Hit Points and your level 1 Barbarian with 16 Constitution will have 28 Hit Points. By level 3, with average hit points, they will have 28 and 48 hit points respectively. Falling Unconscious Dropping to zero hitpoints is a big deal. Concussive blows, a loss of blood, and other injuries render you in capable of remaining concious. It should be a dire moment for characters, but often its immediacy is lost. Players are going to fall unconscious and normally no one really worries until death saving throws start going the wrong way. I love the death saving throw, it's a great mechanic that if left unattended gives you a 60/40 chance to survive or die. While it is often lessened by the availability of bonus action healing from a distance, it does a good job of providing a buffer to death. DMs can threaten to kill a player while they are down, but I find that doesn't end well for your game if used regularly, it's easy to wait and only worry when you actually fear the final failure if healing isn't available but I instead prefer the tension and consequence to exist on every roll. Failing Death Saving Throws When you fail a Death Saving Throw you character takes a level of exhaustion. Denote this level as coming from a Death Saving Throw. The effects are the same as normal exhaustion including eventual death, but for every 1 hour of rest a level of temporary exhaustion is removed and a Lesser Restoration Spell can remove 1 level of temporary exhaustion. It's not death when you fail your first Death Saving Throw, but it has a consequence and if you are brought back up to a handful of hit points and go down again you are back at risk of gaining more exhaustion. Enough levels and your party is faced with the conundrum of finding a place to rest up or continuing forward with a weakened member. It's equally important though that this complication is recoverable in a reasonable period of time. Furthermore allowing lesser restoration provides a way similar to healing spells for players to expend their resources to keep pushing forward. The greatest design risk here is that you put those able to cast restoration into a position where they are further expected to lose their resources because their allies were too reckless in combat. Rest and Recovery Today the game breaks rests into 2 parts, Short Rest for an hour or Long Rest for 8 hours, once per day. Players fall back on rests to recover their resources some and push forward. A Long rest is basically a hard reset for most situations restoring almost everything and a short rest is a chance to recover hit points and recharge many abilities. Shorter Than Short Rests Recovering hit points after encounters with Hit Dice is one of the better rules of this edition. It is less taxing for classes with healing spells and allows a recovery resource regardless of your party mix. Sometimes combats go really well, other times they go sideways and being able to spend Hit Dice after a bad combat is major boon to being able to complete dungeons or other series of encounters. 1 Sometimes the idea of taking an entire hour is a bit much; an hour is a long time and greatly increases the chances of danger wandering past you or delays you in a hurried attempt to reach your goal. It serves its duty in recovering class abilities but sometimes you just need a few hit points more to continue and for that in my games I've implemented an alternative. Take A Breather After an encounter your characters can take a "Breather". You spend 5 minutes or so straitening your armor, catching your breath and refocusing. You can spend up to half your hit dice, minimum one, during this time to recover hit points as normal. This additional "Rest" option is less crucial to the feel of these alternative rules, but its an example of something I think gives back to the players. At times these rules will make some parts of the game harder so at times I hope they can make some parts of the game easier as well. Returning to the Inn The long rest is the coveted full recovery save point of 5th Edition. You get back all your hit points, all your abilities. Exhaustion, Resurrection Penalties and spent Hit Dice are the only thing your party doesn't get back. Why not ? These are all things in the game designed to portray the physical rigor your characters are undergoing that a night's rest cannot remove. I've always found it weird you can recover 99% of your hit points but only 50% of your Hit Dice. A Long Rest should be refreshing but anyone who has ever had a grueling day of physical activity can tell you, one night is rarely all it takes to recover. Characters need their abilities to feel like they contribute so I would not touch those but higher Hit Point totals is often the reward for good decisions so they should be a bit more scarce. Recovering Hit Points When you finish a Long Rest you recover a number of hit points equal to your Constitution Score, additionally if you spend hit dice at the end of the long rest the minimum number of hit points you regain from the roll equlas twice your Constitution modidier(minimum 2) [As The Durable Feat]. This replaces the existing rule that you recover all your Hit Points when you finish a Long Rest. You still recover Hit Dice at the end of a long rest, but instead of recovering half round down, instead recover half rounded up. You can benefit from above rule on expending hit dice on a long rest before and after you regain hit dice for the rest. It's important that recovery is still happening when you take a long rest so we give you Constitution Score in hit points. Rounding up Hit Dice recover helps players at 3rd and 5th level when your pools are fairly small. The rule about minimum average hit points basically allows you to ensure a better hit point recovery on a Long Rest and expending all your Hit Dice should heal you to full. In all it might take up to 3 days for you to actually full recover from a grueling day of adventuring but then you should be back to full strength. If you could only muster a night in the woods then you are more vulnerable by not having the depth of hit points and recovery available to you, but you additional class resources will certainly help your forge your path forward still. Resurrection Life's a bitch, then you die. Or is it ? After making it more dangerous to let your friends bleed out and more difficult to come back from the brink of death with a night's sleep - what purpose would it really serve if death itself is an afterthought? Resurrection spells are easier than ever and in a world with little use for gold are surprisingly cheaper than ever. Revivify The revivify spell is probably one of most game changing spells in 5th edition. It is an exaggeration of how magic can strip the fear of death from the game. Sure at 5th level you only have 2 3rd level spells and it costs 300 gold, which is often a decent amount of money at that level but soon both of those become trivial. It allows you to address the death up to 1 minute later which is longer than many entire combats and comes with no side effects. So you died and you are back, spend some of those hit dice and then pretend it never happened. The history of resurrection spells is that they are difficult to obtain and costly. Revivify, which premiered in 3.5 in the popular but often bizarre Miniatures Handbook, used to take the same 5th level spell slot as Raise Dead and require you cast it within 1 action of that person dying and you had to touch them. This meant someone had to give up their turn, be in reach and they stayed unconscious, if someone wanted to heal them it was another action. Its my belief resurrection needs a steeper cost - financially and mechanically. Revivify is on the top of the list. Rather than publish all new spell descriptions I am just going to describe the differences. Revivify Revivify now requires concentration up to 1 round [similar to True Strike] and allows you as an action to resurrect someone, restoring them to 1 hitpoint. The material cost (consumable) is being raised to 500gp of diamonds. The target takes a -1 Penalty to all attack rolls, saving throws and ability checks; a weakened version of the penalty of Raise Dead removed upon finishing a long rest. These changes don't make access to Revivify that much harder, but it does three important things. First its a bit more expensive and a party would likely have had to invest more into its reagents, particularly to have multiple uses. Second by requiring an additional action and giving a concentration hold over similar to True Strike, its made the commitment to resurrecting someone in the midst of combat more demanding and harder. There are still edgecases where a multiclass fighter with action surge or a sorcerer with quicken could resurrect in 1 round and I like that. Lastly the minor Resurrection penalty isn't awful but its a consequence. 2

Popular male group EXO will be releasing their first ever concert album, titled EXOLOGY Chapter 1: The Lost World, in just a few days. It will contain tracks of their live performances from their Seoul concert. EXO held the 3-day concert, EXO FROM. EXOPLANET #1 – THE LOST PLANET – in SEOUL, between May 23rd and 25th at the Olympic Park Gymnasium Stadium in Seoul. Recordings of their live and exciting performances were taken to allow fans to relive the excitement of the concert again. Tracks to be featured on the live album includes “Growl,” “Overdose,” “Black Pearl,” “Love, Love, Love,” “Wolf,” and more, for a total of 36 tracks across 2CDs. The concert album is set to be released on December 22nd, which will follow EXO’s newest upcoming track “December, 2014,” a track for EXO-L’s from the group to be released on December 19th. “December, 2014” is a track that will also be featured in the mobile rhythm game, Superstar SMTOWN. Meanwhile, EXO is set to perform in Osaka as part of their tour on December 22nd until the 24th. Source: OSEN

The name change follows the acquisition of Leighton by Spanish construction group ACS a year ago, and the subsequent restructure of the company. "The board considers that the change of name is appropriate to support the transformation to the new operating model," the company said in its notice for the shareholder meeting. "The new name intends to provide a better representation of what we are and do." Leighton also plans to change its ticker symbol on the Australian Securities Exchange to "CIM" from "LEI". The name change will require the approval of at least 75 per cent of votes cast by eligible shareholders. ACS currently controls 70 per cent of Leighton via its ownership of Leighton's majority shareholder Hochtief. Leighton's board, which is chaired by its chief executive Marcelino Fernández Verdes, has already approved the name change.

Announced this a while back, stating that the idea had to swirl in my mind like a fine wine. A bunch of commissions came up and gave me ample time to do this, basically, and then I actually went ahead and did it. I wanted to do an effort piece involving Octavia and Vinyl Scratch for a long while. Yes, there was "In Honor of Princess Luna", but that one was primarily focused on Vinyl Scratch, with Octavia stashed in the background. Also, Octavia is one of my favorite background ponies, so it makes sense that I wanted to do a proper rendition of her as well. Fairly early on I had this idea to do a yin-'n'-yang sort of thing, but I wasn't sure how to go about doing that. In the end, it came out nicely, if I may say so myself. Also, I'm aware that there still some ambiguity on Vinyl Scratch's name, which alternatively DJ-P0N-3.

Locals in the picturesque southwest Colorado town of Durango wondered what “Durango” FOX News was talking about, as the Herald’s Shane Benjamin reports: The story, headlined “Legalized marijuana turns Colorado resort town into homeless magnet,” was the most-read U.S. story Wednesday on www.FoxNews.com. It was written by Joseph J. Kolb, a Fox contributor who was in town for a soccer shootout last weekend, according to those he interviewed. For his 850-word piece, Kolb quoted five sources: a man holding a cardboard sign; a gift shop manager; an anonymous hotel clerk; Durango Police Chief Kamran Afzal; and Tim Walsworth, executive director of Durango Business Improvement District, In an interview Wednesday, Walsworth took exception with Kolb and his story, saying the reporter barely identified himself, omitted comments that didn’t fit his angle and based the article on a few opinions. The result was a superficial glance at an issue in a community the writer was passing through, those who talked to him said. “I question the credibility of the reporter,” Walsworth said. And he wasn’t the only one: “Just this year there has been a major influx of people between 20 to 30 who are just hanging out on the streets,” [gift shop owner Caleb] Preston was quoted as saying. “The problem is while many are pretty mellow, there are many more who are violent.” Preston said he didn’t say those exact words, and his comments centered around the idea that panhandling has risen to the forefront of public discourse; not that the problem has become worse. [Pols emphasis] The consensus seems to be that FOX News reporter Joseph Kolb was determined to write a story about how legal marijuana had turned Durango into a “haven for recreational pot users” regardless of what local sources actually told him. And sure enough, Kolb’s portrayal of Durango is nothing any of us who have been there would recognize: The picturesque town near the New Mexico border, once a vibrant, upscale community dotted with luxury hotels, is being overrun by panhandlers – thanks, in part, to the legalization of marijuana. The town suddenly became a haven for recreational pot users, drawing in transients, panhandlers and a large number of homeless drug addicts, according to officials and business owners. Many are coming from New Mexico, Arizona and even New York. So folks, let us reassure from personal experience that Durango is very much still a “vibrant, upscale community,” and the luxury hotels are busy in all four seasons. We recommend the historic Strater Hotel downtown, though it’s far from the only choice. There is absolutely no appearance along Durango’s Main Avenue that the place is being “overrun” by homeless folks in town for pot or anything else. In short, the entire story is textbook FOX News cockamamie bullshit. We sincerely hope this misinformation doesn’t do anything to harm Durango’s tourism economy–and to help make sure it doesn’t, we’re booking a weekend at the Strater. We encourage you all to do the same.

Take a look at the ad below and ask whether the National Rifle Association can go any lower. Ponder this flagrant call for violence, this insidious advocacy of hate delivered with a sneer, this threat of civil war, this despicable use of propaganda to arouse rebellion against the rule of law and the ideals of democracy. On the surface this is a recruitment video for the National Rifle Association. But what you are really about to see is a call for white supremacy and armed insurrection, each word and image deliberately chosen to stir the feral instincts of troubled souls who lash out in anger and fear: Disgusting. Dishonorable. Dangerous. But also deliberate. Everything deplored by the NRA in the ad is committed by “they” — a classic manipulation turning anyone who disagrees with your point of view into “The Other” — something alien, evil, foreign. “They use their media to assassinate real news,” “They use their schools to teach children that their president is another Hitler,” “They use their movie stars and singers and comedy shows and award shows to repeat their narrative over and over again.” “And then they use their ex-president to endorse the resistance.” Well, we all know who “they” are, don’t we? This is the vitriol that has been spewed like garbage since the days of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, blasted from lynch mobs and demagogues and fascistic factions of political parties that turn racial and religious minorities into grotesque caricatures, the better to demean and diminish and dominate. It is the nature of such malevolent human beings to hate those whom they have injured, and the NRA has enabled more injury to more marginalized and vulnerable people than can be imagined. Note how the words “guns” or “firearms” are never mentioned once in the ad and yet we know that the NRA is death on steroids. And behind it are the arms merchants — the gun makers and gun sellers — who profit from selling automatic rifles to deranged people who shoot down politicians playing intramural baseball, or slaughter children in their classrooms in schools named Sandy Hook, or who massacre black folks at Bible study in a Charleston church, or murderously infiltrate a gay nightclub in Orlando. Watching this expertly produced ad, we thought of how the Nazis produced slick propaganda like this to demonize the Jews, round up gypsies and homosexuals, foment mobs, burn books, crush critics, justify torture and incite support for state violence. It’s the crack in the Liberty Bell, this ad: the dropped stitch in the American flag, the dregs at the bottom of the cup of freedom. It’s a Trump-sized lie invoked to bolster his base, discredit critics, end dissent. Joseph McCarthy must be smiling in hell at such a powerful incarnation on earth of his wretched, twisted soul. With this savage ad, every Democrat, every liberal, every person of color, every immigrant or anyone who carries a protest sign or raises a voice in disagreement becomes a target in the diseased mind of some tormented viewer. Heavily armed Americans are encouraged to lock and load and be ready for the ballistic solution to any who oppose the systematic looting of Washington by an authoritarian regime led by a deeply disturbed barracuda of a man who tweets personal insults, throws tantrums and degrades everything he touches. Look again at the ad. Ask yourself: What kind of fools are they at the NRA to turn America into a killing ground for sport? To be choked with hate is a terrible fate, and it is worst for those on whom it is visited.

Doug Layton, a Birmingham radio legend who had a part in a Beatles-record-burning campaign in the 1960s and for nearly 30 years was in the broadcast booth for some of the University of Alabama's classic football victories, died Wednesday night in his Vestavia Hills home. Mr. Layton, who had battled cancer for the past two and a half years, was 81. In 1966, Mr. Layton and Tommy Charles, his radio partner at Birmingham station WAQY-AM, made international news when they encouraged their listeners to burn their Beatles records in a public bonfire after John Lennon was quoted as saying the Beatles were more popular than Jesus. Although no such bonfire was ever reported in Birmingham, Mr. Layton's notoriety for his role in the ban-the-Beatles protest followed him throughout the rest of his career, his wife, Villeta Layton, said. "He would rather not talk about it," Mrs. Layton said this week. "He would roll his eyes (when he was asked about it). It was something that was said at the time, and it just ballooned. "When that anniversary comes up every year, they call him from the BBC to talk about it. One year, they were going to fly him to England to be interviewed, but he didn't do it." Later, as a color analyst and pre-game host on the Alabama football radio broadcasts from 1969 to 2001 , Mr. Layton called some of the iconic games and moments in Crimson Tide football history, including Paul "Bear" Bryant's 315th career win in 1981 and Van Tiffin's 52-yard field goal to beat Auburn in 1985. Two of Mr. Layton's personal favorite games, his wife said, were the Tide's 1971 season-opening upset of Southern California, the game in which Bryant secretly unveiled the wishbone offense that would dominate a decade, and the Sugar Bowl thrashing of a brash Miami squad to capture the 1992 national championship. "He loved Alabama so," Mrs. Layton said. "It was his heart. When he found out that his cancer had spread, he said, 'If I could just make it to the (upcoming) Wisconsin game on Sept. 5.' . . . He loved to keep up with them. He loved to support them any way he could." Jerry Duncan, who was part of the Alabama radio team with Mr. Layton for more than 20 years, said Mr. Layton's dry wit brought color and levity to the broadcasts. Duncan recalled one especially memorable moment in Knoxville before an Alabama-Tennessee game. "When you went to Knoxville, they had this ol' coon dog they would bring out; his name was Smokey," Duncan said. "Anyway, I was down on the field and Doug and I were talking. And while we were talking, the handler of the coon dog came out of the tunnel. "And I said, 'Doug, down on the other end of the field, I see ol' Smokey coming out. And Doug said, 'Yeah, if I had my 30-aught-6, I could drop him from here.' " In the broadcast booth, Mr. Layton worked alongside a trio of Crimson Tide play-by-play announcers -- - first John Forney, then Paul Kennedy, and finally, Eli Gold -- and his career spanned the coaching stints of Paul Bryant, Ray Perkins, Bill Curry, Gene Stallings, Mike DuBose and Dennis Franchione. "Traveling around with John Forney and Doug Layton was like traveling with two movie stars," Duncan said. "You go into an airport, and everybody recognized Doug Layton and John Forney. "They were icons," he added. "(Alabama) made a run in the '70s there when they won over 100 games in 10 years, and I don't think that had ever been done before. And Doug and John were a huge part of that. . . . They were the voice of Alabama football, at a period of time where Alabama, at that time, was at its greatest height." For 11 years, Mr. Layton also doubled as the radio play-by-play announcer for Alabama basketball games, and although football was his first love, he knew his basketball, too, former Tide basketball coach Wimp Sanderson said. "He lived and died Alabama football, and to some extent, he was very interested in basketball," Sanderson said. "He was an Alabama guy through and through." After one particular down year on the court, Mr. Layton good-naturedly ribbed Sanderson in the locker room at Birmingham Country Club before a charity golf tournament. "This is probably not funny to anybody else but me," Sanderson recalled. "But I was in one stall and he was in the other, and he said, 'Do you think you can teach them to dribble?' " After Mr. Layton retired from the Crimson Tide radio team following the 2001 football season, his wife said, he remained a Tide fan, but being in the press box all those years spoiled him. "He sat in the stands one time after that, and it was kind of raucous,'' she said. "He said, 'I don't think I like this.' For 32 years, he had been in the press box. So they presented him with a lifetime pass to sit in the press box. Since 2002, that's where we've been watching the games." A ham at heart, Mr. Layton also was somewhat of a thespian, appearing in nearly a dozen plays and musicals for director Irving Stern at the Jewish Community Center and playing Big Jule alongside Joe Namath's Sky Masterson in a Summerfest production of "Guys and Dolls" in 1982. Singing, though, was not necessarily Mr. Layton's strong suit. "Doug has a nice voice, but he can't carry a tune," his wife said. "After one of his shows, the review came out in the newspaper, and they said there were eight beautiful voices and Doug Layton was funny." Mr. Layton was born Douglas William Layton in Sylacauga in 1933, and he played football, baseball and basketball at B.B. Comer High School. When he was 15, he got his start in radio hosting an afternoon show called "Digging with Doug" on his hometown station WMLS-AM. After attending Jacksonville State University and serving in the U.S. Navy, Mr. Layton was on the radio in Montgomery before he came to Birmingham to be a disc jockey at Top 40 station WSGN-AM in 1960. He subsequently teamed with Tommy Charles, first at WYDE-AM and then at WAQY-AM, where they launched their Beatles protest. "It's one of my first memories," recalled J. Willoughby, whose father, John Ed Willoughby, became Mr. Layton's radio partner years later. "I was real young, 5 or 6 years old. I was such a Beatles fan even back then. I remember thinking it was mandatory that, if you lived in Birmingham, you had to go burn your Beatles records. And then my mom told me that was not the case, that I didn't have to go burn my Beatles records if I didn't want to." Neither did Charles or Mr. Layton. A city ordinance banned any such public bonfires, Willoughby said. "Doug said he could have made a fortune in all of the Beatles albums that people sent him to burn that they didn't actually burn," Willoughby said. "And Doug always liked the Beatles, too. He kind of went along with Tommy on that, as far as I could tell." Nearly three decades later, after Charles died in 1996, Mr. Layton teamed with John Ed Willoughby, who also had been Charles' on-air partner, to co-host a morning radio show on WERC-AM and later on WAPI-AM. They were on the radio together for nearly 20 years, and in more recent years, after retiring from their morning weekday routine, they continued to host a Saturday-morning sports-talk show on WJOX-AM and WYDE-FM. Mr. Layton's death comes less than four months after his on- and off-the-air buddy John Ed Willoughby died in March. And with their passing, so, too, went another link to Birmingham's past. "It's a bygone era," J. Willoughby , John Ed's son, said. "The thing about Dad and Doug's show, the one they did on Saturdays, it was just them. They didn't have a producer or anything. And it was no- holds barred. "It was the last remnant of just old-school, turn-the-mikes-on, let-the-phones-go Birmingham radio. It was just neighbors (talking). People felt comfortable hearing their voices." Mr. Layton is survived by his wife of 53 years, Villeta Layton; a daughter, Tyler Layton; a son, Doug Layton Jr.; two sisters, Delores Layton Andrews and Dorothy Layton Brown; and a brother, James Dale Layton. A celebration ceremony for Mr. Layton will be at 10 a.m. Monday, July 20, at Vestavia Hills United Methodist Church, 2061 Kentucky Ave. Visitation with family and friends will follow the service in the church sanctuary. UPDATED at 4:54 CDT on Thursday, July 16, 2015, to add information about Mr. Layton's celebration ceremony.

MONTREAL -- Toronto FC is the best team in MLS right now, and really, it isn't even close. The Reds pulled into first place in the Eastern Conference on Wednesday, following their 2-1 win in Orlando, and while two Western clubs -- FC Dallas and the Colorado Rapids -- boast higher points-per-game averages than TFC's, Greg Vanney's side gets the nod based on its scary-good current form: a seven-match unbeaten run in which they've gone 6-0-1 and outscored opponents 18-5. Why would members of the sputtering Montreal Impact be looking forward to Saturday's game in Toronto against their rampaging archenemy? Easy. It's a rivalry. "They're in first place, and for us, it's a big challenge," Impact coach Mauro Biello said after his team tied D.C. United 1-1 in its own midweek tilt. "But there's no better game to ask for to spring us in the right direction than having a good performance against Toronto, that's for sure." The history between the clubs dates only to 2007, when Toronto became the league's first Canadian franchise. It grew after the Impact, then in the second tier, beat the Reds in Toronto to qualify for the 2008-09 CONCACAF Champions League. It rose to another level still when Montreal joined the top flight four years ago and immediately produced better results than TFC, which failed to reach the playoffs in each of its first eight seasons -- an MLS record for futility. But the rivalry has really popped off the past two years. Both clubs signed big-money designated players -- the Impact Didier Drogba, TFC Jozy Altidore and Sebastian Giovinco -- in 2015 and began ascending the established order in the East. As fate would have it, they met in the knockout round of the playoffs last fall, with Montreal routing TFC 3-0 in the first and only postseason match Toronto has ever played. "Since last season, especially probably the last game we played them in the playoffs, things have escalated," Impact captain Patrice Bernier told ESPN FC. Toronto FC Toronto FC Montreal Impact Montreal Impact 0 1 FT Game Details GameCast Lineups and Stats As with all good rivalries, the roots go well beyond sport. Canada's two largest cities are separated by just 300 miles of highway, but they're worlds apart in most other ways. The animosity between the two goes back to bloody battles between English and French armies in the mid-1700s. Even now, they literally don't speak the same language, with French the mother tongue of the majority of Montreal's 3.5 million inhabitants. Toronto replaced Montreal as Canada's economic engine in the last quarter of the 20th century, but the latter's sports teams -- especially in hockey, the country's most popular sport -- have been more successful and a point of pride. As an American, Impact keeper Evan Bush didn't know much about the history between the cities when he arrived in Montreal in 2011, when the club was still in the second tier. These days, he thinks the cultural underpinnings make it the league's most authentic. "If you look at rivalries around the league, a lot of them are manufactured. Even Seattle-Portland, there's a lot of history there, but it's a little manufactured," Bush told ESPN FC. "If you're not from here, you might think Toronto-Montreal is the same thing. It's not. It goes much deeper than soccer." "The Toronto-Montreal rivalry is one of the best in all of sports," TFC midfielder and Toronto native Jonathan Osorio said in a phone interview. "I've been to Canadiens-[Maple] Leafs games. It's always a hostile atmosphere. It's the same in MLS. Even when Montreal was in the NASL, it was still a big game for the supporters of both clubs. Now it's a fixture that everybody looks forward to around the league, I think." Montreal Impact's Laurent Ciman, left, talks it out with Toronto FC's Sebastian Giovinco. TFC won the only previous meeting in league play this season. That 2-0 victory at Stade Saputo in April was a measure of revenge for last year's humiliating elimination there, and TFC also beat the Impact 4-2 over two games in June in the Canadian Championship. Still, Quebec-born Bernier can't wait for Saturday's match, however well the hosts are playing. "It doesn't mean anything," Bernier said of Toronto's recent run. "There's still a lot of games left. They can peak now and lose every game for the rest of the season. "We're never scared of that team," he continued. "They're good. They're better than before. But it's Toronto. We'll step up to the plate." They'll have to. After losing just once in 10 games, Montreal has just one win in its past five. Meanwhile, Toronto is showing no signs of slowing down. The ret-hot Altidore will be fresh too, having played just the final 32 minutes against Orlando City (enough to score TFC's late winner, his fifth goal in six matches). Osorio even thinks his team has room to improve. "We knew from the beginning of the season that if we got things clicking with everyone, the chemistry, we would be a contender," he said. "But we haven't hit our best stride yet. When we do, we know what we're capable of. But right now it's about the present and getting a win for our fans. It's always an important match against Montreal." Doug McIntyre is a staff writer for ESPN The Magazine and ESPN FC. Follow him on Twitter @DougMacESPN.

The Elder Scrolls: Total War 2.0 - new mercenary armies That is the time when we finally completed work on all mercenary armies for version 2.0. In this article, we will tell (and most importantly, show) all new mercenary armies in the upcoming final version of The Elder Scrolls: Total War. In order not to waste your time, let's get straight to the point. The first new mercenary army is well known to every TES fan who played Skyrim. This is not an army in the literal sense of the word, but an entire people - Reachmen. Reachmen live on the territory of eastern High Rock and southwestern Skyrim, called the Reach. They have their leaders and kings, but there is no single state, although their ancestors once even ruled the Cyrodiil Empire. They live in small clans, and their neighbors consider them barbarians, witchers and cannibals, which is often not far from the truth. Nevertheless, their leaders are smart and insidious, and also greedy for gold. The Reachmen will not challenge the invincible adversary, they will become part of such a powerful force for a reasonable fee. Leader of the Reachmen - King Bran of the Winterborn (3E) \ Madanach The King in Rags (4E) King Bran is a fictional character, a native of the famous Winterborn clan. His ancestors participated in the Siege of Orsinium. Bran - a cunning leader, one of the many desperate brave souls who tried to unite under their command all the tribes of Reachmen. Many leaders fear and respect him, and his word means a lot in the whole Reach. If Bran goes to the service of a worthy and powerful ally, many will follow him. Madanach is the famous ruler of the Reachmen, the leader of the Forsworn who once captured Markarth and considered himself his legal rulers. Later, Markarth was repulsed by the son of Windhelm’s jarl - Ulfric Stormcloak, the Forsworn were expelled from there, and Madanach himself was imprisoned in the Sidna mine. Any king, whether he is a Nord, Orsimer or Breton, owning Markarth and Reach, can free Madanach from imprisonment if he wants the Reachmen to serve him, but such a move will forever ruin his relationship with Ulfric Stormcloak. Units: Reachmen The army of Reachmen consists of a huddle of desperate warriors, wrapped in skins, but not wearing armor. Their home-made swords and axes leave terrible wounds on the bodies of their opponents. The backbone of this wild army is light infantry. Horse riders In addition to the foot soldiers in this barbarian army there is a cavalry. The riders of the Reach are light cavalry, which is convenient to use for quick and sudden attacks, but in battles with knights these warriors in tatters have no chance. Also, their cavalry can be a good help for the armies of orcs and nords, which are not famous for their cavalry. Briar Hearts The few warriors of the Reachmen who survive the bloody rituals of the hagravens become Briar Hearts - berserkers, they do not know fear, pain and fatigue. With a wild battle cry, they rush at opponents and always fight to the death. Mammoths And finally, the Reachmen are one of the few who knows the special secret of taming mammoths. These formidable creatures living in Skyrim and, in part, in High Rock, will bring down the morale of any troops not prepared for such a meeting, but the ruler, who is served by the Reachmen, will give a valuable trump card in any fight. In order to hire troops of Reachmen, the player will have to fulfill the following conditions: - Play for one of the following factions: the Kingdom of Skyrim, the Kingdom of Daggerfall, the Kingdom of Wayrest, the Kingdom of Orsinium (adding this army to the Clans of the Forebears and the Crowns is still under discussion). - To occupy the following territories: Evermore, Raven Spring, Cloud Spring (in the campaign of the Fourth Era, you must also have Markarth) - Accept the offer of Bran Widnaborn or release Madanach from the Sidna mine. After that, the player will be available to build Reachmen’s Camp in which he will be able to hire, train and retrain their troops. The second mercenary army is an old dream of many who play our mod, realized in a slightly different form. Let's say that you asked us to do this faction a long time ago, we realized this dream of yours a little differently ... The city of Rimmen in Elsweyr was founded by the remaining Akaviri persecuted after the First Akaviri Invasion in Tamriel. They went to the mountains and built this mysterious city there, where they lived for a long time in a retreat. For a time, Rimmen was independent, then long passed from hand to hand. At the end of the Third Era, it was subjugated to the gangs of the Khajiit, who use the city as an artery for the illegal trade of moon sugar. The Tsaesci are ready to swear to anyone who will help them drive the cats out of the city. The army of mysterious serpent men from Akavir, famous for their unique fighting skills, is the key to dominance for any ruler. Tsaesci are immortal and hone their skills not just for years, but for centuries. Dinieras-Ves is considered to be the greatest master among the living Akiviri of Rimmen and the founder of the fighters guild. He announced that he would give his sword and live to the one who would help the Akaviri drive out the gangsters from Rimmen and restore Tonenaka, the ancient sanctuary of a thousand statues. The leader of the army is Dinieras-Ves. Units: Tsaesci warriors call themselves "Syffim." They do not wear shields, are dressed in elaborately made armor with awesome masks, and in martial art they have no equal in all of Tamriel. Nodachi Syffim Nodachi is a two-handed sword of the Akaviri, called Daikatana in Tamriel. In the Akavir tradition, the katana is more often a ceremonial weapon, and the nodachi is a combat weapon. Nodachi Syffim are the main offensive force of the Tsaesci army and can easily defeat any enemy unit in one on one combat. Naginata Syffim Another unique Akavir weapon is naginata. It allows Syffim equally well to keep opponents at a distance and fight them in melee. Naginata also performed well in battle with the cavalry of the Tamriel invaders during the invasion of Uriel V, which led to an increase in its popularity both in Akavir and in Rimmen. Syffim Yumi-Tohi Each soldier is obliged to be able to use the sword in the empire of the Tsaesci, but the skill of archery is considered the highest art. Yumi-tohi (NB - in general, in Japan it is called yumi-tory, but it is assumed that the sound “r” is not very common in the Tsaesci language) is the name of Syffim, who are equally good at nodachi and yumi. Yumi-tohi - pearl of the Akavir military art. To hire Tsaesci troops, the player must fulfill the following conditions: - play for one of the following factions: Cyrodiil Empire, Clans of Blackmarsh, Aldmeri Dominion, Kingdom of Pellitine, Kingdom of Anequina - capture Rimmen - rebuild the sanctuary of Tonenaka in Rimmen - accept the offer of Dinieras-Ves. After that, the player will be able to hire all of the Tsaesci troops in any fighters guild quarters. Well, while you have not yet recovered from the Tsaesci presentation, we’ll go to the third and last army. We have already mentioned in passing about her appearance, now finally we are telling in detail. Clockwork City is in danger. At the end of the Third Era, Dagoth Ur have finally found Sotha Sil’s most valuable creation.. Having managed to penetrate into the dimension where the city is located, Sharmat wants to get the secrets of it’s creator and, perhaps, finally find a way to leave the Red Mountain’s Ghostfence and bring his power to Morrowind. To counter it, Sotha Sil raises his army of factotums - the mechanical inhabitants of the Clockwork City. But he alone will not be able to withstand this threat, so the god of the Tribunal is seeking to ally itself the most experienced of the Dunmer commanders to help him cope with the hordes of ashspawns. And what could be more useful than a grateful god? After the death of Sotha Sil from Almalexia’s hand, Clockwork City was in a precarious position. Galyn, the leader of the Apostles, is observing the creation of Lord Seht, desperately hoping that he will find a way to rise from the dead and return to the world of the living to rule again the Dunmer and the Clockwork City. In the meantime, the former disciple of Sotha Sil, Mecinar wants to claim the City for himself. Having subjugated some of the factotums, he wants to use the once created by Sotha Sil copy of the Heart of Lorkhan, which will give him unprecedented power. Galyn's strength is not enough to resist Mecinar, so he seeks help from those of the Dunmer who have not yet strayed from the path and are ready to fight for the legacy of his god. Depending on the faction and campaign chosen by the player, there can be three different commanders of Clockwork City Army — the Apostle Galyn, Sotha Sil himself and Dagoth Ur. Units: The Clokwork City is protected by factotums - mechanisms created by Sotha Sil and inhabiting his creation. They have their own soul and consciousness, but they are much more durable and reliable than soldiers of living flesh. Factotum Conduits Factotums, dressed in long white robes. They are sensitive to the magic of destruction and bring down electrical discharges on the enemy in battle. Factotum Adjudicators Armed with swords, hammers and axes, the Adjudicators keep order in the Clockwork City. In battle, they hide behind round shields, as strong as the material from which their bodies are made. Factotum Arbalests These factotums are armed with crossbows. Their bolts are much more lethal than ordinary wooden shells, and their inherent stability and accuracy allows them to shoot much more accurately than any ordinary mortal. Imperfects The first creations of Sotha Sil, in which God subsequently became disappointed. To prove their“perfection” to him, these factotums are ready to fight with any creature, no matter how powerful it is. And although Lord Seht himself considers them nothing more than brute force, these giants can become the most valuable acquisition in the army for someone who deserves the gratitude of the leader of the Clockwork City. To get his hands on an army of combat machines, a player must: - Play for one of the five Great Houses of Morrowind, complete a number of tasks of Sotha Sil\Galyn and fight in a battle against the army of Dagoth Ur\Mecinar. - after that, he will be able to hire factotums in any settlement where he will build a portal to Clockwork City or: - Play as the Great House of Dagoth, complete a series of tasks in order to find a passage to the Clockwork City and fight against Sotha Sil to subdue his creation - after that, he will be able to hire factotums in any settlement where he will build a portal to Clockwork City We will tell about the tasks that the player will need to perform to get into the Clockwork City later. At the end of the article about mercenaries, we want to say that in the Fourth Era campaign we will also have Roscrea Island on map, and in its territory the player will be able to hire troops of this severe island as mercenaries. Here’s how they look: Stay with us! LoRdNazguL and DaedraWarrior

Four decades into the feminist revolution, sexual harassment really ought to be old news. There can hardly be a man in the Western world who does not know the rules: treat female colleagues with respect, give them equal pay and keep your hands to yourself. It should be a doddle - so why is sexual harmony at work still proving so elusive? In recent weeks, an army of female whistleblowers has marched into the courts to complain of harassment and discrimination. The most high-profile of these have come from the world of finance, and some have been lavishly compensated for their sufferings. The City lawyer Elizabeth Weston - who complained that a couple of drunken oafs at the office party had remarked on the size of her breasts, and on her husband's good fortune in being allowed to manhandle them - was given a £1 million pay-out in return for dropping her case. In the United States, Morgan Stanley has just agreed to pay $42 million to settle a class action involving hundreds of disgruntled female employees. Their ringleader, Allison Schieffelin, was given $12 million all to herself, on the grounds that she was denied promotion and excluded from an all-male bonding trip to the strip-clubs of Las Vegas. It goes without saying that these settlements are disproportionate to the crimes involved. It would be a very soppy woman indeed who could not handle the odd breast-fixated drunk. As for the lap-dancing trips, I know City boys who would give anything to be excluded from this exquisitely embarrassing ritual. Nevertheless, there is a logic behind such eye-catching pay-outs. They are meant to send a message to all employers that women must be treated with as much consideration as men. This is a point that still needs making - and not just in the City. Women in low-paid jobs are every bit as vulnerable to boorish behaviour. Consider the hair-raising testimony given by Emma Evans, a former shop assistant for Superdrug, to an employment tribunal last week. Miss Evans, aged 29, described how one of her co-workers, Jeorge Leso, used to perform strip-teases in the stock room, during which he would whip off his leather belt and use it to spank her on the bottom. Worse was to come. "One day," she recalled, "Mr Leso grabbed my wrist while I was walking past. He undid his trouser flies with his other hand and tried to put my hand on him. I managed to get my wrist free. Mr Leso laughed." It was no good complaining to her area manager, she says, because he too was a habitual groper. Men like this need their knuckles rapped more forcefully than any solitary woman trapped in a store room can manage. That is where the law comes in. Yet there remains considerable unease, among women as well as men, about whether the law can always handle such a messy area of human relations. The difference between harassment and flirtatious banter can be bewilderingly obscure even at the time - let alone when it is recalled out of context, in front of a judge. The first imponderable that needs to be considered is atmosphere. In an office where sexual equality is taken for granted, a bit of light chauvinism can be quite entertaining. A very clever, successful friend of mine used to have a running joke with her boss. "You know, Susanna," he would say, "I only hired you for your looks." "Oh Jon," she would simper, performing a little pirouette of joy. "Do you really mean that?" Which brings me to the second imponderable: men who are funny and charismatic and easy with women can get away with almost anything. One of my favourite colleagues has a habit of waggling his eyebrows suggestively at me across the room, while his hands describe an hourglass shape in the air. I find it very cheering. From a less charming man, such behaviour would be horrid - perhaps even actionable. Sexual harassment is a crime committed by beta-males who think they can get away with alpha behaviour. But that is a distinction too delicate for the blunt instrument of the law. How do you explain to a judge why one man's comedy is another man's bone-chilling lechery? And can we really expect the beta-males themselves to understand the difference? The headache of defining sexual harassment will never go away. But there is reason to hope that, eventually, the problem itself may peter out. The working world is becoming increasingly feminine. The number of female civil servants has doubled in a decade; the proportion of female managers has risen from one in 10 to one in four; women now outnumber men among newly-qualified solicitors and doctors. Even in the City, women make up 41 per cent of the workforce. Eventually, sheer weight of numbers will give us the upper hand. The "bonding trips" of the future will not be in strip clubs, but in day spas. Executive decisions will be made at the school gates rather than the golf club. The most intimidating and lecherous bosses may be the ones in skirts. Men who grumble about sexual discrimination laws should look to the long term. There may come a time when you need them more than we do.

The results from this randomized controlled trial indicate that both soy and milk protein intake reduce systolic BP compared to a high glycemic index refined carbohydrate among patients with prehypertension and stage-1 hypertension. Furthermore, these findings suggest that partially replacing carbohydrate with soy or milk protein might be an important component of nutrition intervention strategies for the prevention and treatment of hypertension. We conducted a randomized double-blind crossover trial with 3-intervention phases among 352 adults with prehypertension or stage-1 hypertension in New Orleans, Louisiana and Jackson, Mississippi from September 2003 to April 2008. The trial participants were assigned to take 40 grams/day of soy protein, milk protein, or carbohydrate supplementation each for 8 weeks in a random order. A 3-week washout period was implemented between the interventions. Three BPs were measured at 2 baseline and 2 termination visits during each of 3 intervention phases using a random-zero sphygmomanometer. Compared to carbohydrate controls, soy protein and milk protein supplementations were significantly associated with −2.0 mmHg (95% confidence interval −3.2 to −0.7, p=0.002) and −2.3 mmHg (−3.7 to −1.0, p=0.0007) net change in systolic BP, respectively. Diastolic BP was also reduced but this change did not reach statistical significance. There was no significant difference in the BP reductions achieved between soy or milk protein supplementation. Observational epidemiological studies have reported inconsistent findings on the relationship between dietary protein intake and blood pressure (BP) ( 6 – 8 ). For example, the INTERMAP study, a cross-sectional epidemiological study of 4,680 persons aged 40 to 59 years from 4 countries, found a significant inverse relationship between total vegetable protein intake and BP but no significant association between total animal protein and BP ( 8 ). There are very limited data from randomized controlled trials to assess the effect of dietary protein on BP ( 6 , 9 , 10 ). In most of these trials, change in BP was not the primary outcome of interest, the sample size was small, and only a single BP measurement was obtained at the baseline and termination visits ( 6 , 7 ). In addition, the effects of animal protein and vegetable protein on BP have not been compared in clinical trials. We report here the results from a randomized cross-over designed trial to test the effect of soy protein and milk protein supplementations on BP in men and women aged 22 years and older with prehypertension or stage-1 hypertension. Hypertension is an important public health challenge in the US and other countries due to its high prevalence and the concomitant increased risk of cardiovascular disease and premature death ( 1 – 3 ). Primary prevention of hypertension provides an attractive opportunity to interrupt and prevent the continuing costly cycle of managing hypertension and its complications ( 4 ). National guidelines identify lifestyle modifications as important elements in the prevention and treatment of hypertension and recommend this approach to the entire population ( 4 , 5 ). Physical activity, weight reduction, dietary sodium reduction, moderation of alcohol consumption, potassium supplementation, and consumption of a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and low-fat dairy products and reductions in saturated and total fat have been recommended as effective approaches for the prevention of hypertension ( 4 ). The primary outcome of interest was the net difference in change of systolic and diastolic BP among the 3 intervention phases. The change of BP was calculated as termination value minus baseline value within each intervention phase. Means of 6 BP readings taken during the 2 baseline visits and during the 2 termination visits were used for analysis. A mixed effects model was used to assess the effects of protein supplementation on the change of BP, in which participants were assumed to be random effects and treatment, sequence, and period were assumed to be estimable fixed effects. PROC MIXED of SAS version 9.2 (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, North Carolina) was used to obtain point estimates and standard errors of the treatment, sequence, and period effects and to test for differences between treatments. An autoregressive correlation matrix was used to correct within subject correlation for repeated measurements. We examined the carryover effect by testing period × treatment interaction, and the interaction was not statistically significant. The intention-to-treat principle was used for all primary analyses. If a participant withdrew or was lost to follow-up from the study, the baseline BP was used as the termination value (change in BP equal to 0) within each phase. In a secondary analysis, we repeated the analysis in only participants who fully completed the study. The ProBP study was designed to provide greater than 90% statistical power to detect a 2.0 mmHg reduction in systolic BP at a significance level of 0.0167 (0.05/3 for the Bonferroni correction of multiple-comparisons) using a two-tailed test. The 24-hour dietary nutrient intake, urinary excretion of sodium, potassium, urea nitrogen, and creatinine were compared among 3 phases by using repeated measures analysis of variance. Two baseline and two termination visits were conducted during each intervention/control phase. At each visit, three BP readings were measured using the Hawksley random-zero sphygmomanometer by trained and certified observers who were masked to group assignment. BP readings were taken from the right arm with appropriately sized cuffs after the participant had been seated quietly for 5 minutes. The participant was instructed not to eat, smoke, drink alcohol, or exercise for at least 30 minutes prior to their BP measurements. Body weight, height, and waist circumference were measured by trained staff using a standard protocol and BMI was calculated as kg/m 2 . Two 24-hour dietary recalls were conducted at the screening visits and at the termination visits during each intervention/control phase. Computer software (Nutrition Data System for Research) was used to conduct 24-hour dietary recalls and calculate nutrient intakes ( 12 ). An overnight timed urinary sample was collected at the baseline and termination visits to measure urinary excretion of sodium, potassium, urea nitrogen, and creatinine. Side-effects and compliance were assessed using a questionnaire, packet counts, and self-reported supplement calendar report. The soy protein, milk protein, and complex carbohydrate supplements were provided for the ProBP study by Solae, LLC, St. Louis, Missouri. The contents of sodium, potassium, and calcium in soy-protein, milk-protein, and complex-carbohydrate were comparable ( ). Phosphorus was slightly higher in soy protein than milk protein and complex carbohydrate, while glycemic index was higher in complex carbohydrate than soy protein and milk protein. The average glycemic index of each supplement was calculated by summing up the products of carbohydrate contents (sucrose, fructose, and maltodextrin in grams, separately), multiplying their glycemic index, and then dividing by the total carbohydrate in each supplement ( 11 ). In addition, glutamic acid was slightly higher in soy protein compared to milk protein. The soy protein, milk protein, and complex carbohydrate powders looked and tasted the same and were provided to study participants in identical packets. The study participants were instructed to take the supplements twice per day; once in the morning and once in the evening in water or juice. Based on the participants’ two 24-hour dietary recalls during screening visits, individualized recommendations were given in order for participants’ total energy intake to remain consistent over the supplementation periods; for example, protein and carbohydrate supplement was recommended to partially replace breakfast, snack, or supper based on participants’ diet habits. Participants were also instructed to maintain their usual level of physical activity, alcohol intake, and dietary sodium intake. The study participants returned unconsumed packets at their follow-up clinical visits. The study coordinator counted the number of returned packets, and we used this to assess the participants’ adherence to their assigned intervention. The study participants were randomly assigned to three sequences at a fixed 1:1:1 allocation ratio. The three groups received supplements in different orders; sequence A received 40 grams of soy protein for 8 weeks, then 40 grams of milk protein for 8 weeks, and finally 40 grams of complex carbohydrate for 8 weeks; those who were assigned to sequence B first received milk protein, then carbohydrate, and finally soy protein; and those who were assigned to sequence C first received carbohydrate, then soy protein, and finally milk protein. The randomization was stratified by clinic site, gender, and hypertension status and used a block size of 6. The randomization assignment was conducted centrally at the Data Coordinating Unit at Tulane University. After eligibility was determined, the study coordinator telephoned the Data Coordinating Unit to obtain the randomization assignment. The randomization assignment list was generated by a computer program which could only be accessed by the study data coordinator. Apart from the data coordinator, all research personnel, including study coordinators and BP technicians, and the study participants were unaware of treatment assignment. The study participants were recruited by mass mailing and work-site/community-based BP screenings in New Orleans, Louisiana and Jackson, Mississippi. We invited 1,626 persons to the study clinics for screening visits and 391 persons met all eligibility criteria ( ). Of those ineligible, 27 individuals were taking antihypertensive medications, 61 had mean BP ≥160/95 mmHg, 686 had mean BP ≤120/80 mmHg, 23 had BMI ≥40 kg/m 2 , 96 had clinical CVD, CKD, dyslipidemia, or diabetes, 38 met other exclusion criteria, and 304 declined to participate. Among those who met inclusion criteria, 352 successfully completed a 2-week run-in (intake of ≥85% supplements) and were randomized to the intervention. The study participants were men and women aged 22 years or older who had a mean systolic BP from 120 to 159 mmHg and a diastolic BP from 80 to 95 mmHg, based on six readings at two screening visits. Persons with a systolic BP ≥160 mmHg or a diastolic BP ≥95 mmHg or that were taking antihypertensive medications were excluded. In addition, persons with a self-reported history of clinical cardiovascular disease (CVD), cancer, chronic kidney disease (CKD, or a serum creatinine ≥1.7 mg/dL for men and ≥1.5 mg/dL for women), hypercholesterolemia (or serum total cholesterol ≥240 mg/dL), diabetes (or serum glucose ≥126 mg/dL), body mass index (BMI) ≥40 kg/m 2 , or consumption of more than 14 drinks of alcoholic beverages per week were excluded. Persons who consumed dietary protein ≥1.63 grams/kg/day (85th percentile of dietary protein intake in the US general population) based on two 24-hour dietary recalls were also excluded. Finally, women who were pregnant or who intended to become pregnant during the study were excluded. The Protein and Blood Pressure (ProBP) study was a randomized, double-blinded, and placebo-controlled phase III clinical trial designed to test whether a soy protein or milk protein supplementation would reduce systolic BP compared to a complex carbohydrate. The ProBP study utilized a cross-over study design with 3 intervention phases. Following a 2-week run-in period, eligible participants were allocated to receive 40 grams of soy protein per day, 40 grams of milk protein per day, and 40 grams of complex carbohydrate (placebo) per day in a random order, each for 8 weeks. During the run-in period, study participants received 40 grams of complex carbohydrate supplement. A 3-week washout period was implemented between each intervention period. Patient recruitment and the intervention occurred between September 2003 and April 2008. Side effects were similar among the three groups. Percentages of self-reported change in appetite (28.0%, 26.1%, and 22.0%; p=0.24), stomach upset or nausea (10.1%, 9.8%, and 7.7%; p=0.55), stomach pain or burning (4.6%, 3.8%, and 4.9%; p=0.82), diarrhea (4.9%, 2.8%, and 4.2%; p=0.42), constipation (14.0%, 15.0%, and 11.9%; p=0.54), red blood in the stool or blackened stools (1.4%, 2.1%, and 1.1%; p=0.69), frequent urination (11.2%, 14.3%, and 9.8%; p=0.23), excessive gas (19.2%, 16.4%, and 15.0%; p=0.38), excessive thirst (12.2%, 10.5%, and 11.2%; p=0.79), and change in sexual drive (4.9%, 2.8%, and 3.1%; p=0.35) were similar in the soy protein, milk protein, and carbohydrate supplementation phases, respectively. Participants reported more bad taste in their mouth during soy protein supplementation (16.4%, 10.5%, and 8.0%; p=0.005), and more belching during soy protein and milk protein supplementation (16.5%, 15.7%, and 7.7%; p=0.003) compared to carbohydrate control. In a secondary analysis limited to participants who completed the entire trial, mean systolic BP was reduced by 1.6 mmHg (95% CI −2.5, −0.7; p=0.003) from baseline during soy protein supplementation and by 1.5 mmHg (95% CI −2.4, −0.6; p=0.009) from baseline during milk protein supplementation. Systolic BP did not significantly change during carbohydrate supplementation (0.4 mmHg; 95% CI −0.6, 1.3; p=0.85). Diastolic BP did not significantly change during any of the three interventions. Mean systolic BP was reduced by 1.5 mmHg [95% confidence interval (CI) −2.4, −0.6; p=0.002] from baseline during soy protein supplementation and by 1.8 mmHg (95% CI −2.7, −1.0; p<0.001) from baseline during milk protein supplementation while systolic BP did not significantly change during carbohydrate supplementation ( ). Diastolic BP was not significantly changed during soy protein, milk protein, or carbohydrate supplementations. Compared to the carbohydrate control experience, soy protein supplementation was significantly associated with −2.0 mmHg (95% CI −3.2 to −0.7, p=0.002) net change in systolic BP and milk protein supplementation was significantly associated with −2.3 mmHg (−3.7 to −1.0, p=0.0007) net change in systolic BP ( ). There was no significant difference between the BP reductions achieved with soy or milk protein supplementation. presents daily dietary nutrient intake according to intervention phases from 24-hour dietary recall. On average, dietary protein intake was significantly increased in soy protein (30.5 grams/day) and milk protein (32.8 gram/day) supplementation phases compared to carbohydrate supplementation while carbohydrate intake was significantly decreased in soy protein (30.7 grams/day) and milk protein (30.6 grams/day) supplementation phases. The dietary intakes of total energy, fat, saturated fat, sodium, potassium and calcium were not significantly different among the 3 intervention/control phases. During the intervention period, urinary excretion of urea nitrogen was significantly increased in the soy protein and milk protein supplementation phases compared to carbohydrate supplementation phase ( ). Mean overnight urinary excretion of sodium, potassium, and creatinine were not significantly different among the 3 intervention phases. In addition, body weight, fasting plasma glucose, total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, and triglyceride were not significantly differed among the 3 intervention/control phases. HDL-cholesterol was significantly higher in the soy protein supplementation group ( ). The baseline characteristics of our study participants by randomization groups are displayed in . Mean systolic/diastolic BP was 126.7/82.4 mmHg, and the proportion with hypertension was 18.5%. Of 352 study participants, 284 (80.7%) had BPs measured at the end of the soy protein supplementation phase, 286 (81.3%) had BPs measured at the end of the milk protein supplementation phase, and 287 (81.5%) had BPs measured at the end of the carbohydrate supplementation phase ( ). Based on returned packet counts and supplement calendar report, the study participants who completed the supplementation intervention consumed over 85% of their supplements during the corresponding intervention phase. DISCUSSION This randomized controlled trial indicates that, compared to carbohydrate intake, both soy protein and milk protein supplementation reduces systolic BP among individuals with pre-hypertension or stage-1 hypertension. The effect on BP reduction is not significantly different between soy protein and milk protein. To our knowledge, this is the first randomized controlled trial aimed at directly comparing the effect of vegetable protein (soy), dairy protein (milk), and carbohydrate on BP. These study findings may have important public health and clinical implications. It was estimated that a 2 mmHg reduction in population systolic BP could lead to a 6% reduction in stroke mortality, 4% reduction in coronary heart disease mortality, and 3% reduction in all-cause mortality (4). The effect of soy protein on serum lipids has been well documented (13). However, the effect of soy protein on BP has not been well studied. Washburn and colleagues compared the effect of 20 grams of soy protein given either in 1 dose or in 2 doses with that of 20 grams of complex carbohydrates on cardiovascular disease risk factors and menopausal symptoms among 51 women in a randomized controlled trial (14). They observed a significant reduction in diastolic, but not systolic BP in the twice-daily soy protein group only. Burke and colleagues reported that mean 24-hour ambulatory systolic and diastolic BP significantly decreased in those assigned to soy protein supplementation compared with the controls on a low-protein diet among 41 treated hypertensive patients in a randomized controlled trial (15). He and colleagues reported a significant reduction in systolic and diastolic BP among participants assigned to 40 grams of soy protein per day compared to those assigned to carbohydrate control in a randomized controlled trial of 302 Chinese participants with pre-hypertension or stage-1 hypertension (10). The current study provides further evidence that soy protein supplementation reduces BP and supports the notion that vegetable protein intake can be an important component of nutritional interventions for the prevention of hypertension (7). A diet which is rich in low-fat dairy products has been shown to reduce BP in clinical trials (16,17). The BP lowering effect of dairy products has been hypothesized to be due to the high content of calcium and potassium in dairy products (18). To our knowledge, this is the first clinical trial to document that milk protein lowers BP in pre-hypertension and stage-1 hypertension individuals. In our study, calcium and potassium were matched among the soy protein, milk protein, and carbohydrate control groups. Therefore, the observed BP reduction in our study was due to milk protein, not the calcium or potassium in these supplements. The OmniHeart randomized trial demonstrated that partial replacement of carbohydrate with protein (about half vegetable and half animal protein) reduced BP in adults with prehypertension or stage-1 hypertension (19). In addition, an 8-week randomized parallel-design trial documented that modest substitution of carbohydrate intake with animal protein intake from lean red meat lowered BP in hypertensive persons (20). There are inconsistent reports regarding whether vegetable or animal protein provides a better BP-lowering effect (6–8, 21–26). Some observational epidemiologic studies have identified an inverse association between dietary vegetable protein intake and BP (8,21–23). In contrast, other studies observed an inverse association between dietary animal protein intake and BP (24–26). Higher levels of dietary fiber, antioxidant vitamins, and potassium and lower levels of fat and sodium in vegetable protein rich foods might confound the relationship between vegetable protein intake and BP (6). Likewise, higher levels of potassium, calcium and magnesium in dairy products might confound the relationship between animal protein intake and BP. In this randomized controlled trial, with the exception of dietary protein and carbohydrate, other macro- and micronutrients were not changed during the 3-phase interventions with soy protein, milk protein, and carbohydrate supplementations. Our study indicates that both vegetable protein (soy) and dairy protein (milk) lower BP. Isoflavones in soy protein have been reported to lower BP in clinical trials (27). However, this effect has been found to be inconsistent and not dose-dependent. Dietary phosphorus is high in soy protein and phosphorus has been inversely associated with BP in the INTERMAP study, a cross-sectional epidemiologic study of 4680 adults ages 40–59 from 4 countries (28). Milk protein is a rich source of angiotensin-I-converting enzyme inhibitory peptides. Animal experiments and human studies showed that these casokinins and lactokinins can significantly reduce BP (29). In addition, some amino acids might have direct BP-lowering effects (6). For example, a strong inverse association between dietary glutamic acid intake and BP has been observed in the INTERMAP study (30). Glutamic acid is a very common amino acid and constitutes 21.5% of soy protein and 19.5% of milk protein intakes. Future studies should test the effects of individual amino acids on BP. This randomized controlled trial used a 3-phase cross-over design and BP measurements were carefully obtained during multiple visits at the baseline and termination of each phase. This design maximally minimized the influences of variations in lifestyle and diet among individual participants on BP changes during intervention. A prolonged washout period (3 weeks) and collection of baseline BP at each phase reduced the carryover effects of intervention. Limitations of this study include the relatively short duration of the intervention and the use of a high glycemic index refined carbohydrate supplement as control. Additional limitations include the lack of testing for a dose-response relationship between dietary protein intake and BP. Further studies should test the dose-response relationship between protein intake and BP. In addition, Although a low-protein diet is widely used for patients with CKD, its efficacy has been long debated (31). The Modification of Diet in Renal Disease Study randomized CKD patient to diets containing different amounts of protein and did not find a significant difference in mean decline in glomerular filtration rate (32). A meta-analysis of 13 randomized trials indicates that the effect of dietary protein restriction on retarding the rate of renal function decline is relatively weak and inconclusive (33). In conclusion, our study indicates that both soy and milk protein supplement reduce systolic BP compared to a high glycemic index refined carbohydrate supplement among patients with prehypertension and stage-1 hypertension. Previous studies have suggested that partial substitution of carbohydrate intake with protein intake lowers BP levels in patients with hypertension or prehypertension (19,20). Further randomized controlled trials are required to examine the effect of various dietary proteins on BP in order to recommend an overall increase in dietary protein intake as part of a nutrition intervention strategy for the prevention and treatment of hypertension.

John Kelly’s sterling reputation as a Marine general with an appreciation for nuance led many Democrats to back his nomination as Homeland Security secretary in the hope that he would rein in President Donald Trump’s hard-line immigration and security policies. Instead, Kelly has moved to impose those policies with military rigor. He has pursued an aggressive deportation campaign; defended Trump’s effort to ban visitors from several Muslim-majority countries; and hinted that he might separate migrant parents from their children at the U.S.-Mexico border. Story Continued Below Kelly has joked with Trump about using violence against reporters and defended Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, amid allegations that he tried to set up a secret back channel to the Russian government. Today, it’s tough to find anyone on the left willing to defend Kelly. He has alienated potential allies on Capitol Hill, including Democrats who voted to confirm him, and is endangering his reputation as a nonpartisan figure in a presidential administration that has relatively few. “I think Secretary Kelly has drank the Kool-Aid,” said Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey, who was among the Democrats who voted to confirm Kelly in January. “He’s not the person who I thought I was voting for.” Kelly, a blunt-spoken Boston native, is the former commander of U.S. Southern Command. That gave him a close-up view of border security issues in the Southern Hemisphere, including problems with drug trafficking and illegal immigration. The Senate confirmed him 88-11. One reason so many Democrats supported Kelly, 67, was because he indicated he would not target people enrolled in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, a 2012 program put into effect by President Barack Obama to give work permits to young undocumented immigrants and protect them from deportation. The program has not been canceled by the president, but there have been several reports of DACA recipients being detained or deported, undermining Kelly's standing among Democrats and pro-immigration activists. Sign up here for POLITICO Huddle A daily play-by-play of congressional news in your inbox. Email Sign Up By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time. The secretary, who was retired from the Marines for less than a year before being tapped for Trump's Cabinet, has repeatedly declared that his agency is targeting undocumented immigrants with criminal backgrounds for removal from the United States. But he has moved away from an Obama administration policy that prioritized deporting those with serious criminal records and offered relief to lower-level offenders. In the first three months of the Trump administration, arrests of non-criminal immigrants rose by 157 percent over the same period a year earlier, according to data from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Last month, Democratic Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, who also voted to confirm Kelly, pounded him for deporting a Honduran mother and her 5-year-old son. The mother, who had no criminal record, had fled gang violence and would be in danger if sent back to Honduras, Casey said. Kelly said the mother and child had tried but failed to obtain permission to stay in the United States, and that under existing statutes, they were due for removal. He added that most asylum seekers at the border simply parrot well-worn phrases to get a shot at staying in the United States, and that the woman had done just that. Casey said this past week that he has been talking with Kelly to schedule a private meeting, so that the senator can ask him about the administration’s policy on how officials decide to deport an immigrant and when they use discretion. “Look, we’ve had some arguments, the secretary and I,” Casey said. “I want to try to do whatever I can to work with him, but I think we probably have some basic differences.” Kelly did not respond to requests for comment on this story. Kelly’s defenders argue that he is taking stern stances now to prevent problems later. By hinting in March that he might separate undocumented parents from their children at the U.S.-Mexico border, he might have dissuaded many would-be migrants from ever showing up at the boundary line. After floating the idea in early March, Kelly told lawmakers weeks later that, with some exceptions, he would not impose it. “He’s been given a mission and, like any military person, will accomplish the mission as long as it’s not illegal,” said a retired military officer who served with Kelly. “I would hardly call him cruel. I saw how he interacted with his kids — stern, but no doubt he loved them.” Another retired military officer said Kelly, who lost a son to combat in Afghanistan, takes extremely seriously his duty to protect the United States, to the point where he may make some decisions that seem unfair. Kelly himself recently said that if more Americans knew the things he knew, they’d “never leave the house.” “He’s a very approachable guy, but he’s got a job to do,” the retired officer said. “People have got to step back and see it through his eyes.” Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill, the top Democrat on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, also defended Kelly, particularly his pledge to respond to oversight requests from anyone in Congress, even as the rest of the administration stonewalls Democrats. “He has said personally to me that if I hit a wall, call him, and he will try to fix it and get me the information that he has acknowledged that we need and deserve,” McCaskill said. The secretary has said that if Democrats don’t like his enforcement of immigration laws, they should “change those laws” or “shut up.” That bluntness has further infuriated Democrats, who note they have been trying for years to reform immigration laws but have been stymied by Republicans. Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), one of Kelly’s fiercest critics on Capitol Hill, rattled off at least a half-dozen concerns she has with the secretary, mostly spanning his handling of immigration policy and transparency at the Department of Homeland Security. “The role, the mission of the agency is a very important one, which I support 1,000 percent,” said Harris, who opposed Kelly’s confirmation. “But when it comes to transparency and a clear guidance around what the [immigration] enforcement priorities will be at the agency, I have real questions and real concerns.” “I would like to think he would be a moderating force because of his comments” on DACA, said Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), who also voted against confirming Kelly. “He has an understanding of why people want to come to this country, so I would think, hopefully, that would be part of his thinking.” Kelly has tried to split the difference on some of the more high-profile Trump promises. On the president’s call for a border wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, for instance, Kelly has said the barrier is unlikely to run “from sea to shining sea” and that a security plan for the area could involve a mix of a wall, fences, drones and other technology. But Kelly has surprised observers by standing up for Trump on some especially contentious issues, even when he doesn’t necessarily have to. He has repeatedly defended Trump’s executive order banning visitors from Iran, Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Libya and Yemen, although multiple courts have halted the order over concerns that it illegally discriminates against Muslims due to their religion. Kelly alleged to senators Tuesday that the court rulings are hurting counterterrorism efforts. Kelly also has said he sees no issue with Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and White House adviser, trying to establish a secret way to communicate with the Russian government, despite ongoing federal probes into whether Trump aides colluded with the Kremlin in trying to influence the 2016 presidential election. The most reliable politics newsletter. Sign up for POLITICO Playbook and get the latest news, every morning — in your inbox. Email Sign Up By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time. He told senators during a hearing Tuesday that he assumes Kushner is a “great American.” But several Senate Democrats take issue with Kelly’s defense of the controversial White House adviser. “I’m concerned that he seems to be treating it as typical established back-channel communications,” said Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), who voted to confirm Kelly. “I think some of the concerns many of us have is that Mr. Kushner seemed to desire great secrecy about this, even from the administration that was then in power.” And last month, during the U.S. Coast Guard Academy’s commencement ceremony, the Homeland Security secretary jokingly told Trump to use a ceremonial saber he was given “on the press.” Activists say Kelly’s actions and statements suggest he is not familiar with the intricacies of U.S. immigration law, and that as a result he may be willing to go along with hard-line interpretations of the law offered by other members of Trump’s Cabinet, such as Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who has long championed a crackdown on illegal and sometimes legal immigration. They also say that Kelly has more discretion than he likes to admit in how he enforces the law, such as prioritizing whom to deport. “He came in with a reputation of listening to all sides of an issue, but to date he has not reached out to the immigrant community in a significant way,” said Kevin Appleby, a senior director with the Center for Migration Studies. “He is increasingly surrounded by ideologues who limit his flexibility to solve problems.”

We’ve been very lucky this afternoon to have had some time, one on one, with LG’s brand new G5. Not only this, but outside the confines of Fira Gran Via as well — sure, we took some photos around the MWC 2016 venue, but we’ve also ventured elsewhere around Barcelona for a few quick photos. Sadly, our time with the LG G5 is short; we’ve been given this phone as an indulgence by LG Australia because we convinced them how important it was to share some photo samples with our audience… and because we know that many of you will fall in love with this phone as we have. Even Rachel, who’s an adamant iPhone user, is enjoying playing with the G5, exploring its user interface and having fun with the various camera modes. Without looking at the modular ecosystem surrounding the phone — which we can’t really explore, because we haven’t the accessories — the LG G5 is a stunning phone in its own right. It has an amazing camera module which not only takes standard photos with clarity, but it has a wide-angle lens which allows the phone to take some spectacularly wide shots of everyday life. So, without further superlatives, let’s take a look at the LG G5 camera. Here’s some outdoor shots in Huawei’s outdoor relaxation area. Seriously, Huawei’s booth was so enormous that it was the size of a small shopping centre, with a beautifully manicured outdoor garden and dining area. Last but not least, we went to the roof of our hotel in central Barcelona and experimented with the wide angle camera, taking some photos in the standard angle, and then activating the wide angle lens without changing the position of the phone. You can see the results for yourself. They’re amazing. Close Up Wide Close Up Wide I think you may agree, that last photo over the hotel’s pool deck, looking over Barcelona is just epic. The light was right, the colours amazing and yet restrained, and the way the G5 captured the photo itself was second to none. Even LG’s Gino Casha, here for MWC, agreed that it was a superb example of how the LG G5’s wide angle camera can capture some amazing memories. Please bear in mind that these photos were taken with a pre-production G5, and while the recipe might change a little before the production units are made, it’s somewhat less likely that the optics / sensor will change much. Anyhow, we’ve had to return the G5 now, and while our time with this demo unit was brief, we’re looking forward to a more fulsome review unit in the next few weeks. Thanks for tuning in!

Link to Article Archived Version Mon, 07 Oct 2013 19:48 Aleister CrowleyAleister Crowley, c. 1912 BornEdward Alexander Crowley(1875-10-12)12 October 1875Royal Leamington Spa, WarwickshireEnglandDied1 December 1947(1947-12-01) (aged 72)Hastings, East SussexEnglandInfluenced Timothy Leary, Robert Anton Wilson, Kenneth Anger, Anton LaVey, Gerald Gardner, Jack Parsons, Israel Regardie, Christopher Hyatt, Temple of Set, Peter J. Carroll, Jimmy Page,Aleister Crowley (//; 12 October 1875 '' 1 December 1947), born Edward Alexander Crowley, was an English occultist, ceremonial magician, poet, and mountaineer, who was responsible for founding the religion of Thelema. In his role as the founder of the Thelemite philosophy, he came to see himself as the prophet who was entrusted with informing humanity that it was entering the new Aeon of Horus in the early 20th century. Born to a wealthy evangelical Christian family, Crowley rejected this faith to embrace an interest in western esotericism, poetry, and mountaineering. He was educated at Cambridge University, and some biographers have argued that here he was recruited as a spy for British intelligence, a role they allege he maintained throughout his life. In 1898 he joined the esoteric Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, before moving to Boleskine House by Loch Ness, and travelling to India to study Hindu and Buddhist practices. After marrying Rose Edith Kelly, in 1904 they travelled to Cairo, Egypt, where Crowley claimed to have been contacted by a supernatural entity named Aiwass, who provided him with The Book of the Law, a sacred text that served as the basis for Thelema. After an unsuccessful attempt to climb Kangchenjunga, Crowley returned to Britain where, in 1907, he co-founded the A'´A'´ as a Thelemite order alongside George Cecil Jones. After spending time in Algeria, in 1912 he was initiated into the Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.), rising to become leader of the Order's British branch. Spending the First World War in the United States, where he worked for British intelligence services, in 1920 he moved to Cefal¹, Sicily, to run a commune known as the Abbey of Thelema. His libertine lifestyle led to denunciations in the British press, and the Italian government evicted him in 1923. Dividing his time between France, Germany, and England, he continued to promote Thelema until his death. During his lifetime, Crowley gained widespread notoriety, being openly bisexual, a recreational drug experimenter, and a social critic. As a result, he was denounced in the popular press as "the wickedest man in the world". Crowley has remained a highly influential figure over western esotericism and the counter-culture. In 2002, a BBC poll ranked him as the seventy-third greatest Briton of all time.[1] Early life[edit]Youth: 1875''1894[edit]Crowley was born as Edward Alexander Crowley at 30 Clarendon Square in Royal Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, on 12 October 1875. His father, Edward Crowley (1834''1887), was trained as an engineer but never worked as one, instead owning shares in a lucrative family brewing business, Crowley's Alton Ales, which allowed him to retire before his son was born. His mother, Emily Bertha Bishop (1848''1917), drew roots from a Devonshire-Somerset family and had a strained relationship with her son, whom she described as "the Beast", a name that he revelled in. The couple had been married at London's Kensington Registry Office in November 1874, and were evangelical Christians. Crowley's father had been born a Quaker, but had converted to the Exclusive Brethren, an ultra-conservative faction of the Plymouth Brethren, with Emily joining him upon marriage. Crowley's father was particularly devout, spending his time as a travelling preacher for the sect and reading a chapter from the Bible to his wife and son after breakfast every day. Following the death of their baby daughter in 1880, in 1881 the family moved to Redhill, Surrey. Aged 8, Crowley was sent to H.T. Habershon's evangelical Christian boarding school in Hastings, and then to the preparatory Ebor school in Cambridge, run by the Reverend Henry d'Arcy Champney, whom Crowley considered a sadist. In March 1887, when Crowley was 11, his father died of tongue cancer. Crowley would describe this as a turning point in his life, and he always maintained an admiration of his father, describing him as "his hero and his friend". Inheriting a third of his father's wealth, he began misbehaving at school, and was harshly punished by Champney; Crowley's family removed him from the school when he contracted albuminuria. He then attended Malvern College and then Tonbridge School, both of which he despised and left after only a few terms. He became increasingly sceptical regarding Christianity, pointing out to his religious teachers Inconsistencies in the Bible, and went against the Christian morality of his upbringing by smoking, masturbating, and having sex with women, including a prostitute from whom he contracted gonorrhea. Sent to live with a Brethren tutor in Eastbourne, where he undertook chemistry courses at Eastbourne College, Crowley developed his interests in chess, poetry, and mountain climbing, and in 1894 climbed Beachy Head before visiting the Alps and joining the Scottish Mountaineering Club. The following year he returned to the Bernese Alps, climbing the Eiger, Trift, Jungfrau, M¶nch, and Wetterhorn, with his achievements being recognised by the alpinist community. Cambridge University: 1895''1898[edit]Having adopted the name of Aleister over Edward, in October 1895 Crowley began a three-year course at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he was entered for the Moral ScienceTripos studying philosophy, but with approval from his personal tutor, he changed to English literature, which was not then part of the curriculum offered. Crowley spent much of his time at university engaged in his pastimes, becoming president of the chess club and practising the game for two hours a day; he briefly considered a professional career in the sport. Crowley also embraced his love of literature and poetry, becoming a particular fan of Richard Burton and Percy Bysshe Shelley, and many of his own poems appeared in student publications The Granta, Cambridge Magazine, and Cantab. Another hobby was mountaineering; he went on holiday to the Alps to do so every year from 1894 to 1898, often with his friend Oscar Eckenstein, and in 1897 he made the first guideless ascent of the M¶nch, receiving recognition from the Alpine mountaineering community. For many years I had loathed being called Alick, partly because of the unpleasant sound and sight of the word, partly because it was the name by which my mother called me. Edward did not seem to suit me and the diminutives Ted or Ned were even less appropriate. Alexander was too long and Sandy suggested tow hair and freckles. I had read in some book or other that the most favourable name for becoming famous was one consisting of a dactyl followed by a spondee, as at the end of a hexameter: like Jeremy Taylor. Aleister Crowley fulfilled these conditions and Aleister is the Gaelic form of Alexander. To adopt it would satisfy my romantic ideals. Aleister Crowley, on his name change.Crowley later claimed to have had his first significant mystical experience while on a winter holiday in Stockholm in December 1896. Several biographers, including Lawrence Sutin, Richard Kaczynski, and Tobias Churton, believed that this was the result of Crowley's first same-sex sexual encounter, enabling him to recognise his bisexuality. At Cambridge, Crowley maintained a vigorous sex life, largely with female prostitutes, from one of whom he caught syphilis, but eventually he took part in same-sex activities, despite their being illegal. In October 1897, Crowley met Herbert Charles Pollitt, president of the Cambridge University Footlights Dramatic Club, and the two entered into a relationship. They broke apart because Pollitt did not share Crowley's increasing interest in Western esotericism, something Crowley regretted for years. In 1897, Crowley travelled to St Petersburg in Russia, later claiming that he was trying to learn Russian as he considered a future diplomatic career there. Biographers Richard Spence and Tobias Churton suggested that Crowley had done so as an intelligence agent under the employ of the British secret service, speculating that he had been enlisted while at Cambridge. In October 1897, a brief illness triggered considerations of mortality and "the futility of all human endeavour", and Crowley abandoned all thoughts of a diplomatic career in favour of pursuing an interest in the occult. In March 1898, he obtained A.E. Waite's The Book of Black Magic and of Pacts (1898), and then Karl von Eckartshausen's The Cloud Upon the Sanctuary (1896), furthering his occult interests. In 1898 Crowley privately published 100 copies of his poem Aceldama: A Place to Bury Strangers In, but it was not a particular success. That same year he published a string of other poems, the most notable of which was White Stains, a piece of decadent erotica that had to be printed abroad as a safety measure in case it caused trouble with the British authorities. In July 1898, he left Cambridge, not having taken any degree at all despite a "first class" showing in his spring 1897 exams and consistent "second class honours" results before that. The Golden Dawn: 1898''1899[edit]In August 1898, Crowley was in Zermatt, Switzerland, where he met the chemist Julian L. Baker, and the two began discussing their common interest in alchemy. Back in London, Baker introduced Crowley to George Cecil Jones, a member of the occult society known as the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, which had been founded in 1888. Crowley was subsequently initiated into the Outer Order of the Golden Dawn on 18 November 1898 by the group's leader, Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers. The ceremony took place at the Isis-Urania Temple in London's Mark Masons Hall, where Crowley accepted his motto and magical name of "Frater Perdurabo", a Latin term meaning "Brother I shall endure to the end". Biographers Richard Spence and Tobias Churton have suggested that Crowley joined the Order under the command of the British secret services, to monitor the activities of Mathers, who was known to be a Carlist. Crowley moved from the Hotel Cecil to his own luxury flat at 67''69 Chancery Lane. He soon invited a senior Golden Dawn member, Allan Bennett, to live with him as his personal magical tutor. Bennett taught Crowley more about ceremonial magic and the ritual use of drugs, and together they performed the magic of the Goetia. Bennett desired to study Buddhism, and left for Asia to do so. In November 1899, Crowley acquired Boleskine House in Foyers on the shore of Loch Ness in Scotland. He subsequently developed a love of Scottish culture, describing himself as the "Laird of Boleskine" and took to wearing traditional highland dress, even during visits to London. He continued writing poetry, publishing Jezebel and Other Tragic Poems (1898), Tales of Archais (1898), Songs of the Spirit (1898), Appeal to the American Republic (1899), and Jephthah (1899); while most gained mixed reviews, the latter was a critical success. Crowley soon progressed through the grades of the Golden Dawn, and was ready to enter the inner Second Order. He was unpopular in the group, having gained a bad reputation for his bisexuality and libertine lifestyle, and he had developed feuds with members like W.B. Yeats. When the London members of the group refused to initiate Crowley into the Second Order, he visited Mathers in Paris, who personally upgraded him. A schism had developed between Mathers and the London members of the Golden Dawn, who were unhappy with his autocratic rule. Acting under Mathers' orders, Crowley '' with the help of his mistress and fellow initiate Elaine Simpson '' attempted to seize the Vault of Rosenkreutz, a temple space at 36 Blythe Road, from the London rebels. When the case was taken to court, the judge ruled in favour of the rebels, as they had paid for the space's rent. Spence suggested that this was part of an intelligence operation to undermine Mathers' authority. Mexico, India, Paris, and marriage: 1900''1903[edit]In 1900, Crowley travelled to Mexico via the United States, settling in Mexico City and taking a local woman as his mistress. Developing a love of the country, he continued experimenting with ceremonial magic, working with John Dee's Enochian invocations. He later claimed to have been initiated into Freemasonry while in the city, and spending time writing, he authored a play based on Richard Wagner's Tannh¤user as well as a series of poems, published as Oracles (1905). Eckenstein joined him later that year, and together they climbed several mountains, including Iztaccihuatl, Popocatepetl, and Colima, the latter of which they had to abandon owing to a volcanic eruption. Spence has suggested that the purpose of the trip might have been to explore Mexican oil prospects for British intelligence. Leaving Mexico, Crowley headed to San Francisco before sailing for Hawaii aboard the Nippon Maru. On the ship he had a brief affair with a married woman named Mary Alice Rogers; claiming to have fallen in love with her, he wrote a series of poems about the romance, published as Alice: An Adultery (1903). Briefly stopping at Japan and Hong Kong, Crowley reached Ceylon, where he met with Allan Bennett, who was there studying Shaivism. The pair spent some time in Kandy before Bennett decided to become a Buddhist monk in the Theravada tradition, travelling to Burma to do so. Crowley decided to tour India, devoting himself to the Hindu practice of raja yoga, from which he claimed to have achieved the spiritual state of dhyana. He spent much of this time studying at the Meenakshi Amman Temple in Madura, and also wrote poetry which would be published as The Sword of Song (1904). He contracted malaria, and had to recuperate from the disease in Calcutta and Rangoon. In 1902, he was joined in India by Eckenstein and several other mountaineers; Guy Knowles, H. Pfannl, V. Wesseley, and Jules Jacot-Guillarmod. Together the Eckenstein-Crowley expedition attempted K2, which had never been climbed. On the journey, Crowley was afflicted with influenza, malaria, and snow blindness, while other expedition members were similarly struck with illness. They reached an altitude of 20,000 feet (6,100 m) before turning back. Arriving in Paris in November 1902, he associated largely with the painter Gerald Festus Kelly, and through him became a fixture of the Parisian arts scene, authoring a series of poems on the work of an acquaintance, the sculptor Auguste Rodin, published as Rodin in Rime (1907). One of those frequenting this milieu was W. Somerset Maugham, who after briefly meeting Crowley later used him as a model for the character of Oliver Haddo in his novel The Magician (1908). Returning to Boleskine in April 1903, in August Crowley wed Gerald's sister Rose Edith Kelly in a "marriage of convenience" to prevent her entering an arranged marriage; the marriage appalled the Kelly family and damaged his friendship with Gerald. Heading on a honeymoon to Paris, Cairo, and then Ceylon, Crowley actually fell in love with her and set about to successfully prove his affections. He wrote her a series of love poems, published as Rosa Mundi and other Love Songs (1906), also authoring Why Jesus Wept. Developing Thelema[edit]Egypt and The Book of the Law: 1904[edit]Had! The manifestation of Nuit.The unveiling of the company of heaven.Every man and woman is a star.Every number is infinite; there is no difference.Help me, o warrior lord of Thebes, in my unveiling before the Children of men! The opening lines of The Book of the Law. In February 1904, Crowley and Rose arrived in Cairo, Egypt. Claiming to be a prince and princess, they rented an apartment in which Crowley set up a temple room and began invoking ancient Egyptian deities, also studying Arabic and Islamic mysticism. According to Crowley's later account, Rose regularly became delirious and informed him "they are waiting for you". On 18 March, she explained that "they" were the god Horus, and on 20 March proclaimed that "the Equinox of the Gods has come." She led him to a nearby museum where she showed him a seventh-century BCE mortuary stele known as the Stele of Ankh-ef-en-Khonsu (Crowley later termed it the "Stele of Revealing"); Crowley was astounded, for the exhibit's number was 666, the number of the beast in Christian belief. According to later claims, on 8 April Crowley heard a disembodied voice claiming to be coming from Aiwass, an entity who was the messenger of Horus, or Hoor-Paar-Kraat. Crowley said that he wrote down everything the voice told him over the course of the next three days, and subsequently titled it Liber AL vel Legis or The Book of the Law.The Book proclaimed that humanity was entering a new Aeon, and that Crowley would serve as its prophet. It stated that a supreme moral law was to be introduced in this Aeon, "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law", and that people should learn to live in tune with their "True Will". This book, and the philosophy that it espoused, would be the cornerstone of Crowley's religion, Thelema. Crowley was unsure as to what to do with The Book of the Law, and often came to resent it. He ignored the instructions that it commanded him to perform, which included taking the Stele of Revealing from the museum, fortifying his own island, and translating the Book into all the world's languages. Instead he sent typescripts of the work to several occultists whom he knew, and then "put aside the book with relief". Kangchenjunga and China: 1905''1906[edit]Returning to Boleskine, Crowley came to believe that Mathers had begun using magic against him, and the relationship between the two broke down. On 28 July 1905, Rose gave birth to Crowley's first child, a daughter named Lilith, with Crowley authoring the pornographic Snowdrops From a Curate's Garden to entertain his recuperating wife. He also founded a publishing company through which to publish his poetry, naming it the Society for the Propagation of Religious Truth in parody of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. Among its first publications where Crowley's Collected Works, edited by Ivor Back. While his poetry often received strong reviews (either positive or negative), it never sold well, and attempting to gain more publicity, he issued a reward of £100 for whomever could write the best essay on the topic of his work. The winner of this would be J.F.C. Fuller, a British Army officer and military historian, whose essay, The Star in the West (1907), heralded Crowley's poetry as some of the greatest ever written. Crowley decided to climb Kangchenjunga in the Himalayas, widely recognised as the world's most treacherous mountain. Assembling a team consisting of Jacot-Guillarmod, Charles Adolphe Reymond, Alexis Pache, and Alcesti C. Rigo de Righi, the expedition was marred by much argument between Crowley and the others, who felt that he was reckless. They eventually mutinied against Crowley's control, with the other climbers heading back down the mountain as nightfall approached despite Crowley's warnings that it was too dangerous. Crowley was proved right as Pache and several porters were subsequently killed in an accident, something for which Crowley was widely blamed by the mountaineering community. Spending time in Moharbhanj, where he took part in big game hunting and authored homoerotic work The Scented Garden, Crowley met up with Rose and Lilith in Calcutta before being forced to leave India after shooting dead a native who had tried to mug him. Briefly visiting Bennett in Burma, Crowley and his family decided to tour Southern China, hiring porters and a nanny for the purpose. Spence has suggested that this was part of Crowley's job as an intelligence agent, in order to report on the region's opium trade. It is known that Crowley smoked opium throughout the journey, which took the family from Tengyueh through to Yungchang, Tali, Yunnanfu, and then Hanoi, before sailing to Hong Kong. On the way he spent much time on spiritual and magical work, reciting invocations from the Goetia on a daily basis. While Rose and Lilith returned to Europe, Crowley headed to Shanghai to meet old friend Elaine Simpson, who was fascinated by The Book of the Law; together they performed rituals to contact Aiwass. Crowley then sailed to Japan and Canada, before continuing to New York City, where he unsuccessfully attempted to gain support for a second expedition up Kangchenjunga. Upon arrival at Britain, Crowley learned that his daughter Lilith had died of typhoid in Rangoon, something he later blamed on Rose's increasing alcoholism. Heartbroken, his health began to suffer, and he underwent a series of surgical operations. He proceeded to begin short-lived romances with actress Vera "Lola" Stepp and author Ada Leverson, while Rose gave birth to Crowley's second daughter, Lola Zaza, in February 1907. The A'´A'´ and the Holy Books of Thelema: 1907''1909[edit]With his old mentor George Cecil Jones, Crowley continued performing the Abramelin rituals at the Ashdown Park Hotel in Coulsdon, Surrey. Crowley claimed that in doing do he attained samadhi, or union with Godhead, thereby marking a turning point in his life. Making heavy use of hashish during these rituals, he wrote an influential essay on "The Psychology of Hashish" (1909). He also claimed to have been contacted once again by Aiwass in late October and November 1907, resulting in two further texts, "Liber VII" and "Liber Cordis Cincti Serpente", which would later be classified in the corpus of Holy Books of Thelema. Crowley wrote down more received Thelemic Holy Books during the last two months of the year, including "Liber LXVI", "Liber Arcanorum", "Liber Porta Lucis, Sub Figura X", "Liber Tau", "Liber Trigrammaton" and "Liber DCCCXIII vel Ararita". In June 1909, when the manuscript of The Book of the Law was rediscovered at Boleskine, Crowley finally came to fully accept Thelema as objective truth. Crowley's inheritance was running out. Trying to earn money, he was hired by George Montagu Bennett, the Earl of Tankerville, to help protect him from witchcraft; recognising Bennett's paranoia as being based in his cocaine addiction, Crowley took him on a holiday to France and Morocco to recuperate. In the summer of 1907, he also began taking in paying students, whom he instructed in occult and magical practice. His closest discipline became Victor Neuburg, whom he met in February 1907. They became close friends and sexual partners, and in summer 1908 toured northern Spain before heading to Tangiers, Morocco. In 1909, Neuburg stayed at Boleskine, where he and Crowley engaged in sadomasochistic behaviour. Crowley continued to write prolifically, producing such works of poetry as Ambergris, Clouds Without Water, and Kom On Pax, as well as his first attempt an autobiography, The World's Tragedy. Recognising the popularity of short horror stories, he wrote a number of his own, some of which saw publication, and he also published several articles in Vanity Fair, a magazine edited by his friend Frank Harris. He also wrote Liber 777, a book of magical and Qabalistic correspondences that borrowed from Mathers and Bennett. Into my loneliness comes --The sound of a flute in dim groves that haunt the uttermost hills.Even from the brave river they reach to the edge of the wilderness.And I behold Pan. The opening lines of Liber VII (1907), the first of the Holy Books of Thelema to be revealed to Crowley after The Book of the Law.[87]In November 1907, Crowley and Jones decided to found an occult order to act as a successor to the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, being aided in doing so by Fuller. The result was the A'´A'´, also known as the Argenteum Astrum, or the Silver Star. The group's headquarters and temple were situated at 124 Victoria Street in Central London, and their rites borrowed much from those of the Golden Dawn, but with an added Thelemic basis. Its earliest members included solicitor Richard Noel Warren, artist Austin Osman Spare, Horace Sheridan-Bickers, author George Raffalovich, Francis Henry Everard Joseph Fielding, engineer Herbert Edward Inman, Kenneth Ward, and Charles Stansfeld Jones. In March 1909, Crowley began production of a biannual periodical that acted as the "Official Organ" of the A'´A'´, titled The Equinox, which was billed as "The Review of Scientific Illuminism". The philosophy it espoused was described as "The Method of Science, the Aim of Religion", and it contained both articles on occultism, non-fiction pieces, and artworks. Meanwhile, unable to stand her alcoholism, Crowley divorced Rose in November 1909, on the grounds of his own adultery. Lola was entrusted to Rose's care, although the couple remained friends and she continued to live at Boleskine. Her alcoholism worsened, and as a result she was institutionalised in September 1911. Algeria and the Rites of Eleusis: 1909''1911[edit]In November 1909, Crowley and Neuburg travelled to Algeria, touring the desert from El Arba to Aumale, Bou Sada, and then Dā'leh Addin, with Crowley reciting the Quran on a daily basis. During the trip he performed the 19 Calls of Enochian magic, with Neuburg recording the results, later published in The Equinox as The Vision and the Voice. Following a mountaintop sex magic ritual, Crowley also performed an invocation to the demon Choronzon involving blood sacrifice, considering the results to be a watershed in his magical career. Returning to London in January 1910, Crowley found that Mathers was suing him for publishing Golden Dawn secrets in The Equinox, although the court found in favour of Crowley. The case was widely reported on in the press, with Crowley gaining a level of wider fame. Crowley enjoyed this, and played up to the sensationalist stereotype of being a Satanist and advocate of human sacrifice, despite being neither. The publicity attracted new members to the A'´A'´, among them Frank Bennett, James Bayley, Herbert Close, and James Windram. Most significant however was the Australian violinist Leila Waddell, who soon became Crowley's lover. Deciding to expand his teachings to a wider audience, Crowley developed the Rites of Artemis, a public performance of magic and symbolism featuring A'´A'´ members personifying various deities. It was first performed at the A'´A'´ headquarters, with attendees given a fruit punch containing peyote to enhance their experience. Various members of the press attended, and reported largely positively on it. In October and November 1910, Crowley decided to stage something similar, the Rites of Eleusis, at Caxton Hall, Westminster, although this time press reviews were mixed. Crowley came under particular criticism from West de Wend Fenton, editor of The Looking Glass newspaper, who called him "one of the most blasphemous and cold-blooded villains of modern times." Fenton's articles inferred that Crowley and Jones were involved in same-sex sexual activity; Crowley did not mind, but Jones was incensed and unsuccessfully sued for libel. Fuller broke off his friendship and involvement with Crowley over the scandal, while Crowley and Neuburg returned to Algeria for further magical workings. The Equinox continued publishing, and various books of literature and poetry were also published under its imprint, like Crowley's Ambergris, The Winged Beetle, and The Scented Garden, as well as Neuburg's The Triumph of Pan and Ethel Archer's The Whirlpool. In the summer of 1911, Crowley and Waddell holidayed in Montigny-sur-Loing, where he wrote prolifically, producing poems, short stories, plays, and 19 works on magic and mysticism, including the two final Holy Books of Thelema. In Paris, he met Mary Desti, who became his next "Scarlet Woman", with the two undertaking magical workings in St. Moritz; Crowley believed that one of the Secret Chiefs, Ab-ul-Diz, was speaking through her. Based on Mary's statements when in trance, Crowley authored the two-volume Book 4 (1912''13) and developed the spelling "magick" to differentiate what he practiced to the tricks of illusionists. Ordo Templi Orientis and the Paris Working: 1912''1914[edit]In early 1912, Crowley published The Book of Lies, a work of mysticism that biographer Lawrence Sutin described as "his greatest success in merging his talents as poet, scholar, and magus". Subsequently, the German occultist Theodor Reuss accused him of publishing some of the secrets of his own occult order, the Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.), within The Book. Crowley convinced Reuss that the similarities were coincidental, and the two became friends. Reuss appointed Crowley as head of the O.T.O's British branch, the Mysteria Magica Maxima (MMM), and at a ceremony in Berlin Crowley adopted the magical name of Baphomet and was proclaimed "X° Supreme Rex and Sovereign Grand Master General of Ireland, Iona, and all the Britons". With Reuss' permission, Crowley set about advertising the MMM and re-writing many O.T.O. rituals, which were then based largely on Freemasonry; his incorporation of Thelemite elements proved controversial in the group. Fascinated by the O.T.O,'s emphasis on sex magic, Crowley devised a magical working based on anal sex and incorporated it into the syllabus for XI° level initiates. In March 1913 Crowley acted as producer for The Ragged Ragtime Girls, a group of female violinists led by Waddell, as they performed at London's Old Tivoli theatre. They subsequently performed in Moscow for six weeks, where Crowley had a sadomasochistic relationship with the Hungarian Anny Ringler. In Moscow, Crowley continued to write plays and poetry, the most notable being "Hymn to Pan", as well as the Gnostic Mass, a Thelemic ritual that would become a key part of O.T.O. liturgy. Churton suggested that Crowley had traveled to Moscow on the orders of British intelligence to spy on revolutionary elements in the city. Proceeding to Paris, where he was involved in the controversy surrounding Jacob Epstein's new monument to Oscar Wilde, in January 1914, Crowley and Neuburg settled in to an apartment where they performed the six-week "Paris Working", in which they invoked the gods Mercury and Jupiter. Involving strong drug use, they performed sex magic among themselves and with journalist Walter Duranty. Crowley would write down the results of the working, among them Liber Agap(C), a treatise on sex magic. Following the Working, Neuburg began to distance himself from Crowley, resulting in an argument in which Crowley cursed him. United States: 1914''1919[edit]By 1914, Crowley was living a hand-to-mouth existence, relying largely on donations and the membership fees from the O.T.O. and A'´A'´. In May he transferred ownership of Boleskine House to the MMM for financial reasons, while in July he went mountaineering in the Swiss Alps, during which the First World War broke out. After recuperating from a bout of phlebitis, Crowley set sail for the United States aboard the RMS Lusitania in October 1914. Arriving in New York City, he moved into a hotel and began earning money writing for the American edition of Vanity Fair and undertaking freelance work for the famed astrologer Evangeline Adams. In the city, he continued experimenting with sex magic, through the use of masturbation, female prostitutes, and male clients of a Turkish bathhouse; all of these encounters were documented in his diaries. Professing to be of Irish ancestry and a supporter of Irish independence from Great Britain, Crowley began to espouse views supporting Germany in their war against Britain. Becoming involved in New York's pro-German movement, in January 1915 German spy George Sylvester Viereck employed Crowley as a writer for his propagandist paper, The Fatherland, which was dedicated to keeping the U.S. neutral in the conflict. In later years, detractors denounced Crowley as a traitor to Britain for this action. In reality, Crowley was a double agent, working for the British intelligence services to infiltrate and undermine Germany's operation in New York. Many of his articles in The Fatherland were hyperbolic, for instance comparing Kaiser Wilhelm II to Jesus Christ, while in July 1915 he orchestrated a publicity stunt '' reported on by The New York Times '' in which he declared independence for Ireland in front of the Statue of Liberty; the real intention was to make the German lobby appear ridiculous in the eyes of the American public. It has been argued that he encouraged the German Navy to destroy the Lusitania, informing them that it would ensure the U.S. stayed out of the war, while in reality hoping that it would bring the U.S. into the war on Britain's side. Crowley entered into a relationship with Jeanne Robert Foster, with whom he toured the West Coast. In Vancouver, headquarters of the North American O.T.O., he met with Charles Stansfeld Jones and W.T. Smith to discuss the propagation of Thelema on the continent. Proceeding to Detroit, where he experimented with anhalonium at Parke-Davis, he then visited Seattle, San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Los Angeles, San Diego, Tijuana, and the Grand Canyon, before returning to New York. There he befriended Ananda Coomaraswamy and his wife Alice Richardson; Crowley and Richardson performed sex magic in April 1916, following which she became pregnant, though subsequently miscarried. In the summer he took a "magical retirement" to a cabin by Lake Pasquaney owned by Evangeline Adams. There, he made heavy use of drugs and undertook a ritual after which he proclaimed himself "Master Therion". He also authored several short stories based on J.G. Frazer's The Golden Bough and a work of literary criticism, The Gospel According to Bernard Shaw. In December he moved to New Orleans, his favourite U.S. city, before spending February 1917 with evangelical Christian relatives in Titusville, Florida. Returning to New York, he moved in with artist and A'´A'´ member Leon Engars Kennedy, in May learning of his mother's death. After the collapse of The Fatherland, Crowley continued his association with Viereck, who appointed him contributing editor of arts journal The International in the summer. Crowley used it to promote Thelema, but it soon ceased publication. He subsequently moved to the studio apartment of Roddie Minor, who became his partner and Scarlet Woman. Through their rituals, Crowley believed that they were contacted by a preternatural entity named Alamantrah, though the relationship soon ended. In 1918, Crowley went on a magical retreat in the wilderness of Esopus Island on the Hudson River. Here, he began a translation of the Tao Te Ching and experienced past life memories of being Ge Xuan, Pope Alexander VI, Alessandro Cagliostro, and Eliphas Levi, also painting Thelemic slogans on the riverside cliffs. Back in New York, he moved to Greenwich Village, where he took Leah Hirsig as his lover and next Scarlet Woman. He took up painting as a hobby, exhibiting his work at the Greenwich Village Liberal Club and attracting the attention of the New York Evening World. With the financial assistance of sympathetic Freemasons, Crowley revived The Equinox with the first issue of volume III, known as "The Blue Equinox." He then spent the summer of 1919 on a climbing holiday in Montauk before returning to London in December. Abbey of Thelema: 1920''1923[edit]Now destitute and back in London, Crowley came under attack from right-wing tabloid John Bull, who labelled him traitorous "scum"; although several friends aware of his intelligence work urged him to sue, he decided not to. When he was suffering from asthma, a doctor prescribed him heroin, to which he soon became addicted. In January 1920, he moved to Paris, renting a house in Fontainebleau with Lea Hersig; they were soon joined in a m(C)nage trois by Ninette Shumway, and also by Leah's newborn daughter Anne "Poup(C)e" Leah. Crowley had ideas of forming a community of Thelemites, which he would call the Abbey of Thelema after the Abbaye de Th(C)l¨me in Fran§ois Rabelais's satire Gargantua and Pantagruel. After consulting the I Ching, he chose Cefal¹ on Sicily as a location, and after arriving there, began renting the old Villa Santa Barbara as his Abbey on 2 April. Moving to the commune with Hirsig, Shumway, and their children Hansi, Howard, and Poup(C)e, Crowley described the scenario as "perfectly happy... my idea of heaven." They wore robes, and performed rituals to the sun god Ra at set times during the day, also occasionally performing the Gnostic Mass; the rest of the day they were left to follow their own interests. Undertaking widespread correspondences, Crowley continued to paint, authored a commentary on The Book of the Law, and revised the third part of Book 4. He offered a libertine education for the children, allowing them to play all day and witness acts of sex magic. He occasionally travelled to Palermo to visit rent boys and purchase supplies, including drugs; his heroin addiction came to dominate his life, while cocaine began to erode his nasal cavity. There was no cleaning rota, and wild dogs and cats wandered throughout the building, which soon became unsanitary. Poup(C)e died in October 1920, although Ninette gave birth to a daughter, Astarte Lulu Panthea, soon afterword. New followers continued to arrive at the Abbey to be taught be Crowley. Among them was film star Jane Wolfe, who arrived in July 1920, where she was initiated into the A'´A'´ and became Crowley's secretary. Another was Cecil Frederick Russell, however he often argued with Crowley, disliking the same-sex sexual magic that he was required to perform, and left after a year. More conducive was the Australian Thelemite Frank Bennett, who also spent several months at the Abbey. In February 1922, Crowley returned to Paris for a retreat in an unsuccessful attempt to kick his heroin addiction. He then proceeded to London in search of money, where he published articles in The English Review criticising the Dangerous Drugs Act 1920 and authored a novel, Diary of a Drug Fiend, completed in July. On publication, it received mixed reviews; he was lambasted by the Sunday Express, which called for its burning and prevented further reprints. Subsequently, a young Thelemite named Raoul Loveday moved to the Abbey with his wife Betty May; while Loveday was devoted to Crowley, May detested him and life at the commune. She later claimed that Loveday was made to drink the blood of a sacrificed cat, and that they were required to cut themselves with razors every time they used the pronoun "I". Raoul also drank from a local polluted stream, soon developing a liver infection resulting in his death on February 1923. May then returned to London, where she told her story to the press.John Bull proceeded to proclaim Crowley "the wickedest man in the world" and "a man we'd like to hang", making various slanderous accusations against Crowley, although he was unable to afford the legal fees to sue them. As a result, John Bull continued its attack, with the stories also being picked up by newspapers in North America and throughout Europe. The Fascist government of Benito Mussolini learned of Crowley's activities and in April 1923 he was given a deportation notice forcing him to leave Italy; without him, the Abbey closed. Later life[edit]Tunisia, Paris, and London: 1923''1929[edit]Crowley and Hirsig proceeded to Tunis, Tunisia, where his poor health continued and he unsuccessfully tried to kick his heroin addiction. He began writing what he termed his "autohagiography", The Confessions of Aleister Crowley. They were joined in Tunis by the Thelemite Norman Mudd, who became Crowley's public relations consultant. Employing a local boy, Mohammad ben Brahim, as his servant, Crowley went with him on a retreat to Nefta, where they performed sex magic together. In January 1924, Crowley traveled to Nice, France, where he met with Frank Harris, underwent a series of nasal operations, and visited the Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man, thinking positively of its founder, George Gurdjieff. Destitute, he took on a wealthy student, Alexander Zu Zolar, before taking on another American follower, Dorothy Olsen. Crowley took Olsen back to Tunisia for a magical retreat in Nefta, where he also authored To Man. After spending the winter in Paris, in Spring 1925 Crowley and Olsen returned to Tunis, where he authored The Heart of the Master. In March Olsen became pregnant, and Hirsig was called to take care her of her; however, she miscarried, following which Crowley took Olsen back to France. Hirsig subsequently distances herself off from Crowley, who later denounced her. According to Crowley, Reuss had named him head of the OTO upon his death, but this was challenged by leader of the OTO in Germany, Heinrich Tr¤nker. Tr¤nker called the Hohenleuben Conference in Thuringia, Germany, at which Crowley attended. There, prominent members like Karl Germer and Martha K¼ntzel championed Crowley's leadership, but others opposed it, resulting in a split in the OTO. Moving to Paris, where he broke with Olsen in 1926, Crowley proceeded through a large number of Scarlet Women over the following years, with whom he experimented in sex magic. Throughout, he was dogged by poor health, largely caused by his heroin and cocaine addictions. In 1928, Crowley was introduced to young Englishman Israel Regardie, who embraced Thelema and became Crowley's secretary for the next three years. That year, Crowley also met Gerald Yorke, who began organising Crowley's finances, although never became a Thelemite. He also befriended Thomas Driberg, although again Driberg did not accept Thelema. It was here that Crowley also published one of his most significant works, Magick in Theory and Practice, although it received little attention at the time. In December 1929 Crowley met the Nicaraguan Maria Teresa Sanchez, who became his most significant Scarlet Woman of the period. Crowley was subsequently deported from France by the authorities, who disliked his reputation and feared that he was a German agent. So that she could join him in Britain, Crowley married Sanchez in August 1929. Now based in London, Mandrake Press agreed to publish his autobiography in a limited edition six-volume set, also publishing his novel Moonchild and book of short stories The Stratagem. However, Mandrake went into liquidation in November 1930, before the entirety of Crowley's Confessions could be published. Mandrake's owner P.R. Stephenson meanwhile authored The Legend of Aleister Crowley, an analysis of the media coverage surrounding him. Berlin and London: 1930''1938[edit]In February 1930, Crowley was banned from lecturing on Gilles de Rais at the Poetry Society in London which he said was due to accusations he had killed Raoul Loveday and 'eaten children'.[179] In April 1930, Crowley moved to Berlin, where he took Hanni Jaegar as his new Scarlet Woman, although the relationship would be troubled. In September he proceeded to Lisbon in Portugal in order to meet the poet Fernando Pessoa. There, he decided to fake his own death, doing so with Pessoa's help at the Boca do Inferno rock formation. He then returned to Berlin, where he reappeared three weeks later at the opening of his art exhibition at the Gallery Neumann-Nierendorf. Crowley's paintings fitted with the fashion for German Expressionism, and although few of them sold, the press reports were largely favourable. In August 1931, he took Bertha Busch as his new lover, although they had a violent relationship, and often physically assaulted one another. He continued to have affairs with both men and women while in the city, and met with famous individuals like Aldous Huxley and Alfred Adler. After befriending him, in January 1932 he took the communist Gerald Hamilton as a lodger, through whom he was introduced to many figures within the Berlin far left; he was potentially a spy at this time. I have been over forty years engaged in the administration of the law in one capacity or another. I thought that I knew of every conceivable form of wickedness. I thought that everything which was vicious and bad had been produced at one time or another before me. I have learnt in this case that we can always learn something more if we live long enough. I have never heard such dreadful, horrible, blasphemous and abominable stuff as that which has been produced by the man (Crowley) who describes himself to you as the greatest living poet. Justice Swift, in Crowley's libel case.[187]Crowley left Busch and returned to London. Undergoing further nasal surgery, it was here in 1932 that he was invited to be guest of honour at Foyles' Literary Luncheon, also being invited by Harry Price to speak at the National Laboratory of Psychical Research. Here, he took Pearl Brooksmith as his new Scarlet Woman. In need of money, he launched a series of court cases against people whom he believed had libeled him, some of which proved successful. However, he then launched a law suit against Constable and Co for publishing Nina Hamnett's Laughing Torso (1932), which he claimed was libelous against himself. In doing so, he gained much publicity, but lost the case, and a further appeal was also denied.[193] The court case added to Crowley's financial problems, and in February 1935 he was declared bankrupt. During the hearing, it was revealed that Crowley had been spending three times his income for several years. Crowley developed a platonic friendship with Deidre Patricia O'Doherty, although she agree to bear his child, who was born in May 1937. Named Randall Gair, Crowley would nickname him Aleister Ataturk. Crowley continued to socialise with friends, holding curry parties in which he would cook particularly spicy food for them. In 1936, he also published his first book in six years, The Equinox of the Gods, which contained a facsimile of The Book of the Law and was considered to be volume III, number 3, of The Equinox periodical. The work sold well, resulting in a second print run. In 1937 he gave a series of public lectures on yoga in Soho. With the A'´A'´ effectively defunct, Crowley was now living largely off contributions supplied by the O.T.O.'s Agape Lodge in California. He was intrigued by the rise of Nazism in Germany, hoping that Adolf Hitler would convert to Thelema; this was influenced by his friend Kn¼sel, who was a Nazi sympathiser. Nevertheless, the Nazis closed the German O.T.O., and imprisoned Germer, who subsequently fled to the U.S., with Crowley later labeling Hitler a black magician. Second World War and death: 1939''1947[edit]When the Second World War broke out, Crowley wrote to the Naval Intelligence Division offering his services in the war effort. Although they declined, in a private capacity he aided Britain's propaganda effort. At the time, he was acquainted with a variety of figures in Britain's intelligence community, including Dennis Wheatley, Ian Fleming, and Maxwell Knight. He claimed to have been behind the "V for Victory" sign first used by the BBC, although this has never been conclusively proven. In 1940, his asthma worsened, and with his German-produced asthma medication unavailable, he returned to using heroin, once again becoming addicted. As the Blitz hit London, Crowley decided to move away from the capital, relocating to Torquay. There, he remained very ill with asthma, and was for a time hospitalised, although when possible frequented the local chess club. He eventually returned to London, where he was visited by Grady McMurty; Crowley awarded him the title of "Hymenaeus Alpha." He would appoint Germer his chosen successor as head of the O.T.O. upon his death, although stipulated his desire that McMurty would then succeed Germer. With one of his O.T.O. initiates, Frieda Harris, Crowley developed plans to produce a tarot card deck, designed by him and painted by Harris. Accompanying this tarot set was a book, published as The Book of Thoth in a limited edition in 1944 by Chiswick Press. To aid the war effort, he authored a proclamation on the rights of humanity, Liber Oz, and a poem for the liberation of France, Le Gauloise. Crowley's final publication during his lifetime would be a book of poetry, Olla: An Anthology of Sixty Years of Song. Another of his projects was Aleister Explains Everything, which would be posthumously published as Magick Without Tears. In April 1944, Crowley briefly moved to Aston Clinton in Buckinghamshire, where he was visited by the poet Nancy Cunard, before relocating to Hastings in Sussex, where he took up residence at the Netherwood boarding house. He took a young man named Kenneth Grant as his secretary, paying him in magical teaching rather than wages. He was also introduced to John Symonds, whom he appointed to be his literary executor; Symonds thought little of Crowley however, later publishing negative biographies of the man. Corresponding with the illusionist Arnold Crowther, it was through him that Crowley was introduced to Gerald Gardner, the future founder of Gardnerian Wicca. They became friends, with Crowley authorising Gardner to revive Britain's ailing O.T.O. Another visitor was Eliza Marian Butler, who interviewed Crowley for her book The Myth of the Magus. Other friends and family also visited him, among them Doherty and his son Aleister Ataturk. Aged 72, Crowley died at Netherwood on 1 December 1947 of chronic bronchitis aggravated by pleurisy and myocardiac degeneration. It was reported that he left £18 in his will.[220] Crowley's funeral was held at a crematorium in Brighton on 5 December; about a dozen people attended, and Louis Wilkinson read excerpts from the Gnostic Mass, The Book of the Law, and "Hymn to Pan". The funeral generated press controversy, and was falsely labelled a Black Mass by the tabloids. Crowley's ashes were then sent to Germer in the U.S., who buried them in his garden in Hampton, New Jersey. Beliefs[edit]Philosopher John Moore opined that Crowley's thought was rooted in Romanticism and the Decadent movement, with historian Alex Owen noting that Crowley adhered to the "modus operandi" of the decadent movement throughout his life. Crowley would tell Germer that "Magick is getting into communication with individuals who exist on a higher plane than ours. Mysticism is the raising of oneself to their level." Crowley saw Magick as a third way between religion and magic. Spiritual and recreational use of drugs[edit]Crowley was a habitual drug user and also maintained a meticulous record of his drug-induced experiences with opium, cocaine, cannabis, alcohol, ether, mescaline, morphine, and heroin.[226]Allan Bennett, Crowley's mentor, was said to have "instructed Crowley in the magical use of drugs".[227] In October 1930, Crowley dined with Aldous Huxley in Berlin, and to this day rumours persist that he introduced Huxley to peyote on that occasion.[228] Crowley developed a drug addiction after a London doctor prescribed heroin for his asthma and bronchitis.[229] His life as an addict influenced his 1922 novel, Diary of a Drug Fiend, but the fiction presented a hopeful outcome of rehabilitation and recovery by means of magical techniques and the exercise of True Will. He overcame his addiction to heroin during this period (chronicled in Liber XVIII '' The Fountain of Hyacinth) but began taking it once more late in his life, again on doctor's prescription for his respiratory difficulties.[230] In the days following Crowley's death in 1947 it was reported that his Doctor, William Brown Thomson, who had prescribed him 'morphia tablets', had himself died less than 24 hours after his patient.[231] Personal life[edit]Crowley biographer Martin Booth asserted that in his youth, Crowley was "self-confident, brash, eccentric, egotistic, highly intelligent, arrogant, witty, wealthy, and, when it suited him, cruel." Similarly, Richard Spence noted that Crowley was "capable of immense physical and emotional cruelty". Biographer Lawrence Sutin noted that Crowley exhibited "courage, skill, dauntless energy, and remarkable focus of will" while at the same time showing his "blind arrogance, petty fits of bile, [and] contempt for the abilities of his fellow men". Crowley enjoyed being outrageous and flaunting conventional morality, with John Symonds noting that he "was in revolt against the moral and religious values of his time". He was a Social Darwinist and "amateur eugenicist", although he opposed abortion on moral grounds. Crowley also saw himself as an aristocrat, describing himself as Lord Boleskine, although had contempt for most of the British aristocracy. Crowley was bisexual, although he exhibited a sexual preference for women. In particular he had an attraction toward "exotic women", and claimed to have fallen in love on multiple occasions; Kaczynski stated that "when he loved, he did so with his whole being, but the passion was typically short-lived." Even in later life, he was able to attract young bohemian women to be his lovers, largely due to his charisma. During same-sex anal intercourse, he usually played the passive role, which Booth believed "appealed to his masochistic side." Crowley argued that gay and bisexual people should not suppress their sexual orientation, commenting that individuals "must not be ashamed or afraid of being homosexual if he happens to be so at heart; he must not attempt to violate his own true nature because of public opinion, or medieval morality, or religious prejudice which would wish he were otherwise." Racism and sexism[edit]Biographer Lawrence Sutin stated that "blatant bigotry is a persistent minor element in Crowley's writings". Sutin thought Crowley "a spoiled scion of a wealthy Victorian family who embodied many of the worst John Bull racial and social prejudices of his upper-class contemporaries", noting that he "embodied the contradiction that writhed within many Western intellectuals of the time: deeply held racist viewpoints courtesy of their culture, coupled with a fascination with people of colour". He insulted his close Jewish friend Victor Neuburg using anti-Semitic slurs, although had mixed feelings to Jews as a group. Although praising their "sublime" poetry and claiming that the "Jewish race" contained "imagination, romance, loyalty, probity and humanity in an exceptional degree", he thought that centuries of persecution had led Jews to exhibit "avarice, servility, falseness, cunning and the rest". He was also known to praise various ethnic and cultural groups, for instance claiming that the Chinese people exhibited a "spiritual superiority" to the English, and praising Muslims for exhibiting "manliness, straightforwardness, subtlety, and self-respect." Crowley also exhibited a "general misogyny" that Booth believed arose from his bad relationship with his mother. Sutin noted that Crowley "largely accepted the notion, implicitly embodied in Victorian sexology, of women as secondary social beings in terms of intellect and sensibility". Crowley himself described women as "moral inferiors" who had to be treated with "firmness, kindness and justice." Conversely, Crowley himself wrote that "We of Thelema say that 'Every man and every woman is a star.' We do not fool and flatter women, we do not despise and abuse them. To us, a woman is herself, absolute, original, independent, free, self-justified, exactly as a man is."[256] Bibliography[edit]Legacy and influence[edit]Crowley has remained an influential figure, both amongst occultists and in popular culture, particularly that of Britain, but also of other parts of the world. Academic Wouter Hanegraaff asserted that Crowley was an extreme representation of "the dark side of the occult", while philosopher John Moore opined that Crowley stood out as a "Modern Master" when compared with other prominent occult figures like George Gurdjieff, P.D. Ouspensky, Rudolf Steiner, or Madame Blavatsky. Moore also thought that Crowley acted as a "living embodiment" to Oswald Spengler's "Faustian Man". Biographer Tobias Churton considered Crowley "a pioneer of consciousness research", while Sutin thought that he had made "distinctly original contributions" to the study of yoga in the West. In popular culture[edit]In fiction[edit]Fictionalised accounts of Crowley or characters based upon him have been included in a number of literary works, published both during his life and after. The writer W. Somerset Maugham used him as the model for the character in his novel The Magician, published in 1908.[262] Crowley was flattered by Maugham's fictionalised depiction of himself, stating that "he had done more than justice to the qualities of which I was proud... The Magician was, in fact, an appreciation of my genius such as I had never dreamed of inspiring."[263] Other works including characters based on or inspired by Crowley include: "Dance To The Music of Time" by Anthony Powell, "Black Easter" by James Blish, and "The Winged Bull" by Dion Fortune. In comics and games[edit]The acclaimed comic book author Alan Moore, himself a practitioner of ceremonial magic, has also included Crowley in several of his works. In Moore's From Hell, he appears in a cameo as a young boy declaring that magic is real, while in the series Promethea he appears several times existing in a realm of the imagination called the Immateria. V for Vendetta makes reference to "Do what thou wilt..." on more than one occasion in the comic series. Moore has also discussed Crowley's associations with the Highbury area of London in his recorded magical working, The Highbury Working.[264] Other comic book writers have also made use of him, with Pat Mills and Olivier Ledroit portraying him as a reincarnated vampire in their series Requiem Chevalier Vampire. Crowley also is referenced in the Batman comic Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth, by Grant Morrison, where the character Amadeus Arkham meets with him, discuss the symbolism of Egyptian tarot, and they play chess. He has also appeared in Japanese media, such as D.Gray-Man and Toaru Majutsu no Index, as well as the hentai series Bible Black, where he has a fictional daughter named Jody Crowley who continues her father's search for the Scarlet Woman. Occult scholar Hiroshi Aramata, author of the groundbreaking historical fantasy novel Teito Monogatari, has described the protagonist of his work as a person "closely resembling" Aleister Crowley.[265] He is also depicted in the Original PlayStation game Nightmare Creatures as a powerful demonic resurrection of himself.[266] In music[edit]Crowley has been an influence for a string of popular musicians throughout the 20th century. The Beatles included him as one of the many figures on the cover sleeve of their 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, where he is situated between Sri Yukteswar Giri and Mae West. A more intent interest in Crowley was held by Jimmy Page, the guitarist and co-founder of 1970s rock band Led Zeppelin. Despite not describing himself as a Thelemite, Page was still fascinated by Crowley, and owned some of his clothing, manuscripts and ritual objects, and during the 1970s bought Boleskine House, which also appears in the band's movie The Song Remains the Same. On the back cover of the Doors 13 album, Jim Morrison and the other members of the Doors are shown posing with a bust of Aleister Crowley. Author Paulo Coelho introduced the writings of Aleister Crowley to Brazilian rocker Raul Seixas, who went on to write and perform songs (most notably, "Viva a Sociedade Alternativa" and "Novo Aeon") that were strongly influenced by Crowley.[267] The later rock musician Ozzy Osbourne released a song titled "Mr. Crowley" on his solo album Blizzard of Ozz, while a comparison of Crowley and Osbourne in the context of their media portrayals can be found in the Journal of Religion and Popular Culture.[268] Crowley has also been a favourite of Swiss Avant-Garde metal band Celtic Frost. In fact, the song Os Abysmi Vel Daath from Monotheist is based partially on some of his writings. In the early 1990s, British Indie band Five Thirty carried with them on tour a front door which they alleged had belonged to Crowley. The door was placed prominently on stage during their gigs.[269] In cinema[edit]Crowley was also a major influence and inspiration to the work on the radical avant garde underground film-maker Kenneth Anger, especially his Magick Lantern Cycle series of works. One of Anger's works is a film of Crowley's paintings.[270] References[edit][edit]^Churton 2011. p. 3.^Crowley 1983. p. 32.^"LECTURER ON BLUEBEARD BANNED.". The Register News-Pictorial (Adelaide, SA : 1929 - 1931) (Adelaide, SA: National Library of Australia). 6 February 1930. p. 4. Retrieved 29 September 2013. ^The United Press (13 April 1934). "Confessed Genius Loses Weird Suit". The Pittsburgh Press. Retrieved 18 March 2013. ^""BLACK MAGIC".". Examiner (Launceston, Tas. : 1900 - 1954) (Launceston, Tas.: National Library of Australia). 29 December 1934. p. 10 Edition: DAILY. Retrieved 29 September 2013. ^"Raised Devils Lost £29.982.". Barrier Miner (Broken Hill, NSW : 1888 - 1954) (Broken Hill, NSW: National Library of Australia). 4 March 1949. p. 5. Retrieved 29 September 2013. ^"The Confessions of Aleister Crowley: An Autohagiography" by Aleister Crowley (Arkana Publishing, 1989); "Do What Thou Wilt: A Life of Aleister Crowley" by Lawrence Sutin. (St. Martin's Press, 2000); "The Magical Diaries of Aleister Crowley" edited by Stephen Skinner (Weiser, 2003)^Owen, Alex (14 April 2004). "Aleister Crowley in the Desert". The Place of Enchantment: British Occultism and the Culture of the Modern (Hardcover ed.). University of Chicago Press. p. 192. ISBN 978-0-226-64201-7. ^Cornelius, 2001.^"Do What Thou Wilt: A Life of Aleister Crowley" by Lawrence Sutin. (St. Martin's Press, 2000) ch. 7, p. 277^"Do What Thou Wilt: A Life of Aleister Crowley" by Lawrence Sutin. (St. Martin's Press, 2000) p. 416^"Claimed To Be "Invisible Man".". The Courier-Mail (Brisbane, Qld. : 1933 - 1954) (Brisbane, Qld.: National Library of Australia). 5 December 1947. p. 1. Retrieved 29 September 2013. ^Crowley, Aleister (1996-12). The Law Is for All: The Authorized Popular Commentary of Liber Al Vel Legis sub figura CCXX, the Book of the Law. Louis Wilkinson (ed.). Thelema Media. ISBN 0972658386. ^Curtis, Anthony; Whitehead, John (1987). W. Somerset Maugham: the critical heritage. Routledge. p. 44. ISBN 978-0-7100-9640-1. "... in Paris in 1905... At that time he got to know Aleister Crowley,..." ^Symonds 1997. p. 132.^Doyle-White 2009^Hiroshi Aramata, Birds of the World: as painted by 19th century artists (Crown Publishers 1989), p. 11, ISBN 0-517-57374-1^Morehead, John W. (3 August 2010). "Video games: Zombies Ate My Neighbours, and Nightmare Creatures". Theofantastique: a meeting place for myth, imagination and mystery in pop culture. Wordpress. Retrieved 15 November 2010. ^Essinger, Silvio. "A reden§£o do mago e ocultista Aleister Crowley". O Globo 4 January 2012. [1]^Christopher M. Moreman, "Devil Music and the Great Beast: Ozzy Osbourne, Aleister Crowley, and the Christian Right", Journal of Religion and Popular Culture 5 (2003), University of Saskatchewan^Gary Crowley (1991). "Band Explosion". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIwqNlycTfk. Retrieved 19 June 2011.^Pilkington, Mark (15 May 2007). "Kenneth Anger: celluloid sorcery and psychedelic Satanism". Bizarre Magazine. Archived from the original on 5 December 2010. Retrieved 15 November 2010. Bibliography[edit]Bogdan, Henrik; Starr, Martin P. (2012). "Introduction". In Bogdan, Henrik; Starr, Martin P. Aleister Crowley and Western Esotericism. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 3''14. ISBN 978-0-19-986309-9. Booth, Martin (2000). A Magick Life: The Biography of Aleister Crowley. London: Coronet Books. ISBN 978-0-340-71806-3. Churton, Tobias (2011). Aleister Crowley: The Biography. London: Watkins Books. ISBN 978-1-78028-012-7. Crowley, Aleister (1983). The Holy Books of Thelema. York Beach, Maine: Samuel Weiser Inc. ISBN 978-0-87728-686-8. Crowley, Aleister (1989). The Confessions of Aleister Crowley: An Autohagiography. London: Arkana. ISBN 978-0-14-019189-9. Hanegraaff, Wouter J. (2012). "Foreword". In Bogdan, Henrik; Starr, Martin P. Aleister Crowley and Western Esotericism. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. pp. vii''x. ISBN 978-0-19-986309-9. Kaczynski, Richard (2010). Perdurabo: The Life of Aleister Crowley (second edition). Berkeley, California: North Atlantic Books. ISBN 978-0-312-25243-4. Moreman, Christopher M. (2003). "Devil Music and the Great Beast: Ozzy Osbourne, Aleister Crowley, and the Christian Right". The Journal of Religion and Popular Culture3 (1). Morgan, Mogg (2012). "The Heart of Thelema: Morality, Amorality, and Immorality in Aleister Crowley's Thelemic Cult". The Pomegranate: The International Journal of Pagan Studies13 (1) (London: Equinox). Moore, John (2009). Aleister Crowley: A Modern Master. Oxford: Mandrake. ISBN 978-1-906958-02-2. Owen, Alex (2012). "The Sorcerer and His Apprentice: Aleister Crowley and the Magical Exploration of Edwardian Subjectivity". In Bogdan, Henrik; Starr, Martin P. Aleister Crowley and Western Esotericism. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 15''52. ISBN 978-0-19-986309-9. Spence, Richard B. (2008). Secret Agent 666: Aleister Crowley, British Intelligence and the Occult. Port Townsend, WA: Feral House. ISBN 978-1-932595-33-8. Sutin, Lawrence (2000). Do What Thou Wilt: A Life of Aleister Crowley. New York: St Martin's Press. ISBN 978-0-312-25243-4. Symonds, John (1997). The Beast 666: The Life of Aleister Crowley. London: Pindar Press. ISBN 978-1-899828-21-0. Tully, Caroline (2010). "Walk Like an Egyptian: Egypt as Authority in Aleister Crowley's Reception of The Book of the Law". The Pomegranate: The International Journal of Pagan Studies12 (1) (London: Equinox). External links[edit]Folk magicCeremonial magicEarly ModernwitchcraftNeopaganwitchcraftPersondataNameCrowley, AleisterAlternative namesCrowley, Edward Alexander (birth); Perdurabo (motto); Therion, Master (pen)Short descriptionpoet, mountaineer, occultistDate of birth(1875-10-12)12 October 1875Place of birthClarendon Square, Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, EnglandDate of death1 December 1947(1947-12-01)Place of deathNetherwood, Hastings, East Sussex, England

Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings. June 16, 2015, 12:13 AM GMT / Updated June 16, 2015, 12:16 AM GMT Pot may be legal in Colorado, but you can still be fired for using it. The state Supreme Court ruled 6-0 Monday that a medical marijuana patient who was fired after failing a drug test cannot get his job back. The case was being watched closely by employers and pot smokers in states that have legalized medical or recreational marijuana. Colorado became at least the fourth state in which courts have ruled against medical marijuana patients fired for pot use. Supreme courts in California, Montana and Washington state have made similar rulings, and federal courts in Colorado and Michigan also have rejected such claims. The Colorado worker, Brandon Coats, is a quadriplegic who was fired by Dish Network after failing a 2010 drug test. The company agreed that Coats wasn't high on the job but said it has a zero-tolerance drug policy. Coats argued that his pot smoking was allowed under a state law intended to protect employees from being fired for legal activities off the clock. Coats didn't use marijuana at work, but pot's intoxicating chemical, THC, can stay in the system for weeks.

8 new swinging releases from around the world. 8. “Undecided” by The Big Butter Jazz Band - Squeeze Me (Available on CDBaby) 7. “All Shiny New” by Lewis Franco & the Missing Cats - With Cousin Joe, Sonny Joe and Grampa Joe (feat. The Brown Eyed Girls) (Available on CDBaby) 6. “Spinning Top” by Amanda Brown & The Common Ears - Medicinal Biscuit (Available on Bandcamp) 5. “Shorty George” by Enric Peidro Swingtet - Happiness Is A Thing Called…Jazz! (Available on Bandcamp) 4. “King of King Street” by Milk Crate Bandits - The Neighborhood (Available on Bandcamp) 3. “Savoy Blues” by Carolina Reapers Swing - Unseasonably Hot (Available on Bandcamp) 2. “Dream Come True” by The Cope Street Parade - Townie Ramble On (Available on Bandcamp) 1. “Save the Bones for Henry Jones” by The New Orleans Jazz Vipers - Live and Viperizin' (Available on Bandcamp) Bonus: - “My Belle” by The Swing Ninjas - Live at WOMAD (Free Download) (Available for FREE on Bandcamp)

That's the reality right-hander Chien-Ming Wang has lived with since 2009. Before his operation, he was a two-time 19-game winner for the Yankees who possessed a tough sinkerball. He's been essentially a journeyman pitcher since. GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- Modern medical advancements have enabled surgeons to repair torn elbow ligaments and save pitching careers. A steady success rate for fixing shoulders remains elusive. For many pitchers -- even the elite ones in Major League Baseball -- they are never the same again once the scalpel is used on their shoulder. GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- Modern medical advancements have enabled surgeons to repair torn elbow ligaments and save pitching careers. A steady success rate for fixing shoulders remains elusive. For many pitchers -- even the elite ones in Major League Baseball -- they are never the same again once the scalpel is used on their shoulder. That's the reality right-hander Chien-Ming Wang has lived with since 2009. Before his operation, he was a two-time 19-game winner for the Yankees who possessed a tough sinkerball. He's been essentially a journeyman pitcher since. In Reds camp this year as a non-roster invitee, Wang very much wants to recapture that level of excellence again. "I'm trying to," Wang said. "It's hard, the rehab and the throwing. After shoulder surgery, sometimes it can pinch." Wang, who turns 34 on March 31, was signed to a Minor League contract by Cincinnati in December. He is viewed as possible depth behind the rotation. The Taiwanese Wang went 19-6 in 2006 for the Yankees, posting a 3.63 ERA in 34 games and 218 innings to finish second in American League Cy Young Award voting. He followed up in '07 by going 19-7 with a 3.70 ERA in 30 starts and 199 1/3 innings. His '08 season was poised for more success as he finished April with a 5-0 record. The root of Wang's derailment came not from his shoulder, but his foot. On June 15, 2008, during an Interleague game against the Astros, he tried to score on a Derek Jeter single when he stepped awkwardly near third base. The result was a torn tendon in his right foot that ended his season. Wang's foot issue lingered into the following Spring Training and the 2009 season. He was 1-6 with a 9.64 ERA when his velocity lost its steam during his final start of that year, on July 4 against the Blue Jays. His right shoulder had given out, a byproduct of the foot injury from the previous year. "I didn't use my legs enough," Wang said. "I didn't have the push from that leg. I was using my arm too much to throw the ball." On July 29, 2009, Wang had season-ending surgery to repair a torn capsule in his right shoulder. The operation was performed by one of the best in the business, Dr. James Andrews, but even successful shoulder repairs don't guarantee successful shoulder comebacks. The Nationals signed Wang for 2010, but he spent the entire season rehabbing. He did likewise for the start of the '11 season, but worked his way back through the Minors. He made 11 starts for Washington in '11, then spent much of '12 back on the disabled list and appeared in only 10 games (five starts). Wang was given another shot by the Yankees last season before he was granted his release from their Triple-A affiliate in June to allow him another big league shot with the Blue Jays. He had a 2.61 ERA and pitched into at least the seventh inning over his first three starts. After that, Wang was beaten up in back-to-back games and failed to get out of the second inning. He was sent to Triple-A and returned for only one more three-inning start, and a loss, for Toronto in August. "My fastball average hasn't got there yet," Wang said. "Last year, it was 89-92 [mph]. Before, it was at 94-95. I was tired. My body was tired. Last year, I pitched in the [World Baseball Classic for Taiwan]. I had two years with no stopping." This spring in Reds camp, Wang still attracts interest from the Taiwanese media that documents his early bullpen sessions and workouts with the club. Reds manager Bryan Price has yet to draw any conclusions from what he's seen from Wang thus far. "I'm looking forward to seeing him against hitters," Price said. "With a veteran guy, you don't want to bring him in here and make any assumptions too early in camp. That being said, he's a veteran pitcher that had a lot of success on the front end of that Yankee career and has had to deal with some injuries since. I'm a big believer that if we see something as a [coaching] staff that can help him improve his consistency, we need to acknowledge it." Wang's shoulder has been healthy to this point, and he has shown the team he might still have something left in his arm. "Shoulders are a challenge ,but the one thing that hasn't gone away is the sink on his fastball," Price said. "For any pitcher, consistency is a huge thing -- for him, bottom of the zone command, strikes. He's got a changeup and curveball that are both good pitches. I'm looking forward to seeing how the hitters respond to him. He's the type of guy I feel like has room to get better." Wang has out clauses in his contract on May 31 and June 30 if he's not on a Major League roster. Satisfied with his new team, he is looking to stick around. "I will do what the team wants me to do," Wang said. "I would go to the Minor Leagues and start in the Minor Leagues."

There isn’t much in the way of Wonder Woman box office news ($830,000 on Thursday for a $384.4 million domestic total), and to be honest I think I’ll be winding these down next week. Sorry, I can’t make it to Japan’s Aug. 25 debut, but I promise to pop up when stuff happens. Speaking of stuff happening, barring a fluke, Wonder Woman will pass the $386.9 million domestic gross of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 either today or tomorrow. Once that happens, the Gal Gadot/Chris Pine superhero movie will be the summer’s biggest domestic grosser and the year’s second-biggest domestic grosser. Moreover, at the same time, it will likely pass the $773m worldwide cume of the first Guardians of the Galaxy from back in 2014. DC Films will be able to walk into tomorrow’s Warner Bros./Time Warner Inc. San Diego Comic-Con panel with their head held high for the first time since Man of Steel opened four years ago. For the first time since Chris Nolan’s Dark Knight franchise ended, DC Comics has a critical and commercial hit. And thanks to Patty Jenkins, Geoff Johns and friends, Wonder Woman is DC Films’ first unqualified winner that isn’t explicitly tied to Batman since… 1980? It may have been delayed by a few years, but tomorrow will be DC Films’ first real victory lap, with their first unmitigated proof of concept. It will be the first time in a long time where (ironically) they can brag experience as opposed to potential. Man of Steel may have flamed out pretty quickly after a $128 million debut weekend (counting previews), but a $291m domestic total and a $668m worldwide cume was nothing to sneeze at. The issue was that reviews were mixed and the audience reception was either negative or relatively indifferent. For better or worse, the choice was made to throw Batman into the sequel and then turn the film into a backdoor pilot for the whole DCEU (or DC Films) cinematic universe. It was at the 2013 SDCC that they made the big announcement, with Harry Lennix standing on stage and spouting an iconic line of dialogue from Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns to roars of applause. Watch On Forbes: Wonder Woman Director Patty Jenkins On Breaking The Blockbuster Glass Ceiling The Zack Snyder film was originally intended for July 2015 but was eventually pushed back to March of 2016. So, the 2014 SDCC panel offered merely a very brief snippet from the title battle of what had been named Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, as well as Gal Gadot-as-Wonder Woman photo. The 2015 SDCC panel had a terrific extended trailer for Dawn of Justice, the second explicit tease for the movie following the infamously leaked teaser 2.5 months earlier. And you had the unfortunately leaked (but also terrific) Suicide Squad sizzle reel, which Warner Bros. put online in a legit form a few days later. Both films looked great, but it was still hypothetical. Last year’s SDCC panel came just four months after Batman v Superman debuted to brutal reviews and mixed word of mouth. It earned a strong $330 million domestic/$873m worldwide total but from a $166m domestic/$422m worldwide opening weekend. Fans came, but audiences didn’t stay. The panel offered the first Wonder Woman teaser, another Suicide Squad trailer and a Justice League sizzle reel that emphasized the 2017 release’s grounded humor and character-driven quirk. As neat as it was to see Ben Affleck, Zack Snyder, James Wan, Patty Jenkins, David Ayer and Rick Famuyiwa onstage, it was still just a theoretical promise. That was before Suicide Squad debuted to horrible reviews in August and Famuyiwa left The Flash in October. As a lifelong DC Comics fans, the last few movies were the equivalent of Lucy pulling the football and sending Charlie Brown to his doom. Yes, Suicide Squad was a big grosser as well ($325 million domestic/$745m worldwide). But it suffered from withering reviews, with a final cut that was cobbled together in reaction both to Batman v Superman’s blistering reviews and post-debut legs as well as the Deadpool/Harley Quinn film’s crowd-pleasing first theatrical trailer. Yes, the first three films were unquestionably big grossers, proving that there was an interest in these characters and potentially a set-in-stone fan base that could keep the series around. But they still lacked an actual acclaimed/well-received theatrical release. This year is different. The difference between DC Films’ panel and (for example) Marvel’s last few panels was the difference between “You loved those previous movies, but look what we’ve got coming up next!” versus “Hey, we know you were mixed or displeased with the last movies, but here’s how we’re going to do better next time.” Yes, Justice League will still be a somewhat reactionary film in terms of Batman v Superman’s public reception, and Wonder Woman is but one well-received and well-reviewed hit. However, there is a huge difference between “Look what we will do!” and “Look what we did!” when it comes both to fan excitement and making the sale for what comes next. Maybe Wonder Woman will be akin to that pre-“No Man’s Land” Detective Comics story I always reference, the one where Joker allows Batman to rescue a kidnapped child for the express purpose of creating just a little false hope for the next such occasion. But the folks that run DC Films will enter tomorrow’s SDCC convention with their heads held high and with an actual example of a well-received and astonishingly successful superhero movie under their belt. Thanks to Wonder Woman, we’ll be that much more excited about Justice League, Aquaman and whatever else gets announced during the panel. Thanks to Wonder Woman, we’ll be able to go on more than just faith.

Calgary’s new central public library will be designed by a U.S.-based architectural firm in collaboration with a Canadian company, officials announced Tuesday. A selection committee chose a combined bid from Snøhetta, which has offices in New York and Oslo, and DIALOG, a Canadian firm with locations in Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver and Toronto, to design the $245-million library in the East Village. "I am very grateful for the scrupulous efforts of the selection committee, who were unwavering in their commitment to find the right team for this important civic project,” said Michael Brown, president of the Calgary Municipal Land Corporation (CMLC), which is in charge of redeveloping the East Village. The committee — which included members of the Calgary Public Library, City of Calgary officials and independent architectural consultants Ian Chodikoff and Jim Barnes of Foster + Partners — made the final choice after narrowing 38 international submissions to a shortlist of four firms. The new library will be constructed directly east of the Calgary Municipal Building, straddling the LRT tracks where it enters a tunnel, a feat that will require a creative architectural solution. "We're ready and incredibly excited to get going," said Craig Dykers, a founding partner of Snøhetta. The firm has designed several high-profile projects, including the National September 11th Memorial Museum Pavilion in New York City and the Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Egypt. "With our local partner, DIALOG, we bring a unique set of local, national and international experiences which will guide our thinking for Calgary's new central library." A design will be unveiled next year as site preparation gets underway. The library is expected to be finished by 2018. MHPM has been chosen as the project managers for the library and Stuart Olson Dominion Construction will build it. City council first committed $40 million toward the project in 2004. In 2011, the city committed an additional $135 million from the community investment fund. CMLC’s board of directors also voted earlier this year to contribute the balance needed for the $245-million project. “The new central library is a landmark project for Calgary and represents the single largest investment in a public cultural facility since the 1988 Olympic Games,” Coun. Druh Farrell said in a written statement. The current Central Library at 616 Macleod Trail S.E. was built in two phases in 1963 and 1974 to serve a population of less than 400,000. The new one will be two-thirds larger.

Last year Israeli cryptographers Adi Shamir, Yuval Elovici and Moti Guri, from Ben-Gurion University, demonstrated at the Black Hat Europe conference how air-gapped networks — that is, computer systems that have been separated from the Internet for protection — can be hacked. Not surprisingly, this is an accomplishment that intelligence agencies around the world may or may not have accomplished, undoubtedly at high cost. The researchers, though, were able to accomplish the task with a long-distance laser delivered by drone. The entry point? An HP Officejet Pro 8500 printer. The end result? The transfer of stolen data within seconds. It wasn’t pretty. This is how Bit4Id Chief Information Security Officer Pierluigi Paganini described it in his security affairs blog: The team used a blue laser that blinks malware in binary code, the data were sent by the researchers from a distance greater than 1 kilometer away, and according to experts the range could reach as high as 5 kilometers. The printer’s scanner inside the network works as a bridge, it is used to read that code and convert it in instructions that are sent within the network to the malware. The siphoned data could be sent back to the attacker with the same scanner that has read the code, it could transform data in blinks of light which is captured by a small drone equipped with a video camera. Shorter distances too At shorter distances, the laser doesn’t even have to be all that expensive. At the Black Hat USA 2009 security conference in Las Vegas, Andrea Barisani and Daniele Bianco, researchers for network security consultancy Inverse Path, showed that merely drawing a bead on a machine with a laser works just fine. "No expensive piece of equipment is required," they wrote. It's very simple actually, according to a Kaspersky blog post on (as it turns out) the many ways an air-gapped system can be hacked. Each computer key generates its own pattern of vibrations that can be detected when the laser is directed at a part of the keyboard that reflects light well. The logotype of the manufacturer is a good example. How to counter it? Kaspersky is not much comfort. "These methods work only in the immediate vicinity. Try not to let spies close to you." Or presumably corporate spies or saboteurs. Lasers can make computing safer too So it is a nice contrast to read of research under way at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that could lead to safer infotech — and by the way, advances in quantum computing. Sergio Cantu, a second-year Ph.D. student in physics who conducts research in MIT’s Center for Ultracold Atoms, tells of the advances of atomic physics that allows researchers to control a laser frequency with much higher precision and accuracy and hence, give them better control over their interaction with atoms. Cantu’s research uses light as an information carrier in computing and calculating. To address that pesky issue of the speed of light being too fast for researchers to imprint information, Cantu and his colleagues used a technique called electromagnetically-inducted transparency to slow the speed of propagation of light to about 100 meters per second. This allowed the researchers to manipulate the clusters of atoms one unit of light at a time. Cantu and his team mapped interactions between light and atoms, using them as a way to transmit and exchange information. So how does this research make computers safer? Computing at the level of photons, which is what the team is doing, prohibits lasers from intercepting the data, or at least all of the data. Rather, the would-be hacker would get bits and pieces of it, rendering it useless. Meanwhile the intended recipient would also receive incomplete data and presumably realize what had happened. Cantu believes eventually this level of security could be applied in personal computers. From where he sits, quantum computing's great benefit is that it will allow people to interact online much more securely, "and for me that’s a huge advantage no matter who you are or what you’re sending.” This article is published as part of the IDG Contributor Network. Want to Join?

Here's your jobs plan. Hope you're inspired. Here's your jobs plan. Hope you're inspired. No, this is not a story from The Onion. It is an actual bill , introduced by an actual member of the House, actually debated by other members of the House—for 35 minutes—and actually passed by a vote of 396 to 9 yesterday. Thanks to the hardworking members of the House, "In God We Trust" is our official national motto. Still. Of course, “In God We Trust” already is the national motto, guaranteed by an act of Congress in 1956. And “In God We Trust” had already been reaffirmed once before as the national motto, by another act of Congress in 2002. No matter, because the country obviously needed a third act of Congress to make it really, really, really clear that this is our motto. And it allowed members of Congress to pontificate on some of the deeper philosophical issues that face every American: “Is God God? Or is man God? In God do we trust, or in man do we trust?” said Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.). He was laying out the deeper meaning behind this debate — saying it was a chance for the House to reassert that it believes there is divine goodness and order in the universe. If there isn’t, Franks said, “we should just let anarchy prevail because, after all, we are just worm food. So indeed we have the time to reaffirm that God is God and in God do we trust.” But spending time on this critical issue isn't just about God God. Or man God. Or completely redundant, symbolic, meaningless gestures intended to give members of Congress something—anything—to do other than focus on jobs. No, this reaffirmation of the reaffirmation of the national motto has real-life, very practical applications. After all, when the Republicans took control of the House, they promised to strictly adhere to the Cantor Rule: “Each day, we will hold ourselves accountable by asking the following questions: Are our efforts addressing job creation and the economy; are they cutting spending; and are they shrinking the size of the federal government while protecting and expanding individual liberty?” Cantor said at the beginning of this term. “If not, why are we doing it?” Cantor's office did not explain how the "In God We Trust" re-reaffirmation addresses job creation and the economy, but the bill's sponsor, Rep. J. Randy Forbes (R-Va.) did: Forbes, the bill’s sponsor, said it would inspire Americans in tough economic times. “Our citizens need that kind of hope,” he said, “and that kind of inspiration.” So the next time you're applying for a job, or calculating whether you can afford rent and electricity, or hoping your health insurer will cover that new medication you need (if you're lucky enough to be insured), just think of God—that's God God, not man God—and trust in Him, and enjoy that hope and inspiration you now have to get you through the tough times, courtesy of the House of Representatives.

Josh Harrop made headlines when he scored on his first team debut for Manchester United, and he’s doing so again. The Sun suggest that Harrop has not been offered a new contract at United, with his current deal expiring at the end of June. Other previous reports have contrastingly suggested that United have offered Harrop a deal, and he was on United’s retained list released by the Premier League. Meanwhile, Yahoo Sport France revealed on Thursday morning that Harrop’s agents has offered the player to Bordeaux and Rennes. Reports earlier in the week suggested the 21-year-old has been of interest to Preston North End. If he is to be offered a new contract at United, a loan move away from England could be a fantastic chance that not many English players are offered. The culture, the style of football and the language will give Harrop unique skills that most English players breaking through would not have. However, it’s understandable that Harrop’s agent is busy offering his services to other clubs if United are yet to offer a contract, though there are conflicting reports on that issue. Advertisements

“Yanukovich thinks that if he puts me behind bars, he will be able to go into the next campaign without competition,” Ms. Tymoshenko said in an interview. “He will have the same situation that exists in other former Soviet countries, where there is no opposition.” She insisted that, if anything, the prosecution had galvanized her. “If, after a year of investigating my activities, this is all they have found, it shows that not all politicians in Ukraine are corrupt,” she said. “The truth is that this criminal case has rehabilitated me.” The clash between the politicians reflects Ukraine’s geographic divide. Mr. Yanukovich is from the Russian-speaking eastern part of the country, which has long turned toward Moscow for support. Ms. Tymoshenko portrays herself as a champion of western Ukraine, where the Ukrainian language dominates and people want more bonds with Europe. Many of Ms. Tymoshenko’s colleagues have also faced intense scrutiny. In late December a squad of masked special services agents arrested her former interior minister, Yuriy V. Lutsenko, while he was walking his dog, and he has been jailed since. Prosecutors accused him of, among other things, hiring an official driver whose age exceeded the limit under government rules. In a statement from a detention center Mr. Lutsenko labeled the charges bizarre and described himself as a political prisoner. Another Tymoshenko associate, a former economic minister, Bohdan M. Danylyshyn, fled to the Czech Republic and was granted asylum there last month — an indication that the Czech authorities doubted that the case against him had merit. The investigations into opposition figures seemed to grow in November after Mr. Yanukovich named a new prosecutor general, Viktor P. Pshonka. “Of course, I am a member of the president’s team,” Mr. Pshonka said at the time. Photo Mr. Yanukovich was the loser in the pro-Western Orange Revolution, which erupted when protesters declared that his victory in the 2004 presidential election was tainted by fraud. A new election was organized and Mr. Yanukovich was defeated after his rivals portrayed him as a Kremlin lackey who would govern as an old-style Soviet boss. Advertisement Continue reading the main story But he made a comeback in the 2010 presidential campaign, pledging that he was a changed man. He said that he would safeguard political and media freedoms and guarantee that Ukraine would have warm relations with both the West and neighboring Russia. The public, meanwhile, had become wary of political bickering among Ms. Tymoshenko and her Orange colleagues. In recent remarks Mr. Yanukovich and his senior ministers have denied that the government was persecuting the opposition. They said that since assuming power they had undertaken an evenhanded review of the previous government’s policies and spending and were trying to ensure that corrupt officials were punished. Newsletter Sign Up Continue reading the main story Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box. Invalid email address. Please re-enter. You must select a newsletter to subscribe to. Sign Up You will receive emails containing news content , updates and promotions from The New York Times. You may opt-out at any time. You agree to receive occasional updates and special offers for The New York Times's products and services. Thank you for subscribing. An error has occurred. Please try again later. View all New York Times newsletters. “When it comes to justice, the affiliation of this or that lawbreaker does not matter,” Mr. Yanukovich said last week during a trip to Poland. “The rule of law works in Ukraine.” Government officials pointed out that they had commissioned an audit last year by two American law firms and the investigative firm of Kroll Inc. that had found evidence of six cases of financial malfeasance during Ms. Tymoshenko’s tenure. “Especially in the last five years, there was this impression in society that people in government were essentially immune from prosecution,” the Ukrainian foreign minister, Kostyantyn Gryshchenko, said in an interview. “We need to send a serious signal to society that this behavior is unacceptable.” But the United States and its European allies appear increasingly skeptical of the government’s motives. Western diplomats pointed out that when the Orange side was in charge in Kiev it could have easily gone after Mr. Yanukovich with the same prosecutorial fervor but instead left him alone. They noted that the audit by the American firms looked only at Ms. Tymoshenko’s tenure, not at the years when Mr. Yanukovich was in the government before becoming president. In late December, when it appeared that Ms. Tymoshenko might be arrested, the United States Embassy in Kiev took the highly unusual step of issuing a statement chastising the Ukrainian authorities. Advertisement Continue reading the main story “When, with few exceptions, the only senior officials being targeted are connected with the previous government, it gives the appearance of selective prosecution of political opponents,” the statement said. The embassy seemed to be echoing language used by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in criticizing the treatment in Russia of Mikhail B. Khodorkovsky. Mr. Khodorkovsky, formerly Russia’s richest man, has been in jail since 2003 after challenging the authority of Vladimir V. Putin, who was the president then and is now prime minister. After a second trial Mr. Khodorkovsky was sentenced to another prison term in late December that is to keep him behind bars until 2017. Mrs. Clinton said the Khodorkovsky verdict “raises serious questions about selective prosecution — and about the rule of law being overshadowed by political considerations.” This month, after Ms. Tymoshenko was barred by prosecutors from traveling to Brussels to meet with the president of the European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek, he also questioned the integrity of the investigations. For its part, the Kremlin has declined to pass judgment. “That is an internal matter for Ukraine,” the Russian foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, said last year after the investigations began. “There is nothing more for me to say.”

“Never let a good crisis go to waste.” — Anne Harrison As I type this column, there are news of factories, airlines, hotels and financial institutions being shut due to mismanagement, suspected misdoings or their products simply being made redundant. This column is dedicated to the millions of workers out there. You must be angry at your management, resentful of being at the receiving end of some bad luck, fearing the uncertain future, frustrated that all your loyalty has come to naught. This column is for those girls out there, who are on the verge of giving up on their boyfriends, because, they did not show up on Valentines day. This column is for the student out there, facing failure, because they cannot understand mathematics or the scientist in her laboratory, about to give up. Mathematics resonates me because I used to fail in the subject in school. The question is what now, and how? A lot has been said about the recently held elections in Delhi. Let me first state, that I am not an AAP supporter, and this piece is not about political and electoral strategy. It is about an aspect of human endeavour called hope. Before I go ahead, this column is not a political commentary. It is about people who face a crisis and failure and bounce back from it. People who failed in the examinations or lost hard earned money in a failed business. This column is about those people who face rejections; because of long held biases. Students who fell ill just before an important exam and still made it to the examination hall. It is the same with election results and corporate results. When there is huge success, a lot of focus and media space is devoted to the top leaders. What often goes unnoticed and certainly uncredited is the common frontline workers. The young folks, who walk the dusty streets, for hours and days together, going about their daily tasks. They forsake their meals, romantic dates, family events, weekends and holidays and knock door-to-door converting cynical customers to vote for them. So lets rewind to May 2014: Cut back to the Parliamentary elections in May 2014 and the national election results would have just come in. Their “calculated seats” would show a depressing reduction from 28 seats to 12 seats. The hard crushing reality of rejection would have hit the workers of the Aam Aadmi Party. Their friends and family would have been laughing at their naivete. They would have perhaps been questioning their own decisions of not joining the other wave, and perhaps even being overwhelmed by the wave. How does a team so demoralised, with dwindled resources, in the face of a huge competitor with unlimited resources and influence, go from a demoralised force to securing 67 out 70 seats. How do students who fail an exam, or fall short of your sales targets, or do not win the coveted sales competition bounce back. They would have undergone the entire gamut of negative emotions. It is not that they are super human. If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die? — Shylock, in Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice Authors, Todd Kashdan and Robert Biswas-Diener, in their book, The Upside to your Dark Side, explain how negative emotions are essential and how they work. The AAP volunteers, would have been miserable, just like all of us. Anger, at their ideals and values being transgressed. Disappointment, after their hard work going to naught. Fear that they would never be a force in the political arena. Embarrassment; exacerbated by actions and statements by various leaders, inside and outside. Perhaps, confusion; after a inexplicable decline and a lack of clarity on the way forward. Maybe even low self worth, a sense that they are not good enough, bought on by the acrimony of the 49 Day Government and the embarrassment that was the dharna. Maybe it was regret, that they wanted to create a legacy and now stared at failure. It certainly would be frustration, when after so much effort, their faltering at the final mile, was the final blow. I do not know what happened, but I am keen to find out, perhaps for a later column. What I do know is, and I take a little literary license as the same Shylock, who said, “The villainy you teach me I will execute—and it shall go hard but I will better the instruction.” They must have so badly wanted to reverse the agony. Anger would have been top of mind. “Anyone can become angry. That is easy. But to be angry with the right person, to the right degree, at the right time, for the right purpose, and in the right way— this is not easy.” — Aristotle Negativity is good: Great inventions came about in negativity and misery. Scientists faced years of frustration in inventing airplanes or combustion engines or automotive engines. History marks civil rights and freedom movements, across the world to have taken shape from negativity. Positivity does not mean, that you will never be negative. It is natural to feel negative. We need negative emotions to flourish: When we face dissatisfaction, human beings face two scenarios. It could be a downward spiral of emotions. It could range from doubting their capabilities and being overly critical or not being able to critique their own actions. Or they resort to attributing the accumulation of events to the actions of others that contributed to the negative event. The most popular, leaving it at the doorstep of fate, the economy, weather, disease, destiny and God. From a negative situation leaders generate a desire to achieve more from the current situation. Positivity gives them the space. Perhaps, the answer is in a very small word, called, hope. It is very simply a belief that you can create a new possibility and that you can change your reality. It is a belief which implores you to look at a range of possibilities. It helps you explore what you thought was impossible. It nudges you towards finding a creative solution. Barbara Fredrickson calls them tiny engines of positive emotions. In his memoir Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela, Mandela writes: “I am fundamentally an optimist. Whether that comes from nature or nurture, I cannot say. Part of being optimistic is keeping one’s head pointed toward the sun, one’s feet moving forward. There were many dark moments when my faith in humanity was sorely tested, but I would not and could not give myself up to despair. That way lays defeat and death.” In the deepest throes of despair, all you need is a small sliver hope. Hope is not a denial of the facts, but an acknowledgement that you want to change the reality. Hope gives that little launch pad for positive change. It helps you connect with the people around you. So what is hope? Ever since history has been written, stories of hope have been well documented. It is interesting that hope was discovered as a construct, when scientist Richard Snyder was studying how people distance themselves from mistakes and failures by making excuses. He found that hope was on the other side of the spectrum of making excuses. Richard Snyder developed the Hope Theory and then a very interesting Hope Scale, where you could actually measure two elements of hope, first your perception that you will act towards your goal and the belief that you can find a way around the obstacles in your path, or find “pathways”. So what are the ways to build hope? 1. Take a time-out Scientists have proven, when you stop thinking of a problem, and stop obsessing over it, it increases your chances of finding a solution. Sometimes we become so obsessed with the problem at hand, that all we need to do is break the pattern. So do something small but different. Take a fifteen minute break. Go out for a small stroll. If you can get time for exercise, that will be even better. It will leave you with more energy. If you have an hobby, now is the time to indulge in it. Even though you are in a crisis, it does not stop you from committing a few acts of kindness yourself. It will take the focus of yourself and direct it to doing good for someone else. It gives you the confidence that in midst of your crisis, you can make someone else happy. Positive Psychology researcher, Robert Biswas-Diener, says that “trying new things and taking risks come not just with the possibility of failure, but the assurance of failure. While failure always leaves a bad taste in the mouth, it can provide new insights about strategies that work and those that do not”. So how can you build hope in yourself? What do you do when you feel like a failure? 2. Ask a few questions and learning from the past Carol Dweck suggests, Think of a lesson you have learned from your mistakes. Think of a few things in which you have really improved. Have your experiences prepared you well for life? Think of a time, when you met your goals. What did you do? Think of a time, when you physically yearned for something better to happen? Think of a time when you had to be at your best. Think of how you have overcome obstacles. Think of a time, in the past, when you were faced with an almost certain failure, but simply believed that you could turn things around, and perhaps actually did. How did that feel? What were the strengths that you used? Do you usually find solutions to your problems? Think of a time, when you were creative. What was the solution? 3. Reach out to people who were in your situation Think of someone who can help you out. Someone you can talk to or you can take guidance from? If you are facing a crisis of a dreaded health issue like cancer, seek help from cancer survivors. If your Sales Supervisor has given you the final warning, talk to people who have been longer in the system on some tips. They will be more than willing to help. 4. Connect back to your purpose Is your purpose still alive and relevant? I think this is where the senior leaders of AAP would have resonated with their purpose. 5. Realise that every human being has a deep reservoir of strengths Use the strengths and take and find a way of taking the first step… I think this is where the workers would have excelled. They must have realised that they still have the same strengths. Young and energetic volunteers who were willing to put in the hard work and were driven by their purpose and personal integrity. They must have found out that the electorate still harboured negative perceptions of abandonment which was a barrier they needed overcome. So they made their first move to show they had learned from their mistakes. I think the public apology was a genuine sign of growing up. A positive toned message showed that they had graduated from rebellion to statesmanship, worthy of forgiveness and capable of another opportunity. The electorate of Delhi forgave them. I am not a political observer or a social scientist, but the statistics background in me, urges me to consider that it was just not the “huge promises” that drove the forgiveness. As it happens, so many times, the ripples of positivity took over. The rest is history. On yet another Monday, if you are on top of the world after a great Valentine’s weekend, help someone out. It could be a colleague at work who just can't seem to convert a client. A small two-minute coaching might help her. If you find yourself in the deepest of despair, make a plan to bounce back. Hope exists at both the spectrum of human survival and flourishing human. Human survival depends on hope. Flourishing human starts with hope.

Competitive video gaming (or the term "e-sports" which I happen to strongly dislike) has been massively growing in popularity in recent years. This is largely due to an influx of new titles and a shift of focus by the companies to the competitive multiplayer aspect of their games. For example, Riot Games has recently become intimately involved in the competitive scene for League of Legends, which has typically been the most played PC game in the past year or two. So why else has this rise in popularity gone up so exponentially? One of the reasons I propose is that the games that are becoming popular are significantly easier to play than the competitive games of the past. Please note that this is in no way a negative feature in my eyes, I'm merely stating what I think is a result of improved gaming engines and technology. Therefore, it is easier to bring in new players, more people will understand the game and its concepts, and viewership of tournaments and competitions will increase, solely by the nature of a more educated audience (players of the game). Unfortunately, one of the things you lose with a game that is easier to get started with is that overwhelming dominance that can be achieved by someone who is an absolute master of the game. However, this list doesn't focus on how easy the game is to get into. Instead, I plan to talk about the games with the highest skillcap. This means that this list will focus more on older games rather than newer titles. Defining what I mean by skillcap can be difficult. It's more complex than listing games that are the hardest to master. We need a term that is more encompassing of skillcap. Therefore I want to propose a definition for skillcap as "the number of levels of ownage". For example, let's look at Call of Duty. Someone that is an expert probably won't get touched by a mid level player. A mid level player probably won't get touched by a noob who has just started playing. Therefore, in CoD there are "three levels of ownage". This is not a particularly high skillcap game as a result. For the rest of the list, I will look at games with many layers of ownage, games where there are MANY steps to go from a novice to a professional. Also please note I will be mainly focusing on games that have at least achieved some level of popularity.

Join our club of elite Embarcadero developers - Show us your Cool Apps! Elite Developers – Show us your Cool Apps! Join our club of elite developers by showcasing your app and enter to win $500 gift card. How does it work? 1) Submit a title and answer a few questions for your cool app 2) Share your short video and screenshots 3) Community members vote 4) Share your entry and encourage others to vote 5) Winner each month - $500 Gift Card This contest awards prizes and showcases cool applications built using Embarcadero's RAD Studio, Delphi and C++Builder. We are looking for cool applications across all industries including personal use, using any type of application you can build with our products. Your cool app can use VCL, FireMonkey, DataSnap, EMS, FireDAC, InterBase and any other components, libraries, services, sites, infrastructures, APIs, devices and other capabilities. As part of your contest entry, we want you to create a 5 minute video (or please request a date/time with David I and/or Jim McKeeth for a recording session and we'll help you) that shows your cool code, UI, technology, component use, architecture, algorithms, data structures, unique solution to a problem, business solution, game, world changing idea and any other app that you want to show off. The contest will be an ongoing monthly contest so there is no specific deadline for submission. We will be giving each monthly winner a $500 gift card (or local equivalent). In addition, we will highlight the winning submission on our YouTube channel along with other submissions so that your fellow Embarcadero community members will be able to admire your work. You only need to submit your cool app once. Embarcadero developer relations team, Embarcadero software consultants and Embarcadero MVPs will vote each month to determine the monthly winner. Embarcadero employees are not eligible to enter the contest. Embarcadero MVPs are allowed to enter the contest but will not be allowed to vote for their own entry. View some past winners You can use any screen recording software to create your 5 minute Cool App Contest video. At Embarcadero we use Camtasia for Windows and Camtasia for Mac by You can use any screen recording software to create your 5 minute Cool App Contest video. At Embarcadero we use Camtasia for Windows and Camtasia for Mac by TechSmith (they have trial versions available if you are interested). TechSmith has tutorials available for Camtasia for Windows and Camtasia for Mac . Your video should be recorded and rendered at or near 1920x1080 resolution. Please make sure that your IDE editor’s text font size is set to 12 point or larger (David I likes to use Lucida Console 14 point). If you intend to enter, please use the submission form (short survey) to tell us about your Embarcadero Cool App. Bookmark this survey page URL and start your cool app entry (or entries) today and then update your submission(s) when you have completed your video or want to request a date/time with us for a recording session. We like all types of applications – desktop, mobile, server, cloud, personal, professional, industrial, etc. There is no limit to the type of application, except that it must be a cool app. The app does not have to be a for sale app. The app does not have to be open source based. The app can be used inside a company or delivered to specific users. The app just has to be wonderful. There are no other rules except what is in the email, what is in the submission/survey form header and the final question that has you put your name, email and company to give us permission to publicly showcase your app (whether it wins a monthly prize or not) and to use some or all of the textual information and other information you provide as part of us showing your cool app video to the world. We look forward to seeing all of the cool apps our Embarcadero community members have built! If you have any questions or need additional information, please contact me. David Intersimone "David I" This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Winners: Contenders: Frequently Asked Questions about the Cool Apps Contest Q: Does the video have to be five minutes in length? A: We hope your submitted video will be approximately 5 minutes in length. But, the video can be a little shorter or a little longer if you need to show the coolness of the app. Is there a video submission that might be too short, say 2 minutes in length? The video can be shorter, as long as you can show the coolness of the app in action, the UI, some source code or architecture and anything else that will help the “judges” evaluate the cool app submission. Q: Do I maintain ownership of the 5 minute video? I would have no issue granting permission for the video to be used as that becomes the positive marketing from your side. A: You own the video and the app. The last item on the submission form asks you to give your name, email address and company (or self) as confirmation that you want your cool app entered into the Embarcadero Cool Apps Contest and that we can use the information and video you provide as part of the marketing of our Cool Apps Contest. We will put the video and information on our site and also our YouTube channel. Q: If I submit am app once and then later make significant update to it with which I extend my apps features can I update my submission to reflect the latest changes? A: You can always update your submission whether it has won a monthly award entry or not. We will create a landing page and YouTube playlist for the videos and can update videos as you do, or change the link. Just let us know. Q: In your article you state that it is necessary to submit the cool app only once and the judges will vote for best app every month. Can one app can be nominated as best several times? A: We will pick a cool app each month from the complete set of submissions. You do not have to re-submit the same cool app. One specific Cool App can only win once. A Cool App submitted can win once and only once. Q: Is this strictly for mobile apps, or are groundbreaking desktop apps also eligible? A: We like all types of applications – desktop, mobile, server, cloud, personal, professional, industrial, etc. There is no limit to the type of application, except that it must be a cool app. The app does not have to be a for sale app. The app does not have to be open source based. The app can be used inside a company or delivered to specific users. The app just has to be cool. Q: Since this appears to be a monthly contest, when is the cutoff date for the first month? End of April? A: We will take submissions over time. The “judges” will take a look at all submissions (except for past winners) at the beginning of each month (for April, this means early May). We will choose one winner each month from the complete list of submissions. Once a cool app video has won a monthly prize, it will not be considered for any additional month’s awards. Q: Where is the gift card good for? A: The gift card will be for $500 (or local equivalent) for an online retailer such as Amazon that services the country of the winner.

The death toll from ongoing conflict in Ukraine has nearly doubled in the past week, the United Nations human rights office said Wednesday. A "very conservative estimate" indicates that as of Aug. 10, 2,086 have died, compared to 1,129 on July 26, spokesperson Cecile Pouilly told media. Pouilly added that the rising toll marked a "clear escalating trend," and, while the numbers included Ukrainian armed forces, civilians and armed groups, the numbers for civilian casualties "are likely to be under-reported." Among the 2,000 killed are at least 20 children, she said. In the first week of August, an average of 70 people a day have been killed, she added. SCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT Help Keep Common Dreams Alive Our progressive news model only survives if those informed and inspired by this work support our efforts Ongoing violence has led to a worsening humanitarian situation that has left many civilians scrambling for basic supplies. Also on Wednesday, a Russian convoy of over 280 trucks remains outside of the Ukrainian border. Ukraine's Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk stated that the convoy, said by Russian authorities to hold humanitarian supplies including baby food and generators, would only be allowed in with cooperation from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Laurent Corbaz, ICRC Head of Operations for Europe and Central Asia, said Tuesday that the situation in eastern Ukraine is "dire," and that his organization "could be on board" with helping the humanitarian operation provided there were "security guarantees and direct contact with all the parties" involved. NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen indicated to Reuters Monday that the humanitarian convoy could in fact be a "Trojan horse" used as a ruse for Russian military intervention in eastern Ukraine. "We see the Russians developing the narrative and the pretext for such an operation under the guise of a humanitarian operation and we see a military buildup that could be used to conduct such illegal military operations in Ukraine," he said.

‘Democrats lose again (0-4),’ gloated President Donald Trump last night after his party won Georgia’s vacant 6th Congressional District. Then he added an extra ball-spiking slam: ‘Total disarray.’ Unlike some of Trump’s public statements, this was one that no Democrat could legitimately contest for factual accuracy. They really HAVE lost all four special House elections since he won the White House. And they really ARE in total disarray. I’ve spent the past few months warning liberals their constant hysterical behaviour in relation to Trump would backfire and simply strengthen his position. 'Total disarray': Trump celebrated last night's devastating defeat for Democrats Weeping, wailing and marching every time he breaks wind isn’t going to work. Now we are beginning to see hard ballot box proof of this theory. Make no mistake, last night’s defeat was a devastating one for the Democrats. It was a seat they were convinced they could win because Trump only carried Georgia’s 6th District by a tiny 1.5% margin in the general election. Democrat candidate Jon Ossoff amassed a vast campaigning war chest of $23.6 million and the party threw its full national and local force behind him. Osoff even arrogantly boasted he was going to ‘send a message’ to Trump. This was going to be a referendum on America’s most divisive ever president; the first big success for the frenzied anti-Trump ‘Resistance’ movement. He, Jon Ossoff, was going to smack Trump in the political nose and be a hero to his fellow Democrats. Only…he lost. Badly. Republican candidate Karen Handel won by a sizeable 4-point margin, having spent just $4 million. And by doing so, she ensured Trump won again too. His personal approval rating may be very low, but his ability to win elections at any level of US democracy remains impressively invincible. Republicans control the White House, the Senate and the House, and have thus rarely been more powerful. The Democrats, by contrast, have never been in a weaker position in their entire modern history. And a lot of that is down to Barack Obama. As Rolling Stone reported this week, during Obama’s two terms the party lost 13 governorships and their control of state legislatures collapsed from six in 10 to now one in three. One of Jon Ossoff's supporters can;t hide her disappointment after his defeat last night Across federal and state government, Democrats have lost nearly 1000 seats! This is about as bad as it gets. So what can be done about this dire Democrat demise? Well, here are my 10 suggestions for how they can sort their s**t out: 1) Dump Hillary. Every time their failed candidate pops up to whine about her loss, they drain more support. I’ve seen some bad losers in my time but Mrs Clinton is right up there with the very worst. She’s blamed everything and everyone from Putin to Comey, and she just won’t shut up about it. The Democrats need to send Hillary to political Siberia for her own sake as much as theirs. 2) Stop abusing Trump. The self-styled ‘smart crowd’ in New York and LA think it’s oh so clever to keep mocking and insulting the President. Yet as last night’s result showed, real America – the one between those two large liberal conclaves – doesn’t like it. And they will turn out in big numbers to affirm their irritation. 3) Find a leader. The Democrats are completely rudderless at the moment. They desperately need a fresh face and voice to re-ignite their base. That face can be black, white, male, female, young, not-so-young, thin, fat. It doesn’t matter who it is, so long as he or she presents a dynamic new image for the party. 4) Get positive. The Democrats lost the general election because they spent the entire time delivering dire warnings of how awful Trump would be in the unthinkable event of him actually winning. He, meanwhile, focused on big, bold, simple messaging led by his vow to Make America Great Again. It was brilliant marketing, and it worked. Millions of Americans believed then, and still believe, that Trump can cut through the usual political nonsense to improve their lives. The Democrats must now offer their own positive vision for America, and do it in a way that resonates with the public. 5) Be inclusive. One of the rare Democrat success stories is Rep. Cheri Bustos, who won her district in Illinois last November by a whopping 20-point margin. She has urged her colleagues to hear out Trump supporters rather than ridicule them. ‘People want to feel they’re being listened to,’ she told The Christian Science Monitor, ‘that they haven’t been forgotten.’ Democrats, she added, ‘need to stop acting like everyone else is a villain.’ When asked to describe a Trump voter, she responded: ‘They’re regular people.’ Meryl Streep might howl with fury at that comment, but that is why Cheri Bustos won big. 6) Get out into the heartland. The NY & LA bubble is so incredibly dangerous for all Democrats. I would say that 95% of all US mainstream media is slavishly devoted to hating Trump. It spews from their every pore in a 24/7 cycle of derision, and it drives huge ratings and circulation. It’s making them all very rich, be it CNN, the New York Times or Stephen Colbert. But I’ve spent a lot of time filming in states like Texas and Florida in the past two years and trust me, they view Trump in an entirely different way. To defeat him, you must first understand his appeal. To do that, you must go to the places that voted for him and speak to those who bought into him. 7) Stand for something, and mean it. Everybody knows what Trump stands for because he’s banged the drum for his core issues - like The Wall, bringing back outsourced jobs and his travel ban - more times than Charlie Watts has banged his for the Rolling Stones. I honestly haven’t got a clue what the Democrats currently believe really matters to either themselves or Americans. And that’s a big problem when you’re trying to beat one of the most skilled brand-managers in American political history. Republican candidate Karen Handel (left) defeated Ossoff (right) by a sizeable 4-point margin, having spent just $4 million. 8) Tell your celebrity fans to shut the **** up. The constant smug, superior, belittling rhetoric that pours out from famous liberals on social media is utterly self-defeating. I know it makes you all feel good when halfwits like Madonna or quarterwits like Chrissy Tiegen tear into Trump on Twitter. But it just serves to remind everyone the Democrats are the party for wealthy, privileged stars who haven’t got a monkey’s cuss how the real world lives or works. Trump is despised by most celebrities, yet adored by tens of millions of working class Americans. And he’s living at the White House. Do the math. 9) Do deals with the Republicans. Yes, I’m serious. Americans are sick and tired of intransigent Washington politicians obstructing each other. So do the right thing and work with Trump and his team on big, important stuff like healthcare - for the good of the country. I know it will make you puke, but that’s the price you pay for losing. The upside is the American people will see a Democrat Party putting them before itself, and that, I guarantee you, will improve your popularity. 10)Learn to win again. Anywhere. And do it on any agenda other than Trump-bashing. Winning is a habit and the Democrats need to pour resources and the right people into doing it again. ‘I don’t like losers,’ Trump said in his book Art of the Deal. Then he elaborated: ‘There are people - I categorize them as life’s losers - who get their sense of accomplishment and achievement from trying to stop others. If they had any real ability they wouldn’t be fighting me, they’d be doing something constructive themselves.’ He’s right. Though I suspect if I asked him his view of losers today, he’d reply that in the case of the Democrats he’d amend it to read: ‘I don’t like these losers, I LOVE them!’

We are only a few days away from the official reveal of the production Tesla Model 3 and sightings of prototypes, release candidates and production units have been multiplying. Like we reported earlier, there’s not a lot of room for surprises after some good looks at the first few production units and release candidates, but we should get the full production specs of the car. Ahead of the event Friday and the first 30 or so deliveries, Tesla appears to still be performance testing and/or tuning the vehicle. Earlier today, JP Coupa spotted a Model 3 test vehicle with sensors on the wheels and roof in North Beach, San Francisco. He sent us a few pictures of the car: Those sensors can be used for force measurements in order to tune the performance of the vehicle, model tire usage, calculate efficiency, and other things. Tesla is expected to release more detailed performance specs of the different versions of the Model 3 at the event on Friday. So far, the company has only confirmed a “0 to 60 mph acceleration in 5.6 seconds” and a range of “over 215 miles” for the base version of the car. Electrek’s Take We expect the Model 3 to surprise in term of performance – for its segment, but also for electric cars in general. Tesla designed a new drive unit from the ground up for the vehicle and as we previously reported, early results were impressive. The power electronics for the standard electric motor enabled a capacity over 300kW – putting its power capacity near Model S level. Information we received also suggested that the Model 3 drive unit would also represent a significant efficiency and cost improvement. Tesla recently upgraded its Model S and Model X in order to increase their performance and further differentiate them with the upcoming Model 3. While the base version will feature a 5-second acceleration to 60 mph, the higher-end versions of the Model 3 will feature much better specs, even its own Ludicrous mode, according to CEO Elon Musk. It wouldn’t be surprising to see a performance dual motor Model 3 have a 0 to 60 mph acceleration around 3 seconds, but the dual motor Model 3 is not expected to be available during the early production. It is expected late this year or early next year. Hopefully, Tesla will still reveal the details of the dual motor version in order for Model 3 reservation holders to make an informed decision about converting their reservations into orders or wait for the higher-end versions of the car. What do you think? What feature would make you wait for a Model 3? Let us know in the comment section below.

Four-goal hero Nick Davis celebrates victory over Geelong in the Swans' most recent final at the SCG, the 2005 second semi-final THE SYDNEY Swans are keen to bring finals football back to the SCG after drawing a bumper crowd for last Saturday's blockbuster against Port Adelaide The Swans last played a final at the SCG in 2005 when they beat Geelong by three points in a thrilling semi-final before progressing to win the premiership. The club is contracted to play home finals at ANZ Stadium as well as three home-and-away games, but that deal expires at the end of the 2016 season, with negotiations on a new deal to commence in the coming months. Chief executive Andrew Ireland said the new stadium deal would be significant for the Swans, who drew a crowd of 41,317 for their clash against the Power in round 13. "We would like to see some of those big games come back to the SCG and I think it's fair to say we'd like to see finals played at the SCG as well," Ireland told radio station 3AW on Tuesday night. "But we do need to sit down and work through it with both stadiums. "ANZ Stadium have got plans to put a roof on the stadium … they're looking to spend about $300 million on improving the stadium, so there's some big decisions. "We expect that it will be a long-term lease, so whatever we do will pretty much commit the club into the future for a long while. It's an important decision." The Swans have drawn an average crowd of 46,933 to their seven finals at ANZ Stadium since 2003, with a peak of 71,019 for the 2003 preliminary final loss to the Brisbane Lions. The SCG currently has a capacity of 48,000 compared to ANZ Stadium's 82,000. "Before ANZ Stadium was built we had a terrible deal," Ireland said. "So it's not always as straightforward as doing what you want to do or what your members want to do. "The reality is, until the weekend ticket sales had been stronger at ANZ Stadium than they had been at the SCG. "You've got to take into account we're playing the bigger games out at ANZ Stadium … and I've got no doubt if we played Collingwood at the SCG there'd be a huge crowd there." Saturday's crowd against the Power was the biggest the Swans had drawn at the SCG since 1997, with Sydneysiders keen to see the third-placed Swans take on the ladder leaders. They were also treated to a brilliant five-goal performance from Lance Franklin, who turned the match with two incredible goals in the fourth quarter from outside 50m. Ireland said the Swans took in $200,000 more in tickets sales they had budgeted for and Franklin was proving to be a strong salesman of Australian football in New South Wales. "We always said the Franklin deal needs to be judged over a longer period," Ireland said. "He's certainly helping the interest in the game up here. There's no doubt the excitement makes a huge difference."

All media courtesy of Kurt Braunohler When I heard that comedian Kurt Braunohler was doing a cross-country jet ski trip for charity, I was not surprised. Kurt Braunohler is the closest thing we have to a real-life Willy Wonka, a whimsical eccentric who uses his resources to better the day of the average citizen in the most ridiculous way possible. Jet-skiing from Chicago to New Orleans might not suit the average guy, but was exactly something he would do—and he did it to raise enough money to donate 500 goats and 1,000 chickens to families in Africa. After he was done traversing down the Mississippi River by jet ski, I caught up with Kurt in LA to get a recap of the adventure. VICE: How did the idea to journey down the Mississippi come to you? Kurt Braunohler: Last year I did that thing where I raised money on a Kickstarter to write a joke in the sky. And I wanted to do something bigger, and the whole impetus of that idea was like, what’s a stupid moment to insert into stranger’s lives that could make the world a little bit of a better place? So this idea was kind of like, what’s bigger than that—and can also make the world better in a real way? At first, I wanted to jet-ski from LA to New York, and then people were like, “No, that’s impossible.” Apparently I don’t really understand geography. Then, we decided that we could do it from Chicago to New Orleans. So we’re doing it to send 500 goats and 1,000 chickens to Africa. Are you a jet-ski aficionado? Had you ridden jet skis before? I had ridden jet skis before. But I hadn’t touched a jet ski in probably ten years. Until you decided to cross the country with them. Exactly. So what was the most insane moment on what was, presumably, a very insane adventure? An hour and a half into the trip, the chase boat ran out of gas. When a boat runs out of gas, it doesn’t just stop, it starts to drift into danger. There were, like, ten or 15 people on that boat who were just in an industrial canal with barges that come by and with no way to control the boat. That was pretty insane. Then we ended up having to crash-land at an abandoned grain silo. It looked like a nightmare factory. We got stuck at this abandoned grain silo for hours, because we were on private property that was zoned by the army core of engineers, who then showed up and were very mad that we were there. That was probably the most insane moment. Wow. Did that moment make you go, like, Uh, I should stop? That was the first day! I was like, Oh, shit. This is a bad idea. We’re not going to be able to pull this off. So how did it level off after that? What brought you around? Was it a matter of getting your sea legs, so to speak? It was. The next day was a pure shit show as well. We did a show at noon in Saint Louis. Oh, I was there for that! Yeah! We did that show in Saint Louis, and then, after that, the production was so disorganized. The production van and the other car we had just left, and we had seats for 23 people. And both of those vehicles were driving just two people. Me and Jon Daly and the director and Scotty and the camera crew were just left at a bar. There was no way for us to get anywhere because it started pouring rain and no cabs could come get us. So we sat at the bar for three hours. We’re on such a tight time schedule, and like, just sitting around for three hours doing nothing is insane, because we had to shoot this entire episode from 7 AM until 1 PM, and then get on the road and go 100 miles from 1 PM until 7 PM. So that was insane. I was still just incredibly frustrated, but then once we got on the Mississippi, after we launched—launching was fucking disgusting; it was filled with used condoms and cigarette butts—once we got 25 or 30 miles south of Saint Louis, that’s when it just became very… That’s when I realized this was a good idea. It’s like, the Mississippi! It’s a mile wide, there’s no buildings anywhere because it floods so often, and it was just wilderness. I felt like I was in the artery of America, and I felt amazing then. It took a whole two days. That was the end of the second day, and then I was like, “OK, we did a good thing.” The Mississippi... It’s a historically important thing. I think everyone thinks of, like, Huckleberry Finn. What is it actually like to be in it? What’s fascinating about it is that no one goes on it. It’s too dangerous. It’s a really dangerous river to go on. No one takes a luxury boat out on the Mississippi River, because it’s a 9- or 10-knot current, which is very dangerous. Very strong everywhere. As you’re going through them, they’ll pull the ski left or right, which is insane. And there’s a lot of commercial traffic, so you just have giant barges that are pushing… It’ll be like four or five barges tied together with one tow pushing it at the end, so that means that the person who’s driving the tow and is pushing these barges cannot see the three football fields to the front of the boat. They make a lot of wake. So it was totally dangerous, but in a way that I truly enjoyed. It felt very desolate and beautiful and dangerous all at the same time. What can 500 goats and 1,000 chickens do for families? What is the impact of that? It’s actually a pretty amazing impact. What happens is we’ll provide… These are African-raised goats and chickens, so we’re not actually sending any animals over to Africa. They’re raised in Africa. Each family will get one goat and two chickens, which means that creates a mini-economy for that family. So not only do they have a renewable resource for food—meaning milk, cheese, butter, and yogurt—but also, they have eggs that they can sell or eat. You have this completely renewable resource for the family, and that means money for the family, and it means food. There’s a level of stability there. It’s like giving them a small loan. And it’s sustainable. Right. These animals aren’t going over to be murdered. They’re there to be providers for the family. That’s phenomenal. What was your favorite moment of the entire trip, from coming up with the idea until arriving in New Orleans? There were so many cool moments. I would say a moment that was truly organic was when we pulled into this kind of weird biker bar in Evansville, Illinois. The daughter of the woman who owned the bar just happened to walk up to us and tell us that she was graduating high school the next day, and Scotty—my writing partner, who also plays Little Minnow on the show—was like, “We should give her a ride to her high school graduation on the jet ski.” We asked her, and she was super psyched about it. So we worked it out at the bar that night and then showed up in the morning, and she was there in her cap and gown, and I drove her to her high school graduation on the jet ski. That was awesome! It was so very real and a cool, stupid thing to do. One last question: What did you learn the most about America via your journey? The thing I learned is that there’s zero, zero clean water in America. There is no waterway that is clean. It’s all disgusting. We’ve ruined it all. What else? Oh, you know what was amazing? Coming through the bayou in between the Gulf of Mexico and the Mississippi River. We had to cross the Gulf of Mexico, and then we came in, and that was just gorgeous. Also, a crazy amount of weird houses on really tall stilts. I don’t really know what they are, but like, 50-foot tall stilts, seemingly in the middle of the ocean. Things like that reminded us that there are still these unknown places in America that are confusing and wonderful. It sounds like you went on a confusing and wonderful journey to find them. I did! Kurt is still accepting donations, and you can give to his Indiegogo page here. Follow Josh Androsky on Twitter.

Police in Daytona Beach said they arrested one of their own on Tuesday.Chief Mike Chitwood said Officer Larry Jones, 25, hired last March, groped a woman whom he was transporting to the police department a week ago.Jones arrested the woman in a hit-and-run case at her home and was transporting her to the police department when she claims he stopped in a parking area on Mason Avenue.Chitwood said Jones pulled over twice during the drive from the arrest location to the police station, groping the woman under the guise of searching her and adjusting her handcuffs, which is against policy.He also allegedly took her belly button ring.Though the officer did not have a body camera, his GPS shows several unreported stops, and the victim filed a formal complaint.Top video: Reporter engaged during Valentine's Day coverageJones is charged with official misconduct, false imprisonment and battery. He posted bond and was released from jail.He's on unpaid leave during an internal investigation. Jones joined the Daytona Beach department last spring after a brief stint with the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.Related: Florida mug shots Police in Daytona Beach said they arrested one of their own on Tuesday. Chief Mike Chitwood said Officer Larry Jones, 25, hired last March, groped a woman whom he was transporting to the police department a week ago. Advertisement Related Content Daytona Beach police officer accused of molesting suspect resigns Jones arrested the woman in a hit-and-run case at her home and was transporting her to the police department when she claims he stopped in a parking area on Mason Avenue. Chitwood said Jones pulled over twice during the drive from the arrest location to the police station, groping the woman under the guise of searching her and adjusting her handcuffs, which is against policy. He also allegedly took her belly button ring. Though the officer did not have a body camera, his GPS shows several unreported stops, and the victim filed a formal complaint. Top video: Reporter engaged during Valentine's Day coverage Jones is charged with official misconduct, false imprisonment and battery. He posted bond and was released from jail. He's on unpaid leave during an internal investigation. Jones joined the Daytona Beach department last spring after a brief stint with the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office. Related: Florida mug shots AlertMe

Former Egyptian president to be taken to secure hospital or military base and placed under house arrest Hosni Mubarak, the former Egyptian president, is to be freed within hours after a Cairo court ordered his release. Mubarak is expected to be flown out of Tora prison by helicopter, probably to a military hospital or other state installation, where he will be placed under house arrest. The terms of the former president's release were announced under Egypt's emergency law, enacted under the security crackdown on Islamists. Arrangements for his departure, confirmed by official sources on Thursday, are clearly designed to avoid him being exposed to public view. The final say on where Mubarak will be going rests with Hazem Beblawi, prime minister in the military-backed interim government. Egyptians angered at the army's removal of the democratically elected but deeply unpopular president, Mohamed Morsi, after mass protests last month, will be infuriated by the coincidence of his unelected and autocratic predecessor walking free. But on the streets of Cairo, the overall mood appears to be indifference, with many ordinary people saying that the former president is irrelevant to Egypt's current situation. Hamid, a clerical worker, said: "Mubarak belongs to the past. But it is important to respect the law … [the armed forces chief General Abdel-Fatah] al-Sisi is smart to put him under house arrest. It shows that he is a wise leader." The release comes at a volatile moment for Egypt after some 900 Islamist protesters were killed last week and the military-backed government continues its crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood. Around 100 police and army personnel have also died. Jubilant supporters have already launched a Facebook page to promote Mubarak's candidacy for the presidency next year. Overthrown in January 2011 at one of the early high points of the Arab spring, Mubarak has spent the past two years in detention and could be detained again. But his release is loaded with symbolism about the parlous state of Egypt and fading hopes for peaceful political change across the wider region – graphically underlined by the latest carnage in Syria. Mubarak remains on trial for murder over the deaths of more than 800 protesters during the uprising against him. But after a separate corruption charge was settled this week, the time limit for him to remain in custody had expired. Egyptian officials had acknowledged privately that freeing Mubarak in this highly charged atmosphere was likely to fuel tensions. "The government knows that if Mubarak is freed there will be public outrage," said Mohamed Abolghar, head of the Egyptian Social Democratic party. "But a court decision is a court decision." By keeping Mubarak under house arrest, Egyptian leaders may be trying to show they will not be too lenient with him to avoid angering the many Egyptians who held mass protests that led to the end of his rule in 2011. The hearing that produced Wednesday's ruling was held in Tora prison, where Mubarak, 85 and in poor health, has spent most of his detention. He was given a life sentence last year for failing to stop the killing of protesters but that was overturned on appeal and he is being retried. He also faces other corruption charges but no other trial dates have been set. Most Egyptians have stopped following the legal twists and turns of the case but the significance and timing of this decision is still stunning. Saudi Arabia, dismayed that the US had abandoned Mubarak, is said to have been lobbying hard behind the scenes to have him freed. The Saudis helped put together a $12bn (£7.5bn) aid package for Egypt after Morsi was deposed last month. Sherief Gaber, of the Mosireen collective, a pro-revolutionary group, said: "The symbolism is clear coming from a completely revanchist judiciary, that even the symbolic victory of imprisoning Mubarak will be revoked, that the counter-revolution and the old regime are feeling empowered and petty. "The judiciary and the police are the two institutions that are most entrenched and most a part of the old regime; they were on their heels for a while, but using the bogeymen of the Muslim Brotherhood and people's fear and exhaustion, they're just doing whatever they feel like to be personally spiteful and cruel even. "Mubarak after all was just a symbol, and we knew that the regime was much bigger and had not yet fallen but needed to (and still needs to)." The news prompted bitter reflections about the state of the Arab world two-and-a-half years after the uprisings in Egypt, Syria, Tunisia and Yemen. "Give it five months and Mubarak, Assad, Ben Ali and Ali Saleh will hold a summit for the sake of good ol' days," tweeted Hassan Hassan, a Syrian commentator.

Mary C. Willingham, the North Carolina learning specialist who has sparked controversy with her data about the poor reading skills of college athletes, says her latest work illuminates issues that she has been concerned about her whole life. Growing up on the South Side of Chicago, she saw socioeconomic inequities play out right in front of her. Then, after working for years as a reading specialist in the athletics department at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, she says, she began to recognize those same disparities affecting players there. Expecting all athletes to handle the high caliber of academic work required at Chapel Hill is about as realistic as expecting her to suit up for a Division I football game, says Ms. Willingham, an instructor in the university's College of Arts and Sciences. “It would be like dropping me off on the football field, giving me a jersey, and telling me to just figure it out.” Ms. Willingham, who is 52, has been talking about what she sees as the university's poor track record in educating some UNC players since 2010, when the largest academic-­fraud scandal in the university’s history broke open. Now the whistle­-blower, who filed a grievance against the university last year after it demoted her for those remarks, she says, is in the middle of a new firestorm. This time it is for data she released that show that about 10 percent of the university’s football and basketball players whom she studied can’t read. University administrators have harshly criticized her research methods and disagreed with her findings. They have also suspended her work, saying she ran afoul of federal rules requiring that the identities of subjects remain anonymous to researchers. To continue her research, officials have said, she must receive approval from the university's institutional review board. CNN used Ms. Willingham's data in an extensive report this month about low levels of academic achievement among college athletes. Of the 183 athletes Ms. Willingham studied at Chapel Hill from 2004 to 2012 who were admitted under special academic standards, 60 percent read between fourth­- and eighth­-grade levels. An additional 8 percent to 10 percent were functionally illiterate, she found. At a faculty meeting this month, James W. Dean Jr., the provost, called the research "a travesty," according to news reports. He said four university employees had spent 200 hours dissecting Ms. Willingham’s data and found that she had gotten the numbers on athletes’ reading levels all wrong. In short, Ms. Willingham inappropriately used a simple vocabulary test to assess reading ability and then mistakenly conflated the scores on that test with specific reading grade levels, Mr. Dean said, according to his PowerPoint presentation at the faculty meeting. Those mistakes, he told professors, rendered her findings “nearly meaningless” and were "grossly unfair" to the reputation of the university's athletes. Ms. Willingham says the university’s critiques are unfounded. “I have been working as a reading specialist for 14 years,” she says, “I would never make the mistakes they said I made.” Advertisement 'Chilling Effect' Scholars at Chapel Hill say the way the university has responded to Ms. Willingham’s research has implications beyond her work. By halting it because of concerns over the anonymity of her subjects, and at the same time criticizing her findings, the university appears to be using the IRB as a tool to thwart her inquiry, say some faculty members. “This looks vindictive,” says Frank R. Baumgartner, a distinguished professor of political science at Chapel Hill. “It puts the university in a defensive posture, where they could instead be taking the initiative and saying, Let’s have a national conversation to find the right balance between athletics and academics.” Instead, says Mr. Baumgartner, the university’s attack on Ms. Willingham’s research has a “chilling effect” on any scholarly work that could make the university look bad. Daniel K. Nelson, director of the university’s office of human-­research ethics, who oversees the institutional review boards, issued a statement saying he had not been pressured by university administrators into requesting that Ms. Willingham seek IRB approval. He said it had simply become clear with the release of her research results that identifying details were in fact maintained in her data set. (Ms. Willingham has never publicly identified her research subjects.) But Ms. Willingham says that nothing has changed since she sought approval from the review board before her research began, and that review­board officials told her she didn’t need it. Since she screened her student subjects over time, she says, she has had to keep track of their identities—something she says the IRB knew all along. ‘I'm Stubborn’ The groundwork for Ms. Willingham’s activism on the education of athletes was laid when she was a teenager attending public high school in Chicago. “I have this educational and inequality alertness,” she says. “My parents were active in the community to make sure white flight didn’t happen” when the first black family moved in across the street. She refined her opinions as a remedial­-reading teacher at Chapel Hill High School in the early 2000s, where she saw students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds whom she believes got fewer opportunities than their wealthier counterparts did. “People who can afford it give their kids tutors, enrichment, and after­-school SAT prep,” she says. “I saw the gap between students.” The same kinds of disadvantages were evident, she says, for some of the athletes with whom she began working in 2003 as a learning specialist in the university’s athletics department. She worked closely, she says, with most of the 183 students in her study and found that many of them were smart but lacked basic reading and writing skills. “We could meet them where they are at academically and get them in shape so they could really get a college degree,” she says. Instead, she says, the university simply passes them through by guiding them to the easiest majors and classes. “That’s what’s been happening their whole lives.” Those athletes, she says, don’t want to go back to their communities after earning a University of North Carolina degree and power­-wash houses, but for some that’s exactly what happens. With a husband whose income is high enough to support her family, Ms. Willingham says she is perhaps in a good position to challenge the system. “I’m stubborn,” she says. “I don’t like it when people tell me I can’t do something.” Gaining approval from the institutional review board to continue her work could be difficult, she acknowledges, because she must know the identity of her subjects to follow them over time. But she won’t back down, she says, despite the death threats she says she’s received by e­mail since the CNN report, and despite what she calls the “character smear” by the provost at this month’s faculty meeting. Ms. Willingham is writing a book with Jay Smith, a historian at Chapel Hill, on the campus’s academic­-fraud scandal and what it means for the education of athletes. Mr. Smith praises Ms. Willingham and her research, calling her "committed and compassionate in her dealings with students.” He likens the university’s critique of her work to a “search­-and-­destroy attempt to discredit her.” Ms. Willingham says her motivations are simple. “Someone,” she says, “has to fix this mess.”

Emerald Garner, the daughter of Eric Garner, called for peace on CNN tonight after two NYPD officers were killed just days ago. Garner visited the memorial set up for Officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu a few days ago to show support for their families and to make a statement about coming together and not resorting to violence. She told Wolf Blitzer she felt a deep empathy for the families of the dead officers and wanted to make it clear that she has never condemned all cops as bad. RELATED: Eric Garner’s Mother, Widow Condemn NYPD Murders “Just because you have a uniform,” Garner said, “doesn’t define you as a bad cop.” She said she doesn’t want any more bloodshed, because for one, “my father’s still gone; you killed a cop and I still can’t get my father back.” Watch the video below, via CNN: [image via screengrab] — — Follow Josh Feldman on Twitter: @feldmaniac Have a tip we should know? tips@mediaite.com

CALGARY – Police are searching for suspects after multiple shots were fired in the community of Springbank Hill on Wednesday. Officers were called to the 0-100 block of Springbank Mews S.W. just before 6 a.m. by a couple who heard the shots. When they arrived, police found the couple’s home peppered with what appeared to be several shotgun blasts. GALLERY: Shots fired cause damage to Springbank Hill home Two people were at home at the time of the shooting. They are cooperating with police. “We heard this loud banging,” homeowner Andrew Li said. “We opened up the door and saw it was shot at.” “We called 911 at that point and hid in our room for the next 30 minutes while the cops came by.” “We’re still pretty scared.” Li said he has no idea why his home would be targeted. “I’m pretty sure it is a case of mistaken identity.” When asked if he had a message for the person or people who shot at his home, Li replied “I’m pretty sure you guys got the wrong house.” “Check your Google maps better next time.” At least four shots were fired. No injuries were reported. Police said neither the home nor the residents were known to them. Investigators are still trying to determine the motive for the shooting, as well as possible suspect or vehicle descriptions. Anyone with information is asked to call police or contact Crime Stoppers. – With files from Doug Vaessen

Treaty under consideration by 14 countries would ban new coalmines and embraces 1.5C target set at Paris climate talks The world’s first international treaty that bans or phases out fossil fuels is being considered by leaders of developing Pacific islands nations after a summit in the Solomon Islands this week. The leaders of 14 countries agreed to consider a proposed Pacific climate treaty, which would bind signatories to targets for renewable energy and ban new or the expansion of coalmines, at the annual leaders’ summit of the Pacific Islands Development Forum (PIDF). Five Pacific islands lost to rising seas as climate change hits Read more Mahendra Kumar, climate change advisor to PIDF, told the Guardian the treaty proposal was received very positively by the national leaders. “They seemed convinced that this is an avenue where the Pacific could again show or build on the moral and political leadership that they’ve shown earlier in their efforts to tackle climate change,” he said. The PIDF was formed in 2013, spearheaded by Fiji, and excludes Australia and New Zealand, which are members of the older Pacific Islands Forum. There were claims at the time that Australia and New Zealand attempted to sabotage the group’s first meeting. Then in 2015 Australia and New Zealand foiled an attempt by the developing countries in the older forum to take a 1.5C target to last year’s Paris climate change conference. But the treaty being considered by the newer group embraces the aspirational 1.5C target set at Paris, setting mitigation targets that are in line with it, as well as establishing adaptation mechanisms to cope with the effects of that warming. Paris climate change agreement: the world's greatest diplomatic success Read more Written by a coalition of non-governmental organisations called the Pacific Island Climate Action Network (PICAN), the model treaty will be the subject of consultations, which will result in a report to the summit next year. Kumar said it is unlikely to be adopted within one year, but it was possible it could be adopted the following year, in 2018. Joeteshna Gurdayal Zenos, acting head of Pacfic Net, which is Greenpeace Australia Pacific’s climate justice project, said: “Pacific island leaders are among the most proactive in the world on global warming because their countries are bearing the brunt of climate changes. “Their willingness to consider a Pacific climate treaty shows much-needed leadership on the world’s most pressing environmental challenge,” she said. In a report that presents the model treaty, PICAN said: “The rationale is that potential Parties to the Treaty already possess the political courage and commitment needed to adopt a flagship legal instrument that is sufficiently ambitious to prevent catastrophic changes in the global climate system. Headlines 'exaggerated' climate link to sinking of Pacific islands Read more “Such a treaty, when implemented in collaboration with PIDF and civil society, would send a powerful signal to markets, governments and civil society around the world that the end of fossil fuels is near, with Pacific Islanders acting not as victims of climate change but as agents of change. “As there is currently no treaty that bans or phases out fossil fuels, the Treaty would set a pioneering example to the rest of the world.” The treaty itself would bind parties to not approve any new coal or fossil fuel mines and not provide any subsidy for fossil fuel mining or consumption. It says parties will ensure “universal access” to clean energy by 2030, and would establish a “Pacific framework for renewable energy” to achieve that goal. The treaty would establish a fund, which would provide compensation for communities that have suffered climate change-related losses. The proposed treaty also has sections on climate-related migration and adaptation.

Football Gameplan’s Gene Clemmons and I discuss the details missing in the Ravens receiver’s game as he enters the league. Football Gameplan’s Gene Clemmons joins the RSP Film Room for a look at Ravens draft pick Breshad Perriman. Clemmons and I have watched several games of Perriman’s, but we decided on the N.C. State game to profile some of the details missing in the Baltimore receiver’s game as he enters the NFL: What is a first-round receiver? Gene explains his standards. False steps off the line of scrimmage and why every step matters against quality defensive back play. Why the quality of a break is more important than an extremely fast top gear. How a break sets up a receiver in the open field. Catch windows and how they impact potential YAC. How a break can impact a catch window. What can a quarterback’s tendencies tell you about a receiver’s reliability as a route runner? This is a great look at a fast receiver with who doesn’t maximize his athleticism. Like what you’ve and want to read (a lot) more on how it’s put to use in evaluation? The 2015 Rookie Scouting Portfolio is now available. If you’re in a dynasty league, the combination of the 2015 RSP and the RSP Post-Draft will have you prepared for this year and beyond. Here’s just a sample of what my readers–new and old–are saying about the 2015 RSP. (Get ready for “Squee!” “Dammit’s” and Jaws Dropping). Remember 10 percent of each sale is donated to Darkness to Light to prevent sexual abuse in communities across the United States. Download the Rookie Scouting Portfolio publication now.

This is a guest post by Lindsey Kuper. Lindsey Kuper does math and code and music and splatters it unceremoniously all over the Internet. This post originally appeared at her blog and was linked from Restructure!’s comments. I’m happy to see that the xkcd about “Zombie Marie Curie” has been making the rounds, because the “I make a sorry role model if girls just see me over and over as the one token lady scientist” bit gives voice to my long-held frustration about the predictable and repetitive trotting-out of the same handful of historical women as the go-to examples of women in science. Those women were amazing and groundbreaking, but to always focus the discussion around them to the exclusion of actual, living, breathing female scientists is to make actual, living, breathing female scientists feel even more invisible than we already sometimes do. Here’s an example of what I mean: the first page of Flickr search results for “women scientists” is top-heavy with results from the Smithsonian’s “Women in Science” photo set, which consists entirely of black-and-white photos of women, most of whom died in the middle of the twentieth century sometime. Why not call that photo set “Pioneering Women in Science” — or, uh, maybe just “Women Scientists from the Age of Black-and-White Film Photography”, since there were women in science before that, too? To not show any contemporary scientists under the heading “Women in Science” is to pathologize and exoticize the idea of simultaneously being a woman and being a scientist, and that’s about the last thing scientists need. I like Photos of Mathematicians. It’s exactly what it says on the tin — one person’s collection of photos of living, working mathematicians, many of whom are actual regular human beings who you might run into on the street. Some of the photos are of women. I wish that, instead of seeing Marie Curie and Ada Lovelace over and over, we saw them sometimes, or their counterparts in physics or CS. A color photo of a living person1 feels more immediately relevant than a painting or a black-and-white photo of an (un)dead person, even if the (un)dead person has more Nobel Prizes. There’s nothing special about the four photos I chose, aside from the fact that they are, as far as I can tell, of women. I hesitated about picking particular photos to link to, but I decided that sharing some photos of modern women mathematicians who are probably actually alive is important enough to me that I’m willing to risk being wrong about someone’s gender identification in the attempt.

Patriots coach Bill Belichick didn’t wait to be asked any of the obvious questions that were waiting for him on a Tuesday morning conference call. Belichick opened with a long statement about the decision to trade quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo to the 49ers. Belichick said he has a “tremendous amount of respect” for Garoppolo and that the 49ers are getting a “good quarterback” who the Patriots would have liked to keep on the roster. Belichick said he couldn’t find any feasible way to make that happen, however, and wanted to make a trade before Tuesday afternoon’s deadline because it was their last chance to do so. “We probably had in my mind, in my opinion, the best quarterback situation in the league for the last 2.5 years,” Belichick said. “It is just not sustainable given the way that things are set up. Definitely not something we wanted to walk away from and I felt we rode it out as long as we could. We’ve, over a period of time, explored every option possible to sustain it but, at this point, it felt like we had to make a decision. It’s a very complex situation on multiple levels. This is really the last window that we had and we did what we felt was best for the team.” Belichick said that there were “fair questions” to ask about the way the trade came together and the conversations they had about dealing Garoppolo, but that he wouldn’t be talking about the process. He also said he wouldn’t discuss any other potential roster moves as the team now has one quarterback on the roster and will presumably be bringing someone in to back up Tom Brady.

Back in August it was announced that the long-running CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory is set to come to an end with its upcoming twelfth season after Jim Parsons turned down a bumper $50 million offer to continue in the role of Sheldon Cooper Well, with the final season now reaching its midway point, Parsons has been explaining to Entertainment Weekly why he felt it was the right time to say goodbye to the beloved series and his Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning role.“It’s both as complex and as simple as just feeling innately that it was time,” said Parsons. “It speaks to a lot of things, none of them bad. There is no negative reason to stop doing Big Bang. It felt like we have been able to do this for so many years now, it doesn’t feel like there is anything left on the table.

African migrants walk on a road after abandoning a detention facility which began operating last week in the southern Israeli desert Dec. 15. Ariel Schalit/AP More than 100 African migrants have abandoned an "open" Israeli detention center to march to Jerusalem in protest against a new law allowing their open-ended detention, activists said on Monday. Many migrants say they are fleeing persecution, forced military conscription or dictatorship in war-torn parts of Africa including Darfur. Israel views the migrants as illegal job seekers and a threat to the Jewish character of the state. Most of the migrants had already been imprisoned for one to two years without trial, Israeli media reported, when they were transferred over the weekend to the Holot (Dunes) detention center. One of the detainees on the march, Mubarak Ali, told Israel Radio, "We want them to know that we are still in a prison ... (although) they call it open detention." The center in southern Israel was opened Thursday after parliamentary approval of a law allowing the open-ended detention of African migrants until their asylum requests, deportation, or voluntary repatriation are completed. The law would see migrants, now living illegally in Israeli cities, moved to detention centers like the facility in the southern desert. African migrants caught entering Israel illegally could be jailed in a standard prison for up to one year without charges, according to the new law. After the law was passed, Interior Minister Gideon Saar said it would "allow us to keep illegals away from our cities." As the sun set Monday, activists reported that the migrants were making good progress on their walk to Jerusalem and were expected to arrive Tuesday. Cheska Katz, of Israeli rights group the Hotline for Refugees and Migrants (HRM), said that 135 men, mostly from Sudan, decided not to return to the center Sunday night and instead set out for Jerusalem, about 45 miles away. "They aren't trying to elude the authorities. Their aim is to reach the Knesset (parliament) and ask for their freedom and to be recognized as refugees," the activist, who is taking part in the march, said by telephone.

I’m sure if you read any other reviews of the new Deus Ex game, they’ll all start off with the reviewer announcing how big of a fan they are of the series. While I’m not contesting anyone who claims such a thing, I doubt anyone is as insane of a fan as I am of it. Not only is it my favorite FPS, but it was the game that, when I was finally convinced to give it a shot in early 2001, got me into conspiracy theory and so-called “tin foil hat” forums. It sparked my imagination and opened up so many ideas that it became less of a game and more of a guidebook for me. To say I was obsessed with the game would be an understatement. The story, the setting, the music – everything about Deus Ex was perfect. Deus Ex even came out at the right time, during a transitory golden age in gaming where the lines between RPG and FPS were dissolving and storylines were becoming a more integral part of the experience. Yeah, sure, the fancy folk in the hobby love repeatedly chanting the “It’s about the STORY” mantra, but we all know they were late to the game…since Warren Spector’s Deus Ex introduced us to that idea a decade and a half ago. Of course, Deus Ex’s sequel, Invisible War, forgot what made the first game so spectacular. Harvey “Witchboy” Smith’s insistence that the game be streamlined resulted in a very un-Deus Ex style title that lacked the sprawling levels and complex customization and inventory management that grognards like myself enjoyed about the previous game. Thankfully, 2011’s Human Revolution made up for it, and fans wondered if Eidos Montreal’s next Deus Ex sequel would continue that upward trend. So does it? First of all, the city in Deus Ex was, to borrow a phrase literary critics like to use, an entity unto itself. It had personality, it was a tone-setter, and it was an obstacle to both overcome and acquiesce to. As much as I loved Human Revolution, the areas in that game didn’t feel as organic or exciting as they did in the original one. They lacked that interactive feeling where you could literally stumble into a quest every few minutes just by casually walking through the environment. Mankind Divided brings back that feeling with a futuristic version of Prague that is not only large enough to put the combined content of the first game’s Hell’s Kitchen and Hong Kong cityscapes to shame, but holds so many side quests and points of interest that I spent my first 8 hours filling all the optional goals instead of showing up for the first actual storyline mission. Its red light district, its beaten people living in slum apartments, its high tech markets that border expensive cafes and high-rises…Prague is an amazing hub area and is easily one of the most amazing towns ever created in a video game. There is so much to explore, destroy, and get involved in that you can easily spend 10-15 hours just messing around with all of the optional missions without ever even starting the main quest. What’s great about all of these side quests is that they are organically introduced. Many quests are triggered by merely standing near a talking group of people and listening to what they’re saying. You could also just as easily stumble upon one by poking around places and going where you shouldn’t. While that’s certainly nothing new to the series, the city of Prague is so densely packed with hidden goodies and side quests that it outdoes anything the series has attempted before in this area. I believe I collected a dozen Praxis kits before I even hit the main storyline, so if you’re into exploring and subterfuge, you’ll have one hell of a good time with Mankind Divided. When you do finally hit the main storyline of Mankind Divided, you’ll see a lot of parallels and call-backs to the original Deus Ex. Not to spoil anything, but many of the main characters from that game become major factors in this new game’s story, including Joseph Manderly and Bob Page. There is even this interesting repeat of history (Or perhaps since it’s a prequel, I should call it foreshadowing) where Jensen’s relationship with some of his allies deteriorates in much the same way Denton’s did after he left UNATCO. Much drama has been made over the whole “Aug Lives Matter” aspect of Mankind Divided’s story, and while the game does use augmented people and the “racism” they deal with as a way to bridge it to our real world, the story is more about puppet masters and elites pulling the strings than some simple black & white political schism. Again, without spoiling much, you’ll learn as you dig through the main plot that augmented people are being used by elites to reach a certain end, and several rich and powerful people are all eager to manipulate augmented people’s anger in ways that best serve their own needs. If you compare it to what is happening in our own world, with political movements being egged on and fed lies to fuel their anger towards the right people by a corrupt media machine, then you’ll see why so many people were upset at the game’s ad campaign: Because it spoke of a horrible and painful truth about our modern world. Like the NSF terrorists said in the original game, it’s all about proxy wars. One side quest – which you have to do a fair amount of work to stumble into – involves uncovering a lie started by the media that was meant to ignite the entire augmented rights movement. Once you find the real story and send it to the underground newspaper that wants to publish it, the parallels between the game world and our own start to become a lot clearer. It’s not about racism, it’s about manipulation and using the rage of the lower classes to control the citizenry and keep people oblivious to the real war going on behind the scenes. Take my word for it: It’s a remarkably clever and enlightened tale they’ve spun. So what of the quests themselves? Well, as fans of the series know, Deus Ex is about finding a creative response to a difficult problem among several such viable solutions. It’s about having multiple ways to approach a problem and having several different outcomes that can happen as a result. It’s about choice and consequence as well as non-linearity and freeform exploration. In my opinion, as good as Human Revolution was, it felt very limiting. The world was small, the side quests weren’t terribly exciting and the options given to you were either “crawl through a vent” or “kill the guard”. It’s a big part of why I only went through the game once and never bothered with it much after that. Though I understood all the praise people gave it, I felt a lot of it was due to the desire of fans to be able to wash the taste of Invisible War out of their mouths. Mankind Divided does an excellent job of accommodating the player’s chosen “build”. Numerous times I found alternate pathways that required strength, air filtration, or enhanced leaping to make it through an area. There was even a shortcut through the “Rucker Extraction” mission that required the Icarus augment which would have allowed me to bypass the majority of the mission’s armed guards. To put it another way: If you are worried about certain choices of augments being unused or worthless, you needn’t worry – Eidos took their time with this one. I found myself utterly overwhelmed not just by the depth and amount of the quests offered, but how varied and branching they were. A good example would be the dealings you have with the Dvali crime family. While you can easily bypass them and never deal with them beyond telling their boss off and maybe popping a few in the head with your rifle, you can actually get quite a few interesting questlines out of the family if you feel like being a mob underling. The Dvali family members give you a hard time and will call upon you for a few favors, but completing them (And the last one is the hardest mission I ever went through in a stealth game) can nab you a very powerful ally if you play your cards right. One thing I was really impressed by with Mankind Divided is that feeling where I make a choice and spend the next hour or so of game time honestly upset that I made the wrong one. I could’ve shaved about 10 hours off of my playtime if I hadn’t kept reloading old saves and changing my choices. It’s the mark of a good non-linear, quest-based RPG, and the developers did an excellent job at recapturing that original Deus Ex feel that – in my opinion – even Human Revolution didn’t quite reach. I’m aware that’s some rather lofty praise, but when you play Mankind Divided, you’ll see what I mean. The writing, the open-endedness, the NPC conversations that trigger quests, the way missions weave interconnecting tales that branch off into new directions…it shows that the developers learned a lot from their previous game and took advantage of their publisher’s increased budget for the sequel. I was extraordinarily impressed with all they’ve achieved here. Any time I stay up until 6AM fretting over a quest decision and replaying the same mission three times due to uncertainty and panic is a good indication that I’m playing a rare gem of an RPG. What I loved most was that none of the game’s quests felt tacked-on or cheesy. They all had something interesting about them that made them fun to undertake. My favorite was the murder of an augmented woman outside your apartment, which ends up with you working alongside a soon-to-be-retired detective that wants to hurry up and solve the case. You have a few different suspects to investigate and spend hours of real time going from one lead to another trying to pinpoint who is responsible. The twist at the end, if you can successfully trigger it, made it one of my favorite missions in the game. It was also my favorite boss fight setup as well. Deus Ex has to be strong in the questing portion of the game, and Mankind Divided absolutely lives up to this. Many have told me they have heard the game is short and can be completed in 10 hours…which may be true, if you’re only doing the main quest line. Though if you’re like me and sit around listening to NPCs and poking into unreachable apartment windows, you’ll unlock a few dozen side quests before you even go to visit your boss at Interpol for the first time. My first complete play-through of the game was a little over 30 hours, which isn’t something I’d ever dare call “short”. So we know the story, depth of the quests, and the non-linearity are all up to the original game’s standards…but what about the actual gameplay? Mankind Divided keeps a lot of the same systems that Human Revolution used, including the hacking and augmentation systems. The only real wrinkle there is that hacking is made a little more intuitive with a cleaner interface and certain augments have to be turned off to maintain core stability. Though a quest halfway through the game will remove the need to worry about that. The only real change is to the gunplay, which is made a bit harder to excel in than any of the previous games. Guns seem to do considerably less damage than they have ever done before, with the maximum up-gradable damage capped at a very low level. What this does is encourage the player to be smart about bullet types and the way they attack, since simply lining up a head shot and pulling the trigger won’t always be the best solution to a firefight. Doubly so if the enemy has the titan aug, which gives them temporary invulnerability. Mankind Divided relies heavily on setting enemies up with EMP bursts or bullets, then switching to armor piercing to take advantage of the enemy’s now prone posture. This combo of “EMP bullet to AP bullet” is one you’ll find yourself frequently using, since robotic or armored enemies will shrug off normal bullets like a tank would a toothpick. Of course, head-shotting an unarmored human enemy will kill them in one shot from any distance, but it isn’t long before drones and robot security guards make up the brunt of your opponents. The gunplay reminds me a lot of the Crysis series, since it relies on swapping out different ammo types and upgrades rather than just mindlessly pulling the trigger and shooting at something until it dies. Straight up firefights simply aren’t a thing in Mankind Divided. You can hide behind cover, but the enemy AI is awfully brave and won’t hesitate to find a way to rush you. I learned this the hard way while evading a drone ambush and thinking I was smart by escaping the fight and crawling through the sewers. When I encountered more drones in the sewers I shot them down, only to curse the game when I noticed the ones I successfully ghosted away from several moments earlier had in fact been crawling through the sewers behind me the whole time. The AI’s perfectly planned pincer-style attack ended my run quickly and caused me to rethink every fight from that point forward. On the other hand, if you want to avoid fighting, Mankind Divided gives you plenty of ways to live out your ninja fantasies. My own character heavily invested in the cloaking and silenced footstep augments and spent almost the entire game dashing through enemy nests without alerting a single soul. The option to maintain cloaking even while attacking makes invisibility even more powerful, since you can combine that with the multi-takedown option and just keep gulping down batteries as you insta-kill entire floors of terrorists without having to fire a single shot. Investing in these augs and the tree that improves energy recharging can make the game incredibly easy…which may or may not be what you want your first trip to feel like. Overall, Mankind Divided is an excellent game that is not only an extremely worthy sequel, but also can stand on its own as a singular title. While there are some odd bugs that pop up in the NPC scripting from time to time – like panic mode and search mode getting stuck and never going back to normal in certain areas of the city – they are small hiccups and don’t really affect the game as a whole. If you thought Human Revolution was a worthy addition to the Deus Ex name, then I feel you’ll love Mankind Divided even more. Perhaps even enough to hold it up to the original Deus Ex as a near equivalent to that game. Though it lacks the dark, oppressive and lonely feeling that the original captured, this new chapter manages to succeed at being its own story. Mankind Divided does a great job at acting both as a bridge between the prequels and Deus Ex as well as a thought-provoking tale about the media-driven manipulation of political movements and the oligarchs that benefit from the chaos they create. You have more options in combat, more augments to choose from, more choice & consequence in dialog, and a supremely detailed hub area that lives up to anything else the genre has ever produced. I highly doubt anyone could walk away from this game without feeling like they’ve just played the perfect Deus Ex sequel. Even the ending is handled better, with the “Press one of three buttons” problem from the previous game no longer tainting the experience. The finale in Mankind Divided is dependent on your actions through the game and how well you perform in the final mission. In my opinion, the ending scenario here is done better than even the original game, with the last few moments of the game doing a great job of hiding the mechanisms that decide your eventual outcome. They even show a Picus broadcast in Jensen’s apartment during the finale that reveals what each one of your choices during the game’s many quests did to the world. As for downsides, it’s honestly difficult for me to come up with any. I suppose I would have liked to have had other hubs as large as Prague was, but I have a feeling that future DLC will grant that wish. Though even without it, Mankind Divided is an amazing game that is just as clever, well-written, and non-linear as the original Deus Ex. And in today’s gaming climate where everyone merely tries to cash-in on popular names, that’s a refreshing thing to see. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided was reviewed on PlayStation 4 using a digital copy provided by Square Enix. You can find additional information about Niche Gamer’s review/ethics policy here. The Verdict 9.5 The Good Detailed cityscape that allows for exploration Thought-provoking storyline with modern parallels Choice & consequence gameplay All augments are used, none made worthless/weak Long quest, lots of content even in the basic game The Bad

An Abbotsford woman has been ordered to pay her neighbour more than $65,000 after suggesting on Facebook that he was a pedophile. The judge ruled this had a “devastating effect” on her neighbour’s life and career as a teacher. Katherine Van Nes and her family have been neighbours of Doug Pritchard’s family since 2008. Since 2011, there have been tensions between them, starting when Van Nes and her husband installed a large fish pond in her backyard. Pritchard said the large structure, with two flowing waterfalls, began disrupting their sleep. He said the waterfall ran day and night, almost continuously, and in the summer it was too hot to close the windows to shut out the noise. He did complain to the municipality and Van Nes shut it off for a brief period in the summer of 2012. After Pritchard began to complain to Van Nes about the waterfalls, the ruling says their relationship deteriorated. A number of incidents followed, which Pritchard said Van Nes did to interfere with “his use and enjoyment of his property.” These included late-night parties, allowing her sons to go into his yard without permission, allowing her dog to defecate in his backyard, and parking their vehicles to partially block his driveway. By 2014, Pritchard had been working as a middle school music teacher for about three years. On June 9, 2014, Van Nes took to Facebook to “vent” and posted two photos of Pritchard’s backyard saying: “Some of you who know me well know I’ve had a neighbour videotaping me and my family in the backyard over the summers…. Under the guise of keeping record of our dog… “Now that we have friends living with us with their 4 kids including young daughters we think it’s borderline obsessive and not normal adult behavior… “Not to mention a red flag because Doug works for the Abbotsford school district on top of it all!!!! “The mirrors are a minor thing… It was the videotaping as well as his request to the city of Abbotsford to force us to move our play centre out of the covenanted forest area and closer to his property line that really, really made me feel as though this man may have a more serious problem.” Pritchard’s wife had hung a decorative mirror in their backyard. Over the next 21 hours, Van Nes’ posting prompted 57 other posts from her and her friends, with some referring to Pritchard as a “pedo,” “creeper,” “nutter” and a “peeper.” A friend of Van Nes’ also forwarded the post to the principal of the school where Pritchard works. Van Nes took down the Facebook posts about 27 hours later. However, copies of the post had been shared over Facebook and Justice Anthony Saunders wrote “The phrase ‘gone viral’ would seem to be an apt description.” Pritchard said he felt like he lost the trust of parents and students and now dreads public performances with school music groups. He has cut back on his participation in extra-curricular activities and no longer finds teaching fun. He said he feels “awkward, humiliated and stressed when out in public, wondering who might know about the Facebook posts and whether they believe the lies that were told about him.” He said he and his wife also felt threatened, as a short time after the posts the doorbell would ring late at night, their car was keyed and they found large rocks on their driveway and front lawn. “I will say at the outset that the defendant’s allegations concerning Mr. Pritchard’s behaviour and these attacks on his character were completely false and unjustified,” wrote Saunders. “Mr. Pritchard has, as a consequence of the defendant’s thoughtless, reckless actions, suffered serious damage to his reputation.” “An accusation of pedophilic behaviour must be the single most effective means of destroying a teacher’s reputation and career, not to mention the devastating effect on their life and individual dignity. “He now faces the challenge of repairing the damage Ms. Van Nes has caused, if that is even possible at this point.” Pritchard was awarded $50,000 in general damages, $15,000 in punitive damages and $2,500 for his nuisance claim. Van Nes has also been ordered to turn off the waterfall in the backyard every night between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. They are still neighbours.

This film review will be slightly different. Instead of focusing on the entire game, we'll look exclusively at the performance of Bishop Sankey. I think we may have something special in Sankey, though I know that opinion isn't universally shared among Titans fans. And, when you look at his general statistics, it's not hard to understand why some fans might be lukewarm. 50 Carries. 211 Yards. 4.2 YPC. 1 TD. These stats are fine, but they certainly don't jump off the page. Context, though. It always matters. What is Sankey being asked to do? What's working, and what is not? We'll look at that in more detail in this post. Playing to Strengths It's always interesting to me when the discussion of adapting an offense to personnel comes up with fans, many take the stance that the player in discussion must be limited. Fans want all players to be all things, yet it rarely works this way. Like most personnel related things, players have strengths that should be highlighted and weaknesses that should be avoided. Now, of course, as the player becomes increasingly limited, then the discussion changes. For the purpose of this conversation, I don't think that applies. Sankey does just fine at baseline ball carrying duties, and thrives in some areas. This leads to the topic of strength specific play calling, which is just another way of saying we should call plays that highlight the things we're best at, and eliminate the areas in which we struggle. It's certainly not a trend setting idea. For most fans, it's intuitive. Sometimes, though, I think coaches get lost in dogma, or philosophy, and miss what's working. To me, this seems to be happening in the running game with Sankey. With that in mind, I charted Sankey's runs from this past game. The numbers jived with what the film was telling me. When you can create space by removing defenders, Sankey can be electric. He's decisive with his cuts, and has no problems attacking even small creases. Alternatively, as more blockers are added, it allows more defenders to get involved without consequence (they have to match the gaps, after all). Our blocking isn't strong enough to be begging defenders to get into a dog fight, nor is Sankey the type of back that's meant to push the pile. Be mindful that this is a small sample size. It's not mean to be extrapolated to a season, or anything of that sort. It just helps tell the story. This was the first thing that jumped out at me. Sankey appears to just run better out of the gun. Some of this is due to a short area burst. He's going to be quicker in and out of his initial cuts than the pursuing linebackers. Alternatively, runs from under center buy defenders time to read keys and react before Sankey has an opportunity to make cuts. It's also worth noting here that all shotgun runs came out of 11 personnel, which spreads the field more. The second thing I noticed was that Sankey (and really all the Titans backs) tend to run better on zone runs. I don't think the technique is there with pulls. We're not blowing guys off blocks consistently when blocking down, and our pulling linemen continually appear to struggle. Still, this line has some athleticism to it that can shine at times when working laterally in the zone game. As it relates to Sankey, the zone game gives him the leeway to use his vision and ability to change direction, both of which are strengths. Instead of attacking a predetermined hole, often times of which is not correctly blocked, the zone game affords him the potential to cut things back with the playside blocking breaks down. Not surprisingly, if we combine the zone runs with a shotgun look, the numbers get even better. Of course, a 22 yard play helps this small sample size. Really, though it's also meant to show the improvement in the under center runs as well. 2.67 YPC may not seem like much, but consider that on the other 5 runs from under center we totaled -1 yards. The only non-zone rushing play that went for more than 1 yard came out of 11 personnel. Then, there's this chart which includes all runs - zone and gap. In a linear fashion, YPC gets incrementally worse as more blockers are added. Note that I've included Chris Spencer as a tight end in these numbers when he lined up off the tackle. Also worth noting that I think bringing Chris Spencer in only as a blocker for 7 snaps shows an almost tragic disconnect between what Whiz would like to run, and what we should be running. Finding Space All of this is a long winded way of saying that we need to do our best create an environment for Sankey to find space on his own. Insistence on being reliant on well executed blocking in a specific gap will continue to be an uphill battle. Inviting extra defenders into the blocking surface, even with matched numbers, is also a recipe for continued frustration. Instead, we'd be wise to understand our flaws. We're inconsistent with leverage, and struggle getting people off the ball at times. Still, we are athletic and have no problem with movement. This is the exact reason you run zone in the first place. If the blockers excel at point of attack, great. Press the hole. But, if they don't, the back still has options. For Sankey, he's shown the ability to correctly identify those options decisively. I think the Titans found a good back in Sankey. At times, he's flashing special talent, but you've got to put him in the environment that puts that on display. As the Titans press on, I hope to see more of Sankey running in a zone scheme in space. If the Titans make that a focal point of this offense, a lot of other things could begin to fall in line.

Production [ edit ] The Founding of a Party was one of 28 films promoted by the State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television to mark the 90th anniversary of the Communist Party.[3] Filming commenced on 18 August 2010 at the China Film Group Corporation's shooting location in Huairou District, Beijing. Dubbed by the Western media as a "propaganda epic",[9][10] the film has a final all-star cast, including celebrities from mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and other countries, who play the roles of various historical figures; a few notable actors include Andy Lau, Chow Yun-fat, Taiwanese-American singer Leehom Wang,[11] Hong Kong film director John Woo,[6] Taiwanese actor Chang Chen,[12] Hong Kong actor Eric Tsang,[13] mainland Chinese singer Han Geng[14] and Russian singer Vitalii Vladasovich Grachyov (stage name Vitas).[15] Liu Ye, who played a young Mao Zedong, was reported to have gained 10 kilograms (22 lb) in order to play his role, a feat achieved by eating 20 eggs a day.[16] Media reports claim that over 400 actors auditioned for the film's roles.[16] During a news conference on 8 June 2011, the film's director Huang Jianxin said that the film would have several scenes cut, as the original film would have otherwise been too long for theatrical release.[17] Among the cuts were actress Tang Wei's performance as Tao Yi, an early female partner of Mao Zedong. Some media reports claimed that Mao Zedong's grandson Mao Xinyu,[18] a major-general in the People's Liberation Army, objected to her being inappropriate for the role (citing her earlier role in the erotic-thriller film Lust, Caution).[10] A cinema group executive, however, alleged that unnamed "industry insiders" had questioned the factual accuracy of her character and denied the decision was related to Tang's role in Lust, Caution.[9] Production values have improved over Han Sanping's previous film The Founding of a Republic, with better-lit widescreen photography created by Zhao Xiaoshi. As with Republic, Party also features musical scores by Shu Nan. Some original black-and-white documentary footage included within the film.[19] The film was also given an opportunity to shoot within the Moscow Kremlin.[20] Shanghai GM, the Chinese joint venture of the American automotive giant General Motors, announced in September 2010 that its subsidiary Cadillac had become 'chief business partner' to the film.[21] General Motors was hit by criticism upon revelations that it had sponsored the Chinese communist propaganda film.[5][21][22][23] General Motors said the sponsorship was a commercial alliance initiated by its Chinese joint venture and described it as "part of a strategic alignment with the film industry". The film group spokesman said Cadillac had signed a multi-year cooperation deal with the studio, not solely for the film.[5] Release [ edit ] The premiere event of the film took place on 8 June in Beijing, prior to its official release on 15 June. According to Han Sanping, the film was shown abroad in over 10 countries, including the United States, Canada, Australia, South Korea and Singapore, and that the global version of the film finished editing on 8 June.[1][3] The theme song of the film is titled One Day.[24] The IMAX version of the film was screened in only a select 20 of the 24 IMAX theatres in China.[8][16] The Chinese theatrical releases of Transformers: Dark of the Moon and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 were delayed until late July, possibly to ensure that The Founding of a Party received the maximum amount of attention possible.[18] The international (overseas) release featured the alternate title Beginning of the Great Revival and a different cut compared to the domestic China version, and was released in North America, Australia and New Zealand on 24 June 2011.[17] Reception [ edit ] Two days after the box office release, the film's gross exceeded RMB 50 million,[25] and there were reports that the majority of viewers were young people.[26] However, The Christian Science Monitor reported that ticket sales were inflated by mass distribution of free tickets; staff were given time off from work to see the film. Schools and government offices had to buy large numbers of tickets.[27] Box office takings have been inflated at the expense of popular films – many complicit cinemas manually altered computerised ticket stubs for the film, allowing the viewer to see other films.[28][29] The Chinese media was not allowed to criticise the film.[27] A review by Derek Elley suggests that Han Sanping's idea of "selling" official anniversary films by cramming them full of celebrity cameos was not as successful in The Founding of a Party in comparison to his previous 2009 film The Founding of a Republic created to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the People's Republic of China, although the tactic still works to a lesser extent; he suggests that the use of star cameos was inherently less panoramic because the film plot is set within a smaller scope of a 10-year period, and that the concept of star cameos is "a tad less fresh". As with Republic, Party provides a strong "ooh-look! factor" due to its familiar faces; however, very few actors get a chance to build real performances in dramatic terms. He also praises the scene designs, referring to a sequence in Beijing as having a "fairytale atmosphere". Elley rates the film overall at 7 out of 10.[19] Zhao Kun from the state-run Global Times similarly writes that though the celebrity cameos are fun to identify, they can become quite distracting to the viewer. He also suggests that the large amount of on-screen textual explanation can be associated with the film crew's ineptitude in storytelling. Though he states that the drama is decently done, Zhao also criticises that the short plot episodes are inconsistent and do not allow for actors to melt into the storyline, and gives the film an overall final rating of 6 out of 10.[30] See also [ edit ]

Animated map of the European Theater of war during WWII This is a timeline of formal declarations of War during World War II. A declaration of war is a formal act by which one nation goes to war against another. The declaration is usually an act of delivering a performative speech (not to be confused with a mere speech) or the presentation of a signed document by an authorized party of a national government in order to create a state of war between two or more sovereign states. The official international protocol for declaring war was defined in The Hague Peace Conference of 1907 (or Hague II).[1] For the diplomatic maneuvering behind these events, which led to hostilities between nations during World War II, see the article entitled Diplomatic history of World War II. List of war declarations [ edit ] Below is a table showing the outbreak of wars between nations which occurred during World War II. Indicated are the dates (during the immediate build-up to, or during the course of, World War II), from which a de facto state of war existed between nations. The table shows both the "Initiator Nation(s)" and the nation at which the aggression was aimed, or "Targeted Nation(s)". Events listed include those in which there were simple diplomatic breaking of relations that did not involve any physical attack, as well as those involving overt declarations or acts of aggression. In rare cases, war between two nations occurred twice, with an intermittent period of peace. The list here does not include peace treaties or periods of any armistice. Table Legend: Concerning Declaration of War: A = Attack without prior, formal declaration of war; U = State of war arrived at through use of ultimatum; W = Formal declaration of war made. Literature about the war [ edit ] Harman, Nicholas (1990). Dunkirk: the Necessary Myth . Jove. ISBN 978-0340517857. German White Book . All World Wars. Hitler, Adolph (2012). The Great Tragedy: Germany's Declaration of War against the United States of America . ISBN 978-1300127703. Torrie, Julia S. (2010). "For Their Own Good": Civilian Evacuations in Germany and France, 1939–1945. Berghahn Books. ISBN 978-1845457259.

{snip} {snip} Social sciences and humanities cannot be completely divorced from the philosophy of those who practice it. And groupthink causes some questions not to be asked, and some answers not to be overly scrutinized. It is making our science worse. Anyone who cares about the advancement of knowledge and science should care about this problem. That’s why I was very gratified to read this very enlightening draft paper written by a number of social psychologists on precisely this topic, attacking the lack of political diversity in their profession and calling for reform. For those who have the time and care about academia, the whole thing truly makes for enlightening reading. The main author of the paper is Jonathan Haidt, well known for his Moral Foundations Theory (and a self-described liberal, if you care to know). Although the paper focuses on the field of social psychology, its introduction as well as its overall logic make many of its points applicable to disciplines beyond social psychology. The authors first note the well-known problems of groupthink in any collection of people engaged in a quest for the truth: uncomfortable questions get suppressed, confirmation bias runs amok, and so on. But it is when the authors move to specific examples that the paper is most enlightening. They start by debunking published (and often well-publicized) social psychology findings that seem to suggest moral or intellectual superiority on the part of liberals over conservatives, which smartly serves to debunk both the notion that social psychology is bereft of conservatives because they’re not smart enough to cut it, and that groupthink doesn’t produce shoddy science. For example, a study that sought to show that conservatives reach their beliefs only through denying reality achieved that result by describing ideological liberal beliefs as “reality,” surveying people on whether they agreed with them, and then concluding that those who disagree with them are in denial of reality–and lo, people in that group are much more likely to be conservative! This has nothing to do with science, and yet in a field with such groupthink, it can get published in peer-reviewed journals and passed off as “science,” complete with a Vox stenographic exercise at the end of the rainbow. A field where this is possible is in dire straits indeed. {snip} The authors also drop this bombshell: In one survey they conducted of academic social psychologists, “82 percent admitted that they would be at least a little bit prejudiced against a conservative [job] candidate.” Eighty-two percent! It’s often said discrimination works through unconscious bias, but here 82 percent even have conscious bias. {snip} Original Article Share This

Image copyright Getty Images Petrol should drop to £1 a litre before Christmas if retailers "do the right thing" and pass on savings from the lower oil price, the RAC has predicted. Earlier this week, the price of Brent crude oil fell below $40 a barrel for the first time since 2009. The RAC said there should be a 3p a litre drop for petrol prices and 5p for diesel, taking the average price to 103p and 104p respectively. But it expects prices will be lower than this at many forecourts. "All we need is for the supermarkets to do the right thing and embrace the season of goodwill by passing on those savings at the pump to make Christmas that much cheaper for everyone," said RAC spokesman Simon Williams. "We are still some way off the average price of unleaded reaching the £1 a litre mark but this will be a big step in the right direction," he added. Tesco and Asda, which ran a three-day 99.7p a litre petrol promotion last month, have already cut petrol prices by 2p per litre, while Sainsbury's said it would cut prices by "up to 2p". According to RAC figures, the last time petrol fell below £1 a litre was in 2008. Tumbling oil Since June 2014, oil prices have more than halved, falling from more than $115 per barrel to under $40 on Monday. Historically, oil cartel Opec has cut production to support prices, but so far the group has not made any changes. On Friday, the group agreed again to maintain supply at current levels. "If retailers don't pass on the savings quickly, they will be giving themselves an unpopular Christmas boost to profits by pocketing the extra margin when they should really be passing this on to their customers instead," Mr Williams added.

RS-24 To Replace Soviet-Era Missiles Russia announced this week it successfully test-fired its new RS-24 intercontinental ballistic missile on Tuesday... the latest display of that country's resurgent military strength, fueled by oil revenues. The test is the second firing of the new missile, intended to replace Soviet-era ICBMs. Strategic Missile Forces spokesman Alexander Vovk told The Associated Press the RS-24 successfully hit targets on the Kura testing range, about 4,340 miles east of the Plesetek launch facility. In an official statement, the Strategic Missile Forces said the missile was launched from a mobile launcher. Russia states the RS-24 is based on the Topol-M -- which is capable of hitting targets over 6,000 miles away -- but can carry multiple warheads. As ANN reported, Russia conducted its first RS-24 test in May 2007. At the time, First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov boasted the missile was "capable of overcoming any existing or future missile defense systems" -- a pointed swipe at the United States, which is working to develop such systems. The language of the Strategic Missile Forces statement was even more to the point. "The RS-24's deployment will strengthen the Strategic Missile Forces' capability to penetrate missile defense systems and strengthen the nuclear deterrent potential of Russia's strategic nuclear forces," the statement read. "The RS-24 will form the backbone of the Strategic Missile Forces and safely ensure the security of Russia and its allies through the mid-century." The RS-24 is intended to replace Soviet-built RS-18 and RS-20 missiles.

A late driver change at Dragon Racing raised the question why Oriol Servia would step aside for Audi works driver Loic Duval for the upcoming Formula E Miami ePrix. Servia told news agency AP that he has been named partner and managing director of the team and would not combine duties. Servia has been driving the car during the previous four events, but will now move into a management role for the team alongside current managing director Paul Woolnough. Servia will be responsible for the team’s technical operations and developing its commercial relationships. “It is with some regret that I won’t be behind the wheel,” Servia told AP. “However, Jay and I had always spoken about me playing a larger role in the organisation, and I am ready for this latest challenge in my career. We have a world-class team, and I look forward to playing my part in putting Jerome and Luic on the podium.” Duval will be partnering the Belgian driver Jerome d’Ambrosio.

Conservative radio host Alex Jones [Right Wing Watch] Conservative radio host Alex Jones claimed to have inside knowledge of what really goes on behind the scenes at “Democratic conventions” in a recent interview, Right Wing Watch reported. “They’re really like criminal, bank robber types, like felon types I’ve been around before that are really creepy and have bad will towards people,” Jones told filmmaker Joel Gilbert. “And behind the scenes they’ll go, ‘Listen, when we take over we’re going to kill everybody. We want blood.” Gilbert, who claimed in his previous work that President Barack Obama was actually the son of an American Communist, was on the show to promote his latest film, which compares Obama to the Wizard of Oz. “He was a charlatan from the get-go. And his intentions were never good,” Gilbert argued. “When Dorothy gets to the Emerald City, the Wizard of Oz sends her to the witch’s castle. She’s taken prisoner in the dungeon. And that’s what’s happened in all the progressive cities throughout America that I travel to in the film.” Gilbert listed Chicago, Denver, Detroit and Newark as “dungeons of progressivism” he visited during the course of his filming. He also claimed that these cities suffered from “50 percent unemployment,” a vast exaggeration. According to federal data, Detroit is the only city even breaking a 10 percent unemployment rate as of December 2014, with 12.2 percent of residents without a job, exceeding Chicago (6.2 percent), Denver (4.2 percent) and Newark (9.4 percent). Watch footage from Jones’ interview with Gilbert, as posted on Wednesday by Right Wing Watch, below.

Course Overview Hi, everyone. My name is Alex Wolf, and welcome to my course on Rebuilding Web Forms Applications in MVC. ASP. NET Web Forms is an established and well documented platform, but as it continues to age, many companies and developers continue to move to newer technologies. The MVC framework has emerged as a great alternative, due to its strong support for modern design patterns. Rebuilding a web application in any framework requires understanding how that technology implements core web development concepts. So, I'll be sure to cover important topics, like how HTTP Requests are routed and handled by these two frameworks. We will also learn how to work with forms and secure them with meaningful validation rules. Our application will also provide great features, like strong support for Ajax. Along the way, we'll also discuss how to properly architect our application and structure it using manageable components. By the end of this course, you'll understand how to rebuild existing Web Forms projects in MVC and just feel comfortable starting new applications on a modern framework. If you're already familiar with MVC, you can also use this course to improve your understanding of legacy Web Forms applications. Before starting this course, you should be somewhat familiar with the ASP. NET platform and general web development concepts. Some knowledge of either web forms or MVC is also very helpful, depending on which framework you're trying to learn more of from this course. I'm really excited to move forward on this project, so let's get started right here on Pluralsight. Putting Web Forms and MVC in Perspective Hi I'm Alex Wolf, and welcome to this course on rebuilding web forms applications in MVC. I'm really excited about this topic because it's one of the more common DEV scenarios that I've seen in the last few years. Companies are continually looking to improve their applications. Often they want to migrate to a newer technology at the same time for added value. Rebuilding and improving an application in parallel can be a daunting challenge and that's why this course exists. Our main goal is to smooth that transition from one framework to another. We'll approach this task using a two tiered approach. First we'll examine what high level concepts remain the same between web forms and MVC. Remember both frameworks sit on top of the same ASP. NET platform so they do share some common infrastructure. Secondly, I'll demonstrate how the more specific implementation details of these concepts do vary between the two frameworks. This will involved working through some demos with a sample application that I've put together. Now I like to keep introductions as short as humanly possible, but before we move ahead, let's quickly review the content of this course and whether it's a good match for where you are as a developer. Request Management In this Module, we want to begin rebuilding our Web Forms Application. To do this, we need to cover a few topics related to the overall architecture of ASP. NET, Web Forms and MVC. We need to understand how Http Requests are processed by the two frameworks since this is really the heart of any Web Application. Let's quickly step through our agenda for this Module so that we can get started. First, I'll explain and demonstrate how MVC and Web Forms are built on the larger ASP. NET platform and really what this means from an architectural prospective. We'll then review how Requests are handled in each framework starting with Web Forms and its really unique Page Life Cycle. I'll be sure to demonstrate these concepts using the Web Forms version our sample Application. We'll also use this opportunity to walk through the general structure that project in the code. So you'll understand exactly what we're going to be rebuilding. Next, we'll move on to an overview of the MVC processing pipeline and we'll see just how it differs from Web Forms. Now a crucial concept for understanding Request Management in MVC is Routing. So I've included a lesson and a demo just for that topic. Finally, we'll begin to build out the structure of our new MVC application using Controllers and Action Methods. So let's get started on all this in the next lesson. Designing with Layouts and Views In this module, we want to focus on implementing the styles, layout, and general branding of our application. MVC and WebForms share a high-level concepts in terms of building the visual design of web pages. But the actual implementation details are very different. The topics in this module are fairly straightforward and our application will really start to take shape so the upcoming lessons should be very rewarding. We'll start off by revisiting our web forms application to see how the graphic design of our app was originally implemented. Once we understand what we're trying to rebuild, we'll discuss just how to do that using MVC views and layouts. This will include a demo where we walk through reconstructing the various web pages and pulling in some style resources. Next, we'll look at how various HTML components were constructed in our legacy project, such as the forms that users fill out. I'll then provide an introduction to the Razor View Engine and its HTML helpers which will help us accomplish these types of tasks in MVC. Let's get started in all this in the next lesson. Working with Forms Starting with this module, we want to begin building some of the more dynamic and interactive sections of our application. So in the next few lessons, let's explore how to work with forms and submitted data in MVC. First, we'll begin by reviewing how our legacy Web Forms application handles HTML form submissions. We can then move on to discuss how this process works in MVC. This will require a strong understanding of model binding, which is a really powerful feature of the MVC framework. We'll then step through our applications data layer to get a better idea of the structure that we'll be working with. We also want to finish rebuilding the actual HTML of our form using Razor, which will help make our markup more dynamic and more friendly for model binding. Finally, we'll step through the logic of how to process the incoming data from our form and persist it to a database. Our application will start to become much more than just static markup in this module, so let's move ahead and get started on all this. Implementing Data Validation At this point, we've successfully created one of the forms in our application, but it could certainly use some improvements. In this module, let's enhance the experience for both the user and the developers by implementing data validation. We'll start by revisiting our legacy web forms app to see how form validation was originally implemented. This will also help us understand what types of validation rules we have to re-create. We'll then discuss how validation is implemented in MVC through data attributes, and apply those concepts to our task form. Our application also has a few more specific validation requirements that the default MVC components can't quite handle, so we'll look at how to implement custom validation rules as well. There are two primary ways to accomplish this by either using data attributes or by implementing a special interface, and I'll demonstrate both of those techniques. Let's get started on all this in the next lesson. Understanding Partial Views and Child Actions In this module, let's discuss child actions in MVC and how to extract parts of our application into more manageable components. To do this, we'll be dissecting the widgets on the homepage and rebuilding them using MVC tools and techniques. So as usual, we'll start by examining how these widgets were originally implemented in Web Forms through user controls. This will also be a good opportunity for us to make sure we fully understand the functionality and requirements of both widgets. We can then move on to properly discussing child actions in MVC, which I've alluded to previously but we've not yet covered in detail. Once we understand these concepts, we can step through extracting both widgets into a child actions. These two items have different technical requirements, so I'll demonstrate how to re-create the functionality of each of them using MVC design patterns. Let's move ahead with this discussion in the next lesson. Enhancing the Application with Ajax In this module, we want to improve the user experience and functionality of our application using Ajax. MVC provides powerful support in various techniques for working with Ajax, so we'll explore a few of them in the upcoming lessons. This should be a rewarding module, since we'll achieve considerable improvements to our application with a very reasonable amount of development effort. We'll start by discussing how MVC handles Ajax requests conceptually as well as some of the tools it provides to streamline this process. This will include utilizing additional Razor helpers and putting them to use in a demo that will enhance one of our widgets. We will also see how we can handle Ajax requests from straight JavaScript that we write without the aid of the MVC helpers. Much like other features of MVC, Razor helpers can streamline your Ajax work flows, but aren't necessarily a requirement. Finally, we'll also see how we can really leverage Ajax calls, not just for updating parts of our views, but also for working with form data and really improving that user experience as well. I'm excited about the feature improvements we'll see in this module, so let's get started on them in the next lesson. Working with Data So we've reached the last but certainly not least module of this course. Up until now, we've focused on specific features of our application, but now we want to really bring things together by removing all of the remaining static content. This will involve managing and displaying data using different techniques and tools. We'll begin by revisiting our legacy app and examining how it handles displaying lists of data or pages that contain different types of data. We'll then use those concepts to compare and contrast how MVC handles the same type of tasks. Through a series of demos, we'll step through these techniques and remove all the static data in our application. So first, we'll rebuild the data widgets on our homepage that display recent tasks and messages. Next, we'll move on to the main listing pages for each of those datatypes, and see how we can make those dynamic as well. We also have one simple but important page left to build, which is the reply form where admins can maintain a conversation with users. Throughout these demos, we'll earn a couple of techniques that can also enhance the model binding features of MVC, so we'll revisit some of the functionality we added earlier. Finally, we'll briefly explore how to add dependency injection to our application and discuss other next steps for making improvements to the overall design of our app. So going off that last point, the focus of this course is still the fundamentals of how to rebuild a web forms app in MVC. But I do want to point you toward potential next steps in your journey. Once you have a properly structured MVC app, you can begin to leverage all kinds of great features, like unit testing, loosely coupled components and other layers like services and repositories. I'm excited to fully bring our application to life in this module, so let's get started in the next lesson.

It wasn’t long ago that north-metro residents were envisioning the winter/spring of 2018 as a time they could hop on a commuter train at 104th, 112th or 124th avenues and ride into Denver unburdened by their cars. Those people might now want to invest in snow tires. The train isn’t coming early next year. It may not even come early the year after that. The Regional Transportation District is looking at an estimated 18-month construction delay for the North Metro Rail Line, officials say. The first phase of the project, including six of eight planned stations, was originally scheduled to open in the first quarter of 2018. The delay puts the opening in late 2019, though RTD officials will not commit to that time frame and have vowed to make up the time as best they can. “We’re not close enough to be able to provide a project timeline or completion date at this point,” RTD spokesman Nate Currey said, “but we are working diligently because we know people up north are super anxious to see this open.” The N-Line delay is the latest setback for RTD as it seeks to finish the funded portions of its FasTracks rail system. The University of Colorado A-Line train to the airport has been plagued by persistent software issues at its crossings that have required millions of dollars in extra staff time as federally mandated flaggers work road crossings along the route. The opening of the G-line to Wheat Ridge, originally set for last fall, has been delayed by similar issues, although federal regulators have approved final testing on it. The agency proposed service cuts on the R-Line through Aurora because of low ridership. In a bit of good news, RTD recently announced crossing attendants on the B-Line to Westminster’s single road crossing will soon be dismissed after federal approval. The delay up north stems from a variety of complications in designing and building the 12.5 miles of track that will eventually carry electric, heavy-rail trains from Denver’s Union Station north to East 124th and Eastlake avenues in Thornton. RTD’s design-build contractor on the project is Regional Rail Partners. The project is snagged over how it will impact the historic Riverside Cemetery at 5201 Brighton Blvd. RTD has proposed closing the cemetery’s existing entrance on Brighton and placing a new entrance off of Race Court. A Colorado Public Utilities Commission administrative judge ruled this summer that permanently closing and moving the entrance would promote public safety at a crossing that would see more than 80 trains a day. Now, RTD is working with the Army Corps of Engineers on ways it can minimize or avoid impacts on the cemetery in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act. Cemetery officials say they want to keep the entrance as it is. Meanwhile, RTD is building a nearly 2-mile-long bridge to carry the single-track line over York Street, existing rail road tracks and Interstate 270 in Commerce City. The so-called Skyway bridge also passes over a portion of the Suncor oil refinery. But the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has deemed the refinery as important strategically, RTD’s Currey said, and mandated the agency add blinders on portions of the bridge so passengers can’t see down into the facility. “It’s really long, it’s really high and it goes through some sensitive areas,” Currey said of the complicated bridge. While RTD works to navigate the situation, north-metro leaders are working to remain patient. Thornton Mayor Heidi Williams said her city has sped up work on public improvements and roadway projects to make way for the incoming train. Financial problems constrained the scope of the FasTracks plan after the Great Recession — the Boulder line won’t be funded until at least 2040 — so RTD scaled back the N-Line, planning to end it at the National Western Complex in Denver. RTD received an unsolicited proposal in 2013 that convinced the agency that it could build north to 124th Avenue, although two further stops remain unfunded. Williams said she is grateful that train service is coming to Thornton. Still, a delay with no end in sight is hard to swallow. “We’d love to hear they’ve found a miracle, but we’re not going to count on that,” Williams said. “Hopefully, it’s still 2019. They haven’t told us.” Commerce City Mayor Sean Ford said he is frustrated by the delay. His city will host a station at East 72nd Avenue and Colorado Boulevard. He noted that the economy is booming now and incoming mass transit infrastructure has the ability to attract major development. The prospects of such development lessen, though, when municipalities can’t give developers and employers clear answers on when that infrastructure might be put to use. He said it would help if RTD could provide a date certain when service will begin. “I absolutely in no way want to bad-mouth RTD,” Ford said. “I want to encourage them … to find meaningful solutions and have some hard-set dates to be able to convey to our public. We can use that to benefit from economic development opportunities and also to be transparent and have a clear finish line for the people who want to do business here.”

In the last 30 years, we’ve lost as much as three-quarters of the floating ice cap at the top of the world. For over 800,000 years, ice has been a permanent feature of the Arctic ocean. Now, scientists say, the melting is in a ‘death spiral.’ Why should we care? Arctic sea ice keeps the polar regions cool and helps moderate global climate. Photo: Save the Arctic According to Save the Arctic: The sea ice melt is would be not only devastating for the people, polar bears, narwhals, walruses and other species that live there—but for the rest of us too. The ice at the top of the world reflects much of the sun’s heat back into space and keeps our whole planet cool, stabilizing the weather systems that we depend on to grow our food. Protecting the ice means protecting us all. Big oil couldn’t be happier. I will be one of those persons most cheering for an endless summer in Alaska. ~ Peter E. Slaiby, vice president of Shell Alaska In the coming weeks, Shell is due to begin exploratory drilling at two offshore sites in the Alaskan Arctic. If they’re successful this summer, an Arctic oil rush will be sparked and the push to carve up the region will accelerate. Shell’s Slaiby said his company could effectively clean up an oil spill in the Arctic with heated booms and in situ burning. The efficacy of those methods, however, remains in doubt in the minds of many, including U.S. Coast Guard Vice Admiral Paul F. Zukunft, who served as the federal coordinator for the BP Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico. “I would never be confident [we could handle a major spill],” Zukunft said. “You’ll never get all the oil. It’s just not feasible. But that’s the expectation here.” ~ From National Geographic (Side note: Shell is the sponsor of National Geographic’s Great Energy Challenge initiative.) I had a chance to ask Mark Terry—United Nations advisor, decorated polar explorer and award-winning documentary filmmaker —what he thought of the situation. He said, The Arctic’s fragile eco-system is under attack by record-setting changes in our climate. With more than 40 percent of the summer ice gone in the past 30 years, the remaining ice is much thinner and will soon be gone as well. Any kind of commercial activity will aggravate the polar collapse affecting flora, fauna and man. September 17, 2012 update: Shell suspended drilling due to damage to safety equipment. We need to keep the pressure on. What we can do: Sign the petition to declare a global sanctuary in the Arctic. (www.savethearctic.org) Join the Save the Arctic twitter protest here and tweet the livin’ daylights out of your stand against drilling using the hashtag #StopShell. Tell them to keep their f*cking hands off the Arctic. Share this post far and wide. Email, twitter, facebook, streaking around your neighborhood Shell station—whatever it takes.

Written by Martin Hodgson More than a decade ago I watched a team rebuild a 1000+hp Subaru WRX engine in just over 20 mins with the lead mechanic screaming, “just slap it together!” On the very next run it broke its class world record; incredible to observe but not the attitude I hoped the Qantas engineers would adopt for the aircraft flying me home. So when a client with a background in aviation engineering approached KickMoto in Halifax, Nova Scotia, they decided to adopt that meticulous aircraft attitude for the build. The result is KM006 an incredible 1985 Suzuki GS1150 Neo-Racer that’s poised and ready to hit the runway. The client had owned the bike for over a decade riding it plenty and had always wanted to give it the transformation it deserved but a lack of time and the right equipment had held him back. Knowing the bike would be regularly racking up the miles and with the client’s aviation background in mind it gave the KM crew an idea. “We were keen to grab some inspiration from the world of aviation design. In the same way that we modify vintage bikes with a modern take, we wondered what would happen if the same approach was taken to a vintage war bird or fighter plane.” The GS arrived at KickMoto with the clock showing 100,000kms, this was going to be a full frame off rebuild and the engine would need a full overhaul. “After stripping the bike down to the bare essentials we found ourselves with only the engine, header, carburettors and half a chassis. Everything else was either modified or made from scratch after this point.” For the first time in the company’s history they sent the engine out for the rebuild which would free up their time for the extensive transformation that had been planned. With the bare frame on the bench the entire rear end has been redesigned and fabricated and the quality of workmanship is remarkable. The subframe was the first part to get underway with a tall rider requiring a high seat height. But the main challenge was to adapt the Suzuki to accept the asymmetric shock mount required for the planned swingarm conversion. The challenge became one of the crew’s favourite aspects of the build and the top shock mount is neatly secured by a detailed end cap. The bottom mount sits in its original home, a beautiful single sided swingarm from the Italian engineer’s par excellence at Ducati. With the chassis work complete the old and new was given a coat of hard-wearing black paint and the ‘80s front section merges seamlessly with the custom rear end. Now attention could turn to the front and a great deal of research and design was undertaken to get things just right. KickMoto were removing plenty of weight but the GS is no feather and so a total front-end conversion from Kawasaki’s similarly sized ZX14 was given the tick of approval. Using their brand-new CNC machine the top triple clamp was the first item produced by the expensive purchase and it was more than worth it the cost. Not only providing a lightweight, high strength item it also allowed for the use of the ZX14 bars in a flipped position and a recess for the speedo to come. The rolling chassis was now totally transformed and like nothing from 1985, but in many ways the work had only just begun. Starting the visual changes at the front, “Our headlight design was inspired by the front elevation of a single engine prop driven fighter aircraft of WWII.” But execution is all 21st century with no less than six individually CNC’d components required to create the stunning look. The seamlessly integrated turn signals have been especially wired to work with the LED halo as running lights, while the main light is a round projector style 5 3/4″ unit. Now totally in sync with their CNC machine and software the party rolled on. The gas cap is an incredible piece on its own but it also packs a party trick just in case you need be further impressed. Press a tiny button hidden out of sight but in easy reach of the rider and the cap illuminates bringing the machined piece to life. It must be one of the most labour-intensive fillers ever created with a combination of lathe work, CNC machining, 3D modelling and 3D printing with stainless steel all required to produce the part. The team even created an all new logo for the bike that is applied to the sides of the tank and gas cap and draws heavily on the aviation theme. There’s a backwards ‘K’ and ‘M’ surrounded by a wing style emblem derived from vintage horizon gauges once found in various fighter jets. Moving further rearward and sitting atop the custom subframe is the all new tail section and seat. Back to traditional methods and hand formed sheet metal was used to create the tail-piece from two sections with a very purposeful gap left between the two. Inside the recess sits an LED taillight that is held in place by aluminium trim that further helps to radiate the light. The seat itself is generously padded extending onto the tank for extra comfort. The paint job couldn’t let the bike down and the KM crew tell the story best, “We went back and forth on this one for a while, the client really wanted a lot of black, but don’t they all. We really wanted to do something that would just set it apart from a lot of bikes out there. We decided on the wheel colour first and used that as the driving force of the scheme. The wheels, headlight ring, and shock spring were all coated in a triple bronze with a satin clear. The body work was all painted black with a copper and bronze combination added to it. At the front of the tank we knew we wanted to break it up a bit here with a panel. Our painter suggested we do the panel in a bronze colour as well but keeping it pretty subtle” The finished product looks a million dollars, but it would count for nothing if the Suzuki engine couldn’t handle the abuse the owner planned to throw at it. Engine builder Colin Walker gave it everything with a full rebuild that included new pistons and rings as well as a mild cam swap. The carbs have been rebuilt and jetted for the exhaust change to come and now draw air through a set of black Uni filters. The client had wanted a high mount muffler but the addition of the Ducati swingarm changed all that, now there was a void to fill. That space is brilliantly complimented with a box section muffler that mirrors the shape of the tyre and vents out of perforated plates with CNC trim. Now they just needed to make the rider feel at home, with the first step a set of machined rearset adapters to allow the tall owner a perfect level of comfort. Up on the bars are a pair of Rizoma reservoirs and the 3-button switches are part of the Motogadget party pack. An m-Unit controls the show and a pro scope gauge sits in the previously recessed triple clamp for a perfect fit. There is an m.lock with RFID technology for 007 style keyless ignition and a Dyna 200 CDI digital system ensures even the engine fires with the latest technology. Dressed in leather by Pagnol next to a private jet in a cleaner than your kitchen hanger it’s hard to imagine this GS was once a well-used banger. But set KickMoto a challenge and even an ‘80s Suzuki showing a 100,000km can be transformed into an aircraft precision Neo-Racer for the owner who wants it all. [ Kick Moto – Pagnol Motor – Hedon | Format Films – Omar Gandhi ]

Commissioner ‘concerned about pace’ of A’s ballpark decision DETROIT — The A’s shouldn’t wait on deck until the Raiders resolve their stadium issue, Commissioner Rob Manfred said. “The Raiders have to make their own set of decisions. The A’s and baseball have to make their own decisions,” Manfred said during a visit to Comerica Park on Tuesday. “I really see them in separate terms.” After Manfred replaced Bud Selig in January, he said the A’s ballpark issue was a priority. Neither the Raiders nor A’s have ruled out rebuilding at the Coliseum property. The Raiders, unlike the A’s, have options beyond Oakland. “I think Oakland is active in terms of constantly exploring what their options are with the principal focus on Oakland,” Manfred said, referencing the A’s. “I speak to Lew (Wolff, managing general partner) probably more than any other individual owner because I am very concerned about the situation in Oakland and I’m concerned about the pace at which this is moving forward.” Manfred seemed encouraged by the intentions of Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, saying, “She seems to be very interested in keeping the A’s, which is my principal concern.” O’Flaherty returns: Eric O’Flaherty (shoulder strain) was reinstated from the disabled list, giving the A’s two lefties in the bullpen, including Fernando Abad. O’Flaherty didn’t blame his rough start (0-2, 11.57 ERA, eight outings) on the injury. “It’s not something you ever want to use an excuse,” O’Flaherty said. “If you go out there and pitch, it’s your job to get the job done.” Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred addresses the media before a baseball game between the Detroit Tigers and the Oakland Athletics, Tuesday, June 2, 2015, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio) Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred addresses the media before a baseball game between the Detroit Tigers and the Oakland Athletics, Tuesday, June 2, 2015, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio) Photo: Carlos Osorio, Associated Press Photo: Carlos Osorio, Associated Press Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Commissioner ‘concerned about pace’ of A’s ballpark decision 1 / 1 Back to Gallery Briefly: Drew Pomeranz will be activated in the next day or so and initially will work out of the bullpen. ... Scott Kazmir, who missed a start with shoulder tightness, threw a bullpen session and is on target to start Friday in Boston. ... In his first rehab start since Tommy John surgery, A.J. Griffin threw three scoreless innings (one hit, three K’s, no walks) for Class A Stockton. ... To make roster room for O’Flaherty, reliever Angel Castro was optioned to Triple-A Nashville. John Shea is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. On deck Wednesday at Tigers 4:08 p.m. CSNCA Gray (6-2) vs. Sanchez (3-6) Thursday at Tigers 10:08 a.m. CSNCA Hahn (2-5) vs. Greene (4-4) Friday at Red Sox 4:10 p.m. CSNCA Kazmir (2-3) vs. Miley (4-5) Leading off Candidates: Sonny Gray (3-2, 1.67 ERA, 41 strikeouts, 14 walks, 372/3 innings) and Jesse Chavez (2-3, 1.93, 33 K’s, eight walks, 42 innings) are in the running for AL Pitcher of the Month honors for May. — John Shea

The date, 31st March 1973. The Dark Side Of The Moon entered the UK Official Charts at #2 spot on the 31st March 1973 in the 13th (and unlucky) published chart of 1973. It was in fact the highest position it would make in the UK, and slipped down to 5th the next week. Remarkably in its 40 years of incredible success Dark Side has never been #1 in the UK. So, what “hugely successful album, from a super-band music-heavy-weight”, beat TDSOTM that week and denied it the opportunity for the #1 spot?… that dubious honour goes to K-tel’s ’20 Flash Back Greats From The Sixties’ by ‘Various Artists’. (Really.) It remained at the top spot for 2 weeks! With hindsight, the success and longevity of Dark Side would make this look quite strange. The week before top spot was taken by ‘Billion Dollar Babies’ by Alice Cooper, and after the imposter’s 2 week stay at the top the next number one was ‘Houses Of The Holy’ by Led Zeppelin. (Not so bad.) Compilation albums sold well at the time. The K-tel compilation albums of the late 1960s and ’70s were the result of a licensing deal between the original ‘As seen on TV’ Canadian marketing giant and the record companies of the day. Ronco, the US equivalent of K-tel, also ‘heavily pushed’ a proliferation of compilation albums from various artists in the ’70s. The Floyd were up against extensive TV advertising ‘muscle’ – a K-tel UK example: The week after (in the 14th UK chart of 1973) another compilation ’40 Fantastic Hits From The 50s And 60s’, this time from Arcade Records (a Dutch record label specialising in compilations), entered at #2 behind K-tel’s “number one” album, pushing Dark Side further down. The music market was “expanding at a phenomenal rate”, Roger’s own words (1973), and compilations did very well, evidently. 1980s compilations in the UK would go on to be dominated by the (infamous) ‘Now That’s What I Call Music’ series. (The original plan for DS40 was to help Dark Side make #1 in the UK, but the release of the Immersion set put pay to that in 2012. Perhaps we’ll regroup for DS50 in 2023 – and keep our fingers crossed that K-tel doesn’t release a compilation at the same time…) TC

A signature (; from Latin: signare, "to sign") is a handwritten (and often stylized) depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and intent. The writer of a signature is a signatory or signer. Similar to a handwritten signature, a signature work describes the work as readily identifying its creator. A signature may be confused with an autograph, which is chiefly an artistic signature. This can lead to confusion when people have both an autograph and signature and as such some people in the public eye keep their signatures private whilst fully publishing their autograph. Function and types The traditional function of a signature is to permanently affix to a document a person’s uniquely personal, undeniable self-identification as physical evidence of that person's personal witness and certification of the content of all, or a specified part, of the document. For example, the role of a signature in many consumer contracts is not solely to provide evidence of the identity of the contracting party, but also to provide evidence of deliberation and informed consent. In many countries, signatures may be witnessed and recorded in the presence of a notary public to carry additional legal force. On legal documents, an illiterate signatory can make a "mark" (often an "X" but occasionally a personalized symbol), so long as the document is countersigned by a literate witness. In some countries, illiterate people place a thumbprint on legal documents in lieu of a written signature. In the United States, signatures encompass marks and actions of all sorts that are indicative of identity and intent. The legal rule is that unless a statute specifically prescribes a particular method of making a signature it may be made in any number of ways. These include by a mechanical or rubber stamp facsimile. A signature may be made by the purported signatory; alternatively someone else duly authorized by the signatory, acting in the signer's presence and at the signatory's direction, may make the signature.[2] Many individuals have much more fanciful signatures than their normal cursive writing, including elaborate ascenders, descenders and exotic flourishes, much as one would find in calligraphic writing. As an example, the final "k" in John Hancock's famous signature on the US Declaration of Independence loops back to underline his name. This kind of flourish is also known as a paraph. Paraphe is a term meaning flourish, initial or signature in French.[3] The paraph is used in graphology analyses. Several cultures whose languages use writing systems other than alphabets do not share the Western notion of signatures per se: the "signing" of one's name results in a written product no different from the result of "writing" one's name in the standard way. For these languages, to write or to sign involves the same written characters. Also see Calligraphy. Mechanically produced signatures Fingerprints may be used instead of signatures where the signer is illiterate. Here on an Indian legal document of 1952. Special signature machines, called autopens, are capable of automatically reproducing an individual's signature. These are typically used by people required to sign a lot of printed matter, such as celebrities, heads of state or CEOs.[citation needed] More recently, Members of Congress in the United States have begun having their signature made into a TrueType font file. This allows staff members in the Congressman's office to easily reproduce it on correspondence, legislation, and official documents.[citation needed]In the East Asian languages of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean, people traditionally use stamp-like objects known as name-seals with the name carved in tensho script (seal script) in lieu of a handwritten signature.[citation needed] Wet signatures Some government agencies require that professional persons or official reviewers sign originals and all copies of originals to authenticate that they personally viewed the content. In the United States this is prevalent with architectural and construction plans. Its intent is to prevent mistakes or fraud but the practice is not known to be effective.[citation needed] Online usage In e-mail and newsgroup usage, another type of signature exists which is independent of one's language. Users can set one or more lines of custom text known as a signature block to be automatically appended to their messages. This text usually includes a name, contact information, and sometimes quotations and ASCII art. A shortened form of a signature block, only including one's name, often with some distinguishing prefix, can be used to simply indicate the end of a post or response. Some web sites also allow graphics to be used. Note, however, that this type of signature is not related to electronic signatures or digital signatures, which are more technical in nature and not directly understandable by humans. On Wikipedia, an online wiki-based encyclopedia edited by volunteers, the contributors "sign" their comments on talk pages with their username (only the username holder has the right to digitally affix their signature). Other uses The signature on a painting or other work of art has always been an important item in the assessment of art. Fake signatures are sometimes added to enhance the value of a painting, or are added to a fake painting to support its authenticity. A notorious case was the signature of Johannes Vermeer on the fake "Supper at Emmaus" made by the art-forger Han van Meegeren. However, the fact that painters' signatures often vary over time (particularly in the modern and contemporary periods) might complicate the issue. The signatures of some painters take on an artistic form that may be of less value in determining forgeries. The term "signature" is also used to mean the characteristics that give an object, or a piece of information, its identity—for example, the shape of a Coca-Cola bottle. In rock music and heavy metal music, electric guitarists develop a unique tone and sound using particular settings on their guitar amp, effects units and modifications to their guitar pickups that is called their "signature sound". In wrestling such as WWE, wrestlers are known for distinctive "signature" finishing moves. In golf courses, a "signature hole" is the most aesthetically pleasing and photogenic hole, which makes a particular course unique.[4] By analogy, the word "signature" may be used to refer to the characteristic expression of a process or thing. For example, the climate phenomenon known as ENSO or El Niño has characteristic modes in different ocean basins which are often referred to as the "signature" of Icie collier. A signatory indicates a party to an agreement, especially an international treaty or convention, e.g. Brazil is a signatory to the Convention on Biological Diversity. Copyright Under British law, the appearance of signatures (not the names themselves) may be protected under copyright law.[5] Under United States copyright law, "titles, names [I c...]; mere variations of typographic ornamentation, lettering, or coloring" are not eligible for copyright;[6] however, the appearance of signatures (not the names themselves) may be protected under copyright law.[5] Uniform Commercial Code Uniform Commercial Code §1-201(37) of the United States generally defines signed as "using any symbol executed or adopted with present intention to adopt or accept a writing." The Uniform Commercial Code §3-401(b) for negotiable instruments states "A signature may be made (i) manually or by means of a device or machine, and (ii) by the use of any name, including a trade or assumed name, or by a word, mark, or symbol executed or adopted by a person with present intention to authenticate a writing." See also

Leeds United, Derby County and Bolton Wanderers are all interested in Crystal Palace's Barry Bannan. Three Championship clubs are interested in signing Crystal Palace midfielder Barry Bannan, report The Sun. Leeds United, Derby County and Bolton Wanderers are named as the three sides who have the Scottish international on their radar. Bannan is not thought to be in Palace's first team plans, especially with the club signing former Wolves winger Bakary Sako in the past 24 hours, who adds competition to the midfield ranks. Bannan can play centrally or out wide and his versatility could make him a coup for Championship sides. Bolton could claim to have the biggest advantage, having signed Bannan on loan last season after Alan Pardew gave him permission to leave. The Trotters however recently failed in their efforts to sign last season's loanee Adam Le Fondre, due to a lack of finances, and have re-signed 37-year-old Emile Heskey instead. Leeds United have been looking for wingers all summer, and bought Stuart Dallas from Brentford earlier this week. Derby could claim to give Bannan the clearest shot at promotion, but he would have to dislodge Tom Ince to get into the first team. Goals Assists Key Passes Won Contest Passing Accuracy Ball Recoveries per game Appearances Barry Bannan 0 3 43 14 82% 8.38 16 Bannan played 16 games last season, creating an impressive 43 chances, which led to three assists. The Mirror reported last month how Bannan was not included on Palace's pre-season tour to South Africa, claiming newly promoted Norwich City were interested, but the Canaries have since signed Hull City's Robbie Brady instead.

The Game HEX: Shards of Fate combines the amazing community and roleplaying aspects of a Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMO) with the compelling collectible and strategic gameplay of a Trading Card Game (TCG) to create an entirely new category of a game, the MMO/TCG. Create and customize your champion with talents, gear, and game altering abilities that revolutionize the Trading Card Game. Take up the side of good with either the heroic humans, noble coyotle, proud orcs, or the creative elves. If you have more sinister goals, then play as the destructive dwarves, zealous vennen, aggressive shin’hare, or cunning necrotic. Encounter deep TCG puzzles and explore the world of Entrath. The PVE experience offers hundreds of hours of gameplay, storytelling, and the chance at rich rewards. You’ll find gear, gems, and over 300 unique cards at launch. Advanced, cutting edge AI will challenge players of all skill levels while still being accessible. Cryptozoic hired the most experienced TCG AI expert in the world to build this system from the ground-up. In addition to the latest in TCG artificial intelligence, each opposing champion has a personality and approach to the game specific to that champion.

Pope Francis issued a global plea for a “bold cultural revolution” to correct the "structurally-perverse" economic system of the rich exploiting the poor that is turning the planet into an "immense pile of filth”. In his highly-anticipated encyclical on the environment on Thursday aimed at spurring action ahead of United Nations climate negotiations, Francis called for action to prevent "extraordinary" climate change from destroying the planet and said wealthy countries must bear primary responsibility for creating the problem and for solving it. In a radically-worded letter addressed to every person on the planet, the leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics blamed consumer society for the critical situation that “Our Sister, mother Earth" now finds itself in. "This sister now cries out to us because of the harm we have inflicted on her by our irresponsible use and abuse of the goods with which God has endowed her," the 78-year-old pontiff wrote in one of the opening passages of his encyclical. Journalists and guests follow the official presentation of Pope Francis's encyclical "Never have we so hurt and mistreated our common home as we have in the last two hundred years. An outsider looking at our world would be amazed at such behaviour, which at times appears self-destructive. “The earth, our home, is beginning to look more and more like an immense pile of filth.” Pope blames consumer society Francis took the world of politics and economics to task, in particular, writing: "The failure of global summits on the environment makes it plain that our politics is subject to technology and finance.” Green activists have hailed the Argentinian pontiff's widely-trailed intervention as a potential game-changer in the debate over what causes global warming and what can be done to reverse it. They hope it will significantly increase the pressure for far-reaching measures to be agreed when more than 200 countries gather in Paris for a December summit aimed at clinching a global accord on carbon emissions. But climate change skeptics had already dismissed the encyclical's arguments over global warming being primarily man-made before the document's official publication after a leaked draft emerged on Monday. “I don't get economic policy from my bishops or my cardinal or my pope," said US presidential candidate Jeb Bush on the eve of the release on Wednesday, underlining the depth of opposition in the United States to a binding global agreement to curb greenhouse gases. The encyclical references the arguments of the skeptics by acknowledging that volcanic activity, variation in the earth's movements and the solar cycle are factors in climate change. But it maintains that "most global warming in recent decades is due to the great concentration of greenhouse gases released mainly as a result of human activity". Pope's message a 'clarion call' for climate change The UN's top climate official, Christiana Figueres, called the pope's encyclical a "clarion call" that should guide world leaders to a "strong and durable" climate agreement in Paris at the end of the year. The deal will be the first time all countries, both rich poor, agree to take climate action. But experts say the climate targets pledged so far won't suffice to keep global warming below 2 degrees C (3.6 F), the goal of the UN talks. mh/jil (AP, DPA, Reuters)

Finally, it’s a winning streak. Chasing a spot in the playoffs and jelling after a season of injuries, D-League additions and trades, the Heat defeated the Denver Nuggets 108-91 on Friday at AmericanAirlines Arena for its third win in a row. It’s Miami’s first three-game winning streak since the first week of the season. This one was considerably easier than the first two victories against playoff-bound Cleveland and Portland with the Heat (32-36) playing a Nuggets team on the second night of a road back-to-back and without starting forward Danilo Gallinari. The Heat pushed its lead to double digits early in the second half and coasted to a relatively easy victory considering the breakneck pace of the last week. Miami started its three-game home winning streak 10th in the East, but now hits the road for a four-game trip with a chance to overtake the Milwaukee Bucks for sixth in the conference. The Heat trails the Bucks by one game in the loss column after Milwaukee lost to the Brooklyn Nets on Friday in triple overtime. The sudden shift in the standings reminded Dwyane Wade of his rookie season when the Heat was chasing the eighth seed, but then climbed all the way to fourth before the start of the postseason. Sign Up and Save Get six months of free digital access to the Miami Herald “You keep fighting and you give yourself an opportunity,” said Wade, who finished with 22 points and four assists in 31 minutes. “I’m proud of the way this organization hasn’t quit, and I’m proud of the way that this team hasn’t quit, and we’re giving ourselves a chance.” Wade led all players in scoring, but his streak of games scoring at least 25 points ended at seven ‒ two shy of his career high for that benchmark. The team’s future Hall of Famer carried the Heat against the Cavaliers and Trail Blazers, but he got plenty of help on this night. Point guard Goran Dragic had 18 points and five assists, but most noticeably the Heat’s bench contributed 33 points, 23 rebounds and 12 assists. Leading the way was Michael Beasley, who had another breakthrough performance for his on-again, off-again team. Beasley has been giving the Heat quality minutes off the bench since re-joining the team at the end of February, and he had nine points, eight rebounds and seven assists against the Nuggets (26-44). Beasley played starter’s minutes (35), and his seven assists was his high with the Heat, and two off of his career high. At one point, Beasley came off the court for a sub and coach Erik Spoelstra greeted the forward with a big smile and a pat on the back. It was a telling exchange. “Michael played a very good defensive game,” Spoelstra said. This is Beasley’s third stint with the team that drafted him. Originally extended a pair of expiring 10-day contracts, Beasley now is signed on for the remainder of the season and has been an important and consistent player off the bench. He had company this time, though. Henry Walker ‒ who didn’t play in Wednesday night’s victory against Portland despite being healthy ‒ had nine points off the bench in 20 minutes, and made key three-pointers in the second half. He also had an impressive block against Kenneth Faried in the fourth quarter to preserve the Heat’s comfortable lead. In addition to Walker’s production, reserve shooting guard Mario Chalmers had 10 points, four rebounds and three assists. Chris Andersen had five points and seven rebounds in 15 minutes. “What you liked about it was the energy they brought to the game,” Spoelstra said of the Heat’s bench. “Immediately in both halves when we went to the bench it sparked us.” A three-pointer by Walker gave the Heat a 93-81 lead with 6:11 left in the game. Wade set up the points with a drive-and-kick assist, then added a layup on the Heat’s next possession to push the lead to 14 points. A put-back dunk by center Hassan Whiteside extended the lead to 16 with four minutes to play. Whiteside finished with 14 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks to give him 15 double-doubles in his past 22 games. “We’re starting to get to know each other a lot more, and we’re really building chemistry, and we’re really getting an understanding of each other,” Whiteside said. “Goran [Dragic] hasn’t been here that long, but he is starting to understand how guys play, and I’m starting to understand how he likes to play.” ▪ Whiteside offered the highlight of the game in the third quarter when he stepped in front of a passing lane to initiate a one-man fastbreak. With no one chasing back on defense, the Heat’s center put on a show with one-handed dunk that featured a rock-the-cradle variation. He finished the basket with a sweeping over-handed dunk similar to LeBron James’ signature move.

Back in April, word spread like wildfire that Dick Clark Productions, who produces everything from the Golden Globes to the Academy of Country Music Awards shows, was looking to produce an awards show for dance music. We're in the middle of EDC Week, and the EDMBiz music conference is underway, so of course Insomniac CEO Pasqualle Rotella decided that now was the time to announce that they were aligning with Dick Clark Productions to produce a dance music awards show to air in 2014. Dancing Astronaut is reporting that Rotella had been dreaming for a long time of doing something like this, and that linking with DCP was "an easy sell." They did not share any information, but the obvious question(s) will be when it will be held, where it will be held, and who will televise this historic event. We won't even get into how they plan on deciding these awards, but we'll keep you posted on any news when it develops. POST CONTINUES BELOW

An overwhelming influx of a varied range of mobile devices has made it easier for people to access internet on the go as opposed to relying on desktop PCs alone. The global population, particularly the younger generation has taken to this growing trend with a promptness that is well-reflected in their possession of mobile computational tools of myriad brands and models. The student community undoubtedly forms the largest chunk of the consumer base for mobile devices. Meanwhile smartphones, tablets and phablets are on the verge of gaining a ubiquitous presence owing to the ever-increasing coverage of cellular and wifi networks. Mobile computing has inspired responsive website designs for an effective and clear rendering of websites on mobile devices.The higher education sector has joined the mobile computing bandwagon as they have woken up to the incentivizing opportunities an official website with a responsive design provides. An optimal viewing experience that is consistent on different browsers and mobile devices can be achieved by incorporating an efficient Responsive Web Design framework. Ivy league Universities like the Harvard and MIT have heralded the change by opting for the Drupal Content Management System to manage their official websites and their mobile device versions. Making the right choice : Responsive Web Design Vs. A Native Mobile App The dilemma of choosing between a responsive web design and a native mobile application can be resolved by gaining clarity on the objectives an educational institution wants to achieve through incorporating both or either one of them. A responsive web design makes a site respond to different screen resolutions automatically on any browser or mobile device. It is ideally centered around prioritizing the website content that needs to be displayed first while pushing down the secondary or superfluous content. Studies have indicated that an effective mobile deployment strategy for a University should preferably start with a robust mobile website followed by iOS and android apps. The increasing popularity of certain mobile devices and operating systems has led to the development of native mobile apps. These apps are specifically developed for a particular device, for instance apps created for Apple's iPhone series operating on iOS will find a widespread audience owing to the popularity of the brand. Benefits of using a Native Mobile App. A Native App has become an indispensable necessity given the constantly improvised tablets and smartphone models that are launched every year by major brands as well as the new entrants in the mobile device market . The better the features, the greater is the brand loyalty and a native app developed for such a brand is the best way to incentivize this hardware demand by tapping in the potential this consumerization of mobile technology offers. Native Apps can be acquired at online stores like Apple's App Store that sells iOS apps or at Google Play where the android apps can be dowloaded with ease. A major advantage of using a native app on a mobile device is its faster performance as it leverages the native functionalities on the device like file systems and camera. The Drupal platform offers numerous tools for building native mobile apps. The Drupal Gap Module and the Mobile Application Kit can be a great help in developing native apps. Phone Gap, a native application wrapper meant for web content displayed on a mobile device, also supports the development of native mobile apps. Appcelerator Titanium is one such mobile app development tool that facilitates the development of both iOS and Android applications from a single code base. Where does Drupal figure in the scheme of things? According to recent research statistics, 71 of the top 100 Universities have Drupal based websites while 28 percent of all .edu sites rely on Drupal to power their sites. The higher education space can be highly complex with the websites carrying time-sensitive content that is shared by multiple contributors from different departments in an institution.The key reasons for Drupal to have emerged as the top choice for educational websites is its flexible architecture and the availability of thousands of add-on modules that makes customization of themes and addition of content and features effortlessly easier. The educational institutions have eventually come to terms with an overwhelming presence of mobile devices and gadgets as it has practically infiltrated the classroom spaces. In an initiative to engage the students more effectively, the educational institutions are encouraging them to bring their own devices to the classroom. Tasks like scheduling courses, accessing course material, library books and even checking the grades have become effortlessly easier, thanks to a mobile workflow interface. The BYOD(Bring Your Own Device) initiative at the educational institutes is a strategic move to keep up with the changing digital landscape while minimizing infrastructure costs. The Drupal modules specifically designed for higher education websites can be integrated with ease to improve the workflow for a seamless mobile browsing experience. A Drupal development environment can host customizable e-learning solutions and Learning Management Systems. The Drupal modules when incorporated into a Drupal Platform make it customizable to an institution's individual needs. Modules like Link checker,Breadcrumbs, LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) and OpenLayers are some useful additions to direct the students to the relevant information they are looking for. A competent mobile initiative depends on an institution's ability to commit resources for the creation and maintenance of a robust mobile environment. A frantically changing mobile terrain requires the educational institutions to keep pace with the same if they want to ensure a relevant online presence. We at Valuebound will help you turbofire your mobile initiative with our enterprise Drupal Web Solutions. For more information contact us

Thousands of Syrian women and children holding white flags and olive branches blocked a main coastal highway Wednesday, demanding that authorities free people detained during a crackdown on opponents of the government, witnesses said. The crowd called for the release of hundreds of men rounded up in the northeastern villages of Baida and Ejnad and surrounding areas in recent days. “We will not be humiliated!” the participants shouted, according to witnesses who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. The crowd had gathered along the main road between the coastal cities of Tartous and Baniyas. Protests erupted in Syria a month ago and have been growing steadily, with tens of thousands of people calling for sweeping reforms. President Bashar al-Assad’s government has responded both with force and promise of reforms. More than 200 people have been killed during the unrest, according to Syria’s leading pro-democracy group, the Damascus Declaration. In an apparent attempt to appease the women, authorities released about 100 of the detainees and took them to where the demonstrators had gathered, prompting cheers and cries of triumph, a participating witness said. The protester said the sit-in will continue until all the men are released. Also Wednesday, activists said student protesters gathered at Damascus University in the capital and at Aleppo University in the north. Another protest was reported outside the state-run news agency’s offices in the capital. The reports lacked detail, and they could not be immediately confirmed. Syria has expelled most foreign reporters and limits access to trouble spots. Assad blames the violence on armed gangs rather than reform-seekers and has vowed to crush further unrest. In contrast, he has made overtures to try to ease growing outrage, including dismissing his cabinet, firing local officials and granting Syrian nationality to thousands of Kurds, a long-ostracized minority. The gestures have failed to satisfy protesters who are demanding political freedoms and an end to the decades-old emergency laws that give the government a free hand to arrest people without charge. Residents and activists in Baida and Ejnad said hundreds of men, young and old, were arrested Tuesday when security forces and pro-government gunmen attacked the villages in an attempt to crush growing dissent in the northeast. The Syrian government countered that a group of “criminal killers” had attacked security forces and opened fire indiscriminately in the nearby port city of Baniyas and surrounding areas, killing a number of civilians.

Jason Kenney is taking aim at Al Gore after the former U.S. vice-president said Alberta's oilsands treat the environment like an "open sewer." Kenney, who is running to lead Alberta's new United Conservative Party, posted a video on his Facebook page skewering Gore for comments he made last week in an interview with Toronto's CP24. Jason Kenney: The Hypocrisy of Al Gore Hypocrisy: If there's one person who defines the meaning of hypocrisy it's got to be former US Vice President Al Gore. He's once again attacking Alberta's energy industry and accusing our oil sands of using the skies as an "open sewer". Here's the reality check for Al Gore. Posted by Jason Kenney on Monday, August 7, 2017 "The world becomes steadily more aware of how dangerous it is to keep loading up the sky with this global warming pollution, using the sky as an open sewer. We can't do that anymore," Gore told the outlet in a response to a question about the oilsands, according to affiliate BNN. Kenny bashed Gore in his online diatribe as someone who "defines the meaning of hypocrisy." "Vice-president Gore has a swimming pool at one of his homes that consumes as much power in a year as the average American household uses in four years," Kenney says, citing a recent report by The National Center For Public Policy Research, a conservative American think tank. The organization says in its environmental policy it is firm in the belief that "private owners are the best stewards of the environment." Mario Anzuoni / Reuters Former U.S. vice-president Al Gore attends a screening for "An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power" in Los Angeles, California, U.S. on July 25, 2017. Kenney slams Gore for having the "temerity" to criticize Alberta's energy industry while taking trips on private jets between his multiple properties and to environmental conferences. The Alberta politician even wades a bit into the current diplomatic crisis engulfing the Arab Gulf. After he accuses Gore of becoming "hugely rich" with his "documentaries and lectures attacking Canada," Kenney bashes Gore's sale of Current TV to Al Jazeera in 2013. The Qatar-funded broadcaster used it to start up Al Jazeera America, a short-lived channel that shut down in 2016. "They're so bad that they've actually now been blacklisted and embargoed by Saudi Arabia," he says, referring to the economic blockade imposed on Qatar. Gore sees Albertans as 'boy scouts': Kenney Gore also used the "open sewer" remark to criticize Alberta's oilsands four years ago, to the ire of then-natural resources minister Joe Oliver. "Well, he's off the mark," Oliver told The Globe and Mail at the time. He accused Gore of making "wildly inaccurate and exaggerated comments." Kenney postulates in his Facebook clip that Gore and his "fellow travellers" bash Alberta's energy industry because they "see us as Boy Scouts." He says that's why the province needs a strong government that will fight back and tell the "truth" about "hypocrites like Al Gore." "So, I'm sorry Mr. Gore," Kenney says at the end of his video, "how about you sell two of your three homes, how about you shut down that swimming pool, how about you start to practice what you preach before you criticize the hardworking women and men of Alberta?" Also On HuffPost:

SANTA CLARA — The 49ers lost Bruce Ellington (torn hamstring) for the entire season on Tuesday. Ellington was expected to be a productive slot receiver in Chip Kelly’s offense. Some had pegged the 25-year-old for a breakout year. This is devastating news for what is already one of the most talent-depleted offenses in the NFL. And it’s a reminder that GM Trent Baalke’s refusal to address the wide receiver position is directly harming the production of this football team. An unbelievable 25 wide receivers were taken in the 2016 NFL Draft before Baalke turned in the card on Michigan State product Aaron Burbridge with pick No. 213 in the sixth round. Baalke was burnt by first round pick A.J. Jenkins in 2012, and ever since, has ignored the position in the early rounds of the draft. This was after refusing to re-sign Anquan Boldin or even sniff around at free agents Marvin Jones, Travis Benjamin or Mohammad Sanu. The 49ers have enough cap room to swim in it, yet Baalke wouldn’t entertain lowball offers to Mike Wallace, Brandon LaFell or Rishard Matthews — all who could walk into Santa Clara and start Week 1. If you don’t have a firm quarterback situation, the least a GM can do is supply reliable receivers. The 49ers have just one of those in Torrey Smith, and they’re requiring the deep threat to play the role of the No. 1 receiver. That’s like asking Klay Thompson to play point guard for the Warriors. Kelly is forced to play Smith out of position because he has no other resources. The refrigerator is empty. Quinton Patton (36 career receptions in three NFL seasons) is thrust into a role above his skill set, and after that, the 49ers’ wide receiver depth chart plummets beneath the ground. It’s been hard to even distinguish between the trio of Dres Anderson, DeAndre Smelter and DeAndrew White — all three fliers don’t have a lick of NFL experience and have barely produced against backups in the preseason. Canadian football league star Eric Rogers is out for the season and training camp surprise Bryce Treggs is out for an undisclosed amount of time with an MCL injury. A trade for well-traveled slot receiver Jeremy Kerley is San Francisco’s lone hope for consistency at receiver. Baalke even cut Jerome Simpson, a talented player who many beat reporters thought could actually turn into a hidden gem within Kelly’s system. Just like the Blaine Gabbert and Colin Kaepernick conundrum, Baalke created this mess. You can’t totally ignore two positions on the football field and pray both units magically improve. God forbid if Carlos Hyde suffers another concussion, this could be a historically bad offense, one that could get punched on The Jimmy Fallon show like the Cleveland Browns so often do. When the wide receivers struggle to adapt to much bigger roles than their capable of this season, remember it’s Trent Baalke who’s at fault. Chip Kelly can’t be expected to cook some elaborate meal when he’s missing half the groceries. Building up the trenches has been the embattled GM’s philosophy in recent offseason’s, but it clearly doesn’t equal points on the scoreboard. Instead, Baalke hoped a hodgepodge group of receivers would magically become reliable NFL players overnight. Brilliant. If and when the 49ers implode on offense, somebody is going to have to pay the price. Baalke’s sins at the wide receiver position could ultimately end up being his undoing.

Sriharikota: The launch of India's latest navigation satellite on board its polar rocket failed Thursday following a technical glitch just prior to its scheduled orbiting in space. The rare setback for the ISRO in India's space history involving the workhorse rocket Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) came shortly after a perfect lift off of the PSLV C-39 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre here at 7 pm. In a brief announcement, A S Kiran Kumar, chief of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), said the mission was unsuccessful because the satellite housed within the heat sink could not be injected. "The C39 launch vehicle had a problem, heat shield has not separated. As a result of that the satellite is inside the heat shield and we have to go through the detailed analysis to see what has happened," a dejected Kumar announced at the Mission Control Centre. #WATCH: ISRO launches navigation satellite IRNSS-1H carried by PSLV from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. pic.twitter.com/KlfmbyDIMZ — ANI (@ANI) August 31, 2017 But for the failed heat shield separation, the remaining activities had gone on smoothly, he said, adding a detailed analysis would be undertaken. A successful launch of India's eighth navigation satellite, IRNSS-1H, would have ushered a new era in the country's history of space exploration as, for the first time, the private sector has been actively involved in assembling and testing of a satellite. Earlier, the private sector's role was limited only to supplying components.

On the night of 3 February, Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosted a dinner for a group of fund managers and financial institutions who together possess and manage trillions of dollars in assets worldwide. These big players included leviathans such as Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (which manages $770 billion in assets globally), Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency ($755 billion), Hong Kong Monetary Authority ($400 billion), Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board ($205 billion),Singapore’s Temasek ($175 billion) and Australia’s Future Fund ($95 billion). As the hot shots warmed up to India’s rulers on that chilly evening over piping hot vegetarian dishes—Modi’s ministerial colleagues Arun Jaitley, Nitin Gadkari, Suresh Prabhu and Dharmendra Pradhan were present on the occasion—the Prime Minister assured them that he would usher in policies that would drive growth and that he would ensure that a fair and consistent tax system was put in place. Besides other representatives of Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs)—such as GIC of Singapore and California State Teachers’ Retirement System—which are state-owned investment funds, and financial institutions, those of insurers like Hong Kong-based AIA Group and Zurich- headquartered Ace Ltd also attended the dinner at the 7 Race Course Road residence of the Indian premier. Will Hetherton, spokesperson for the Australian government’s Future Fund tells Open, “The Future Fund was honoured to participate in discussions on investment opportunities in India. As a global investor, we were delighted to contribute to the discussion, to learn more about the investment opportunities in India and the work underway to further build an environment that supports investment.” He adds without disclosing specific details of the Fund’s plans in India: “We very much look forward to exploring specific opportunities in India.” For its part, the Centre has already announced the setting up of a National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) with an initial corpus of Rs 20,000 crore, which can be leveraged to draw ten times as much money for projects in this vital sector. Without doubt, infrastructure creation is central to the NDA’s agenda of enhancing economic growth. In his latest Union Budget, Finance Minister Jaitley raised outlays on roads and the gross budgetary support to the Railways by Rs 14,031 crore and Rs 10,050 crore, respectively, over last year’s figures. Now, to raise extra funds, the Government is ready to go all out, and the dinner at the Prime Minister’s residence was just the beginning of a large fund- raising programme on the anvil. “Such meetings are not really unprecedented, but the optimism this time around was much higher,” says a representative of an SWF who doesn’t want to be named because he isn’t authorised to speak to the media. Another attendee from the Indian side reports that the global investors present there were extremely excited with the Prime Minister’s “pronouncements”. He says, “It helped that he has a majority in Parliament and one of the senior executives of an insurance firm told me that ‘Modi seemed to be in a hurry and we love it’. It is time we say goodbye to slowness.” Pravin Krishna, Chung Ju Yung Distinguished Professor of International Economics and Business at Johns Hopkins University, praises Modi’s statements on taxation. “Hopefully, this can put the fears of retrospective tax changes to rest,” he says. Faced with criticism within and outside that his reformist moves aren’t quick enough thanks to a series of factors, Modi, three government officials close to the matter say, wants to forge ahead with his plans to attract huge investments in the infrastructure sector. “It is a multi-pronged strategy. The BJP Government wants to do as much as possible to showcase its achievements so as to attract more investment over the next one year,” notes Dharmendra Pradhan, petroleum minister, who, however, refuses to comment on the nature of negotiations at the dinner meeting of early February. Modi had invited select representatives who were in the country then to attend the India Investor Summit organised by BlackRock, an asset management firm. The Prime Minister, it is learnt, also exhorted fund managers to invest in India to build affordable homes, besides railways, roads and other infrastructural projects. In fact, Norway’s SWF, the world’s largest, too had expressed an intention to increase its holdings significantly in India. Late last year, the fund had said that it had raised its holdings of Indian bonds and stocks to 0.9 per cent of its fixed-income and equities portfolios as part of a broader plan to increase its presence in emerging markets and generate bigger returns. “India is one of those markets where you should expect that we will continue to increase our investments over time, significantly,” Yngve Slyngstad, CEO of the Oslo-based fund, had said in an interview to Bloomberg. “The changes that we have seen have given us more confidence that we will have good investment potential in the coming years,” Slyngstad had said. The Norwegian sovereign fund is now worth the same as the combined market cap of oil giants such as ExxonMobil, Shell and Chevron. WHAT THE BJP leadership described as a ‘multi-pronged’ approach has got to do not just with the economy, but also politics, notes a senior bureaucrat who is perceived to be a favourite of Modi. “There is a lot of political interest there. Modiji wants the economy to be far more robust and gain in momentum ahead of the next assembly polls, especially the one in Bihar which is due towards the end of the year,” he says. Prime Minister Modi is well aware of the damage that the rural economy may incur over the next few months and he wants to do his best to offset any distress to rural folk thanks to huge investments that will spur short-term as well as long- term growth, explains an economist who works closely with Modi. “Rural distress is staring us in our faces. The current rabi crop season has been marked by a shortage of urea and financial irregularities and black marketing as usual. The Centre has not been able to intervene as well as it could have. Modiji is aware of it, but he wants to appeal to the aspiring next-generation among farming communities by bringing in a lot of development and in raising the bar of goodwill towards his dispensation,” adds this economist. Asked if focusing on the agricultural sector is not a priority of the Government, he says, “Infrastructure development will make farming more incentive-based and entrepreneurial. We don’t want our farmers to remain in abject poverty all their lives.” He does not elaborate. Another BJP leader says that it is to fast- track reforms and to create conditions that will attract global investors that the NDA Government is striving for. Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu, in an earlier interaction with Open, had said that BJP leaders themselves had been over-expecting new railway lines and new trains. “What they don’t realise is that there is no money. Our effort is to bring in more money so that their dreams of last-mile connectivity come true,” he had said. The Indian Railways, which chalks up losses of roughly Rs 26,000 crore every year thanks to its low passenger fares (easily the lowest in the world), has so far been able to raise only a paltry Rs 13,000 crore for new projects that include a doubling of existing lines capacity, laying new tracks and so on. The system charges steep freight charges (among the highest in the world) to cross-subsidise second- class passenger fares and suburban train services. The policy, however, has hurt the Railways: from a market share of more than 60 per cent of goods movement in the late 1980s, the Railways’ share has fallen to almost half that figure as roadway transporters have taken freight traffic away, garnering 60 per cent of the goods market compared with 34 per cent in the late 80s. Which is why the Railway Minister, desperate for investment from all possible quarters for the sector’s rapid development, used his budget speech of 26 February to talk about the need for lawmakers to contribute some of their MPLADS funds to improve passenger amenities. The cash-strapped behemoth, which ferries 23 million passengers daily, is in dire need of funds to set up infrastructure to boost the network’s capacity and quality of services. Prabhu won praise from various commentators for the direction of his budget speech. In a department where ministers were politicians first and ministers second, ignoring systemic needs and instead doling out lollies in their constituencies and home states, his speech was seen as a big departure from the past. The LIC Initiative It’s not just global investors such as Future Fund and Norway’s SWF that are cheerful. Big Indian investors, too, are in a buoyant mood over India’s infrastructure spending. For instance, Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), India’s largest insurance company with an estimated asset value of Rs 15 lakh crore, is looking at pledging Rs 15,000 crore for the Railways over the next few years, says a senior official. Over a staggered period, as and when the Railways can ‘absorb’ more money, LIC is expected to pitch in more funds, he adds. Professor Krishna, though, is cautiously optimistic about this move. “Investments in infrastructure are clearly necessary. I guess I am not sure as to what the particular motivations are to use funding sources such as the LIC. I look forward to an explanation of the rationale for this move and also a description of process,” he tells Open. The Railways’ expansion plans are constrained by land acquisition hold-ups and a bunch of other legal complications. “But then it is such hassles that the Modi Government is trying to get rid of, since it wants to forge ahead with promoting growth so as to raise enough money to spend on social sector schemes,” says a Finance Ministry official. “True, the Government has come under attack for being neo-liberal in its policies, but anyone with some experience in governance knows only too well that what India needs is what China has done: develop infrastructure at any cost and invite as much funds for it to pull a large chunk of people out of poverty.” As is well known, modernising Indian Railways is one of Modi’s top priorities, as he expects the overhaul of Asia’s largest rail network under a single entity to become ‘a driver of rural development’. “LIC’s pledge to invest huge sums in new trains, research and development, etcetera, has to be seen in this context,” a Union minister tells Open. Another BJP leader is of the view that Modi, who doesn’t want his image as a doer to lose its shine, is keen to flag off as many infrastructure projects as possible to flaunt in forthcoming elections. “Whether it is politics or not doesn’t matter to us. We are interested in being part of India’s growth story, and the new Government, unlike the previous one which had lost its sting towards the end, is showing enough promise in acting to facilitate development and usher in opportunities,” says an overseas fund manager who had attended the Prime Minister’s dinner. A Union minister argues that at a time when “anything and everything is seen from the eye of a political motive”, one has to realise that since taking charge, Modi has adopted market-based energy pricing, permitted more foreign investment in India’s defence industry, and has outlined a clear plan to revive the manufacturing sector through his ambitious ‘Make In India’ programme. “All of them highlight his reform and development agenda, while keeping the poor in mind,” he says. “You will see more investments flowing into restructuring the Railways and many other sectors,” he adds. But then, the astute politician that Modi is, he is not unaware of the need to retain his halo as a benign reformer who would endear himself to industrialists and the common man alike. “Especially in the aftermath of the poll setback in Delhi, he wouldn’t want the poor to feel that things are the same as they were during UPA rule,” the Union minister says. “What he wants is to drive growth and create the impression that the Government is good for the aspiring middle classes and the under classes.” Such a campaign doesn’t work without huge expenditure, and for that, funds from across the globe are required besides tapping all avenues back home, he explains. Modi’s efforts to push through the Land Acquisition bill explain his motives, adds this minister. Though the ruling NDA recently faced humiliation in the Rajya Sabha where the opposition had forced amendments to the Motion of Thanks on the President’s address, in the Lok Sabha, when the bill was put to vote, it managed support from allies like Akali Dal which had criticised the law as well as the Lok Janshakti Party. It also got the Shiv Sena not to vote against it, while the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), which is vehemently opposed to the bill, staged a walkout. BJP insiders say that since confrontation has become the name of the game in Parliament, the Modi Government wouldn’t hesitate to call a joint session to pass crucial amendments as part of its efforts to woo global investors for big projects. “My guess is that Modi is determined to do that,” says a senior government official who also dispells the notion that ever since the BJP suffered a rout in Delhi’s polls, it might opt for populist measures to attract votes. In the 7 February election to the Delhi state Assembly, the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party won a landslide victory, blotting out the BJP and eliminating the Congress in the state’s 70-member house, winning 67 seats. “It was without doubt a huge setback for the image of Modi and the BJP leadership who were seen as infallible and who never lost any state election where the Prime Minister campaigned ever since he won the 2014 General Election,” admits the first BJP leader. “The invincibility of the BJP campaign machinery suddenly got a rude jolt. But then it won’t idle away in the months ahead of the forthcoming elections. I tell you, they have learnt a lesson. And instead of taking the populist route, they will go for aggressive reforms and crank out projects at a faster pace than you can imagine,” claims this leader. There will be no dearth of schemes and announcements that appeal to the middle- class, avers the second BJP leader. “In the face of attacks that he hasn’t done enough to retrieve black money stashed away abroad so far, Modiji wants to live up to the expectations of people and will do something meaningful to track down untaxed money hidden in tax havens abroad. The lengthy space given in the Union Budget presented by Mr Jaitley to black money is an indication of Modiji’s resolve. Don’t be surprised to see many implosive findings soon,” claims this BJP leader. “Efforts to get black money are on, especially with the opposition loudly attacking the Prime Minister for merely offering lip service in this regard,” notes a government official close to the matter. The official also suggests that the announcement in the Union Budget of a gold monetisation scheme could be a game-changer in tracking black money. In his Budget speech, Jaitley said: “The new scheme will allow depositors of gold to earn interest on their metal accounts and jewellers to obtain loans on their metal accounts. Banks and other dealers would also be able to monetise this gold.” India, one of the world’s largest consumers of gold, imports close to 1,000 tonnes of the yellow metal annually. The scheme is expected to draw idle gold into the system. Jaitley also announced the creation of a sovereign gold bond that will offer a fixed rate of interest and could be redeemed in cash. This means that instead of buying gold in physical form, you could get a bond issued by the Government that says you own a chunk of gold. Later, you can redeem it when the tenure of the bond expires. “This, in the long run, is a neat ruse to get unaccounted-for money out,” claims a Finance Ministry official. “Of course, there is politics behind convincing global investors that India is an attractive destination for investment by promising them a fair and predictable tax system. What is wrong with that? Prime Minister Modi’s ambitions are not bad for his country,” declares this official. Modi, who has spearheaded a series of election victories in the past several months, including Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Haryana and Jammu & Kashmir, doesn’t want to leave any stone unturned when it comes to outlining and implementing new projects. “This is, of course, because he is a constant campaigner and wants to learn from setbacks. This is also because he wants to make a name as a reformer Prime Minister who makes India an economic powerhouse of the world,” avers the first BJP leader. “Modiji thinks both short-term and long-term,” he adds. In Bihar, where polls are due this year as the tenure of the current assembly expires on 29 November, the BJP faces a united opposition following a major realignment of forces that has brought sworn enemies Lalu Prasad of the RJD and Nitish Kumar of JD-U on one platform. Modi watcher and India-US relations expert Michael Kugelman feels that Modi will definitely need to strike a balance between pro-business moves— from infrastructure spending to austerity measures—and populist policies that target the masses. “It’s a tough balancing act, though one that Modi believes he can pull off. In the next few weeks and months, we’ll get a better idea if he’s right.” Unprecedented Moves The Modi Government, with its intention to tap all possible resources, wants to use the armed forces for civilian work, a model in active practice in countries such as Israel. “This could be under consideration, especially in the Railways and perhaps in projects such as the cleaning of the Ganga and similar projects,” says a Government source. With 1.3 million people on its rolls, India’s armed forces are the world’s eighth largest employer. “The logic of using the armed forces’ personnel in civilian work —which is rare and largely unprecedented except in times of emergencies— is to maximise staff utility,” says another official in the know. “The forces have fought wars only for a few months, but they have been around since Independence, maintained by the Government. So, the idea is to use their services thoroughly well. The advantages are manifold: the armed forces have the best of engineering talent and their volunteers are disciplined and punctual. They are trained to build under duress. Their participation in civilian work will also mean speedy implementation of high-class projects,” he adds. Indications are that Prime Minister Modi would like to use the services of Army personnel to set up railway lines connecting Hindu pilgrim centres in the Himalayas, one of his pet projects, and also to build roads to far-flung areas, especially in the Northeast where his party wants to gain a foothold. “I would call it a revolutionary move,” says the second BJP leader. “Why should the forces waste their energy in bunkers cleaning up bricks and idling away despite possessing impeccable engineering skills?” he asks. Looks like an irresistible suggestion indeed. And Modi would want to make the most of such an opportunity.

This post reflects the opinions of the author and not necessarily those of Mashable as a publication. Image courtesy of talymel Image courtesy of iStockphoto Ever noticed how the remote for each new TV you check out seems to have more and more buttons? Or how that online game you used to enjoy is feeling less like fun as the options pile on? It's not your fault. It's a well-documented phenomenon, found in hardware, in software and on the Web: feature creep. Engineers, bless their hearts, want to give us access to all the exciting new functions they've come up with. But they're not great at making them simple enough for the average user, or at removing the buttons we no longer need. When a company does have the courage and discipline to slash away at its engineers' wish lists, and adhere to the KISS principle of design (Keep It Simple, Stupid), it can rise head and shoulders above its rivals and delight its users. Apple is a great example of that, as is Nintendo (the Wii being one of the most simple — and successful — game console designs of all time.) Unfortunately for its 800 million users, Facebook does not appear to be that kind of company. It used to be, and its inherent simplicity was part of the reason it was so successful. But now it is falling victim to feature creep — and a roster of settings that are becoming increasingly complex. Take the Ticker, for example, that real-time stream of information which now crowds the right-side of your Facebook page with a lot of distracting noise. Or look at the Like button, which recently celebrated its first birthday. That was a very popular all-purpose tool that spread rapidly across the Web. Everyone knows what it means to Like something. But Facebook couldn't leave well enough alone. At this year's f8 conference, Mark Zuckerberg announced Facebook Gestures, which will allow you to [any verb] a [any noun]. As Zuckerberg pointed out, this will allow you to "read" a book or "hike" a trail rather than like it. That's great if you like a lot of granularity in your News Feed, but I fear that for the vast majority of us it means more confusion, more noise, and the decline of the social network's single most iconic feature. Once upon a time, you just friended people; now you have to decide if you want to subscribe to their feed instead. A profile used to be a profile, plain and simple; now it can also be a Page (and converting one to the other can open up a world of pain). And let's not even get into the debate over Timeline, the radical redesign of the user profile, which will start rolling out to all users in the next week or so and eventually be required for all of us. Got your all-important top-of-the-page picture picked out yet? Booked the hours that it's going to take to fill in the story of your life, all the way back to birth? (The vast majority of respondents in our poll said filling in their Timeline gaps would take too much time and effort.) The Other 792 Million Facebook Timeline: In-Depth Chances are, as a Mashable reader, you're on top of some of this stuff. Maybe you've even gone through the complex steps required to activate your Timeline ahead of time. Great; that puts you in the top 1% of Facebook users: the early adopters, the people who get excited about change rather than fear it. But spare a thought for the other 792 million users, most of whom don't even know these changes are coming. There are millions of people who think the Ticker is the new Facebook. They're in for a nasty surprise. Even for those at the top of the pile, the complexities are growing. Many friends who cover Facebook for a living have their pet peeves about the site and the increasing number of roadblocks it throws in the path to doing something that should be very easy. Take Lists, for example. Facebook used to treat Lists as a way to prevent certain people from seeing certain information; you could exclude your boss and your parents from seeing all those girls' night out pictures you were tagged in, say. But now Facebook has changed its mind and decided that Lists are more like Circles on Google+ — ways to share with specific groups of friends rather than block specific groups of friends. In other words, there are now two kinds of Lists. It is possible to merge your old Lists together, but we've heard from users that this blasts your privacy settings. And who has the time to sort out this stuff? It's getting so that managing your social network, and making sure nothing embarrassing slips out, is a full-time occupation in itself. Memo To Facebook: Chill Out The impression we get of Facebook is that of a young company, both in its own age and in the average age of its employees. They're excited. They want to change the world. They can't sit still for long. The engineers — and it is a company top-heavy with engineers, starting with Zuckerberg himself — can't wait to thrill you with their latest feature. And they're constantly looking over their shoulders at what Google+ is developing. That all adds up to a dangerous mindset. It ignores the fact that most users just want to post a status update and read what their friends are up to. It treats casual visitors as if they were power users. I agree with my colleague Christina Warren that few people are likely to quit Facebook just yet, or not enough to matter. But that doesn't mean they won't get frustrated, confused, and less likely to visit. In less time than you might think, that will open up opportunities for rivals. What Zuckerberg needs is the discipline and the vision of a Steve Jobs or a Jeff Bezos; the power to resist feature creep and focus on what matters. Do you agree? Is Facebook becoming more complex and feature-laden than necessary? Let us know in the comments.

click image Photo via hop.on.beer.tours/Instagram A fun, new way to experience Central Florida's breweries is set to launch August 3 with Hop On! Central Florida Brewery Tours. The bus tour will focus on downtown Orlando breweries, with future plans to include Sanford, Winter Garden, and other areas.The 14-passenger bus will depart from the Broken Cauldron Taproom at 1012 W. Church St. and visit nearby breweries on a four-hour excursion. During the ride, guests can enjoy trivia and live-streamed sports games. Tour guides will discuss each brewery's history and what's on tap before arriving at each stop, where guests will be able to enjoy the brews for 45 minutes to an hour.With 212 breweries, Florida comes in at No. 9 out of the top 10 states for number of craft breweries . Central Florida is "outpacing Tampa, but there's really no transportation that will take you from brewery to brewery here. A lot of people expect that type of thing to exist here and it didn't," founder Kevin Jones said to theTickets start at $35 for the four-hour tour depending on what people order at the bar, according to the Orlando Business Journal . $85 signature tours that go behind the scenes of the breweries are also an option.For more information or to sign-up for the tour, email info@hopon.tours

CAIRO — Al Qaeda confirmed the killing of Osama bin Laden and vowed revenge, saying Friday that Americans’ “happiness will turn to sadness.” The statement was the first by the terror network since its leader was slain in a U.S. commando raid against his Pakistani hideout. The statement, written in typical al Qaeda style and in the name of the organization’s General Command, seemed mostly intended to reassure followers that the terror group remains vigorous and intact. The statement was dated Tuesday, the day after bin Laden’s death. Its authenticity could not be independently confirmed, but it was posted on militant websites Friday by the al-Fajr Center, al Qaeda’s online media distribution network. “The blood of the holy warrior sheik, Osama bin Laden, God bless him, is too precious to us and to all Muslims to go in vain,” the statement said. “We will remain, God willing, a curse chasing the Americans and their agents, following them outside and inside their countries.” “Soon, God willing, their happiness will turn to sadness,” it said, “their blood will be mingled with their tears.” The confirmation by al Qaeda should remove doubt among all but the most die-hard conspiracy theorists that bin Laden is in fact dead. Earlier Friday, hundreds of members of radical Islamic parties protested in several Pakistan cities against the U.S. raid. Many chanted “Osama is alive” and blasted the U.S. for violating the country’s sovereignty. The need to provide proof was behind arguments that the U.S. should release a photo of the slain terror leader. U.S. President Barack Obama has chosen to withhold the photo. The statement also opens the way for the group to name a successor to bin Laden. His deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, is now the most prominent figure in the group and a likely contender to take his place. “Sheik Osama didn’t build an organization to die when he dies,” the statement read. “The university of faith, Quran and jihad from which bin Laden graduated will not close its doors,” it added. The statement came as newly uncovered documents found in bin Laden’s residence revealed plans for derailing an American train on the coming 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, according to U.S. officials. Counterterrorism officials said they believe the plot was only in the initial planning stages at the time. But it does suggest that bin Laden may have been more involved in operations than the U.S. had assumed when they tried to portray him as merely an inspirational figure who was uninvolved in operations. It’s unclear whether either the al Qaeda statement or the material seized by the Navy SEALs in Monday’s deadly raid at bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad shows that a serious plot is currently under way. Al Qaeda, which carried out the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, has never abandoned its hope of again attacking the U.S. homeland. Its plots are usually large-scale and are believed to involve planning over months or even years. But terror experts have said the threat of attacks could spike in the coming days from individuals or small extremist groups inspired to take revenge for the killing. Western intelligence officials say they are seeing increased Internet and phone chatter about cheap, small-scale terror attacks. U.S. officials had no immediate comment on al Qaeda’s latest threat. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said she’s urged the homeland security secretary to increase the country’s threat level while the material seized from bin Laden’s compound is reviewed. “I continue to question the secretary’s decision not to increase the threat level,” said Collins, the top Republican on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. Security officials in Europe say there is no specific plot to justify raising the threat level there. But one of their biggest fears is the possibility of a Mumbai-style attack like the 2008 shooting spree that killed 166 people and paralyzed India’s business capital for days. More than 100 protesters gathered Friday outside the U.S. Embassy in London shouting, “USA, you will pay!” and warning of revenge attacks. Interpol has asked law enforcement agencies in some 188 countries to be on alert for retaliatory attacks. Communities have been warned to report anything suspicious. Embassies and some American businesses have added new security measures. Rather than only making vehement cries of vengeance, the al Qaeda statement — entitled “You lived as a good man, you died as a martyr” — struck a tone of calm and continuity. Though it included praise of bin Laden, much of the 11-paragraph statement was dedicated to underlining that al Qaeda would live on, depicting him as just another in a line of “martyrs” from the group. “The soldiers of Islam will continue in groups and united, plotting and planning without getting bored, tired, with determination, without giving up until striking a blow,” the statement. It said bin Laden was killed “along an established path followed by the best of those who came before him and those who will come after him.” In the statement, al Qaeda also called on Pakistanis to rise up in revolt against its leaders to “cleanse the shame.” And it said that an audio message bin Laden recorded a week before his death would be issued soon — a prediction made this week by U.S. officials. But the writers of the al Qaeda statement appeared unaware of the U.S. announcement that bin Laden’s body had been buried at sea. The statement warned against mishandling or mistreating bin Laden’s body and demanded that it be handed over to his family, saying “any harm (to the body) will open more doors of evil, and there will be no one to blame but yourselves.” Reaction in the Islamic world to bin Laden’s death has been relatively muted compared with the rage that he long inspired, raising questions about his relevance in a region that has been changed by a wave of pro-democracy uprisings. The largest anti-U.S. rally in Pakistan on Friday took place in the town of Khuchlak in southwestern Baluchistan province, where about 500 people attended. “America is celebrating Osama bin Laden’s killing, but it will be a temporary celebration,” said Abdullah Sittar Chishti, a member of the Jamiat Ulema Islam party who attended the rally in Khuchlak. “After the martyrdom of Osama, billions, trillions of Osamas will be born.” Several hundred Egyptians also performed the funeral prayer for the absent, a special rite for the dead in the absence of a body. The Egyptian protesters then marched toward the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, chanting “Osama is not a terrorist. He is a martyr” and “Obama you are a liar, Osama’s blood won’t be in vain.” One lifted a banner reading: “Al-Azhar, Islamic scholars and millions of Muslims condemn throwing the body of the martyr mujahid (holy warrior) Osama bin Laden into the sea.” Copyright © 2019 The Washington Times, LLC.

“Hey Bill, have you seen this?” I turned to Bill Gaudelli, chair of Teachers College’s Department of Arts and Humanities and coordinator of the program preparing social studies educators. “What’s that?” he asked. I showed him the screen of my iPad. “It’s the latest version of the National Council on Teacher Quality’s ratings of teacher education programs. Look!” I said. “The College’s Graduate Secondary Education programs got a D+!” Bill rolled his eyes. NCTQ has a history of getting things wrong, at Teachers College and elsewhere. Two years ago, NCTQ rated a non-existent undergraduate teacher preparation program at Teachers College, not understanding that Barnard College, Columbia University and Teachers College are independent but affiliated institutions. Things haven’t gotten much better; in its latest report, Path to Teach, NCTQ has a listing for Columbia University, and for Barnard, but not for Teachers College—even though Columbia has no graduate programs in teacher education. “And look at your program, Bill!” I exclaimed. Related: The trouble with NCTQ’s ratings of teacher-prep programs One of the dimensions on which NCTQ rates undergraduate and graduate teacher education programs is their attention to content knowledge. “Will I learn enough about the subject areas I will teach?” is the question that the Path to Teach website asks. For social studies in particular, “Will I learn what I need to be a great social studies teacher?” “There are no required content-knowledge courses in the social studies Ed.M. program at Boston University, nor in the streamlined 14-credit program for those TFA corps members who want state licensure only.” Bill’s program got an F—“This program will not require you to take courses that ensure you get the knowledge you need in history, economics and government.” “Oh, good!” Bill replied. “We’ve got the lowest grade in the College!” (The secondary education programs in math, English and science all got As.) “You do actually require students to learn something about history, economics and government, don’t you?” I asked. Bill nodded yes. Related: Want to be rated ‘highly effective’ in New York? Don’t teach English or math in grades 4-8 The state of New York requires social studies teachers in grades 7-12 to have completed at least 30 undergraduate credits in social studies, including at least 21 in history, and at least one course in economics and one course in civics or political science. If a student enrolls without having met these requirements, he or she must complete this coursework in addition to the other coursework required for graduation from Teachers College before the College can recommend the student for initial state certification. “… how can NCTQ know that the students have the requisite content knowledge? TFA’s website and application materials provide no purchase on corps members’ subject-matter knowledge.” All of this is on the Teachers College website, and the state’s certification requirements are not exactly a secret. What was NCTQ thinking? Maybe they were thinking that graduate programs in social studies education mainly consist of a bunch of methods courses that have nothing to do with subject-matter knowledge. That’s true of the Teach For America track in Boston University’s secondary social studies teacher preparation program. Most TFA corps members seeking Massachusetts state certification enroll in a 36-credit master’s degree, which includes courses such as Teaching English Language Learners; General Methods of Instruction; Curriculum and Special Methods for History and Social Science, 5-12; and Special Education: Curriculum and Instruction. Important classes for prospective teachers, to be sure, but not concerned with basic knowledge of history, geography, economics or government. There are no required content-knowledge courses in the social studies Ed.M. program at Boston University, nor in the streamlined 14-credit program for those TFA corps members who want state licensure only. Related: Did Arne Duncan bring American education, ‘kicking and screaming,’ into the 21st century? NCTQ also rated the Teach For America program in Massachusetts, giving it an overall A grade for alternate secondary certification. As was true for Teachers College, there’s a rating for content knowledge. “Will the program make sure I know enough about the subject areas I plan to teach?” the Path to Teach website asks. Why, yes! “This program will verify that you have enough knowledge of your subject areas to teach them well.” All of these subject areas collectively are given an A grade. But how can NCTQ know that the students have the requisite content knowledge? TFA’s website and application materials provide no purchase on corps members’ subject-matter knowledge. So: The social studies education program at Teachers College, one of the nation’s most well-known graduate schools of education, with clear curricular content requirements, is given a failing grade by NCTQ. An alternative teacher preparation program, Teach For America Massachusetts, with no documented curricular content requirements for any subject area, is given an A. It’s as if there’s a political agenda. This story was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news website focused on inequality and innovation in education. Read more about high school reform.

2013 was an eventful year for the Atlanta Hawks filled with pleny of ups and downs. We saw the Atlanta careers of Josh Smith, Zaza Pachulia and Larry Drew come to an end while Danny Ferry took hold in shaping this team for the future. Injuries and a six-game playoff loss to the Indiana Pacers were low points but an intriguing offseason and a belief in Ferry and new head coach Mike Budenholzer are reasons for optimism. Below is my attempt at assembling the Top 10 storylines surrounding the Atlanta Hawks for 2013. 10. Hawks fall in six games to the Indiana Pacers in the 2013 NBA Playoffs Atlanta made the playoffs for the sixth consecutive season with a 44-38 record and faced the 3rd seeded Indiana Pacers who went 49-32. The Pacers took Game 1 and 2 in Indiana but the Hawks held serve at home taking Games 3 and 4 at Philips Arena. Indiana took a 3-2 lead in the series with a win in Game 5 and closed the Hawks out at Philips Arena in Game 6. 9. Steve Holman reaches 2,000 consecutive games milestone Legendary Hawks broadcaster Steve Holman reached a milestone when he called his 2,000th consecutive game in a Hawks win over the Brooklyn Nets on January 16, 2013. The streak is now up to 2,082 consecutive games and thankfully there are no signs of it ending anytime soon. 8. Hawks select Lucas Nogueira, Dennis Schröder in 2013 NBA Draft Atlanta went for potential in the 2013 NBA draft selecting Lucas Nogueira and Dennis Schröder with a pair of first-round picks and Bucknell standout Mike Muscala in the second round. All three took part in the Vegas Summer League where Schröder drew rave reviews. The Hawks opted not to sign Nogueira or Muscala for the 2013 season and both headed to Spain to play in the Liga Endesa. Muscala has played well and is leading the Liga Endesa in rebounding as a rookie. Nogueira has suffered through an injury filled campaign and recently left Estudiantes to seek treatment on his knees which was later diagnosed as a severe case of tendinitis. Schröder opened the season as the backup point guard behind Jeff Teague. He received a one-game suspension from the NBA for a low blow he delivered to DeMarcus Cousins in a win over the Kings. He struggled after returning from suspension and eventually lost his spot in the rotation to Shelvin Mack. Schröder has spent a little time in the D-League and appears to be working his way back into some playing time of late. 7. Zaza Pachulia signs with the Milwaukee Bucks Fan favorite Zaza Pachulia's eight-year stint with the Atlanta Hawks ended over the summer when he agreed to a three-year deal with the Milwaukee Bucks worth $16 million. Pachulia joined former head coach Larry Drew in Milwaukee. It was a good deal for Pachulia who was coming off of Achilles surgery. He was universally loved by the Atlanta fans and we enlisted Drew to remind everyone that "There is first love and there is Zaza Pachulia love." 6. Kyle Korver re-signs with Hawks, extends three-point streak to 101 games Kyle Korver drew interest around the league but eventually decided to stay in Atlanta agreeing to a four-year deal worth $24 million. Korver set an NBA record when he hit a three in his 90th straight game passing Dana Barros for the all-time mark. After a couple of close calls, the streak currently stands at 101 games heading into 2014. 5. Hawks match Bucks' offer sheet for Jeff Teague For a moment, it looked like Jeff Teague's tenure in Atlanta would also come to an end. The Hawks eventually matched a four-year offer sheet that Teague had signed with the Milwaukee Bucks, bringing him back to Atlanta. With another year under his belt and the added security of a long-term deal, Teague has thrived in MIke Budenholzer's offense and is currently averaging a career-high in points and assists. 4. Hawks sign Paul Millsap in free agency The first big move the Atlanta Hawks made in free agency was signing former Utah forward Paul Millsap to a two year deal worth $19 million. That signing is quite possibly the best value signing of any this summer. Millsap has been nothing short of wonderful for the Hawks and has fit in seamlessly with the team and new head coach Mike Budenholzer. For the season, Millsap is averaging 17.9 points and 8.6 rebounds while shooting 49 percent from the field. He has stepped up big time in the three games since Al Horford was lost to injury averaging 28 points and just under 12 rebounds a game. Millsap has even added a three-point shot to his repertoire this season shooting 43 percent. A power forward who shows up everyday, plays hard and can step out and actually hit a three? Sign me up. 3. Josh Smith signs with the Detroit Pistons Only Michael Vick has had more of a tumultuous relationship with Atlanta fans than that of Josh Smith. Josh's nine-year career with the Hawks ended over the summer when he signed a four-year, $56 million deal with the Detroit Pistons. The Hawks elected to keep Smith at the trade deadline when no deal could be had that didn't force Atlanta to take on future salary commitments. Smith has had a tough season to date with the Pistons. He is averaging just over 15 points a game while shooting just 40 percent from the field. He has had a series of dustups with Pistons head coach Maurice Cheeks the latest being over a perceived "lack of effort" that led to a second-half benching. 2. Al Horford suffers season-ending injury The biggest storyline of the current season came on the day after Christmas when Al Horford was injured while reaching for a steal in a double overtime win over the Cleveland Cavaliers. Tests eventually revealed that Horford had suffered a torn pectoral muscle for the second time in three seasons. Horford had surgery to repair the injury on Tuesday and has been declared out for the remainder of the season. Atlanta has gone 2-1 since Horford's injury thanks in large part to big performances from Paul Millsap. Make no mistake that the loss of Horford is huge and one that is going to leave a big hole that the Hawks aren't likely to fill. 1. Hawks hire Mike Budenholzer to replace Larry Drew Atlanta's hiring of Mike Budenholzer as head coach to replace Larry Drew officially signaled the beginning of a new era for the Hawks. Danny Ferry's first year as the team's GM was spent clearing out pieces from the Rick Sund led era and the hiring of Budenholzer was the first move made with an eye towards the team's future. Budenholzer hasn't disappointed early. Atlanta's offense has been a thing of beauty and the team is currently near the top of the league in assists. Budenholzer wants a team that plays basketball the right way and that is what the Hawks have done since his arrival. He has preached competitiveness since becoming head coach and his team showed that trait well in Tuesday's win over the Boston Celtics where they fought all the way to the end. The Hawks will need that edge for the remainder of the season due to the loss of Al Horford. I wrote before the season started that the hiring of Budenholzer was the most important move of the offseason and I have seen nothing to make me feel otherwise. This coaching staff is a championship level staff. The offensive and defensive systems are championship level. Now its time to raise the talent level to a championship level. Others stories deserving mention When you do a list like this it's tough to figure out what should be in there and what should be left out. Things like Larry Drew leaving for Milwaukee or Lou Williams' ACL injury and subsequent return to the court come to mind. Ivan Johnson leaving the NBA for China most certainly deserves mention. There was also the ridiculous tampering charge that local Atlanta media helped fuel into a national headline. That charge remains the single the dumbest thing that I saw in 2013. The only reason it didn't make the Top 10 was that it has gotten more mention than it deserved already. If I missed anything then please mention it in the comments. Happy New Year! It's been a busy year for the Atlanta Hawks and it has been a great year here at Peachtree Hoops. I'd like to take a moment and wish all of my colleagues a Happy New Year but most of all everyone that has taken the time to read this site and comment on the articles. Here's to hoping that 2014 is every bit as entertaining.

The 2008 Democratic presidential primaries were the selection processes by which voters of the Democratic Party chose its nominee for President of the United States in the 2008 U.S. presidential election. Senator Barack Obama of Illinois was selected as the nominee, becoming the first African-American to secure the presidential nomination of any major political party in the United States. However, due to a close race between Obama and Senator Hillary Clinton of New York, the contest remained competitive for longer than expected, and neither candidate received enough pledged delegates from state primaries and caucuses to achieve a majority, without endorsements from unpledged delegates (superdelegates). The presidential primaries actually consisted of both primary elections and caucuses, depending upon what the individual state chose. The goal of the process was to elect the majority of the 4,233 delegates to the 2008 Democratic National Convention, which was held from Sunday, August 25, through Wednesday, August 28, 2008, in Denver, Colorado. To secure the nomination, a candidate needed to receive at least 2,117 votes at the convention—or a simple majority of the 4,233 delegate votes. This total included half-votes from American Samoa, Guam, the United States Virgin Islands, and Democrats Abroad, as well as 'superdelegates' - party leaders and elected officials who were not chosen through a primary or caucus. The race was further complicated by a controversy over the scheduling of the Michigan and Florida state primaries, which had been scheduled earlier than party rules permitted, affecting the number of delegates that those states sent to the national convention. The popular vote tally from most news organizations did not include Iowa, Maine, Nevada, and Washington. These states did not release the results of the popular vote from their caucuses. The media reports did include Florida, which neither Clinton nor Obama contested, and Michigan. Both states were penalized by the Democratic National Committee (DNC) for violating party rules. Michigan proved a source of controversy due to the change in the date of the primary election. Consequently, Obama and other nominees removed their names from the ballot yet Clinton did not. The DNC did not count the popular vote from Michigan, and evenly split the states delegates between Clinton and Obama. As a result, without the Michigan vote, Obama won the popular vote; whereas with the votes from Michigan, Clinton won the popular vote.[3] Nevertheless, regardless of how votes were counted, the candidates' totals were within less than one percent of each other.[4] Obama received enough superdelegate endorsements on June 3 to claim that he had secured the simple majority of delegates necessary to win the nomination, and Clinton conceded the nomination four days later.[5][6] Obama was nominated on the first ballot, at the August convention. He went on to win the general election, and became the 44th President of the United States on January 20, 2009. Clinton went on to serve as Obama's Secretary of State for his first term as president, and the Democratic nominee for president in 2016. Notes for the following table: Delegate counts: The pledged delegate estimates come from the sum of the Current estimate columns for the states listed in the Chronicle section later in this article The source for superdelegate estimates is the 2008 Democratic Convention Watch blog. Superdelegate endorsements were frozen on June 7, the date of Clinton's concession speech. [7] Ordering: The candidates are ordered by pledged delegate count and then alphabetically by last name To re-sort this table, click on the double-arrow symbol ( ) at the top of a column Delegate system [ edit ] Delegates are the people who decided the nomination at the Democratic National Convention. Delegates from fifty US states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico had a single vote each, while delegates from American Samoa, the Virgin Islands, Guam and Democrats Abroad, as well as the states of Florida and Michigan, which contravened the schedule, had half a vote each. Thus, the total number of delegates was slightly higher than the total number of available delegate votes (4,049).[11] This is now updated to 4,233 with FL-MI delegations. Pledged delegates [ edit ] In the modern presidential primary system, candidates for the nomination campaign in a series of primary elections and caucus events. For the Democratic Party, the results from these primaries and caucuses determine the number of pledged delegates committed to vote for each candidate at the Democratic National Convention, intended to reflect the will of the voters. These delegates are not legally bound to vote for the candidate they represent, but candidates may remove delegates whom they feel may be disloyal, and delegates generally vote as pledged.[12] Under the party's Delegate Selection Rules for the 2008 Democratic National Convention, delegates were allocated to each of the fifty U.S. states according to two main criteria: the proportion of votes each state had given to the Democratic candidate in the previous three presidential elections, and the percentage of votes each state had in the United States Electoral College. In addition, fixed numbers of delegates were allocated to the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Democrats Abroad.[13] In 2008, a total of 3,253 pledged delegate votes would be awarded through the primaries and caucuses. Superdelegates [ edit ] Superdelegate votes are given equal weight to the votes of pledged delegates. Superdelegates are members of the United States House of Representatives and Senate, state and territorial governors, members of the Democratic National Committee, distinguished party leaders, and add-on delegates selected by the state parties. They represented almost 20 percent of the total 4,233 delegates. The number and composition of superdelegates had the potential to change right up to the start of the Democratic National Convention. The total number of superdelegate votes at the start of the primary season in October 2007 stood at 850. Various events such as deaths, elections, and disqualifications may alter the final number of superdelegates voting in the primary. While officially uncommitted until the convention, the superdelegates may publicly endorse or commit to a candidate at any time. The presidential candidates compete heavily for these commitments. News organizations survey the superdelegates periodically throughout the election season and try to calculate how many have committed to each of the candidates. The media often include these superdelegate estimates in their reporting on the race, leading to differing delegate counts from various news sources. Delegate selection rules [ edit ] Washington Democrats meet in the legislative district caucuses. Under the Democratic Party's Delegate Selection Rules for the 2008 Democratic National Convention,[13] delegates are awarded by proportional representation, with a minimum 15 percent threshold required to receive delegates. Each state party is required to publish its own state level delegate selection plan, indicating how the state will select delegates at the congressional and statewide level, how the delegation will implement the party's affirmative action policy, and how the delegation will ensure an equal balance between women and men. Those plans were adopted at state conventions and forwarded to the national party in mid-2007. In most state caucuses, the viability threshold must be met at each level in the process, from the precinct level upwards. This puts enormous pressure on the remaining candidates to gain the support of voters whose chosen candidates fall below the 15 percent mark.[14] The focus on viability is designed to weed out small, divisive factions from gaining delegates to disrupt the national convention. However, this can result in candidates gaining viability in some precincts but not in others, and a complicated "caucus math" is required to allocate delegates to the county and state conventions for each precinct.[15] In the primaries, the viability threshold is set based on statewide and congressional district votes. At-large and PLEO (Party Leaders and Elected Officials) delegates are allocated based on statewide votes, while district-level delegates are allocated by district votes.[13] Reporting delegate totals [ edit ] There is no easy answer to the question, What's the current count? while the primaries are ongoing. Each of the major news organizations keeps a count of delegate votes, while the campaigns keep their own numbers. Rarely do these totals coincide. Some online sources use an aggregate of sources, leading to even more confusion in delegate vote totals. The actual result may not be known until the votes are cast at the Democratic National Convention. There are several reasons for this discrepancy. First, some news sources include only pledged delegates in their total count, while others include superdelegates. Second, estimates of superdelegate votes are unreliable and are subject to change. Third, pledged delegates in many states are selected at county or state conventions late in the process; thus, the initial primary and caucus results provide only a projection of pledged delegates, highlighted by the discrepancies with the Iowa county convention results. Fourth, in the days after an election, results in individual precincts may be delayed, and news organizations may project the winners of those precincts based on statistical analysis or may wait for confirmed results. The Democratic nominating process is a complex system that has evolved over time, and in close races, it can be difficult under the current system to know who is leading in the delegate count.[16] Campaign [ edit ] Notes for the tables in this section: Votes to the Convention column: The source for delegation sizes is the Democratic National Committee's official Call for the 2008 Democratic National Convention . [17] Specific sources are present for Florida and Michigan. Very recent changes not already in the official source are indicated by the footnotes. column: Pledged Delegate Votes Estimate column: The source is each state's primary or caucus article. Click on the Specific Election (link) column to see the sources used in those articles. The candidate with the highest pledged delegate vote is highlighted. In some cases, this may be different from the winner of the popular vote. column: Early campaigning [ edit ] Mike Gravel at the launch of his Presidential campaign in April 2006 The earliest significant candidate to launch their candidacy was Mike Gravel in April 2006 However, for the most part, the race for the 2008 presidential nomination did not truly begin in earnest until after the 2006 midterm elections. Between November 2006 and February 2007, eight major candidates opened their campaigns: Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, Chris Dodd, John Edwards, Dennis Kucinich, Barack Obama, Bill Richardson, and Tom Vilsack. Potential candidates John Kerry, Al Gore, Russ Feingold, Evan Bayh, Tom Daschle, Wesley Clark, Mark Warner, and Al Sharpton reportedly considered running but ultimately declined to seek the nomination. Vilsack dropped out in February 2007. During the first three months of 2007, Clinton and Obama raised over $20 million each, while Edwards raised more than $12 million.[18] The three candidates quickly became the frontrunners for the nomination,[19] a status they held all the way through the end of 2007. On November 21, Obama announced that Oprah Winfrey would be campaigning for him in the early primary states,[20] setting off speculation that, although celebrity endorsements typically have little effect on voter opinions, Winfrey's participation would supply Obama with a large, receptive audience.[21] As word spread that Oprah's first appearance would be in Iowa, polls released in early December revealed that Obama had taken the lead in that decisive state.[22] Then, on December 8, Oprah kicked off a three-state tour supporting Obama's campaign,[23] where she drew record-setting crowds in Iowa, New Hampshire,[24] and South Carolina, and was described as "more cogent, more effective, more convincing" than anyone on the campaign trail.[25][26] The Oprah-Obama tour dominated political news headlines[27] and cast doubts over Clinton's ability to recover her recently-lost lead in Iowa caucus polls.[28] A poll released less than two weeks after Winfrey campaigned found that Obama had achieved more popularity in Iowa than ever recorded before.[29] Two economists later estimated that Winfrey's endorsement added over one million votes to Obama's total in the Democratic primaries, and that without it, Clinton would have received more votes.[30] At year's end, on December 31, Clinton held a substantial lead in superdelegates, and she was leading in the national polls with 42% of likely voters, over Obama with 23%, and Edwards with 16%.[31] However, Edwards and Obama remained close in state polls for the early contests, including the Iowa caucuses, where the final polling average had Obama leading narrowly by 31%, over Clinton by 30%, Edwards by 26%, Biden by 5%, and Richardson also by 5%.[32] January 2008 [ edit ] Following tradition, the 2008 primary calendar began with the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary. The Nevada caucuses and the South Carolina primary were the third and fourth contests sanctioned by the Democratic National Committee. Under the national committee's rules, no state was allowed to hold primaries or caucuses before February 5 with the exceptions of these four states.[33] Michigan and Florida also held early primaries. However, as the contests were unsanctioned, the results were not recognized by the national committee until a compromise was reached four months later.[34] The following table shows the pledged delegate votes awarded in the first four contests recognized by the DNC. Details Delegate votes to the convention Pledged delegate vote count[35] Election result Change notes Current estimate Date Election link Pledged Super Total Obama Clinton Edwards Obama Clinton Edwards January 3 Iowa caucuses 45 12 57 16 15 14 [36][37] 28 14 3 January 8 New Hampshire primary 22 8 30 9 9 4 [38] 13 9 0 January 19 Nevada caucuses 25 9 34 13 12 0 [39] 14 11 0 January 26 South Carolina primary 45 9 54 25 12 8 [40] 33 12 0 - Total 137 38 175 63 48 26 88 46 3 January Election Results Results of New Hampshire's primary Results of Nevada's caucus Results of Iowa's caucus Results of South Carolina's primary Obama won the Iowa caucuses with 38% of the vote, over Edwards by 30% and Clinton by 29%. His victory brought him to national prominence as many voters tuned into the race for the first time. In a speech given that evening, he defined the word "change" as the primary theme of his campaign and said, "On this January night, at this defining moment in history, you have done what the cynics said we couldn't do."[41] The delegate count was virtually tied, but Clinton's surprising third-place finish in the popular vote damaged her image as being the "inevitable" nominee.[42] However, she remained upbeat, saying "This race begins tonight and ends when Democrats throughout America have their say. Our campaign was built for a marathon."[42] The following day, reports described "panic" among some Clinton donors,[43] and rumors of a staff shake-up began to circulate.[44] Biden and Dodd both withdrew from the race. John Edwards greets a crowd in New Hampshire. After Obama's upset win in the Iowa caucuses, it appeared to many political observers that he would ride a wave of momentum through the New Hampshire primary and then go on to win the Democratic nomination. Eulogies were published on the Clinton campaign,[45] as Obama surged to a roughly 10-point lead in the New Hampshire polls.[46] However, the race turned quickly in the days before the primary, and the polls were slow to register a reversal toward Clinton. At the Saint Anselm College New Hampshire debate on January 5, 2008, Edwards sided with Obama against Clinton.[47] In one noted exchange, Edwards said that Clinton could not bring about change, while he and Obama could, saying "Any time you speak out powerfully for change, the forces for status quo attack." Clinton passionately retorted, saying, "Making change is not about what you believe; it's not about a speech you make. It's about working hard. I'm not just running on a promise for change. I'm running on 35 years of change. What we need is somebody who can deliver change. We don't need to be raising false hopes."[48] It came to be seen as the defining statement for her candidacy. The morning before the primary, Clinton became "visibly emotional" in response to a friendly question from a voter.[49] Video of the moment was replayed on cable news television throughout the day, accompanied by pundit commentary that ranged from sympathetic to callous in tone. Voters rallied to Clinton's defense, and she won a surprising 3% victory over Obama in the popular vote. They tied in the delegate count. Richardson withdrew from the race on January 10. Momentum shifted in Clinton's favor, and she won the popular vote in the Nevada caucuses eleven days later, despite Obama's endorsement from the influential Culinary Workers Union. However, Obama ran strongly in rural areas throughout the state, and he beat Clinton in the delegate count. Edwards's support collapsed in Nevada, as voters coalesced around the two apparent frontrunners. Dennis Kucinich withdrew from the race. In the following week, issues regarding race came to the fore as campaigning began for the South Carolina primary, the first to feature a large proportion of African Americans in the Democratic electorate. Behind in the state polls, Clinton left to campaign in some Super Tuesday states,[50] while her husband, former president Bill Clinton, stayed in South Carolina and engaged in a series of exchanges with Obama.[51] CBS News reported, "By injecting himself into the Democratic primary campaign with a series of inflammatory and negative statements, Bill Clinton may have helped his wife's presidential hopes in the long term but at the cost of his reputation with a group of voters [African Americans] that have long been one of his strongest bases of political support."[52] Obama won by a more than two-to-one margin over Clinton, gaining 55% of the vote to her 27% and Edwards's 18%.[53] On the day of the primary, Bill Clinton compared Obama's expected win to Jesse Jackson's victory in the 1988 South Carolina Democratic primary. His comments were widely criticized as an apparent attempt to dismiss the primary results and marginalize Obama by implying that he was "the black candidate."[54] The momentum generated by Obama's larger-than-expected win in South Carolina was deflated somewhat by the win Clinton claimed in the nullified Florida primary the following week. Edwards suspended his candidacy on January 30. He did not immediately endorse either Clinton or Obama, but he said they both had pledged to carry forward his central campaign theme of ending poverty in America. Neither Clinton nor Obama had a clear advantage heading into the February 5 Super Tuesday primaries, with 23 states and territories and 1,681 delegates at stake and more media attention than any primary election day in American history. Disputed primaries [ edit ] In August 2006, the Democratic National Committee adopted a proposal by its Rules and Bylaws Committee stating that only the four states of Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina would be permitted to hold primaries or caucuses before February 5, 2008.[55] In May 2007, the Florida Legislature passed a bill that moved the date of the state's primary to January 29, 2008, setting up a confrontation with the DNC.[56] In response, the DNC ruled that Florida's 185 pledged delegates and 26 superdelegates would not be seated at the Democratic National Convention, or, if seated, would not be able to vote.[57] In October 2007, Democrats from Florida's congressional delegation filed a federal lawsuit against the DNC to force a recognition of its delegates, but the suit was unsuccessful.[55][58] The presidential candidates promised not to campaign in Florida. Meanwhile, Michigan moved its primary to January 15, 2008, also in violation of party rules. In October 2007, Obama, Richardson, Biden, and Edwards withdrew their names from the Michigan primary ballot, under pressure from the DNC and voters in Iowa and New Hampshire.[59] Kucinich unsuccessfully sought to remove his name from the ballot,[60] whereas Clinton and Dodd opted to remain on the ballot.[61] In December 2007, the DNC ruled that Michigan's 128 pledged delegates and 29 superdelegates would not count in the nominating contest unless it were held on a later date.[62] The Michigan Democratic party responded with a press release noting that the primary would proceed with Clinton, Dodd, Gravel, and Kucinich on the ballot. Supporters of Biden, Edwards, Richardson, and Obama were urged to vote "uncommitted" instead of writing in their candidates' names because write-in votes for those candidates would not be counted.[63] None of the top candidates campaigned in Florida or Michigan. The events were described in the media as "beauty contests,"[64] and voter turnout in both states was relatively low when compared with record-high turnout in other states.[65] Nevertheless, Clinton claimed wins in Florida and Michigan, and she flew to Fort Lauderdale on the night of the Florida election to thank supporters for what she called a "tremendous victory."[66] As the primaries continued, various groups tried to negotiate a resolution to the standoff between the DNC and the state parties. The Clinton campaign advocated first for the results to stand and then for a new round of voting to take place in Michigan and Florida, while the Obama campaign deferred the matter to the DNC, while expressing a wish that the delegations be seated in some form.[67] On all sides, Democrats worried that a failure to resolve the problem could lead to a rules or credential fight at the convention and low Democratic turnout in the general election in November.[64] On May 31, 2008, the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee[68][69] voted unanimously (27-0) to restore half-votes to all the Florida delegates, including superdelegates. The Michigan delegates were also given half-votes, with 69 delegates pledged to Hillary Clinton and 59 to Barack Obama; this proposed change passing by 19-8.[70][71] Details Restored votes to the convention[70][71] Pledged delegate vote count[35] Awarded by the DNC Change notes Current estimate Date Election link Pledged Super Total Obama Clinton Edwards Obama Clinton Edwards January 15 Michigan primary 128 29[72] 157 59 69 0 59 69 0 January 29 Florida primary 185 26[73] 211 67 105 13 [37] 67 105 13 - Total 313 55 368 126 174 13 126 174 13 - To date 448 93 543 189 222 39 214 220 16 Super Tuesday [ edit ] Staffers make phone calls to voters from Clinton's national campaign headquarters. Traditionally, the Tuesday on which the greatest number of states hold primary elections is known as Super Tuesday. In 2007, many states moved their primaries or caucuses to early in the year so they could have greater influence over the race. As February 5 was the earliest date to be allowed by the Democratic National Committee, 23 states and territories moved their elections to that date. 2008's Super Tuesday became the date of the nation's first quasi-national primary. It was dubbed "Super Duper Tuesday"[74] or "Tsunami Tuesday,"[75] among other names. After Obama's win in the South Carolina primaries on January 26, he received high-profile endorsements from Caroline Kennedy, daughter of former President John F. Kennedy,[76] as well as Senator Ted Kennedy, the former President's brother.[77] Ted Kennedy's endorsement was considered "the biggest Democratic endorsement [that] Obama could possibly get short of Bill Clinton or Al Gore."[78] On January 31, Obama and Clinton met for the first time in a one-on-one debate, and they struck a friendly tone, seeking to put the racially charged comments of the previous week behind them.[79][not in citation given] Obama surged nationally in the polls and held campaign rallies that drew audiences of over 15,000 people in several states.[80] A total of 1,681 pledged delegate votes were at stake in the states that voted on February 5. The following table shows the pledged delegate votes awarded in the Super Tuesday states. On election night, both Obama and Clinton claimed victories. In the popular vote, Obama won 13 states and territories to Clinton's 10. This included the states of Idaho and Georgia, where Obama won by very wide margins. His wins in Connecticut and Missouri were considered upsets. However, Clinton won the large electoral prizes of California and Massachusetts, where some analysts had expected the Kennedy endorsements might carry Obama to the victory. Although Obama gained significant ground from where he was polling in mid-January, it was not enough to close the gap in those states. In exit polls, Obama gained some overwhelming support of African American voters, and he strengthened his base among college-educated voters and voters younger than the age of 45. Clinton found significant support among white women, Latinos, and voters over age 65. Obama ran strongest in caucus states, Rocky Mountain states, Southern states and Midwestern states. Clinton ran strongest in the Northeastern states, Southwestern states, and states bordering Arkansas, where she served as first lady while her husband served as that state's governor. When the delegate counting was finished, Obama won an estimated 847 pledged delegates to Clinton's 834. Early in the primary season, many observers had predicted that the nomination would be over after Super Tuesday, but the general verdict on election night was that the candidates had drawn to a virtual tie and that the race for the Democratic presidential nomination would not likely be settled for at least a month.[83] Mid-February contests [ edit ] In the following week, it became clear that a tie on Super Tuesday would leave Obama better positioned for the upcoming contests in February, where the demographics of several large states seemed to favor him.[84] The day after Super Tuesday, February 6, Clinton announced that she had personally lent her campaign $5 million in January.[83] The news came as a surprise and set off another round of news stories about Clinton donors and supporters concerned about the campaign's strategy. It was particularly striking in light of Obama's announcement that he had raised a record-high $32 million in January, tapping 170,000 new contributors.[85] It became clear that Obama's financial advantage had allowed him to organize and compete in some broader states on Super Tuesday, an advantage that was likely to continue in the upcoming months and weeks. In response, Clinton's supporters raised $6 million online in 36 hours, but Obama's campaign upped the ante, announcing their own total of $7.5 million in 36 hours and starting a new goal of reaching 500,000 new contributors in 2008 by late February.[86] An Obama rally in Seattle, Washington, draws 18,000 people. As expected, Obama swept the three nominating events on February 9, which were thought to favor him based on the results in similar states that had voted previously. He then scored a convincing win in Maine, where Clinton had hoped to hold her ground.[92] The same day, Clinton's campaign announced that campaign advisor Patti Solis Doyle would resign. Obama's momentum carried throughout the following week, as he scored large delegate gains in the Potomac Primaries, taking the lead in the nationwide popular vote, even under the projection most favorable to Clinton, with Florida and Michigan included. NBC News declared him "Mr. Frontrunner" on February 13.[93] Clinton attempted a comeback win in the demographically more favorable state of Wisconsin, but Obama won again by a larger margin than expected. In 11 days, he swept 11 contests and extended his pledged delegate lead by 120. By the end of the month, Obama had 1,192 pledged delegates to Clinton's 1,035. He also began closing the gap in superdelegates, although Clinton still led among superdelegates by 240-191. Clinton's campaign tried to downplay the results of the February contests, and the candidate refused to acknowledge the losses in her speeches on election nights.[citation needed] Her advisers acknowledged that she would need big wins in the upcoming states to turn the race around. March [ edit ] With four states and 370 delegates at stake, March 4 was dubbed "Mini-Super Tuesday" or "Super Tuesday II". Just as Obama had been favored in the mid-February states, Clinton was favored in Ohio, with its high proportion of working-class white voters and older voters, and Texas, with its high proportion of Latino voters. Exit polls in previous states showed that all three groups were a part of Clinton's base. In mid-February, Clinton held a 10-point lead in Texas and a 20-point lead in Ohio in RealClearPolitics polling averages.[94] Her campaign set its sights on the Ohio-Texas "firewall," counting on a clear March 4 win to change the narrative and turn her campaign around for the nomination. Meanwhile, Obama hoped to win one or both states that might be enough to knock Clinton out of the race. By February 25, according to a CNN poll, they were in a statistical dead heat in Texas.[95] Clinton campaigns in Lorain, Ohio. In the last week of February, Clinton's campaign seemed to be back on its feet. A Saturday Night Live sketch mocked the media for its supposedly biased coverage in favor of Obama, and Clinton used the sketch to argue that Obama had not received proper scrutiny. The media responded by taking a more critical look at Obama's campaign.[96] Meanwhile, Obama supporter and former fundraiser Tony Rezko went on trial in a political corruption case in Chicago. While Obama was not implicated, questions remained about how forthcoming he had been about his relationship with Rezko.[96] Controversy also erupted when it was reported in the Canadian press that Obama economic advisor Austan Goolsbee had privately offered assurances that Obama's anti-North American Free Trade Agreement rhetoric on the campaign trail was exaggerated. Obama's campaign denied the substance of the report, but their response was muddled by a series of missteps and may have hurt the candidate's standing with Ohio voters.[97] Clinton launched a five-point attack on Obama's qualifications, "unleashing what one Clinton aide called a 'kitchen sink' fusillade," according to The New York Times.[98] Perhaps the most damaging component was a campaign ad that aired in Texas, using the imagery of the White House "red phone" to suggest that Obama would not be prepared to handle a crisis as commander-in-chief when a phone call comes into the White House at 3 a.m. The ad drew significant media attention in the four days before the election.[99] In the general-election campaign, McCain used parts of the ad against Obama.[100] Details Delegate votes to the convention Pledged delegate vote count[35] Election result Change notes Current estimate Date Election link Pledged Super Total Obama Clinton Obama Clinton March 4 Ohio primary 141 21 162 67 74 67 74 Rhode Island primary 21 12 33 8 13 8 13 Texas primary[101] 126 35 228 61 65 61 65 Texas caucuses[101] 67 38 29 38 29 Vermont primary 15 8 23 9 6 9 6 March 8 Wyoming caucuses 12 6 18 7 5 7 5 March 11 Mississippi primary 33 8 41 20 13 20 13 - Total 415 90 505 210 205 210 205 - To date 2,998 725 3,725 1,533½ 1,427½ 1,562½ 1,421½ On election night, Clinton scored convincing wins in Ohio and Rhode Island. She narrowly won the Texas primary, while losing the Texas caucus. She pitched her wins that night as a comeback: "For everyone here in Ohio and across America who's ever been counted out but refused to be knocked out, and for everyone who has stumbled but stood right back up, and for everyone who works hard and never gives up, this one is for you."[103] Obama focused on the "delegate math." He won the total delegate count in Texas, and he stayed close to Clinton on the delegate count in Ohio. "No matter what happens tonight," he said, "we have nearly the same delegate lead that we did this morning, and we are on our way to winning this nomination."[104] In fact, March 4 was the first election day in which Clinton won more delegates than Obama (though the Florida and Michigan primaries would later be honored by seating half of the states' delegations). After winning contests in Wyoming and Mississippi the following week, Obama erased Clinton's March 4 gains. On March 15, he increased his lead by 10 delegates at the Iowa county conventions, when former supporters of withdrawn candidates switched their support to him. After the March contests, the Democratic race entered a six-week period with no upcoming contests until April 22. As the campaigns settled in for the long haul, advisors for both candidates escalated their rhetoric and stepped up attacks in their daily conference calls. News reports described the tenor as increasingly "rancorous" and "vitriolic."[105] On March 14, clips of controversial sermons from Obama's former pastor, Jeremiah Wright, resurfaced on YouTube and received heavy airtime on cable news television. Among other things, Wright said, "God damn America for treating our citizens as less than human. God damn America for as long as she acts like she is God and she is supreme." Four days later, Obama responded to the controversy in a 37-minute speech, speaking openly about race and religion in the United States. He denounced Wright's remarks while refusing to condemn the pastor himself, and he attempted to pivot from the immediate circumstances to address the larger theme of "A More Perfect Union." The speech was regarded as "breathtakingly unconventional" in its political strategy and tone,[106] and it received generally positive reviews in the press. The New York Times weighed in with an editorial: "Senator Barack Obama, who has not faced such tests of character this year, faced one on Tuesday. It is hard to imagine how he could have handled it better."[107] Ten days later, the speech had been watched at least 3.4 million times on YouTube.[108] On March 21, former primary candidate Bill Richardson, who has previously held important posts in the Clinton Administration, endorsed Barack Obama, a move that drew intense criticism from Clinton allies, including James Carville's Eastertime comparison of Richardson with Judas Iscariot.[109] On March 25, Mike Gravel announced that he would leave the Democrats and join the Libertarian Party, entering the race for the 2008 Libertarian presidential nomination the following day.[110] April and beyond [ edit ] [111] On May 18, Obama speaks to a crowd of 75,000 in Portland, Oregon. As the race continued to Pennsylvania, Indiana, and North Carolina, many observers concluded that Clinton had little chance to overcome Obama's lead in pledged delegates.[112] Even if she were to succeed in changing the dynamics of the race, there would not be enough pledged delegates remaining for her to catch up under most realistic scenarios.[113] Some analysts believed Clinton could still win the nomination by raising doubts about Obama's electability, fighting for Michigan and Florida delegates to be seated at the convention, and convincing superdelegates to support her despite her expected loss in the pledged delegate vote.[114] However, the window of opportunity for re-votes in Michigan and Florida appeared to close in late March,[113] and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, chairwoman of the Democratic National Convention, said that it would be harmful to the party if superdelegates were to overturn the result of the pledged delegate vote.[115] Complicating the equation for Democrats, presidential candidate John McCain clinched the Republican nomination on March 4. With Obama and Clinton engaged in the Democratic primary, McCain was free to define his candidacy for the general election largely unchallenged. Some Democrats expressed concern that Clinton stayed in the campaign through March and April, when they felt she had little chance to win the nomination, but a much greater chance to damage Obama's candidacy in the general election. However, others defended Clinton's right to continue on, arguing that a sustained campaign was good for the Democratic Party and that Clinton still had a realistic shot at the nomination.[116] On April 22, Clinton scored a convincing win in Pennsylvania. However, on May 6, Obama surprised many observers by winning North Carolina by almost 15 percentage points, effectively erasing Clinton's gains in Pennsylvania. Clinton won by only 1 point in Indiana. With Obama now leading by 164 pledged delegates and with only 217 pledged delegates left to be decided in the remaining contests, many pundits declared that the primary was effectively over. Obama gave an election night speech that looked forward to the general election campaign against McCain.[117] The pace of superdelegate endorsements increased. On May 10, Obama's superdelegate total surpassed Clinton's for the first time in the race, making the math increasingly difficult for a Clinton win.[118] Clinton vowed to continue campaigning, and won convincingly in primaries in West Virginia on May 13, and Kentucky on May 20 where Appalachian voters strongly preferred her over Obama. However, Obama was able to clear a victory in Oregon on May 20, which allowed him to clinch the majority of pledged delegates. Obama gave a speech in Des Moines, Iowa, the state that propelled his candidacy, in which he stated, "You have put us within reach of the Democratic nomination for president of the United States of America."[119] Clinton advisers said they would appeal to the DNC's Rules & Bylaws Committee[120][121] to have the Michigan and Florida delegations seated. However, even under the most favorable seating arrangement, she would not have been able to take a lead in pledged delegates and would have had to rely on superdelegates to win the nomination. On May 31, the rules committee accepted the Michigan state party's 69-59 distribution of pledged delegates and restored half votes to Florida's and Michigan's delegations. This resulted in a net gain for Clinton of 24 pledged delegates. Obama remained significantly ahead, with a lead of 137 pledged delegates before the Puerto Rico primary on June 1. On June 3, the day of the final primaries in South Dakota and Montana, Obama rolled out about sixty superdelegate endorsements. Those endorsements, together with the pledged delegates awarded in the final primaries, put him well over the "magic number" of 2,117 delegate votes necessary for a majority at the Democratic National Convention. By early in the evening, all major news organizations had announced that Obama had clinched the Democratic nomination, and Obama claimed the status of presumptive nominee in a speech in St. Paul, Minnesota. Clinton did not concede the nomination in her election night speech, saying that she would be "making no decisions tonight".[122] On the morning of June 5, Clinton posted on her website an open letter to her supporters, which she also sent by e-mail that day. It announced that on Saturday (June 7) Clinton would endorse Obama's candidacy. During a well received concession speech in Washington DC on Saturday June 7 Clinton endorsed Obama in the following terms: "The way to continue our fight now, to accomplish the goals for which we stand is to take our energy, our passion, our strength, and do all we can to help elect Barack Obama, the next president of the United States. Today, as I suspend my campaign, I congratulate him on the victory he has won and the extraordinary race he has run. I endorse him and throw my full support behind him." * Two at-large DNC superdelegate seats are vacant, see: History of superdelegate composition changes. Results [ edit ] Below are the results for the state primaries and caucuses held by the Democratic Party in 2008 for the presidential primaries.[1] [2] Clinton won one territorial contest, Puerto Rico, whilst Obama won Guam, the US Virgin Islands and American Samoa. He also won the District of Columbia. Tie No results N.B: The grey counties in Michigan denote that the counties are uncommitted for either candidate. Voter turnout [ edit ] Democratic primary turnout exceeded Republican turnout in most states through March 4 (when John McCain clinched the Republican nomination). The eight exceptions were Alabama, Alaska, McCain's home state of Arizona, Idaho, Nebraska, Utah, and Florida and Michigan, where the Democratic primaries had been nullified. Voter turnout was at historically high levels in the 2008 primaries and caucuses, with many contests setting all-time records for turnout. Voter turnout on Super Tuesday was at 27% of eligible citizens, breaking the previous record of 25.9% set in 1972.[123] Turnout was higher among Democrats than Republicans, with Democratic turnout surpassing Republican turnout even in traditionally red states where the number of registered Democrats is proportionally low.[124] Many states reported high levels of Democratic voter registration in the weeks before primaries.[125] From January 3 through February 5, Democratic turnout exceeded Republican turnout, 19.1 million to 13.1 million.[126] In the first five weeks of 2008, 'voter turnout' was a phrase that was used almost exclusively in connection with the Democratic Party. There were routine stories of precincts running short on ballots, poll hours being extended, and voters packing haunch to paunch inside community centers and local churches. Crowd sizes were described, often with growing awe, as 'staggering,' 'record breaking,' or 'unprecedented.' Kent Garber, U.S. News & World Report[126] The high Democratic turnout was attributed to several factors:[127] the compressed primary calendar, which gave voters in more states an opportunity to participate in the nomination media interest and voter excitement generated by the first viable African American and female presidential contenders dissatisfaction with Republican presidential candidates the early emergence of John McCain as the presumptive nominee of the Republican Party open primaries in some states, which allowed Republicans and independent voters to participate in Democratic contests dissatisfaction with President George W. Bush and Iraq War policy cyclical party realignment See also [ edit ] Notes [ edit ] a b [1] The [1][2] This figure does not include the states of Iowa, Nevada, Washington, and Maine who did not release popular vote information. The political news and polling data aggregator website RealClearPolitics estimated that the results of the caucuses would have increased Obama's total vote to 17,869,542 and Clinton's to 17,717,698.The Democratic National Committee (DNC) did not recognize primary results in Michigan, due to the state moving the date of their primary to January. Due to the lack of DNC recognition, Obama and several other candidates withdrew their names from the ballot whereas Clinton did not. The results of the Michigan primary were as thus: Uncommitted: 238,168; Clinton: 328,309. If the Michigan tally had been made official, the overall popular vote would be 17,535,458 for Obama and 17,822,145 for Clinton. With the caucuses estimates included the overall tally would be 17,869,542 and 18,046,007 respectively. References [ edit ] Media related to 2008 Democratic Party presidential primaries at Wikimedia Commons

If you've ever had your penis cut off and/or been executed while on holiday, you'll probably know that it's easy to offend people from other cultures. Unless you learn the ways of the place you're visiting, even the most well-meaning tourist can regularly find his oesophagus stuffed with burning goat. But surely just plain common sense and good manners will save you, right? Extend Your Hand, Palm Outward in Greece What you think you are saying: "Phew! That was a heck of a moussaka. I'd eat another portion, but I'm completely stuffed." What you are actually saying: "Phew! That was a heck of a moussaka. I'd eat another portion, but I'm too busy rubbing handfuls of shit in your face." What the hell? In Greece, the "hand out" gesture is known as the moutza, and it dates back to the time of the Byzantine Empire, when criminals would be paraded through the streets on horseback, their faces blackened to indicate their shame. If they were lucky, the blackening agent would merely be charcoal. If they were unlucky, it would be a substance much, much worse ... Continue Reading Below Advertisement SHIT, is what we're saying here. Their faces would be covered in SHIT. If you really want to piss a Greek person off, you can go for the double moutza, which features both hands splayed above your head. However, this will also make you look like a backup dancer from Cats, so it's your call.

On May 28, I tweeted what I thought was a simple statement of my dismay and anguish​ at the rising incidence of racist attacks against Africans of varied nationalities in India. “As an Indian citizen, I am appalled by the recent racist violence against Africans in India, and deeply ashamed,” my tweet said. It was accompanied by three images: a portrait of Masonda Ketada Oliver, the Congolese student murdered in Vasant Kunj, New Delhi, on May 20; a photograph of Indian women protesting the act of a Bengaluru mob, which assaulted, stripped and paraded naked a Tanzanian student earlier this year; and a photograph from New Delhi’s Khirki Extension, showing police personnel, African and Indian residents in the aftermath of a January 2014 midnight raid of the neighbourhood by Aam Aadmi Party leader Somnath Bharti, who was then the Delhi law minister, in the course of which a group of Ugandan and Nigerian women were publicly humiliated. An eye for an eye The responses that my tweet drew have been reassuring, horrifying, and heartening. Reassuring, because many individuals whose moral compass remains intact expressed agreement and solidarity, or articulated their own sense of sorrow at this turn of events. And horrifying, because of the number of small but startling negative responses that have also been registered. They range from mild scepticism to undiluted trollery – “Typical Leftist indignation,” wrote one of these respondents. “Africans are far worse off in Africa than they are in India.” I hadn’t realised that the Left had a monopoly on humanitarian empathy, which I have always taken to be a reasonably universal feeling. Also, in keeping with the shaky grip on grammar, nuance and civility that all trolls demonstrate, this person was clearly unable to tell distress from indignation. And the breathtaking cynicism of his comment on Africans in Africa should be held in mind by every Indian who feels agitated the next time an Indian gets beaten up in Melbourne or Madison, Alabama. After all, their attackers might argue, Indians are far worse off in India than they are in Australia or the US. Far more of us die of tuberculosis or starvation in the matrubhumi than get bumped off by skinheads in London or Dresden. “Come on ground,” wrote another unintended recipient of my tweet, either afflicted by first-language interference or inviting me to descend from my idealist abode in the clouds. “There numbers are increasing day by day especially in Delhi, govt need put restrictions.” Ah beware, fellow Bharatiyas, the Black Peril is among us! A milder voice asked me if I had any statistics on the “criminal violence against Indians in Africa”. Not having surveyed this question in the 54 nation-states and one disputed territory that make up the African continent, I cannot claim to have that information. All I can offer is my perplexity. I do not understand how the possibility that criminals in some African countries have attacked some Indians justifies attacks on Africans in India, which are patently fuelled and justified by racist animosity. The caste factor And yet, there are also those heartening reactions from individuals who connect our racist impulses with our casteist conditioning, who identify our response to Africans with our Aryan obsessions, writ large across the matrimonial columns in our newspapers, and evident in our advertising, and our everyday language. The axial structuring principle of Indian society is caste, with its debilitating logic of mutual repulsion. In the language of the sociologists: The privileging of the svadharma or caste dharma, the difficulty this poses for the practice of a maanav-dharma or humanitarian dharma, and eventually, the derision of all for all, which leaves little room for productive solidarities based on universal values that lie beyond the interests of the caste-group or community. Caste-commitment and Afrophobia are not unrelated. And one additional detail: Our self-hatred, based on the certain knowledge, daily reinforced by the mirror on the wall, that most of us are only a few shades distant from those we profess to despise and humiliate with ugly terms of abuse like kaaliya, translations of which, in English, German and Danish, can easily be applied to many of us when we ourselves are in foreign lands, at the mercy of strangers.

ABC News' Sydney Lupkin reports: A Maryland man accused of impersonating a police officer allegedly picked the wrong car to pull over, when he stopped a real cop and tried to give him a speeding ticket. Anthony Kenneth Mastrogiovanni, 29, of Crofton, was driving a white pickup when he allegedly tried to pull over an off-duty Capitol Heights Police officer Wednesday afternoon, according to Prince George's Country Police, who later arrested and charged him. When the officer told Mastrogiovanni that he was a cop from a nearby area, Mastrogiovanni said he was a military police officer from Louisiana and informed the off-duty cop that he was speeding, Prince George's County police said. The officer told Mastrogiovanni that he had no jurisdiction to pull him over and that it was illegal for Mastrogiovanni to have emergency police lights in his truck, police said. Mastrogiovanni left, but the officer followed until PGPD arrested him on a charge of impersonating a police officer. He was released on personal recognizance, and is awaiting a court appearance.

I’m in Lisbon listening to some live fado, the Portuguese folk music that expresses the sorrows and yearnings of ordinary people. Among these songs of love and loss is a hymn to the joys of Pastéis de Belém, the original version of the most traditional cake in Portugal, the pastel de nata, or custard tart. “Served with cinnamon or just as it is,” sings the lyricist Leonel Moura, “This beautiful delicacy has no equal in the world.” It’s hard to imagine the British custard tart inspiring such passion. You can find the Portuguese version across the UK of course, but I wondered if we had a worthy home-grown opponent. I couldn’t find any in my local independents. Not even Greggs, the biggest baker in the country, stocks the British custard tart. In Portugal, pasteis are found on every street corner. Their home, however, is the bakery in Lisbon’s Belém district, which bears the name of the tart immortalised in the fado song. Pastéis de Belém, a family-owned business, has been making the tarts since 1837 and serves up to 50,000 a day in peak season. These are reputed to be the world’s best. They are distinguished from other pastéis de nata by their slightly salty and extremely crisp puff pastry – partly from being baked at 400C – and the custard, made only with milk, not cream, which is less sweet. “Here in Portugal, almost every traditional cake we have was invented by a monk,” manager Miguel Clarinha tells me. One such brother, from the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos in Belém, sold the recipe for their tarts after the monasteries were closed by the state in 1834. The buyer started making the cakes and they haven’t stopped baking since. Lisboa Patisserie in west London, which opened in 1995 and claims to be the first Portuguese pastelaria in London, is just one of the several bakeries that helped popularise pastéis de nata in Britain. There are now many fine UK examples, but those at Portuguese Taste, a modest stall in Bristol’s St Nicholas’s Market, are declared superior to those in Belém by many expats. Owner and cook Maria Papanca’s pastry is light and crisp and her filling beautifully smooth. She too has a secret, which “is the way you make the cream – this I don’t tell anybody”. Yet, surprisingly, she achieves her excellent results using bought puff pastry, the only way to make production practical in her small market space. In this custard tart fight, the British are taking a pasting. Yet ours have survived through the ages, too. According to the EU’s inventory of national foods, they originated in East Anglia and versions were made as early as medieval times. British tarts use the less flavoursome shortcrust pastry, which doesn’t provide as much textural contrast with the smooth custard. They are also topped with nutmeg, which fails to bring the custard alive as Portugal’s cinnamon does. Worse, they are now almost all mass-produced with palm oil-based pastry. Chef Marcus Wareing has gone some way to reviving the English classic, with a recipe for an egg-enriched pastry, similar to a French pâte sucrée. But the best I’ve had are made by Laura Hart in her bakery under the arches at Bristol Temple Meads station. She too has her secrets but her basic formula is not complicated. She uses a puff pastry, with a cinnamon dusting rolled in at the end. Unlike a traditional English tart, cooked gently, hers are blasted at 200C, making the custard boil. The result is a wonderfully smooth, creamy filling with a slightly burned top similar to the Portuguese varieties, and a good crisp case. So who would win a custard tart fight? If it were a team sport, the Portuguese would thrash us. But in a one-on-one, I’d back Laura Hart to defeat all-comers. This is one contest, however, you’d be well advised to judge for yourself.

Hollywood is mourning the passing of “Silence of the Lambs” director Jonathan Demme, who died Wednesday morning at the age of 73. Directors like Martin Scorsese, Edgar Wright and Kevin Smith noted how Demme’s work showcased his wide range and helped people to experience unique stories. “He could do anything,” Wright tweeted. Many also remembered Demme’s kindness and generosity towards others in the industry. “Moonlight” writer and director Barry Jenkins said the last time he saw Demme was when the director was championing for “Moonlight” during awards season. “Such a kind man,” he added. Also Read: Jonathan Demme, Director of 'Silence of the Lambs,' Dies at 73 Demme was best known for directing films like “Silence of the Lambs” and “Philadelphia,” but he also directed memorable concert films such as the recent “Justin Timberlake + The Tennessee Kids,” and the Talking Heads documentary “Stop Making Sense.” He died of esophageal cancer and complications from heart disease. Demme is survived by his wife, the artist Joanne Howard, and their three children. Also Read: Meryl Streep Remembers 'Big Hearted,' 'Compassionate' Jonathan Demme Check out some of Hollywood’s reactions below to get an idea of how far this man’s influence spread. Martin Scorsese issued this statement on Wednesday afternoon: “Whenever I ran into Jonathan, he was filled with enthusiasm and excitement about a new project. He took so much joy in moviemaking. His pictures have an inner lyricism that just lifts them off the ground–even a story like The Silence of the Lambs. I have great admiration for Jonathan as a filmmaker–I love the freshness of his style and his excellent use of music, from Buddy Holly to Miklos Rozsa. There’s so much more to be said, and I hardly know where to begin. I also loved him as a friend, and to me he was always young. My young friend. The idea that he’s gone seems impossible to me.” I know now that this was also the last time I saw Jonathan Demme. Fitting that it was in an act of love and generosity. Such a kind man. https://t.co/qYUZqXz2NU — Barry Jenkins (@BandryBarry) April 26, 2017 Jonathan Demme was a great artist, humanitarian, activist & a warm encouraging colleague. I've known very few like him. He will be missed https://t.co/wQv5QRqHoN — Ron Howard (@RealRonHoward) April 26, 2017 Also Read: Read Jodie Foster's Loving Tribute to Jonathan Demme, 'Director of the Lambs' Deeply sad to hear my friend, neighbor, and colleague Jonathan Demme has passed on. He was one of the real good guys. I miss you, buddy. — Stephen King (@StephenKing) April 26, 2017 Very sad to hear of the passing of the great Jonathan Demme. Admired his movies, his documentaries, his concert films. He could do anything. — edgarwright (@edgarwright) April 26, 2017 Also Read: One of Jonathan Demme's Last Projects Was Directing Tonight's Episode of 'Shots Fired' Ted Demme and I were worried about making The Ref when his uncle Jonathan Demme said something profound: "Stop talking and start shooting." — Denis Leary (@denisleary) April 26, 2017 Also Read: Justin Timberlake Gets the Jonathan Demme Treatment in Toronto Dear God, no! I loved #JonathanDemme! He was my bridge to the Talking Heads, Harris & Hannibal, New Order and honest cinematic storytelling. https://t.co/vOCRfD23dg — KevinSmith (@ThatKevinSmith) April 26, 2017 RIP #JonathanDemme One of the greats! — Tony Goldwyn (@tonygoldwyn) April 26, 2017 This loss hurts deep. With my abiding friend and brother beloved @jonathandemme at #StandingRock. Not a kinder soul has ever lived. RIP, JD. pic.twitter.com/vOz1kLoNLc — Tavis Smiley (@tavissmiley) April 26, 2017 Sad to hear that Jonathan Demme has passed. — Elijah Wood (@elijahwood) April 26, 2017 RIP Jonathan Demme. Director's director. Such love for his subject matter. Gorgeous moments and images devoid of vanity. One of the best. — Jay Baruchel (@BaruchelNDG) April 26, 2017 Jonathan Demme was a gifted and versatile filmmaker. RIP. — Michael McKean (@MJMcKean) April 26, 2017 "The chance to make a film that deals in an imaginative way with stuff you care tremendously about is a real high." — Jonathan Demme #RIP pic.twitter.com/Z7axx3fgt5 — Tribeca (@Tribeca) April 26, 2017

In response to a clip Universal Pictures released from Jurassic World featuring Owen (Chris Pratt) and Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard), Avengers: Age of Ultron writer/director Joss Whedon posted the following on April 10 to his now-defunct Twitter account: “I’m too busy wishing this clip wasn’t 70’s era sexist. She’s a stiff, he’s a life-force – really? Still?” Italian site Bad Taste had the chance to ask the Jurassic Park sequel’s director and co-writer Colin Trevorrow if he was bothered by Whedon’s remark, which instantly went viral and caused controversy for both filmmakers. (Thanks to Andrea Bedeschi for the translation.) “I wasn’t bothered by what he said about the movie and, to be honest, I don’t totally disagree with him,” said Trevorrow. “I wonder why [Universal] chose a clip like that, that shows an isolated situation within a movie that has an internal logic. That starts with characters that are almost archetypes, stereotypes that are deconstructed as the story progresses. The real protagonist of the movie is Claire and we embrace her femininity in the story’s progression. There’s no need for a female character that does things like a male character, that’s not what makes interesting female characters in my view. Bryce and I have talked a lot about these concepts and aspects of her character.” Howard echoed Trevorrow’s opinion two days ago to Huffington Post, saying of Whedon, “He’s a hero, he’s an amazing guy and a champion for women in this industry. Marketing for a film is tricky because you release stuff without context. Of course there was a part of me being such a fan of him that was like, ‘Nooooo!’ Especially because when you see the movie it’s not at all like that, but we make movies and it’s out there for public opinion and I hope he likes the movie!” In a rare case of someone taking the high road in an interview, Trevorrow not only empathized with Whedon’s critique of the Jurassic World clip but defended him over the critical drubbing he took in sections of the press over the supposedly sexist depiction of Black Widow in Avengers: Age of Ultron. “But I was upset about people’s reaction to his film,” Trevorrow continued. “Joss recieved an incredible amount of anger and vitriolic comments and he doesn’t deserve that, because if there is someone who has always paid due respect to the women of his movies that guy is Joss. I think he should be the last person in Hollywood to be accused of sexism and if you’ve seen something like that in his last movie it’s not his fault. We all know that Joss is too kind and polite to rise up and tell people to screw off, so I’ll do it on his behalf!” To be fair, Whedon apologized shortly after posting the Tweet in April, and is probably glad to have quit Twitter seeing as how a sentence he typed two months ago is still haunting him. “I shouldn’t have tweeted it,” Whedon told Variety. “I don’t ever say things about other people’s work that are negative. That’s bad form. It’s not what a gentleman would do.I forgot that I don’t do that because I was frustrated. I felt like I was seeing something that was problematic. What I said is pretty clear, but I think it was the wrong venue for me to be saying that. That’s dinner party conversation.” Jurassic World hits theaters on June 12.