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What is the purpose of reading stories, especially made-up stories? That's the question lurking behind a recent posting to the New York Times' education blog, SchoolBook. Ann Stone and Jeff Nichols, the parents of twins, wrote about taking their kids' third-grade English Language Arts test with some friends as a party game on New Year's Eve. The group read an inane little story about tiger cubs learning to tear bark off logs, but, to their surprise, couldn't agree on a single answer to the multiple choice question that followed: "What is this story mostly about?" Tests like this, the couple asserts, do students "a double disservice: first, by inflicting on them such mediocre literature, and second, by training them to read not for pleasure but to discover a predetermined answer to a (let’s not mince words) stupid question." The problem, they feel, stems from the standardized testing regime, which forces the learning experience into a too-rigid structure. Even a "banal" story like this tiger-cub number admits "multiple interpretations," and the prod to "reduce the work to a single idea" does a disservice to both reader and text. Advertisement: I'm sure Stone and Nichols are right that the current, reductive obsession with standardized testing has made this propensity worse, but discomfort with fiction -- with all its slippery, non-utilitarian qualities -- goes back to the beginning of American culture. As the historian Gillian Avery observed in her "Behold the Child: American Children and Their Books, 1621-1922," 17th-century Puritans had big doubts about any kind of non-scriptural storytelling, for adults as well as for children. They were as determined to teach their kids to read as any modern helicopter parent, if for other reasons: For Puritans, reading the Bible was essential to getting into heaven, rather than into Harvard (though to hear some people talk today, you wouldn't think there was much of a difference). As the Puritans saw it, writes Avery, fiction might "deflect the reader from more profitable occupation" and was furthermore "untrue, therefore a lie." It belonged to a category of falsehood known as the "sporting lie," whose purpose was neither white nor black, but something too troublingly colorful: "to make one merry or to pass away Precious Time," as one Boston schoolmaster put it. If you think we've gotten past this starchy point of view, guess again. Today's parents may anxiously urge their kids to read novels like "Charlotte's Web" or "Fahrenheit 451," but any desire to make their offspring merry is far overshadowed by the belief that reading is essential to getting ahead in life. You have to be a "good reader" to get good grades and you need good grades to get into Harvard (or wherever) and you need that prestigious degree to get a good job. The Protestant work ethic has not so much forgiven reading fiction for passing away Precious Time as it has swallowed it whole. Reading books has become a kind of work, at least for children. In adults, the old Puritan attitude leads us to treat fiction as the delivery mechanism for instructional or inspirational messages. Whenever a novel's merits are described in terms of the "life lessons" that it "teaches," you can detect that old uneasiness over the "sporting lie" being appeased. In movies and television, literature class discussions almost always consist of students earnestly announcing that what Fitzgerald (or Hemingway or Shakespeare) is really saying is that you should follow your heart (or face your fears or be true to yourself -- pick your empty nostrum). If you've ever turned on the option that lets you see other readers' highlights in a Kindle book, you'll find that they almost always underline similar mottos, such as this line from Abraham Verghese's "Cutting for Stone": "The key to your happiness is to own your slippers, own who you are, own how you look, own your family, own the talents you have, and own the ones you don’t." The weakness of this approach to fiction should be obvious: If what you really want is a set of fortifying maxims, why bother with stories about feckless romances or foolish kings? Why not just go straight to the self-help section -- the secular equivalent of the sermon -- as so many American readers already do? Others (including, recently, the novelist Philip Roth) reject fiction entirely and turn to history or narrative nonfiction, explaining that, at the very least, they can be sure they're "learning something" from what they read. Learning can certainly be fun, but the implication is that acquiring facts about, say, the life of Cleopatra, has more value than following the story of an imaginary person like Elizabeth Bennet. The Precious Time thus passed away has something to show for itself, and the American mania for self-improvement has been appeased. Never mind that most of us will find little practical use for information on quantum mechanics, the military stratagems of World War II or the private lives of British aristocrats. Advertisement: Ultimately, all of these attitudes -- and the standardized tests that Stone and Nichols complain about -- boil down to the belief that reading can only be the means to an end, whether that end is moral betterment or worldly success (two classic Puritan preoccupations). For some of us, however, reading is an end in itself, and what fiction has to offer isn't lessons but an experience, a revelation, a sudden expansion of the spirit. Like any art, it can teach or motivate, but it doesn't have to, and it's often better when it doesn't. Further reading Ann Stone and Jeff Nichols on their twins' third-grade reading test for the New York Times SchoolBook blog Philip Roth says he's stopped reading fiction

A post shared by Blackbirds & Company (@denisedowns) on Jun 3, 2017 at 5:33pm PDT Honey's Vet Visit Home Sweet Home About Blackbirds & Company Follow Blackbirds & Company: About Conejo Valley Vet Follow Conejo Valley Vet: Blackbirds and Company is Denise Down’s blog about her many crazy adventures she goes through living the Suburban family farm life with backyard chickens. In her blog she documents many of her experiences that she goes through and shares other additional topics such as designing, building, sewing, crafting, baking, and some occasional mom venting/advice.Follow Blackbirds & Company:Conejo Valley Veterinary Hospital (CVVH) is a full service, AAHA accredited veterinary hospital open 24 hours a day/7 days a week. Conejo Vet treats dogs, cats, and exotic pets (birds, rabbits, reptiles, rodents, etc.). The hospital is outfitted with state-of-the-art equipment and diagnostic imaging technology. They also have their own in-house lab and pharmacy.Follow Conejo Valley Vet: Honey is an almost 2 year old female Easter Egger. She lives with a flock of 6 other hens which are kept as backyard pets by Denise Downs of Blackbirds & Company and her family in the suburbs of Southern California. Honey and the other members of her flock get to free range, supervised, around the backyard. At night, the birds are put up in their chicken coop, referred to as the “Chick Inn”. Denise and her family spend a great deal of time with their flock of birds and they are considered to be extended family members.Honey’s egg laying had slowed down dramatically for several weeks. Honey would also occasionally be seen shaking her head. Denise had initially thought that the head shaking was the result of mites or lice so she treated the entire flock for that. Then, all of a sudden, several days later, Honey developed an abnormal respiratory noise, where she sounded as if she was honking. This was concerning for Denise, who immediately called her local veterinarian to make an appointment for them to see Honey.Honey was taken to Conejo Valley Vet in Thousand Oaks, California. Upon Honey’s arrival at the hospital, Dr. Mercado administered her oxygen to help her breathing, and gave her a physical exam. During the physical exam, the doctor checked Honey’s airways for any sort of obstruction, and her abdomen, for any signs of an egg present. There was no indication that an egg was stuck, but the only way for the doctors to really confirm that there was no obstruction in Honey’s lungs was to take radiographs. Denise and Dr. Mercado discussed and agreed on going ahead and starting Honey on a few days of antibiotics to see if they helped. If after 48 hours, Honey showed no improvement, then she would be brought back in to the hospital to get the radiographs. Since the hospital had their own built-in pharmacy, it was a very convenient one stop shop—before leaving the hospital, Denise received a full 14 day supply of the antibiotic Clavamox, which came in tablet form. The tablet had to be crushed up into a powder and mixed with apple sauce or juice to administer orally via a large (needle-less) syringe. One of the veterinary technician’s administered Honey her first dose of antibiotics before leaving the veterinary hospital.It had been a long day of car rides and travel for Honey. Upon arrival back at home, Denise and her family set her up a temporary ‘first aid’ area in their bathroom inside their house. This was to keep her isolated from the rest of the flock, to prevent them from potentially getting ill, and for additional means of supportive care for Honey. Honey received a warm bath and blow dry before sleeping in her own large dog kennel for the evening, lined with a layer of fresh, clean shavings.The next morning, since Honey’s antibiotics were to be given 12 hours apart, Denise administered it by breaking up the tablet and mixing it in with baby food applesauce and mealworms, in order to make it appear more attractive to Honey. Honey ate everything, including the medication without difficulty. The next afternoon, following Honey’s visit to the veterinarian the day prior and after receiving her first full days’ worth of antibiotics, Honey’s breathing had showed a little improvement---although she was still wheezing, the honking noise had disappeared and was replaced with laryngitis. Behavioral wise, Honey was relaxed and eating and drinking normally. By day three, Honey was doing much better. Denise discussed her health status with Dr. Mercado; they both agreed that the radiographs didn’t appear to be necessary, and that Denise should just continue administering the antibiotics for the full course of 14 days duration.It is now day 9 and so far Honey has made remarkable progress. She still gets her antibiotic, twice a day, for a few more days, but she is back in the coop with the flock, sounding and acting completely normal, and she has even laid a few eggs.

Nobody, not even those in the government, knows what is going to happen in life. People are not automatons. There is a certain regularity to life; the earth revolves on its axis such that the sun “rises” every morning and “sets” every evening, but neither my life nor yours repeats itself exactly as the day before. I can leave my place of businesses wondering whether we will have work to do the next day. When I return the following morning, before we even open, people appear: one needs chicken feed, another horse feed; two have cars that need repair; one wants a transmission flush; another needs four new tires. All this unscheduled work appears overnight. People’s desires change; babies are born; people die; there are new inventions; people have accidents; people make new discoveries (they have a flat tire, they have run out of feed). If one were a government planner, one could either react to this with amazement and wonderment or disgust. Should people have the liberty to do what they want with their bodies and property or should there be some central institution that tells them what to do and controls all this activity? Does private property provide us with a means to a peaceful and prosperous world? Or should things be “dictated” by the State and its directives? Is liberty the mother of order in our human societies? As Wendell Berry once wrote, is the “attempt at total control … an invitation to disorder [and disaster]” or just what humans need?* Butler Shaffer in his new (2009) book, Boundaries of Order: Private Property as a Social System, argues that "individual liberty and social order are obverse sides of the same coin." (xiii) A harmonious society can only come about if people are not coerced by thieves, muggers, murderers, gang members, or government agents, who in the process of exercising violence force people to do what they would not otherwise choose to do. In other words, voluntary exchanges take place only because both parties expect to benefit. The spontaneous actions of millions of individuals aim at nothing less than the improvement in their well-being. But people can only act if they have property to act with. They must use their bodies in some specific space (even if they do nothing but think with their mind, they are somewhere). That is why private property constitutes a social system, and why such a system brings about higher standards of living. People are not always successful, but in the vast majority of exchanges they do better themselves. Boundaries of Order: P... Butler Shaffer, Butler... Best Price: $7.27 Buy New $110.68 (as of 05:15 EST - Details) The underlying theme of his book, as Shaffer describes it, is "that our traditional institutional model [of government] is not only no longer useful to, but actually destructive of, the purposes for which we have long embraced it. This book will suggest and explore an alternative model for the peaceful and productive conduct of society." (25) This paradigm is based "on the principle of the private ownership of property; that freedom is possible only when private ownership claims are respected”; and that the very "existence of political systems" means that private property has been violated. (xiii) Using private property as a yardstick three critical questions need be answered in any social conflict – 1) Whose property is it? 2) Who has aggressed? and 3) Who has been aggressed against? With a slightly different twist, one can determine the amount of government aggression in society by asking – how much of a criminal does one become by minding one's own business; and to what extent do government employees confiscate property? In short, if you can ignore the government, by using your own property as you choose, and if the government does not put you in jail or seize your property for failure to pay your taxes, then you're probably facing an institution that possesses little coercive power. Life and Death in Shan... Nien Cheng Best Price: $0.10 Buy New $19.97 (as of 10:10 EST - Details) One of the recurring observations throughout this book is that regardless of "[w]hatever system of ownership is in place, someone will exercise decisional authority over property." (6) Whether one is living under Hitler's national socialism, Stalin's communism, Britain's Fabianism, or American democracy every political system must answer the question: "how are decisions to be made in the world, and who will make them?" (9) The reason for this is the “need of all living things to occupy space and ingest energy." (133) "Each of us must be able to exclude others from the use and consumption of resources necessary for our survival." (123) In other words, private property “is at the core of” our humanness and “our well-being.” (133) We must own ourselves and then the property that we require for survival. A perfect example of how a collectivist system must answer the question “who decides on the use of scarce resources” is found in a short scene from Nien Cheng's Life and Death in Shanghai (pp. 406–407 in the 1988 edition). The author, after having been imprisoned for six years, was released and wanted to have a brick wall constructed in order to create a small bedroom in her hallway. In order to do so, she had to bribe the driver of an electrical utility truck to help transport the bricks. In answer to the author's query as to whether this was legal, and whether or not the mileage and gas consumption of the truck was checked, the driver answered "Don't forget, in a socialist state, everything belongs to the people. You and I are part of the people." … "Well to tell you the truth, I feel uneasy about using this truck, for my private purposes. I don't really think it's right." "We have public ownership in China. Right? Who is the public? We are. Right?" So despite the long-standing claim of collective ownership in a communist society, the driver of the truck decided who could make use of it as a tool of transport. Someone has to decide, whether it is an individual, or a committee, or a politician, or a policeman. The idea that there can be societal-wide collective ownership is a propaganda myth. Furthermore, as Shaffer points out, the ultimate test of ownership comes down to this: "who can decide, without getting the permission of another, to destroy […]his property?" (171) The truck driver could not decide whether or not to destroy the people’s truck, nor could the utility manager. Ultimately, Mao Zedong or someone or some group of people within the Communist Party held that decision-making power. As in his earlier works, Shaffer refers to chaos and complexity theory, and points out that an orderly system may arise out of apparent disorder. (65) "[T]he substance of social order is found in the regularities that arise, spontaneously and without any intention to do so, from the interplay of [voluntary] human behavior.” (73) Three important observations in this regard are: first, that each person's capacity to obtain accurate information on which to make decisions is limited; second, that the further a person is from the actual source of knowledge, the more likely there is room for error; and third, that “when we allow the [S]tate to make decisions for an entire population, we run the risk of utter disaster should the” decision be wrong. (44, 280) Decision-making by those who risk their own property not only localizes the impact of wrong choices, but allows people everywhere the freedom to copy those who succeed. (42, 84) The Discovery of Freedom Rose Wilder Lane Check Amazon for Pricing. Boundaries of Order is the result of many decades of the author's thinking about the interrelatedness of social order and private property. He clearly comes down on the side of voluntaryism, arguing “that liberty and order imply one another.” (297) In other words, voluntaryism comes about naturally if no one does anything to stop it. This book is not for a budding, or even beginning, voluntaryist. It requires deep concentration, patience, and assumes a basic familiarity with the concepts of self-ownership and homesteading. Although Shaffer embraces the idea that the first to claim and use an un-owned resource thereby becomes its legitimate owner, he also recognizes that without the support of one's neighbors, one's claim to ownership will never be respected. As Rose Wilder Lane explained in The Discovery of Freedom (pp. 109–110 in the 1943 edition), the protection of our property ultimately depends upon human decency. The only safeguards of property seem to have been possession of the property, individual honesty, and public opinion. … [C]abins were never locked on the American frontier where there was no law. The real protection of life and property, always and everywhere, is the general recognition of the brotherhood of man. How much of the time is any American within sight of a policeman? Our lives and our property are protected by the way nearly everyone feels about another person's life and property. With that Butler Shaffer would surely agree. *Numbers within parentheses refer to Shaffer’s book unless otherwise noted. The expression “Liberty, not the daughter, but the mother of order” was attributed to Pierre-Joseph Proudhon by Benjamin Tucker, who used it as the flag on his anarchist paper, Liberty, for many years. The quote by Wendell Berry is attributed (by James C. Scott in his book, Seeing Like a State [1998], p. 288), to Berry’s book The Unsettling of America. November 11, 2009

Philip Rivers is not Tony Romo. He won't discuss his back injury at length as the Cowboys quarterback did this month, revealing he also was playing with torn rib cartilage, saying before which games he took a painkiller and before which game he regrettably didn't. Rivers is not Ben Roethlisberger. He won't discuss his chest injury as the Steelers quarterback did in 2012, disclosing how doctors were concerned a rib dislocation could puncture his aorta. Rivers doesn't talk injuries. Wednesday was no exception. The Chargers submitted their injury report, and for the first time in several years, three words read next to Rivers' name: "Did Not Practice." Indications are the 33-year-old will start Saturday versus the 49ers despite being listed with back and chest injuries. "He's Iron Man," wide receiver Malcom Floyd said. "He's not going to miss this one for the world." Such is the precedent. Floyd is one of four Chargers on the current 53-man roster who were teammates with Rivers the last time he missed a practice. Rivers sat out the practice week prior to the 2007 AFC Championship Game, dealing from a torn anterior cruciate ligament under which he secretly had arthroscopic surgery the Monday before the game. Rivers started that game in New England. He hasn't missed a start since becoming the Chargers' starter in 2006. His streak of 142 consecutive starts made is the second-longest active in the NFL. On Wednesday, coach Mike McCoy said that Rivers participated in the morning walkthrough before practice. He added that he expects Rivers will play Saturday. As for Rivers, well, he didn't say much. A usually thoughtful, loquacious and generous interview subject addressed a group of reporters in the locker room. He was asked if he'd like to expand on his rib and back injuries as they were listed. "No," Rivers said. "Expand on them? No." How does he feel? "I feel good," Rivers said. Is he sore? "I wouldn't say too bad," Rivers said. He allowed that, as is common with such matters, he had a say in the decision not to practice. Veteran quarterback Kellen Clemens worked predominantly in his place both in Tuesday's walkthrough-pace practice and Wednesday's formal session. The Chargers signed quarterback Brad Sorensen to the practice squad Monday in large part to keep Clemens from overuse as they rested Rivers. "At this point in the week," Rivers twice prefaced, he has "no doubt" he'll face the 49ers in Santa Clara. The Chargers (8-6) are on the cusp of a playoff spot, needing to win Saturday to avoid risk of being eliminated Sunday from playoff contention. If Pittsburgh and Baltimore both win this weekend following a Chargers loss, the team cannot qualify for the postseason. "I hate not practicing," Rivers said, "but I think at some point you've got to do what's best for me and the team. Practicing today just wouldn't have been beneficial moving toward Saturday." Rivers has dealt with a rib injury for several weeks. The ailment became public knowledge when tight end Antonio Gates revealed it after a Nov. 16 win over the Raiders. His comments, made while caught up in the moment of lauding Rivers' toughness, attracted national headlines. On the next day, apparently spoken to in the time between, Gates backed off his comments on Rivers' "very severe rib injury," saying they were taken out of context. Rivers' back injury was added to the injury report last Friday but didn't keep him from playing Sunday against the Broncos. He wasn't sacked once in the 22-10 loss. Gates, having learned from experienced, laughed Wednesday when asked about Rivers' health. Rivers doesn't talk injuries. Now, neither does he. "If I say something, it'll be on SportsCenter, bro," Gates said.

Skinny doesn’t always mean healthy for people with type 2 diabetes. People who are normal weight when diagnosed with the condition may have a higher risk of death than those who are overweight or obese. While counterintuitive, the findings may suggest that normal-weight people who have type 2 diabetes are more likely to have other illnesses, frail bones or wasting muscles, researchers report in the Aug. 8 Journal of the American Medical Association. “This study raises a lot more questions than answers,” says epidemiologist Lynne Wagenknecht of Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, N.C. But the authors have done “a really nice job examining every which way, upside down and right side up of what might be going on here,” she says. Led by epidemiologist Mercedes Carnethon of Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, researchers combined data from five long-term studies that tracked diff

The whole world’s watching. Growing millions know. Israel’s a rogue terror state. It’s amoral, brutish, and ruthless. Arabs are murdered for not being Jews. Gazans suffer most of all. Israel’s been terror-bombing them daily. Civilians are maliciously targeted. Growing numbers are killed. Official totals way understate the toll. Many others are injured. Children are traumatized. Parents are frantic. How much more of this can people take? Gazans dig through rubble for survivors. Others bury their dead. The mainstream media assault truth. They run cover for Israel’s worst crimes. Imagine supporting mass murder. Doing so makes them complicit. A scurrilous New York Times editorial headlined “Hamas’s Illegitimacy,” saying: “Hamas, which took control of Gaza in 2007 and is backed by Iran, is so consumed with hatred for Israel that it has repeatedly resorted to violence, no matter the cost to its own people.” Fact check Vicious lies like this demand condemnation. Setting the record straight is vital. Hamas is Palestine’s legitimate government. In January 2006, Palestinians elected their officials overwhelmingly. Israel and Washington imposed a West Bank coup d’etat regime. It’s illegitimate. It’s also pro-Israeli. Conflict followed. Hamas was wrongly blamed. Abbas serves illegitimately as president. Israel rigged his election. His term expired in January 2009. He won’t step down or hold new elections. He’s a longtime Israeli collaborator. He sold out at Oslo. He spurns his own people. He replicates Quisling harshness. He’s an embarrassment to legitimate governance. Hamas supports all Palestinians. It spurns violence. It responds defensively when attacked. It’s their right and obligation under international law. All governments bear full responsibility to protect their people. So-called Gaza “militants” are freedom fighters. They heroically resist Israeli terror. Their souls aren’t for sale. Times editors suppress truth and full disclosure. They support wealth, power and privilege. They defend wrong over right. They cheerlead imperial war. They shame themselves in the process. They also betray their readers. Other mainstream media do the same thing. Israeli crimes of war and against humanity are called self-defense. Legitimate self-defense is called terrorism. Israel planned Operation Pillar of Cloud months ago. All major military campaigns require detailed planning. Multiple provocations initiated conflict. Israel deplores peace and stability. It lives by the sword. It’s a modern-day Sparta. It threatens the region and humanity. It’s leaders are war criminals. They bear full responsibility for ongoing violence. All Gazans are victims. They’re not terrorists. Don’t expect Times editors to explain. Zionist ideology is root cause for decades of conflict and violence. Palestine’s Nakba never ended. State terror is official Israeli policy. Daily Palestinian life includes persecution, home demolitions, dispossessions, land theft, targeted assassinations, mass arrests, incarceration, torture, denial of virtually all rights, living in fear for what’s next, and suffering more when Israel wages war. The Israeli/Palestinian conflict is the longest unresolved one of our time. Nothing approaches it. It festers because of US/EU complicity. Western nations support Israel’s worst crimes. Palestinians struggle to survive against long odds. Zionist ideology bears full responsibility. It’s corrosive, destructive, racist, extremist, undemocratic and hateful. It claims Jewish supremacy, specialness and uniqueness as God’s “chosen people.” It espouses violence. It deplores peaceful coexistence. It chooses confrontation over diplomacy. It believes in strength through militarism, intimidation, and naked aggression. It’s repugnant, indefensible, destructive and malignant. It harms Jews and non-Jews alike. It’s the root cause of anti-Semitism. It’s a monster. It’s consuming its host and humanity. Besieged Gazans are suffocated and murdered. Historian Ilan Pappe accused Israel of slow-motion genocide. So did Law Professor Francis Boyle, saying: “What we’re seeing in Gaza now, is pretty much slow-motion genocide against the (1.7) million Palestinians who live in Gaza.” “If you read the 1948 Genocide Convention, it clearly says that one instance of genocide is the deliberate infliction of conditions of life calculated to bring about the physical destruction of a people in whole or in part.” “And that’s exactly what has been done to Gaza, since the imposition of the blockade by Israel; then the massacre of 1,400 Palestinians, two-thirds of whom were civilians, in Operation Cast Lead.” “And that also raises the element in the Genocide Convention.” In 1923, revisionist Zionist leader Ze’ve Jabotinsky said Jews had no choice. Arabs must make way for them. Tolerating and/or partnering with them is out of the question. Eretz Israel belongs solely to Jews. Dispossess and disperse Palestinians. Remove them entirely. Reinvent them as nomadic savages. Erect “an iron wall of (superior) Jewish military force.” Use it to dictate future events. Discourage Arab hope of prevailing. Other likeminded Zionists advocated ethnic cleansing or extermination. Not one Arab village should remain. Remove their people by terror, assassination, intimidation, land confiscation, dispossession, and mass murder. Former IDF Chief of Staff Raphael Eitan (1978 – 1983) said: “We declare openly that the Arabs have no right to settle on even one centimeter of Eretz Israel.” “Force is all they do or ever will understand. We shall use the ultimate force until the Palestinians come crawling to us on all fours.” In 1937, future Israeli prime minister David Ben-Gurion said: “We must expel the Arabs and take their place and if we have to use force, to guarantee our own right to settle in those places – then we have force at our disposal.” Zionist founder Theodore Herzl said Palestine is “our unforgettable historic homeland.” He called for establishing it by dispossessing indigenous Palestinians and replacing them with Jews. In his book “Overcoming Zionism,” Joel Kovel wrote: Zionism seeks “the restoration of tribalism in the guise of a modern, highly militarized and aggressive state.” “(It) cut Jews off from (their) history and led to a fateful identity of interests with antisemitism (becoming) the only thing that united them.” “(It) fell into the ways of imperialist expansion and militarism, and showed signs of the fascist malignancy.” If you accept “the idea of a Jewish state,” you mix its twin notions of “particularism (and) exceptionalism.” They’re “the actual bane of Judaism.” They give “racism an objective, enduring, institutionalized and obdurate character.” Zionism turned Israel “into a machine for the manufacture of human rights abuses.” Israel was born in blood. Mass extermination and ethnic cleansing established the Jewish state. At issue always was replacing Palestinians with Jews. Hard-line militancy used violence to displace Arabs, gain power, keep it, and rule by strength, confrontation, intimidation, and violence. Longstanding policies continue. State terror, naked aggression, and institutionalized violence are called self-defense. Civilians are legitimate targets. Freedom fighters are called terrorists. Rule of law principles don’t apply. Democratic values are mocked. Israel claims the right to reign terror with impunity. It gets away with murder because world leaders condone and support it. Weapons and other aid are provided. So is diplomatic cover. Peace process hypocrisy was stillborn from inception. Judaization through land confiscation, displacement, and settlements reflect official policy. Arabs must be displaced and forcibly driven from all parts of Judea and Sumaria Israel wants. Jerusalem is claimed as Israel’s exclusive capital. Palestinians are seen as existential threats. Israeli Arabs are called fifth-column ones. Conflict is a way of life. Institutionalized violence, racism, and repression define official policies. Final solution plans call for dispossession and slow-motion genocide. Judaization and de-Arabization are policies. Moshe Dayan once said treat them like “dogs” so they’ll leave. Ben-Gurion favored “terror, assassination, intimidation, land confiscation,” and violence. Netanyahu prefers all that and more. A previous article called him more mad dog than leader. His contempt for non-Jews might make some despots blush. He bears full responsibility for daily slaughter in Gaza. It shows no signs of ending. How much death and destruction does he crave before calling off his dogs? How much Palestinian suffering is enough? How many dead children and infants will satisfy him? When will he say enough’s enough? When will world leaders have backbone enough to confront him? When will Palestinian rights be recognized? When will treating them like human beings become policy? Maybe next time. Not now. Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at [email protected]. His new book is titled “How Wall Street Fleeces America: Privatized Banking, Government Collusion and Class War” http://www.claritypress.com/Lendman.html Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening. http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour

The C++ language is a general-purpose programming language that is, except for minor details, a superset of C. It improves on C through its support of data abstraction and object-oriented programming. The main influences on its design, in addition to C, were Simula57 and Algol68 (see references 1 and 2). C++ was first installed 5 years ago. Today, it has several independent implementations and many thousands of installations. It is being used or major university research projects and for large-scale software development in companies such as Apple, Apollo, AT&T, and Sun. It has been applied to most branches of programming, including banking, CAD, compiler construction, database management, image processing, graphics, music synthesis, networking, programming environments, robotics, simulation, scientific computation, switching, and very-large-scale-integration design. A Better C C++ improves the notational convenience of C and provides greater type safety. It compensates for C's weaknesses without compromising C's strengths. In particular, there is no program that can be written in C but not in C++ , nor is there a program that can be written in C so that it achieves greater run-time efficiency than it does in C++ (see reference 3). C is clearly not the cleanest language ever designed nor the easiest to use, but it owes its current pervasiveness to several key strengths: Flexibility: You can apply C to almost every application area and use almost every programming technique with it. The language has no inherent limitations that preclude writing particular kinds of programs. Efficiency: C's semantics are "low-level. " That is, its fundamental concepts mirror those of a traditional computer. Consequently, it's relatively easy, both for you and for a compiler, to efficiently use hardware resources for a C program. Availability: Given any computer, from the tiniest microcomputer to the largest supercomputer, chances are that there's an acceptable-quality C compiler available for it, and that such a compiler supports an acceptably complete and standard C language and library. There are also libraries and support tools available, so you rarely need to design a new system from scratch. Portability: While a C program may not be easily or automatically portable from one machine (or operating system) to another, such a port is usually possible. The level of difficulty is also usually low enough that even porting software that contains inherent machine dependencies is both technically and economically feasible. C++ preserves these strengths and remedies some of C's most obvious problems. For example, function arguments are type-checked in C++, and coercions are applied where they are found to be appropriate: extern double sqrt (doub1t); // declare square-root function ... double d1 = sqrt (2); // fine: 2 is converted to // a double ... double d2 = sqrt ("two"); // error: sqrt*() does not // accept a string The // notation was introduced into C++ from BCPL (see reference 4) for comments starting at the // and ending at the end of the line. As shown, C++ makes you specify a function's argument types in a function declaration so that the standard type conversions (such as int to double) can be implicitly applied, and type errors (such as calling a function requiring a double with a char* argument) can be caught at compile time. With minor restrictions, the draft ANSI C standard accepts the C++ function-calling rules and the syntax for function declarations and function definitions (see reference 5). C++ provides in-line substitution of functions: inline int max(int a, int b) { return a>b?a:b; } ... int x = 7; int y = 9; ... max(x,y); // generates: x>y?x:y max(f(x),x); // generates: // temp=f(x); temp>x?temp:x Unlike the macros commonly used in C, in-line functions obey the usual type and scope rules. Using in-line functions can lead to apparent run-time improvements over C. In-line substitution of functions is especially important in the context of data abstraction and object-oriented programming. With these styles of programming, very small functions are so common that function-call overhead can become a performance bottleneck. In addition, C++ provides typed and scoped constants, operators for free store (dynamic store) manipulation, and many other features. When the ANSI C committee finishes its work, the definition of C++ will be reviewed to remove gratuitous incompatibilities. This will not be a major task, though, because C++ and ANSI C have already absorbed most of the "new ANSI C" features from each other. For example, the notion of a pointer to "raw storage," void*, was incorporated into C++ from ANSI C, as were notational conveniences such as the suffix u indicating an unsigned literal (e.g. , 12u) and hexadecimal character constants (e.g., '\x fa'). However, the most important features of C++ relate to the support of data abstraction and object-oriented programming and are thus outside the scope of ANSI C and unaffected by changes in the draft ANSI C standard.

The Almodóvar Blu-ray Collection Posted July 31, 2016 03:42 AM by Webmaster StudioCanal will release a six-disc Blu-ray box set with films from acclaimed Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar. The box set will be available for purchase on September 19. The films in the collection have been recently restored by French label TF1. Dark Habits (1983) In a convent in Madrid a band of nuns called the Humble Redeemers practice their particular brand of the Catholic Religion under their motto, 'Sin Is Our Chosen Path'. Yolanda, a nightclub singer, witnesses her boyfriend die from an overdose, and with the police out to question her, she decides to take refuge with the nuns. The convent specializes in the salvation of murderesses, but their benefactor has stopped coming up with the money, and, fearful that they may have to sell the place, the nuns welcome Yolanda. Yolanda encounters an unusual religious life: a heroin-addicted lesbian Mother Superior, a soft porn writing nun, another into acid and one who wrestles tigers. Starring Carmen Maura, Christina S. Pascual, Julieta Serrano, and Chus Lampreave. What Have I Done to Deserve This? (1984) Early Almodovar black comedy, less farcical and melodramatic than his later works and much more of a social critique. Carmen Maura is Gloria, the embattled Spanish housewife trying to cope with her family in a tiny apartment. Her two sons have become drug addicts and taken to dealing, her taxi-driver husband is totally indifferent to her plight, her grouchy mother-in-law keeps a pet lizard and her friend and neighbour wants her to help in her prostitution service. Starring Carmen Maura, Gonzalo Suárez, Luis Hostalot, Ryo Hiruma, and Ángel de Andrés López. Law of Desire (1987) Set against the backdrop of mad, mad Madrid, this film swirls around an outrageous cast of characters. Our hero is absorbed in a cat-and-mouse game of obsessive love which before long entangles his trans-sexual brother/sister, a father/son detective team and a mother who makes the Spider Woman look tame. Almodovar brilliantly examines the idea and the attractions of absolute desire in this hilarious film. Starring Eusebio Poncela, Carmen Maura, Antonio Banderas, Miguel Molina, and Manuela Velasco. Women On The Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988) edro Almodovar directs this fast-moving, surreal farce of obsessive love. When Ivan jilts his long-time lover Pepa, she considers suicide, laces her gazpacho soup with barbituates and lets her flat. However, the tenants turn out to be Ivan's son and his girlfriend. Revelations pile up, weirder and weirder characters appear and meanwhile Ivan is flying off to Stockholm with yet another young girl. Starring Carmen Maura, Antonio Banderas, Fernando Guillén, Julieta Serrano, and Maria Barranco. Kika (1993) Black comedy from Pedro Almodovar about a make-up artist and her relationship with a philandering American writer living in Madrid. Features the usual roster of Almodovar comic stalwarts such as a rapist-thief, a narcoleptic son, a roving camerawoman voyeur, a lesbian housemaid and various transexuals, serial killers, porn stars and drug addicts - all whisked up into a gloriously immoral frothy sex comedy. Starring Peter Coyote, Verónica Forqué, Victoria Abril, Àlex Casanovas, and Rossy de Palma. The Flower of My Secret (1995) A woman who lives a double life finds that being a successful romantic novelist does not necessarily bring happiness. Her husband does not love her, her best friend seems distracted and her mother and sister are too busy bickering to notice that anything is wrong. She stops writing and finds solace in the bottle but finds an unlikely rescuer putting her on a collision course to a new emotional entanglement. Starring Marissa Paredes, Juan Echanove, Carmen Elias, Rossy De Palma, and Chus Lampreave. Source: Blu-ray.com | Permalink | [Country settings] Sort by popularity Sort by date RiFiFi1955 Jul 31, 2016 No Matador???? ambientcafe Jul 31, 2016 I'll wait til the next Almodovar collection, which will no doubt contain his later films ... notably my all-time favorite, the oscar-winning 'All About My Mother' (1999) Top contributor Octavio Jul 31, 2016 Great set. Hopefully they all will be region-free, but I doubt it. Gerby Jul 31, 2016 Shame on no Pepi Luci Bom or Matador but still 6 great films here. Definite purchase for me. Fat Phil Jul 31, 2016 Finally we're getting some more looooong awaited Almodovar on blu-ray. Cue the immediate whining..... "Where's _______!", Why wasn't this included!?", "I wanted _______!" Almodovar films not included in this set will appear on blu-ray. Most have been recently restored. You'll just have to wait a little longer. For now, there's the six films in this box set and it looks great. jimmybearlondon Jul 31, 2016 Shame it doesn't have Matador and Pepi Luci Bom so I can retire my old Almodovar DVD box sets (and indeed Labyrinth of Passion), but will definitely be getting this - long overdue some Almodovar on blu-ray in the UK, I can't survive on the newest ones alone! And my favourites (WHIDTDT and Law of Desire) are included, so very happy at that rootless Jul 31, 2016 Based on who released the blu-rays in Spain, Matador and Pepi's rights are not controlled by Almodovar's company, El Deseo, as all his other films do. montyb Jul 31, 2016 Could have easily made this a 12 or 16 film box set making it worthy of his fans. As is? Nah. These aren't his best. The best has yet to come on blu ray from this masterful filmmaker. Top contributor mrjohnnyb Jul 31, 2016 Releases like these are the reason I went region-free! I will most definitely be purchasing this! Dr_Bedlo Jul 31, 2016 YAY! pre-order, done! Top contributor jacobb1313 Jul 31, 2016 Beautiful looking set. Definitely will be getting this. sjt Jul 31, 2016 @dreamon-86 Therefore, not English-friendly. Rockercub Jul 31, 2016 These are great films, especially Law of Desire and Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, but I'm afraid of picking it up, only to find out a more comprehensive set is going to be released in the US. I'd really prefer to get something like the French set, but with English subtitles. WilsonBros Aug 01, 2016 @dreamon-86: renders it a bit of a chocolate tea-pot, then. Damn French with their forced subs, and their lack of other titles, and their stripy shirts, berets, and strings of onions whilst they casually have a baguette under one arm as they ride their bikes. OK, I'm finished now... JHolliday Aug 01, 2016 OMG I want this immediately! bwdowiak Aug 02, 2016 Nice to see so many posts here for Almodovar. I like to think that distributors sometimes peruse a site like this to get the pulse of what folks would be interested in. Criterion is supposed to be releasing something from him. Soon I hope... And I hope they see the feedback here. Jafar Aug 02, 2016 Drooooooool. CrockettandTubbs Aug 13, 2016 Didn't even know this was coming out. I've never seen an Almodovar film! A nice place to start, though. Add comment Please login to post a comment.

Strikeforce heavyweight Brett Rogers, who less than two weeks ago competed inside the cage, has been charged with third degree assault of his wife, MyFoxTwinCities reports. Brett Charles Rogers, 30, has been charged with assault in the third degree, domestic assault by strangulation and pattern of stalking conduct -- all felonies --in Dakota County. He was also charged with endangerment of a child, a gross misdameanor. His wife blacked out from being choked, suffered a golf ball sized wound on her face among smaller wounds. The couples daughter had tried to intervene after she saw Rogers strike her mother. Rogers admits he had been drinking before an argument broke out with he and his wife. He claims she punched him and he returned force. Rogers was arrested in the early morning hours Wednesday and his bail was set at $100,000. The charge he is under brings the following punishment if convicted, according to the State of Minnesota: Subdivision 1. Substantial bodily harm. Whoever assaults another and inflicts substantial bodily harm may be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than five years or to payment of a fine of not more than $10,000, or both. Per terms of his bail, which, according to the state has not been paid, Rogers cannot go within three miles of the residence and must have no contact with the victims, among other things. You can read the full criminal complaint here. Rogers (11-3) lost via second-round arm triangle choke to Josh Barnett at "Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum" two weeks ago and is perhaps best known for his 22 second knockout of Andrei Arlovski in 2009.

A national mobile exhibition that aims to stop Islamophobia has arrived in Saskatchewan. The travelling display is a campaign by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at community and it aims to educate non-Muslims about the sect. Brian Harris heard that the truck would be in town, so he made his way to the corner of Scarth Street and Victoria Avenue to see what it was all about. "I learned a little bit about this particular Muslim group and they seem to be about love," Harris said. Regina resident Brian Harris said he didn't know this was one of the fastest growing Muslim sects until he stopped by the Muslim Mobile. (Kirk Fraser) Harris said people should be careful of what they are influenced by, particularly in "the media." "There seems to be this tendency to equate Islam with bad things and that's just not true," he said. He left with a book in hand and planned to read more about the group. The trailer full of volunteers has been stopping in communities across Canada in an attempt to spread a positive message about Islam and clear up misconceptions about the faith. The Mobile Muslims will be taking off to Moose Jaw and then Saskatoon after they leave Regina. (Kirk Fraser) The van departed from Halifax on July 10 and arrived in Regina on Tuesday morning. Zeeshan Ahmed, the Imam for the Regina chapter of the organization, told CBC's The Afternoon Edition anyone with questions is encouraged to visit the trailer. "We want to clear this misconception; [to say] that Islam is no longer going to be hijacked by extremists," Ahmed said. "True Muslims that are peaceful by heart will actually spread the message of peace to our fellow Canadians and our fellow neighbours." The trailer will move from Victoria park to the front of the Cornwall Centre from noon to 6 p.m. "Without any hesitations, they can ask us any questions about Islam, about women's issues in Islam, about jihad," he said. Ahmed was born and raised in Toronto, and said he transferred to Regina only a week ago. Despite his fresh arrival in the Queen City, he already wanted to thank the community. These are some of the books that are on display with the Mobile Muslims. (Kirk Fraser) "The warm welcome and the warm hearts people have here, I really appreciate it," he said. "I'm loving it." There will also be a stop in Moose Jaw on Aug. 10, and Saskatoon on Aug. 11. "Loyalty to our nation is what our religion teaches us," Ahmed said. "Through this trailer, we are trying to show our loyalty to Canada and our thanks to Canada."

U.S. President Donald Trump affirmed his administration's commitment to NATO's defence on Thursday, while calling on Russia to end its "destabilizing" action in Ukraine and elsewhere in the world. Trump's reference to Article 5 of the NATO treaty, which commits alliance members to defend each other, represented a change of tone from the U.S. president, who upset allies by not mentioning support for the provision during a trip to NATO headquarters in May. "We stand firmly behind Article 5," Trump said during a speech — laced with warnings about the dangers faced by Western civilization — in Warsaw, Poland. CBC AT THE G20 | Trudeau heads to summit marked by widening Trump-Merkel rift But he again called on NATO members, most of which are in Europe, to meet their financial requirements under the terms of the alliance, which requires each of the 29 countries to spend two per cent of GDP on defence. "Europe must do more," Trump said. "Europe must demonstrate it believes in the future by investing money to secure that future." "The fundamental question of our time is whether the West has the will to survive. Do we have the confidence in our values to defend them at any cost?" Trump praised Poland for meeting its NATO commitments, and for its recent decision to purchase the U.S.-made Patriot missile defence system. Trump's speech focused on the threat posed by terrorism but appeared to include several veiled remarks about Russia, including references to the hardships Poland faced from the Soviet Union and a remark about the modern forms of aggression — "propaganda, financial crimes and cyber warfare" — now aimed at NATO. The crowd also cheered when Trump said securing access to new energy sources means Poland will "never again be held hostage to a single supplier of energy." Poland relies heavily on Russia for oil and gas, but a long-term contract for liquefied gas delivered from the U.S. could be signed "soon" according to Polish President Andrzej Duda. People wave Polish and U.S. flags during Trump's speech at Krasinski Square. (Carlos Barria/Reuters) Trump was more blunt when he condemned Moscow's role in Ukraine and the Middle East. "We urge Russia to cease its destabilizing activities in Ukraine and elsewhere and its support for hostile regimes including Syria and Iran, and to instead join the community of responsible nations in our fight against common enemies and the defence of civilization itself," he said, echoing remarks made earlier in the day during a joint news conference with Duda. His remarks come ahead of his first face-to-face meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Germany during the G20 summit on Friday. The Kremlin said in a statement it disagreed with Trump's initial comments and that it regretted a lack of understanding between Russia and the U.S. about expectations for their future relations. Trump also told reporters that the U.S. was working with Poland to address Russia's "destabilizing behaviour" in the region — remarks that prompted a rebuke from the Kremlin. U.S. President Donald Trump is greeted by Polish President Andrzej Duda as he visits Poland during the Three Seas Initiative Summit in Warsaw, Poland July 6. (Carlos Barria/Reuters) "We disagree with such an approach," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said during a conference call with reporters. Peskov said that the Kremlin also regretted a lack of understanding between Russia and the U.S. about expectations for their future relations. "This is exactly why we are waiting for the first meeting of the two presidents," said Peskov. Trump started his first day in Europe at the Royal Castle, welcomed by President Andrzej Duda and a vigorous handshake in front of a white marble bust of Stanislaw August Poniatowski, the last king of Poland. The leaders then retreated to a room decorated with red walls for their private talks.

GOP's Owner Adelson and Israel's PM Netanyahu Last week yet another Imperial progress to America by VDARE.com hero Benjamin Netanyahu wound up with meetings in New York, including a lunch hosted by GOP Owner Sheldon Adelson which was not well received in Israel: P M roasted for non-kosher meal with Adelson The Times of Israel September 30 2014 (H/T TOI for above picture. Current photographs of the two men together do not seem to be available.) However for some reason the most instructive moment of the trip went unreported by the American MSM and by the American Jewish media (which I read). So H/T to the remarkable website Failed Messiah for drawing my attention in Israel's Prime Minister Deceives About African Asylum Seekers to The question Netanyahu would prefer to duck by Anshel Pfeffer Haaretz Oct 2, 2014 As he addressed a friendly gathering of Jewish federation members in New York on Tuesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu probably didn’t expect to be put on the spot by a question Asked whether he was concerned that the imprisonment of “asylum seekers” would damage Israel’s international image, he responded sternly that “there is no asylum-seeker problem in Israel – they are illegal job immigrants.” He added that Israel, like every country, has the right to control its borders “We don’t have to open our doors to be swamped by the way other people run their economies,” he responded But less selfish observers will applaud Netanyahu for looking after his countrymen.

I’ve been looking forward to visiting my friends in Seattle since they moved there last year. I went to undergrad with Abby and Xander, and was friends with them independently before they started dating a few years ago. Last year they were living in Boston, because Xander is doing his Masters of Architecture at Harvard. This year Abby started her Urban Planning program in Seattle, forcing their relationship into a long-distance situation until he can join her out west next year. Xander and I have always had a special relationship. We see architecture and design from a perspective that is uncommon, with a strong emphasis on making, and a passion for working with our hands. When we hang out it’s a blur of shop talk and condescending remarks regarding high-design. We collaborate extremely well, and have plans to work together sometime down the road. I only get to see him a few times a year these days, so getting to spend time with him and Abby is one of the most important parts of my summer. Arriving in to town predictably late, exhausted and ready to pass out, Abby and Xander came out to embrace us in the street. We immediately went out to the nearest bar, and predictably closed it down. The next morning, we got a proper tour of Abby’s home. She lives in a fantastic little carriage house on the edge of a lush ravine, right in the middle of the city. Just north of the University District, Ravenna Park is like another world, completely hidden by vegetation from the surrounding urban environment. Abby’s home is built into the side of the ravine, with three levels facing the park. Their small back porch is almost entirely invisible to surrounding residences, resulting in a view that feels like their own private rain-forest. Abby is the only person I know who could have found this home and leased it before anyone else had a chance, and I’m glad she did. For our only full day in Seattle, Abby, the ever consummate host, had suggested a number of activities she couldn’t wait to share with us, mostly involving beer and sandwiches. She knows her audience well. Abby had to go to work, but she sent her roommate Katy as our guide. We took the bus on a tour of the city, driving through downtown and past the space needle. As much as I enjoyed the tour, the cherry on top was letting our new passengers enjoy the city from a new perspective. You see everything a little differently from the bus. Our destination was Georgetown, an industrial part of Seattle, with pockets of quirky intrigue. We managed to find a flat, freshly paved, completely empty parking lot for the bus. As Vince pulled the bus into the lot, he saw the remnant marks of burnouts on the blacktop and thought, “hey, that’s not a bad idea.” With little warning, Vince turned the wheel hard to the right, and pulled the bus into a surprisingly tight circle and held it. The rate and force of the spin caught us all off guard. The view out the rear of the bus was dizzying. We all fell to the port side of the bus and started giggling. After only a single loop he stopped. But after much pleading on our part he got back out there and did a few more. It was so much fun I’m going to have to start scoping out Target and Walmart parking lots when I get home. Bus donuts are just too much fun. Along what appeared to be a completely uneventful industrial avenue, we arrived at Georgetown Brewery. The brewery had a wonderfully clean industrial aesthetic that complimented the neighborhood and the beer. To our great surprise and pleasure, the “bar” was exclusively for sampling. Free sampling. Over the next hour and a half we steadily worked our way through tastings of their entire selection, and learned a great deal about the brewery. We were a complete distraction to Matt (which is possibly his name), who answered all of our inane questions and sometimes remembered to continue filling growlers as we chatted. By the time we finished working our way through all the draughts, it was getting close to the time Abby would be done with work, so we made our way back to the bus. In hindsight, we probably should have picked Abby up before we impulsively stopped to take a quick swim in the lake, but then it wouldn’t have been impulsive would it? That evening Abby took us to Paseo’s for the #2. The #2 is a pork sandwich with lettuce and onions. This sandwich, Abby promised me, was the best sandwich I would ever have. This is an extremely tall order, and she knows it. I love sandwiches. I could, and often do, eat a sandwich for every meal. As we waited for our order, we had just enough time to run across the street to the beach and watch the last slice of sun disappear behind the mountains. I’m sure it was magical, but I was hungry. The #2 was waiting. I’m not even sure how to describe this sandwich. I’m incapable. Perhaps the best way to describe this sandwich is that I did not speak for 15 minutes as I enjoyed each precious bite, then sat with my head in my hands, not sure how to process what had just happened. For any of you that know me, you understand that this is unheard of. To find me without words is like finding a unicorn in the wild and riding it’s rainbowy mane off into the sunset. As I sat there in shock, head in my greasy hands, I looked up to see a large piece of pork sitting in front of me. The wave of emotions that washed over me was complex and overwhelming. In a single moment I felt joy, excitement, and gratitude. That piece of pork was not there before, I can assure you. It was a gift. Someone had parted with their pork morsel, knowing that as I sat there in the afterglow, I was wondering if I would ever taste that sandwich again. When the gift-pork caught my eye I did a double take, and my head fell back into my hands, on the verge of tears. When I was ready, I picked it up, and savored just a few more bites. It was a beautiful moment, and a sign of true friendship. Thank you Justin. And Abby? You were right. Our last stop this evening was Gas Works Park. Gas Works sits on a former industrial site on the north end of Lake Union, and hosts the most spectacular view of the Seattle skyline. A rusting pile of machinery several stories tall sits quarantined, on display to decay indefinitely, next to a gently sloping grassy hill, dotted with friends, families, and couples enjoying an unobstructed view of the shimmering city lights over the water. There was a nostalgic energy in the air. It was one of those fleeting moments you try to hold on to. Many people were saying goodbye that night. The next morning bus was headed south, Abby and Xander were headed east, and Katy was flying to Holland. We laughed, told stories, and rolled down the hill in a fit of giggles. We absorbed what we could. The Pacific Northwest holds a strange place in my heart. Four years ago as I applied to Masters of Architecture programs, having spent my entire life from birth through college in the midwest, I knew graduate school may be one of my last chances to get out. I was tired of Midwestern winters; tired of ‘Minnesota Nice’. I was tired of living in flyover country, and was desperate for a fresh perspective. I had returned a year earlier from my first experience abroad, spending 10 months in Western Europe. In the months following my return I collapsed into a funk. Home wasn’t the same. Graduate school was an opportunity to start fresh. It would give me direction in a time when I was floundering, and provide the community that can be so challenging to find when you decide to call a new place home. If I was going to start putting down roots anywhere other than Minneapolis, I knew it would be in the northwest. It was like the midwest, but a step up. More urban, more environmentally minded, more food carts. No snow. The first and last time I was in the northwest, I had already applied to graduate programs at the University of Washington and the University of Oregon. I was on a week long road trip with my roommate to visit the schools I hoped would be my own. Days before the journey started, I had received a rejection letter from Seattle. It hurt, but Portland was still a possibility. As we travelled between Seattle and Portland, I got a call from my best friend, Xander. He had just been accepted to the graduate architecture program at Harvard. I was ecstatic. And I was crushed. I couldn’t have been happier for him, and ultimately I knew that is was good news for both of us, but I had this sinking feeling I wouldn’t have my own chance to experience the excitement he was feeling that day. Shortly after the trip, I received a rejection letter from Oregon. In what seemed like an impossibility, I had been rejected from every school I applied (including three others across the states), except my home institution. I can’t complain about where my life has taken me. I have a passion, a bit of direction, and incredible friends and family who support me along the way. But that can’t erase how hard it was to watch my best friend go to the nation’s premiere institution while I stayed home. There’s something bittersweet about visiting some of my best friends in the city I longed to live in. But maybe it’s not over yet. Again my life is at a point where I have little responsibility, and I could start fresh. The northwest has a lot to offer, and I’m not ready to rule it out. I may be back.

Winter storms create a higher risk of car accidents, hypothermia, frostbite, carbon monoxide poisoning, and heart attacks from overexertion. Winter storms and blizzards can bring extreme cold, freezing rain, snow, ice, and high winds. A winter storm can: Last a few hours or several days; Knock out heat, power, and communication services; and Place older adults, young children, and sick individuals at greater risk. IF YOU ARE UNDER A WINTER STORM WARNING, FIND SHELTER RIGHT AWAY Stay off roads. Stay indoors and dress warmly. Prepare for power outages. Use generators outside only and away from windows. Listen for emergency information and alerts. Look for signs of hypothermia and frostbite. Check on neighbors. HOW TO STAY SAFE WHEN A WINTER STORM THREATENS: Prepare NOW Know your area’s risk for winter storms. Extreme winter weather can leave communities without utilities or other services for long periods of time. Prepare your home to keep out the cold with insulation, caulking, and weather stripping. Learn how to keep pipes from freezing. Install and test smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors with battery backups. Pay attention to weather reports and warnings of freezing weather and winter storms. Sign up for your community’s warning system. The Emergency Alert System (EAS) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Weather Radio also provide emergency alerts. Gather supplies in case you need to stay home for several days without power. Keep in mind each person’s specific needs, including medication. Do not forget the needs of pets. Have extra batteries for radios and flashlights. Create an emergency supply kit for your car. Include jumper cables, sand, a flashlight, warm clothes, blankets, bottled water, and non-perishable snacks. Keep the gas tank full. Learn the signs of, and basic treatments for, frostbite and hypothermia. Survive DURING Stay off roads if at all possible. If trapped in your car, then stay inside. Limit your time outside. If you need to go outside, then wear layers of warm clothing. Watch for signs of frostbite and hypothermia. Avoid carbon monoxide poisoning. Only use generators and grills outdoors and away from windows. Never heat your home with a gas stovetop or oven. Reduce the risk of a heart attack. Avoid overexertion when shoveling snow. Watch for signs of frostbite and hypothermia and begin treatment right away. Check on neighbors. Older adults and young children are more at risk in extreme cold. RECOGNIZE AND RESPOND Frostbite causes loss of feeling and color around the face, fingers, and toes. Signs: Numbness, white or grayish-yellow skin, firm or waxy skin Actions: Go to a warm room. Soak in warm water. Use body heat to warm. Do not massage or use a heating pad. Hypothermia is an unusually low body temperature. A temperature below 95 degrees is an emergency. Signs: Shivering, exhaustion, confusion, fumbling hands, memory loss, slurred speech, or drowsiness Actions: Go to a warm room. Warm the center of the body first—chest, neck, head, and groin. Keep dry and wrapped up in warm blankets, including the head and neck. Associated Content

Ever since WikiLeaks began releasing once-private messages from Hillary Clinton campaign chief John Podesta, people have had even more hard evidence of the mainstream media’s support for and collusion with Democratic Party operatives and campaigns. One recent example shows CNBC’s Becky Quick -- the co-host of the channel’s popular show Squawk Box and a co-moderator with John Harwood at a 2015 Republican primary debate -- promising to support Sylvia Mathews Burwell, who had just been named the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. According to an article on the Breitbart.com website by Justin Haskins, executive editor of The Heartland Institute, “Quick’s pledge came in response to an email that appears to have been sent by Erskine Bowles, the former president of the University of North Carolina and the former chairperson of President Barack Obama’s National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform.” In the April 11, 2014, email, Haskins noted, Bowles wrote to Quick to praise Burwell in the wake of the negative news coverage surrounding the appointment: I listen to some of the talk today about Sylvia’s move to HHS. As you may recall, I picked Sylvia and John Podesta to be my two deputy chiefs of staff. I picked Sylvia not only because she is brilliant, ... nice, informed and smart, but most importantly to me, she knows how to run a large organization and run it effectively. Regardless of your politics, any American should be glad that the president picked someone so competent to head such a critically important agency. Less than three minutes later, Quick promised to “defend” Burwell. “Thanks so much for the note -- anyone with your recommendation is good by me,” wrote Quick. “Wish I’d seen this earlier while we were still blabbering! I’m out the first two days of next week but will make sure to defend her when things get further along in the nomination process.” Bowles later forwarded those emails to Podesta, who thanked him by writing: “This will help a lot, and I think at the end of the day most of these senators will come through. … At any rate, thanks for coming [through] as you always do." “Burwell has faced much controversy since being named secretary of Health and Human Services, a position she continues to hold, primarily because of her role as the chief defender of the Affordable Care Act,” Haskins stated. “Quick, who is also the anchorwoman of CNBC’s On the Money, is married to Matt Quayle, an influential executive producer at CNBC,” the author noted. “She has previously worked as a reporter for The Wall Street Journal and as a columnist for Fortune.” Quick’s pledge to protect Burwell on CNBC came soon after other reports of media bias surfaced, also thanks to emails discovered through WikiLeaks’ Podesta database. In a report posted on Wednesday by the Fox News Channel under the title "Bias Alert," the WikiLeaks documents are described as “shining a light on the cozy and often improper relationship key members of the press,” including such “eyebrow-raising revelations” as “advance notice of debate questions, the promise coverage and even editorial control over stories.” “We have had her tee up stories for us before and have never been disappointed,” a January 2015 memo said of former Politico and current New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman. “Clinton campaign officials have not denied the authenticity of the emails,” the article indicated, “but have sought to blame Russia for supplying the ... correspondence to the 'hacktivist' group WikiLeaks and have warned that they could be doctored.” In an email posted on Tuesday, the people behind WikiLeaks declared: “Journalism is at an end if press let the Clinton campaign endlessly get away with dodging questions using 'we were hacked' on every issue.” Also, Donna Brazile -- then a Cable News Network contributor but now acting head of the Democratic National Committee -- emailed members of the Clinton campaign to warn them about a question on the death penalty that would be asked at a debate with Bernie Sanders, her rival for the Democratic presidential nomination. In a statement released Tuesday afternoon, Brazile denied leaking questions: “I often shared my thoughts with each and every campaign, and any suggestions that indicate otherwise are completely untrue.” Podesta's emails “prove many in the mainstream media cannot be trusted to report fairly or accurately,” Haskins added. “Americans must realize this and seek sources of information that will present facts fairly and honestly.” “People should only trust hard news reporters who aren’t colluding closely with politicians and their closest advisers,” he stated. Haskins concluded his article by asking: “Is that really too much to ask for?”

The destructive effects of global deforestation have been well-documented. The leveling of rainforest in order to build plantations for the production of palm oil — the world's most widely used vegetable oil, found in thousands of the most commonly used consumer products — threatens the way of life of indigenous communities and the very existence of many of the most endangered species as well. Deforestation is also a significant contributor to climate change. “Tropical forests play a crucial role in stabilizing the earth's climate, storing vastly more carbon dioxide than forests in the world's temperate regions, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists: “A 2011 study estimated total carbon stored by the earth's tropical forests at 271 billion tons — that's about seven times the total carbon emissions from fossil fuel use in the year 2008.” Currently, about 11 percent of global greenhouse gases are emitted through deforestation and other land use. The dire state of the world's rainforests may be most pronounced in Indonesia, which “ranks third in total global greenhouse emissions — behind China and the United States — due to the uncontrolled clearing and burning of its rainforests and peatlands,” according to the Rainforest Action Network. The high price of convenience food The failure of large corporations in the packaged food, personal products and fast food industry sectors was documented by UCS earlier this year. Its Palm Oil Scorecard awarded only five of 30 corporations with a positive score. Not one of the 10 leading fast food companies received a positive score. But the Scorecard was published before this year's proxy season got underway. Last week, Ceres reported that “20 major international corporations have committed to set goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions or sustainably source palm oil.” The most recent corporation to join the growing movement toward deforestation-free palm oil sourcing is ConAgra, whose brands, the company stated, can be found in 99 percent of American households. Engagement following a shareowner resolution filed by Green Century Capital Management and the New York State Common Retirement Fund resulted in the company agreeing to eliminate from its supply chain any palm oil supplier engaged in deforestation. “The rampant deforestation for palm oil has captured public attention, creating real reputational risks for companies that use the ingredient in their branded products,” Lucia von Reusner, Shareholder Advocate at Green Century, said. “With this commitment, ConAgra has sent a strong signal to its investors, suppliers and the market at large that destroying tropical forests for palm oil is unacceptable business practice.” Cargill ups its commitment to better palm oil Shortly before the investors' engagement with ConAgra ended successfully, Greenpeace International announced that Cargill — the largest importer of palm oil into the U.S. — announced its commitment “to break the link between its palm oil and deforestation, peat destruction and social exploitation.” “Cargill's policy, which is effective immediately, comes on the heels of the Sustainable Palm Oil Manifesto announcement last week,” Greenpeace reported. “But while a number of the big palm oil producers that are part of SPOM held off on real actions, Cargill's policy is explicit in its pledge to implement the existing High Carbon Stock Approach (PDF). This is a critical step to ensure that Cargill's supply chain will break its links to deforestation, as it adds carbon stocks as one of the criteria that must be considered when planning the use of the land.” Noting that Cargill's agreement “lacks clearer targets for compliance, along with plans for independent verification,” Greenpeace stated that it would continue to monitor the company's progress. Top image of Swiss Miss hot chocolate mix by m01229 via Flickr. This article first appeared at Social Funds.

Story highlights The sheriff says investigators do not believe the boy has been harmed "Pray, pray," he tells reporters Authorities get coloring books, crayons and medicine to the captive boy, legislator says A gunman is holding the 6-year-old hostage in an underground bunker Neighbors of Jimmy Lee Dykes say he was supposed to have been in court on Wednesday, facing charges that he'd shot at them during a December argument over the dirt road that separated their properties. Instead, he was holed up in an underground bunker dug into his yard, surrounded by sheriff's deputies, state troopers and police. Also inside the bunker, authorities say, is a 6-year-old boy seized from a school bus at gunpoint Tuesday afternoon. The bus driver, 66-year-old Charles Poland Jr., was shot and killed, but school officials said Wednesday he saved 21 other children on board. Authorities have not released the name of the suspected gunman. But neighbors Jimmy Davis and his mother, Claudia Davis, identified him as Dykes, as have news outlets around Midland City, about 90 miles south of Montgomery. Investigators have communicated with the suspect through a length of PVC pipe that extends out of the bunker. They've sent down coloring books and crayons for the child, state Rep. Steve Clouse said. They've also sent prescription medicine for the boy, who suffers from Asperger's syndrome and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, he said. JUST WATCHED Bus driver shot; students 'in shock' Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Bus driver shot; students 'in shock' 01:04 Charles Poland was fatally shot in Alabama Tuesday. The boy's family is "holding on by a thread," Clouse said. They do not know Dykes, according to Clouse, who has been speaking with the family. Investigators are still communicating with the suspect and "have no reason to believe that the child has been harmed," Dale County Sheriff Wally Olson said Wednesday evening. "Pray, pray," Olson told reporters. Jimmy Davis told CNN he'd spotted the hole Dykes was digging on his property when Dykes moved in down the road from him. The 65-year-old Dykes was friendly and welcoming, and said the hole was being dug as a storm shelter. Davis, who works a night shift, said Dykes worked on his bunker in the middle of the night -- every other night, between 2 and 3 a.m., for a year-and-a-half. Davis was in the process of moving out in December when his truck -- hauling a trailer -- dug ruts into the dirt speed bump Dykes had built up across the road, Claudia Davis told CNN. Dykes "got mad about what he saw" and stopped their truck to complain as they returned, she said. Jimmy Davis says Dykes was standing by the side of the road, yelling and cursing at them, as they approached. He says he tried to calm the man down, but Dykes ran to his nearby van and got a pistol. Claudia Davis said Dykes fired two shots at the truck -- which also carried her 6-month-old granddaughter -- as it sped away. Jimmy Davis swore out a complaint related to the incident against Dykes in December. Dykes was supposed to appear in court Wednesday in nearby Ozark to face a charge of menacing, a misdemeanor that carries penalties of up to six months in jail, according to the Davises. Tuesday's standoff began about 3:40 p.m. (4:40 p.m. ET) near a church in Midland City. Authorities have since expanded an evacuation area in an effort to protect nearby residents. Michael Senn, a local pastor, told CNN affilliate WSFA that he spoke to several students who had been on the bus. He said a girl described the shooter getting aboard. "He told most of them to get off the bus," Senn related. "And then he grabbed a little boy and shot the bus driver four times." Donny Bynum, the superintendent of Dale County schools, said Poland had been a full-time bus driver for four years and was "well loved by all of us here." In a written statement Wednesday morning, he said Poland "gave his life to protect 21 students who are now home safely with their families." "Emotions are high, and it's a struggle for us all to make sense of something so senseless, but let us keep this young student, his family, and Mr. Poland's family in our thoughts and prayers," he said. Mike Creel, another neighbor, said some of the children who escaped the bus recounted that the suspect initially demanded two children. "The one child he got ahold of actually fainted," Creel told WSFA. "That was the reason he was able to grab him. And now he is hidden in his homemade bomb shelter."

The University of California at Santa Barbara has settled out of court with a group of pro-life activist students who were assaulted by a professor in early March. The incident in question happened on March 4, 2014 when a group of 13 pro-life demonstrators were on campus speaking to students about abortion and distributing educational literature. Mireille Miller-Young, a professor in the Department of Feminist Studies, saw the group and was “triggered” by their signs depicting abortion victims. "If there had been [an apology], it would have been an exercise in insincerity." Miller-Young approached the group with several pro-abortion students, stole one of the pro-life signs, and marched away. One of the pro-life students, Thrin Short, followed her. While attempting to get on an elevator with Miller-Young, Short was pushed and received scratches on her arm when Miller-Young grabbed her. The incident was caught on video. During the video, Miller-Young can be heard saying, “I may be a thief, but you’re a terrorist.” Thrin’s mother, Katie Short, is Vice President of Legal Affairs at the Life Legal Defense Foundation, which represented the students their lawsuit against the university, Miller-Young, and Miller-Young’s student accomplices. The details of the settlement have not been made public. However, LifeNews reports that the plaintiffs are “very satisfied” with the outcome. However, neither Miller-Young nor USCB has issued an apology to the students for the assault. Katie Short told LifeNews that she “views the absence of an apology as a plus” because, in her words, “[i]f there had been, it would have been an exercise in insincerity.” “By not apologizing, the University demonstrates that it has no problem, in principle, with a professor who commits crimes like this on campus, as long as it’s done for the ‘right’ reason,” she said. Short added that the settlement sends “warnings to pro-abortion faculty and staff at campuses around the country who might be tempted to interfere with the exercise of free speech by groups they disagree with.” Follow the author of this article on Twitter: @JMietus

For many Canadians, the outcome of the United States presidential election came as a profound shock. Trump’s campaign, as inarticulate and venal as it was, tapped into important and deeply rooted realities — realities that may contain lessons for Canada too. Does Canada need to worry about the same festering malaise that has become so dramatically evident in American politics? Powerful international data on income inequality offer significant insights. Branko Milanovic, a leading economist, has been producing some of the best research on world income inequality, drawing on detailed data from his years at the World Bank. Milanovic has produced a remarkable graph — he calls it his “elephant graph” for the shape it takes. It includes income distribution data from almost all of the world’s 200 countries and asks a simple question: How much have individuals’ incomes grown between 1988 and 2008? To answer this question, Milanovic divided each country’s population into smaller groups, determined each group’s income measured in standardized U.S. dollars in 1988, and then sorted them in increasing order of their income. In other words, the world’s population has been ranked from poorest to richest, regardless of nationality. The graph then shows how much each group’s incomes grew over the two decades from 1988 to 2008. The global average income growth for all the income groups was about 25 per cent, about two per cent real growth per year. Not bad. But these improvements were very far from being evenly distributed. Among the bottom fifth of the world’s population, incomes grew at rates between 20 and 40 per cent — lifting hundreds of millions out of poverty. Incomes around the mid-point of the world’s income spectrum grew twice as fast over this two-decade period, at 80 per cent. This growth signals dramatic improvements in living standards for many living in what we used to call the less-developed world, and it reflects the emergence of a much larger middle class in many countries. This is all very good news. Our pattern of income growth and inequality largely mirrors what is happening globally: dramatic income growth at the top, with only modest gains lower down the income spectrum. Our pattern of income growth and inequality largely mirrors what is happening globally: dramatic income growth at the top, with only modest gains lower down the income spectrum. But there is a dramatic drop in the income growth rates for individuals in the upper ranges — except at the very top. Those whose incomes placed them in the top 75 to 85 per cent hardly saw any income growth at all, and those whose incomes are in the top 85th to 95th percentiles of the world’s population saw their incomes grow by only 10 to 15 per cent over a 20 year period — almost stagnant. For the top five per cent of income recipients, income growth was above 20 per cent. Among the top one per cent of the world’s population income growth tracked at a staggering 60 per cent, or more. So who exactly are these winners and losers? Milanovic’s analysis places the newly emerging Chinese middle class at the peak of this curve (near the elephant’s head), with a growth rate in their incomes hovering around a dramatic 80 per cent. At the trough of the income growth curve you’ll find the U.S. lower-middle class — many of Trump’s core supporters — who’ve essentially seen zero growth in their incomes. In other words, the Chinese middle class has blossomed economically while working class America has stagnated. Where does Canada fit on the curve? Canada is very well-off in global terms; even those in our lowest income groups have an average income well above that of most of the world’s population. Unpublished data provided to me by Professor Milanovic show that Canada’s median incomes would put us at about the 93rd percentile of the world’s income distribution. From this view, it may seem that Canadians should have no complaints. But look more closely and there is cause for concern. Our pattern of income growth and inequality largely mirrors what is happening globally: dramatic income growth at the top, with only modest gains lower down the income spectrum. The bottom three-fifths of Canadian families saw their incomes grow by nine to 15 per cent over this same 20-year period. The second highest fifth did a little better, with their income growing by 19 per cent. The top fifth saw their incomes expand by 35 per cent, two to three times as much growth as those in the bottom 60 per cent. There is some comfort. Canada’s degree of income inequality is considerably less than that of the U.S. We have stronger social safety nets, greater longevity and significantly more equitable education. But in this global context, we cannot afford to be complacent. Without more vigorous actions to counteract increasing inequality among Canadians, we risk encouraging the same kinds of resentment and malaise here. The views, opinions and positions expressed by all iPolitics columnists and contributors are the author’s alone. They do not inherently or expressly reflect the views, opinions and/or positions of iPolitics.

Former US Senate candidate Mark Dankof said that the Å“reckless foreign policy” of the United States could lead to a Third World War. He made the remarks as tensions continue to rise between Washington and Moscow over US leaker Edward Snowden. Å“The Obama administration needs to be less concerned about Mr. Snowden and quite a bit more concerned about its own administrationâ„¢s attacks on the Constitution of the United States, the Bill of Rights of this country and its ongoing participation in a reckless foreign policy with Israel that could very well lead to a Third World War,” he told Press TV on Wednesday. On Wednesday, the White House announced that President Barack Obama canceled his plans to meet with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in September. The decision was made after Moscow granted asylum to Snowden, who is charged with espionage for leaking US government spying programs. The US president on Tuesday said that he was “disappointed” by Moscowâ„¢s decision to harbor the American whistleblower. Dankof said that in addition to running domestic surveillance programs to sweep up phone and Internet data on US citizens, the National Security Agency (NSA) has cooperated with Israel to create Stuxnet virus to attack Iranian nuclear centrifuges. Å“We are getting a much better picture of whatâ„¢s been going on with the NSA for quite some period of time as a result of Mr. Snowdenâ„¢s revelations,” he said. Å“There is an emerging global consensus that is shared by many Americans domestically in the United States that we have both at the NSA specifically and the American national security establishment generally, a rogue element that needs to be stopped.” The NSAâ„¢s global surveillance programs as revealed by Snowden also include spying on Americaâ„¢s European allies, in particular Germany, as well as some Latin American states. AGB/HJ …read more Republished from: Press TV

Another week, another new deck! The idea for this week’s deck was basically to put a lot of the cards that I’ve found annoying to play against recently all into one deck. This includes Guy (very annoying when using Ice/Lightning), Cecil + Fusoya (can basically kill anything), and Raubahn (just a great card). There was also one card in particular that I wanted to test out, and that’s the forward version of Rydia. Since I was planning on playing at least nine summons, I thought it fairly likely that I’d be able to use her special ability to clear the field of small characters. Here’s the deck that I went with: MONO EARTH Forwards (22) 3x Cecil (1-108H) 3x Dark Knight (1-092C) 3x Gabranth (2-081L) 3x Guy (1-097H) 3x Rydia (2-094H) 3x Scarmiglione (2-085H) 2x Serafie (1-109R) 2x Warrior of Antiquity (2-074C) Backups (19) 2x Enna Kros (1-095R) 2x Evoker (1-105C) 1x Fusoya (2-146H) 2x Geomancer (1-115C) 3x Machinist (2-083C) 2x Monk (2-089C) 1x Mustadio (1-118R) 3x Raubahn (2-093H) 2x Shantotto (1-107L) 1x Tama (1-111C) Summons (9) 3x Carbuncle (2-080C) 3x Golem (1-106C) 3x Titan (1-110C) MATCH ONE vs ALEX (FIRE/WATER) We had a very cagey opening to our match, which suits me fine as I’m aiming to get a lot of backups into play as quickly as possible with this deck. I took some early damage, but after four or five turns the board state was slightly in my favour (I’d already got rid of one Warrior of Light via Mustadio). Through Machinist, Raubahn, and some Golem shenanigans, I quickly started to dominate the match. Enna Kros really helped things out, as it made Guy 9000 power and something of an unstoppable force. My opponent got a Tellah into play, but I’d been holding onto a Titan for most of the game, so I wasn’t worried. Guy pretty much solo’ed the match for me. WIN MATCH TWO vs AARON (EARTH/WATER) After several turns of back-and-forth, this board state was like this. He’d got the Cecil + Fusoya combo, which meant I was going to have a bad time. After a few turns of just staring at each other, he attacked with Cecil and I used Machinist to try and get rid of him. I was worried about a Titan, but it never came. Soon after, the board looked like this. Ultimecia is a massive pain, but again, I had Guy + Enna Kros, so I just kept attacking (I had Titan and Golem in hand, so I was confident my attacks would prove favourable). Gabranth made an apperance, and with only needing one more damage to win, I was able to secure victory. WIN MATCH THREE vs LIAM (EARTH/WATER) I’m not totally sold on Serafie, but in this match I was able to play her for free (I returned the forward I’d use to pay for her to my hand, and my opponent didn’t have any forwards in their break zone to return). This is my early board state, and as you can see, I’ve got Cecil + Fusoya. I got rid of Cloud and proceeded to start causing damage. My opponent got Vincent into play, but with the aforementioned combo, he was quickly broken (just after he’d nuked my field with his special; I saved Cecil with Titan). My opponent managed to get rid of my Dark Knight and Serafie, but a cheeky Scarmiglione played during my opponent’s turn started piling on the damage. The picture above is just before it goes into my final turn, and I use the Cecil/Fusoya combo to break yet another Cloud. WIN MATCH FOUR vs SAM (EARTH/FIRE) After mulligan, I had an opening hand of no backups, so I dropped Guy into play turn one, hoping to squeeze some damage out of him. This proves to be the case, and I get an early damage lead. After a few more turns, I’ve got a couple of backups into play, most notably Enna Kros. However, my opponent has several good-quality forwards. Thanks to my damage lead, and a few earth shenanigans, I’m able to brute-force a win with Guy and Rydia. WIN MATCH FIVE vs LYNDON (ICE/LIGHTNING) During this match I was going to learn the full extent of just how annoying Kuja is. Anyway, I managed to open with a freebie Serafie, and soon followed with Machinist and Rydia. But sat opposite was Kuja, who can easily beat them in a fight. And a couple of lucky ex-burst effects from both of us, and the game grinds to a halt. Kuja attacked, dealt me a point of damage, and like the lucksack I am, revealed a Mustadio who promptly broke Kuja (it still cost me a card to do it though, damn you Kuja!). When I counterattacked with Serafie and Rydia, on the second point of damage my opponent revealed a Jihl Nabaat, freezing both of my forwards! I think I got the better end of the ex-bursts, but it definitely slowed things down. My opponent then played a Capricious Reaper (basically another Kuja…), so I used a Raubahn to break it (and lost another card). The damage was now 4-2 in my favour (although I did lose a copy of Guy to an ex-burst Odin). Amon enters the field and while it is a good card, I still outnumbered my opponent. However, between Amon and Time Mage, my opponent kept me under control for a while (although Amon did fall prey to a Machinist). This was my opponent’s last stand. Devout had been popped to bring back Capricious Reaper, but I was able to keep attacking and keep my forwards alive through the excellent earth summons. WIN MATCH SIX vs ZAK (WIND/LIGHTNING) This match I’m on the back foot to start, with my opponent taking the damage lead. However, a Mustadio and Fusoya, along with the ever-excellent Guy, help me start to bring things under control. The star of this match was without a doubt, Rydia. I used her special ability twice (thanks to earth summons) combined with Fusoya, to break three forwards each time. Losing six forwards in a few turns is crippling to anyone. Rydia, Guy, and Scarmiglione, managed to keep up the pressure and close out the match. WIN FINAL STANDINGS Rank Player Wins 1st Tim 6 2nd Lyndon 5 3rd Alex 4 4th Zak 3 5th Liam 2 6th Aaron 1 7th Sam 0 WHAT WORKED WELL? Lots of things! But let’s start with Guy. He was a consistently good forward all tournament. Brave and 8000 power for 4CP is already pretty good, and his resitance to being dulled makes him a constant attacker. Titan was amazing, but that is kinda obvious really. So many situations where this card is useful; protecting against cards like Odin, and also blocking into what would normally be a trade, but not dying instead. Machinist was fantastic. There are so many good four-cost forwards that this card has no shortage of targets. Cecil (and Fusoya) was a great combo to have in the deck. Individually, the cards are good, but together they are scary. Enna Kros really gave my forwards the edge so many times that I’d nearly consider playing these types of backups in non-mono decks. I’d definitely always include Maria if I was playing wind. Raubahn and Mustadio were both important backups. I’d be tempted to change them to two of each, rather than the current 3-1 lineup, but apart from that they were fine. WHAT DIDN’T WORK OUT WELL? Geomancer was definitely filler, and I think that I’ll swap the two copies for another Tama and Monk. I didn’t ever get the chance to use Carbuncle, so I can’t really comment on its effectiveness. You might assume that because I didn’t use it for its ability that that would be a damning indictment, but I never had cause to use Shantotto either, and there’s no way that isn’t a useful card. I’m not sure about Warrior of Antiquity. Because it costs 3CP, it sits in an awkward place. I’d be tempted to switch them out for a couple of legendary Vincent, as he can cause an opponent some real headaches. WINNING DECKLIST This week it was mine! However, upon reflection I’d make the following changes: Remove: 2x Geomancer (1-115C) 1x Raubahn (2-093H) 2x Warrior of Antiquity (2-074C) Add: 1x Monk (2-089C) 1x Mustadio (1-118R) 1x Tama (1-111C) 2x Vincent (2-077L) SUMMARY Very happy with how the deck performed, and was a little surprised by it’s overall effectiveness. It had more backups that I’m used to playing (I usually max-out at sixteen backups), and wanted to get them into play relatively quickly. Compared to my usual style, this was very different. Anyway, that’s all for now, I hope you enjoyed the report. Cheers! Advertisements

RIO DE JANEIRO -- Yushin Okami went 13-5 inside the Octagon, but the UFC decided to cut the former middleweight title challenger following a devastating first-round knockout loss to Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza at UFC Fight Night 28. UFC president Dana White explained to the media during the UFC 168 media day that he decided to release the Japanese fighter because he "became the gatekeeper." "Yushin Okami has been there forever and I’ve said many times I have nothing but respect for Yushin Okami," White told the media on Sunday. "He's one of the best Japanese fighters ever. But a guy gets to a point where he becomes the gatekeeper." Prior to his loss to "Jacare", Okami was riding a three-fight win streak over the likes of Hector Lombard and Alan Belcher, but that wasn’t enough to keep his contract with the UFC. "It's time for Yushin Okami to go out and test himself outside of the UFC, get some wins and maybe come back," he said. "Yushin Okami had every opportunity in the world, taking on all the best. He even got a title shot and didn't win. It is what it is. It's no different than the NFL, soccer or any other sport." Asked if the decision to cut Okami was related to his fight purse, White denied the move was a financial one. "I don't know what we paid Yushin," White said, "but it had nothing to do with his numbers, what he was being paid."

Are the Winnipeg Jets the most disappointing NHL team this season? Many expected the team to at least be in the playoff race, and even make the post-season, but they’ve struggled to string together win streaks. The players at the top have been excellent, but the depth and goaltending has been a big concern. The front office is usually conservative in how it adds/subtracts from the roster, but it feels like the time is near for another big splash move to fix those concerns. The Jets aren’t out of it yet, but they need continued excellence from their top players and much improvement from the bottom of the lineup in the second half. Here’s how we’re grading the lineup. Forwards Mark Scheifele, A-plus The ascension of the seventh overall pick of the 2011 draft to No. 1 centre status started in the back half of last season after he returned from an upper-body injury. Scheifele finished with 37 points in his last 33 games of 2015-16 and when Bryan Little went down in late-February Scheifele really excelled in increased minutes and posted 27 points in 21 games. He’s maintained that workload this season and has kept up the scoring pace, holding down a top 10 position in the league-wide race with 20 goals and 43 points in 45 games. Patrik Laine, A-plus So far, Laine has lived up to every bit of the hype that surrounded his entry to the NHL. Compared to Alex Ovechkin in his specific ability to score goals, Laine was leading all rookies with 21 goals and 37 points in 42 games before he sustained a concussion. And he’s already provided a few memorable moments, not least of which was the OT winner he scored against the Leafs, which came immediately after his rookie rival Auston Matthews missed a chance at the other end of the rink. The goal also gave Laine a hat trick. Blake Wheeler, A Winnipeg’s first line has been tremendous this season, but don’t discount how important Wheeler’s role on the second line has been. He may not be on pace for another 78-point season (a career high), but he should end up in the mid-to-high 60s again. Wheeler is second to Scheifele in average TOI, but gets more time on the penalty kill. He’s the most well-rounded forward on the team and is the best possession driver on the Jets, as the team gets 54.63 per cent of all shots taken when he’s on the ice. Nikolaj Ehlers, B-plus Maybe I’m a tough marker, but Ehlers’ slow start is going to dock him some marks. With 15 goals and 40 points in 48 games, Ehlers has already bettered his offensive totals from his rookie season. He’s much improved in how he attacks off the rush and gets chances from the slot, but how much of that is him and how much of it has to do with the fact he plays on a line with Scheifele and Laine (when healthy)? Ehlers surely is the third target to defend. Still, he is taking advantage of being on that line and producing at a great rate — we’ll see in the second half just how sustainable it is. Bryan Little, B-plus A long-time member of the Thrashers-Jets franchise, Little has become somewhat of a forgotten man, especially as Scheifele has usurped his standing as the top-line centre. But he’s been a fairly steady producer and driver of offence over the years and is a nice complement on the second line now. With a 54.28 Corsi percentage, Little is second on the Jets to Wheeler in that regard and despite missing some time due to injury, the 19 points in 25 games he’s posted is one of the better scoring paces he’s had in his career. Mathieu Perreault, B A versatile forward who the Jets have used in the top six, bottom six, wing and centre. That versatility is what makes him valuable, but his offence has struggled this season. On pace for 28 points in 68 games, that would be one of the worst seasons production-wise in his career. But he is one of just six Jets forwards with a positive effect on shot generation. Adam Lowry, B-minus The 23-year-old averages the most shorthanded time on ice per game on the Jets and has played the fifth-most penalty-kill minutes among all NHL forwards. He’s already scored as many goals as he did all of last season (seven), and leads all Jets forwards in hits and blocked shots. Lowry is a stereotypical bottom-six, physical forward and he’s playing that role well. Joel Armia, C-plus The 23-year-old will never live up to his billing as a scorer picked 16th overall in 2011, but he’s at least earned more of a role on the Jets and over the past month or so he’s been starting to get it. Armia is earning the most ice time and shorthanded ice time of his career and has a positive effect on shot rates with a 50.88 SF% at even strength. He won’t have immense offensive upside, but he’s the kind of bottom-six forward the Jets could use more of right now. Nic Petan, C To be fair, Petan hasn’t been bad — the Jets get more shots than they allow when he’s on the ice. After missing October, Petan had a pretty good November, posting seven points in 13 games and earning a fair amount of minutes. But he went down to injury, missed most of December and hasn’t yet recovered, scoring just four points in 14 games in minor minutes. Will get a better indication of where his game is at in the second half. Shawn Matthias, C He has strong possession numbers, with the Jets getting 57.3 per cent of all shots on net at 5-on-5 when he’s on the ice, and while his eight points in 23 games don’t jump off the page, the pace is one of the better ones in his career. The problem is he missed nearly two months of the season and while he’s scored four goals and five points since returning, his shooting percentage is wholly unsustainable. Andrew Copp, D-plus A 22-year-old in his second full season, Copp has seen an increase in minutes both at 5-on-5 and on the penalty kill. But his offensive game is pretty much non-existent and on Wednesday he scored his first goal and point in more than a month. Perhaps he develops into a defensively responsible bottom-sixer, but for now his lack of a two-way game is a microcosm of what the problem is with Winnipeg’s depth players. Chris Thorburn, D Look, no one should be surprised at what the 33-year-old Thorburn is — a physical presence who doesn’t score many points or really get much special teams time. But his hit rates are dropping and his shot generation rate is one of the worst on the team. He’s in the last year of a contract that pays him $1.2 million this season. It’s hard to believe the team hasn’t found anyone more capable of a depth role than Thorburn over the decade they’ve had him. Drew Stafford, F Remember when Stafford, now 31, scored 31 goals and 52 points in a season for Buffalo? After returning to 20-goal-man status last season, Stafford has struggled badly with just four goals in 33 games and the lowest average time on ice of his career. All while making $4.35 million against the cap! DEFENCE Dustin Byfuglien, A The most dynamic and important defenceman on the Jets’ roster, Byfuglien logs an average of 27:10 of ice time per game, third-most in the NHL. His point totals are on pace to drop a little this season, but he’s still the top scorer from Winnipeg’s blueline and top 10 at the position league wide. The Jets are both more likely to score when he’s on the ice, and give up a goal but the good far outweighs the bad. Still, with the massive responsibility on him, Byfuglien is a key contributor. Jacob Trouba, A Since returning to the Jets’ lineup in November after a contract stalemate, Trouba has been logging major minutes and become the most important blueliner on the penalty kill. Tyler Myers‘ injury certainly put Trouba in this position, as he’s settled in nicely on the right side with Tobias Enstrom — his preferred position. Despite missing the first month of the season, Trouba could still take a run at a career-high season in offensive numbers. Does this set him up for the trade he’s been after, or make it harder for the Jets to part with him? Josh Morrissey, B Drafted 13th overall in 2013, Morrissey was a big offensive generator in junior, scoring 73 points in 59 games in his last season with the Prince Albert Raiders. That part of his game has yet to shine in his rookie season, but on a pair with Byfuglien, it’s been more important for Morrissey and the Jets that he play a responsible defensive game. To his credit, the 21-year-old has been a pleasant surprise and consistent addition to the Jets’ back end. Tobias Enstrom, B-minus The long-time Thrashers-Jets defender is certainly in decline at 32 years old, and long gone are the days when he could post 10 goals and 50 points in a season. On special teams, Enstrom’s penalty kill minutes are way up, although that’s not a preferred situation. His possession numbers are still decent, though in decline, and may even be helped by having Trouba as his partner. Strangely, he’s already approaching the total number of PIMs he got all of last season and seems likely to set a career high there this season. He’s still a serviceable defenceman, but paying him $5.75 million against the cap this season and next is too high a price for what he brings these days. Paul Postma, C It would be unfair to give Postma a bad grade here, considering he averages the least amount of minutes on the Jets’ blue line (11:18) and is never used on the power play, where his terrific shot may be of benefit. Postma is rightly used as a third-pair defender, but that means he’s paired with players who are a drag on possession and not particularly effective on defence. Ben Chiarot, D The 25-year-old has the worst shots for/against metrics on the Winnipeg blue line and isn’t a strong enough skater to hang with most NHL lines. The Jets have a few issues with the roster, including depth on the blue line — and Chiarot is an example of a player they need to upgrade from. Mark Stuart, D-minus Not handing out an F because he’s only played 14 games, but it’s not good when a $2.65 million player is a preferred scratch. Tyler Myers, N/A No doubt a big part of the roster, Myers has been limited to just 11 games with injury so it’s hard to grade him. When he’s back in the lineup, it will create an interesting dynamic, as Myers would usually play in the spot Trouba is currently excelling in. GOALIES Connor Hellebuyck, C-minus Maybe it was unfair to put No. 1 duties on a 23-year-old with 26 games of NHL experience, but Hellebuyck had such a strong showing last season that he was expected to at least be good enough to give the Jets a chance. Instead, he’s played poorly enough that the team was forced to bring Ondrej Pavelec back up from the AHL. Hellebuyck, of course, may still be fine in the long run, but his disappointing .907 save percentage has muddied the optimistic outlook in Winnipeg’s net. Michael Hutchinson, C-minus The 25-year-old Hutchinson wasn’t ever going to be the team’s No. 1, but he was supposed to be a serviceable second option who could spell Hellebuyck with some quality backup starts and even push him through bad stretches. But with an .894 save percentage, Hutchinson is bottom-five in the NHL among goalies with at least 10 games played. Head coach Paul Maurice, C-plus: The Jets have definitely underperformed, but a lot of that has to do with their goalies which is hard to pin on the coach. But have enough adjustments been made here? The penalty kill remains among the league’s worst and the bottom-six forwards have been close to a disaster. Much of this has to do with the roster Maurice has been given to work with, but the defensive structure has been a problem at times. The front office sounds committed to him, but we need to improvement in the team’s execution before Maurice gets a “good” grade.

Resident Evil: The Final Chapter poster arrives guns blazing Screen Gems has revealed the first Resident Evil: The Final Chapter poster, featuring star Milla Jovovich coming out guns blazing. Check out the Resident Evil: The Final Chapter poster in the gallery below, and be sure to tune in tomorrow at 12 noon Pacific Time for a Milla Jovovich live chat on her official Facebook page! Jovovich will reprise her starring role as Alice in the film. The Resident Evil cast also includes Ali Larter (“Heroes,” Resident Evil: Afterlife) as Claire Redfield, Iain Glen (“Game of Thrones,” Resident Evil: Extinction) in the role of Dr. Alexander Isaacs, Shawn Roberts (Edge of Darkness, Resident Evil: Afterlife) as Albert Wesker, Australian actress Ruby Rose (“Orange Is the New Black”) as Abigail, Eoin Macken (“The Night Shift”) as Doc, Cuban American actor William Levy as Christian, Fraser James (“Law & Order: UK”) as Michael, and Japanese model and TV personality, Rola, as Cobalt. Based on Capcom’s hugely popular video game series comes the final installment in the most successful video game film franchise ever, which has grossed over $1 billion worldwide to date. Picking up immediately after the events in Resident Evil: Retribution, Alice (Milla Jovovich) is the only survivor of what was meant to be humanity’s final stand against the undead. Now, she must return to where the nightmare began – The Hive in Raccoon City, where the Umbrella Corporation is gathering its forces for a final strike against the only remaining survivors of the apocalypse. Resident Evil: The Final Chapter is produced by Jeremy Bolt, Paul W.S. Anderson, Robert Kulzer and Samuel Hadida. Martin Moszkowicz (Constantin Film) is the executive producer together with Victor Hadida (Metropolitan Films). Resident Evil: The Final Chapter will be distributed in the U.S. by Screen Gems in January 27, 2017. What do you think of the Resident Evil: The Final Chapter poster? Let us know in the comments below!

Video (46:25) : Keith Novak, 25, was arrested Wednesday at his home in Maplewood. Novak is accused of stealing names, social security numbers and security clearance levels of around 400 members of his former Army unit in Fort Bragg, N.C. Bevalee Ferguson knew the guy in the downstairs apartment collected guns, but she didn’t know he was potential trouble. She also knew he was an Army vet and a member of the Minnesota National Guard, but she didn’t know he was, according to federal allegations, a self-described “commander” of his own militia who stashed guns and ammo “throughout the state.” So when federal agents scoured Keith Michael Novak’s Maplewood apartment for four hours Wednesday looking for evidence that he had stolen IDs and personal information from hundreds of military comrades, Ferguson, the apartment caretaker, was stunned. “I still can’t believe it,” she said Thursday, shaking her head. “He’s just been such a nice kid. I just can’t fathom him doing this.” Novak, 25, was arrested and charged late Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis with committing fraud in connection with stealing names, Social Security numbers and security clearance information from 400 members of his former Army unit in Fort Bragg, N.C. He remains in federal custody pending his next court appearance, scheduled for Monday in Minneapolis. According to a criminal complaint and FBI search warrant affidavit filed this week, Novak stole the information so that he could make fake IDs for his militia members. Keith Michael Novak, 25, is in federal custody with a Monday court date. Novak, an Iraq war veteran, joined the Minnesota National Guard in September 2012 after transferring from active duty. He currently is an intelligence analyst with the Guard’s Bloomington-based A Company, 1st Armored Brigade Special Troops Battalion. Lt. Col. Kevin Olson, a Guard spokesman, declined to comment Thursday about the case, but said the Guard is cooperating with investigators. An FBI spokesman, officials with the U.S. attorney’s office and a federal defender also declined to discuss it Thursday. Undercover agents in Utah According to the affidavit: Novak stole the identity information while serving as a soldier and intelligence analyst with the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg from February 2009 to September 2012. Four months after joining the Minnesota National Guard, he was sent to a counterintelligence training camp in Utah, where he met two undercover FBI agents who identified themselves as members of a Utah-based militia. At one point, Novak told the agents that he had removed classified material while stationed at Fort Bragg and said that he would share that information when they visited him in Minnesota. Novak did that during a July visit, allowing the agents to snap digital photos of the material and also teaching them how to encrypt files. He also showed them a personnel roster with names, Social Security numbers and other identification of a “Battalion’s-worth of people,” the criminal complaint says. After the agents told Novak that they knew of a source who could use the information to make fake IDs, allegedly for his militia members, he sent them information on 44 individuals in exchange for $2,000. The affidavit also makes reference to military field exercises Novak and militia members conducted in rural Minnesota and flak vests that Novak said he took from Fort Bragg to give to militia colleagues. It also cites statements Novak made to the undercover agents about hiding guns and weapons “throughout the state” and possible escape routes from his apartment if he were confronted by authorities. “I’ve my AK in my bed,” the affidavit quoted him as saying. “If I hear that door kick, it’s going boom, boom, boom … I’ve got something, 5,000 rounds, a thousand of it is in magazines, ready to go. … ” ‘Talked Army’ Bevalee Ferguson said Novak moved into the two-story, eight-unit apartment building in Maplewood last summer and had been a model tenant who paid rent on time. A half-brother lived with him, she said, but for the most part, Novak “very seldom has anybody around.” She said that to her knowledge, Novak wasn’t working but was attending classes at a local college. The back window of Novak’s truck outside his home in Maplewood. “He talked Army all the time,” she said. Novak’s Facebook page lists his interests as shooting, history, cars, guns and the military and shows that he belongs to an 8,874-member Facebook group called “The Modern American Revolution,” which criticizes the government and says it does not encourage, support or condone violence. It says in its rules: “We are a movement which has formed to collectively wake the far too many mindless and brainwashed people-drones by combatting garbage media and educational indoctrination.” In Novak’s Facebook profile picture from last year, a shirtless man on a beach is shown saluting a Confederate battle flag. Reached by phone, his father, Michael Novak, declined to comment Thursday afternoon. Don Ferguson, Bevalee Ferguson’s husband and an Army vet, said Thursday that Keith Novak once invited him into his apartment to show off his guns, all of which Ferguson assumed were registered. “We knew he liked to collect weapons — he’s got a bunch of guns down there,” he said. “We never assumed anything other than he was in the National Guard … “Militia never even popped into my mind.” A day earlier, Don Ferguson watched from his Maplewood apartment window as federal agents searched downstairs for evidence against Keith Michael Novak.

UAB Football Announces Road Game at Tennessee in 2019 BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The UAB football team continues to build its future non-conference schedule which includes an away game at Tennessee on Nov. 2, 2019, the two universities announced on Tuesday. "Tennessee is one of the top programs in the history of college football," head coach Bill Clark said. "Scheduling a Power 5 school each season is an excellent challenge for our program. It will be a great experience for our players and we look forward to playing in Knoxville." The game in 2019 will be the fifth all-time meeting between the Blazers and the Volunteers, with UT leading 4-0. The last time the two programs met, UAB nearly pulled the upset but ultimately lost 32-29 in double overtime in front of 95,183 fans at Neyland Stadium. UAB's future non-conference schedule now features one team from the SEC for each of its first three seasons back on the field. Along with this contest at Tennessee, the Blazers play at Florida in 2017 and at Texas A&M in 2018. "As we continue building our schedule for the future, we look for competitive games that our fan base can travel to," Director of Athletics Mark Ingram said. "Playing teams from conferences such as the SEC provides a great experience for our student-athletes and fans." UAB's future non-conference schedule: 2017: Sept. 2: Alabama A&M Sept 9: at Ball State Sept 16: Coastal Carolina Nov. 18: at Florida 2018: Sept. 8: at Coastal Carolina Sept. 15: Tulane Sept. 22: at Texas A&M 2019: Nov. 2: at Tennessee Home games in Bold

Joe Jackson (Photo: Jacob Blickenstaff) By the time he’d made the leap from “Is She Really Going Out With Him?” to “Night and Day” in the course of releasing five albums in a four-year burst of creativity, it was clear that Joe Jackson’s career was an ongoing process of forward momentum and restless experimentation. He does what suits him at the time and moves on quickly to whatever fresh new challenge lies ahead. He's kept nostalgia at an arm's length, flirting with it on occasion (see "Night and Day II" or "Volume 4," a spirited reunion in 2003 of the bandmates with whom he'd recorded his first three albums decades earlier). But he's wary of indulging in it too much. "It is really all about now," he says, in explaining why "Fast Forward" is his favorite thing he's ever done. MORE MUSIC:Best May singles: Radiohead, Ty Segall, Justin Timberlake | 20 best or biggest metal concerts playing Phoenix | Your ultimate summer playlist Released last year, the album was conceived as four EPs, recorded in four different cities with four different sets of musicians, the idea being to release them in succession. He combined them instead, and the result is one of Jackson's more ambitious efforts, starting with the title track, an elegant piano ballad in which he reflects on the present by imagining what it would look like from the future or another planet. He's hitting fast forward, he sings, "'til I understand the age I'm in." The song started, he says, as a circular chord progression that modulated through different keys before returning to its starting point. Our conversation follows suit, returning to the themes that songs addresses as he shares his feelings on his early work, nostalgia and why living for today is so important. Joe Jackson. (Photo: Chart Room Media) Question: Could you talk a bit about the inspiration for the title track? A: It’s actually got more words than anything I’ve ever written. It almost could have been three or four separate songs. It just sort of kept growing. It started off with a musical idea, which was just the chord changes and the idea that they could modulate to a different key and kind of go around in a circle and come back to where they started. That may not mean a lot to non-musicians but that is what it started with, and the idea of this cycling made me think about moving through time and the old question of, “If you had a time machine, what era would you want to go to?” People usually say some kind of golden age of the past or what they imagine to be a golden age. RELATED: 'Pet Sounds':The Beach Boys reflect on 50 years of masterpiece that almost did them in But the idea is you have a time machine and instead of going to the past, you go into the future so that you can look back at the present and try to make sense of it. So there’s a lot of stuff in there about wrestling with the idea of what kind of time are we living in and can we even be objective enough to say anything about it? If only you could go into the future, you could look back and it’s all been figured out and explained. And then it goes from there to the idea of actually being outside the earth, looking down at the earth from the moon. Q: So the era you would go to is the future? A: We all have our fantasies about wouldn’t it be cool to be in Berlin in the 1920s or whatever. But I think nostalgia is a dangerous thing. It’s a bit like a recreational drug that it’s OK to have a bit of every now and again but you shouldn’t get too much into it. And I try to avoid that. I’ve noticed other songwriters who are my sort of age seem to be writing a lot of nostalgia now. I was just listening to Squeeze’s new album and it’s blatantly nostalgic. I guess that’s OK but I can’t help but wondering if it’s because you’ve run out of ideas, because you somehow have lost the ability to go forward. So I’m kind of wary of that. Joe Jackson. (Photo: Chart Room Media) Q: You do perform your older material live, though, right? A: Yeah. And I’m always looking for new ways to do it — a new arrangement to the old songs, just to keep it interesting. MORE AZCENTRAL ON SOCIAL: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest Q: You sing “Fast forward until I understand the age I’m in.” Do you feel as though you understand the age you’re in any better as you go through life? A: No. Not at all (laughs). If anything, less. I think that people tend to be more cynical when they’re young. The idea that people get more cynical as they get older is not necessarily the case. When you’re, like, 21, it’s very cool to be cynical. You think you know a lot more than you actually do. And as you get older, you let go of more and more certainties, if you like. You see more and more gray areas in everything. It’s much more important to find some sort of positive way of looking at things as you get older, I think. “Fast Forward” has a lot of contradictions in it. And ironies. On the one hand, it’s struggling with trying to make some sense of the age we’re living in. Some things seem really awful and some things are actually not so bad. And some things are funny. But ultimately can we really even see it clearly? Because we’re right in the middle of it. Q: I really like the humor in that song. It also strikes me, and this may be wrong, but as hopeful. NEWSLETTERS Get the Things to do this weekend newsletter delivered to your inbox We're sorry, but something went wrong Best Things to do this weekend Please try again soon, or contact Customer Service at 1-800-332-6733. Delivery: Thurs Invalid email address Thank you! You're almost signed up for Things to do this weekend Keep an eye out for an email to confirm your newsletter registration. More newsletters A: Yeah. I mean, the kind of hopeful part is the middle section where it changes. It gets out of that cycle I was talking about, that harmonic cycle. It breaks out. And I think that part really says, “Who the hell knows? Let’s just try and enjoy it while we’re here.” Q: When you sing, “Let’s go back to the age of gold,” why do you think people seem to find such comfort in the thought that there’s a golden age we could return to. Donald Trump’s campaign is based on this idea that we could make America great again — that it was better in the good old days. What makes so many people cling to that? A: I don’t know. I think because in some ways it’s true, you know? (laughs) But it’s not the whole story. And you can’t go back so you have to go forward. You’ve got no choice, really. I think earlier ages tend to get simplified and romanticized. And the longer you live the more you see that. When I see really young kids indulging in ‘80s nostalgia, it’s kind of funny to me because, you know, I was there (laughs). And when you were there it all seemed a lot more complex and many-sided. In retrospect, it’s easy to make something into this kind of neat little retro package. There’s a line in “Fast Forward” about “the past is all sorted out and tied up with pretty ribbons on it.” Or something like that. So that sort of fantasy, if you like, of returning to the past, I think, is the idea of it being a comfort zone in a way, because we think we’ve got it all figured out and the present is much harder to understand. I mean, I’m very interested in early jazz, for instance, which is something I think not a lot of people are. I sometimes think, “My God, wouldn’t it have been cool to be in Chicago in 1931 when Louis Armstrong was first playing there?” So I can play that game, too. MORE:June concert guide: Slipknot, Cage the Elephant Q: Sure. I mean, I wish I could have seen the Kinks in 1965. A: Yeah. Well, me too. (Laughs) Q: You talked about the cynicism of youth. Do you find that you’ve gotten less cynical? A: Yeah, definitely. Although it depends on how you define cynicism, I suppose. In terms of just cultivating an attitude of everything is a can of worms, it’s not very clever. Because as you get older, you’ve seen a few worms. And it’s not so funny anymore? So I believe you have to think positively. Not in some naïve, starry-eyed way, like, “Everything is beautiful.” Because everything isn’t. But I think you have a choice to think positively or not. It’s not to say that you don’t see what’s bad or what’s wrong. Q: What do you think of your earlier records when you look back on them now? A: Well, it’s a mixed bag, you know? Some I like more than others. Q: I guess I meant the first few. A: The first few. I mean, they’re very different. Q: Sure. I mean “Beat Crazy” is different than…. A: Yeah, well, the first two are really one. The second one is really part two of the first one. They’re very much alike. And I think they’re good records for the time. They were very much of their time and place. And that’s what I hear. If I listen to those records now, which I don’t, but anyway, they just absolutely scream London ’78, ’79. And I think they’re just fine as far as that goes. Q: They scream it well. A: I think they’re pretty good. I’m not saying they’re not. There are some songs on those first two albums that I like. I think they stand up well. “Beat Crazy,” I think, didn’t really work. “Jumpin’ Jive” was a musical vacation, just to escape and do something completely different just for the fun of it. And “Night and Day” was a big change of direction. It’s funny that you said the first few records and a lot of people kind of lump them all together and I think from “Look Sharp” to “Beat Crazy” to “Jumpin’ Jive” to “Night and Day” is a pretty huge range. I mean, I think “Night and Day” was the first record where I really felt like I was being completely myself. And I really didn’t think that people would like it. I was really nervous while making that record. And defiant, you know? I just thought, “I’m gonna do it this way. And If you don’t like it, tough (expletive).” And no one was more surprised than me at how successful it was. Q: You came of age — or came to our attention, really —​ in that late punk, early New Wave era. Did you feel a connection? A: I didn’t, really. I was overqualified to be a punk. I had already been to music school and things like that. I didn’t feel connected to it but I did like it. I was excited by it. And I was there. I was in the right place at the right time at the right age. I made my first album in London in 1978. It wasn’t really punk at that point. I think in the States a lot of things got kind of mashed together that in the U.K. were perceived as being rather different. But you can always play this game. I mean, really, is it all a million different genres or is it just all pop music and who cares? It depends on how far out in space you go to look at it. Q: Other than now, do you have a favorite era of your career or a point that you look back to with a particular amount of pride? Or is it really all about now? A: It is really all about now. I’m always most interested in my latest work and I think that’s the way it should be. Otherwise you really should stop. You should give it up. Even if you don’t feel like you’ve made some sort of great artistic breakthrough, you should at least feel excited about what you’re doing and having fun with it. If it ever stops being fun, it’s time to hang it up. I mean, definitely my favorite album of mine — at the moment anyway — is “Fast Forward.” Q: It is great. A: Thanks. I think it’s good, too. It was supposed to be four EPs. You probably figured that out. The original idea was to release one at a time. And no one really wanted to do that except me (laughs). So that didn’t happen. Q: That would have been cool that way. But I think it holds together as an album as it is. A: Yeah, it does. I mean, if I had been planning it as an album, I probably wouldn’t have made it so big and diverse. But it still comes across as being in four parts. Especially if you get it on vinyl, it works great as a double album but you have one part per side. So hopefully some people will pick up on that. Joe Jackson When: 8 p.m. Thursday, June 16. Where: Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, 7380 E. Second St. Admission: $45-$85. Details: 480-499-8587, scottsdaleperformingarts.com. Read or Share this story: http://azc.cc/1thsUyr

DUBLIN (Reuters) - Europe and the “undemocratic” European Central Bank risk fuelling the growth of right wing parties across the continent if they ignore the will of the Greek people, Gerry Adams, leader of Ireland’s leftist Sinn Fein said on Thursday. Sinn Fein's Gerry Adams arrives at Stormont House with party colleagues to take part in talks concerning disputes on flags, parades, the past and welfare reform, in Belfast. December 11, 2014 REUTERS/Cathal McNaughton The new Greek government’s hopes of renegotiating its debt pile have been doused by its euro zone peers this week and the ECB pulled its funding line for Greek banks. Adams, whose party has seen its support surge during Europe’s debt crisis and who is close to new Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, warned Europe there were far more dangerous alternatives to Syriza, Sinn Fein or Spain’s Podemos. “The effect will be that more and more people will be politicized as part of that experience. Something has to give,” Adams told Reuters in an interview in his office in Ireland’s parliament. “What has been proposed is eminently sensible, it isn’t hardline, it isn’t ultra-left. “If you’re not about trying to bring about the basis where people feel as equals, you’ll get the growth of right wing parties and that’s more dangerous,” Adams said. While the popularity of left-wing parties like Sinn Fein has grown during Europe’s financial crisis, so too has support for a range of parties from the National Front in France to Greece’s Golden Dawn, which won 17 seats in last month’s elections. Sinn Fein has gone from having five of the 166 seats in Ireland’s parliament before the 2008 financial meltdown to being the most popular party in some opinion polls, threatening the biggest shake-up of politics in generations. While Ireland’s economy likely grew faster than any other in Europe at almost five percent last year, Adams doubted it would trickle down to most voters come elections next year. “We shouldn’t underestimate how politicized people have become by the experiences of the last 10 years,” he said, sitting beneath two framed Gaelic soccer jerseys, one from north of the Irish border and one south, reflecting his ultimate goal of uniting the island of Ireland. INVESTORS: DON’T FEAR SINN FEIN Adams, who was banned from even speaking on Irish television two decades ago when Sinn Fein was the political wing of the Irish Republican Army, said his party wanted to be in government. With even the most bullish polls giving them a quarter of seats in a fragmented parliament, Adams would face having to secure a deal with one of the country’s two large center-right parties, Fine Gael and Fianna Fail. Sinn Fein has ruled out governing as a junior partner to either and Adams said his party would be incompatible with Prime Minister Enda Kenny’s Fine Gael party in any kind of coalition. Although describing the ECB’s actions this week with Greece as “undemocratic” and “almost macho”, he assured Brussels that although Sinn Fein is a critic of the European Union, it would not look to pick a fight if it entered government. “We are very critical of the fact that it’s governed by unelected commissions. We think a different, social European Union is possible, that power has to go from Brussels back into the member states,” said Adams, 65, who has led the party for over 30 years. “We’re not about confrontation, we understand the need to stand firm on certain basic principles but are also pragmatic.” He also moved to reassure investors in Ireland - some of whom employ over 100,000 people in the thriving multinational sector - that they had nothing to fear from Sinn Fein despite its calls to keep some of the country’s banks in state hands and tax higher earners. “Sinn Fein is pro-enterprise. You cannot develop the kind of prosperous society we want to see where you look after the vulnerable unless you have a strong economy. And the economy is driven in the main by people with get up and go,” Adams said.

This is a beautifully simple example of brilliant green packaging design. It solves three common product design problems at once by (1) providing sturdier packaging for shipping shirts, (2) making it easy to recycle and (the best part) (3) having it transform into something sustainable, reusable and useful that works with the object in the package. The unassuming exterior of the so-called HangerPak looks conventional enough, with curved-and-folded ends to keep the inside wares from crumpling. Flipped over, however, and it reveals a simple set of instructions for converting the cardboard shell into a shirt or coat hanger within a few short steps. If you, like many of us, always find yourself short on hangers then this is in the product design innovation for you. Moreover, it is simple, cheap and easy to construct and could be easily marketed and licensed to existing environmentally-savvy manufacturers around the world.

2014 Top 3 Foods That Promote Premature Death: How Many Are You Eating? By Dr. Mercola As recently reported by CNN Health and Time Magazine, five things account for nearly two-thirds of all deaths in the US, or about 900,000 each year: Heart disease Cancer Lung disease Stroke Unintentional injuries, including medication overdoses… Energy Saving Approach to Cooking: The Wonderbag By David Spero You can never save too much energy when planning for life after TEOTWAWKI. But there is more to saving energy than shivering in the cold, in the dark, in your retreat. We need to… Reclaim your rust pitted cast iron By Our Half-Acre Homestead Sandblasting? Steel wool, wire wheel, potato? Seasoning? Yep, it all works. Save that valuable cookware. Cleveland food truck guide 2014: the hottest food trucks and where to find them By Debbi Snook Those daring young men (and women) in their cooking machines are back for another season of rolling feasts. Food truck season begins in earnest on Wednesday, May 7 with the first Walnut Wednesday, the… Water Liberty: How Innovation Trumps Privatization By Rady Ananda The World Bank joins Nestlé in wanting to privatize water, deeming it “extremist” to suggest otherwise. But we have ways around the corporate paradigm. Organic Showdown in Texas! OCA Political Director Arrested By Organic Consumers Assn. “When a government agency, the National Organic Program, that pretends to represent the organic community instead represents USDA bureaucrats and corporate profiteers, it’s time for organic consumers and our allies to rise up and take back… How have spices spiced-up history? By Michael Olson When the day-to-day becomes too dull for our taste, we reach for the spice rack. This reaching for interest leads us to ask… How have spices spiced-up… This ‘covert nuclear war’ on humanity By Rady Ananda Three incidents this year at the Carlsbad, New Mexico nuclear Waste Isolation Pilot Plant resulted from “a number of serious safety concerns” that led to a fire and radiation leaks, contaminating workers and nearby… Will the US start a smallpox threat creation program? By Edward Hammond, PhD In May, the World Health Assembly will yet again consider the question of destruction of smallpox virus. In order to politically legitimize keeping smallpox samples, the United States appears to be positioning itself to… Did Japan’s Prime Minister Serve Obama Beefsteak-Flavored Revenge for US Trade Rep’s TPP Rudeness? By Naked Capitalism I trust you’ll enjoy this long-form account of how President Obama put his foot in mouth and chewed in front of Japan’s Prime Minister Abe when he merely thought he was eating steak. Compostable tower made of fungi & agricultural waste to rise in NYC By Kimberly Mok We’ve seen the amazing versatility of biologically-based bricks, or “bio-bricks” — be they made from bacteria, sand, mushrooms or even urine and wool. Now New York City-based design studio The Living will be building a tower made out of cornstalks and mushrooms…. New Gumpert book covers Corpo-Gov war on non-industrial good food By Jonathan Benson As the government continues to shut down family farms, your ability to make good food choices diminishes. Though much of it flies under the mainstream radar, there is a coordinated effort afoot to completely stamp… MURS Radios a Useful Communication Tool By Preparedness Advice “Had I known what I know now, I would have likely skipped the FRS/GMRS radios I have and went right for MURS radios instead. They’re more versatile and less likely to be used by others.” ~Rethink Survival Farming Free: Vandana Shiva on ‘food fascism’ By Thaddeus Christian We interviewed the pre-eminent advocate for the preservation of food sovereignty, civil liberties and biological diversity, Vandana Shiva, to discuss the importance of food policy and how it affects what’s on your plate and in your garden. Cheap Non-GMO Food Supply By LISA RATHKE and DAVE GRAM Vermont has raised the stakes in the debate over genetically modified foods by becoming the first state to pass a bill requiring that they be labeled as such in the grocery aisle, making the move despite the opposition of the powerful U.S. food industry. Should Harry Reid’s corporate interests trump public grazing rights? By Rady Ananda Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has a problem. All but one rancher has sold his grazing rights and gotten out of the cattle business on a certain piece of real estate in Nevada. Senator… An Inconvenient Question for Michelle Obama By Organic Consumers Association FDA and Michelle Obama announce overhaul of food labels, with no mention of labeling GMOs (genetically modified organisms) On February 27, First Lady Michelle Obama launched a media blitz to tout the U.S. Food & Drug… It’s Official – Russia Completely Bans GMOs By Arjun Walia Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev recently announced that Russia will no longer import GMO products, stating that the nation has enough space, and enough resources to produce organic food. If the Americans like to eat GMO… Make a 55-Gallon Compost Tumbler Fast, Cheap & Easy By Rady Ananda Good for the environment, composting may be the single most important supplement added to your garden soil. Compost is nutrient-rich humus that fuels plant growth, suppresses disease, and revitalizes depleted soils, all while recycling… ‘Remarkable’ recovery in Alzheimer’s patients By Sayer Ji Imagine an Alzheimer’s patient long given up for ‘gone,’ suddenly remembering their loved one’s faces? A recent study on patients with Alzheimer’s Disease found that less than a gram of turmeric daily, taken for three months,… Why Does This Food Have 196 Ingredients?! By Melissa Melton In this day and age of genetically modified, subsidized, and highly processed food full of chemical additives and synthetic multisyllabic unpronounceables, would it surprise you to learn that for just $2.22, you can buy a… Nearly free gardening with these simple tips By Jim and Mary For those that follow along with our little farm and website – you know how important it is for us to keep things simple and inexpensive – and there is no better… TransEvolution: Homo predator, not Homo superior By Rady Ananda In TransEvolution: The Coming Age of Human Deconstruction, Daniel Estulin crafts a cogent and frightening scenario for the end of Homo sapiens, as new technologies enable genetic changes, bionic replacements and artificial, nanosized neural connections. We’re not… Wait, Wait: Ohio law against lies meets 1st Amendment By Rady Ananda Is a Supreme Court brief ever gut-splitting funny? It is when satirist P. J. O’Rourke writes it. Paint Thinner in Children’s Cereal Exposed By Heather Callaghan A lot of home builders and painters will know what trisodium phosphate (TSP) is. But a lot of them don’t know that they eat it for breakfast! TransEvolution: Homo predator, not Homo superior By Rady Ananda In TransEvolution: The Coming Age of Human Deconstruction, Daniel Estulin crafts a cogent and frightening scenario for the end of Homo sapiens, as new technologies enable genetic changes, bionic replacements and artificial, nanosized neural connections. Check out the free Garden Planner by Seed Savers Exchange By Seed Savers Exchange Our Garden Planner makes it easy to draw out your vegetable beds, add plants and move them around to get the perfect layout. Either feet and inches or metric units are supported and any shape of garden can be created. Farm animals at play By Food Freedom News In the following two videos, we see goats playing and cows leaping for joy when released to pasture. Robin Mather notes, “If you give your herd something to do, you’ll have a treat that’s better to… Food Pharmacopoeia in Pictures By Thrive FNL It has been said that God first separated the salt water from the fresh, made dry land, planted a garden, made animals and fish… All before making a human. He made and provided what we’d need before we were born. These are best & more powerful when eaten raw. We’re such slow learners… 19 EU States reject GMO corn; Council approves anyway By Rady Ananda Nineteen of the European Union’s 28 states rejected Dupont’s insecticidal corn, citing concern for pollinators. Five EU states approved the genetically modified maize, and four abstained. But because state votes are weighted based on… Magic Peas and Two Front Teeth encourages healthy snacks By Food Freedom News Parents are always on the lookout for ways to encourage children to choose healthy foods, and Joelle Burnette’s new children’s book, Magic Peas and Two Front Teeth, does just that. With less than a week remaining… The Dumb Way to Defend Food Gardening By Pros Ecutethem Dumb, dumb, dumb! Waiting for someone to have their garden ripped out and then trying to help them one by one, assuming we can even know all those who are being stepped on? Writing… How Obama-Monsanto’s Food Act Destroys Small Farms By Rady Ananda On par with Stalin’s farm collectivization program of the 1930s, Monsanto’s push (to the tune of $8.8 million in lobby bribes in 2008 alone) for the Food Safety Modernization Act is already achieving the… Tell General Mills: No GMOs in breakfast cereals Petition by Lee Camp To: General Mills Chairman and CEO Kendall J. Powell Will you help Lee pressure General Mills to remove genetically modified ingredients from all of its breakfast cereals by signing his petition and sharing it… The Dr. Oz Show: Information I Couldn’t Share By Dr. Mercola Last week I went to New York to tape a segment with Dr. Oz on multivitamins. It’s scheduled to air on Monday, February 10th. US Farmers Abandoning Genetically Modified Seeds: ‘Non-GMO crops more profitable’ By Daniel Jennings A growing number of farmers are abandoning genetically modified seeds, but it’s not because they are ideologically opposed to the industry. Simply put, they say non-GMO crops are more productive and profitable. Modern Farmer magazine… I Am Steve Marsh: Global organic protection campaign faces trial By Rady Ananda Steve Marsh’s organic canola fields in Western Australia suffered 70% genetic contamination from a neighboring biotech farm that sowed Monsanto seeds. As a result, he lost organic certification after 11 years, and his livelihood… . Juice Plus+® provides the nutritional essence of 25 fruits, vegetables and grains in a convenient capsule form. Click here to learn more. And much more…

BY SOFO ARCHON Sometimes a story can teach much more than entire philosophical treatises. Religions from all over the world have used storytelling as a medium to convey their messages of wisdom. One such religion is Buddhism, which for centuries has used parables, anecdotes, fables and tales to help people develop awareness by offering them enlightening insights and moral life lessons. This culminates in the teachings of Zen Buddhism, a tradition famous for using short stories extensively to arise in Buddhist monks and students a deeper, more comprehensive understanding of reality. In this post, I’ve collected some of my favorite short Zen stories, translated in English by Paul Reps and Nyogen Senzaki. Some of them are easy to understand, others need more time to ponder at, but all of them are profoundly meaningful. Whether you’re Buddhist or simply a seeker on the spiritual path, these short stories will assist you in your journey to peace and contentment, if you pay them close attention and let them talk to the depths of your being. May you learn and enjoy. 1. A Useless Life A farmer got so old that he couldn’t work the fields anymore. So he would spend the day just sitting on the porch. His son, still working the farm, would look up from time to time and see his father sitting there. “He’s of no use any more,” the son thought to himself, “he doesn’t do anything!” One day the son got so frustrated by this, that he built a wood coffin, dragged it over to the porch, and told his father to get in. Without saying anything, the father climbed inside. After closing the lid, the son dragged the coffin to the edge of the farm where there was a high cliff. As he approached the drop, he heard a light tapping on the lid from inside the coffin. He opened it up. Still lying there peacefully, the father looked up at his son. “I know you are going to throw me over the cliff, but before you do, may I suggest something?” “What is it?” replied the son. “Throw me over the cliff, if you like,” said the father, “but save this good wood coffin. Your children might need to use it.” 2. Working Very Hard A martial arts student went to his teacher and said earnestly, “I am devoted to studying your martial system. How long will it take me to master it.” The teacher’s reply was casual, “Ten years.” Impatiently, the student answered, “But I want to master it faster than that. I will work very hard. I will practice everyday, ten or more hours a day if I have to. How long will it take then?” The teacher thought for a moment, “20 years.” 3. The Moon Cannot Be Stolen Ryokan, a Zen master, lived the simplest kind of life in a little hut at the foot of a mountain. One evening a thief visited the hut only to discover there was nothing in it to steal. Ryokan returned and caught him. “You may have come a long way to visit me,” he told the prowler, “and you shoud not return emptyhanded. Please take my clothes as a gift.” The thief was bewildered. He took the clothes and slunk away. Ryokan sat naked, watching the moon. “Poor fellow,” he mused, “I wish I could give him this beautiful moon.” 4. A Cup of Tea Nan-in, a Japanese master during the Meiji era (1868-1912), received a university professor who came to inquire about Zen. Nan-in served tea. He poured his visitor’s cup full, and then kept on pouring. The professor watched the overflow until he no longer could restrain himself. “It is overfull. No more will go in!” “Like this cup,” Nan-in said, “you are full of your own opinions and speculations. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?” 5. The Gates of Paradise A soldier named Nobushige came to Hakuin, and asked: “Is there really a paradise and a hell?” “Who are you?” inquired Hakuin. “I am a samurai,” the warrior replied. “You, a soldier!” exclaimed Hakuin. “What kind of ruler would have you as his guard? Your face looks like that of a beggar.” Nobushige became so angry that he began to draw his sword, but Hakuin continued: “So you have a sword! Your weapon is probably much too dull to cut off my head.” As Nobushige drew his sword Hakuin remarked: “Here open the gates of hell!” At these words the samurai, perceiving the master’s discipline, sheathed his sword and bowed. “Here open the gates of paradise,” said Hakuin. 6. The Other Side One day a young Buddhist on his journey home came to the banks of a wide river. Staring hopelessly at the great obstacle in front of him, he pondered for hours on just how to cross such a wide barrier. Just as he was about to give up his pursuit to continue his journey he saw a great teacher on the other side of the river. The young Buddhist yells over to the teacher, “Oh wise one, can you tell me how to get to the other side of this river”? The teacher ponders for a moment looks up and down the river and yells back, “My son, you are on the other side”. 7. Time to Die Ikkyu, the Zen master, was very clever even as a boy. His teacher had a precious teacup, a rare antique. Ikkyu happened to break this cup and was greatly perplexed. Hearing the footsteps of his teacher, he held the pieces of the cup behind him. When the master appeared, Ikkyu asked: “Why do people have to die?” “This is natural,” explained the older man. “Everything has to die and has just so long to live.” Ikkyu, producing the shattered cup, added: “It was time for your cup to die.” 8. Moving Mind Two men were arguing about a flag flapping in the wind. “It’s the wind that is really moving,” stated the first one. “No, it is the flag that is moving,” contended the second. A Zen master, who happened to be walking by, overheard the debate and interrupted them. “Neither the flag nor the wind is moving,” he said, “It is MIND that moves.” 9. It Will Pass A student went to his meditation teacher and said, “My meditation is horrible! I feel so distracted, or my legs ache, or I’m constantly falling asleep. It’s just horrible!” “It will pass,” the teacher said matter-of-factly. A week later, the student came back to his teacher. “My meditation is wonderful! I feel so aware, so peaceful, so alive! It’s just wonderful!’ “It will pass,” the teacher replied matter-of-factly. 10. Cliffhanger One day while walking through the wilderness a man stumbled upon a vicious tiger. He ran but soon came to the edge of a high cliff. Desperate to save himself, he climbed down a vine and dangled over the fatal precipice. As he hung there, two mice appeared from a hole in the cliff and began gnawing on the vine. Suddenly, he noticed on the vine a plump wild strawberry. He plucked it and popped it in his mouth. It was incredibly delicious! Source: Zen Flesh Zen Bones: A Collection of Zen and Pre-Zen Writings

First Nations leaders have expressed their concerns about the treatment of Indigenous people in Canada to a United Nations committee that examines racial discrimination – and one chief says the Prime Minister needs a "wake-up call." Representatives from several Indigenous Nations held a news conference in Vancouver on Thursday, fresh off their meeting with the UN committee in Geneva earlier this week. Judy Wilson, chief of the Neskonlith Indian Band and secretary-treasurer with the Union of BC Indian Chiefs, said Canada cannot present itself as a leader on human rights when its land-rights policies aim to extinguish Indigenous title. Story continues below advertisement "What we spoke [to] was mainly about the land rights of our people. We cannot continue to have the Crown say they have underlying title to our lands when it's actually the Indigenous First Nations across Canada that hold that title," she told reporters. The federal government has committed to "a renewed, nation-to-nation relationship with Indigenous peoples based on recognition of rights, respect, co-operation and partnership, and rooted in the principles of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples." But Ms. Wilson said Ottawa needs to work more directly with the Indigenous Nations themselves. "The Prime Minister really does need another wake-up call," she said. A statement from the office of the Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs said the federal government remains fully committed to implementing the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and to consulting and working in partnership with Indigenous people. The statement said the government's consultations have begun, with the Minister of Justice leading a working group that will ensure Canada lives up to its obligations under the UN declaration and the federal Constitution. "We need to get this right, and we will continue to work in partnership, on a whole-of-government approach, to renew our relationship and advance reconciliation," the statement read. The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination monitors how effectively member countries implement a UN anti-discrimination convention. Canada is a signatory to the convention and must report to the committee every two years. Story continues below advertisement Story continues below advertisement The submission to the committee by the Union of BC Indian Chiefs said it is "presently witnessing a great divide between the words of the Canadian government and its actions on the ground." The submission highlighted several areas of concern, including land title, energy projects, forestry and housing. It said the Trans Mountain pipeline project – which the federal government approved last year – "poses an unacceptable risk to the health, safety and livelihoods of First Nations throughout British Columbia." It went on to say forestry activities in B.C. continue to affect the territories of Indigenous nations "with little or no benefit to them." On housing, the submission said Indigenous people experience disproportionately poor living conditions on- and off-reserve. It called the amount of federal funding for First Nations housing "critically low." Chief Bob Chamberlin, vice-president of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs, said the fact Indigenous groups must still travel to international forums "to expose Canada's dirty secret of racism towards First Nations people" is a significant issue. Story continues below advertisement The committee received submissions from about 20 Indigenous groups, including the Assembly of First Nations and the Native Women's Association of Canada. The committee is expected to release its initial comments on Friday. The federal government's submission to the committee, which was written last year, said Canada has a strong legal and policy framework to combat racial discrimination and advance equality, including the Charter. It said Canada also has a wide range of measures to promote diversity and inclusion, including employment-equity legislation.

Today is May Day. Since 2007, I have advocated turning this date into Victims of Communism Day (though I should note that I didn’t invent the idea). In my very first post on the subject, I outlined the rationale for this step: May Day began as a holiday for socialists and labor union activists, not just communists. But over time, the date was taken over by the Soviet Union and other communist regimes and used as a propaganda tool to prop up their regimes. I suggest that we instead use it as a day to commemorate those regimes’ millions of victims. The authoritative Black Book of Communism estimates the total at 80 to 100 million dead, greater than that caused by all other twentieth century tyrannies combined. We appropriately have a Holocaust Memorial Day. It is equally appropriate to commemorate the victims of the twentieth century’s other great totalitarian tyranny. And May Day is the most fitting day to do so. I suggest that May Day be turned into Victims of Communism Day…. The main alternative to May 1 is November 7, the anniversary of the communist coup in Russia. However, choosing that date might be interpreted as focusing exclusively on the Soviet Union, while ignoring the equally horrendous communist mass murders in China, Cambodia, and elsewhere. So May 1 is the best choice. In this 2009 post, I discussed the issue of why the relative neglect of communist crimes matters. In a post last year, I defended the choice of May 1 against other possible alternatives, such as November 7 and August 23, the anniversary of the Nazi-Soviet Pact. To briefly summarize, May 1 is better than November 7 because it does not primarily focus on any one country. It trumps August 23 for the same reason, and also because that date is understandably a time for commemorating Nazi crimes as well as communist ones. The victims of the latter deserve a separate date of their own. If August 23 commemorations do not obviate the need for Holocaust Memorial Day, they also do not eliminate the need for a separate Victims of Communism Day. I also defended the choice of May 1 against the criticism that this date should be retained as a holiday for workers and labor unionists instead. That said, as I have previously noted, I am not opposed to choosing a different date if we can forge a consensus around November 7, August 23, or some other date, but not May 1. The best possible date for Victims of Communism Day should not be the enemy of the merely good.

Comment is free – Guardian’s One-Eyed View of Labour Politics Ignores the Palestinians Ken Loach, 5 October 2017 On 27th September 2017 the Guardian published an article by Jonathan Freedland called Labour’s denial of antisemitism in its ranks leaves the party in a dark place. Ken Loach wrote a response for Comment is Free beginning “The taint of antisemitism is toxic. Yet, with hints and innuendos, your columnist, Jonathan Freedland, tries to link me, Len McCluskey and Ken Livingstone to Labour’s ‘dark place’, for which it seems we are in part responsible. This is cynical journalism.” The Guardian has refused to carry Loach’s article. We are pleased to do so here. Addition: Today, 6th October, the Guardian has published a(n edited) letter from Ken Loach, under the heading Ken Loach: I give no legitimacy to Holocaust denial. The taint of antisemitism is toxic. Yet, with hints and innuendos, your columnist, Jonathan Freedland, tries to link me, Len McCluskey and Ken Livingstone to Labour’s ‘dark place’, for which it seems we are in part responsible. This is cynical journalism. What is his evidence? Len and I were welcomed at the packed first meeting of ‘Jewish Voice for Labour’. Strangely, Freedland ignored this progressive new group, which has published its own response to his attacks on us. The founding document says: ‘we stand for rights and justice for Jewish people everywhere and against wrongs and injustices to Palestinians and other oppressed people anywhere’. We support that. But Freedland disputes our right to contribute. We are ‘not Jewish – a fact that might limit their authority to speak on the matter’. The matter in question is antisemitism in the Labour Party. Many Jewish comrades say that they know the Labour Party to be a welcoming environment and have not experienced hostility as Jews. This chimes with my fifty years of involvement with the labour movement. But, for Freedland, this is a discussion to which only one group – Jews who share his political perspective – can contribute. It is exclusive – no place for solidarity or collective support. This goes against all traditions of the left where we stand alongside each other to oppose injustice. People join left organisations to fight racism and fascism, intolerance and colonial oppression. Throughout history, it is the left that has led this fight. Racism including antisemitism is real enough and will emerge in all political parties. The Jewish Socialists’ Group (JSG) acknowledges this in relation to allegations about the Labour Party: ‘a very small number of cases seem to be real instances of antisemitism’. I trust their judgement. This present campaign about antisemitism surfaced when Jeremy Corbyn became leader and drew on a number of cases that pre-dated his leadership. It has been led by his political opponents inside and outside the Labour Party, seeming in part to be aimed at undermining Jeremy Corbyn’s supporters and therefore his leadership. JSG wrote ‘accusations of antisemitism are being weaponised to attack the Jeremy Corbyn-led Labour Party’. Corbyn has always opposed racism and defended human rights wherever they have been attacked, which includes the plight of the Palestinians. This will alarm apologists for Israeli occupation and expansion. Further, he stands on a socialist programme which has disturbed the right of the party. There is a further, more serious allegation, that I gave ‘spurious legitimacy’ to Holocaust denial. In a BBC interview I was asked about a speech I had not heard and of which I knew nothing. My reply has been twisted to suggest that I think it is acceptable to question the reality of the Holocaust. I do not. The Holocaust is as real a historical event as the World War itself and not to be challenged. In Primo Levi’s words: ‘Those who deny Auschwitz would be ready to remake it.’ The first terrible pictures I saw as a nine-year old are ingrained on my memory as they are for all my generation. Like readers of this paper, I know the history of Holocaust denial, its place in far right politics and the role of people like David Irving. To imply that I would have anything in common with them is contemptible. The consequences of such a smear are obvious to all: let the poison escape and it will be picked up on social media and reputations may be tarnished for ever. A brief phone call would have clarified my position. One thing Freedland has got right – the ages of Len McCluskey, Ken Livingstone and me (he wittily makes a rhyme of our names). Freedland is happy to embrace one prejudice – ageism. Exaggerated or false claims of antisemitism can create a climate of fear in which legitimate discussion about the state of Israel and its actions are stifled. Antisemitism and debate about Israel should be separate issues. Once again it is the Palestinians who are marginalised or ignored. Freedland writes frequently about Israel, yet his concern for the Palestinians takes second place. So while we are clarifying our position, could he make clear whether, for example, he accepts: that land stolen from the Palestinians should be returned to them and all illegal settlements removed, as UN Resolutions demand. that Israel is breaking the Fourth Geneva Convention by transporting Palestinian children to Israeli prisons without access to lawyers or their families. and that the deliberate destruction of civilian life, hospitals and medical facilities in Gaza during Operation Protective Edge were war crimes. And will he endorse the distinguished Israeli historian Ilan Pappe when he writes about the founding of Israel: ‘The ethnic cleansing of Palestine (is) a crime against humanity that Israel has wanted to deny and cause the world to forget’? So many questions, so many injustices. Labour has much to do in developing an ethical foreign policy and social and economic justice at home. It now has principled leaders and a growing, enthusiastic membership. Let the party not throw away this great opportunity. We have a world to win. Save Save Save

In 2008, Christopher Ratte and his seven-year-old son were attending a Detroit Tigers game together. When Ratte went to the concession stand, he grabbed a beer for himself and a Mike’s Hard Lemonade for his son, unaware that the drink contained 5% alcohol. When a security guard saw Ratte’s son nursing the bottle of the spiked beverage, he immediately took it from him and then rushed the boy to the stadium’s medical clinic. The medical clinic called an ambulance, and the boy was sent to an emergency room. The doctors at the ER found no trace of alcohol in his system and were ready to release the boy to his father. But the police had other plans. According to procedure, the police were required to turn the child over to the county’s child protective services. Many of the officers hated the fact they had to do it, but rules are rules. County officials put the boy into a foster home for three days even though the case agents didn’t feel it was the right thing to do, but they had to follow procedure. A judge then ruled that the boy could be released from foster care and into his mother’s custody so long as Ratte moved out of the house. Again, the judge was just following the procedure in his ruling. After two long weeks, dad and son were finally reunited. The police, county workers, and even the judge all agreed that what this family went through because of a dad’s honest mistake wasn’t an execution of justice. But their hands were tied. When people hear stories like this one, they’re often outraged. It seems like something is wrong with society when these kinds of things happen–and there is. The cause can be traced to the disappearance of what the ancients called the “master virtue”–practical wisdom–a quality that is vitally necessary for the health of both our culture and the lives of individual men. What Is Practical Wisdom? The ancient Greek philosophers spent a lot of time walking around in their togas discussing the nature of things, especially the nature of virtue. Take Socrates, for example. Socrates believed that man’s purpose in life was to seek sophia, or wisdom. According to Socrates and his student, Plato, achieving sophia gave a man a general understanding of the nature of virtue. And once a man reached an understanding of each of the virtues, he would naturally live them. For example, if a man understood the true nature of justice, he would naturally be just. Thus for Socrates and Plato, becoming a man of virtue was an exercise in abstract thought. This idea of thinking-your-way-to-a-virtuous-life didn’t jibe with Plato’s student, Aristotle. While he agreed with his mentor that working to understand the nature of virtue abstractly was necessary to achieve virtue, he didn’t believe it was sufficient. For Aristotle, virtuous living also required a different kind of wisdom, one that was more particular and practical than the abstract, ethereal, and general wisdom of sophia. Aristotle calls this different kind of wisdom phronesis. Phronesis has been translated different ways, “prudence” being the most common one. But the translation that I like best is “practical wisdom.” What is practical wisdom? Let’s read what Aristotle had to say in his Nicomachean Ethics: Practical wisdom is a true characteristic that is bound up with action, accompanied by reason, and concerned with things good and bad for a human being. Practical wisdom is not concerned with the universals alone, but must also be acquainted with the particulars: it is bound up with action, and action concerns the particulars. Practical wisdom is concerned with human things and with those that about which it is possible to deliberate. He who [has practical wisdom] is skilled in aiming, in accord with calculation, at what is best for a human being in things attainable through action. Particular situations and circumstances. Deliberation. Action. This is the stuff of practical wisdom. It’s nitty gritty. In a way, you can say that if sophia represents book smarts, phronesis represents street smarts. You have the information, but can you apply it correctly? Practical Wisdom: The Master Virtue For all the virtues will be present when the one virtue, practical wisdom, is present. -Aristotle So, to recap: Aristotle believed that to become a virtuous man, in addition to sophia, or abstract wisdom, you needed phronesis, or practical wisdom. But why did he think phronesis was needed? After all, virtue is good in and of itself, right? How could you go wrong in trying to be virtuous? But in fact, every virtue can easily become a fault if not correctly applied. Frugality can veer into miserliness. Chastity can shrivel into prudishness. Self-reliance can harden into prideful stubbornness. For Aristotle, being virtuous meant avoiding these extremes, by following the path between two vices: that of not applying a virtue enough, and that of applying it too much. He called this finding the “mean” of a virtue. For example, courage is the mean between cowardliness and recklessness. Loyalty is the mean between fickleness and blind obedience. Resolution is the mean between spinelessness and obstinacy. And so on and so forth. Of course striking this balance is easier said than done! This is because the path between the virtues is not always in the same place–it can lie closer to one end of the spectrum or the other, depending on changing circumstances. Thus the challenge for the man seeking virtue is to calculate the proper path in a certain situation, and this requires–you guessed it–practical wisdom. Or, as author John Bradshaw puts it in his book, Reclaiming Virtue: Practical wisdom “is the ability to do the right thing, at the right time, for the right reason.” For this reason, Aristotle believed that practical wisdom was the virtue that made all the other virtues possible. Without the correct application of practical wisdom, the other virtues would be lived too much or two little and turn into vices. This isn’t as abstract as you might be thinking. What should you do if your kid gets home past curfew? How does your reaction change if the reason she was late was a party as opposed to losing track of time talking to a friend? What would you do if your spendthrift brother asks for money? What if he has three kids to feed? If you see a crime being committed should you get involved? How would your reaction differ if it’s a purse snatching as opposed to a rape? An employee sank a deal with his negligence…how angry should you be at him? Should you fire him or give him another chance? Whether you’re a doctor trying to figure out a course of treatment for a patient based on their unique circumstances, a teacher trying to figure out how to reach your students, or a father trying do your best by your kids, all of our day-to-day deliberations require practical wisdom as we seek to choose the best possible course of action. Why Seek Practical Wisdom? Aristotle believed that everything had a telos–its aim, purpose, or maximum potential. Achieving this purpose led to arete or excellence. The telos of man was eudaimonia which is happiness or flourishing–a life lived to its utmost. The path to eudaimonia is paved with decisions made with practical wisdom. The better your decisions, the more you will progress, the more of your potential you will use, and the more your life will flourish. In short, practical wisdom is the path to true happiness and satisfaction. The Essential Ingredients of Practical Wisdom In Book 6 of the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle lays out the skills and attributes a person needs to develop in order to become practically wise. According to Aristotle, practical wisdom requires the following: Knowing the telos of a role or objective. While every person has the general telos of eudaimonia , each individual also has a telos that is unique to their roles in life. The telos of a teacher is to help students learn and enrich their minds–to his utmost. The telos of janitor is to clean a building–the best he can. The telos of a dad is to raise his children–with excellence. If you don’t understand what your aim is, you’ll never achieve it. Perception. Remember, practical wisdom for Aristotle is concerned with particular situations. To know how to act in a particular situation, we need to deftly perceive and understand the circumstances before us. What are the facts in this case? What’s the history here? How do others feel about it? An informed intellect. Many people mistakenly conclude that Aristotle’s practical wisdom is some sort of subjective moral relativism in which there is no absolute good or bad. Nothing could be further from the truth. Aristotle believed that an understanding of absolute truth was necessary in order to be practically wise. Absolute truths act as boundaries for us while we exercise practical wisdom. Understanding absolutes requires an informed intellect. We inform our intellect of these absolutes by contemplating the nature of every virtue and vice. To be practically wise, we need the sophia that Socrates and Plato spent their lives searching for. Experience. In the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle states that “practical wisdom is also of particulars, which come to be known as a result of experience, but a young person is inexperienced: a long period of time creates experience.” Aristotle firmly believed that practical wisdom could only be gained through experience. He often likened practical wisdom to a skill like carpentry or masonry. You can’t just read a book about carpentry and expect to become a master carpenter. You actually have to get into a shop and start working with tools and wood to do that. So it is with practical wisdom. You become more and more practically wise the more decisions you make, the more you experience, and this is key–the more you learn from your experiences. Getting your degree in practical wisdom requires enrollment in the school of hard knocks. Deliberative skills. According to Aristotle, “the person skilled in deliberating would in general also be practically wise.” The heart of practical wisdom is deliberation. Practical wisdom requires that we deliberate with ourselves the best course of action to take in a given situation. It’s a skill that we become more adept at through experience. Action. All the reasoning and careful deliberation in the world isn’t worth a lick to Aristotle if you don’t take action. Over and over again in the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle states that “practical wisdom is bound up with action.” It’s not a enough to know what the wise thing to do is, you must actually do it. Catholic theologian and philosopher Thomas Aquinas agreed with Aristotle that practical wisdom was an essential virtue for human flourishing. In Question 49 of his Summa Theologica, he built on Aristotle’s list of the skills and attributes essential for practical wisdom and added ones of his own, like humility, shrewdness, and circumspection. The Decline of Practical Wisdom The exercise of practical wisdom comes from an individual’s freedom to deliberate the best course of action to take in a set of particular circumstances. As our society has become more complex, specialized, and bureaucratic, the opportunity to exercise practical wisdom has increasingly been replaced with reliance on rules, regulations, and incentives to achieve our goals. But, as the example of Chris Ratte in the introduction shows, relying on rules and incentives to control behavior instead of encouraging people to exercise practical wisdom has led to acutely unfortunate and unintended consequences. Adherence to unbending rules eliminates the importance of context in our decision making. Instead of taking into account all the circumstances of a particular case, you just do whatever the rule says, consequences be damned. Take for example the zero tolerance for weapons policies at some schools that have gotten kindergartners expelled for accidentally bringing a pocketknife in their backpack. Instead of principals having the leeway to determine the proper punishment, they are locked into a certain course of action. Incentives can also sap practical wisdom because they can cause people to do the wrong thing at the wrong time and for the wrong reason. Take our healthcare system. Aristotle would say that the telos of a doctor is to make the patient healthy and that a doctor should use practical wisdom to determine the right amount of medicine or surgeries to achieve that goal. But instead of being paid a flat salary, some doctors get paid more for recommending more expensive procedures, whether or not the patient really needs them. And on the other hand, HMO’s reward some doctors for coming in under budget in their care. So the way our healthcare system is set up, doctors are incentivized to either provide too much or too little healthcare, instead of being rewarded for finding the mean and actually doing the best thing for the patient. While all this talk of rules and regulations might make this seem like a political issue, it’s really not. It’s not that there should never be any rules and regulations, but that the enforcer of the rules should have discretion in how they are applied. A conservative might argue that citizens should have the discretion to determine which kinds of guns they can own, and liberals might argue that mandatory sentencing and three-strikes laws keep judges from giving out punishments that are humane and fair. Liberals and conservatives will of course argue about which rules and regulations are indeed necessary, but people on both sides of the aisle should be able to get behind the idea that the rules which do exist should be executed with wisdom. And rules, regulations, and incentives don’t just sap the exercise of practical wisdom in our organizations and professions either, but in our personal lives as well. A lot of young men grow up with parents these days that schedule out their lives and make all their decisions for them. Then when they get out on their own and have to choose their own path, they feel paralyzed, so afraid they’ll make the wrong decision. They want someone to tell them what to do, because they haven’t gotten any experience cultivating their own practical wisdom. Nurturing Practical Wisdom in Your Life We won’t get into the nitty gritty about which business or government regulations are a good idea because that would get quite political. But we will offer some thoughts on cultivating practical wisdom in your own life. There are many things you can do to develop your own practical wisdom, such as learning critical thinking skills, refining your goals and core values, expanding your intellect, and always being sure to understand the circumstances of a situation as much as possible before making a decision. But the real key is experience. I get a lot of emails from men asking questions like, “What should I major in in college?” “Should I go to medical school?” “Should I join the military?” They don’t know which path to take. I’d love to be able to tell them which way to go, but it’s not possible for me to know what would be best for these men. It’s good to seek advice and study out your options, but you eventually just have to jump in and see how it goes. It’s sort of a catch 22–you want to know what to do, but you can’t know what to do before you’ve ever done anything. You’ve got to fail and make mistakes in order to earn your practical wisdom. For example–does it kind of suck that I had to go to three years of law school to become a blogger? Yes and no. I had to go through it in order to know what I really wanted to do, and it was not without its benefits. So what I try to tell men is this: don’t worry about whether or not it’s the right choice to join the military or major in X or whatever, because anything that gives you life experience will never be entirely bad, even if you decide it’s not something you want to do forever. Don’t be so afraid of making mistakes! Just get going and do something! Start heading down the path and give it your absolute all, and, if after doing that, you decide you need to change direction, that’s okay–as long as you learn from the experience, you’ve added to your store of practical wisdom. The next time you set course, your calculations with be more accurate in moving you towards your telos. The more decisions you make, the more practical wisdom you will gain, the better and better your choices will become and the closer and closer you’ll get to achieving true human flourishing. Sources: Practical Wisdom: The Right Way to Do The Right Thing by Barry Schwartz and Kenneth Sharp Reclaiming Virtue by John Bradshaw Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle

What is the origin of the legend of the Christed Son who was born of a virgin on December 25th? I am sure you are familiar with his legend which states that he was born in a manger surrounded by shepherds and then grew up to be One with his Father in Heaven. And most certainly you recall the sequence of events when this Christed Son gathered together his important disciples before enduring his death by torture and his subsequent resurrection. And, finally, there is the scene at the end of his time on Earth when he prophesied his return and then ascended into Heaven. Now for my question to you: Who amongst you is now mumbling under his or her breath “This can only be the legend of the Christians’ Jesus Christ”? Well…to the rest of you, I would like to inform you that many years before the birth of Jesus a legend identical to his was the accepted life story of the Persian Son of God, Mithras. And before Mithras, a very similar legend was ascribed to various other Sons of God worldwide, including the Greek Dionysus, the Egyptian Osiris, the Sumerian Dammuzi, and the Hindu Murugan. In fact, if we keep going back in time many thousands of years earlier we will discover that this universal legend actually began with the Green Man, the Son of a virgin Goddess who was born, died, and finally resurrected each and every year. So how did this oft-used legend eventually become chosen to be the legend of Jesus? Let us begin when it was the life story of the ancient Green Man and work forward to the time of the Christian Son of God. The Ancient Green Man During the Neolithic Age, which was the era when, as some say, “God was a Woman,” the Goddess and Her Son, the Green Man, were venerated by people worldwide for annually bringing forth the Earth’s material abundance. A universal legend about them arose that began with the annual impregnation of the “virgin” Earth Goddess by the Sun, the “Father in Heaven,” and the subsequent birth of Her Son, the Green Man. This important event occurred annually at the time of the Winter Solstice, when the spirit of the Green Man that had been slumbering underground in the underworld was shaken back to life. But although his dormant spirit had been stirred, it was not yet fully awake. This did not occur until a few days later, on December 25th, when the Sun or Solar Spirit completely reversed its downward path and took measurable steps along a northerly route. This was an important “As Above, So Below” event. It was believed the renewed and revitalized Solar Spirit above in the Heavens had re-awakened and revitalized the spirit of his Son below and inside the Earth. And now the future Green Man could begin his annual gestation period with the womb of his mother, the virginal Earth, in anticipation of receiving a new, resurrected body in the spring. Sculpture of Green Man at festival. ( CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 ) The legend of the Goddess and Green Man then skips to the Vernal Equinox, when the Green Man is ready to finally emerge from the womb of his mother. This is the time when the “male” light equals the “female” darkness, and their male-female polarity fully unites to produce a fresh infusion of life force to cover and fertilize the land. The fetal body of the Green Man is now ready to push out of the womb of his mother Earth in the form of the new tender sprouts of spring. Soon, his annual resurrection will be complete. This will occur on or around the same day as our Easter, a modern holiday associated with the much more recent resurrection of another Son of a virgin. The legend of the Green Man then covers the hot summer months, when the Son rapidly matures as the rapidly maturing vegetative growth of nature. He matures so fast, in fact, that the Green Man not only becomes One with his Father in Heaven, but he even mates with and inseminates his own mother. Their co-habitation produces a second infusion of the fructifying life force on Earth and manifests as a second proliferation of vegetation and accompanying harvest. Ultimately, this event would serve to hasten the Green Man’s demise, and soon he would die again with the decaying vegetation and the falling of leaves of autumn. The cause of his death? The sacerdotal interpreters of his legend would later assert that it occurred because of the sins of humanity. It was believed through original sin humanity had given up not only its own right, but the right of all life on Earth, to achieve eternal life. At the close of the Neolithic Age, when civilizations arose in place of a purely agrarian culture, the ancient legend of the Goddess and Green Man expanded and took on religious overtones. It became a standard myth that was annually recited and dramatically staged in the temples and the mystery schools of the new fledgling cities, nations and empires. A feature of its evolving storyline was that the Green Man now took on the additional role of King of the World, which he governed under the authority of his Earth mother. And in some renditions of the legend the Son was said to have met his death in the fall at the hands of his unscrupulous brother or a dark, evil lord. Ishtar and Tammuz In the cities of Meopotamia the Neolithic legend transformed into the story of the Goddess as Inanna or Ishtar who annually gave birth to a Green Man Son and future king under the name of Dammuzi or Tammuz. It was said that Dammuzi/Tammuz grew up to mate with his own mother while also governing the Earth for her. In order that this ancient legend be reflected in their culture, the inhabitants of the Fertile Crescent enthroned rulers of their city-states who were acknowledged to be the embodiments of Dammuzi/Tammuz and the royal servants of Goddess Inanna/Ishtar. “Unearthed in the main room of the palace of Arad. It depicts two almost identical images of a man with a branch- or sheaf shaped head, one lying down and the other standing. It may represent the fertility god Tammuz or a similar deity, who died in summer and was resurrected in spring, Museum of Israel.” ( CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 ) This was also true in Egypt, where the ruling pharaohs were regarded to be incarnations of Horus, the Son of Goddess Isis, and governed under her authority. But in the land of Khemit, although the spirit of the incumbent pharaoh was Horus, his physical body was formed by Seth, the god who governed the crystallization of energy into physical flesh. Together, Horus and Seth as the “Twins” created and comprised the physical body of the pharaoh, thus making the Egyptian monarchs modern representatives of the first and greatest king, Green Man Osiris. Egyptian deity, Osiris as Green Man. (Public Domain) Like the ancient Green Man, Osiris was similarly said to die and become resurrected annually in concert with the life and death of nature’s vegetation. Osiris’s annual resurrection ceremony took place during the annual flood of the Nile River, when the first tender sprouts of nature initially stuck their fragile heads above the surface of the Earth. Semele and Dionysus One version of Osiris’s popular Egyptian myth had him annually murdered by his jealous and evil brother Set each fall. This event was reflected in the legend of Osiris’s counterpart in Greece, Green Man Dionysus, who was annually slain by his relatives, the evil Titans, but later resurrected. Similar to Green Man Osiris, the mother of Dionysus was an Earth Goddess named Semele, meaning “Earth,” and his father was Zeus, the Father in Heaven. Dionysus as the Green Man (Public Domain) In order to awaken Dionysus from his slumber at the time of the Winter Solstice, female representatives of the Goddess would loudly bang pots and pans as they danced their way in ritual procession to the snowy summit of Mount Parnassus. And then after receiving his new set of clothes at the following spring equinox, the Divine Son would cavort in nature along with his own reflection and alter-ego, Pan, a name meaning “the All,” as in “All of Nature.” Like Osiris, Dionysus became the King of the World, and like his Egyptian counterpart, Dionysus was reputed to have once completely covered the globe while teaching his diverse subjects the art of making and ritually consuming wine. Modern interpretation of a plate from ancient Greece featuring Dionysus. (Aleph500Adam/ CC BY-SA 4.0 ) Wine made from grapes was recognized as the blood of nature, and since Dionysus was all of nature, it was his blood. Thus began the ritual of a holy communion through consuming the body and blood of the Divine Son. [Read Part II: The Truth Behind the Christ Myth: The Green Man and the Legend of Jesus ] Mark Amaru Pinkham is the author of six books that cover any of the world’s mysteries. They include: The Return of the Serpents of Wisdom, The Truth Behind the Christ Myth, Guardians of the Holy Grail, World Gnosis: The Coming Gnostic Civilization , and his most recent book , Sedona: City of the Star People . See the entire catalogue at: http://store.gnostictemplars.org/catalog/ Top Image: Green Man painted on a ceiling ( CC BY-NC 2.0 ) By Mark Amaru Pinkham

THE EAST COAST There’s nothing like good old East Coast rap—gritty lyricism and sample-based music. To this day, East Coast MCs are measured against the meticulously constructed rhymes of legends like Rakim or Big Daddy Kane, while beatsmiths strive to attain DJ Premier-like perfection. Forget the fact that New Yorkers now like to get crunk and throw elbows like they were Tupac fans all along. Cop an album like Nas’ 1994 classic Illmatic and you’ll get a real musical representation of the NY state of mind. New York is where it all started, South Bronx to be exact, and the BX still represents that true-school heritage. With KRS-One as its perennial rap mayor, this is the borough that brought us Fat Joe, who stepped in the scene in 1995 with limited skills and a whole lot of realness. A few years later, Joey Crack introduced the world to the legendary Big Pun. Meanwhile D.I.T.C. producers Show, Lord Finesse, Buckwild and Diamond D continue to provide backdrops for Bronx classics. KRS’ first hit, “The Bridge Is Over,” was a diss to the borough of Queens, somewhat of a second birthplace for New York rap. Home of pioneers such as Run-DMC, Marley Marl’s Juice Crew, LL Cool J, and more recently A Tribe Called Quest, Organized Konfusion and The Beatnuts, Q-Borough is now widely associated with thug rap. That legacy of graphic storytelling undoubtedly started with Kool G Rap, and is perpetuated by Queensbridge Projects’ finest: Nas, Mobb Deep, Cormega and Tragedy, to name a few. Move a little South and you’ll end up in Brooklyn, home of the East Coast’s answer to Holy Makaveli: The Notorious B.I.G., R.I.P. Now if you don’t think Biggie’s the best rapper ever we’ve got a problem. Illest voice, wittiest punchlines, cleverest lyrics and two classics, Ready to Die and Life After Death—a legacy that can only be rivaled by his heir to the throne: playboy Jigga. Jay-Z made his debut in 1996 with the seminal Reasonable Doubt, followed every trend, and got better with every album, and now he’s a trillionaire who screws models and can’t stay out of court. Word is his ever-expanding Roc-A-Fella label just signed Brooklyn’s grimiest gun-toting duo: M.O.P. Also worthy of mention is BK’s Bootcamp Click. Although they kind of fell off, Black Moon, Smiff N Wessun and the Beatminerz helped shape what is now known as the underground East Coast sound with stellar LPs like Enta da Stage and Dah Shinin’. Now, is there rap from Manhattan, you ask? Well, take the train Uptown and you’ll end up in Harlem World, birthplace of the his royal jigginess Puffy, Ma$e (we miss you), Cam’ron, and the late great Big L. Is there rap from the New York suburbs? Absolutely, starting with the Wu Tang Clan, straight from the slums of Shaolin (AKA Staten Island). EPMD and De La Soul both came from Long Island (Mobb Deep’s Prodigy, too, but we won’t blow your cover P), Naughty by Nature and Redman hail from New Jersey, while DMX and The Lox live up in Yonkers. Shit, Heavy D and Pete Rock & CL Smooth even came from Mt. Vernon. Let’s backtrack to 1996 for a minute. While Puff & the Bad Boys were on TV with their shiny suits and everything you heard on the radio was disco beats, rappers in NY started releasing more and more independent records, with the help of Fat Beats distribution and the then fledgling Rawkus label. Stretch & Bobbito were doing their thing on the radio and cats like The Arsonists, Company Flow, Mos Def, Non Phixion and Necro were moving strictly butter 12 inches in the musical tradition of the ’93-’95 golden era. A bunch of college dudes caught on and boom, there was the start of the so-called underground rap movement. Now everybody and their three cousins have an indie record out but most of the originators are still around, and still setting the standard. Moving right along to Philadelphia, home of DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince. Apart from them, Philly has at least one rap pioneer, Schooly D, but, to quote Beanie Sigel, the city’s current rap king, “when I grew up, if you was a rapper you was a sucker. It wasn’t cool to wear a Gumby hairstyle, sneakers, and suits to match.” Nowadays, however, all eyes are on the city of brotherly love, as Bean’s whole crew got signed to Roc-A-Fella. On a whole other tip, Philly is also one of the home bases of the so-called neo-soul movement, with Jazzy Jeff’s A Touch of Jazz production house (who brought Jill Scott to all the coffee shops) and, of course, everybody’s favorite rap band, The Roots. Their last album was actually the first to feature cameos by Beans and a then-unknown Eve. Speaking of females (they rap, too, you know), the once Gang Starr-affiliated Bahamadia is a permanent fixture in Philadelphia’s underground scene, and so are Jedi Mind Tricks. Jedi have ties to the whole Boston underground movement, whose salient figures include Mr. Lif, Krumb Snatcha and the Polo-clad 7L & Esoteric. Who else is from Beantown? Well, the one and only Guru, as well as Ray Benzino. He’s the dude that nobody listens to and still gets ads everywhere in The Source. That’s because he’s part owner of the damn magazine. THE DIRTY SOUTH Okay, now for the real fun. It wasn’t cool to like Southern rap a few years ago but now everybody’s appropriated the slang and the twang. All that “holler” and “you heard me?” Country motherfuckers were saying that back when all you heard in New York was “wordem up, that’s def.” To really understand the magnitude of down South hip hop, read a mag like Murder Dog. You’ll see hundreds of regional artists that you never knew existed. All of them independent, and all of them selling tens of thousands of records to a clientele that couldn’t give two shits about most East Coast rap stars. This goes for the Midwest and much of the West Coast: regions where major label interest has been sporadic and where, therefore, artists developed successful grassroots approaches. Also, regions where Tupac is God. Musically, most of Southern rap oscillates between two poles: accelerated bounce beats, and super-slow 808 grooves to bump in that jacked-up Impala. In the words of Houston’s Lil Troy, “it’s a laid-back vibe that we like down here. That way you can understand what people sayin’ real slow and stuff. When you’re smoking that weed everyday and drinking that codeine syrup, your brain is slow already so you on time with it.” The first Southern entrepreneur-slash-rapper to get really worldwide recognition was New Orleans’ Master P. Around 1997 he started raking in some serious cheese with his No Limit label and he lost it. Soon after, No Limit Clothing, No Limit Films, No Limit Cell Phones and No Limit Athlete Management were born. At its prime, Master P’s roster included over a dozen acts (Silkk the Shocker, C-Murder, Mystikal and Mia X to name a few), each with their own full-page ad in every magazine, every month. Moreover, P’s musical influence of crunkness (accompanied by a trademark stationary-jogging dance) was felt throughout the South. No Limit’s New Orleans rivals are the Cash Money Millionaires: the Hot Boys and the Big Tymers. They took over the scene for a minute, with the help of Mannie Fresh’s catchy production and Juvenile’s genuinely skillful rhymes. Not as popular today, they will always be remembered for coining the expression “bling bling.” Moving westward to Texas, we find one of the greatest rappers ever: Scarface. He’s the unanimously respected pioneer, the hardcore lyrical superhero and now the CEO of Def Jam’s Southern division. His early albums with the Geto Boys are timeless, his solo endeavors like Untouchable, classic. Face’s label, Rap-A-Lot records, owned by Houston big willie J-Prince, remains one of the South’s most influential imprints. Also from H-Town, and also one of the South’s most influential music makers is DJ Screw. He’s the one who first started making tapes with super-slowed down versions of rap songs. As if Southern rap beats weren’t slow enough, most releases out of Texas come in both normal and “screwed-up” versions. Screw passed away in late 2000, apparently of a syrup-related overdose. Port Arthur, TX, is the home of a group widely recognized as the South’s best lyricists: UGK. You’ve probably heard them for the first time on Jay Z’s “Big Pimpin” but the duo of Bun B and Pimp C have been doing shit since ’92. Pull out your old Menace To Society soundtrack and listen to “Pocket Full of Stone” for a taste of the greatness. To quote Pimp C: “this ain’t no motherfuckin’ hip hop records, these country rap tunes.” One of the crews that made a hit with UGK is Three 6 Mafia, the self-proclaimed kings of Memphis, Tennessee. The codeine anthem “Sippin on Some Syrup” was their major-label debut and they’ve long gone platinum since then. Other artists in Three 6’s Hypnotize Minds Posse include Project Pat and Gangsta Boo. Now, do you remember magazine ads in the mid-90s that showed two black dudes on a giant pool table with a car on it? Or those same two cats in space with pimp suits? Well that was another group of Memphis natives: Eightball & MJG. Their music combines live instrumentation and sophisticated arrangements, as a song like the classic “Space Age Pimpin’” could easily pass for an O’Jays’ slow jam from the 80s. Perhaps the Southern city that gets the most mainstream exposure is Atlanta. Of course, Jermaine Dupri’s So So Def powerhouse has been churning out hits ever since this dwarf brought us Kris Kross. (He’s also the genius behind Lil Bow Wow, if you were wondering). On another tip there’s the Dungeon Family: the crew composed of OutKast, Goodie Mob and the Organized Noize production team. Sophisticated in both their beats and their lyrical approach, they can be seen as the Southern counterparts to the likes of Tribe or The Roots. Pastor Troy, who walks around with a wrestling belt, reps ATL as well, and so does Def Jam’s superstar Ludacris. Of course, Atlanta also has a bunch of ghetto superstars selling tapes out of their trunks, such as the legendary Sammy Sam or Ghetto Mafia. Again, this is just a partial view of the Southern steelo. We haven’t expanded, for instance, on the Miami booty bass scene and its forefather Uncle Luke. Virginia also deserves to be mentioned, with its trend-setting superproducers Nottz, Timbaland and the Neptunes. Finally, there is such a thing as underground Southern crews that make East Coast-flavored music, like K-Otix out of Houston, Mass Influence out of Atlanta and Mad Skillz from VA. THE MIDWEST Who knows what goes on in the Midwest? One thing is for sure: you’ll get to hear a bunch of different rap styles, all mixed together. Take Chicago for instance. On one hand, you got Common, who came out in the early 90s as an East Coast-flavored wordsmith, became the purists’ poster boy with his classic “I Used To Love H.E.R.,” and is now the king of organic rap, under The Roots’ guidance. And then on the other hand, you’ve got a bunch of independent gangsta rappers like The Snypaz, Twista and Crucial Conflict, whose music could be easily compared to that of Southern or West Coast artists. Once in a while, some rap act comes out of the Midwest and blows the fuck up. That was the case for Cleveland’s Bone Thugs N Harmony, who harmonized and tongue-twisted their way to the top of the charts some five years ago. Now we have Nelly, from St-Louis Missouri, who sells as many records as Britney Spears with a unique formula he calls jazz-rap. That’s basically him singing nursery rhymes over easy-listening keyboard beats, and the world loves it. Things are a little more gloomy in Detroit, where we find the Guinness World Record holder for the most rap albums ever: Esham. He’s the originator of a satanic horror-core genre called acid-rap. Some refer to it as Wicked style. Esham’s got this group called Natas and he’s also down with the Insane Clown Posse. They’re all pretty out of control, but again, cater to a cult following and sell tons of records. You can imagine how those cats reacted when Eminem and D-12 came out and claimed all that shock-value shit like it was theirs. Well, D-12 settled it last summer during the Warped Tour by beating the Natas crew to a pulp (one of the members apparently lost hearing in one ear). On a whole other note, Detroit is the home of one of hip hop’s most prolific producers: Jay Dee. After lacing Tribe’s two last albums, he introduced the world to his group, Slum Village, and a slew of other MCs in his entourage, such as Frank N Dank and Phat Kat. While never acclaimed for their lyrics, this crew gets unanimous love on the strength of their unique, jazzy-yet-thumping beats. Jay Dilla, along with Common and The Roots, is said to be perpetuating Tribe and De La Soul’s Native Tongues musical legacy. If there’s one producer who can be compared to Jay Dee, it’s certainly Cincinnati’s Hi-Tek. His first release was Mood’s highly slept-on 1997 album. He then hooked up with Brooklyn’s Talib Kweli and formed Reflection Eternal. Their Rawkus debut, last year’s Train of Thought is a rap purist’s wet dream. Lone Catalysts and Five Deez also hail from the ‘Nati, and lace the underground with the same vein of melodic beats and intelligent rhymes. Last but not least, the Rhymesayers (namely Atmosphere and Eyedea & Abilities) are stars of the Midwest underground. They’re a bunch of white b-boys that do super abstract hip hop and, once more, cater to a devoted following (probably not the same one as Esham, though). THE WEST COAST All right go get that plaid shirt, strap on those Chuck Taylors and pull down those Dickies (with the cuff and the crease), because we’re going to the Westsiiiide – first stop, L.A. Now if Los Angeles is known for one thing in this hip hop game, it’s undoubtedly gangsta rap. Explicit lyrics over funkafied beats. The soundtrack to Compton’s race riots and to the Bloods, Crips and Latin Kings’ warfare. Of course, gangsta rap finds its eighties source in N.W.A., later to be solidified in all of Eazy E, MC Ren, Ice Cube and Dr. Dre’s solo endeavors. Dre has to be one of the most important, if not the most important rap personality ever. Money started out by making booty clap beats for J.J. Fad, then did all the classic N.W.A. stuff, and in the early nineties went on to create G-Funk, reviving Parliament-Funkadelic’s musical heritage with his Moog-infused masterpieces. The heyday of that G scene is unforgettable: Snoop Doggy Dogg was the man, Warren G was on MTV all day, Nate Dogg was crooning, Daz and Krupt were coming up, MC Eiht and DJ Quik were eternally beefing, and Dre was the major sonic architect behind it all (although Quik, Warren and Daz’s beats are equally brilliant). As the home of most of those artists, Death Row records was a full-fledged empire who’s C.E.O., the infamous Suge Knight, had everybody scared shitless. After 1996 ‘Pac died, Biggie died, Suge went to jail, Dre started his own label, Snoop signed with No Limit and it just wasn’t the same. To this day however, Dre crafts hits for all of rap’s heavy hitters (not without the help of his trusty ghost-producers). Somewhat bridging the gap between LA’s mainstream and underground realms is Cypress Hill, creators of a distinctive brand of beats and rhymes loved by cholos, heavy metal heads and pot smokers world wide. Now the Los Angeles underground, promoted in part by the Beat Junkies DJ crew, is almost the antithesis to the radio-dominating G-Funk culture. King Tee’s Likwit Crew (composed of Tha Liks, Xzibit, Defari and Phil the Agony) came to the table with delinquent raps of substance abuse. The Pharcyde brought kooky humor and true school beats, earning them the status of every raver’s favorite rappers. Freestyle Fellowship have lyrics so out there only Fritz the Cat understands them. More recently, Dilated Peoples and Madlib’s Lootpack won the heats of all the backpackers with their East Coast influenced sound. Moving North a bit, we get to the Bigidy-Bay Area, and the first cat to mention is Too Short. He absolutely has to be one of the top three realest rappers ever, hands down. First rapper in Oakland, original pimp, original gangsta, and entrepreneur—you name it. And the beauty of it is that his whole career, which began in 1981, can be summarized in three words: “bitch, shut up.” Another key figure, this time from Vallejo, is E-40. He’s the slang master. All that “fo’ shizzle my nizzle,” “pop ya collar” talk, that comes from him. Next up is Digital Underground, who are not only responsible for “The Humpty Dance” at all your frat parties, but also for discovering the single most revered rap figure ever: Tupac Shakur (he used to be their dancer). And, just like in the South, the Yae Area houses tons of regional rap kingpins such as Rappin 4 Tay, Yukmouth, San Quinn and JT the Bigga Figga. Arguably the most trend-setting crew in the Bay’s underground scene is the Hieroglyphics, led by Del the Funky Homosapien. When Souls of Mischief dropped 93 ‘Til Infinity, they set a whole trend of metaphor-heavy freestyle flows. Since then they went the indie route, toured the world, and still sell hundreds of thousands of records. The Living Legends, who also have garnered a massive cult following, seem to belong to Hiero’s lyrical lineage. Now if you want to hear metaphysically abstract raps by a bunch of white dudes with long hair who listen to Bob Dylan, you have to peep what comes out on Anticon. That label is based in the Bay but its artists (Sole, Jel, Dose One and Why? to name a few) come from all over. All weirdos. Other underground Bay Area champs include Rasco, Saafir, the politically charged The Coup, and the DJs formerly known as the Invisibl Skratch Piklz. DAVE ONE

A massive cyberattack that was initially launched on Friday continued to spread on Monday to over 200,000 computers in 150 countries. The attack – considered to be the largest cyberattack to date – for now seems to be contained, but there are still concerns that more cyberattacks could soon occur. President Donald Trump held an emergency meeting Friday evening on the matter. Here are five things you need to know about it. 1. The hackers used something known as the WannaCry virus as a means to extort money from victims. Those who had computers infected by the virus were told they had to fork over at least $300 in Bitcoin or their computer files would be deleted. Thus far, the hackers have only been able to gain less than $70,000, much lower than initial fears that the hackers could rake in $1 billion. The virus is essentially a worm that will infect any Windows computer within a network that it penetrates. The reason why Windows computers have been targeted instead of Macs is due to the fact that Windows computers easily outnumber Macs worldwide. There was also a weak spot in Windows that the virus took advantage of; Microsoft released an update in March to fix it but, according to CNN, "many corporations don't automatically update their systems, because Windows updates can screw up their legacy software programs." 2. The hackers were able to pull off the attack by using National Security Agency (NSA) tools. The NSA's tools, which are used to track down terrorists, were reportedly stolen by The Shadow Brokers, a hacking group that made them publicly available for these hackers to utilize into a cyberattack. However, Tom Bossert, a Trump's Department of Homeland Security adviser, disputed these reports. 3. Britain's National Health Service (NHS) was hit by the attack. The attack "forced operations to be canceled and ambulances to be diverted," according to CNN. The NHS's phone lines also weren't working properly and records couldn't be found. Other organizations that were hit included FedEx, Telefonica, Nissan, Deutche Bahn, Renault and various organizations within Russia, including their interior ministry and railroads. 4. The virus was contained by an "accidental hero." The "accidental hero," identified by the name MalwareTech, is a 22-year-old cybersecurity researcher for the cybersecurity company Kryptos Logic. He had heard about the cyberattack and "found a sample of the malware behind it, and saw that it was connecting out to a specific domain, which was not registered." MalwareTech registered the domain name, only to realize that the domain name was actually a "kill switch" to stop the virus from spreading. However, MalwareTech warned the hackers could simply modify the code to cause the virus to start infecting more computers. 5. It is not yet known who is behind the attack. But there are ways for those with Windows computers to protect themselves from it: (H/T: CNN) 1. Disable your computer's Server Message Block service. 2. Install Microsoft's patch. 3. Back up your data on an offline hard drive. 4. Install all Windows updates. 5. Use a reputable security software to prevent attacks in the future. Follow Aaron Bandler on Twitter.

“It’s almost like as players, you can’t have opinions,” Ward said last week. “If they ask me a question, I give an honest answer. I know when to be politically correct. Being one of the team leaders, I’m kind of the voice of the people. I hear all the stories, I hear all the complaints, and I get an opportunity. A lot of people think it’s just my opinion, but when I speak, I speak for the majority of this team. I try to put it in the right form.” Ward regards Harrison and Roethlisberger as brothers. Ward is particularly passionate about player-safety issues because he was not permitted to return to a November game against New England after he sustained a neck injury. That snapped his streak of games with a reception at 186. Ward said that he felt perfectly fine after the hit and that he had felt far worse after others yet was allowed to keep playing. Photo But Ward’s treatment of Roethlisberger was the most telling. Ward and linebacker James Farrior are the most respected Steelers, and Ward had withheld judgment on Roethlisberger, saying he should address his teammates about the particulars of an incident involving his behavior toward a woman in a Georgia bar. Roethlisberger had been aloof to much of the team, and Ward was the first to signal that Roethlisberger was trying to change when Ward announced at the start of training camp that Roethlisberger was trying to be a better teammate. “This is a team,” Roethlisberger said. “We stand up for each other, we look out for each other. And I think that’s one of the reasons we have the success that we have is because we are there for each other and we treat each other like we’re family and we see each other as family.” Ward has long been someone whom other players have turned to, particularly on offense. He is playing for his third Super Bowl title in six seasons. Ward remains a cog for that group, even as Roethlisberger’s reliance on the deep pass has expanded. Ward caught 59 passes for 755 yards and 5 touchdowns this season, and although he is nowhere near as fast as Mike Wallace, he caught one fewer pass than Wallace did. 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 Wallace arrived last season, Ward and Santonio Holmes took him under their wings. On the field, Ward told Wallace how to run routes and block. Off the field, Ward told him to always protect himself. “He is the biggest influence on the whole team,” Wallace said. “He’s one of few guys they respect around the league. When he says things like that, it boosts our team up, and he has a lot of credibility. He’s the face of the franchise.” Before Bettis retired, that was his job, fielding complaints and concerns from coaches and players, and filtering opinions to the public. Ward looked up to Bettis when they shared a locker room and now, from a distance, Bettis has watched Ward. Advertisement Continue reading the main story “It’s a natural evolution,” Bettis said in a telephone interview. “As you become an elder statesman, you realize it’s important for you to continue the legacy that the guys before you set. It’s up to you to pass it on. This year, more than ever before, there have been national issues. He’s always been very forthcoming in talking to the media. They know he’s going to shoot you straight. Obviously, it’s refreshing when you have one of your superstars call it like he sees it.” Inside the locker room, away from the cameras, Steelers players prevailed on Ward to take an even more active role with the youngest members of the offense — among them the rookie receivers Antonio Brown and Emmanuel Sanders — after Holmes was traded to the Jets during the off-season. Then, a few weeks ago, when the Steelers were preparing for the playoffs, Ward stood before his teammates and implored them — particularly the youngest ones who had not been to the playoffs — to raise their games. Just as Ward has raised his voice. “If you don’t want my opinion, don’t ask,” Ward said. “People may disagree with what I have to say; some people might say, ‘I understand what he’s saying.’ It seems people just look at us as football players. I’m a strongly opinionated person. I won’t say much if I don’t feel strongly about it.”

So-called small screens -- iPods, smartphones, tablets, etc. -- are affecting the amount of sleep children get, according to a new study. The study, led by Jennifer Falbe of University of California, Berkeley, was published on Monday in the journal Pediatrics. It found that kids who slept with smartphones or tablets in the room or bed with them received 21 fewer minutes of sleep than those who did not. Advertisement: The study, which looked at a racially diverse group of 2,048 fourth-graders and seventh-graders, was conducted to assess child obesity in Massachusetts. Lack of sleep is a "risk- factor for obesity," according to NPR, thus the children were asked the length of their sleep time, if they felt they needed more sleep and if they slept with a "small screen" in their bed or next to their bed. Over half of the children, 57 percent, stated they slept with a "small screen" nearby. Those kids reported getting less sleep and feeling like they needed more sleep. The study also looked at a larger screen present in the bedroom: televisions. Children with televisions received 18 fewer minutes of sleep than those without TVs. Two-thirds of the children in the study had televisions in their rooms. However, kids with the TVs were not as likely to report feeling like they needed more sleep, as compared to those with small screens. The issue seems to be that children with screens (large or small) present in the bedroom go to bed later than those without. The children all woke up at the same time to go to school. The study doesn't go as far as figuring out what specifically about the screens kept the the children from sleeping. NPR explains: "This study wasn't designed in a way that could figure out what was causing the sleep loss and tiredness — whether the kids were actually using the devices thus exposing themselves to light and stimulating content, say, or whether getting calls or alerts during the night interrupted sleep. Screens also affect sleep in adults, according to Harvard Health. Technology emits blue light, which is most disruptive to sleep.

The Church of the Protection of the Mother of God. Photo: pareizticiba.lv European Christians are complaining about the emptying of churches. The older generation is dying, and only a few adherents are replacing them. It would seem that a Catholic country such as France, at the Easter services—and not just anywhere but in the Notre Dame Cathedral—it would be impossible to get in. Especially considering that the cathedral contains a great Christian relic—Christ’s Crown of Thorns. Nothing of the sort—the cradle of French Catholicism is just slightly over half full on the Feast of Feasts. We hear the same complaints from both Catholic and Protestant prelates in other Europeans countries. But in Latvia, it’s all going the other way around. This is connected with the rebirth of Orthodoxy in that country. Orthodoxy in Latvia has a long and interesting history. It is rare that one sees such an amazing, authentically Christian, peaceful unification of the fates of two peoples who are in many ways very different from each other, especially when the relations between their governments are so cold, to put it mildly. Truly the Spirit blows where it will (Jn. 3:8), and no politics, nationalists, or other infernal meddlers can do anything with the Latvians, who are already turning to Orthodoxy en masse and praying side-by-side with Russians… in the Lativian language. They say that Peter the Great decided to make an ethnic experiment. To Livonia were sent hundreds of Russian families with the intention of assimilating the Latvians. But God’s ways are unfathomable, and the opposite occurred—the Russians became Latvians. True, they retained not only their Russian surnames: Petrovs, Markovs, Nicholaevs, but also the Orthodox faith of their fathers. The first wooden church of the Protection of the Mother of God was built in 1779 on the outskirts of Riga at the initiative of the Vidzeme governor general, Count Brown. Its history traces back to a wooden chapel (1777), which was located beyond the Rogula gates at the military cemetery. The Russian settlers practically forgot their written Russian language, although they continued to pray in Church Slavonic. Gradually their neighbors, simple Latvian Christians, started coming to these Orthodox communities. And then a small miracle occurred. As we know, Latvia is a multi-confessional country. The Latvian territories over the Middle Ages were divided into the lands of the Teutonic and Livonian orders—the Archbishops of Riga and Lithuania. When the Reformation hit, Latvians found themselves divided by religious principles. Where Lutherans were established, the population became Lutheran, and where Catholics reigned their subjects remained Catholic. The Catholic services were in Latin, and the Lutheran services were in German. The Latvians did not understand anything in either church. But the Russian peasants were religiously head and shoulders above their neighbors; after all, all the sacred books and prayer books were written in the Church Slavonic language fully understandable to them. Moreover, the Latvians had been baptized about 300 years later than the Russians, and they had no religious thinkers of their own, nor any literature in their national language. Thus, the Russians revealed the good news of the Gospel to the Latvians. In Latvia there were never any native feudal lords and nobles. All government officials of any importance at all, as well as the landowners, were all Germans, at times Lithuanians. They generally viewed the Latvians as foreigners or second-class citizens. For example, only Peter the Great permitted Latvians to remain in Riga for entire 24-hour periods. For some reason the current politicians do not want to recall these facts, but they do make first-graders diligently read about the losses the country sustained under Soviet occupation. But let them do as they please! There are other Latvians, and apparently not a few. On April 14, 1845, the Protection Church was given to the Riga Latvian Orthodox parish. This was needed, because in that period many Latvians had converted to Orthodoxy. On April 22, 1845, the archpastor Philaret gathered the Latvian clergy of the church, and Fr. Yakov Mikhailov was appointed the priest. The first service in the Latvian language took place in the Protection Church on April 29, 1845. There were so many people wanting to attend that the church could not fit a tenth of all the Orthodox Latvians and faithful gathered from the whole region. The Orthodox surrounded the church on all sides and prayed outside. With time there was another more spacious Latvian Orthodox church built. Interestingly, for various technical reasons such as fires or unfinished churches, there existed a mixed Latvian-Russian community. The unification of the Latvian and Russian parishes into a single parish took place on June 1, 1858. After the organization of the Latvian-Russian parish, the number of parishioners reached 1200. From that point on the services were conducted in mixed Slavonic and Latvian. But by September 9, 1879, services were being conducted in Latvian in the new Resurrection Church. Nevertheless, the spiritual and personal ties were not severed. Little-by-little, small Latvian communities formed in Russian parishes, with part of the services conducted in their national language. In Novemeber 1892, in the village of Kolke, Liepais deanery, a new Latvian Orthodox church was sanctified in honor of the Nativity of Christ. This church is unusually interesting in that during the years between the two World Wars, services there were in the language of the Livs, the native population of that region, ethnically closer to Estonians and Finns. And it was all done in a semi-underground way—against the policies of the then-president of Latvia Karlis Ulmanis, who directly forbade the written Liv language. The parish was aided in their publishing activities by Orthodox Estonians and Finns. Only this over several decades prolonged the life of the language, allowing specialists to study it thoroughly with the help of living native speakers of this very rare speech. The last pure-blooded Liv died in 2009. According to the most optimistic assessments, there are now only around 210 people who know the language of the ancient Livs. The Latvian Church also has its own saint, holy Hieromartyr John (Janis Pommer), Archbishop of Riga and Latvia, murdered on October 12, 1934. His remarkable Life demands a separate article. Apparently it is also by his prayers that the number of Orthodox Latvians has increased significantly in recent times. The former deputy of the Jurmala City parliament and current editor-in-chief of Radio Jurmala Janis Kuzin has also come to the Orthodox Church. His main motive is the most desirable one: the search for truth. One day he was conducting a radio program with a former Catholic who had joined an Islamic community and become its press secretary. Janis was taken aback by his guest’s admission, for which his soul had apparently waited a long time: “Only those who live completely according to the fundamental laws given in the Catholic or Lutheran churches can call themselves Catholics or Lutherans; but if people abandon their roots for the sake of political gain and become liberals, then they are no longer Catholics or Lutherans. The Reformation did not lead to anything good, and therefore due to the continual changes in dogma there are fewer and fewer Lutherans and Catholics. The church is made up of people, and if there is no one in the church, then that confession is also gone.” Janis Kuzin. Photo: ruskline.ru And then Janis turned to Orthodoxy—a faith that has not undergone any changes over two millennia. “In the Catholic and Lutheran Churches you don’t feel the breath of God. Therefore it is consoling that Latvians are seeking themselves not in sects, but in Orthodoxy. Although unfortunately, sectarianism is currently a real problem in Latvia. Lutheranism is a secular religion bound up with the state, and all official events in Latvia take place in Lutheran churches. But even when the head of the government and president of Latvia participate in these events, the Lutheran churches are half empty. But when these events take place in Orthodox churches, the church is packed.” This is despite the fact that nationalists control the Ministry of Justice and often conduct unfounded inspections of Orthodox churches that border on sacrilege. For example, women inspectors try to bust into the altar, which, as we know, is not allowed in the Orthodox Church. “I can see from my own acquaintances that many Latvians are converting to Orthodoxy and becoming parishioners of Orthodox churches in Jurmala and Riga,” Janis Kuzin goes on. “In the capital of Latvia the Orthodox churches are filled to capacity with Latvian parishioners. Every Wednesday, Latvian Lutherans and Catholics talk with Orthodox priests about how they can convert to Orthodoxy. In Latvia whole families are receiving the Orthodox faith.” These days you can’t fool anyone. Not sports teams, nor musical societies, nor any other special interest groups, which are so widespread in the practically state Latvian church, can help it hold on to its parishioners. If there is no spirit, no divine grace, no connection in time, then you can form hundred sports teams but no one will come. Especially since there are plenty of places where people can practice sports or play music. But on the contrary, no matter how much you berate Orthodoxy and its hierarches, the members only increase. And the war on Orthodoxy is something not at all contrived. Orthodoxy is strength. First of all because it develops a personality that is free from sin—and that is its “fault” for those who would like for all people on earth to do the bidding of a cabal of power brokers in the financial world. And, of course, an Orthodox Christian is free: Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty (2 Cor. 3:17). He is not fogged in by the strict legalistic dogmas of Catholicism and the primitivism of Lutheranism, which still considers that if a man is wealthy, he has grace. What is different about the Orthodox? Our sufficiency is of God; Who hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life (2 Cor. 3:5-6).

News Search ? Search: Search Instructions A simple search will return results that contain all of the specified words in the title or in the body of the news story. The words may appear in any order. A phrase search can be performed by enclosing the search string in quotes. For instance, searching for "technical director" will only return results that contain the exact phrase supplied, with the words in the order specified. News type: All News Items News & Updates Press Release Fact Sheet Speech Testimony Media Advisory September 16- Following a Consumer Product Safety Commission recall of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7, the FAA is issuing general guidance to airlines about the rules for carrying recalled or defective lithium devices on board aircraft as cargo or in carry-on luggage. U.S. hazardous material regulations prohibit air cargo shipments of recalled or defective lithium batteries and lithium battery-powered devices, and passengers may not turn on or charge the devices when they carry them on board a plane. Passengers must also protect the devices from accidental activation, including disabling any features that may turn on the device, such as alarm clocks, and must not pack them in checked luggage. The FAA issued the Safety Alert for Operators, or SAFO, in conjunction with a Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration safety advisory. The SAFO urges the airlines: to ensure that cargo and passenger processing employees, and those responsible for cabin safety, are aware of the rules; to ensure that cargo customers are aware of the rules; and to include information and guidance on their websites about damaged or recalled lithium batteries and devices. The SAFO notes that the hazardous material regulations do not preclude an airline from proactively placing its own restrictions on carrying or using specific lithium battery products on board aircraft, prior to an official government recall or advisory.

Lebanese police have arrested a prominent lawyer after he accused government officials of possible complicity in a sex trafficking ring broken up in March, Human Rights Watch said. Police detained Nabeel Al Halabi in a dawn raid on his home on Sunday after Interior Minister Nuhad Mashnouq and a senior adviser filed separate suits for libel and slander of a public official, both criminal rather than civil offences in Lebanon. HRW called for Al Halabi’s immediate release, criticising both the manner of his arrest and the jail sentence of up to one year he faces if found guilty. The lawyer’s comments on Facebook came after Lebanese authorities broke up the largest known sex trafficking network to date in late March, freeing at least 75 Syrian women who were being held captive. In one message he asked: “Who is protecting the human trafficking ring in Lebanon?” and then alluded to Mashnouq without naming him. In others, he said the interior ministry needs to “clean” itself up. Al Halabi is by no means the only person to allege official complicity in sex trafficking in Lebanon, which human rights groups say has soared as a result of the influx of desperate refugees from the five-year civil war in neighbouring Syria. Veteran Druze politician Waleed Junblatt has accused “high-level officials in the moral police” of being “complicit” in the trafficking. But Al Halabi is the only one so far against whom criminal complaints have been announced. The lawyer has been a controversial figure since last year, when his involvement in negotiations for the release of Lebanese soldiers and troops held by Al Qaida and Daesh drew accusations he was too close to the militants. Last month, the lawyers’ syndicate stripped him of the immunity from prosecution he was afforded as a syndicate member. “Al Halabi’s arrest for criticising Lebanese officials and the intimidating way it was carried out sets a dangerous precedent,” HRW’s deputy regional director Nadim Houry said in a statement late on Tuesday. “The interior ministry may not like what Al Halabi wrote, but that didn’t give them the right to storm into his house and lock him up. “Laws that allow imprisonment in response to criticism of individuals or state officials are incompatible with Lebanon’s international obligations to protect freedom of expression.” Last Update: Wednesday, 1 June 2016 KSA 16:36 - GMT 13:36

Denver Broncos tight end Julius Thomas made the Pro Bowl and became an integral part of a record-breaking offense while learning on the job last season. Asked by NFL Media's Judy Battista when he finally started feeling comfortable with football, the former college hoopster responded, "Would it be fair for me to say, 'Maybe a couple of weeks ago?'" Watch "The Top 100 Players of 2014" every week at 9 p.m. ET on NFL Network as we count down to the top player in the NFL. "The Top 100 Players of 2014 Reactions" airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET. "In one game, the defense did something," Thomas continued, "and Peyton was like, 'Julius, did you see that?' And I said, 'Peyton, they got me; I had no clue what they were doing.' There are still situations I haven't been in before, and I'm still learning what to do." Admittedly getting by purely on "self-confidence and athleticism," Thomas still forced defensive coordinators to game-plan a way to handle him. That's the difference between Thomas and Eric Decker. While Decker is a premier second fiddle at wide receiver, he wasn't the focus of opposing defenses -- Julius and Demaryius Thomas were. It's no coincidence that the Broncos have jump-started negotiations with Thomas and Thomas after refusing to reward Decker with a second contract. With increased strength, a better understanding of the offense and Decker out of the picture, Julius Thomas' role is expected to expand this season. Don't be surprised if he flirts with 1,000 yards in his second season as a starter. In the latest edition of the "Around The League Podcast," the heroes discuss which teams "realistically" have no shot at winning the Super Bowl this season.

A new Google report explains how often its driverless cars have been in near-crashes on California roads. The data is from 424,331 of the 1.37 million miles Google has driven autonomously. (Noah Berger/AFP/Getty Images) Google’s fleet of 53 driverless cars, currently being tested on roads in California and Texas, have never been at fault in an accident. But in 13 cases, the vehicles came pretty close, and the driver had step in and prevent a crash, according to a new company report on the California tests. The report also stated that during 272 occasions in the 14-month span, drivers took control of autonomous vehicles because the software was failing. In 69 other incidents, the test drivers chose to take control of the autonomous vehicles to ensure that the vehicles operated safely. The new data shows that autonomous cars are making progress, Google said. But other experts cautioned that the company’s report doesn’t provide enough information to definitively say whether the technology is safe. Google’s test drives have been very closely watched because they have put driverless cars on real roads for the first time. Even minor incidents between human drivers and Google’s cars have garnered media scrutiny because of the huge interest in the technology. [What it’s like to ride in a Google self-driving car] The report was the most detailed to date on how the cars are performing and was required by California rules. Google is also testing the tech in Austin, but Texas did not obligate the company to release similar data. The report shows an overall decline in incidents in which the technology fails since the fall of 2014. “We’re really excited about these numbers. It seems to be a pretty good sign of progress,” Chris Urmson, who leads Google’s self-driving car project, said in an interview with The Post. The rate at which Google’s test drivers are intervening to ensure safe operations is decreasing. (Google) Experts caution that the findings should be taken with a grain of salt. “It’s not going to be reflective on the quality of the system,” said Alain Kornhauser, chairman of Princeton University’s autonomous vehicle engineering program. “From an evaluation standpoint, I don’t think there’s anything you can read into it in the end.” How good the cars look can be skewed by the situations they face, according to Kornhauser. Easy road conditions will make a car look much more impressive than tough situations. “It’s informative, but it shouldn’t be treated as a true measure of the vehicle’s safety,” said Aaron Steinfeld, a Carnegie Mellon professor who researches human-robot interaction. The most significant improvement in the report is the rate at which the cars detect a system failure and request the test driver to take over — incidents that Google and regulators call “disengagements.” These situations happened once every 785 miles in late 2014, but only once every 5,318 miles in the fourth quarter of 2015. The measure is an indicator of the stability of the overall system. Urmson said he was pleased with the improvement as his engineers have focused on adding new capabilities to the software. He said a focus on stability will happen before the technology is released to the public. While the rate at which test drivers chose to take control of the cars decreased in early 2015, it took an upward turn late in 2015. Google says that’s because the cars have been pushed into more difficult circumstances. “You’ll see that vary over time but generally trend downwards,” Urmson said. “If you only drove on Sunday afternoon you might get the software to the point where you don’t have any of the disengagements, but then you throw it into rush-hour traffic on Monday morning, the driving environment is just that much more challenging.” He cited recent rain in the Bay Area, and roads with dense exhaust fog as tougher challenges the cars have faced recently. The most significant improvement in the report is the rate at which the cars detect a system failure and request the test driver to take over. These situations happened once every 785 miles in late 2014, but only once every 5,318 miles in the fourth quarter of 2015. According to the report, the most common reason that test drivers had to take control of the autonomous vehicles is a perception discrepancy — essentially an error in how the car sees the world. Urmson says that perception is probably the hardest part of developing a self-driving car. For example, the car might think another vehicle has turned 10 degrees in its lane when it is really proceeding straight down its lane. Or the car might stop because it sees trash on the road, which a human driver wouldn’t stop for. The second most common reason the report cites for test drivers intervening is what Google calls software discrepancies. These can be very slight differences in how the software is operating the car, such as a measure from a sensor coming at every 11 milliseconds instead of every 10 milliseconds. The third most common reason for test drivers needing to take control of the cars is an unwanted maneuver of the vehicle, which includes unwanted braking or swerving to avoid an obstacle that wasn’t actually a hazard. Those three categories make up the majority — 74 percent — of the cases when test drivers took control of the autonomous vehicles.

Let’s just dip our fingers in purple ink and pose for photos now that voting has the same significance for us as it had for those Iraqis who got conned into thinking they were participating in some grand democratic experiment. Our own elections, the ones our government has modeled for the world, are a hoax. What other word should we use to describe this year’s presidential election, whose outcome will turn on which party’s super PACs gets the most generous bribes from billionaires? The Republicans, enabled by decisions of a Supreme Court they still control, were the first out of the gate and are far more culpable in destroying our system of popular governance. But the Democrats, no less committed to winning at any cost to political principle, have now jumped in. The generally reserved New York Times editorial page responded to the Obama campaign’s decision to seek super PAC funding with a scathing editorial headlined “Another Campaign for Sale.” The Times reminded that Barack Obama, in his State of the Union speech two years ago, called out the Supreme Court justices sitting before him over their decision to free special interests from campaign spending limits. “I don’t think American elections should be bankrolled by America’s most powerful interests,” Obama said then. “They should be decided by the American people.” But sadly, as the Times editorial noted this week, “On Monday, the President abandoned that fundamental principle and gave in to the culture of the Citizens United decision that he once denounced as a ‘threat to our democracy.’ ” Monday was the day the Obama campaign sent out an e-mail announcing that members of the president’s administration would solicit funds for Priorities USA Action, one of the super PACs that can now, thanks to the Supreme Court decisions that Obama had castigated, raise unlimited funds in an effort to sway the election. 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 Just as the super political action committee supporting Republican primary contender Newt Gingrich had raised $10 million from Nevada gambling kingpin Sheldon Adelson and his wife, The Wall Street Journal reported that the Obama campaign set its sights on media mogul Haim Saban. A backer of Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primaries in 2008, Saban had not subsequently supported Obama because of criticisms over the president’s actions toward Israel. Perhaps because the president has done nothing to effectively pressure the Israeli government to make any concessions toward Palestinian self-determination, Saban recently made his first contribution to Obama and in a written statement Tuesday said, “We are looking at all the Super PACs at the moment, will surely participate, but haven’t decided on the details.” Saban may be one of the more idealistic mega-donors the pro-Obama Priorities USA Action PAC is now courting. Less savory, if one cares about the hold that Wall Street has exerted over this administration, are some of the top donors Obama aides met with Tuesday to urge that they contribute to the PAC. The list included Hamilton E. James, the president of the huge private equity firm Blackstone, and Robert Wolf, the chairman of UBS Group Americas. Not that the Republicans should worry, since their list of super PAC supporters is far more powerful. To date, the pro-Democrat PACs have collected a paltry $19 million as compared with the $91 million raised last year by committees controlled by Karl Rove and the allies of the Republican presidential candidates. This disparity is the president’s justification for abandoning his principled opposition to such groups. “We’re not going to fight this fight with one hand tied behind our back,” said Jim Messina, Obama’s campaign manager. “With so much at stake, we can’t allow for two sets of rules. Democrats can’t be unilaterally disarmed.” That argument would be more compelling if not for the fact that it was the Republican presidential nominee, John McCain, who “disarmed” by accepting public funding in the last election. Obama subverted what remained of political campaign finance reform by turning instead to private contributions, with the result that major Wall Street interests greatly financed his victory. It is not entirely true that shunning the PACs would have left the president at a disadvantage, since he commands predominant media space by virtue of his office. He could have exploited the fat-cat contributions to Republicans as confirmation that they are servants of the 1 percent that has caused the rest of us so much misery. Once again he has failed to take that case for economic justice to the American people and instead validated the Republican assault on what remains of our democracy.

Trade Secrets by J.P. Tamang Iron Range Not every small town redneck is a violent homophobe. In fact, some are quite the opposite. I was living on a piece of land cooperatively owned by a group of old hippies. It was south of the Vermilion Range, a fifty mile stretch of ghost mines in the arrowhead region of Minnesota’s northern tip. One morning I walked the long clay road to a swimming hole where I stretched out naked on a rotting log. I broke a sweat and rolled off, splashing into the water below. I floated on my back through trees and over stones into the lake’s center. As I swam to the bank and ascended it, my skin twitched in the breeze. I began to walk the path back until my nose caught something toasted. I turned around and saw a young man. He was twice my size, seated in a foldout chair near the bed of a candy-apple Chevy pickup. A small fire burned at his feet. One massive, soiled hand rose up to lift a pair of wrap-arounds above a set of green eyes. His cheeks were soft and flush, as if fed for years on butter and beer. I waved, sheepishly, covering my genitals. Then he spoke in a deep and bovine tone. Him: “How’s the water?” Me: “Cold.” Him: “Want a beer?” Me: “No, thanks.” I started to walk away. Him: “I didn’t recognize you there. Thought you might’ve been a beaver.” Me: “I’m not from here. Came down from the city.” Him: “Figured as much. Where’re you at?” Me: “I’m staying at the co-op on Artlip Lake.” Him: “Known that spot a long time.” Me: “Sure.” He replied with remorse: “I don’t mean it that way though.” Me: “What way?” Him: “Everybody knows about the queers, so I…” Me: “...I see.” Him: “I know you probably think we’re, you know. But we ain't.” I watched him struggle to find the words to describe himself and me. A Styrofoam dish of meat in its juice sat on the bed of his truck. The boy produced a pocket knife from his athletic shorts and sliced a wooden skewer in half. He drew the meat from the dish with his fingers and held it, motionless, allowing the blood to drip off. I felt sick. The chill from the air left me and I noticed my skin was beginning to dry. I felt a bead of sweat forming under my arms. Him: “We’re not the type out here. I’m not that type. That, you know...go around killin’ homos.” Me: “What type is that?” Him: “Well, I wouldn’t tell youyou’re a faggot, for one.” Me: “I should go.” Him: “I’m not that type, you see…” Me: “I see. I’m gonna’ head back now.” Him: “Come say goodbye before you go then.” Me: “Will do.” I walked back along the bank, half waiting to be followed. When I reached my towel I began drying off with a sense of unease. I looked up into a clearing with the sun beating down on the ground amidst a circle of balsam fir. During my time at the co-op I’d never seen people from the township, so I’d developed a sense of security in seclusion. But when I thought of the violence of the region, I was suddenly arrested. The Range, stolen from the Ojibwe nation, was home to over 40 different ethnic groups in 1924, drawn there by the prospect of mining jobs. It was a region of vigilante violence and an immigration ban. As I got dressed I realized there was a fear in me that’d begun long before I came, rumors of Klan chapters popping up in the arrowhead. Were they only a distant nightmare? I scurried into the clearing, a different way than I’d come. I didn’t want to pass the boy and his tailgate fire. I didn’t want to find out what he had in store for me. When I emerged from the trees the clay road stretched out before me in either direction like a long, rusty ribbon. I didn’t recognize it, but I took off anyway, hoping for a sign. By the time I reached a building the sky had turned a dusky tangerine. The building was a small bar at the end of a snowshoeing trail, built out of the salvaged pieces of a railroad bridge, old bastions of the region’s once prestigious trade. The inner walls were decorated with Americana, wall hangings nailed to the massive rafters, painted saws and initialed canoe paddles fixed above old windows and boarded floors. The place seemed empty, until I sat down at the bar. The boy’s silhouette appeared in the doorway. Him: “You never said goodbye.” He rounded the bar. I asked him for a shot of whiskey and he produced two, placing them atop a cocktail napkin. Suddenly I was drawn back to the old hippies warning me about the locals, how they howled in drunken stupors. In a moment my fear left me and I smiled. I tilted the shot glass back with the boy in unison. It burned my throat, but we laughed and cursed. Him: “You want to see the kitchen?” Me: “What do you make back there?” Him: “Burgers.” The liquor lay like a hot rock in the pit of my stomach as the boy led me back. My thoughts felt hazy and heavy as I followed him. I watched his shorts clinging to his thighs, outlining the contours of a perky, rounded butt. The kitchen was mostly empty, unused, and every stainless steel surface was perfectly wiped. He explained how no one came around during the summer, just at the tail end of the snowmobiling season. He leaned up against a table, smirking. I looked down and saw the outline of his cock. I stared at it, transfixed, as if the air itself might have been drugged. Me: “Are you interested?” Him: “I might be. It’s nice to meet folks like you. They’re few and far. Cept’ for the Artlip folks. But they’re not, you know…” Me: “Twinky?” He laughed. Me: “So?” Him: “So what’re you thinking of?” He placed a hand on his crotch and smiled. I fell to my knees and peeled the tank top from my chest. I reached both hands out, crawling up next to his thighs, sliding his shorts down until the tip of the waistband dropped below a tuft of pubes. His cock, nestled like an egg in a nest, was nearly the size of coffee thermos. It smacked my face as it sprung out of his shorts. I wrapped my mouth around its girth. I looked up at his face, which had acquired a faint, pink hue. He tilted his head back under the fluorescent lighting and moaned as I worked on him. I’d forgotten why I was afraid of him. When he came in me I choked and it dribbled from the corners of my mouth. I fell back on my legs and propped my torso against a table. I knew I wasn’t finished. I needed another revelation. So I wiped the cum from my lips and asked him if he had another one in him.

We are stacking the climate dice against the survival of many species on planet earth. A few species may be able to ride the changes, at least temporarily. And so it is with the largest of birds, the wandering albatross, with some populations of this species able to take advantage, literally, of the changing winds of climate change. But for how long? Global warming has caused the westerly winds in the Southern Ocean to increase in intensity and move poleward. The wandering albatross, with up to three and a half metre wing span, spends much of it's life soaring above the ocean searching for food, with the changes in the winds increasing it's foraging ability, breeding capacity and reducing it's conflict with commercial fishing operations. A study published in 2001 found that there were differences in flight performance and foraging patterns between males, females and juveniles. Male wandering albatrosses tend to forage in the extremely windy sub-Antarctic and Antarctic zones south of the breeding colony in the Crozet Islands. Females tend to forage in subtropical and tropical waters to the north, where winds are lighter. Fledglings forage farther north in even lighter wind conditions than adults of either sex. The species has been in steady decline through the twentieth century with a total population at 2010 estimated at about 8,000 breeding pairs. It is listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Redlist. It nests mostly on sub-antarctic islands. Breeding populations are found on South Georgia (20%), Prince Edward Islands (South Africa) (40%), Crozet Islands and Kerguelen Islands (French Southern Territories) (40%) and Macquarie Island (Australia) (approximately 10 pairs breeding per year), but albatross roam the high seas and are found right across the Southern Ocean, including Antarctic, subantarctic and subtropical waters. Juvenile birds remain at sea for 5 to 10 years before returning to their natal island to breed. They can live for up to 70 years. The main threats to the species come from being caught and killed as incidental seabird bycatch in long line fishing such as for Bluefin Tuna and trawling fisheries, and introduction of alien species (such as rats or cats) which threaten breeding colonies. The accumulation of human pollution, plastic debris and fish hooks also has negative effects on albatross numbers. The research is part of a long term study by biologists on the wandering albatross (Diomedea exulans) breeding in the Crozet Islands, part of the the French Southern Territories located in the southern Indian Ocean (halfway between Madagascar and Antarctica). Data on the duration of foraging trips and breeding success has been gathered for 40 years, with information on foraging and body mass recorded for the last 20 years. The research team is made up of scientists from the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS-CEBC) and the German Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ). "The wandering albatross Crozet population has decreased as a result of adult mortality on longline fishing in subtropical waters, especially females since they favour warmer subtropical waters in the north compared to the more southerly distribution of males" says Dr. Maite Louzao Arsuaga, who has been modelling albatross movement from 2009 to 2011 at the UFZ. "Due to the changing wind conditions, females are now foraging in more southward areas where such fishing is not that widespread". As winds have increased in intensity and moved to the south, the flight speed of albatrosses increased resulting in them spending less time foraging. This has aided breeding success and both male and female birds have increased their body mass by about one kilogram, which corresponds approximately to one tenth of their total body weight. The scientists say the weight increase is due to shorter incubation periods on the nest, and also an adaptation to windier conditions. The foraging movements of birds were plotted using miniaturised tracking devices. The results show that albatross have altered their search patterns following changes in wind conditions over the past two decades. Females used increasingly more poleward and windy areas for foraging. As a consequence their travel speed increased while the total distance covered during foraging flights did not change. "This means that they spend less time at sea while incubating the egg and thus the breeding success increases" explains Dr. Henri Weimerskirch of the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS-CEBC). The wandering albatross can live up to 60-70 years. Chicks take a year to raise, so breeding usually occurrs every second year. Albatross are scavengers and hunters and sit at the top of the food web. They provide a valuable indicator to scientists of the health of marine ecosystems in the southern ocean. "Because the species has no natural enemies and is at the top of the food web, it is particularly well suited as an indicator of the health of marine ecosystems," says Dr. Thorsten Wiegand from the UFZ, who supervised the work of Dr. Maite Louzao. "This could help not only a single species, but the underlying biodiversity associated with pelagic key habitats to protect Southern Ocean. Moreover, we have developed methods of habitat modelling broadly applicable and can be used to assess changes in species distribution within the current global change scenario." The research team identified key marine areas for conservation of wandering albatrosses in the southern Indian Ocean in a previous the paper - Conserving pelagic habitats: seascape modelling of an oceanic top predator (abstract) published in the Journal of Applied Ecology in 2010. This was the first map to support the future development of a network of priority protected areas in the southern part of the Indian Ocean, which are based on habitat predictions. Unfortunately climate scenarios predict that westerly winds will move even further south by 2080 and wandering albatrosses might have to fly further to find optimal conditions for flying. This may then have a negative affect on albatross breeding and populations. Biodiversity under threat There are a thousands of local stories about the threat to species biodiversity. From San Francisco Mayor Gives Death Sentence to Endangered Frogs, to penguins facing an uncertain future. While global warming is increasing temperatures, exacerbating extreme weather events, and reducing biodiversity, many species will be losers, such as many lizard species, and iconic species such as the Australian koala. Recent scientific studies have identified that Species biodiversity is under threat from the velocity of climate change, and that Climate change and habitat loss threaten biodiversity, with the extinction rate underestimated. Marine scientists have been warning that our Oceans are at high risk of unprecedented Marine extinction. It all comes down to the explosion in the human population and the consumerist lifestyle based upon a system of production and energy that has taken no account of the cost of pollution to ecosystems and other species. Human industrialisation has caused the carbon pollution that is changing our climate. But worse is yet to come. If we do not tackle the issue of carbon pollution quickly the impacts of climate change will escalate. Human health is already threatened in the increase in extreme events, and we have only seen 0.8 degrees celsius of global warming so far. Imagine the world at 5 degrees Celsius which is where the world is heading by 2100 with business as usual according to the Climate Interactive scoreboard. Once climate feedback processes kick in, we could be in for a very rough ride. Scientists studying climate sensitivity say the paleoclimate record points towards potential rapid climate change. Sources:

New Railway from Mombasa to Nairobi 14 August 2017 Tripindigo 5 min read The mode of transportation you use while moving from one location to another has a direct effect on your travelling experience either for the good or bad. No wonder, the launch of the new railway from Mombasa to Nairobi was embraced with an overwhelming happiness as it was a feat that came after a prolonged effort from the government. Apart from the railway instituted by the colonial government; ‘The Lunatic Express’, this is the first domestic railway system in the country. For a long time, travellers have had to depend on the two-lane highway to move from the biggest port in East Africa – Mombasa to the capital city, Nairobi. Mombasa Terminus Image courtesy: MICHAEL KHATELI Construction & Launch The construction of the railway started in 2013 and was projected for completion in December 2017. However, the railway financed by the Chinese government and built by a Chinese company was able to beat that schedule by opening it on a meaningful day - Madaraka day which signifies the anniversary of Kenya gaining autonomy to rule in their country and is also the official name of the railway line - The Madaraka Express. The opening of the Standard Gauge Railway on May 31st, 2017 featured a red carpet ceremony attended by enthusiastic Kenyans who could not wait to start plying the train route. New Railway line Image courtesy: MICHAEL KHATELI Route connection Travelling by bus has been the major transportation mode covering the route from Mombasa to Nairobi for duration of 9 to 16 hours. While former passenger-train service from Nairobi to Mombasa lasted for about 10 hours. With the opening of this new railway, that journey span has been reduced by more than half. The route has a length of 472 km and a total length of 609 km. The train will run along the routes of Mombasa, Kilifi, Kwale, Taita-Taveta, Makueni, Kajiado, Machakos and Nairobi. For now, the trains are not making any stops along the way from Mombasa to Nairobi. The project of the Standard Gauge Railway intends to extend the routes to Uganda, Rwanda, South Sudan and Ethiopia to place Kenya in the middle as the central connecting network. Railway Platform Image courtesy: MICHAEL KHATELI The most Comfortable Public Transport in Kenya Apart from the reduction in the travelling time when using the train, there is also a higher comfort level as evident in the amenities offered. Many Kenyans at the opening of the railway were excited at the provision of a toilet on-board, a facility which is lacking while travelling by road on the bus. The superior design of the line also ensures that the train seats are built for optimum sedentary comfort on long trips. People can now cut down the 12 hour trip from Mombasa to Nairobi to just four and half hours. The Economy coach accommodates 118 passengers in each coach while the 72 passengers in the First Class coaches. Both classes enjoy air conditioning, WI-FI, and catering amenities. Madaraka Express Image courtesy: MICHAEL KHATELI Affordability and accessibility The new railway will see more people accessing the more affordable means of transport as compared to flying. This would also mean an easier accessibility where they can avoid the strenuous and lengthy checks at the Nairobi airport. The Jomo Kenyatta International Airport is known for its usual traffic upholds which lengthens the total time of the trip from Mombasa to Nairobi. Also, the more central locations of the train stations in both Mombasa and Nairobi make it a more accessible choice of transportation for both locals and tourists. That being said flying might not be the cheapest, but it is still the quickest means of transportation to and from Nairobi and Mombasa. The Interior insaade of Train Image courtesy: EPA Tourism and economy The opening of the railway is a plus for tourism as having an alternate means of travelling for shorter hours apart from flying will create more appeal and ease for tourists. This is a very important development for Kenya which continues to attract a large number of tourists annually due to its unique wildlife reserves. In the aspect of movement of goods, the new freight trains to be used on the new railway are equipped to carry both cargo and passengers so goods can move faster between Mombasa and Nairobi which facilitates a better run economy. Interior New SGR Train Image courtesy: MONICAH MWANGI Feedback so Far The new railway construction has received some negative press from certain sides, citing it as an unneeded debt acquisition especially since the World Bank had refused to fund it when they were approached over it in 2013. However, the benefits that accrue from its construction seem to far outweigh these concerns as the opening of the railway has been greeted by excitement and happiness from the people of Kenya. Within just a week after its launch on May 31st, over 7000 people have been transported on the Madaraka Express with foreign tourists making a large number of the people buying the train tickets. #MadarakaExpress is trending on social: Instagram: Twitter: Let us know what you think – Holla at us on Social @tripindigocom

For construction-weary motorists still in the throes of the Lowry Hill Tunnel and Interstate 94 refurbishing project in Minneapolis, here’s news that might have you pounding your dashboard if you aren’t already: In about a month, the Minnesota Department of Transportation starts on another major construction project that will affect downtown commuters for the next four years. It’s drivers who use Portland or Franklin avenues who will feel the pain first. The rebuilding of Interstate 35W from downtown Minneapolis to 43rd Street is so massive that it will be carried out in five stages, with the first starting as soon as MnDOT approves the deal with a trio of contractors who have teamed up to carry out the $240 million task. It includes reconfiguring the flyover bridge from northbound I-35W to westbound I-94, building a new transit station in the center of I-35W at Lake Street and replacing or refurbishing 18 bridges along the 3-mile segment. It also includes new exits at Lake and 28th streets, adding a MnPass lane between 26th and 46th streets, ripping out the original pavement, which was put down in 1965 and doctored up all these years, and pouring fresh concrete. In the first phase, running from August of this year through April 2018, MnDOT will be doing prep work, and with that comes notable closures for two heavily used routes. The Portland Avenue bridge over I-94 will be closed for eight weeks. It was just a few years ago Portland drivers gutted out a summerlong detour as MnDOT put a new deck on that bridge. This time the agency will remove one pier and rebuild it to accommodate a new auxiliary lane to carry traffic from eastbound I-94 down to Lake Street. The work will be done on the underside of the bridge, so drivers won’t see much going on. But project manager Scott Pedersen said MnDOT can’t allow traffic on the bridge while the work is being done. Dusty, noisy days ahead Portland Avenue drivers can commiserate with motorists who use the Franklin Avenue bridge over I-35W. That east-west crossing also will close until next April, which will make getting from one side of 35W to the other a lot more challenging. A couple alternates include 26th and 28th streets. But not 38th Street. That overpass also will shut down during phase one. The ramp from westbound I-94 to 11th Street also closes during phase one. Motorists heading downtown may want to opt for 7th Street. This has been a confounding summer with the ramp from northbound I-35W to westbound I-94 shut down as MnDOT works in the Lowry Hill Tunnel and on I-94 out to Brooklyn Center. Consider it all a warm up for next spring when the 35W flyover ramp will close again. So will the ramp from eastbound 94 to southbound 35W. And the real kick in the pants is that northbound I-35W downtown exits, namely 5th Avenue and 11th Street, also will shut down, leaving drivers heading over to 3rd Street or Washington Avenue. For those around in the late 2000s for the dusty, noisy redo of the 35W/Crosstown Commons interchange, “this will be similar to that,” Pedersen said, noting there will be lots of lane shifts ahead. In the end, drivers will get new pavement and bridges. With better access to and from 35W at Lake and 28th streets, neighborhoods should see less cut-through traffic, he said. Can motorists endure four more years of cones and detours to get there? Let’s hope so. Follow news about traffic and commuting at The Drive on startribune.com. Got traffic or transportation questions or story ideas? E-mail drive@startribune.com, tweet @stribdrive or call Tim Harlow at 612-673-7768.

On Monday, Game of Thrones actress Sophie Turner asked her followers to help out her friend who was recently involved in an accident. “Hi everyone. My friend Dan Lipski was in a terrible accident recently, and it’s crucial that we raise as much money as we can for him,” Turner captioned her post on Instagram. “Please donate.” She also included a link to his GoFundMe fundraiser. READ MORE: Joe Jonas and ‘Game of Thrones’ star Sophie Turner engaged Lipski is the tour manager for Turner’s fiancée’s band, DNCE. Joe Jonas, the lead vocalist, asked fans and followers for love and prayers as he announced that Lipski was “badly injured” in Bangkok, Thailand. READ MORE: ‘Game of Thrones’ will film multiple endings for series finale The GoFundMe campaign, which was created on Dec. 15, has already raised over $35,400 with a goal of $40,000. Many of Turner’s followers were confused by the star asking her fans to donate money. Others were adding the income of Turner and Jonas, questioning why the engaged couple didn’t raise the money themselves. Why are Sophie Turner and Joe Jonas asking us random folks to raise $10k for their friend who got into an accident when they all make millions??? Lmfaooo nope. — kimberly HATES yosan (@rihspectme) December 18, 2017 READ MORE: DJ Kaleb Freitas killed on stage at Brazil Atmosphere Festival Following the backlash, Turner turned the comments off on her Instagram post, aimed at raising awareness for Lipski. “Dan Lipski was recently in a bad accident in Bangkok Thailand. He is badly injured and in a hospital there and although his health is improving, it’s likely he’ll be in the hospital for weeks to come,” a statement on a GoFundMe page for Lipski detailed.

The Buffalo Sabres today announced a new dynamic ticket pricing model for all Sabres home games in the 2016-17 regular season that will adjust ticket prices to better reflect demand throughout the season. The new pricing plan was developed through a partnership with Qcue, a dynamic pricing company that has previously partnered with several other sports and entertainment organizations. The plan categorizes each game into one of three pricing tiers to determine the initial box office ticket price for individual game tickets. Games are categorized based on the opponent, time of the year, day of the week, classic rivalries and games against marquee players. As fans purchase tickets, the price of each individual game can rise or fall to better reflect the demand for tickets. Ticket prices may decrease below the initial box office price, but will never fall below season ticket prices. The pricing plan for the 2016-17 season includes eight Tier 1 games, 20 Tier 2 games and 13 Tier 3 games. The team also announced that single-game tickets for the 2016-17 regular season will go on sale on Saturday, Sept. 17 at 10 a.m. Tickets for the team’s 2016 preseason home games will go on sale today at 10. a.m. Buffalo will play two home games during the preseason: Sept. 27 vs. Ottawa and Sept. 30 vs. Toronto. Mini-Packs, which go on sale to the general public on Wednesday, Sept. 7, will once again give fans the opportunity to create their own ticket package comprised of anywhere from five to 40 games. By purchasing a Mini-Pack, fans can save up to 27 percent off initial box office prices. Existing Mini-Pack holders will have the opportunity to renew their package beginning on Wednesday, Aug. 31. Additionally, Mini-Pack holders will not pay a ticket service charge and will have the ability to purchase playoff tickets before they go on sale to the general public (based on availability). CLICK HERE FOR A BREAKDOWN OF PRICING TIERS A breakdown of ticket prices for the 2016-17 season is below, denoting box office and Mini-Pack prices. Preseason Tier 1 Tier 2 Tier 3 Section Box Office Box Office Mini- Pack Box Office Mini- Pack Box Office Mini- Pack 200 Club $45 $195 $145 $155 $125 $135 $118 200 Ends $45 $195 $145 $155 $125 $135 $118 100 Preferred Rink $45 $195 N/A $155 N/A $135 N/A 100 II Rink $45 $195 N/A $155 N/A $135 N/A 100 III Rink $45 $195 N/A $155 N/A $135 N/A 100 Preferred $45 $180 $131 $150 $120 $105 $90 100 Level II $35 $155 $116 $116 $90 $89 $75 100 Level III $30 $133 N/A $95 N/A $75 N/A 100 Level IV $30 $118 N/A $75 N/A $62 N/A 300 Level I $30 $102 $77 $93 $75 $74 $62 300 Level II $25 $85 $64 $72 $60 $58 $47 300 Level III $22 $70 $55 $59 $51 $49 $43 300 Level IV $22 $70 $55 $59 $51 $49 $43 Tickets can be purchased online at Sabres.com, in person at the First Niagara Center Box Office or by phone at 1-888-223-6000.

Sega has revealed in the latest edition of Famitsu 360 that they would be willing to resurrect the Shenmue franchise if console manufacturers paid them for an exclusive deal. Although Shenmue received it’s fair share of critical acclaim, it was not a big seller and considering it was one of the most expensive($70m) games back in the days, Sega is reluctant to take the plunge alone. With exclusive titles being hyped up and well marketed by both Sony and Microsoft it seems Sega is also looking for something extra apart from the investment. Whether Microsoft or Sony take a punt on this one with the Shenmue franchise being as good as dead for the last seven years, depends on the fact that will Shenmue help move systems. Shenmue is an adventure game developed by Sega AM2 and published by Sega for the Dreamcast in 1999. Shenmue II was released in 2001 for the Dreamcast and 2002 for the Xbox. We’ll keep you posted on any further development so check back later.

Uber's new CEO will start on Tuesday next week, he told staffers on Wednesday, leaving his post as the CEO of Expedia. In an all-hands meeting with employees, Dara Khosrowshahi also said something that will be music to the ears of shareholders and retail investors looking to get in on the most valuable venture-backed company in the world: His opinion is that Uber should be public, something that shareholders could see in a timeline of 18 to 36 months. He also said his plan for Uber makes it a priority to "pay the bills." The company, which has been without a chief financial officer or head of finance for some time, is losing more than $1 billion a year. Last quarter, the company previously said, it lost $645 million on revenue of $1.75 billion. Khosrowshahi also gave employees some insight into how he will run the company, with statements such as: "I won't B.S. you, and I hope you won't B.S. me." Reporters with knowledge of the meeting said tears were shed by former CEO Travis Kalanick, but Khosrowshahi was being "very nice" to the co-founder, who is still on the board. Khosrowshahi reportedly said his successor at Expedia would be announced later in the day on Wednesday. Uber board member Arianna Huffington tweeted this photo from the meeting:

A teen has been charged with decking a man at a downtown 'L' station earlier this year in an incident recently posted on the Internet that prompted a citywide search for the attacker. Chicago police said that Scotty Strahan, 18, was the person who punched an unidentified man at the Chicago Avenue Red Line stop in April as his friends watched and laughed. Police said he turned himself in. Police suspected that the victim, a slow-moving older-looking man with salt-and-pepper hair, may have been homeless. The video showed an assailant tapping the victim on the shoulder from behind and punching him in the face after he turned. The video, apparently taken by one of the assailant's friends, was recently posted on worldstarhiphop.com, prompting the search for the attacker. Strahan turned himself in to police at Belmont Area headquarters and was charged with two counts of aggravated battery, police said this morning. Strahan, of the 8600 block of South Normal Avenue, was sentenced to probation earlier this year after he was cited for causing a traffic hazard, according to court records. He will appear in court later today. Tribune reporters Rosemary Sobol and William Lee contributed. chicagobreaking@tribune.com

Fasching celebrations in Upper Austria. Photo: Austria.info The Austrian Carnival Guild has released a set of guidelines for Fasching, the Catholic carnival celebrations which run up until Lent. Jokes about refugees, foreigners, and minorities are out, as are “hurtful attacks on defenceless people, mockery and malice”. The Guild’s code of ethics also cautions against the use of ‘misplaced’ irony and sarcasm. “People should be aware of the effect of such jokes. Anything which drags human dignity or faith in the dirt is not allowed,” Adi Mittendorfer, president of the Austrian Carnival Guild, said. The new guidelines are now in line with those in Germany and Switzerland. Carnival Guild deputy head Alfred Kamleitner from Wiener Neustadt said that inappropriate jokes about women are also frowned upon. "I don’t think it's funny to see scantily clad nuns running around on stage." However, Carnival Guild members said they are not encouraging self-censorship or excessive political correctness and that complaining about the “fools” in Austrian politics and society was still perfectly OK. Costume balls, masks, parades and apricot doughnuts (Marillenkrapfen) are all features of Fasching in Austria. Festivities usually begin on January 6th, and end on Shrove Tuesday.

Oil has always been part of U.S. decision-making on Iraq, a key motive for the 2003 invasion and the bloody occupation that followed. Now, as President Obama returns U.S. forces to Iraq, the issue of oil has bubbled back to the surface, as oil analyst Antonia Juhasz explained to Dennis J Bernstein. By Dennis J Bernstein President George W. Bush’s invasion of Iraq gave U.S. and other Western oil companies a major stake in the country’s giant oil fields, a foothold now threatened by the offensive launched by the Islamic State and offering at least a partial explanation for President Barack Obama’s decision to return the U.S. military to the conflict. Another complicating factor is Kurdistan’s control of some giant oil fields and its push for independence. As oil industry analyst and investigative journalist Antonia Juhasz says: “Western oil companies and the Obama administration will not permit ISIL to control Kurdistan and are willing to engage militarily to achieve this goal.” Juhasz has written extensively on the oil industry and the multiple wars in Iraq, including two books, The Bush Agenda and The Tyranny of Oil. Juhasz spoke with Dennis J Bernstein in a recent Flashpoints interview about the situation unfolding in Iraq. DB: Why are the Kurds and Kurdistan of great interest to the U.S.? What does that relationship look like? What is pushing the U.S.? AJ: We are clearly engaged in a military action for oil. But the Obama administration is not the Bush administration. It is clear to me that if the only thing at stake in Kurdistan right now was protecting oil interests, we would not be engaging militarily. If the Bush administration were in power now, we would be. The 2003 invasion of Iraq was about many things, but one of the most dominant was oil and the desire to get western oil corporations on the ground in Iraq. That goal was achieved by the Bush administration. Today we have Exxon producing from some of the largest oil fields in the world. Other western companies like BP and Shell – all of the major western companies – are operating in Iraq and doing quite well. From the very beginning of the invasion, however, there was a strong issue in the area of Iraq known as Kurdistan that wanted independence from the rest of Iraq, with the Kurds trying to garner western favor to achieve that goal. One of the things the Kurds have to their benefit is they have a tremendous amount of oil. While the Bush administration succeeded in getting very good access for western oil companies in the rest of Iraq, what it didn’t get was the Iraq oil law which western oil companies help draft and the Bush administration pushed on. The Kurdish government was basically opening up Iraq on the most favorable terms to the western oil companies. The central Iraqi government said no to that level of turning themselves over. The Kurds said yes. Very early on, the Kurds passed their own version of the Iraq oil law, started signing contracts with western oil companies, letting them in under the most generous terms. I believe this is a way of saying we are helping you, so you must help us gain independence. That never happened. The US military never came in on behalf of the Kurds in any direct way, although you certainly saw western oil companies trying to use this division between the Kurdistan region and the central Iraqi government in terms of how they dealt with oil countries. Companies like Genel, headed by Tony Hayward, the former CEO of BP who was ousted because of the Gulf oil spill, is very active in Kurdistan. We’ve seen U.S. policy makers now coming out loudly in favor of aggressive military action who were former heads of the Bush administration, like Zalmay Khalilzad, who were heading, lobbying and advising economic interests in Kurdistan, now making a lot of talk about war. Companies like Exxon, Chevron and Marathon, all have exploration contracts in Kurdistan but have not gone to work there because of the dispute about who owns the oil – the central Iraqi government or Kurdistan. DB: It was an important moment when the soldiers took over the oil fields there. This was a big sea change, right? AJ: A huge sea change. Now enters ISIS. I think ISIS has truly shocked the world in the power it has – the level it has in taking over Syria and Iraq. One of the things that aided their sheer force and success is oil. ISIS is fighting an oil war. They are taking over fields in Syria, selling the oil on the black market and using that money to fund their efforts. They are taking over refineries and using that gasoline to fuel their trucks and their jeeps. They are targeting oil fields and infrastructure. When they went into northern Iraq, they tried to take the Kirkuk oil field, one of the largest oil fields in the world. The armed forces of the Kurds, the Peshmerga, did what the Kurds had never done before – they took back or took over the Kirkuk field. Once they had that field under their control, it was a decisive moment for the Kurds to say we have this oil and we are not going to give it back. We are going to take independence. ISIS keeps going and threatening Kurdistan and their goal. Now all of those interests are in trouble because ISIS could succeed in taking over the capital of Kurdistan, Erbil, although they can’t take over all of Kurdistan. So you have the Kurds saying we are not going anywhere. Even more than before, ISIS is more powerful than ever, and looking like it is truly threatening Kurdistan. DB: What is the U.S. military trying to do right now, given this very fragile and tender situation? AJ: Now the U.S. military enters on the side of the Kurds. We start funneling weapons to the Peshmerga. We start bombing in and around Erbil. We say we are not going to let ISIS take over Kurdistan. We are not going to let ISIS have that oil. We are not going to lose that oil for the western companies and western interests. We are not going to lose the extreme support we have gotten from the Kurdish government. But that is not the only thing that is happening. Simultaneously, the Obama administration is looking at the rest of Iraq and saying this is not working out the way it was supposed to. Things are disintegrating, we are getting blamed for it and we need to figure something out. Several months ago, or earlier, [Prime Minister Nouri al-]Maliki became the fall guy – earned by becoming a terrible leader – and was pinpointed as the problem to get rid of. The Obama administration is saying to the rest of Iraq and the Iraq central government, get rid of Maliki and get someone in place who will abide by our interests broadly or we are going to do something you don’t want, which is aid the Kurds in their independence. That would greatly upset the central Iraqi government for many reasons, including losing the very large fields of oil in the Kurdistan region. I think bombing is a deadly tool of political influence, which says do what we want or we will do something to you that you don’t want. We will do it militarily. DB: ISIS is in Iraq. The border is disappearing with Syria. The U.S. is supporting the supposed moderates in Syria. A version of ISIS appears to be calling the shots in Syria. There are 30 million Kurds in Turkey watching what is happening to the 5 million Kurds in Kurdistan. How do the politics intersect with the oil and the economies? AJ: Although I am not an expert on the surrounding areas, what is very clear is that oil is a part of the discussion with each country. But as you point out, it is not just oil. There are longstanding ethnic issues and identities a group of people was broken up into three separate countries, although it is one group of people. But it also involves oil and oil power. As I said earlier, the Obama administration is not the Bush administration. I don’t believe the Obama administration, devoid of other more dominant interests in Iraq, would have entered into this dispute on Kurdistan solely to protect the interests of western oil companies including EXXON and Chevron. But certainly those oil interests are part of the decision-making, what is unfolding and what is bringing the military back into Iraq. When we look at how to solve the problem, it’s not just about exposing the oil agenda. It’s about exposing the desire of the Obama administration to continue to control the broader political outcomes in Iraq through the military – that is part of the problem. There is renewed talk of the Obama administration breaking Iraq up and entering into this dispute to separate Iraq into pieces, including separating out Kurdistan. That was an interest within the Bush administration and with people like [Vice President Joe] Biden and others who have said that might be a solution. There is a difference between having a solution to separating Iraq and using the military to achieve that goal. I believe the Obama administration and the oil companies would prefer a unified and stable Iraq. This military action in Kurdistan is a tool to make that happen – to get the central Iraqi government in line with the threat of separating out Kurdistan. But if they can’t succeed in creating a unified stable Iraq, a separate Kurdistan is a pill the Obama administration and western oil companies are willing to swallow. DB: Finally, apparently the Kurds have already been able to sell oil to the Israelis. If there were an independent Kurd country, what would their policy look like? AJ: The Kurds are just trying to make money. The central Iraqi government has said that all the Kurd contracts and attempts to sell oil are illegal, that only the central Iraqi government can sell oil – nobody else can sign contracts. They say that every contract and attempt the Kurds made to operate on their own are illegal. The Kurds have tried to smuggle and sell their oil where and to whoever they can. The Kurdistan government is deeply, deeply in debt. I believe they smuggled and sold oil to Israel because they could. They could get money there. I don’t know that it tells us anything about what they would look like as an independent country. It just tells us they are desperate for cash. Dennis J Bernstein is a host of “Flashpoints” on the Pacifica radio network and the author of Special Ed: Voices from a Hidden Classroom.

On Sunday, it seemed “TyTy," a once-abused, big-pawed pit bull, would soon have a new family — until tragedy struck in the middle of the night in the 3900 block of Campbell Avenue. View Full Caption Natalie Sopart BRIGHTON PARK — Tyler was a clumsy, big-pawed pit bull with a spot of blue fur over his left eye like the cutest pirate patch you ever saw. The 60-pound rescue dog had poor vision, suffered from separation anxiety and — if you raised your hand too high — submitted in fear, hitting the floor and shutting his eyes like a scared child. On Sunday, just as Tyler — nicknamed TyTy and Bubby — was getting ready to be adopted, evil struck. He was stolen at gunpoint by two men who got into the car of the volunteer who was transporting him, pushed a gun to the man's head and demanded cash, police said. Then they saw Tyler. "We're gonna take your dog, too," one of the men said, according to the volunteer's boss. "Welcome to Chicago, bitch." The men took Tyler and fled. A day later, he was found dead. The robbery happened around 2 a.m. Sunday in the 1200 block of South Campbell Avenue. The Chicago Department of Animal Control is investigating and planning to perform a necropsy to determine the cause of death, according to Natalie Sopart, co-founder of Furever Rescue, the organization that had been working to find Tyler a home. “Tyler was the most gentle dog I ever met,” said Sopart, who spent a lot of time with TyTy. "He had large, goofy paws he didn't know how to control." The night Tyler disappeared, he had just finished a weekend visit with a couple interested in adopting him. After the pre-adoption meet-up, the volunteer planned to take the dog to Sopart's home, where Tyler had been living. The volunteer first stopped at a friend’s home who was out of town to let that friend's dogs outside. He soon got back in the car — where Tyler sat in a harness and black collar on a black leash — and looked down at his cellphone. That’s when two men got in the car. Abused by past owners, Tyler suffered from separation anxiety and constant fear. "He was so terrified of everything," Sopart said. Furever Rescue offered a $3,000 reward to anyone who came forward with Tyler. “No questions asked,” the post said. “Our minds are racing and our hearts are broken. … Please, help us find Tyler.” The post offered some profile information about TyTy: "Tyler is timid and will pancake to the floor upon human approach or urinate on himself when startled. ... He adores dogs and will likely approach a dog faster than a human. ... When he is most nervous he retreats to corners and winds his body in a tight ball." On Facebook, Sopart posted a picture of TyTy with the somber news of his death: "Our hearts are broken," the post reads. "Rest in peace sweet boy." For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here:

Black metal fans and musicians alike are wont to dabble in philosophies, sometimes in a way which is simultaneously heavy-handed yet superficial, and, much like their progressive brethren, utilise them as a kind of nervous system of ideas laid over the musical skeleton designed to keep the mind pumping along with the fist. While German quartet Stellar Master Elite, helpfully named after a track by Thorns (who act as a very useful touchstone for this release), show their thought-provoking chops on titles like The First Principle and Eternalism, they don’t overly sweeten (or overthink) the mix. The way in which this and the two preceding albums are numbered is suggestive of Blut Aus Nord‘s Memoria Vetusta or the 777 series, each containing a nugget of pure concept but remaining quite enjoyable if you choose not to pan for it. The idea of eternalism—useful to know when considering a trilogy of albums—states that past, present, and future are equally ‘real’ and asks that we consider spacetime not as a line or flow, but as a four-dimensional ‘block’. What does this mean to Stellar Master Elite’s third and latest album? Well, it may go some way towards explaining the atmosphere of suspended aeons achieved by the album’s mix of potent electronics; there is no mere ambient tinkering to be found here. The ‘elite’ featured here approach these synths in earnest. Heart-attack thrash riffing resonates alongside these synths throughout the whole releases—two elements which appear to inhabit a zone somewhere between past and future, a kind of ‘Stargate’ blend of pyramid and pulsar. Tracks such as ‘Desperate Grandeur’ exemplify this best, and in doing so invoke the aforementioned Thorns with bubbling synthesisers that decorate what is essentially a high-quality blackened thrash tune. The track even goes so far as to briefly evoke Frontline Assembly in their millennium phase, which was essentially EBM with thrash guitars grafted on-top, though a lot dancier than Stellar Master Elite could ever possibly be, to be clear. Further, deployment of samples and some simmering instrumental passages edges Eternalism III towards the ‘industrial’ end of the black meal scale, although done so deftly as to leave the leather intact and not upset those who came here for a grisly head-banging session, such as on the jarringly riffy ‘First Principle’. Stand-out tracks are plentiful, making for an excellent, consistent release which also emits elements of doom (e.g. Hologram Temple) and even some dark ambient-leaning instrumentals, the best of which is ‘Perdition Time Loop’. It features a threateningly percussive build-up while vocalist Eric Kuhnen intones darkly in a kind of sing-song spoken word. Moving from this to swirling whispers and eventually inter-dimensional rasps, the effect is one of Kuhnen calling across time, amorphous and disembodied as below his ominous tones the percussion rumbles with wooden hits, suggestive of the archaic and metallic rumbles and clanking of a kind of mechanised dark ages. Overall, this track acts as centrepiece and masterstroke to this varied and well-crafted album. While more experimental and non-traditional tracks tend to find their home in the last half of a release—or worse, as intros, outros, and unimaginative transitional pieces—Stellar Master Elite have flipped the blueprint and, rather than striking out into the cosmos, they’ve dropped right out of it. _____________________________________________________ Track List: 01) Transmission: Disruption 02) Desperate Grandeur 03) Buried in Oblivion 04) Perdition Time Loop 05) Hologram Temple 06) The First Principle 07) Mark of the Beast 08) Eternalism 09) Downfall Written by: Simon Gould Label: Essential Purification Records (Austria) / Gate008 / CD, Tape, 12″ LP, Digital Black Metal / Doom Metal

The Senate passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act on Saturday, which serves as one of the final steps for Congress to pass historic tax legislation. The Senate passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act 51-49, almost entirely along party lines, with Vice President Mike Pence presiding over the vote. Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) voted against the bill, and 48 Democrats voted against the tax reform legislation as well. Reluctant Republican senators such as Susan Collins (R-ME) and Jeff Flake (R-AZ) voted for the bill after last-minute changes were made. Flake received a commitment from Republican leadership and the White House that they would pursue a permanent solution for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) illegal aliens, while Collins received a provision that would keep the deduction for state and local taxes (SALT). The Senate agreed earlier this month to move forward on the motion, 52-48, to proceed on the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The Senate Budget Committee passed tax reform legislation on Tuesday, even after Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) and Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) expressed skepticism about the bill’s current form. Corker reported that he was reassured about the Senate bill including a “fiscal trigger” that will dial back the tax cuts should the tax bill fall short of revenue projections. The Senate bill retains the current income tax system’s seven brackets, while the House version collapses the seven brackets into four. The wealthiest Americans would have their income tax fall to 38.5 percent, while the lowest tax bracket will fall to ten percent. Similar to the House tax bill, the Senate version will double the standard deduction for individuals to $12,000, and $24,000 for married couples. The Senate bill also raises the child tax credit from $1,000 per child to $1,650. Unlike the House draft, the Senate tax bill eliminates Obamacare’s individual mandate to purchase health insurance. The House passed their version of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act earlier in November. Now that the Senate passed their version of the tax reform legislation, the House and Senate will have to convene a conference committee to reconcile the differences between the two bills. Once the two chambers of Congress draft a unified bill, the House and Senate will have to pass the same bill to send the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act to President Donald Trump’s desk to sign the bill into law. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is desperate to pass tax reform legislation after failing on multiple occasions to repeal Obamacare. Breitbart News reported that Mitch McConnell’s future rides on passing tax reform in the face of a populist-nationalist uprising in the 2018 midterm elections. President Donald Trump said that passing the tax reform bill would ensure a “Merry Christmas” for the country. Trump declared, “This week’s vote can be the beginning of the next great chapter for the American worker.”

Corey Harrison is half the man he used to be. Four years ago the 31-year-old reality TV ‘star’ weighed more than 400 pounds. Today he’s just 200 and change, and in a whole new place in life. Diet and exercise? Not exactly, though these help–Harrison had the increasingly popular Lap Band surgery after his doctor warned him that diabetes was surely coming his way. Harrison told People magazine that he paid for the surgery with four credit cards. He didn’t have the money but he knew it was “something I had to do–I was not going to get diabetes.” Now he can’t just see his toes, he can touch them. And Harrison says he’s in the gym all the time–boxing! Harrison lost 50 pounds in a week after the surgery, but the rest comes off in time–with dietary adjustments and the increased ability to exercise. Harrison may still play the heavy when it comes to negotiating a price on ‘Pawn Stars‘ but he’s lighter at heart. Other notable people who have had weight loss surgery–Lap Band or gastric bypass–are New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, Blues Traveler lead singer John Popper, TV personality Al Roker, singer Carnie Wilson, American Idol‘s Randy Jackson, comedian Roseanne Barr and New York Jets Head Coach Rex Ryan.

Update: Tuesday, Aug. 23 at 5:45 p.m.: Watch tonight at 10 for an exclusive interview with the woman in this video. We found out how she feels about the incident and what it might mean for her. Update: Monday, Aug. 22 at 6:10 p.m.: According to court documents, Kenneth Teeter has five prior driving while intoxicated convictions on his record: --November 1977 in Kansas City, Missouri--October 1983 in Camden County--June 1986 in Boone County--June 1998 in Camden County--June 2008 in Boone County Troopers say he was driving Sunday without a license. Teeter TMs wife became irate and vulgar at troopers, at times begging officers to arrest her instead. They did arrest her to begin with because she told them she was the driver. However, Teeter TMs injuries were consistent with him being driver, not his wife, so they brought her back to the scene and transferred the cuffs from her to him. According to court documents, she tried to take the blame because another DWI conviction for her husband would mean jail time. Update: Monday, Aug. 22 at 2:10 p.m.: A man involved in a rollover crash Sunday afternoon is in the Boone County Jail on a DWI charge. Prosecutors charged Kenneth Teeter with a chronic offender DWI charge. He has pleaded guilty to at least two previous Driving While Intoxicated charges. Both were in Boone County, one in 1986 and the other in 2007. Each time Teeter received two years of probation. The charge against Teeter in 1986 indicated he was a repeat offender back then, but there are no other online court records against Teeter. The bond amount for the most recent charge is $25,000. Court records also indicate Teeter is not allowed to drink intoxicants or drive a vehicle. Teeter was not the one Highway Patrol troopers first arrested Sunday afternoon. They first took a woman into custody for the crash near Ashland. In the video shown above, you can see her screaming and cursing at troopers. She does not face any charges at this time. Update: Warning: Video contains language that may not be suited for everyone.The Highway Patrol says alcohol was likely a contributing factor to the accident. The driver apparently lost control of the boat he was towing and caused the SUV to rollover. Nobody was injured. Original story: Just before 4p.m Sunday an SUV pulling a boat was involved in a rollover accident on Highway 63 near Liberty Road.Injuries aren't known at this time. The northbound lanes of Highway 63 were shut down briefly so debris could be cleaned up.We have a crew headed to the scene.

The finance minister Arun Jaitley-headed GST council on Thursday cleared drafts of two main supplementary legislations — the State GST Bill and the UT GST Bill — marking a big step forward in India’s plans for a countrywide rollout of Goods and Services Tax (GST) from July 1. “The 12th meeting of the GST Council approved the SGST law and the UTGST law,” Jaitley told reporters in a post-meeting briefing. “July 1 is tentative date fixed for implementation”. The other three enabling legislations — Central GST, Integrated GST and the Compensation Law — has already been by the Council in an earlier meeting, thus concluding the legislative exercise of approving the draft legislation after months of hectic confabulations between the Centre and the states. Four of these legislations — CGST, IGST, UTGST and the Compensation law — will now be cleared by the Union Cabinet and taken to Parliament for final approval, Jaitley said. The fifth law — SGST Bill — will be taken by the state government through the cabinets to their respective state assemblies, the Finance Minister said. GST, billed as independent India’s biggest reform initiative, promises to stitch together a common national market by consolidating a web of local and central taxes into a single levy. Under GST, the states and the Centre will collect identical rates of taxes on goods and services. For instance, if 18 percent is the GST rate on a good, the states and the Centre will get 9 percent each called the CGST and SGST rates. The Centre will also levy and collect the Integrated Goods and Services Tax (IGST) on all interstate supply of goods and services. The IGST mechanism has been designed to ensure seamless flow of input tax credit from one state to another. The Council has agreed on a four-slab structure – 5, 12, 18 and 28 percent— along with a cess on luxury and 'sin’ goods. A bureaucrats’ panel (of states and the Centre) is working to classify the goods and services according to this slab structure. Jaitley also said that the cess on luxury goods have been capped at 15 percent. While the effective cess on goods such as “luxury” cars will 12 percent, the council has decided to fix a cap to give headspace for expansion in the future. 'Sin' goods such as tobacco (cigarettes) and pan masala will attract cess rates of 290 per cent and 135 percent respectively, although the impact on current effective consumer prices will be negligible. There will be no cess on bidis as of now. The focus will now shift to formulation of rules—a necessary step to activate laws. GST will require writing nine sets of rules, five of which involving registration, payment, refund, invoices and returns have already been approved. The other four relating to — composition, valuation, ITC (input tax credit) and the transition process — will require approval, Jaitley said. An officers’ committee of states and the Centre are currently working on framing these four sets of rules. The GST council will meet next on March 31 to approve these rules, after which the focus will shift to the “classification” or “fitment” exercise — a comprehensive, if not exhaustive, list specifying the tax rate that each good and service will attract. “Immediately after March 31, we take up the fitment of commodities of various into tax slabs,” Jaitley said.

This article originally appeared on VICE Spain The global financial crisis and a healthy black market have turned Venezuela into an economic mind-fuck. According to the government, one euro is worth 8.3 bolívares (BsF). If you were to sell that same euro on the black market, it would net you 812 BsF. This is because of the government's complicated and convoluted exchange rate controls, which I won't explain here, because a) I don't really understand them myself, and b) there are plenty of explanatory articles elsewhere written by people who actually know what they're talking about. What I do want to do here, however, is help my country's tourism industry by demonstrating that, in Venezuela, because of these strange and confusing economic controls, you can live like a king for an entire month with just one €100 bank note. If you're a local earning local money, life is tough; very basic supplies like toilet paper are in extraordinarily short supply and you'll have to queue for hours just to get your hands on them. If you're a tourist bringing over foreign currency, the country is your oyster. Before embarking on my luxury adventure, I made a list of all the things I planned to do, on top of living my normal life in Venezuela. Here is that list: Rent a room in an expensive central area in Maracaibo (where I live) for a month. Spend one night in a five-star hotel room. Buy a return plane ticket to Caracas, Venezuela's capital. Lease a convertible and drive around for a day. Buy lots of beer. Buy lots of drugs. Have dinner in five of the best restaurants in Maracaibo. Get massages and acupuncture at the most luxurious massage parlour I could find. Give everyone in my building enough money for a full tank of petrol. Once I was done writing my list, I sold my €100 on the "black market". I know you're probably picturing some dodgy guy with a shit moustache and a grubby tracksuit ushering me into a lock-up full of counterfeit Givenchy handbags and "massage oils" made out of old chip fat, but in Venezuela selling currency is as simple as posting a message on your Facebook page saying: "I am selling €100." All you do next is wait. Eventually someone will comment, and then that person will buy your money. Thing is, you receive so many Venezuelan bank notes for your €100 that it's actually quite unsafe to make the exchange with IRL cash, so almost everyone prefers a bank transfer. I transferred €100 to my buyer's account and then went to the bank to pick up my money's worth. The above is what €100 looks like in bolivares. My first move was renting myself the sweet room above for a cool 9,600 BsF (€12) a month. The guy who leased me the room was obviously a charitable soul, because renting an apartment in Venezuela these days is an almost impossible task. Over the past couple of decades, policies such as rent freezes and expropriation orders – where the government takes privately-owned property and uses it for the benefit of the public – have led to landlords preferring to keep an apartment empty rather than risking losing control of it. I already have an apartment in Maracaibo soI didn't really spend much time in that room, but it was great to feel that I could if I wanted. The next splurge had to be a bit more exciting than paying (admittedly very cheap) rent for a month, so I decided to go for my five-star hotel experience. I picked one of the most luxurious hotels in Maracaibo – which, by the way, is subsidised by the government of Venezuela – and booked myself a room, with breakfast and round the clock access to a swimming pool. This cost me 7,000 BsF (€8.70) for a night. I went to bed feeling like I had committed a serious fraud. But I hadn't; I was just living that Birdman life on that Slim Jesus dime. My plane ticket A few days later, I bought myself a plane ticket to Caracas, the capital of the country and, until recently, the murder capital of the world. The flight took 50 minutes and cost me about €8. I realised I'd blown about a third of my budget and still had plenty left to do. Like realising my lifelong dream of driving a convertible – a red '59 Cadillac, to be exact. Leasing the car for 12 hours put me another €3 out of pocket, but it was worth it. Driving this beauty around town made me feel like a king, and – conveniently – everyone could see how important I looked because the car didn't have a roof. More than 30 people asked to have their picture taken with me throughout the day. If, like me, you measure success by how many strangers demand a photo with you and your €3 rental car, I think you'll agree: I was doing more than alright. Fuel is a hot button issue in Venezuela at the moment. One litre of 95 octane gas costs 0.097 bolívares, while diesel – the most used fuel for public transport – is 0.048 bolívares per litre. Whatever you're filling up, you're not going to pay more than €0.30. However, at the border with Colombia the price per litre of fuel rises to 83 BsF. That's because the border is home to flourishing smuggling businesses – but that's a completely different issue that I'm not going to go into. Three bolívares was enough to fill the Cadillac tank. That's about €0.40 to fill up an entire tank of a car made almost 60 years ago. To celebrate this bargain, I walked to a nearby liquor store to buy seven 34-beer crates – one for each day of a wildly inebriated week, if you will. Each crate cost just 10 BsF, so about €1.50, meaning I spent a total of £10 on 238 beers. How are those London craft beer pubs working out for you? Want to feel even shittier about living in a first world country? In Venezuela, you can buy three grams of good quality cocaine for about €5 and 20 grams of weed for about €7. Worried about trying to buy drugs here and being shafted? At least you're only losing out on the price of a pint of shit beer in an exceptionally cheap British pub. All that weed got my appetite going, so as soon as I got back to Maracaibo I moved on to my next favourite pastime: eating. I picked five of my favourite restaurants and, in the space of five days, had dinners that included pasta, a Caesar salad, pizza, fish, burgers and risottos. The mean price of each meal, including the drink, was €1.80. All five dinners combined cost me the extortionate sum of €9. I'd spent most of my money and I was starting to feel a bit sad about having to return to the reality of living in Venezuela on a local wage, so I decided to combat my foul mood with some acupuncture. I called a friend of mine who works at a massage parlour and, within a few hours, I was lying on my stomach, being rubbed by a practitioner who'd just washed their hands with weed crystals to "purify and enhance the experience". The price for this acupuncture-massage combo was €2.5 Taking inventory, I noticed I still had some money leftover, so I went to the same parlour for two more days in a row. That cost me a total of €7.5. After all this self-indulgence I felt like giving something back. The building I normally live in (not my luxurious prime location room) is home to 45 more people who I barely interact with. I wanted to make amends. I got in touch with the chairman of the building and asked him whether he'd mind if I filled the fuel tank of all the neighbours' cars. He agreed, obviously, because not doing so would have been a huge dick move. The total cost of paying for the fuel of 32 cars was 120 BsF, which is less than €3. That was about it; I had ran out of funds. Living in Venezuela might suck for me on my local wage, but it doesn't have to for everyone. To you, Venezuela could be the holiday destination of dreams. Finally, since I just spent 1,400 words trying to show you what you can do in Venezuela with a €100 note, let me show you what you can buy with a 100 BsF bill – the largest bank note my country publishes. THIS: For those of you who aren't familiar with that orange tube, it's the Venezuelan equivalent of Nutella. See you here on your holiday! More on VICE: How to Do Netflix and Chill Properly The EU Referendum Is Just a Civil War Between Two Separate Factions of Britain's Business Class This Guy Walks the Streets at Night Pimping Strangers' Rides with Cardboard

A humanoid robot aboard the International Space Station is inspiring technology that could be useful to both astronauts and people on Earth. NASA's Robonaut 2, which arrived at the orbiting lab in 2011, has human-like arms and hands capable of performing simple tasks such as flipping switches and grasping objects. The robot was originally designed to do work outside the station, potentially reducing the number of time-consuming and strenuous spacewalks required of astronauts. However, the technology developed during the Robonaut program has inspired other ideas and is being adapted into several spinoffs that have applications both in space and on Earth, NASA officials said. First, scientists converted Robonaut into a full exoskeleton called X1 that can help astronauts exercise and stay healthy while spending long periods in space. But X1 also has potential application closer to home; scientists think paraplegia or stroke patients could use the skeleton to regain some lost motion here on Earth. NASA robotics engineers worked with researchers at the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition to create the exoskeleton, which straps on over the shoulders and back and covers the legs. Motorized joints installed at the hips and knees allow the wearer to take halting steps. The exoskeleton can also be programmed to resist movement, making it a useful device for astronauts who need to exercise two hours a day to mitigate the long-term effects of microgravity exposure. (Without exercising, long periods of time in microgravity can cause muscles to shrink and bones to weaken.) Robonaut also inspired RoboGlove, a glove designed with flexible tendons that can assist grip force. On spacewalks, astronauts must repair and maintain the outside of the orbiting lab. But zero gravity combined with a bulky spacesuit can make even simple tasks difficult. The RoboGlove has flexible tendons, a tendon drive system, and sensors that measure the grasping force applied by the wearer, as well as the ability to assist or resist movement. Image: NASA "Due to pressurization of the suit, it's like squeezing a balloon every time you move your hand," Lyndon Bridgwater, senior robotics engineer at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, said in a statement. "That causes extreme fatigue and even injury. We're looking at putting the hardware and actuator in the glove itself to provide muscle augmentation for the hand." Finally, scientists think Robonaut could be useful for telemedicine. Tests at the Methodist Hospital in Houston have shown it's possible for Robonaut to guide a user's hand to stick a needle in a vein. In the future, scientists think Robonaut could assist astronauts performing medical procedures in space with doctors supervising from Earth. "The robot could stabilize an injured individual or do nursing-level work, even on Earth," Ron Diftler, Robonaut project manager, said in a statement. "That essentially transports a doctor's skill and presence to somewhere the doctor can't go or, in an emergency situation, where it would be dangerous for a person to go." Robonaut 2 has thus far been humanoid only from the waist up; it launched to the space station without any legs. But a pair of legs for the robot arrived at the orbiting complex aboard SpaceX's unmanned Dragon cargo craft in April, so Robonaut 2 will soon get quite a bit taller. This article originally published at Space.com here

On December 19, China officially announced that it would create the world’s largest carbon trading system, meant to help the country meet its ambitious climate change and clean energy targets. (The country wants to get 20 percent of its energy from renewables, and peak its emissions, by 2030.) It can be difficult for Americans, most of whom don’t track China’s carbon policy very closely, to understand the significance of such developments, so let’s try to put it in context. To make a long story short: Yes, a comprehensive carbon trading system covering the world’s largest emitter will, eventually, be a Very Big Deal. But Tuesday’s announcement was neither the beginning nor the completion of that effort, only a signpost on a path that the country is navigating with great care. It’s an exciting signpost, though! China is building its carbon trading system slowly and deliberately Back in 2011, China’s government laid out a plan to gradually create a national carbon market. (It appeared in the country’s 12th Five-Year Plan, covering 2011-’15.) The key word here is gradually. Over the ensuing years, the country established several provincial and city-level carbon-trading pilot projects, with varying rules, scopes, and baselines, to test-drive the concept. Tuesday’s announcement confirmed China’s intention to move beyond pilot projects to a bona fide national system. Originally, the (insanely ambitious) plan was to expand the system to cover the entire Chinese economy in 2017, but on Tuesday leaders revealed that it will initially cover only the electricity sector — big coal and natural gas plants — which represents about a third of the country’s emissions. Of course, this is China, so covering “only” the power sector would immediately make its trading system the world’s largest, covering roughly 3.5 billion tons of CO2. By comparison, the world’s current largest system (in the European Union) covers around 2 billion tons, and the biggest in the US (California’s) covers around 395 million tons. Even trading in the power sector will not begin immediately, however. A few years will be spent gathering and verifying data on plant-level emissions, establishing rules and baselines, engaging in “dummy” trades as a stress test, and generally setting the table. Actual trading, with money changing hands, will begin in 2020. The system will expand to cover other sectors like steel, concrete, and aviation at some unspecified post-2020 date. Want to learn more about China's Carbon trading system? watch this video from @cgtnofficial: https://t.co/k1WpgcUGFt — Mission of China (@ChinaEUMission) December 22, 2017 We still don’t know much about how this will actually work China has confirmed that there will be a carbon trading system, but the vast bulk of the important operational details remain unknown. Most notably, the country did not say where it would set its carbon cap. This is obviously a key feature, since it determines the environmental effects of the system. And it’s particularly fraught in China’s case, because emissions are already slowing based on economic shifts and other policies. If the cap is too high/cautious, as has been the case in virtually every other cap-and-trade system to date, carbon prices will stay low and the system won’t have much effect. (This is arguably true of the EU’s system; it moves lots of money around, but the cap is so weak that other, national-level policies are doing more actual carbon-reduction work.) Other important details also went unspecified: There’s no word on how many allowances will be distributed for free versus auctioned, what baselines and procedures will be used, or how the system will fit with China’s many other non-market policies to reduce emissions. These may seem like wonky details, but existing cap-and-trade systems have arguably botched them. China has been in intensive discussions with representatives from California and the EU, seeking to learn from their mistakes. Eyes on the prize: moving up China’s 2030 peak So that’s where we are: a power sector trading system, up and running in 2020, with an unknown cap and unknown rules, which will expand further at some unknown date. What to make of all this? Coverage of China’s announcement has been a little, uh, heated. Not one word yet on content of China's carbon market announcement but the hype train has already left the station and disappeared in the horizon. Let's see first what is actually getting announced. pic.twitter.com/8FfAKweE5o — Lauri Myllyvirta (@laurimyllyvirta) December 19, 2017 Conservatives, meanwhile, remain stubbornly unimpressed. “I don’t take the carbon market seriously,” Derek Scissors of the conservative think tank American Enterprise Institute told the New York Times, “The first thing I would ask people is, ‘What markets in China do you think work really well?’” Conservatives are, of course, heavily invested in the notion that China is faking and/or failing on climate policy — it’s long been one of their primary justifications for opposing ambitious US climate policy. It was one of Trump’s rationales for pulling out of the Paris climate agreement. But climate hawks are equally invested in the notion that China is racing ahead, since that serves as a cudgel with which to attack conservatives. They have considerable incentive to lionize China. I think the right take here is some version of cautious optimism. Climate hawks have the better of the argument — China is deadly serious about cleaning up its energy system, not only or even primarily for climate reasons — but conservative warnings about China’s history of opacity and cronyism are worth heeding. The key thing to remember is that China’s government thinks long term. (There’s nothing in China like vertiginous Obama-Trump transitions, needless to say.) It is planning for the rest of the century, for China to become a leading global power, especially in clean energy. Relative to the scale and scope of the task at hand, taking a few more years to get it right is a small sacrifice. The other thing to remember is just how mind-bogglingly huge the challenge is. China is really, really big. It has grown, since 2000, from a poverty-stricken backwater to the world’s largest economy, mainly powered by coal. It is attempting to create a modern economy and a modern government in a fraction of the time it took wealthy Western nations to do the same. The effects of rapid growth are everywhere, especially in the central government’s scramble to bring far-off provincial governments in line. In many cases, the central government lacks data on what is emitting what, and where — such data is often massaged or manipulated by companies and provincial leaders over which the central government still has only tenuous control. China’s government is acutely aware of the importance of its carbon efforts, both politically and environmentally, and of the daunting challenges it faces in creating one. So despite the urgency of the climate challenge, its highest imperative is not speed. The most important thing is getting the baselines, rules, and procedures right, creating a functioning system that can be used as a ratchet for decades to come. In 2020, China will issue two important documents: its next Five-Year Plan and its updated NDC (its pledged targets under the Paris climate agreement). The international climate talks being held in 2020 will be the first chance for countries to increase their ambitions and ratchet up their original NDCs. All eyes will be on China. Getting a stable, effective carbon trading system in place — even if the initial cap is weak, as it likely will be — could help embolden China to set a more ambitious timeline for peaking its emissions, perhaps 2025 or even earlier. Moving up a peak by five years may not sound like much, but for the world’s most populous country, its largest economy, and its biggest emitter, that represents the emissions equivalent of several small countries going to zero. It would be a seismic development, bolstering other countries to boost their ambitions in turn. Anyway, we are impatient here in the US, but the fact is, China is moving deliberately and cautiously on this. And that’s good news. If China gets carbon trading right, the effects — direct effects on emissions and indirect political effects — will be beyond calculating. The more care, the better.

Options Sonos Play 1 WiFi-enabled wireless speaker in black or white Sonos Play 3 WiFi-enabled wireless speaker in black or white Sonos Play 5 WiFi-enabled wireless speaker in black or white Sonos Playbar WiFi-enabled sound bar Sonos Play Wireless Speakers or Sound Bar This array of WiFi-friendly speakers elevates your home-audio setup to cinematic levels. Every driver inside each model’s frame is powered by its own amplifier, resulting in the kind of clear yet driving audio you hear in much larger sound systems or Metallica’s tour bus. Unlimited Music Options Connect the Play speakers to your home WiFi network, and you’ll never run out of listening options again. The speakers can stream music from popular streaming services, such as Spotify and Pandora, as well as free Internet radio or digital audio files stored on any computer connected to the network. Wire-Free Listening Don’t bother untangling audio cords every time you want to listen to music—these speakers use WiFi to stream music wirelessly, giving you reliable, high-fidelity sound quality without any cables. Powerful, High-Fidelity Audio Whether you’re listing to EDM or classical, the Play speakers bring out the best in your favorite tunes thanks to their powerful drivers. Each model’s number corresponds to how many speakers it houses in its slim frame, and each speaker is powered by its own amplifier. The result is robust, but not overpowering, sound that fills the room. Nine-Speaker Sound Bar Feel the bone-chilling cello during a horror-movie chase scene and delight in the crisp high-hat and trumpet of streamed jazz music. The Playbar’s nine speakers give you powerful, nuanced sound across virtually the entire sound range, ensuring nothing goes unheard during your movies, shows, and music. Like the Play speakers, the Playbar—which can connect to the Play speakers for a more complete home-theater setup—connects to home WiFi networks for wireless audio streaming. Specifications Sonos Play 1, Play 3, and Play 5 Speakers WiFi speaker connects to your home Internet Streams music from online streaming services, Internet radio, or your own digital library Connects via WiFi or Ethernet cable Controlled wirelessly from your computer or via a free smartphone app Speakers: Play 1: one high-range tweeter and one 3.5” mid-woofer Play 3: one tweeter, two mid-range drivers, and one bass radiator Play 5: two tweeters, two 3” mid-range drivers, and one 3.5” subwoofer Dedicated amp for each speaker Compatible with iOS, Android, PC, and Mac devices Compatible with any 802.11 b/g 2.4GHz router Condition: new Comes with power cord and Ethernet cable (Play 5 also includes audio line-in cable and setup CD) Technical specifications: Play 1 Play 3 Play 5 Sonos Playbar Nine-speaker sound bar Six midrange speakers and three tweeters Each speaker with a class-D digital amplifier Pairs with Sonos Play speakers Streams music from online streaming services, Internet radio, or your own digital library Connects via WiFi or Ethernet cable Plays audio from nearly all signals played on connected TVs, including Blu-rays, video-game consoles, and cable boxes Connects to TVs with a single optical cable (included) Compatible with any 802.11 b/g 2.4GHz router Condition: new Technical specifications For questions pertaining to this deal, click the Ask a Question button below. For post-purchase inquiries, please contact Groupon customer support. Goods sold by Groupon Goods. View the Groupon Goods FAQ to learn more.

Rep. Diane Black Diane Lynn BlackLamar Alexander's exit marks end of an era in evolving Tennessee Juan Williams: The GOP's worsening problem with women How to reform the federal electric vehicle tax credit MORE (R-Tenn.) on Tuesday slammed the Senate as “an adult day care center” saying the upper chamber “can’t get anything done.” During an interview on “The Hugh Hewitt Show,” the radio host asked Black what she thought of the ongoing feud between Sen. Bob Corker Robert (Bob) Phillips CorkerBrexit and exit: A transatlantic comparison Sasse’s jabs at Trump spark talk of primary challenger RNC votes to give Trump 'undivided support' ahead of 2020 MORE (R-Tenn.) and President Trump. “I’m not sure that those kinds of things in the media really help us to be able to get to where we need to be,” Black said. “Look, if you talk about an adult day care center, I’m sorry but I think the Senate is an adult day care center. They can’t get anything done over there.” It's true: I called the @USSenate an adult day care center. If they can't disprove it by passing @HouseGOP budget we should send bingo cards — Diane Black (@votedianeblack) October 10, 2017 ADVERTISEMENT Black was referencing Corker’s retort to Trump’s weekend criticism. The senator described the White House as “an adult day care center” after Trump fired off a series of tweets criticizing Corker. The congresswoman, who is running for governor in Tennessee and chairs the House Budget Committee, slammed the Senate’s repeated failed attempts to repeal and replace ObamaCare. “You know, I think that is the adult day care center. But I’m not sure that all of this — throwing these words back and forth to one another — are really very helpful,” Black continued. “And I think the American people don’t really appreciate the way people that are supposed to be in charge of this country are acting. Those kinds of conversations can take place behind closed doors if they want to talk that way to one another.” The House approved its budget resolution last week, and the Senate is expected to take up its own resolution when it returns from a recess next week. But the resolutions have significant differences, the most important of which are the outlines that will be used to unlock the tax reform process. Republicans plan to use the budgetary process to push tax reform forward without requiring support from Senate Democrats. While the Senate version carves out up to $1.5 trillion in deficit spending for the tax plan over a decade, the House bill does not allow any. Instead, it mandates some $203 billion in deficit reduction from various mandatory programs. While the Senate’s version is favored to win out, Black is pushing for the mandatory cuts from her bill. “Last week the @HouseGOP passed a conservative balanced budget cutting $203B in mandatory spending. RT if you think @SenateGOP should approve,” she wrote in a tweet on Tuesday. Last week the @HouseGOP passed a conservative balanced budget cutting $203B in mandatory spending. RT if you think @SenateGOP should approve — Diane Black (@votedianeblack) October 10, 2017 Trump early Tuesday slammed Congress, alluding to an executive order on health care because Congress "can't get its act together." Updated: 3 p.m.

NBA2K17 has four 90-rated PG’s. Who’s the best? ZeroTo2K Blocked Unblock Follow Following Jun 18, 2017 It’s your MyLeague Fantasy Draft. You’ve got one of those mid-1st round picks in that awkward #11 — #20 range. You’re looking at the low 90’s, probably at the quartet of point guards with the same rating. Kyrie Irving, John Wall, Isaiah Thomas, and Damian Lillard all have different strengths and weaknesses, especially if you’re building a team around them. Let’s break ’em down stat by stat to determine who’s the best cornerstone for your franchise. Shooting If you’re launching long balls, Kyrie’s your guy. That 97 mid-range and 87 three-point rating make him (quite literally) can’t miss. Isaiah can match Uncle Drew inside the arc, but won’t land the deep ones. Lillard’s serviceable with 80–86 numbers across the board, but certainly a step below Irving. Poor John Wall struggles here, though, with high 70’s across six of seven shooting ratings. Shooting Advantage: Kyrie. Driving Dame’s shooting lines were solid, but not stellar — good thing he’s got that 85 Driving Dunk to flesh out an all-around offensive game. Wall shares the 85, amped up by an extra inch and Gold Acrobat & Relentless Finisher badges. While you won’t catch Kyrie or IT yaking on anyone, they’ve got sky-high lay-up stats and are perfectly capable of scoring in traffic (though Isaiah’s height hurts). Driving Advantage: Dame. Passing So there’s a strange imbalance across traditional point guard skills with these new-age ballhandlers — pretty much everyone has a glaring weakness. Kyrie’s 98 Ball Control and 96 Hands are among the best in 2K17, but his passing numbers are rather pedestrian — same goes for Video Game Dame and your favorite Celtic. A nice spread of 90’s makes John Wall the most traditional point guard (though you wouldn’t think of him as such). It’s worth noting that all four own a Gold Pick & Roll Maestro badge, but once again, Wall’s 6'4" frame helps him out. Passing Advantage: Wall. Defense The separation’s pretty laughable on the defensive side. John’s an actual wall thanks to impressive ratings in important categories. Many 2K PGs are one-sided players, Wall can stop opposing all-stars — hugely valuable in the guard-heavy NBA. Case closed. Defensive Advantage: Wall by a mile. Speed & Athleticism All four are obviously fast — we’re looking at 87+ ratings in Speed, Speed With Ball, and Acceleration. Wall’s got rockets, though — a 97 Speed rating + an 88 Vertical launch him across your x and y axis. Note that Kyrie’s the resident pansy with a 37 Strength Rating, along with that my-shoelaces-are-tied-together 72 Lateral Quickness. You’ve got to consider Lillard’s 98 Intagibles and 98 Overall Durability (if you play with injuries on), though once again, we’re in John’s world. Advantage: Wall. Badges The whole lot own impressive badge sets, though Kyrie’s batch is hard to pass on. Those nine golds make him easy-to-learn & virtually unstoppable, especially if you’ve got another ballhandler on your team. Wall’s eight golds cover key point guard skills + the best of the defensive offerings, while Damian and Isaiah fall behind. Badge Advantage: Kyrie by a hair. So now that we’ve looked at the data, who’s the best? *Record scratch* — before we get into these rankings, let’s talk about something important: personal preference. Dame, Kyrie, Wall, and IT are all excellent, and all play differently. If you want an all-around two-way PG, go Wall. If you want a lights-out shooter, take Kyrie. Draft Dame if you want multiple weapons. And take Isaiah if… okay, spoilers, Isaiah is #4 of 4, but he’s perfectly serviceable. So without further adieu… The 90-rated Point Guard Rankings John Wall. Yeahyeahyeah, I know — you think I’m wrong. Problem is, you’re voting with your heart and TV ratings. You see Kyrie, IT, and even Dame every year through the playoffs and YouTube, but rarely catch DC’s floor general. Do yourself a favor & get educated. John Wall is the best athlete, best defender, best passer, and second-best driver. No, you can’t cheese 3’s with him, but you can’t get the rest of your shooters open. Pick up the sticks, toss down tomahawks and enjoy stopping your opponents’ predictable PG-centric offense. Kyrie Irving. He’s lights out. It’s that simple. When you’re manning Kyrie, you’re always in scoring position. He’s an easy player to learn with a pretty-standard release. Look to score first and you’ll win. Damian Lillard. There’s something you should know. While he’s ranked #3 here, master 2K players can be deadly when running Dame. Truly equal ability from outside & at the rim make Lillard the most unpredictable to guard, only strengthened with 98 Intagibles. Don’t sleep on the Blazers’ franchise guy. Isaiah Thomas. Sorry, IT — size matters in 2K. Even the exceptionally-talented 2Ker has trouble getting shots with the little guy, especially if an opponent uses any sort of lock down defender on him. Don’t get me wrong — Isaiah can put up big numbers in small windows — there’s just no reason to grab him before these other 3 guys. If he falls into that #25-#35 range, snatch IT up. If there’s still an 85+ player you like on the board, though, I can’t recommend IT without serious practice hours. Follow Zero To 2K on Twitter and YouTube for news + analysis of NBA2k competitive play. If you enjoyed this, please share — let’s grow this community.

Rick Whitelock of New Force Comics has reported to police, $85,000 worth of comic books stolen from Tampa Bay Comic Con this weekend, including two copies of Amazing Fantasy #15, CGC rated at 5.0 and 4.0, and priced at $19,995 and $15,995. Chris Spata of Tampa Bay Times reports that one box that was delivered with the rest of Rick’s stock at the show to his booth was locked up overnight on the Thursday but was discovered missing on the Friday morning. Whitelock doesn’t discount that a wrong box was picked up by accident but the contents are rather distinctive. Bleeding Cool will be acquiring the specific CGC serial numbers, but if anyone is approached with such Amazing Fantasy #15 copies, featuring the first appearance of Spider-Man, they should get in touch. Other books include Amazing Spider-Man #1, Incredible Hulk #1, Uncanny X-Men #1, Brave and the Bold #28 (first modern Justice League), Strange Tales #110 (first Doctor Strange). He has been told that nothing of use in the convention center’s CCTV could be seen. The comics have been insured against theft, but for Rick it’s a lot more than that. If you have any knowledge of this theft, or attempts to sell them on, do get in touch, Bleeding Cool will try and run a full list with CGC serial numbers later. About Rich Johnston Chief writer and founder of Bleeding Cool. Father of two. Comic book clairvoyant. Political cartoonist. (Last Updated ) Related Posts None found

What You'll Be Creating Sometimes when we think of macro there’s a tendency to head straight for nature; a close up of a flower, a butterfly wing, dew drops on the grass, and so on. In this tutorial, I’d like to encourage you to move away from what’s already there and create your own macro scenarios; it’s easier than you think. I’ll show you the process I used to create my picture "The Bakery", below, and you'll learn how to make a similar photograph of your own. The Bakery was created with tiny model people and house-hold items [photo: Marie Gardiner] What You’ll Need: What you'll need for our tutorial Model People. These can be purchased either online or from stores that sell model railway sets. They come in a variety of different ways so try to think about what kind of scenario you’d be making before choosing your pack, they can be expensive. A plain Hessian bag. The kind you can pick up from a supermarket. If you can only get a patterned or logo one it’s not the end of the world, you can use the inside. A slice of bread or a bun. A well-lit work environment. A macro lens ideally but a 50mm would do. Think About What You Want to Achieve For me, the cart came before the horse on this one. I was given a pack of the tiny figures and wanted to make a picture with them. I had a guy pushing a wheelbarrow and a woman with a brush, so I thought: "what could I do that would involve them clearing up?" Outside wasn’t an option so I started thinking of things I had lying around the house and the idea developed from there. When I’d decided on a bread and bakery theme then I looked for a background that would be suitable. I tried the kitchen worktop, which didn’t work and then spotted a Hessian shopping bag I had lying around: perfect! The colours work and the texture adds interest and warmth. Method Cut up the Hessian bag so that you’ve got a long piece that you can use as a background and also for the floor. Ideally you’d cut down the sides and use the large square part of the bag, but as you can see, mine has a logo on so I’ve cut out a strip made from the sides and bottom: You don't need much Hessian, just enough to fill your shot I’ve placed my figures and also scattered a few bread crumbs around for added effect. I’ve placed some next to the woman’s brush and in the man’s wheelbarrow; makes sense if they're clearing up! Depending on your lens, you may need to take several images and use focus stacking in post-processing to extend your depth of field. Think About Composition Consider the rule of thirds and where your areas of interest are: Consider the rule of thirds and place figures accordingly. Of course, rules are made to be broken. You can see I’ve placed the figures roughly where the points on the grid intersect, thus drawing the viewer’s attention to them while moving their eye around the space. Finish Up Add some contrast, warmth and sharpness. Once I’d focus-stacked my images (I missed a little focus where you can see the stripes; it's so important to try and nail that) then I added some warmth, contrast and a slight vignette. It’s the kind of thing that would look really sweet in the kitchen or up in a café. A Few Last Things to Consider Using little model people to create other worldly situations isn't a new concept, but many artists and photographers have found ways to make it look unique and exciting. Slinkachu, for example, have made wonderful work by taking this idea and creating installations out of doors. Another photographer, David Gilliver, has made this idea his own with a fantastic series called Little People—I highly recommend you take a look. To give you more inspiration of what you can do with whatever you’ve got lying around the house, here are two of Gilliver's ‘kitchen’ themed model pictures: 'You're Doing a Grate Job Little Dudes' by David Gilliver (by permission of the artist) It’s amazing what you can achieve with relatively little and you don’t even have to leave the house! You really get the sense of workmen going about their busy day, even though we know they're models. The sense of size and perspective helps greatly. 'Granulating Sugar' by David Gilliver (by permission of the artist) I think we all start by 'mimicking' ideas, to an extent: we see something we'd love to be able to do and set out to see if we can do it. The real challenge then is to build on that, think of our own ideas and really push the boundaries of what has already been done. Sometimes having a place to start helps generate those ideas, so I hope you find this tutorial useful and I would love to see any of your 'Tiny World' creations.

Letters to the Editor www.stankovuniversallaw.com Hi George How are things? I haven’t written in a while because I knew you had company and didn’t want to disturb you. Also, I’ve had a lot going on myself now that I’ve finally found a new flat among other things. Today I read your latest article and it just blew me away. Literally. First of all, it was the most lucid presentation of a multidimensional model of our current ascension I think could have been written. Secondly, it had an activation embedded in it. Just moments after reading it and saying “wow!” I had to lie down. Then I had a few attunements (those zaps to the center of my head I get now almost nightly) and passed out. I just woke up from a 2 hour knock-out and I still can barely move my limbs properly. While I was out, I visited my own timeline in lower 4D. It’s all a bit muddled now, but it’s still amazing that after reading your article I thought, I want to visit my other timelines and that’s exactly what happened. I won’t bore you with any details. I did however also want to report (without gloating) that I did experience ascension and knew that it had happened when reports were coming in from Jerry and others about 3 weeks ago now. There was a definite shift for me and how I’d define it is – I’ve entered sustained levels of heightened creativity, telepathy and a very fast manifestation turnover rate. There are too many stories to tell, actually, that would make this report too long. I can also confirm the “invisibility” factor to much lower vibrating people (they almost seem like zombies) as well as being a mirror for karma in the 4th plane – my karma balances out instantly. I mean within minutes. That means, when someone acts out strangely against me, I have to be very conscious otherwise I end up acting out the identical karmic action back onto another similarly vibrating person without thinking about it. Lastly, of course are the feelings of complete peace and joy almost all the time now and like I’m watching a movie when I think about other timeline events. These are my main observations at this time. Thank you for your latest article, which I truly loved as a clear model of what I am experiencing. I know that everything for me is clearly on track. I know I’ve ascended to a higher level and this also pushes me forward in my faith and allows me to continue to carry (much higher) light codes for the masses until need be. The only question remains if I’ll get my light body at the same time as the older Indigos in a piggyback effect (you must be practically floating by now and ready to lift off) or if I’ll be hanging around til as long as it takes for the masses to ascend. But since things have been going so well now on this timeline, and I’m not as lonely as I once was due to a closer bond (gratitude) to the other PAT members on this plane together with other developments, I am happy to wait it out for the time being. I know you must be anxious due to your highly advanced LBP, but you won’t be getting any frustrated emails from me saying that nothing is happening. Many blessings to the entire PAT and looking forward to future posts. Love Debra ______________________________ Dear Debra, while I am sorry to hear that I have blown you away with my latest article on the seven 4D earths scenario of ascension, I am happy to hear that you fully validate this concept /working model that explains a lot of what we now experience and observe, so that it can be used as a vademecum throughout these murky times. Let us hope that we will see more miracles stemming from this new energetic constellation – the most prominent one being, as you mention, immediate creation. With love and light George ______________________________ __ Ha, ha, yes, George, your articles should come with a “high voltage” disclaimer. Debra ______________________________ ____ Dear Georgi, First, thank you so very much for your cogent explanation of the 7 timelines that are now part of 4D. This makes so much sense and allows much greater flexibility for varying levels of consciousness amongst humanity to experience their appropriate 4D level. I also would like to witness to your explanation of what was happening on June 8. My body was so exhausted on the night of June 7 that I needed to go to bed at 8pm. As the sun began to come up on the 8th, I tried to get out of bed several times, but was still so exhausted that I had to go back to sleep again and again. I slept for a total of 13 hours that night. When I finally began to do my weekend errands that day, I was extremely dizzy to the point where a woman came rushing up to me in Target with some cold bottled water telling me to drink it so that I did not faint. I continued to feel completely in a daze and strangely disconnected to the people around me. It was exactly as you described it. It was indeed a bit disconcerting, and I am so grateful to you for your explanation of what was happening to help me realize that I was not going insane. With deepest gratitude! Alice ______________________________ ________ Dear Alice, thank you very much for this important personal validation of the occurrence of the MPR on the worst catastrophic 4D earth in the night of June 8. Such events are the stepping stones towards our final ascension and they must be very carefully registered and explained, so that the PAT knows exactly what it has contributed to the whole ascension process and why we feel so depleted after these energy bouts. With love and light George ______________________________ ________ Dear Georgi, Wonderful post/confirmation of the seven parallel 4D earths having been created!! I was struggling to grasp what HS was eluding to with the previous message though I could FEEL exactly what you described having transpired but could not find the words to articulate such a message. You did a superb job! I very much look forward to reading your detailed post of clarity/further explanation after sending this off to you. I’m sorry I didn’t catch your note until this morning – we were celebrating my daughter’s 15th birthday yesterday and I made it a point to stay offline to be fully present. Again Georgi, words cannot express the “click” of alignment I received after reading your latest ascension message. This is indeed the larger context/understanding we needed to have, and all of it completely resonates as truth on every level for me. Granted, it’s somewhat different than I think we all imagined it would be, but somehow still feels like the perfect, natural solution and explains so very much of what we’ve all been experiencing lately. I will definitely try to check in with HS in a bit here but between you and Jahn’s latest messages, I don’t know how much more HS can add, as they were excellently detailed but we’ll give it a try. Will be in touch soon, Much love and light, April ______________________________ _________ Dear April, I am happy that you resonate with my latest explanation of the seven 4D earths ascension scenario that indeed offsets much of what we have discussed in the past. But by closer scrutiny this approach seems to be the perfect solution, even though we have to stay some time longer on the ground but on a timeline – the upper 4D earth – where no catastrophes will take place and the transition to a new enlightened society will be rather smooth and rewarding for us as ascended masters. Our family members will be the ones who will most profit from this peaceful solution as they have all moved now to the upper 4D and will hugely benefit from the new positive changes without going through physical and other calamities We will definitely not be active on the other six catastrophic 4D earths as the people need their dire experiences there without our presence as ascended masters. Altogether an ingenious optimization solution of the ongoing problem of the still slumbering masses. With love and light George ______________________________ __ Dear Georgi, Thank you so much for today’s article. It has brought extreme clarity and sense, to what is happening around me! I was beginning to despair over the past week or two, between cleansings and LBP symptoms, and to have on top of that, people in my life just suddenly terminating any association with me, for no apparent reason. One of mine and my husbands (and daughter too) biggest complaints this past week was how “invisible” we seemed to people around us, either while driving in the car, or among groups of people. Last night I had a very involved dream in which a Bulgarian criminal was trying to steal a small hotel I owned that sat atop a hill overlooking a huge lake. He wanted it for “strategic” reasons. He tried shooting me in the head, but I got away. I then spent the rest of the dream, trying to lead a small group of people to safety to escape these bad guys trying to hunt us down. In between running and hiding, I was instructing the group about our reality, that it wasn’t was it seemed to be. I took my granddaughter to see an animated movie called “Epic” last week. One of the interesting concepts in it was how the humans had a hard time perceiving these little people, because they lived in a much higher vibration. And that we are never alone, and all connected…. In Love and Light, Vicki ______________________________ ___ Dear Vicki, I am sorry to hear that the long arm of the Bulgarian mafia has reached your dream realm and bothers you with their crimes. Otherwise thank you for your appreciation of my latest explanation of the seven 4D earths ascension scenario. The signs are multiplying now on behalf of this model, e.g. our invisibility and that of other entities of lower dimensions. With love and light George ______________________________ ______ Good Day George, First off let me just say thank you for the hundredth time for putting so much of this process into words for all to try their darn nest to understand, but again we all must remember that this is a brand new way of Ascension for all – correct? OK, now for the fun stuff meaning OMG, George I was losing it on Saturday the 8th, Like I felt like such a mass amount of collected crap from an ongoing cleansing that I knew was also in place and that on Saturday morning as I sat contemplating where the heck we all were in this game still, I got extremely mad and belligerent with my HS and any and all of the HR’s and was also crying my eyes out in despair. Again all because of the whole build up of the cleansing but to such a degree that I was in the mist of writing to you that day and giving up on it all and telling you that I did not know what kind of game we were involved in here, but that I was officially quitting as of that moment. I thought at that point I did not care one way or the other as I just could not stand anymore of the garbage that goes through me to get to where I and all of us are trying to get to. And that it just all looks the same from day to day. It was the worst I have ever felt through this whole process and somehow I had let it get to me. But George you have to see this ridiculous world over here in the states that still operates as usual and how utterly disgusting it all is. So now comes the best part and that is that I now cannot recall if I even asked first as I was on my email already to write and quit my job as I was completely overcome by Love, Light and some parts of the last messages from both Asana and from Jesus as to let me know in a very fast and so powerful feeling that everything and I was perfectly OK and right where I am to be and doing just as I should be. I immediately burst into tears and was thanking and expressing my utmost love to our over the top Creator/Father God and Beautiful, soulful Mother God who are forever with us all. And then later on in the day I see your heading of the new news of the fact that “it was all happening now”. AMEN!!!!!!! You have again provided very understandable information to all here who are interested and again I say we love you George so so much for being our Captain as no one else on this planet could have done what you have done so darn graciously and with so much love for all even when you had to use the tough love that we all need every once in awhile. I know your awards and new place after all this is accomplished will be of the utter most highest and so rightly earned. This might be what you know already but I do believe that you are being prepped to be your own Creator/God Source yourself of your own Universe someday soon. Yes George I love all my newer insights and new self (self’s) as my wholeness grows everyday more than ever now. I truly hope you are having very nice days right now and things like you said about the driver sound like pretty cool experiences, we have new adventures about to start, I love it, and yes yesterday while out I thought it appeared to be somewhat a more vacant place. Lots of Love and Light, Bonnie ______________________________ _______ Dear Bonnie, thank you very much for this loving letter. You have outdone your usual praise for me and I feel already lifted in heaven-seven. With love and light George ______________________________ ______ George, I do entirely concur: here where I live, this morning for instance, nobody around, everything calm and nice, no chemtrails…, the tram, metro half empty, so that I wondered if there were school holidays. No there aren’t. At work, in the cafeteria, same thing. No traffic jam… the atmosphere is just amazingly quiet and empty (no crowd) This is a small testimony from Woluwe-Saint-Pierre, BE Love,Sophie ______________________________ ____ Dear Sophie, thank you for this confirmation that life has calmed down significantly in the last days and that the overall impression is that there are fewer people on this planet. With love and light George ______________________________ _____ Bravo Georgi, What a summary of the situation! You have clearly and easily defined the different earths and make it all so understandable. Thank you so much. I am so happy to be part of the PAT. Love, love and more love to you. Helen ______________________________ ____ Hallo George, firstly I wish to say that I welcome the contributions from Jahn as they resonate strongly with our level of consciousness. Then your last personal message to Jahn (in regards to Sananda’s message) was so spot on, as well as your summary in response to April’s latest message. I just disagree that people will or should be “saved” as that should merely be a choice of experience by the soul. To “save” someone would mean to interfere with someones experience. I do understand what was meant though, the fact that many souls will be allowed their choice of experience through a “milder” evolution. I was hit by a heavy cleansing period two weeks ago when I had those burning lung problems (you used a scientific term for that) and very high fever for 4 days. There were moments when I thought that my body would not make it through the night. It was severe. Took me around 10 days to recover from that, as my body was at rock bottom. So fortunately I feel better now. Now in regards to the overall scenario, I can say that one thing that I despised in other humans during this lifetime, was procrastination. When someone was unable to make a decision, because of fear of screwing up, or unable to follow through, once a decision was made. This would drive me up the wall. So I am having a hard time coping with this scenario of postponements for the umpteenth time. Well, I cannot think that the HR’s are so retarded, (otherwise they all need to engage in some 3D experience). So, I think you are dead on when you say that they are not telling us the truth. What comes to mind is an old song from Chris De Burgh called “Spanish Train”, where the Devil and the Lord are travelling on a train filled with souls, and are playing Poker with the souls as stakes. Our role in this is, that we are improving the hand of the Lord as the game progresses. So the big question is: where are we now? That will depend on when they will place their final bets and then put the cards on the table. They will need to hurry as the train is about to enter the final station. in love and light, Joe ______________________________ _________ Dear Joe, the example with the devil and the lord playing with our souls on a speedy train describes very precisely our situation at present. I have personally no idea what they are planning and how they intend to accomplish it and my gut feeling is that they do not know yet themselves. But there is no doubt that the card play is ongoing and the stakes are rising. It could be that they will resort again to the plan to let some of us ascend first as to trigger positive changes without bigger catastrophes. But this is just one possibility. I hope to get today some more information, but obviously now the HR are busy establishing the many new 4D timelines and dividing the human population among them depending on their level of awakening, where different scenarios will be experienced. This may take some time (this email was written on June 6 before I got a clear insight on the seven 4D earths scenario and my participation in the MPR on the worst 4D earth on June 8th). You must have done the same cleansing work as myself. I actually was fully involved in widening my portal with the help of my dual soul into the Middle East and the whole of Asia. There is much more to this, but it is difficult to present it now. With love and light George ______________________________ ____ Hallo George, Firstly I was wondering if you are fine, as I have not seen anything posted on the website since Wednesday, which is unusual unless you announce it beforehand. As far as the Ascension scenario, there are many variables to consider. We have come a long way now, but it is getting more and more difficult to cope here. The hammering on my body is the heaviest to date for me. Since that “flu” two weeks ago, I had some cc-waves and gastric issues which I had last experienced in 2012, are bothering me again. I know that there is/was some heavy dark energy in sub Saharan Africa. In an interview between David Icke and South African’s leading Sangoma Credo Mutwa, it was revealed large reptilian beings with white lizardy skin are living in deep underground bases in the Congo. That in modern times young African women, mostly in Zimbabwe were impregnated by them after being abducted, after about 4 months of pregnancy, they were abducted again, and the foetus removed. Apparently this happened on a large scale. In addition many African children disappear daily in South Africa never to be seen again (used for sacrifices and rituals). There is a lot of black magic voodoo going on in every country here. Anyhow, I was always hoping, after learning about this in 2011 that we did not have to clear this shit as well. If we are to continue, we need some real motivation, other than “nice” words. Some events that will startle or “shock” humanity would be in order. That nothing of note has occurred thus far makes me think that the status quo on our current 3D earth was to be maintained so as not to unveil the cabal. But why, and until what point is this going to continue? Why were we not allowed to ascend and appear as MD beings in front of humanity? What pact has been made with the cabal, and why are they given so much time? (Of course I am disregarding all the reasons of failed ascension runs and scenario changes etc that were given to us by the HR while asking these questions.) in love and light, Joe ______________________________ __________ Dear Joe, thank you for your update. As you can read in my latest post I was in the Alps and was involved in a horror trip associated with the MPR on a catastrophic 4D timeline yesterday. It also explains why we will not see any catastrophes on this timeline on which we are now dwelling and help stabilize and ascend it. George ______________________________ ___ Hallo George, The latest scenario seems a smart plan, as it will cater for the various levels of consciousness and provide good opportunities for growth with less negativity/ interference from people of lower consciousness. The question is: Since you said that it is already happening as we speak, does this mean individuals are represented on more than one timeline? As at this stage it seems that the Bilderbergers are still with us on upper 4th. (Although I saw policemen hugging demonstrators there). Or, as you did your work behind the veil, did you “time travel” (there is no time behind the veil), and thereby able to experience the unfolding of the earth B timeline? in love and light, Joe ______________________________ _____________ Dear Joe, you have posed a crucial question. My guess is that we receive probable holographic timelines in our Upper 4D from the other timelines 3D and catastrophic 4Ds as to preserve the illusion of normalcy and continuity before certain events destroy this kind of illusory reality. Just as the rebuilding of the earth in the upper 4D may have already started, but the old facades still exist in the minds of the people until they begin to alter their perceptions radically and then also the cities and the geography will begin to change visibly – e.g. the cities will become smaller and the continents will have new shape with more water and less land. This is just one vision I have now. From now on everything becomes very subjective and this trend will fully unfold on 5D. George ______________________________ ________ Hallo George, yes, and I would think that we will probably get some more details in the days to come from Jahn and maybe the PAT channelers. Joe ______________________________ _______ Dear George, I have just seen a deepening of the ID split. A few people were discussing the status quo. They agreed there is nobody out there to get them, no ‘powers’ globally trying to establish a NWO. Initially I felt frustration from being confronted with such huge ignorance, but my attention shifted to the 4d level of thinking, like switching a radio frequency. These people, although they are ignorant, have good intentions. But now they were correct. It felt totally as if all such powers just don’t exist anymore, like they disappeared. So what those people were saying is now totally true, but wrong in the past. Then I saw 3d dropping from 4d in free fall. Like all that was holding 3d up, was it’s hooks into 4d. But those hooks are gone and there is no connection between the 3d and 4d earth anymore at all. This now causes the 4d earth to rise up quickly. Not only does 3d drop down and does 4d rise up, but there is a force actively pushing them away from each other. This may be a very important moment. Love & Light, Daniël ______________________________ ____ Dear Daniel, your assessment is absolutely correct and if you read my latest publication you will find the confirmation there. With love and light George ______________________________ ________ George, Wow, much is happening now! 3D has separated 7 new timelines PAT in upper 4D Gaia has ascended to 5D I understand these concepts but my confusion lies within the “illusion of normalcy”. So as we (PAT) see upper 4D we are occupying this space with holographic versions of souls who are really in other timelines? I understand how we can project copies of our souls (tri locations etc..) into parallel timelines, but you said the “number of living souls has decreased from the upper 4D timeline.” How do we know which souls are “empty holographic images” ? And which are upper 4D “inhabited living souls” ? I had coffee with a old coworker today and although she was quite animated she kept repeating her old fear based version of her life. It was like watching a re-run of an old television program. She had no interest in what I had to say. She continued talking about herself and the past. Is this what you mean by an empty holographic image of a soul? Love and light, Sheryl ______________________________ ____ Dear Sheryl, exactly, although there are no guidelines to this. You must use your intuition to perceive which people are only shadows of their souls and which are really living in this reality as this reality show can indeed look like very real for some time before it collapses. Then the present order must also collapse on the upper 4D, but without much social unrest. George ______________________________ ________ Thank you, for your response. In the past, I could tell by looking people in the eyes who was on my wavelength. They seemed to have light in their eyes, a bit of a twinkle. Is that still a good indication of the presence of soul? When these shadow souls are walking around on upper 4D … It sounds as if we have the ghosts of souls, just re-enacting their old lives. This is very curious but also fascinating. Love and light Sheryl ______________________________ ________ Human eyes are the window to the soul and you can always tell from the sparkle of the eyes if a person is an old soul and spiritually evolved or not. – George ______________________________ __________ Dear George I am hoping that in writing to you I will clarify my own thoughts and maybe my higher self will even come through for me in the message and it will be a useful exercise. I nearly wrote yesterday and proving that we are now more connected then ever before your posting was clarifying my thoughts except that I still feel confusion and will attempt to set out why. Well I know that there are different timelines and understood that one of the things that scared the PTW was that at some point they all converged into one therefore the potential to sway humanity by an action or false flag was going to become impossible for them, so that no matter how they tried to make us believe in the reality that they wanted to create it just was not possible anymore. I am not sure at what stage of that we are or indeed if it has changed and when I pondered yesterday I got that there were several timelines and that there were overlays from other timelines. I know that you have attempted to explain in a simple way the position that we are in but… Well I am not a physician and if you were before me I am sure that you could bring it to life so that I understood. If I can say where I am at and why I am not sure about all of this. You know that my granddaughter died and one remained? Well prior to this we went off on a trip in our motor home which for me was to see what it would be like to live from the heart and go where I wanted to go and be free of the system – we had some savings that we were using. Well when my granddaughter died we were in Spain and we drove straight back. My mother died within 2 days of that and it was obviously expensive. I could not contemplate going off again in the circumstances anyway and we moved back into what was meant to be a rental; a simple 2 bed maisonette. Anyway we do really like it here and I feel settled and at peace. We are in the fens and it is flat and fairly under populated, on the edge of town (5 min walk) yet we are able to be in the countryside within minutes too. Having moved back though we had to claim Jobseekers which was £112 a week for us both which you cannot live on I assure you. Anyway I must have applied for 150 – 200 hundred jobs (and you have to apply to get Jobseekers anyway). Some were in line with what I felt was more of a vocation and some were about the money. The job I have got is doing the admin following parking tickets at the local council. Most of the people there are definitely very 3D. Very into separation, judgemental and making a mountain out of a molehill although the tickets themselves are dealt with fairly so far. Also following my mum’s death I was at first immersed in old family stuff as my mum was not very nice to say the least and I had been estranged to a large extent. At first I felt so much for my dad but I had to detach as I am not in his consciousness at all and all he thinks of and enables is my brother who is an alcoholic. Where does this leave me? Well who knows really but I don’t feel at the top of 4D that is for sure. Although all that said I am able to detach and observe to a large extent and with some amusement even at how much ado people make of nothing. I can certainly say that I have made huge strides personally in de-programming but know that I have a ways to go. I wonder about the job I am in but there must be some reason and I am sick of scrimping and worrying about money all the time. I hope you can make some sense of the above but I am not feeling the big changes that you talk about and I have always been honest in my e-mails to you. In love and light and so much gratitude that you are back. Maria ______________________________ __________ Dear Maria, I agree that your personal experience in the last months does not feel as if you have ascended to the upper 4D earth, but this does not alter the validity of this fact. On our timeline we still have overlays with the past 3d holographic model that will vanish as soon as the social changes commence. According to my calculation this may happen any moment from now on as the huge catastrophic events have already started on the other 4D earths and will now trickle down into our timeline, which is planned to implement these changes without much civil unrest and only a few natural catastrophes. The new multi-dimensional weltanschauung, which the End Time demands from us at this moment is indeed challenging as it eliminates all past habitual perceptions and “normal” human way of thinking. But the sooner one starts to think in this multi-dimensional way, the quicker one will adapt /expand his awareness to the infinity of the higher realms, even though our current, slowly functioning biological brains are a great hindrance to this. With love and light George ______________________________ ________ Hi Georgi, thank you for all the recent messages… especially today. All of this makes sense to me and resonates… except I need clarification on this point. “In this way they continued to project an empty holographic mirror image of their incarnated personality in the other timelines, so that an overarching illusion of the continuation of the old 3d-order was created in all seven 4D timelines“. Is there any way to determine who is an empty holographic image and who is not? Will these empty holographic images at some time fully separate from the various 4d timelines? What is the main determinant that we are indeed consciously aware in the upper 4d timeline… minimal catastrophic events? Thank you for your time Georgi… a life line to truth Neil ______________________________ _______ Dear Neil, this is a very good question and other readers have also posed it. As language is imprecise, words do not always convey the exact energetic meaning. When I say “empty holographic images” I imply that the major focus of experience of the incarnated personality has already shifted to another timeline. The probable personality you meet in this reality is still a sentient being, however of a limited scope. The best way to discern this is to see in the eyes of the person as they are the window to his soul and to use your inner senses. There must be an immediate knowing as we are now fully linked to our HS and the veil has been lifted. I assume that very soon, when big changes will commence at the societal level in our upper 4D timeline that many of these personalities will simply disappear from the scene and most of the people will not bother to ask where they have gone as is the case with Hillary Clinton now who has vanished for almost two months from the press coverage and nobody asks where she is, and this, notwithstanding the fact that she was considered to be the next candidate for a president. Human perception is very selective and limited, and the more so human memory. But the big changes and the disappearance of the many probable personalities on this timeline will come when the collective mindset has fully accepted the new reality – the LBP, ascension, the existence of ascended masters etc.. in other words, the relevance of all the topics we now discus on this website. After that there will be no need for this camouflage anymore. With love and light George ______________________________ _________ Hi George, I just wanted to comment about todays’ articles Simple M-D Model of Ascension and Divine Game. I’ve read your article a few times and thought about it all day. First I notice that every time there is a delay, it creates pressure with many PAT members. But then what also occurs is a huge breakthrough in understanding. We go to the next level. Once again, you perceived a logical and timely shift so much so that it demanded a new working model. You then took the time to scientifically work through it and communicate to us. I actually am happy to lose the old model. The complexities of our situation outgrew the Planet B, A/B, and A model. The new model, as you said, correlates with the Seth information. Although I am certain there will be questions for you to answer, I am confident many of your readers are going to see (if not already) the proof and relevance of this model in their own lives. I love it and thank you, Marilyn ______________________________ __ Dear Marilyn, this End Time demands enormous flexibility of our ideas and concepts as this will be the normal state of awareness in the higher dimensions. The new model is organically linked to our past model, but reveals the actual complexity of the multi-dimensional reality we are about to enter any moment upon activating our light bodies. Hence it does not make any sense to stick to old concepts. Besides this is indeed what is now happening and many of the events we envisioned such as the MPR and ID split have now become reality in many catastrophic 4D timelines. Not in our upper 4D earth, and this is a great privilege for our relatives and family members as now they will have a smooth transition to the 4th and 5th dimension with us without being exposed to such calamities even though they might not have been personally harmed. But this dreadful experience would have haunted them for a long time and lowered their vibrations and chances to ascend. With love and light George

Somerville Mayor Joe Curtatone wants Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan to drop the charges against the “Somerville 18’’ who participated in January’s protest that shut down I-93 in Somerville and Milton. “There is no respect for the right to protest when the punishment proposed is completely disproportionate to the action taken,’’ Curtatone wrote in a Facebook post Wednesday. The protesters, two of whom were from Somerville, the rest from Boston, faced a variety of charges in January, including disorderly conduct, trespassing, conspiracy, and resisting arrest. The Middlesex District Attorney’s Office did not immediately respond to a request Wednesday night seeking information on the current status of the charges. In January, Ryan released a statement saying that while her office respected the right of individuals to protest, the actions of the 18 “jeopardized public safety.’’ Here’s Curtatone’s full statement: DROP THE CHARGES AGAINST THE SOMERVILLE 18: We are a nation founded upon and strengthened by a long history of social activism and protest—from the Boston Tea Party to the Freedom Marches for Civil Rights. When something is profoundly wrong in this nation, our citizens speak up and act up peacefully to set it right, and our freedoms—freedoms that are the envy of so many around the world—make this possible. This January 18 protesters exercised those rights. In their pursuit of social justice and an end to the well-documented unequal and sometimes lethal treatment of blacks by our nation’s law enforcement system, they blocked I-93. They went beyond the usual sidewalk protest to be sure they would be heard, just as area police and firefighters did when they blocked our interstates and major roadways repeatedly in the early 1980s to protest layoffs. Back then, not a single firefighter or police officer was arrested for their actions. The Boston Police commissioner at the time demonstrated respect for their right to protest. He was right to do so. If we allow the Somerville 18 to be treated differently today, we will all be in the wrong. There is no respect for the right to protest when the punishment proposed is completely disproportionate to the action taken. The news cycle has moved on for those inconvenienced by the traffic delays, but the Somerville 18 face excessive charges for that act of protest: 90 days in jail, nearly $15,000 in fines, and 18 months’ probation—this when peaceful protesters are commonly arrested but never even booked, or at most are given a small fine. The irony of protesters against unequal treatment by the law enforcement system being treated unequally by the law should concern us all. It certainly concerned the 91 members of the clergy who this summer sent a clear message to District Attorney Marian T. Ryan: “As Black churches are burning across the country, as Black people are being killed by police, and as we honor the lives taken in Charleston, we are asking you to drop the charges against these people of conscience,’’ they wrote. It is time for more political leaders to join our religious leaders in demanding fair treatment for the Somerville 18 as well, and I am adding my voice to that call here and now. The job of the District Attorney is a difficult one and we must respect the office’s ability to prosecute, but the ability to prosecute must be weighed against the question of whether or not justice is being done. We must hold injustice as more important than inconvenience. With full respect, I ask District Attorney Ryan to drop the charges against the Somerville 18, and I would remind us all of Martin Luther King Jr.’s words about the role of the law during times of needed social change: “Law and order exist for the purpose of establishing justice and when they fail in this purpose they become the dangerously structured dams that block the flow of social progress.’’

We've created three handy maps to help you work out exactly how much it costs to buy a property in Toronto near a subway station. Based on data from May 2017, the maps detail the average prices for townhouses, one- bedroom condos and general properties near each TTC subway station in Canada's largest metropolis. If you're thinking of buying a home there, and access to public transport is key, take a look at the maps below to get a sense of what you could be in for - and also see if the prices you've checked out so far match up. If You're Thinking of Buying a Toronto Townhouse TheRedPin It's generally assumed that the farther you go from Downtown Toronto, the more prices drop. That's true to an extent - the cheapest townhouses in the city can be found near Bessarion and Leslie Stations on the Sheppard line, as well as along the eastern end of the Bloor-Danforth line. Those with thicker wallets (and heavier purses) may choose to look more centrally, or even along the fashionable western end of the Bloor Danforth line (where average prices are almost $1.5m). The most expensive townhouses? They'd be the ones around Lawrence Station, on the Bloor-Danforth line, averaging $1,818,266. If You're Thinking of Buying a One-Bedroom Condo TheRedPin The condo boom in the Toronto property scene is yet to relent, and it shows in the prices listed on this map. For a one-bedroom condo, the only sub-$150,000 properties along the subway lines are located near Kennedy Station on the Bloor-Danforth and Scarborough lines, and Lawrence East Station. Some of the most expensive Toronto condos are, unsurprisingly, dotted around the Downtown core, but the priciest one-bedrooms are actually found outside, around Pape Station on the Bloor-Danforth Line - priced $630,957 on average. However, it should be noted that there's only a handful of condos in the Pape Station area, with most being particularly high-end units, so the figure would appear a bit skewed (and slightly confusing to most Toronto residents). If You're Looking For Any Kind Of Property TheRedPin Looking at prices for Toronto properties across the board, the cheapest ones can be found along the eastern end of the Scarborough line - one of the few areas where you can still bag a home for under $700,000. Compare that with the $2m average asking price in the uptown Toronto (rising to around $2.5m near York Mills and Lawrence on the Yonge-University lines), and the sheer diversity of the Toronto property market is clear for anyone to see. So, what will you buy - and where? There's a lot to take in if you're planning to buy a home in Toronto near a subway station, especially with the backdrop of an already overheated real-estate market. It'll likely be the single biggest investment you'll make, and the more you know, the better your decisions will be. So, whether you're thinking of a condo, a townhouse or anything else, if being close to the subway is what makes it or breaks it for you, maybe keep these maps handy as you hunt. For more information check out TheRedPin.

When Irish golfer Rory McIlroy accelerated his rehab for a stress fracture to his ribs to play a round of golf with the newly elected 45th president of the United States, Donald Trump, he took a pounding from fans and the press. Now McIlroy is saying that the juice may not have been worth the squeeze. “Would I do it again?” he said on Tuesday. “After the sort of backlash I received, I’d think twice about it.” Fans tweeted the 27-year-old Irish golfer, ranked #2 in the world, and accused him of “normalizing this lying, racist scumbag.” Lefties from across the globe expressed that they lost all respect for McIlroy. USA Today writer Christine Brennan can’t understand why Rory, who says “he won’t be having many cups of tea” with the members of the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers because they took so long to admit women members to Muirfield golf club, agreed to play with someone as horrible as Trump in the first place. Trump-basher Brennan wrote, “But wasn’t it natural to wonder why he said he wouldn’t be having tea with the sexist members of that stodgy club, yet still felt comfortable playing a round of golf with a man who bragged about sexually assaulting women, mocked a disabled person and carried on a week-long battle with a Gold Star family, among other things?” McIlroy said about his golf outing with Trump, “there was not one bit of politics discussed in that round of golf. He was more interested talking about the grass that he just put on the greens. “But, yeah, look, it’s a difficult one. I felt I would have been making more of a statement if I had turned it down. It’s not a tough place to be put in, but it was a round of golf and nothing more.” McIlroy has already expressed on his twitter feed that, ”This wasn’t an endorsement nor a political statement of any kind, It was, quite simply, a round of golf.”

ST. LOUIS, Missouri - An off-duty police officer shot and killed a home invader in suburban St. Louis on Saturday evening, and family say the two had recently had an argument about the growing unrest over police violence. Police say the off-duty officer, who has not been named, was home when the deceased suspect rang the doorbell on Saturday evening. How can we improve relations between police and minority communities? CBS affiliate KMOV-TV reports the suspect was known to the family. At the time of the incident, the police officer was home with his wife, mother-in-law and two children. They ran upstairs to hide when the suspect appeared. The suspect, identified as 20-year-old Tyler Gebhard, then grabbed a concrete planter and threw it through a window in the rear of the house when he was denied entry to the home. Once inside, the off-duty officer shot him. He was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Police told KMOV the man had emotional issues and had issued threats to the family online before the shooting. An uncle of Gebhard's, Patrick Brogan, of Waterloo, Illinois, told The St. Louis Post-Dispatch Gebhard and the officer had been arguing on Facebook. He said Gebhard, who was biracial, empathized with the objectives of the Black Lives Matter group. Police Chief Jon Belmar says the officer is on leave. (2/2) The suspect, who was known to the family, demanded entry & threw a planter through a glass door. pic.twitter.com/dnDmNRmgEZ — St. Louis County PD (@stlcountypd) July 10, 2016 Deadly shootings last week of black men by police in Louisiana and Minnesota, followed by the sniper killings of five police officers in Dallas, have heightened the tension around protests over police violence. On Saturday, many of those protesters themselves resorted to violence. Rudy Giuliani: "Black lives matter" is racist, anti-American Many supporters of police say the protesters have it wrong, and that the Black Lives Matter movement is leading them astray. In an appearance on CBS' "Face the Nation" on Sunday, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani called the movement "inherently racist." Giuliani said cops now feel like they have a target on their backs as a result of the movement. "Of course black lives matter, and they matter greatly," he said. "But when you focus in on 1 percent of less than 1 percent of the murder that's going on in America and you make it a national thing, and all of you in the media make it much bigger than the black kid that's getting killed in Chicago every 14 hours, you create a disproportion." Earlier Sunday, President Obama defended Black Lives Matter and the right of activists to demonstrate in cities across the United States, following a long night of ongoing protests over the highly public deaths last week of two black men at the hands of police. "One of the great things about America is that individual citizens and groups of citizens can petition their government, can protest, can speak truth to power," Mr. Obama told reporters in Madrid. "And that is sometimes messy and controversial but because of that ability to protest and engage in free speech, America over time has gotten better. We've all benefited from that."

My first experiences with the Occult begin with my childhood in Chile. In Chile, and most of latin america, new age thinking is so popular that basic cable carries a full time new age channel called Infinito. My mother and step-mother both consult with witches and Shaman, who practice either indigenous shamanism or a kind of Santaria. My childhood memories of all this stuff are basically non-existent. But I know that this environment must have done much to shape my perspective. It would be at a pretty early age that my interest in fantasy and science fiction would lead me to try to discover if there was any truth to my fantasy. It was probably at age 11 that I became interested in psychics and that sort of thing. More than anything I wanted to be an X-man, a superhero, I wanted a taste of this so badly. My life had been hard even at a young age. My brother has spinabifida, making him paraplegic, he went blind at the age of 5. My childhood was in the Pinochet dictatorship in Chile, my family suffered much as a result of this repressive regime. It only went down hill from there, but I don’t want to waste time with a sob story. I am writing a memoir elsewhere. I only mention this to try to create context for what seems to now be developing into a lifelong interest in the occult. I don’t know when I picked up my first new age or occult book. But I do know by age 13 I was already reading them full throttle. Several of these books had a profound and permanent affect on me. Life Forces by Louis Stewart is intended to be a comprehensive guide, and it certainly is a wide ranging introduction. I read the Satanic Bible by Anton Lavey, and this book has also had a profound influence on me. In addition to being a book that had me questioning the metaphysics of reality at an early age, it was also my introduction to Machiavellian thought, and Nietzschean thought. In fact it is the link between occultism and traditional philosophy which has ultimately roused my interest once again. I read all manner of books from Llewellyn publications, which produce a plethora of manuals for wiccan magic(k) adapted to countless cultures. I read books about real life vampires, goth’s who drank blood as a ritual in order to achieve some proximity to the mythical creatures which were at an apex of popularity during these early 90s because of Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles. This was perhaps my first experimentation with ritual. I wanted to be a vampire, very badly. I was a 13 year old who claimed to be a vampire to all my close friends and I drank the blood of my friends, and they drank mine. I still wear an asterisk shaped scar on my hand from these misadventures. I have no regrets, and in contrast with truly dark events that were happening in my life at this time, I think back to these experiences with great fondness. Though I will ask the reader to please bear in mind that I was 13 when casting judgment on this chapter of my life. I am now 31, and have undergone many transformations as most people do between early adolescence and adulthood. This path continued. I referred to myself interchangeably as a vampire or a pagan. I dabbled briefly with Christianity at age 14, under the guidance of a lovely girl who allowed me to explore my first dabbling with sexuality. But, clearly this was insincere. At least this time. By age 15 I had moved to Lubbock, Texas. A very small town in West Texas, of 250,000. This city was at that time very similar to the feel, and culture portrayed in the recent film Napoleon Dynamite. I felt very oppressed and my own life had endured many mundane (though quite traumatic) problems with my own life and family. Lubbock’s ridiculous cartoonish theocratic oppressive culture was the final thrust I needed in order to consider myself a Satanist. Though my interpretation of Satanism deviated from Lavey’s atheistic approach, and I dreamt up my own version of the left hand path, somewhat faithful to Lavey’s ethos of selfishness, but very supernaturalist and new agey. I kept this approach secret for the most part. Though I practiced rituals in a shed we had behind our house, which included a pentegram I made on the floor from my own blood. I add that I was 15 at the time, and contrast that I am now 31. For those who will want to criticize. You would be wasting your breath. To me it seems that was a lifetime ago. I became very interested in divination. I had a wonderful friend named Shawn who was a big fan of psilocybin mushrooms and a more new agey approach. Shawn and I would hang out and do tarot readings, discuss esoteric philosophy, smoke pot, and I began to consider myself a neo-pagan druid. Never really thinking much about my Satanism in the recent past. At least not until my life took a depressing tone once again, and I found that Satanism gave me a sense of power, and autonomy. Please understand, I have no criticism of Satanism to offer, at least not Lavey’s version. But for me in my adolescence whether or not I was a pagan or a Satanist seemed to depend on whether or not my emotional state was in the toilet or not. My fondness of reading the Tarot made me a popular kid with goths, punks, and other counterculturals. This was the mid-90s, the grunge days, and before Hot Topic. I certainly enjoyed the attention and embraced this counter culture to the extreme. I felt it went very well with my occult beliefs, and now as I listen to occult podcast I am amused to find many of the musicians I have been listening to for half my life being interviewed. When I was 16 my life exploded again and I was made to leave my house. Time to be a Satanist again. I stayed a Satanist until I was 19. I had a group of fellow teenage Satanists, we did rituals. I was still taking a more supernaturalist approach, but as I was getting older more of Lavey’s meaning was becoming apparent to me. I experimented with LSD, and felt I had found the philosopher’s stone of the alchemists. I ate mushrooms, but after eating them when suffering from a urinary problem I ended up abstaining for nearly a decade. I conducted rituals. I had a coven of friends. We did our magic(k) together. But my life was dark, and my problems very real and inescapable. I ended up living in a squat where the final destination for everyone there was accepted to be prison or death. My occultism became a secret once again, none of my friends being aware of my ritual practice. Finally at the apex of my personal problems I went native and became a Charismatic Christian. I consider my life as a Charismatic Christian which lasted from ages 19 to 25 as fully a part of my occultism in my youth. Charismatics believe that they have miraculous powers, and I did. They believe they have internal dialogue with God, that they can divine the future through prophecy, and even have their own version of biblical numerology. They hate New Agers, but somewhat like one might hate their image in a mirror. It was not until I was 25 or 26 and I began my college education that I abandoned my faith. Persuaded by the arguments of Richard Dawkins in the God Delusion, and I still am. I was studying science, and I consider scientific thinking to be the best gauge for calibrating reality. Faith has no role in this perspective, and is antithetical to this process. I am defining faith in this case as belief without evidence. But as my life has recently reminded me of my youthful love for art and counterculture I have found great source for inspiration in occultism and occult sources. I have purchased another copy of Life Forces. I have reread much of Lavey. I have become particularly interested in Thelema and Aleister Crowley. I don’t take my interest in these things as an atheist seeking to attract converts, but first as an artist looking for muses, and secondly as someone who is genuinely curious as to whether or not this stuff has useful psychological implications. I have begun to learn that many who are active occultists have a more scientifically based approach, who see that their primary effects are based on a kind of psychological self-experimentation. I also believe that many of the positive effects of meditation, which is very popular with occultists has been shown to be scientifically measurable by the neuroscientist Richie Davidson. This matter is referred to by the infamous atheist writer Sam Harris. I also find that many occultists seem to be science buffs and many of them show a talent for out of the box thinking. This is the inspiration for this blog, and the inspiration behind much of my current artwork and fiction writing. I will post next time about my background as a skeptic and an atheist so that the reader can see how these two perspectives are finding a certain mean in my perspective. But to be clear, I consider occultism as practiced within certain parameters to be a positive thing which enriches lives. I also recognize that I could be wrong about many of the things I believe about reality, so the occultists who don’t restrain with the parameters I recommend may still be onto something. I prefer to limit my approach to a methological naturalism. I feel like I have given too much of my life to ideas that are vastly inconsistent with things empirically proven by scientists and the scientific method. But I do not condemn anyone who wants to experiment beyond this reach, as long as they don’t harm others in the process. I believe there is a place for the kind of approach that I am experimenting with, and that I am not alone in treading it.

Henry Schulman relayed this report to the Chronicle Sports Desk today: In an odd twist to a story that has had so many bizarre turns, it appears that big first base prospect Angel Villalona will be back in the organization playing ball soon, now that murder charges against him have been dismissed in his native Dominican Republic. Rick D’Elia/Special to The Chronicle 2006 Staci Slaughter, the Giants’ senior vice president of communications, just let me know in response to an inquiry that the club expects to “resolve” a $5 million breach-of-contract lawsuit that Villalona filed against the Giants in the Dominican, and that if it is resolved, Villalona “most likely” will be reinstated into their system and report to the team’s academy on the island to resume his baseball work. That will surprise folks (including me) who figured the Giants were done with Villalona after he was charged with murder for an August 2009 killing of a 25-year-old man at a nightclub in the Dominican. He was playing for Class A San Jose at the time, was on the disabled list and was allowed to fly home to visit his mother. Villalona spent three months in jail and was released on bail. reportedly after reaching a $139,000 settlement with the family of the victim. That family asked prosecutors to drop the charges, but they refused, citing the seriousness of the crime. But sometime this summer, the charges were dropped for lack of evidence. Villalona then sued the Giants last month, alleging they owed him $10,800 in salary and asking for $5 million on punitive damages. Whether the suit seemed frivolous or not, the Giants had to take it seriously because they do a lot of business in the Dominican, starting with the academy to which Villalona would return. This is an interesting development not only from a legal standpoint, but also baseball-wise. After all, Villalona is still only 21 years old. He was 16 in 2006 when the Giants signed him for a $2.1 million bonus, at the time a franchise record for an amateur player, later dwarfed by Buster Posey’s $6 million bonus. In 2009, playing at San Jose, largely against players a few years older, Villalona hit .267 with a relatively weak OPS for a first baseman of .704, with nine homers and 42 RBIs in 292 at-bats. How long it takes him to catch up is anybody’s guess. He also will have to reapply for a visa to return to the United States. His prior visa was revoked after his arrest.

With the new Daredevil TV show dropping on Netflix this Friday, interest in old Hornhead has arguably never been so great. If you are planning to dip into the comics to supplement the TV show, the good news is that there is an astonishingly large number of fantastic Darevil comics to choose from. I’ve picked out five of the most essential Daredevil stories to read. Daredevil: The Man Without Fear (Frank Miller/John Romita Jr) Honestly, the early issues of Daredevil by Stan Lee are a little rough. The definitive origin actually comes from Frank Miller, who clearly has a talent for origin stories for masked vigilantes inspired to fight crime by the bloody murder of one or both parents. This book charts everything you’d want from a Daredevil origin story, from the accident that blinds Matt Murdock and gives him his powers, to his training by Stick and eventual move into crime fighting. There are a couple of things in particular that I really love about this book. The entrance of Kingpin is absolutely incredible, immediately making clear that this is a seriously dangerous man who doesn’t think twice about committing the most appalling of crimes. But the thing that really sticks with me is the way that, in just a couple of panels, Miller and JRjr capture the frankly unhealthy relationship Matt has with his home town. In the story, he has escaped to Boston, kicked the habit of Hell’s Kitchen. But when he is brought home for a case, it’s like an addict falling off the wagon. The city is under his skin, and he cannot escape it. This is really a huge part of the Daredevil character, and I love just how sordid it feels. Born Again (Frank Miller/David Mazzuchelli) The Man Without Fear may be the best version of Matt Murdock’s origin story, for my money Born Again is Miller’s best Daredevil work. This may well be because it was the first Daredevil comic I ever read, and it just blew me away. It’s worth noting just how bleak this comic is for the bulk of the story. Murdock’s life completelycollapses. His ex-girlfriend Karen Page sells his secret identity for a shot of heroin, and this information ends up in the hands of Kingpin, who takes it upon himself to take Murdock down. But he doesn’t do this by setting an assassin on him. No, he breaks him mentally, by freezing his bank accounts, getting his apartment repossessed, destroying his professional reputation. I’d read stories with superheroes broken physically before, but the level of psychological abuse here was absolutely shocking, as was Matt’s descent into mental illness. The use of faith is also incredibly striking in this book, and is now perhaps one of the most defining characteristics of Daredevil. As someone from an Irish Catholic background, it’s always been something that I’ve found has made me relate to Matt Murdock, and never more so than in Born Again. The King of Hell’s Kitchen (Brian Michael Bendis/Alex Maleev) I have never read finer superhero comics than the Bendis/Maleev run on Daredevil. The writing is terrific with all of Bendis’ usual entertaining quips and one-liners, but also plenty of genuinely moving dialogue. And the art is just sublime. Maleev’s style is scratcy, a little bit dirty, just perfect for the character and the setting. It’s gorgeous. Honestly, you should probably buy the entire run (it’s handily combined in three ultimate collections), which covers what happens when Daredevil’s secret identity becomes public knowledge. My favourite arc within the Bendis run though is The King of Hell’s Kitchen, in which Daredevil defeats the Kingpin and essentially takes over Hell’s Kitchen as the new Kingpin. It’s a fantastic story and includes some wonderful cameos from Spider-Man, Luke Cage and Dr Strange. End of Days (Brian Michael Bendis/David Mack/Klaus Jansen/Bill Sienkiewicz) End of Days is a Daredevil mini series set in the future, covering the death of Matt Murdock and what happens as a result. In truth it’s as much a Ben Urich story as it is a Daredevil story, as Urich attempts to write the definitive story on the death of his friend the superhero. This book took years to put together, but it was absolutely worth it, with art by legitimate legends and an incredibly moving story about legacy, love and parenthood. Includes a brilliant running gag about Murdock’s incredibly complicated love life too. Excitingly it looks like there will be a follow up focused on Punisher, who is a central figure in End of Days. I just hope we don’t have to wait years for this one. Devil at Bay (Mark Waid/Chris Samnee) Mark Waid is a genius. Daredevil as a character tends to lend himself to more serious, gritty and grimy stories. There’s a lot of heartbreak and tragedy. But Waid has managed to sculpt stories about Matt Murdock that are not only absolutely true to the character, but are flat out hilarious. Devil at Bay is the first trade following Matt’s move to the West Coast to set up a new legal practice with his ‘friend’ Kirsten McDuffie. And it is absolutely brilliant. With his identity now public knowledge, and in a new setting, this is a more lighthearted Matt Murdock, taking selfies with fans and fighting crime with a smile and swagger. Samnee’s art, particularly on facials, is incredibly entertaining, and the bright, vibrant colours are a real contrast to the other Daredevil stories mentioned in this piece. Just great fun.

Tesco will cut the price of nearly 100 women’s sanitary products by five percent, in addition to covering the cost of the “tampon tax” itself. This means nearly 100 products like tampons, pads, and liners that are considered “luxuries” under the current tax conditions will be cheaper. The supermarket has opted to pay the controversial charge that applies to sanitary products after revealing that the cost of buying the products was a “real struggle” for many of its customers, according to Michelle McEttrick, Tesco’s group brand director. “For many of our customers, tampons, panty liners, and sanitary towels are essential products.” Campaigners have called to cut the charge on sanitary products, arguing that they are essential items and should be exempt from tax. Tesco says it will act immediately rather than wait for VAT, according to the Independent. The Government has reduced the rate to five percent but has argued that EU rules stop it from lowering any further or eliminating the tax entirely. In 2016, David Cameron persuaded European ministers to change the rules to allow VAT to be removed from sanitary products. However, the change cannot come into effect until at least 2018. The move followed an online petition that attracted 320,088 signatures. null Until the levy is removed, ministers have committed to donating the proceeds of the tax to women’s charities. The reduction in price will apply to both to Tesco’s own-label products and better-known brands. The company said it had already committed to passing on the saving to customers if, as expected, VAT is scrapped on sanitary products in 2018. However, Tesco has stated that it will cut prices of the feminine hygiene products immediately. “However, the cost of buying them every month can add up, and, for many women and girls, it can be a real struggle on top of other essential items… That’s why – as a little help for our customers – we are reducing the cost of these products by 5 per cent.” Campaigners welcomed the move and called on several other supermarkets to adopt a similar policy, according to Labour MP Paula Sherriff, who has led the campaign against the tampon tax. “It would have been completely unacceptable if abolishing the tampon tax had just led to big businesses boosting their bottom line at the expense of women buying what are essential goods, which is why we pushed the supermarkets to sign up to a deal to pass the cut on…” “But this goes a step even further, by reducing prices right now – and I hope the other big retailers now consider doing the same.” Sherriff added that the government and the EU should make a clear timetable for scrapping VAT on sanitary products. null Back in March, charity Freedom4Girls found that girls in the UK had to resort to using socks because they were unable to afford sanitary products and as a result, were skipping school, according to Metro. [Featured Image by Ema Woo/Shutterstock]

A running quarterback has a natural proclivity towards escaping the pocket and scrambling, rather than sticking it out and looking for the open man, or so the stereotype goes. Cam Newton is not only an exception to that dated school of thought, he is often its antithesis. It is a funny thought, Cam Newton, the Panthers leading rusher on the season, is often hesitant to flee the pocket and break the play. In the the long run, I think this is a good trait; Newton is far more likely to find a bigger, or better play by staying in the pocket, than he is dodging linebackers at the line of scrimmage. This is also a sign of maturity, and discipline: Cam isn't frightened by blitzers (even when he should be; c'est la vie), and he has shown a willingness to stay in the pocket and follow through with ex-OC Rob Chudzinski's plays, rather than breaking off and running free-bird, a la Mike Vick, circa 2003. Note that this isn't a green light to hold on to the football. For much of the year Cam struggled with holding on to the ball for too long, resulting in coverage sacks. At times Newton needs to realize that he is the Panthers' most potent offensive weapon. Football is the ultimate team sport, but that doesn't always circumscribe a player to playing exclusively by the system. In key situations the ball needs to be in the hands of an offenses' playmaker, which in our case, is Cam Newton. Far too often during the 2012 campaign, the Panthers Offense would back itself into unfavorable third down scenarios, leaving little to doubt about the Panthers play call, and exposing the offensive line to blitzes. With more unfavorable offensive down and distance scenarios, the Panthers Offense stalled out. Over the course of the season, the Panthers faced a multitude of coverages, varying from team to team, from situation to situation. One such coverage is man coverage, with a safety or two playing the deep part of the field, hence the name, man-high coverage. Particularly, man-high coverage is applicable in passing down and distances, or against a team with a respectable deep passing game. However it leaves the defense extremely vulnerable to a draw or scrambling quarterback. The DB's are almost all focused on the WR's, with their backs to the QB, the only players facing the QB 20-30 yards downfield. Typically, the defense will leave one LB to cover the checkdown, while the other can blitz, or play underneath the TE. Conceivably, the defense can/will leave a spy on a mobile QB (i.e. NYG, Denver, or Seattle against the Panthers this season). However, there were too many situations in which the defense would play some sort of man-high coverage against the Panthers. Neither attempting to contain Newton, or leave a spy on him. Frankly it was a little insulting, and ignorant by the opposing DC. Cam Newton is one of the premier mobile quarterbacks in the NFL, and if defenses don't respect him as such, they should be made to pay. If the play isn't there, and the defense is aligned in a high coverage, Newton should seriously consider scrambling. By scrambling, Newton forces the defense into more zone looks, which could open up the door for the passing game. The Panthers should be hoping for man-high coverage, begging for it even, not tentatively probing it. Here is a positive example against Oakland, Week 16. The Panthers have found themselves in third down and long (3rd & 7+). Oakland responds by rushing four and dropping seven. The Raiders are playing man coverage with one safety deep. The coverage is pretty solid; Newton's only real option is Greg Olsen running down the seam, but even that throw has its risks. Lamarr Houston beats Byron Bell to the edge, forcing Newton to stand up into the pocket. On the move, Newton doesn't have the time to set up a mechanically sound throw, making an attempt to Olsen a risky proposition. Cam breaks the pocket and takes off. With the coverage stretched out, nobody is in an immediate position to make a play on Newton. Consequentially, Cam picks up a gain of 29 yards, moving the chains, and putting the Panthers in Oakland territory. Here is another successful example; Week 11 versus Tampa Bay. The Panthers are in mired in third down and long. It appears that Buccaneers are playing a deep Man-2 under coverage, with the outside CB's in man coverage, and two safeties over top. The coverage is solid; Newton doesn't have an open receiver. Cam waits it out at first, however Jordan Gross is beaten to the edge, once again causing Newton to step up into the pocket. The deep nature of the routes and the coverage leaves the middle of the field vacant, prompting Newton to run. Cam breaks the pocket and makes it nearly fifteen yards before encountering a Buccaneer. Newton jukes Mark Barron out of his shoes, and then makes it to the Tampa 40 yard line for a gain of 16, a Panthers first down. Now take a look at a prime example of Newton passing up an opportunity to run. In this Week 4 example against Atlanta, the Panthers are once again bogged down in third down and long. Atlanta is playing a deep zone coverage, with the free safety some 35 yards off of the LOS. There are some tight windows that Newton could force a pass into, however a crumbling pocket prohibits a downfield pass. Newton veers off towards the right side of the field (his right), but instead of hitting the relatively gigantic hole in the middle of the field, Newton attempts an off-balance pass to his checkdown, Mike Tolbert. The pass is behind Tolbert, and would have been a nearly impossible grab had he been uncovered. If Cam keeps the ball and breaks the pocket, either down the middle of the field or to the side, he has a much better chance of picking up the requisite 8-9 yards for the first down. Denouement: The Panthers Offense is by no means perfect, however there are times when these imperfections are exacerbated to the nth degree, debilitating any momentum. Frequently the offense needs a jump start, a first down, or a big play to get rolling. Given the right circumstances, Cam Newton can provide that spark; as Cam goes, the offense goes. If the defense gives Newton an opportunity, he should take it. It's about that simple. To quote Chris Brown, "That's the beauty of football: punch, counterpunch."

MFF Special: What ‘How Did This Get Made?’ Movies Do Audiences Love the Most? I love the podcast How Did This Get Made? It is a bonkers delight that breaks down all that is glorious about really bad movies (I wrote an oral history and recorded a podcast for the fictional film Squid Lake if you are interested). One of my favorite parts of the podcast is its “Second opinion” segment. Paul Scheer reads five star reviews culled from Amazon that praise the bad films and sometimes get very weird. Hearing these reviews (maybe real, maybe fake) got me thinking about what are the audiences favorite HDTGM films. We all know they were mostly critically panned (Face/Off has a 92% rating on RT. What!?!) but I wanted to know what the audience and consumers think about these mostly terrible (a few exceptions) movies. . If you haven’t listened to their Punisher: Warzone podcast you need to do it now. The reason I wanted to figure out the peoples’s champ is that I love some of the 120 films they’ve covered. For some reason or another the cheesiness works on me and I will never admit that they are literally bad. I remember being annoyed when Deep Blue Sea was being talked about on HDTGM because I think it the best worst movie ever made. I was working in a theater when it was released and people went insane during the shark attacks. Shakespeare it ain’t but my experiences watching it have made me ignore that it is a bonkers film. When it comes to bad movies everybody has a few they love for some reason. I wanted to know which of these “bad” movies are popular with audiences. There is no world where a monologuing Sam Jackson getting eaten by a shark is a bad thing. . . In order to figure out the highest audience rated movies I compiled all the films (120), collected user data (Rotten Tomatoes, IMDb, Amazon), and averaged out the scores. The biggest problem were the inclusion of the Fast & Furious films. I get why they are being covered but they are so popular and critically beloved they easily won the day. So, I expanded the lists to show you what takes second place after the Fast films. If you are interested I also broke down the critical/audience data for the best 21st century horror films and we here at MFF have a podcast of our own! Check it out on Blog Talk Radio and listen to our randomness. I’ve ranked the films in three categories. I wanted to know three things. Top audience rated films according to IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes and Amazon. What films have the highest average of five star ratings on Amazon? For Example, Burlesque has 1,532 customer reviews on Amazon. 78% of the reviews are five star reviews. The top films according to the average of user ratings and five star averages. Here are the winners! Top 15 Audience rated films according to Rotten Tomatoes, IMDb and Amazon. 15. Crank – 71 14. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: Secret of the Ooze – 71.3 13. Hackers -72 12. Twilight Breaking Dawn: Part 2 – 72 11. The Odd Life of Timothy Green – 72.6 10. Safe Haven – 73.3 9. Burlesque – 73.3 8. Demolition Man – 74.3 7. Roadhouse – 74.3 6. Con Air – 76.3 5. The Devil’s Advocate – 80.3 4. Face/Off – 81.3 3. Fast Five -82 2. Furious 7 -82 Fast & Furious 6 – 82.6 – Any movie featuring the world’s longest runaway and tank destruction can’t be bad. . Top 15 “Five Star” Averages 15. Over the Top -67% 14. No Holds Barred – 67% 13. Twilight Breaking Dawn: Part One – 68% 12. Ernest Goes to Jail – 68% 11. Rhinestone – 69% 10. Face/Off – 70% 9. Twilight Breaking Dawn: Part 2 – 72% 8. Cool as Ice – 73% 7. Furious 7 -74% 6. Fast Five – 74% 5. The Room – 74% 4. Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor -74% 3. Roadhouse – 75% 2. Furious 6 – 76% 1. Burlesque – 78% – Amazon users love Burlesque! My biggest problem with this list is Roadhouse should have like 139% five star averages. . The Top 20 Films according to the average of audience (RT, Amazon, IMDb) and five star reviews. 20. Tango & Cash – 64.5 19. Ernest Goes to Jail – 64.5 18. Over the Top – 65 17. Twilight: Breaking Dawn: Part One – 65.5 16. The Odd Life of Timothy Green – 67.5 15. Joyful Noise – 68.5 14. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: The Secret of the Ooze – 69.25 13. Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor – 69.75 12. Safe Haven – 70 11. Hackers – 70.5 10. Demolition Man -71 9. Twilight Breaking Dawn: Part 2 – 72 8. Con Air – 73 7. Roadhouse – 74.5 6. Burlesque – 74.5 5. The Devil’s Advocate – 75.5 4. Face/Off – 78.5 3. Furious 7 – 80 2. Fast Five – 80 Fast & Furious 6 – 81 The Fast movies drove away with the win but it was interesting to see who else made the top 20. I was stoked to see bad Ernest make the list! Bad Ernest. He’s so hot right now. The Worst of the Worst – These 10 films have the lowest audience/five star review average. 10. Speed 2: Cruise Control – 36.25 9. Skyline – 35.75 8. I know Who Killed Me – 35.25 7. Tiptoes – 35.25 6. Jaws 4 – 34.5 5. Liz and Dick – 30.5 4. Batman and Robin – 30.25 3. The Wicker Man – 30 2. Gigli – 26.75 Battlefield Earth – 26.25 – I agree with this. In case you were wondering here are the top 15 films according to the Rotten Tomatoes critics. 15. Con Air – 54 14. Deep Blue Sea – 56 13. Sharknado 2 – 59 12. Crank – 61 11. Crank 2 – 63 10. Spiderman 3 – 63 9. Demolition Man – 64 8. The Devil’s Advocate – 66 7. Life Force – 67 6. Fast and Furious 6 – 69 5. Fast Five – 78 4. Furious 7 – 81 3. Sharknado – 82 2. Sleepaway Camp – 83 Face/Off – 92 92! What? Really? I love it. Also, if you haven’t read my post about John Travolta’s villainous smoking I suggest you do it now. You will love it.

Parliament excises mainland from migration zone Updated Sorry, this video has expired Video: Parliament excises mainland from migration zone (ABC News) The entire Australian mainland has been excised from the migration zone in a bid to deter the arrival of asylum seekers. Up until now, asylum seekers who reached the mainland by boat could not be sent offshore to Nauru or Papua New Guinea's Manus Island for immigration processing. The change strips away any legal advantage for asylum seekers who reach the mainland. The bill was supported by the Opposition, which says it is almost identical to legislation put forward by the Howard government in 2006, but the Greens predict the next generation of Australian politicians will be apologising for it. Asylum applications by country 2012 Country Applications United States 83,430 Sweden 43,890 United Kingdom 27,410 Switzerland 25,950 Australia 15,790 Italy 15,710 New Zealand 320 Table shows selected countries, not a top list. Source: Table shows selected countries, not a top list.Source: UNHCR The idea was one of 25 recommendations put forward by the expert panel on asylum seekers and introduced to the Parliament by the Government last year. As a matter of urgency, the Government re-ordered today's day in the Senate to ensure the bill passed. Coalition Senator Michaelia Cash says Immigration Minister Brendan O'Connor paid a special visit to the Opposition to get the measure through the Parliament. "The Government and the Minister O'Connor came to the Coalition quite literally on bended knee today and begged us, begged us to facilitate the passage of this legislation, which again for the record, we agreed we would do," she said. The Government, which is dealing with an increasing number of boats arrivals, says it is a deterrence measure. But the Greens and refugee groups say it strips asylum seekers of legal rights. Greens amendments to allow for Human Rights Commission inspections, media access, and the removal of children from the Manus Island centre, all failed to pass. Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young says the bill will do nothing to stop people arriving by boat. "It is going to cost people's lives and damage people who are already suffering from such harm, this is a bad piece of legislation, an immoral piece of legislation," she said. "[It is] not looking at why people are seeking asylum in the first place what is driving them to leave their countries. Deterrence has not and will not work." Greens leader Christine Milne says after apologies to the Indigenous children of the Stolen Generation and the children of forced adoptions, the Government should be warned. "In 10, 15, 20 years when there is a national apology to the children detained indefinitely in detention for the sole, supposed crime of seeking a better life in our country because they are running away for persecution with their families, not one of you will be able to stand up and say "Oh we didn't, oh, it was the culture of the period'," she said. Amnesty International also says it is appalled by the decision. "Until today, the Government's policy of removing asylum seekers from the mainland and locking them up offshore was against Australian law," Amnesty refugee campaigner Graeme McGregor said. "Now the Government has changed the law to suit their policies. This doesn't change the fact that this is an inhumane, ineffective and expensive policy that ignores Australia's responsibilities to people who need our protection." Human Rights Commission president Gillian Triggs says it discriminates against vulnerable people and penalises them for the way they arrive in Australia. She warns transferring asylum seekers to a third country may breach their human rights. Policy backflip It is an about face for the Labor Party, which rejected the Howard government's similar legislation in 2006. At the time, Labor MP Chris Bowen described the proposal to excise the mainland as "a stain on our national character". But after introducing the bill last October, Mr Bowen, who was then the immigration minister, said he had changed his position. "I've changed the Labor Party's position and I changed my mind, based on the evidence, based on the recommendations of the Houston panel, and based on the evidence that this will save lives," Mr Bowen said at the time. Several boats have arrived on the Australian mainland this year, including the embarrassing case of the New Zealand-bound boat of Sri Lankan nationals which arrived in the West Australian port of Geraldton. Labor Senator Matt Thistlethwaite says laws have to change to save lives, citing the Christmas Island tragedy in December 2010. "Fifty innocent women and children drowned in shocking circumstances before the eyes of this nation on the rocks at Christmas Island," he said. "We simply cannot allow, as a nation with a heart, those circumstances to continue." Topics: immigration, federal-government, government-and-politics, federal-parliament, alp, australia, pacific First posted

2014 Kiss of Love Protest in Ernakulam Date 2nd Nov 2014[1] - 2016 Location Trivandrum, Kochi, New Delhi, Mumbai, Calicut, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Chennai Caused by multiple instances of moral policing Methods protest by kissing, hugging and holding hands, Liplock kissing Casualties Arrested around 50 Charged around 100[2] Kiss of Love protest was a non-violent protest against moral policing which started in Kerala, India, and later spread to other parts of India.[3][4][5][6][7] The movement began when a Facebook page called 'Kiss of love' called forth the youth across Kerala to participate in a protest against moral policing on November 2, 2014, at Marine Drive, Cochin.[8][9] The movement received widespread support with more than 154,404 'Likes' for the Facebook page.[10][11] After the initial protest in Kochi, similar protests were organised in other major cities of the country. It received opposition from various religious and political groups like Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, SDPI, Vishva Hindu Parishad, Shiv Sena, Bajrang Dal, Hindu Sena and Ernakulam wing of Kerala Students Union.[12][13][14][15] On specific occasions but not exclusively, both the Supreme Court of India and Delhi High Court have made it clear that kissing in public is not an obscene act and no criminal proceedings can be initiated, for kissing in public, through landmark judgments.[16][17][18][19][20] Background [ edit ] There were several instances of moral policing in Kerala in the 2000s. In 2011, a 26-year-old youth was killed by a mob in Kodiyathur, Kerala, for allegedly having an affair with a married woman.[21] All of the accused were sentenced to life imprisonment in October 2014.[22] In June 2014, a female theatre artiste and her male colleague were detained in police custody for traveling together at night, which stirred protests against moral policing on social media.[23] In July 2013, police arrested a couple from a beach in Alappuzha for suspected “immoral activity” as the woman was not wearing any accessories to suggest that she was married.[24] In April 2013, an artist from Kochi was harassed by two policewomen when she went for a stroll on Marine Drive with a male friend.[25] In June 2012, a gang of men attacked and beat up a pregnant woman sitting alone in a bus shelter in Kannur. The woman's husband had asked her to rest while he went to a nearby ATM since she was heavily pregnant.[26] In June 2011, An IT professional, on her way to work at Kochi's IT park, was accosted by a group of drunken men because she was riding pillion on a male colleague's bike. The drunken men argued with her, and then abused and slapped her.[27] Several similar cases have been reported throughout Kerala. The Kiss of Love protest was sparked off in October 2014 when Jai Hind TV, a Malayalam news channel owned by the Indian National Congress, telecast an exclusive report on alleged immoral activity at the parking space of Downtown Cafe in Kozhikode.[28] The video showed a young couple kissing and hugging each other.[29] A mob of attackers, who were later identified as belonging to the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha vandalized the cafe following the report. Following this, a group of friends from a Facebook page called 'Freethinkers', started the Facebook page 'Kiss of Love'.[30] Activists from all over Kerala decided to protest against the series of moral policing incidents by organizing a public event at Marine Drive beach on November 2 in Kochi.[31] Beginning [ edit ] On 2 November 2014, several activists gathered at Marine Drive, Kochi to express solidarity to the movement against moral policing. A peaceful march was planned from the campus of Ernakulam Law College to the venue[32] during which the police took around 50 activists into preventive custody[33] citing law and order issues. Various religious and political groups also gathered in the protest ground to physically prevent the activists from kissing and hugging in public.[34] Kerala Police was criticized for its failure to control the whole event.[35][36] Police did not try to stop the counter protestors, including Shiv Sena, SDPI and Bajrang Dal members, from entering the protest venue even though many of the Shiv Sainiks were armed with canes to attack and forcefully remove the Kiss of Love protestors.[37] Also, none of the counter protestors were removed even though they tried to physically stop the Kiss of Love protestors from legally[16][17][19][20] protesting.[36][38] Police later claimed that they arrested the Kiss of Love protestors to save the protestors' lives[39] Further Activities [ edit ] The protest was very popular on social networking sites and news media.[10][11] The opposing groups allegedly compelled the Facebook authorities block the Kiss of Love page through mass reporting[40] on November 3.[41] The profile pages of all of the administrators were blocked as well. One of the administrators said that the page had 50,000 members at the time of blocking. The page was reinstated later that day and the number of members soon crossed 75,000.[42] Supporters of the campaign have been posting pictures of them kissing on social networking sites.[43] A group of students at Maharaja's College, Ernakulam protested against moral policing by conducting an event named 'Hug of Love'. All the participants were later suspended for 10 days by the college authorities for violating the 'code of conduct'.[44] Another group of students from Government Law college Kozhikode Organized an event called Hug Of Love on 10/12/2014.Authorities took this as an act of indiscipline and served show cause notice to participants A protest against moral policing in Thiruvananthapuram with kisses and hugs under the banner 'kiss against fascism' was conducted in front of the Kairali theatre complex during the 19th International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) on 13 December 2014.[45] Kiss In The Streets [ edit ] A Kiss protest dubbed as 'Kiss In The Streets' was organised on 7 December in Kozhikode. Right wing opponents of the kiss protest issued threats before the event, stating that protestors would be stripped naked in public, if they attempt to kiss.[46] The event was marred by violence towards the protestors by Shiv Sena and Hanuman Sena.[47] Police resorted to caning and took the Kiss of Love protestors and their opponents into preventive custody.[48] Protestors accused that Kerala Police were more brutal than the right wing assailants.[49] Outside Kerala [ edit ] The event gathered support from educational institutions outside of Kerala including University of Hyderabad, JNU Delhi, IISER Kolkata, Pondicherry University, IIT Madras and IIT Bombay.[50][51][52][53][54][55] Students from Jadavpur University and Presidency University, Kolkata have organised similar protests against moral policing in Kolkata on 5 November 2014.[56][57] The Kolkata chapter also protested against the authorities of north Kolkata’s Star Theatre for allegedly refusing entry to a 17-year-old girl because she was dressed in a skirt.[58] On November 8, a group of protestors demonstrated by kissing and hugging outside RSS headquarters in Delhi.[59] While JNU students were at the forefront, there were representatives from several universities in the city like Delhi University, Jamia Millia Islamia, Ambedkar University Delhi and National Law University.[60] Hindu Sena members arrived on the scene stating that the “ Western culture was corrupting and degrading Indian culture”.[61] Hindu Sena members tried to physically attack kissing couples.[62] On November 9, a similar protest was organised by students in JNU campus, in solidarity with those who courted police action at the ‘Kiss of Love’ event in Kochi on November 2.[63] A Kiss of Love event that was scheduled for 30 November in Bengaluru was cancelled when permission for protest was denied by Bengaluru Police.[64][65] Legality [ edit ] Section 294(a) of Indian Penal Code states that "Whoever, to the annoyance of others, does any obscene act in any public place shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three months, or with fine, or with both.[66] IPC does not define the word 'obscene', hence it is interpreted differently by different authorities. The Supreme court has noted that "`obscenity' should be gauged with respect to contemporary community standards".[67] The court has also observed that the “standards of contemporary society in India are…fast changing” in Chandrakant Kalyandas Kakodar vs The State Of Maharashtra 1969.[68] Regarding 'contemporary community standards', the Supreme court has noted that it is not “the standard of a group of susceptible or sensitive persons” that can be held as the standard of the community, in Aveek Sarkar vs State of West Bengal 2014.[69] Regarding social morality, the Supreme court has observed that “Notions of social morality are inherently subjective and the criminal law cannot be used as a means to unduly interfere with the domain of personal autonomy” in Khushboo vs Kanniamal 2010.[67] Now with regards to kissing and hugging in public places, the Supreme Court of India has made it clear that 'no case can be made out' of two people consensually hugging and/or kissing.[16][17] Supreme Court gave this verdict in response to a petition filed by actor Richard Gere to quash the arrest warrant issued by a Jaipur court. The arrest warrant was issued after the actor had taken Shilpa Shetty in his embrace and kissed her on the cheek at an AIDS awareness programme.[70][71] A verdict by Delhi High Court has also made it clear that kissing in public is not a criminal offence.[72] Opposition [ edit ] Kiss of Love was met with opposition and criticism from certain sections of Indian society.[3] Several religious and political groups like Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, SDPI, Sunni Yuvajana Sangham, Vishva Hindu Parishad, Shiv Sena, Bajrang Dal, Hindu Sena, Campus Front, Samastha Kerala Sunni Yuvajana Sanghom, Pattali Makkal Katchi, Hindu Makkal Katchi and Ernakulam wing of Kerala Students Union opposed this movement.[12][13][14][15] These opposing groups claimed that public display of affection is against both Indian culture and the law of the land (under section 294 of the Indian Penal Code).[73] The Kerala State Women's Commission opposed Kiss of Love stating that it was against the culture of Kerala.[50][74] The proposed Kiss of Love event in Bengaluru received opposition from several quarters. Manjula Manasa, chairperson of the Karnataka State Women’s Commission described the event as uncivilized.[75] Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha, several Congress and BJP leaders and various Hindutva proponents too opposed it.[76] Bengaluru Police refused to give permission for the event stating that kissing is an obscene act.[65][77] Pramod Muthalik of Sri Ram Sena, the organization behind 2009 Mangalore pub attack, has even threatened to take the law into his hands if the campaign is held.[78] Vigilante attacks [ edit ] In June 2014, a female theater artist and her male colleague were detained in police custody for traveling together at night, which stirred protests against moral policing on social media. Hima Shankar and her friend Sreeram Rameshand were arrested because they were traveling in a two wheeler late at night. They were not released from the police station even after the parents came and clarified the issue. [24] In July 2013, police arrested a couple from a beach in Alappuzha for suspected “immoral activity” as the woman was not wearing any accessories to suggest that she was married. [24] A month earlier, police were accused of asking money from young couples travelling on motor cycles threatening that they will inform the girl's father. [23] In June 2011, An IT professional, on her way to work at Kochi's IT park, was accosted by a group of drunken men because she was riding pillion on a male colleague's bike. The drunken men argued with her, and then abused and slapped her. [27] Several similar cases have been reported throughout Kerala. Several similar cases have been reported throughout Kerala. In April 2013, an artist from Kochi was harassed by two policewomen when she went for a stroll on Marine Drive with a male friend. [25] In February 2013, in Vatakara, Calicut, a 19-year-old boy died after being chased by a group of people for the crime of riding in a motorcycle with his girlfriend. The girl was also wounded and was admitted to a hospital. [79] On 23 October 2014, a restaurant in Calicut was attacked and vandalised. The attackers claimed that eatery was entertaining dating of unmarried couples. [80] The attack came after a local Malayalam-language TV channel broadcast a report claiming that some coffee shops and restaurants in Kozhikode had become centres of “immoral activities”. [81] The attack came after a local Malayalam-language TV channel broadcast a report claiming that some coffee shops and restaurants in Kozhikode had become centres of “immoral activities”. On 14 July 2015, a Madhyamam Daily journalist and her husband were attacked by a group at her office mistaking them for an unmarried couple. Later, a Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader was arrested for leading the attack. [82] [83] Mankada village in Malappuram attracted the attention of national newspapers in 2016 when a 42-year-old man was beaten to death by his neighbors for visiting his girlfriend in the night. [84] See also [ edit ]

You must enter the characters with black color that stand out from the other characters Message: * A friend wanted you to see this item from WRAL Sports Fan: http://wr.al/eGjf Youth hockey in the Carolinas is booming. “The sport's growing for sure. The popularity is growing. We are getting more kids playing, but the biggest jump is the fact that competitive level on a day-to-day basis is jumping,” said Carolina Youth and Amateur Hockey Coordinator Paul Strand. Strand says the high level of play is evident as people like former Hurricanes star Rod Brind’Amour get involved. Brind’Amour is the director of forwards for the National Hockey League’s Carolina Hurricanes and says coaching youth hockey is a little different. “I have a son who is hopefully going to make the team, and I figured I’m going to be around him all the time I might as well help out, spread some of the knowledge that I think I have,” said Brind’Amour. “At this level they listen number one. When you get to the pro level, they have a tendency to know it all. But it’s just fun, we’re not serious. I think that’s the best part. We’re here to have fun.” And with Brind’Amour’s impressive resume, there’s a lot to learn from. He captained the Hurricanes to the franchise's first Stanley Cup championship in 2006. “I’ve been playing my whole life, at different levels obviously,” said Brind’Amour. “But you take a little bit from every level you’re associated with, and you gain experience.” “You definitely have more respect as a kid towards those coaches," Strand said. "You tend to believe what he says is true and to go out and do it.” With team tryouts this weekend, Brind’Amour is looking forward to the year ahead. His goals are simple. “I think from the stand point of the kids, to get a little better, to hopefully understand the game a little better and to have fun,” he said.

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As the first half came to a close it was time for wily veteran kicker David Akers to be asked to do the impossible– kick an entirely ridiculous 63-yard FG. The result was just as ridiculous as the request as in a moment of 'lets throw this at the wall', Akers drilled the FG low, it bounced off the crossbar straight in the air, and dribbled over. This ties the NFL record for the longest field goal ever made, as Akers joins Jason Elam, Sebastian Janikowski and Tom Dempsey. Given the circumstances, and the rarity of what happened, we got an appropriate reaction from David Akers of utter astonishment, and child-like wonderment. And here's video of the field goal. Listen for the DOINK! We tip our collective hats to you sir! I haven't seen ecstasy like this since... wait, scratch that, forget I said anything. For more on the 49ers head over to Niner's Nation, and stay on this storystream for your NFL updates today.

Great news this week on the health of UFC heavyweight Stafan Struve. The giant was diagnosed last year with a rare heart condition that forced him out of fighting but as recently as October was reporting that his health was improving. Now, the leaking in Struve's heart has been reduced so much that he tells MMA Fighting his doctor has cleared him to return to training and MMA competition. Scroll to continue with content Ad "Everything went really well. Everything was where the doctor wanted it to be," Struve said. "As it is right now, my heart is still bigger than the heart of a normal human being. Half of that is because I'm as tall as I am and the other because I'm an athlete and my size adapted to the size it had to be to adapt to my body. If I would have had that alone, it would be no problem. But, I was born with it and the leaking aortic valve. If you go long without being treated, then it can become a danger. The main thing you notice with this condition is your cardio output. When they first discovered it, the leakage was about 30 to 40 percent and right now it's about maybe 10 percent or less. It's really good and I asked the doctor the question: 'Right now, if you had to clear me right now for a fight, would you clear me?' And he said, 'Yeah, of course. The amount of leakage you have right now, you shouldn't be able to feel anything with it.'" The Dutch fighter also said that he has another appointment with a heart doctor in the Netherlands in six weeks to check on his progress. Following that, Struve will get another opinion from a Los Angeles doctor. If those check-ups go well, the "Skyscraper" may be able to return to the Octagon this year. Struve last fought and lost in March, 2013, to Mark Hunt via KO. The loss snapped a four-fight win streak for the 25 year-old. Story continues We'll keep you posted with news on this story as it occurs. Follow Elias on Twitter @EliasCepeda & @YahooCagewriter

AFTON, Wyo. — The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' Star Valley Wyoming Temple will be open for public tours starting Friday. The temple, the first of its kind in the state, will be open for the free public tours until Oct. 8, except for Sundays, according to the LDS Church. The Star Valley Wyoming Temple is located in Afton, Wyoming. It will be dedicated Oct. 30. On Oct. 29, local LDS youths will perform music and dance numbers at a cultural celebration, the LDS Church reported. (Photo: © 2016 Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved) President Thomas S. Monson of the LDS Church announced the Star Valley Wyoming Temple in October 2011. In April 2015, the ground was broken for the temple. The temple is 17,000 square feet. The temple will serve Latter-day Saints living in Wyoming and Idaho, according to the LDS Church. “There are currently 152 operating temples of the Church worldwide with 25 more announced or under construction, including the Star Valley Wyoming Temple,” according to the LDS Church. To make a reservation for the Star Valley Wyoming Temple open house, visit templeopenhouse.lds.org. × Photos Related Stories

Christmas 2011 project: Restoring an old English cello back to its original baroque setup. Day 2 New strip of lining being glued onto ribs after steaming. Ribs being re-glued to back and endpin block. This was always a bit unsatisfactory when glueing from the outside, but can do a proper job now the front is off. Strips on the left hand side are re-gluing a crack. Neck block being re-glued to back and ribs. Had come away slightly. Attaching lining next to endpin block back to ribs. Wood is being wedged against the neck block - not sure how to clamp this otherwise. Letting the back and ribs dry overnight. After removing the bass bar. Was attached with PVA glue (!) but no lasting damage was done. Bass bar after removal. Height is 19mm. Almost finished thinning the front (by approx 2mm).

Prima’s Zelda Box Set comes with a certificate of authenticity signed by series producer Eiji Aonuma. On the certificate, Aonuma included a brief message for aficionados of the franchise. Aonuma primarily thanked fans for their dedication. He additionally sneaked in a few words about the next Zelda game – most certainly Zelda Wii U – in which he expresses his “desire to create a unique experience that is beyond your expectations.” Aonuma’s note in full reads: It has been 25 years since The Legend of Zelda was introduced to the world, and it is still going strong. This was made possible by the fans who love the series. In the next installment, it is my desire to create a unique experience that is beyond your expectations. We are privileged to have your unwavering support. Share this: Twitter Facebook Reddit Tumblr Google More Email Print LinkedIn Pinterest Pocket

After continuously denying any communication to his father about the Trump business empire, Eric Trump now says he will give the President financial updates on the business every quarter. The President’s son, who now runs the Trump Organization with his brother, Donald Jr., told Forbes about his plans to communicate with President Donald Trump about the financial status of the business immediately after denying he would do so. Trump told Forbes he would update the president “on the bottom line, profitability reports and stuff like that,” likely “quarterly.” Repeating his father’s past remarks, Trump has said he will not speak with the President at all about the status of the Trump Organization. As the president-elect in January 2017, Donald Trump announced his two adult sons would take over his company as soon as he took the Oval Office. Earlier in his conversation with Forbes, Eric Trump compared the communication about the business to the separation of church and state. “There is kind of a clear separation of church and state that we maintain, and I am deadly serious about that exercise,” he said. “I do not talk about the government with him, and he does not talk about the business with us. That’s the kind of steadfast pact we made, and it’s something that we honor.” The president’s involvement in his businesses have sparked ethical concerns throughout the presidential transition period and during his first few months in office. By not placing his assets in a blind trust, Trump has not fully divested from his business empire. Trump had promised to place his assets in a blind trust during a Republican presidential debate in Jan. 2016.

THE four Italian sisters deported from Australia this week were reunited with their father after the hysterical girls were sent on separate international flights. The girls arrived on consecutive days, the younger two flying into Rome early yesterday morning (Queensland time) and the eldest two landing late last night. A handover with their father was organised inside the airport and it was understood they were brought out via a private exit normally reserved for politicians and other dignitaries. Australian Federal Police were forced to split the sisters after they became distraught, screaming for their mother and begging to stay in Australia as officers tried to get them on to the plane. Passengers became distressed as they watched the girls being dragged one by one on to an escalator to board a flight to Dubai. One of the younger sisters screamed "I want my mum, I want my mum" as officers dragged her by the arms. It took several uniformed policemen to restrain the eldest girl, 15, who tried to use her feet to prevent them from dragging her away. "Please let go, you're hurting me," she screamed, as they lifted her from the ground. "I don't want to go." The older girls appeared to have been removed from the plane to await a later flight. The younger girls were subdued for the journey to Dubai, where their flight was delayed by two hours. They chatted with their minder, played video games and watched movies. The girls were taken from the plane after other passengers had disembarked during stopovers and were not brought to public gate areas. Nor were they taken through passport control with other passengers after landing in Rome. On the five-hour leg between Dubai and Rome, the young sisters cuddled together under a blanket. On arrival in Italy, it is believed they were collected by their father. Before his daughters arrived, the father told Italian media the girls would not be prevented from seeing their mother. "I have always said that if the children return I would never stop their mother from seeing them," he said. The father refused to speak to any Australian media yesterday. ------------ MP blasts 'awful' case SUNSHINE Coast MP Alex Somlyay has branded as "bloody awful" the manhandling of four sisters to Italy following a Hague Convention case that "virtually assured (the mother) of being guilty from the word go". Mr Somlyay believes the girls were not kidnapped, as the father claimed, but moved for permanent resettlement on the Sunshine Coast. The court found the father had not agreed to the move. But Mr Somlyay claimed, "it was only after the kids came out here that he had a change of heart". Mr Somlyay said the process was "not fair" for the mother. The mother was three times denied Legal Aid and forced to defend herself initially in the court. The father, by invoking Hague anti-abduction rules, had the weight of Commonwealth-paid lawyers. "It's not fair when one party in the litigation gets help and the other party doesn't," he said. Errors in the mother's handling of the case led to a critical declaration of an Italian witness not being presented in proper form for the court. It claimed the father, at the time he signed the children's passports, was looking for work in Australia and intended to move here with the mother and children. It also was bizarre that one set of Commonwealth bureaucrats was working to "rescue" the mother from an alleged abusive relationship in 2010, while other federal bureaucrats were working to send her and the children back to Italian courts. "After 23 years in Parliament nothing surprises me," Mr Somlyay said.

November 02, 2014 18:49 IST Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday attacked Robert Vadra saying his "inappropriate" behaviour towards a journalist was a result of frustration and he must realise that the country is no longer ruled by the Gandhi family, even as the Congress downplayed the incident. Vadra, Congress president Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law, had on Saturday lost his cool and reportedly pushed aside the microphone of a reporter at a five-star hotel gym when he was quizzed about his controversial land deals in Haryana. A livid Vadra was seen on a video footage shown on TV channels asking the reporter four times as to whether he was serious about his land deal question. "It was the sheer frustration of Robert Vadra that became manifested as an inappropriate behaviour on a journalist. Vadra was the one who had called India a Banana Republic and we Indians as mango people but it is time that we make him realise that India is no more a Banana Republic which was ruled by the first family of the Congress," BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said. Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh said in Vadra's defence that he was amazed by the media attention given to a "minor incident". "Why (is) a private Citizen being unnecessarily hounded," he tweeted. "If he has violated any law, prosecute him. If (he) has ill gotten wealth confiscate it, but this unnecessary media attention is not justified," he said in another tweet. Asking the media not to target him, he said, "We Politicians are feeling jealous of the Media Attention which Robert is getting. We are the real Punching Bags for you. Spare him!" However, senior BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain countered Singh saying that had Vadra been a private person he would not have got privileges. "Vadra is not a private person. If he would have been a private person then he would not have got the privileges in Haryana, neither would he have got privileges at the Airport. He considers himself to be a very special person. According to Digvijay Singh, he is a private person. But his behaviour does not show that he is a private person," Hussain said. The way he has behaved with the media person is very disappointing, he added. Senior Congress leader Rashid Alvi said though freedom of the media was of paramount importance, "making a mountain out of mole hill" was not the right thing to do. Another Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit described the incident as unfortunate and said that basic civility should be maintained while dealing with the media. He, however, added that he was not aware of the circumstances related to the incident and was not speaking as a party spokesperson since the matter was between an individual and a camera-person. "I haven't seen it and I am not responding as a Congress spokesperson because it is a matter between an individual and camera-person. All I would say is, for any person, there is a public etiquette and a decorum we all maintain and you can have over-bearing media people at times, I can appreciate that, but I think for anybody we must maintain basic civility. "I think if we have some grouse we should first let it go, this kind of public display is unfortunate," Dikshit said. He further said that the incident may have happened for whatever reason but it is unfortunate. When asked whether Vadra should apologise, Dikshit said it is for any individual to decide but added that it is always good to assuage if you have hurt somebody's feelings. Commenting on the incident, CPI leader D Raja said it was an "unacceptable conduct" and that it should be seen how the I&B ministry will take up the issue.

The Tablet Another former Apple executive who was there at the time said the tablets kept getting shelved at Apple because Mr. Jobs, whose incisive critiques are often memorable, asked, in essence, what they were good for besides surfing the Web in the bathroom. —”Just a Touch Away, the Elusive Tablet PC”, The New York Times, 4 October 2009 Here’s the thimbleful of information I have heard regarding The Tablet (none of which has changed in six months): The Tablet project is real, it has you-know-who’s considerable undivided attention, and everyone working on it has dropped off the map. I don’t know anyone who works at Apple who doubts these things; nor do I know anyone at Apple who knows a whit more. I don’t know anyone who’s seen the hardware or the software, nor even anyone who knows someone else who has seen the hardware or software. The cone of silence surrounding the project is, so far as I can tell, complete.1 The situation is uncannily similar to the run-up preceding the debut of the original iPhone in January 2007, including many of the same engineers and software teams at Apple — such as those who built the iPhone Mail, Calendar, and Safari apps — disappearing into a black hole. The iPhone remained a secret until Steve Jobs took it out of his jeans pocket on stage at Macworld Expo. All of which is to say that what follows is my conjecture. Pure punditry, not one of those smarmy “predictions” where I know full well in advance what’s going to happen. I have a thousand questions about The Tablet’s design. What size is it? There’s a big difference between, say, 7- and 10-inch displays. How do you type on it? With all your fingers, like a laptop keyboard? Or like an iPhone, with only your thumbs? If you’re supposed to watch video on it, how do you prop it up? Holding it in your hands? Flat on a table seems like the wrong angle entirely; but a fold-out “arm” to prop it up, à la a picture frame, seems clumsy and inelegant. If it’s just a touchscreen tablet, how do you protect the screen while carrying it around? If it folds up somehow, how is it not just a laptop — why not put a hardware keyboard on the part that folds up to cover the display? (Everyone I know at Apple refers to it as “The Tablet”, but so far as I can tell, that’s because that’s what everyone calls it, not because anyone knows that it actually even is, physically, a tablet. And “The Tablet” most certainly is not the product name.) If it’s too big to fit in a pants pocket, how are you supposed to carry it around? And but if it does fit in a pants pocket, how is it bigger enough than an iPod Touch to justify existing? And so on. But there’s one question at the top of the list, the answer to which is the key to answering every other question. That question is this: If you already have an iPhone and a MacBook; why would you want this? The epigraph I used to start this piece — the bit about Steve Jobs demanding that a tablet be useful for more than just reading on the can — indicates that Apple will release nothing without such an answer. I agree that such an answer is essential. Successful new gadgets always seem to occupy a clearly defined place alongside, or replacing, existing devices. The Flip filled a previously empty niche for a small, cheap, simple video camera. How was the iPod better than existing portable music players? It fit 1,000 songs in your pocket, with a fun interface that let you find them easily. Why buy an iPhone to replace your existing mobile phone? Because there was a clear need for a modern handheld general-purpose computer. But how much room is there between an iPhone (or iPod Touch) and a MacBook (or other laptop computer, running Windows or Linux or whatever)? What’s the argument for owning all three? “I’d use it on the couch and lying in bed” is not a good answer. You can already use your iPhone or MacBook on the couch and in bed. It strikes me as foolish to market a multi-hundred-dollar device that people are expected to leave on their coffee table. “It’s a Kindle killer” is not a good answer. If you think Apple is making a dedicated device for reading e-books and articles, you’re thinking too small. As profoundly reticent as Steve Jobs is regarding future Apple products, when he does speak, he’s often surprisingly revealing. David Pogue asked him about the Kindle a few months ago: A couple of years ago, pre-Kindle, Mr. Jobs expressed his doubts that e-readers were ready for prime time. So today, I asked if his opinions have changed. “I’m sure there will always be dedicated devices, and they may have a few advantages in doing just one thing,” he said. “But I think the general-purpose devices will win the day. Because I think people just probably aren’t willing to pay for a dedicated device.” He said that Apple doesn’t see e-books as a big market at this point, and pointed out that Amazon.com, for example, doesn’t ever say how many Kindles it sells. “Usually, if they sell a lot of something, you want to tell everybody.” Of course, this is the same Steve Jobs who back in January 2008 told The New York Times’s John Markoff: “It doesn’t matter how good or bad the product is, the fact is that people don’t read anymore,” he said. “Forty percent of the people in the U.S. read one book or less last year. The whole conception is flawed at the top because people don’t read anymore.” One could reasonably argue that the “people don’t read” comment, taken at face value, suggests that Apple has no interest in that market, period. I, however, would square the two remarks as follows: Not enough people read to make it worth creating a dedicated device that is to reading what the original iPod was to music. (Everyone, for practical definitions of “everyone”, listens to music.) But e-reading as one aspect among several for a general-purpose computing device — well, that’s something else entirely. The pre-Touch iPod was (and remains) an enormous success. It changed the music industry and rejuvenated Apple. But it was and remains a dedicated device; originally focused on audio, now capable of the sibling feature of video. The iPhone, on the other hand, was conceived and has flourished as a general-purpose handheld computing platform. It was not introduced as such publicly, and is not pitched as such in Apple’s marketing, but clearly that’s what it is. The iPhone was described by Jobs in his on-stage introduction as three devices in one: “a widescreen iPod with touch controls, a revolutionary mobile phone, a breakthrough Internet communicator”. Thus, it was clear what people would want to do with it: watch videos, listen to music, make phone calls, surf the web, do email. The way Apple made one device that did a credible job of all these widely-varying features was by making it a general-purpose computer with minimal specificity in the hardware and maximal specificity in the software. And, now, through the App Store and third-party developers, it does much more: serving as everything from a game player to a medical device. Do I think The Tablet is an e-reader? A video player? A web browser? A document viewer? It’s not a matter of or but rather and. I say it is all of these things. It’s a computer. And so in answer to my central question, regarding why buy The Tablet if you already have an iPhone and a MacBook, my best guess is that ultimately, The Tablet is something you’ll buy instead of a MacBook. I say they’re swinging big — redefining the experience of personal computing. It will not be pitched as such by Apple. It will be defined by three or four of its built-in primary apps. But long-term, big-picture? It will be to the MacBook what the Macintosh was to the Apple II. I am not predicting that Apple is phasing out the Mac. (On the contrary, I’ve heard that Mac OS X 10.7 is on pace for a developer release at WWDC in June.) Like all Apple products, The Tablet will do less than we expect but the things it does do, it will do insanely well. It will offer a fraction of the functionality of a MacBook — but that fraction will be way more fun. The same myopic feature-checklist-obsessed critics who dismissed the iPhone will focus on all that The Tablet doesn’t do and declare that this time, Apple really has fucked up but good. The rest of us will get in line to buy one. The Mac is, and will remain, Apple’s answer to what you use to do everything. The Tablet, I say, is going to be Apple’s new answer to what you use for personal portable general computing. Put another way, let’s say instead of a MacBook and an iPhone, you’ve got an iMac and an iPhone, but you also want a portable secondary computer. Today, that portable from Apple (portable as opposed to the iPhone’s mobile) is a MacBook. With The Tablet, you’ll have the option of a device that will more closely resemble the iPhone than the iMac in terms of concept and the degree of technical abstraction. The Tablet OS The original 1984 Mac didn’t abstract away the computer — it made the computer itself elegant, simple, and understandable. Very, very little was hidden from the typical user. Mac OS X is vastly more complex technically and conceptually, as it must be due to the vastly increased complexity and capability of today’s hardware. But Mac OS X has always tried to have it both ways: a veneer of simplicity that doesn’t cover the entire surface of the system. The user-exposed file system is a prime example. On the 1984 Mac, the entire file system was exposed, but the entire file system fit on a 400 KB floppy disk. On Mac OS X, the /System/Library/ folder, one of many exposed fiddly sections of the file system browsable in the Finder, contains over 90,000 items, not one of which a typical user should ever need to see or touch. The iPhone OS offers a complete computing abstraction. Under the hood, it’s just as complex as Mac OS X. On the surface, though, it is even more simple and elegant than the original Mac. No technical complexity is exposed. Hierarchy is minimized. It relegates the file system to a developer-level technology rather than a user-level technology. (Did you know the file system on iPhones is case sensitive?) But so while I think The Tablet’s OS will be like the iPhone OS, I don’t think it will be the iPhone OS. Carved from the same OS X core, yes, but with a new bespoke UI designed to be just right for The Tablet’s form factor, whatever that form factor will be. One common prediction I disagree with is that The Tablet will simply be more or less an iPod Touch with a much bigger display. But in the same way that it made no sense for Apple to design the iPhone OS to run Mac software, it makes little sense for a device with a 7-inch (let alone larger) display to run software designed for a 3.5-inch display. The iPhone OS user interface was not designed in the abstract. It’s entirely about real-world usability, and very much designed specifically around the physical size of the device itself. The size and spacing of tappable targets are designed with the size of human thumb- and fingertips in mind. More importantly, the whole thing is designed so that it can be used one-handed. Even an adult with relatively small hands can go from one corner to the other with their thumb, holding the iPhone in one hand. Mac OS X apps couldn’t run on an iPhone display because they simply wouldn’t fit, and the parts that did fit would contain buttons and other UI elements that were far too small to be used. Running iPhone software on a much larger display presents the opposite problem: it’s not that the UI couldn’t be scaled to fill the screen, it’s that it would be a waste to do so. A 7-inch display isn’t twice the size of an iPhone’s, it’s four times bigger in surface area. I’m not sure even Shaquille O’Neal could hold a 7-inch iPod Touch in one hand and swipe from corner to corner with his thumb. Why would Apple stretch a UI designed to afford for one-handed use on 3.5-inch displays to cover a 7-inch (or larger) display that couldn’t possibly be used one-handed? If Apple’s starting with a hardware size where the iPhone OS can’t be used one-handed, then trust me, they’re designing a new interaction model. Apple is not in the business of making monolithic OSes that they cram down your throat on as many widely-varying devices as possible. Apple is in the business of making complete products, for which they craft derivative OSes to fit each product. There is a shared core OS. There is not a shared core UI.2 If you’re thinking The Tablet is just a big iPhone, or just Apple’s take on the e-reader, or just a media player, or just anything, I say you’re thinking too small — the equivalent of thinking that the iPhone was going to be just a click wheel iPod that made phone calls. I think The Tablet is nothing short of Apple’s reconception of personal computing. “Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men’s blood and probably themselves will not be realized. Make big plans; aim high in hope and work, remembering that a noble, logical diagram once recorded will never die, but long after we are gone will be a living thing, asserting itself with ever-growing insistency. Remember that our sons and grandsons are going to do things that would stagger us. Let your watchword be order and your beacon beauty. Think big.” —Daniel Burnham, Chicago architect. (1846-1912)

A planned five-story condo development at 198 Valencia Street has been delayed after the Planning Commission found reason to sympathize with popular beer garden Zeitgeist, which sits across the street and which could be very negatively impacted by the shadow cast by the new building. Hoodline reports that commissioners reviewed shadow analyses commissioned by the developer and by Zeitgeist and has sent the developer back to the drawing board to analyze how the shadow impact of the building could be lessened if the building were shorter, even as little as five feet shorter. We learned of this potential shadow issue last month, and Zeitgeist general manager Gideon Bush told SFist that "we realized the shadow cast by this building will a have a significant impact during what we call our busy season, the months of March through about late November, when we get that late summer that sun Francisco is so well known for." The shadow, the concluded, would likely put a damper on business since it would darken the beer garden in the summer and fall months from about 4:30 p.m. to sunset. Sternberg Benjamin Architects, who are serving as project sponsors, are being asked to test alternate designs with incremental height differences which will be reviewed at a Planning Commission meeting on February 16. Regularly named among San Francisco's best bars, Zeitgeist, which opened in 1977 and celebrates its 40th birthday this month, recently won Legacy Business status from the city. Previously: As Nearby Valencia Development Looms, Zeitgeist Files Review To Protect Beer Garden From Shadow

T-Mobile T-Mobile USA's Bobsled, an Internet-based calling and messaging service, has become the little engine that could. In a little more than a year, Bobsled has exceeded 1 million users. That's an impressive benchmark considering the service gets practically no marketing support and has little consumer awareness. "The popularity and continued growth of the Bobsled service is testament to consumers' desire for simple ways to stay connected with friends and family," said Brad Duea, senior vice president of T-Mobile. Bobsled was one of the side projects T-Mobile launched last year in the middle of its planned takeover by AT&T. The service was a bit counter-intuitive for those who follow the industry. Because Bobsled runs off the Internet, it could circumvent traditional voice minutes and text messages, something T-Mobile depends on for much of its revenue. That means any data plan or Wi-Fi connection would suffice. The free service, while not something a traditional telecommunications company would likely embrace, falls in line with T-Mobile's role as the industry's disruptive force. The carrier is the underdog willing to experiment with different services in a bid to claw market share away from its bigger rivals such as AT&T and Verizon Wireless. T-Mobile has previously said it was fine with the tradeoff of decreased voice minutes and text messages, noting that it would gain it back via an increased number of users attached to its service. But it may end up being more of a pain to its rivals. The carrier said that of its users, 95 percent are not T-Mobile wireless subscribers. Bobsled can run on any phone on any carrier, including the iPhone, something T-Mobile has been desperate to associate itself with. The company clearly notes in each of its Bobsled announcements that beyond Android phones and tablets, the service works with iOS as well. Since April 2011, 10 million calls have been made on the service, with 80 percent originating from an international number. On the messaging side, 90 percent of the messages are sent domestically. T-Mobile previously said it had hoped the service would get large enough to start delivering ads and providing additional services.

Russia has warned Denmark that its Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline might bypass Danish waters, after a new law that increased uncertainty on permits. A spokesman for the Russian project told the country's state news agency Tass on Friday (1 December) that "due to the ongoing changes in the legislation and political disputes Nord Stream 2 decided to study alternative routes beyond the territorial waters of Denmark to reduce potential risks". The spokesman added that, for now, "we continue working according to our [original] plan and the request we filed and we are watching how the situation is developing". The spokesman also said that the project's backers - Russian gas company Gazprom and five energy firms from EU states - "required rule of law" to be upheld in Denmark in order to invest there. The warning came after Danish MPs passed a law on Thursday that allowed the foreign ministry to forbid construction if the pipeline harmed Danish strategic or security interests. Previous rules said the Danish energy and climate ministry could only block it on environmental grounds. "Denmark is completely right to have concerns about Nord Stream 2, a Russian political project, a danger to European security, and a reversal of all the EU's good work on energy security," Anders Fogh Rasmussen, a former Danish PM and ex-Nato head who now works as a consultant for Ukraine, said. The new law enters into force on 1 January, but is to cover Nord Stream 2's application because the environment ministry has not yet issued its decision. The pipeline is to run through Finnish and Swedish economic zones and through Danish territorial waters south of the island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea to Germany. If Russia moved the route north of the island into international waters it would see Danish port firms on Bornholm lose hundreds of millions of euros in potential income. Denmark was one of several EU states which asked the European Commission, earlier this year, to negotiate details of the project with Russia. It said at the time that it would be hard for individual member states to stand in its way if the EU did not get involved. The Finnish economic affairs ministry and the Swedish enterprise and innovation ministry are to issue their permit decisions later this year or in early 2018. The European Commission is concerned that Nord Stream 2 would harm EU energy security by concentrating 80 percent of Russian gas exports in a single route. It has also proposed a new law designed to stop Gazprom from using its monopoly on the pipeline to bully EU clients. Germany has a veto on letting the commission negotiate with Russia, however. Germany and other EU friends of Nord Stream 2 - Austria, France, the Netherlands, and the UK - could also derail the proposed law. US sanctions The Russian project faces opposition further afield. Heather Nauert, a US State Department spokeswoman, said on Thursday: "It would pose security risks in an already tense Baltic Sea region". She as said it would "significantly increase Europe's vulnerability to a supply disruption" in EU states such as Poland. The US earlier this year threatened to impose fines on EU firms that invested in the pipeline. Speaking to press on Wednesday, John McCarrick, a senior US diplomat, said Nord Stream 2 construction "is not something we are going to assume is going to happen." Meanwhile, Russia is ploughing ahead with the project, which is to be completed by 2019. The spokesman for the Nord Stream 2 consortium told Tass on Friday it had already signed €4.5 billion of contracts with 600 construction companies from 23 countries.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today visited a Tata Motors-owned Jaguar Land Rover factory in the West Midlands region of England that is known as the flagship Indian investment in the UK. He soon after left for Turkey to attend a G-20 summit.PM Modi, who has been driven around in a Jaguar for most of his three-day visit here, was given a tour of the new state-of-the-art production facility for the new Jaguar XE sports saloon."At the Jaguar Land Rover plant. Economic synergy between India and UK can achieve a lot," PM Modi tweeted from the plant.The Prime Minister was shown around the facility at Solihull in the West Midlands region of England by Tata Group chairman Cyrus Mistry, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) CEO Ralf Speth and Warwick Manufacturing Group founder Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya.The visit to the JLR factory, described as a symbol of Indians as "job creators" rather than "job takers" marked the last stop on PM Modi's three-day tour during which he held delegation-level talks with his British counterpart David Cameron and was hosted for lunch by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace.The JLR factory is largest investment by an Indian company in the UK."It is my understanding that this is the largest private sector manufacturing employer in the UK. The JLR today produces 425,000 vehicles which are sold really across the world. Do note that when this was first acquired (by Tatas in 2008) it was a company which was running at a loss; it was turned around in five years; and its revenue of course have increased enormously," Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar had said ahead of the Prime Minister's UK visit."I think in many ways it is a symbol of a much more contemporary economic relationship between the two countries. Shall I say, a visit there drives home the message that we are job makers and not job takers?" he had said.The facility has some very unique features including a very modern aluminum body building plant.Prime Minister Narendra Modi will take part in the G20 summit, which opens tomorrow in Turkey. Chaired by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the summit will focus on the current state of the global economy, sustainable growth, development and climate change, investment, trade and energy. Participating leaders are also expected to discuss political issues such as global terrorism and the refugee crisis in addition to the economic agenda.

Ryan Frederick is the 29-year-old Chesapeake, Virginia man who shot and killed Chesapeake Det. Jarrod Shivers during a drug raid on Frederick's home last January. Police say an informant told them Frederick had an extensive marijuana-growing operation in his garage. They found only a few joints—enough for a misdemeanor. I'll have a more detailed look at the incredible recent developments in the case in a bit, but the short version is that the prosecution's case against Frederick is unraveling. Last June, I reported the possible existence of a second informant in the case, and in an interview, this informant told me that he and the other informant had broken into Frederick's home three days prior to the raid. Such a burglary would have been illegal, and the police would have been required to note in their search warrant affidavits that the probable cause for the warrant had been obtained illegally (they didn't). Worse, last February this man told a reporter for the Virginian-Pilot (who then told me) that the police both knew about and encouraged the break-in, and in fact had encouraged informants to break into private homes in other cases for the purpose of collecting probable cause. At a pre-trial hearing earlier this month, prosecutors in the case announced that they had testimony from two "burglars" who say they had stolen marijuana plants from Frederick and that, more dubiously, Frederick had then called them and made an explicit threat about killing a police officer. The prosecutors did not say if these "burglars" were also the informants, or if they had been working with the police before the burglary. That surprising revelation from prosecutors persuaded editors at the Virginian-Pilot last week to publish the details of reporter John Hopkins' interview in February with the same guy I interviewed, essentially confirming what I reported in June. The details of Hopkins' interview leave little doubt that the "burglars" who broke into Frederick's home were also the police informants. Today, Ryan Frederick's lawyers filed a brief asking the judge to quash all evidence seized from Frederick's home after the raid: Police showed a “reckless disregard for the truth’’ and misled a magistrate to get a search warrant for the home of Ryan Frederick, the man accused of killing a detective during a drug raid on his house, according to his attorney. Police failed to tell the magistrate that their confidential informant had burglarized Frederick’s property to get evidence to support a search warrant, asserts attorney James Broccoletti. The drug raid that followed on the night of Jan. 17 was a violation of Frederick’s Fourth Amendment right; therefore, all evidence collected should be thrown out, he said in a motion filed in Circuit Court. This could become another major drug informant scandal. More to come.