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Part 3 of our “Looking Ahead to 2014” series focuses on the Disney Parks around the World. Walt Disney World Resort 2014 will welcome the opening of the long-awaited Seven Dwarfs Mine Train in Magic Kingdom’s New Fantasyland area. Originally announced in 2011, the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train will be the final piece of the New Fantasyland expansion, which also includes Under The Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid, Be Our Guest Restaurant, Princess Fairytale Hall meet and greet, and the new Storybook Circus area. Riders will be taken through a diamond mine on this indoor-outdoor roller coaster. The ride is designed to be less of a “thrill ride” and more of a family-oriented attraction, and will feature a new ride system that simulates swaying and tipping, just like riding in a mine cart. It is scheduled to open Spring/Summer 2014. The Magic Kingdom will also have a new daytime parade; Disney Festival of Fantasy, scheduled to begin in Spring 2014. According to Screamscape, the parade will showcase “all-new colorful fancy floats, characters and an original soundtrack featuring beloved songs from your favorite Disney films mixed with a new parade theme song.” Over at Epcot, a new restaurant in World Showcase’s Morocco Pavilion, Spice Road Table, is scheduled to open at the end of this year. And while there are no major attraction plans for 2014 at Epcot, there are talks of a new attraction for 2015, and rumors for a new Soarin’ ride film in 2016. Disney’s Animal Kingdom is opening a new theater for their Festival of the Lion King show. Camp Minnie Mickey will close in 2014, as construction on the area themed to James Cameron’s Avatar (tentative opening 2017) begins. Nothing major is planned for Disney’s Hollywood Studios in 2014, but the rumor mill has several “blue sky” projects that could come to the former Disney-MGM Studios in the near future, including a Star Wars land, Monster’s Inc.’s “Monstropolis,” as well as an east coast version of Disney’s California Adventure’s “Cars Land” 2014 will also be the year of the MagicBand at Walt Disney World. The MagicBand technology has been rolling out resort-wide throughout the latter half of 2013, and is expected to be fully integrated sometime in 2014. Disneyland Resort In February 2014, Disneyland will reopen Big Thunder Mountain Railroad after a lengthy 13 month rehab. The “new” BTMRR will feature new tracks and new trains, and the mountain landscape will be refreshed. Disneyland’s exclusive Club 33 will be going “under the knife” as well, and when it opens, will feature a new lobby, jazz club, and expanded kitchen (Screamscape) Much like Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Disney’s California Adventure has no major attraction plans for 2014. The rumors for DCA include a Monster’s Inc. “Door Coaster” in a building originally tabbed for Who Wants to be a Millionaire: Play It, and the “Soarin’ Over The Horizon” ride film for 2016. It is worth noting in this article from MiceChat that due to MyMagic+ issues, several projects at both Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland Resort have been put on hold. Disneyland Paris Resort Across the pond at Europe’s only Disney property, Disney Studios Paris is opening a dark ride themed to the Disney-Pixar film Ratatouille. Ratatouille: L’Aventure Totalement Toquée de Rémi (Rough English: Ratatouille, Remy’s Totally Zany Adventures) will “shrink” riders down to the size of a rat, as they travel through over-sized scenery in a busy Parisian Kitchen. At Disneyland Paris, the park’s iconic Indiana Jones Temple of Peril roller coaster will go down for a 5-month rehab as the ride’s “stone temple” (actually fabricated foam and concrete sculpted to look like stone) will be demolished and rebuild using actual stone. More information can be found at this post from Disney and More. Hong Kong Disneyland No new attractions are coming soon to Hong Kong Disneyland. Celebrating it’s 10th anniversary in 2015, Hong Kong Disneyland does receive the designation of having the first Marvel Character-centric experience to a Disney Park, with the addition of Iron Man Experience in 2016. The ride will use a similar ride technology to Star Tours at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Disneyland. Tokyo Disney Resort Tokyo Disneyland will introduce Once Upon A Time, a projection mapping show on the park’s Cinderella Castle. Premiering on May 29th, 2014, this 15-minute castle projection show will feature scenes from the films “Beauty and the Beast,” “Cinderella,” and “Alice in Wonderland.” Tokyo Disneyland’s Jungle Cruise will also have a lengthy refurbishment, starting in early 2014. According to the Disney Parks Blog, “In the next version, the Jungle Cruise skipper will have a startling encounter with an animal spirit guardian in the ruins of a lost jungle temple. It will also feature a new soundtrack and special effects – and for the first time at any Jungle Cruise attraction – a permanent after-dark “night-cruise” version that will offer guests a unique take on the jungle adventure.” Tokyo DisneySea is not introducing anything new for 2014. The park’s Mermaid Lagoon theater will close in 2014 in preparations for a new musical show, based on “The Little Mermaid,” which opens in 2015. Shanghai Disneyland Shanghai Disneyland is still under construction, with the first “vertical construction” taking place on October 17, 2013.

No strings attached? Yeah, right. Here’s a rundown of some of the major ways that international loans are used to control entire populations. Those seeking dominance wield control in modern society largely through the manipulation of finance and economics. Power over entire countries comes not only through the debts themselves, but through the conditionalities tied to the financial agreement, as is done regularly by the IMF, World Bank and other aid programs. Notoriously, many locales – free in name – have been brought under the yoke of international domination, altering the shape of its development and its population. Here’s a look at how the dangerous agendas tied to these loans have been used to takeover regions around the world for the benefits of the ruling global corporations. From: Truthstream News #2: How the Globalists Are Raping Africa (and the Rest of the World, Too): One overt example comes from John Perkins, author of Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, who claims that he was as an international agent of influence, to convinced leaders of developing nations to accept enormous development loans from institutions such as the World Bank, the IMF, USAID and others. These loans then gave leverage that effectively forced leaders to capitulate to political pressure and outside meddling. According to Perkins, these economic hitmen use “extortion, sex and murder” as well as the manipulation of documents, elections or official data to tilt the outcome desired by the lenders. GMO food aid In 2002, several needy nations in southern Africa – including Zambia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique – controversially rejected food aid, despite being in the middle of a famine, because it was comprised of genetically modified crop staples. Leaders in these countries questioned the safety of biotech foods, expressed suspicions about hidden risks as well as contamination. The diplomatic row stirred emotions, with one supposedly anonymous USAID official telling the Africans “beggars can’t be choosers.” But should even the poorest nations be forced to accept food they consider tainted? In U.S. occupied Iraq, an agricultural program was instituted under Paul Bremer’s 100 Orders that essentially forced farmer’s to use registered seeds controlled by biotech. It mandated a policy of Plant Variety Protection (PVP) that clearly favored corporate giants like Syngenta and Monsanto, while making it difficult or impossible to use heirloom seeds traditionally saved by farmers since the early days of the Fertile Crescent – threatening the biodiversity and heritage of the region’s rich agricultural history. This was complicated by the Inma Agribusiness Program, overseen by USAID and operated by members of Norman Borlaug Institute for International Agriculture of the Texas A&M System, who implemented new CAFO lots (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations) to bring red meat cattle industries to the war torn nation, along with new fisheries and other mass produced food facilities. Monocrops of corn and soy were raised in Iraq to feed these livestock, much of which was genetically modified. USAID program guides (dated 2007) even advised Iraqi farmers on the use of Syngenta brand pesticides. Economic shock therapy Shock therapy was implemented on various economies through Latin America, Russia and Eastern Europe under the banner of neo-liberalization, where sudden shifts to a market economy caused severe disruption and destabilization in the lives of the poorest. According to Naomi Klein, author of The Shock Doctrine, the hallmarks of economic Shock Therapy were implemented under warped, hyper-capitalism where transitioning markets were effectively pirate-ized (rather than privatized). Actions included “structurally adjusted mass-privatizations, government deregulation, unrestricted free market access for foreign corporations, and deep cuts in social spending with repressive laws, harsh crackdowns and torture.” Her colleague, Nobel Prize winner in economics, Joseph Stiglitz, who has held top positions at the World Bank, said: There was another kind of shock therapy, which was a dramatic change in society, changing from a socialist economy, a communist economy, into a market economy by overnight privatizing, liberalizing, changing the rules of the game overnight rather than the gradual approach of changing one thing after another. You had asset stripping. You had the undermining of the basic social fabric of society. You didn’t have growth; you had decline. You had increase in poverty rather than the fruits that capitalism was supposed to bring. For Argentina, in the late ’90s and early 2000s, it was hyper-inflationary debt, exacerbated by sharply increased rates by the Federal Reserve, at a time when wage drops led to government revenue drops and subsequent debt shortfalls. This was all complicated by IMF loans and their associated agenda. IMF riots Greece: The consequences of the 2008 global economic crisis forced governments to bailout banks over risky loans and other side effects; many countries were devastated, with some of the worst fell on Greece, which not only threatened to drag down the rest of Europe’s economy with it, but led toviolent unrest, new draconian leadership, and austerity, heavy debt and pushbacks in the average living standard for the population. IMF agreements controversially set in place job cuts, particularly in the public sector, a drop in the minimum wage and severe slashing to the budget for retirement and other benefits, all of which triggered shock and anger in the society. Debt traps for struggling countries Jamaica + IMF Debt: The documentary Life + Debt profiled Jamaica’s long struggle to overcome a first, a struggling developing economy, then sagging debt under an IMF loan, and further by the crippling conditions under the loan that forced it to import food, adjust agriculture to global preferences while out pricing Jamaica farmers, creating factory jobs with sweatshop conditions and even importing pools of cheap Chinese labor to the island’s semi-autonomous “Free Trade Zone.” The effects of this crushing debt and its draconian influence over development has stunted opportunity for ordinary people in Jamaica for decades to come. Yet, these patterns of exploitation mirror the loans given to developing countries across the globe. Read more: The Center for Economic and Policy Research – The Multilateral Debt Trap in Jamaica Privatizing water, putting a price on life Bolivia 2000: Protests and riots resulted in the major metropolitan area of Cochabamba as a result of IMF and World Bank orders to privatize the municipal water supply. A contract was handed over to the firm Aguas del Tunari (owned in part by the San Francisco-based contractor Bechtel) who denied people access to water, and even reportedly used militarized riot police to prevent the collection of rain water during its harsh transition to a (corporatized and captured) market economy. Even after immense backlash, the World Bank supported corporate privatization of the water, stating that “no subsidies should be given to ameliorate the increase in water tariffs in Cochabamba” also stating that “poor governments are often too plagued by local corruption and too ill equipped to run public water systems efficiently. …[and that the use of private corporations] opens the door to needed investment and skilled management. Aguas del Tunari was eventually forced to give up and leave the country. Spread of disease during disaster relief Haiti – Post-earthquake relief in 2010 by international organizations led by UN peacekeepers resulted in the spread of cholera to Haitian residents, killing thousands. Vengeful and suspicious of the source, lynchmobs killed Voodoo priests and angrily protested the United Nationsencampments, casting blame on these sources. A scientific investigation indeed proved that a UN camp had supposedly-unintentionally spread the disease through a contamination wastewater source, resulting in lawsuits. As of April 2014, the U.N. is still struggling to contain the spread of cholera, making for a volatile destructive force in the already poverty stricken and disaster ravaged island nation. In wake of polio vaccine, 47,500 cases of non-polio paralysis Pakistan, India and Polio Vaccines – Despite the fact that the World Health Organization recorded no new cases of polio in India for 2012, signaling its rapid disappearance as a major threat, the private foundations led by the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation were aggressively vaccinating millions upon millions of children in India and Pakistan. Doctors Pulliyel and Vashisht conducted a study finding that in 2012 – with no cases of polio –approximately 47,500 children were diagnosed with non-polio acute flaccid paralysis (NPAFP), which is twice as deadly as polio, in the areas where the oral polio vaccine was administered. Suspicion, backlash against vaccines: Beware of those bearing gifts With distrust and concerns about Western-led vaccination efforts in Pakistan following revelations that U.S. intelligence used a “fake vaccination program” in a sting to “hunt Osama bin Laden,”Pakistan Taliban groups were blamed for killing several vaccine workers and bombing vaccination vans in 2012. In 2013, at least 9 vaccine workers were shot in Nigeria. These deaths closely followed reports thatat least 40-50 children were paralyzed in Chad, Africa from Gates-foundation backed Meningitis shots in late 2012. Covert infertility from vaccines? 1994-96 Philippines: Tetanus vaccines supplied by a World Health Organization-sponsored vaccine effort were found to be tainted with human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), correlating with numerous reports of terminated pregnancies and spontaneous abortions. Necessary for a healthy pregnancy, hCG becomes an anti-fertility agent when “carried” by the tetanus vaccine, which produces antibodies against hCG when tetanus antibodies are also produced. The BBC reported in 1995: Women should have been told that the injection would cause miscarriage and, in the end, infertility. The Department of Health should have asked beforehand, so that only those who didn’t want to have children had the injection. I really hope and pray to God that I will still have a baby and get a normal pregnancy. And I am still hopeful that the Department of Heath will find an antidote to the antibodies as well. It during the mid-1990s that an anti-fertility vaccine for women was announced that used human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) growth hormone in a tetanus vaccine to trigger an immunoresponse against the pregnancy. As Jurriaan Maessan uncovered, “The work on LHRH and HCG vaccines was supported by research grants of The Rockefeller Foundation.” Food as a weapon of depopulation In 1974, Henry Kissinger issued the then-secret NSSM 200, a National Security Memo identifying 13 key countries where the use of “food as a weapon” was desired to contain overpopulation (supposedly a top threat to U.S. national security). India was at the top of the list. Food-for-coercive sterilization scandals: India’s great “emergency” India: Food aid delivered to India through USAID since at least the Johnson Administration has included population control and family planning efforts. This pressure peaked during the 1975-77 “Emergency” under Indira Gandhi where the government, backed by international aid organizations, forcibly sterilized more than 8.3 million low caste Indians – primarily women, but also many men – in notorious medical camps. Included in this horror, are reports of systematic abuse, with incentives for turning people in for sterilization and even grabbing people off the street. These efforts were led by Indira’s son Sanjay Gandhi (incidentally, these leaders were from the Nehru family and not related to India’s founding father Mohatma Gandhi, but used his name in the quest for power). Please watch Melissa Melton’s intensely researched report on coercive population control measures in India, using “food [and other incentives] as a weapon.” Further Reading:

The Alabama Supreme Court this morning dismissed petitions by the Alabama Policy Institute, the Alabama Citizens Action Program and Elmore County's probate judge that had sought a landmark ruling declaring the state's prohibition on gay marriage still stands in defiance of the U.S. Supreme Court. Today's ruling means same-sex marriage is still intact in Alabama and the petitions challenging it are tossed. The petitions had sought to challenge the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling declaring same-sex marriage legal in the Obergefell case. While dismissing the petitions Alabama justices, particularly Chief Justice Roy Moore, still expressed their strong disagreement with the U.S. Supreme Court ruling. Moore called it a "lawless act." Eric Johnston, attorney for API, said the Alabama justices' ruling ends their petitions. "My initial reading of it is that the (Alabama) justices were bound by Obergefell and they have agreed that Obergefell is controlling and that the opinion from March will not now be in effect," Johnston said. "They (Alabama justices), however, all strongly expressed disagreement with Obergefell but as a matter of the rule of law they had to follow it." Johnston said that lawyers for the groups and probate judges will be talking but the initial thought is that they can't do anything with that particular case. "It's unfortunate," he said. API and the others had hoped to get a decision from the Alabama Supreme Court upholding their previous order that told probate judges not to issue the licenses. If that had happened it was then hoped it would lead to an eventual appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. "What they (Alabama justices) did today is they closed that door," he said. The Alabama Supreme Court issued a one-page order and 169-page opinion with all nine justices concurring, and seven of them writing specially. Roy Moore In a concurring opinion that takes up more than half the opinion Moore wrote that despite the dismissal of the petitions, Moore believes the state's ban on gay marriage is still intact. "Today this Court by order dismisses all pending motions and petitions and issues the certificate of judgment in this case," Moore writes. "That action does not disturb the existing March orders in this case or the Court's holding therein that the Sanctity of Marriage Amendment, ... and the Alabama Marriage Protection Act, SS 30-1-9, Ala. Code 1975, are constitutional," he states. Moore goes on to criticize at length the U.S. Supreme Court's 5-4 opinion in Obergefell. "Based upon arguments of "love," "commitment," and "equal dignity" for same-sex couples, five lawyers, as Chief Justice Roberts so aptly describes the Obergefell majority, have declared a new social policy for the entire country," Moore writes. "In reality, the Obergefell majority presumes to amend the United States Constitution to create a right stated nowhere therein. That is a lawless act," Moore states. "The (SCOTUS) opinion appeals more to emotion than law, reminding one of the 1974 song "Feelings" by Morris Albert, which begins: "Feelings, nothing more than feelings ....," Moore adds. "Obergefell (the SCOTUS case) is but the latest example of the Court's creation of constitutional rights out of thin air in service of the immorality of the sexual revolution." Moore also analyzes the arguments made by the four U.S. Supreme Court Justices who voted against the legalization of same-sex marriage. Moore also writes about the supremacy of U.S. Supreme Court decisions and that it isn't absolute. "The Supremacy Clause, quite obviously, by this chain of reasoning, does not give the United States Supreme Court or any other agency of the federal government the authority to make its every declaration by that very fact the supreme law of the land," Moore writes. "If the Court's edicts do not arise from powers delegated to the federal government in the Constitution, they are to be treated not as the supreme law of the land but as mere usurpation." Moore, who graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1969 and served in the U.S. Army as a company commander with the Military Police Corps in Vietnam, wrote about obeying commands. "Although the United States military depends for its effectiveness on obedience to the chain of command, the principle that a subordinate has a duty to resist illegal orders is also well established. The duty to obey the orders of a superior is absolute "unless the accused knew the orders to be unlawful or a person of ordinary sense and understanding would have known the orders to be unlawful." "The general principle of blind adherence to United States Supreme Court opinions as 'the law of the land' is a dangerous fallacy that is inconsistent with the United States Constitution," Moore also writes. "In my legal opinion, Obergefell, like Dred Scott and Roe v. Wade that preceded it, is an immoral, unconstitutional, and tyrannical opinion. Its consequences for our society will be devastating, and its elevation of immorality to a special "right" enforced through civil penalties will be completely destructive of our religious liberty," Moore wrote. Moore, who had recused himself from voting on the March 3 order and other matters because he had issued earlier orders to probate judges advising them not to issue same-sex licenses, participated in today's order and opinion. But Moore in today's opinion said he believes he no longer has to recuse himself. "In joining this case to consider the effect of Obergefell, I am not sitting in review of my administrative order, nor have I made any public statement on the effect of Obergefell on this Court's opinion and order of March 3, 2015. My expressed views on the issue of same-sex marriage are also not disqualifying," he writes. Other justices Three of the justices, Lyn Stuart, James Allen Main, and Michael Bolin issued a short statement in the opinion. "Motions and petitions are dismissed without explanation by this Court for numerous reasons as a matter of routine. When a Justice issues a writing concurring in or dissenting from an order summarily dismissing a pending motion or petition the writing expresses the explanation for the vote of only the Justice who issues the writing and of any Justice who joins the writing," according to that statement. "Attributing the reasoning and explanation in a special concurrence or a dissent to a Justice who did not issue or join the writing is erroneous and unjust." Bolin also issued a concurring opinion. "I do not agree with the majority opinion in Obergefell; however, I do concede that its holding is binding authority on this Court." "Clearly, the State of Alabama has exercised its sovereign authority to define marriage as being inherently that relationship between a man and a woman by the authority that has exclusively been delegated to the states ...," Bolin wrote. Bolin stated he would not go as far as to defy the U.S. Supreme Court ruling "because to do so would only placate the heart at the expense of the head; and, should anyone do so, our constitutional republic would begin to cease being a nation of laws and not of men.." Bolin said that if the Alabama justices did issue an order in defiance of the SCOTUS order it could potentially render the probate judges subject to personal civil lawsuits "for following their religious beliefs." "And it is arguably not hyperbole to further contemplate that it could place those same licensing officials in the middle of an endgame stand-off with federal marshals and/or federalized national guardsmen on one side, with a contempt order from a federal court in hand, and state law-enforcement officers on the other, with a competing and conflicting state court order in hand," Bolin stated. "We have already had one war with kinsmen fighting kinsmen. We do not need another. Rather, we need to see that review of this wrong decision is done the right way--by constitutional means." Justice Tom Parker criticized the U.S. Supreme Court decision. "Obergefell is the latest example of judicial despotism. It is a decision not based on law, but on the bare majority's philosophy of life. For the states to honor such a decision as legitimate is to bow our knee to the self-established judicial despots of America." Justice Greg Shaw Alabama Supreme Court Justice disagreed with some of Moore's arguments, even suggesting that a judge who can't comply with the decision of a higher court should leave the bench. "If a judge finds that he or she cannot abide by a controlling decision of a higher court, then that judge should resign from office," Shaw stated. "He or she should not indulge in the pretense that rebelling against a superior court's decision is an accepted judicial response." "Such conduct does not show respect for or comply with the law; it does not promote public confidence in the integrity or impartiality of the judiciary," Shaw wrote. "Instead, I believe that defiance would bring the judicial office into disrepute." "Additionally, I find curious this idea put forth by Chief Justice Moore that ''the judges in every state' may personally weigh the correctness of any Supreme Court decision and, if they disagree with it, then they may ignore it. If this were indeed the case, the Constitution would in no way be protected; instead, it would mean that there would be a different Constitution for every judge based on varying legal opinions." Shaw also made a reference in a footnote that he has not conducted himself "in a manner that calls into question my integrity and impartiality, and I have avoided conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice that would bring the judicial office into disrepute, which are barred by (an ethical canon)." Shaw may have been referencing Justices Moore and Parker who have been outspoken on the issue of gay marriage. The Southern Poverty Law Center has filed complaints with the Alabama Judicial Inquiry Commission stating that Moore and Parker had violate judicial canons by their public comments on the issue. What does ruling mean? Richard Cohen, president of the Southern Poverty Law Center, said the Alabama Supreme Court's decision Friday means very little. "It is not likely to have any affect in the world other than to cause confusion," he said. "Justice Moore's opinion is bizarre and disheartening. It is bizarre because it is completely lawless," he said "The only justice over there who showed integrity is Justice Shaw. He made it clear that even though he disagrees then he was bound to follow it," Cohen said. Cohen said that Shaw also was right that judges who won't follow a high court should resign. Cohen said he hopes the Judicial Inquiry Commission acts quickly on their complaints and forwards it to the Alabama Court of the Judiciary. "They (Moore and Parker) are a disgrace to the bench. Alabama deserves better," he said. In a recent interview with AL.com Parker shot back about the SPLC complaint against him. "A judge, as any citizen, has a first amendment right to political speech and it's no more than an attempt by a leftist organization to intimidate someone into silence," he said. Richard Cohen, president of the Southern Poverty Law Center, said the Alabama Supreme Court's decision Friday means very little. "It is not likely to have any affect in the world other than to cause confusion," he said. "Justice Moore's opinion is bizarre and disheartening. It is bizarre because it is completely lawless," he said "The only justice over there who showed integrity is Justice Shaw. He made it clear that even though he disagrees then he was bound to follow it," Cohen said. Cohen said that Shaw also was right that judges who won't follow a high court should resign. Cohen said he hopes the Judicial Inquiry Commission acts quickly on their complaints and forwards it to the Alabama Court of the Judiciary. "They (Moore and Parker) are a disgrace to the bench. Alabama deserves better," he said. Randall C. Marshall, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Alabama, said that Justice Shaw's written concurrence seems to be the clearest explanation of what the opinion means. "All motions/petitions that were filed subsequent to the original mandamus order are dismissed, technically leaving in place the original decision. But that decision (according to Justice Shaw) is a dead letter in light of Obergefell and the Strawser injunction which binds all probate court judges in Alabama," he said. "Clearly the Alabama Supreme Court - or at least a number of the justices - disagree vehemently with the U.S. Supreme Court's decision. But equally as clear, Alabama is bound by that decision and Alabama law prohibiting same-sex marriage is unconstitutional and unenforceable," Marshall said. "I don't think that we will see any change going forward. The great majority of counties have simply ignored Chief Justice Moore's administrative order and the Alabama Supreme Court's mandamus order," Marshall said. "There are the counties that have ceased issuing any marriage licenses - any of which could still be subject to potential legal action - but there are no counties that are issuing licenses to opposite-sex couples but not to same-sex couples. Any county probate court judge that did so would find himself or herself in front of (federal) Judge Ginny Granade on a contempt motion." Granade is the federal judge in January 2015 - six months before the U.S. Supreme Court ruling - who had originally declared Alabama's ban on gay marriage unconstitutional. One legal group, Liberty Counsel, which also represented API and ALCAP, saw Friday's ruling as an affirmation of the Alabama Supreme Court's own March 3, 2015 ruling. While dismissing the groups' petitions, Friday's order did not erase that ruling, according to a Liberty Counsel statement. "The ruling last year by the Alabama Supreme Court was historic, and is one of the most researched and well-reasoned opinions on marriage to be issued by any court in the country. Today's opinion by the Alabama Supreme Court calling the U.S. Supreme Court's marriage opinion 'illegitimate' will be remembered in history like the 'shot heard around the world,'" said Mat Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel. "The Alabama Supreme Court has openly rejected the U.S. Supreme Court's 5-4 marriage opinion, labeling it 'illegitimate' and without legal or precedential authority," Staver stated. "This is a clear victory for the rule of law and an historic decision by the Alabama Supreme Court. The Judgement makes permanent the Alabama Supreme Court's order prohibiting probate judges from issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. The Alabama Supreme Court has rejected the illegitimate opinion of five lawyers on the U.S. Supreme Court." Background Today's order is responding to an order the state supreme court issued last year. On March 3, 2015 - prior to the U.S. Supreme Court's order - the Alabama Supreme Court had ordered probate judges to halt the issuance of marriage licenses to same-sex couples and ruled that Alabama's ban on gay marriage was still in effect. That ruling came despite a federal judge's ruling in January 2015 that had declared the state ban on gay marriage unconstitutional and opened up licensing. The Alabama Supreme Court's March 3, 2015 order came as the result of a petition filed by the Alabama Policy Institute and the Alabama Citizens Action Program, two groups that oppose gay marriage. After the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling legalizing same-sex marriage the Alabama justices invited probate judges and groups to submit briefs on what they should now do with the lawsuit. The two groups, Elmore County Probate Judge John Enslen and Washington County Probate Judge Nick Williams were among those who responded with briefs and petitions to the Alabama Supreme Court. Enslen declined comment regarding Friday's ruling. Not everyone is giving up the fight against same-sex marriage in Alabama. Bessemer attorney Austin Burdick on Feb. 24 filed a federal lawsuit against the five justices on the high court who made up the majority in that ruling. Alabama attorney sues U.S. Supreme Court justices who legalized gay marriage Attorney Austin Burdick filed the lawsuit in Birmingham in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama. The case names Justices Anthony M. Kennedy, Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kegan. Alabama probate judge asks state supreme court to issue 'landmark' ruling against gay marriage Washington County Probate Judge Nick Williams is urging the state's high court to issue a "landmark" ruling challenging the U.S. Supreme Court's legalization of same-sex marriage. In their briefs API and ACAP argued there was precedence for rejecting a U.S. Supreme Court mandate believed to be unlawful. Williams filed a couple of such requests asking the Alabama Supreme Court to defy the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling and give those probate judges who believe issuing the licenses are against their religious beliefs. In another filing Williams sought a declaratory judgment or protective order from the Alabama Supreme Court in light of the recent jailing of a Kentucky clerk for refusing to issue same-sex marriage licenses. Davis was held on contempt charges but later released under the condition that she not interfere with her workers from issuing the licenses. Alabama probate judge: Let federal government issue same-sex marriage licenses Elmore County Probate Judge John Enslen also asked that the Alabama justices issue an order declaring the state will only honor same-sex marriage licenses either issued by the federal government or another state that has a state law allowing gay marriage. Enslen asked the Alabama Supreme Court to issue an order stating Alabama will no longer issue same-sex marriage licenses and asked that the justices issue an order declaring the state will only honor same-sex marriage licenses either issued by the federal government or a state that has a state law allowing gay marriage. Because the Alabama Supreme Court had taken eight months to respond to the petitions, about a half dozen conservative groups filed a complaint a few weeks ago with the Alabama Judicial Inquiry Commission about the court dragging its feet on responding to the petitions. This story will be updated.

TVB official in Tamar video editing concerned over legal suits More details have surfaced on the controversial editing of a voice-over on a video clip showing a protester being beaten up by police officers at Tamar Park in Admiralty. A recording of the conversation believed to be between Television Broadcasts Ltd. (TVB) news director Keith Yuen Chi-wai and the reporter who did the voice-over, which was widely circulated on the internet, indicated that Yuen was concerned about the gravity of the allegations and their impact on the police officers involved in the incident. In the recording, Yuen said he first heard the voice-over at home early Wednesday morning, Ming Pao Daily reported. The voice-over said social worker and Civic Party member Ken Tsang Kin-chiu, one of the pro-democracy protesters on Lung Wo Road, was “placed on the ground, and then punched and kicked” by police officers in a dark corner near Tamar Park. The voice-over was used in a live broadcast of the video clip on the network, the report said. Yuen called back the office at around 6:35 a.m. demanding that the voice-over be edited before the news program Good Morning Hong Kong started airing. “It’s very serious as police officers involved could face life imprisonment. We have to be careful in handling the report which involves legal suits,” he said in the recording. The editor also questioned the wordings of the voice-over. “How did you know policemen dragged him to a dark corner and beaten him?” Yuen asked in the recording. He said the information that they were police officers should first be verified. “If you did not verify, we should use words like ‘suspect’, ‘we believe’,” he said. “As the chief editor, I have to take responsibility for each word and have to edit it,” he added. The original references were removed in the news broadcast from 7 a.m. onwards, according to the newspaper. After 12 noon, a different phrase — “the police are suspected of having used violence against him” — was inserted, the report said. Staff of the TVB news department have issued a joint statement voicing their displeasure over the editing of the video report. The seven police officers who figured in the incident have been suspended, and a criminal investigation is being conducted. – Contact us at [email protected] MY/JP/CG

You Don't see the White House Objecting to Fox's "Utterly Misleading and Irresponsible" Storyline It Wants to Silence Keith Olbermann, Not Neil Cavuto Remember, way back when on May 19, when the White House accused NBC of "deceitful editing" of Richard Engle's interview with George W. Bush? They said it was, "to further a media-manufactured storyline" that is "utterly misleading and irresponsible." Hah! Yo! White House? Where's the outrage? Neil Cavuto interviewed Bush on Friday (May 23, 2008) - see it here, under "Your World Exclusives" (Fox titles it, "Level the Playing Field"). Talk about a "media-manufactured storyline." Check out Bush's demeanor while he "strongly" disagrees with protectionism: And check out the props. Bush claimed that selling those trucks to Colombia under the Colombia Free Trade Agreement would add jobs to the US economy. Cavuto bought it lock stock and barrel, never raising the possibility that corporations might pocket the profits and funnel them to their CEO's. That's what they've done in the past but again, Fox gave Bush a pass. Talk about "utterly misleading and irresponsible." Why let that myth float other than ah, well, to let it float? Not only that, but what's with the the use of the words "we" and "them" instead of "Republicans" and "Democrats?" Bush's words weren't in quotes so why not (I know the answer - just asking) take a stab at being a bit more grownup? Professional? Or, hey, here's a thought - "fair and balanced?" Wrapping it up, Cavuto, who refers to himself as a "journalist" almost crawled up Bush's ass: So I'm waitin' for the White House to scream about this "media-manufactured storyline" and the "utterly misleading and irresponsible" Fox News coverage. Though, of course, I know that was BS. The White House aims to silence Keith Olbermann, not Neil Cavuto.

Prepare for the final update in the Reboot trilogy: Join up with other players for a full-on 18-player raid against a ferocious new boss, Ursus! Then, take a visit to the newly updated and reopened Korean Folk Town dungeon, where you can play through classic Korean stories. 2016 will also bring you Chinese New Year events. Finally, Chase the Beast Tamer is returning; create this character job for a limited time! All this and more, in the Ursus update! NEW BOSS: URSUS THE MIGHTY Get ready for the ultimate destruction! Players Lv. 100 and above will be able to band together as a group of 18 to take on a ferocious new boss, Ursus. This ursine king is raring mad and ready for a fight! Get matched up with a group, and choose 8 pre-selected skills to use during the fight. When the dust clears, your battle results will appear—grading you on survival time, total damage and more. Collect various items from Ursus, then trade them in for rewards such as chairs and damage skins! REOPENED: KOREAN FOLK TOWN Welcome the newly updated Korean Folk Town theme dungeon. The town will now experience night and day, and the backgrounds have been updated. Players Lv. 125 and above can enter the theme dungeon to collect jade items to help prevent the town’s destruction. Several classic Korean stories will be told, including “The Good Brothers”, “The Sun and the Moon”, and “Gold Axe, Silver Axe”. As you progress through the stories, the appearance of the town will change. Spiegelmann is even planning to open a new Ghost Park area in February! NEW YEAR'S FORTUNE EVENTS Celebrate the Chinese New Year with seasonal events! Many Fortune Tellers have appeared in Maple World, and they are ready to bless you with good fortune for the new year! Receive a buff from the Henesys Fortune Telling Pig, and collect Lead Lumps to earn random rewards from the Fortune Teller from Edelstein. Meet specific requirements (raising Fame, achieving a combo kill, or meeting certain players) to obtain a Good Fortune Box from the Sky containing one of four new chairs, a Pendant of the Spirit, Spell Traces, or other items! BEAST TAMER AND OTHER EVENTS Chase, the Beast Tamer, is making a return! This job will once again be open for character creation. Grab your animal friends and explore Maple World! And the fire keeps on burning with another season of the Burning Character event. Select one of your characters under Lv. 100 to receive two levels instead of one every time you level-up! Keep on leveling to earn Cryptic Chests, which contain Frozen equipment and a pet Snail. For the complete patch notes, click here!

Democrat? and won’t vote? Stupid What we can now call the Liberal establishment is furious with the recent movement of boycotting the 2016 elections if Hillary Clinton wins the democratic nomination for president. This movement comes in response to the apparent favoritism in media and punditry for Clintons campaign seemingly ignoring the popularity of Bernie Sanders by those who are not sponsored by big money. 10 Reasons I’m Only Voting For Bernie Sanders and Will Not Support Hillary Clinton There is a segment of the voting public that is tired of being shamed into voting for the lesser of two evils. This has been going on since Get Out The Vote campaigning was developed for voter registration to address voter apathy. The message that was developed tied together voting with to losing something personal. What developed in our culture was a religious-like response to the act of voting even when it does not serve or even works against the common interests. This thinking has been prevalent for the last 30 years and where has it gotten us? Liberals have begrudgingly accepted the conservative shift in values to be more centrist when in fact democrats are now more recognizable as what republicans used to be. The goal of this shift has become power and the maintenance of that power. This power is, however, is held is such stalemate by opposing forces that, as we have seen the only result is legislative obstructionism. In response, the political establishment counters with the nationalistic analogies that for us to win, they must lose. Well, the question I have becomes just who is us and who is them? With a substantial number of the members of congress who can be classified as millionaires, it seems that blindly voting for the lesser of two evils over time has produced a government for the wealthy by the wealthy. This is not to say that this was never the case to begin with but there has been little true progress forward to put common people among the political elite when it comes to decisions about our nation. People will argue that Clinton voted with Sanders 93% of the time however, its that 7% Clinton didnt vote for that makes all the difference, especially when it came to war. Sanders positions remain consistent and are validated by time itself while Clintons positions evolve over time, usually from wrong to kinda-right. What Sanders message has done is to wake up Americas progressives into realizing just how the DNC has lead their party into equivalence with the Republican philosophies by flavoring them with liberal context. Social changes without real effectiveness and still attached to capitalist values. Bernie is exactly what America need for the very reasons people say he cant win. The reason his platform seems so radical is because we have drifted so far from what socialism is about. And thats the problem. people have been sold the myth of the welfare queen for so long that we think all public assistance as rewarding failure. Maybe a complete DNC defeat is needed for real progressive change to start? As callous as it sounds, maybe people need see some death camps again to appreciate the benefit of giving their fellow humans a little free stuff and stop believing Donald Trump or the lottery is going to make them rich. This is just my opinion however, I dont advocate death camps even for the unpatriotic rich but revolutions can occur in many ways and this can be one them. What we may be seeing in Bernie supporters refusal to vote for Clinton is the revolt against the corporate takeover of those who are supposed to represent the people. Not the people defined as corporations or special interest but the nation as a whole. Democratic party is being sent a message that it needs to change to a more progressive and inclusive platform or they will become extinct just as the republican party was subsumed by the tea party radicals. Now its the progressive radicals turn and the rally point is Bernies candidacy. This is a point where we start demanding more from these public servants for they are public servants beholden to we the people. Shrugging our shoulders and saying what are you gonna do isnt going to cut it anymore. Doing that has lead us to where we are now with the magnified social problems of inequality, lack of compromise, and serious environmental problems. Whats stupid may be blindly following expectations. Its your vote. Its your Voice.

This article is over 5 years old Rupert Murdoch: I feel hurt and betrayed (as do his Sun journalists) Rupert Murdoch, bless him, feels hurt and betrayed by the leaking of the tape covertly recorded when he met arrested Sun journalists. Both the Hollywood-based Variety and Exaro News - the investigative website that broke the story - report on Murdoch's distress about what he regards as a treacherous act. Variety's Frank DiGiacomo reports Exaro News's editor-in-chief, Mark Watts, as saying that News UK has launched a "mole hunt" to discover who was responsible for the leak. And in an Exaro piece published today, written by Watts and David Hencke, they mention that Murdoch "told friends that he feels hurt by the leak." They report that The Sun's editor, David Dinsmore, revealed to colleagues that Murdoch - in a phone call from America - told him: "I feel hurt by what has happened." They also report a "senior source" on Operation Elvedon - Scotland Yard's investigation into payments by journalists to police officers and public officials - as saying the Murdoch tape is a "delicate issue." They are planning to assess the relevance of the recordings but have no plans, as yet, to interview Murdoch. I wrote last week that Murdoch would view the leak as an act of betrayal. But I also pointed out that the journalists regard him as having betrayed them by setting up the management standards committee that provided evidence of their alleged wrongdoing to the police. So it is obvious, is it not, who betrayed who first? See also Neil Chenoweth's lengthy piece, published by the Financial Review in Australia, "The stalking of Rupert Murdoch". Sources: Variety/Exaro News

For an upcoming book discussion, I drafted the following announcement: “ Social Security is immoral.” – Don Watkins Come and join us for a discussion of Don Watkins’ new book Rooseveltcare: How Social Security is Sabotaging the Land of Self-Reliance. In a brief 125 pages, Watkins argues that America should liberate the productive young from being drafted into financially supporting the idle elderly as mandated by Social Security and its related wealth transfer welfare programs. Through our government schools and the news media, young producers have been indoctrinated with the contradictory ideas that the elderly have already paid for their own future benefits AND that it is the duty of the young to pay the taxes to pay the current spending of these programs. Now, that contradiction is coming to a head as the Social Security Trust Funds have been already been spent on past federal welfare programs and taxes on the productive young MUST be raised to maintain the promised benefits to the idle elderly. No biggie? How does paying $400k in taxes more than the future benefits received sound to you? That is the debt for old age welfare programs owed by our current infants and toddlers. Social Security…it’s like stealing a flourishing life from a baby. How did this happen? Is there an alternative that protects the innocent victims of Social Security, both young and old? In his book, Watkins addresses these critical questions by starting with a factual review of both the history of the program and its consequential attacks upon America’s culture of self-reliance. The book is available for purchase in both paperback and Kindle. Additionally, it is available gratis in pdf format. For additional information on the book, check out the End the Debt Draft Campaign. Here is a list of questions that you may want to consider as you read (or re-read) the book: What was America like before Social Security? Under what terms was Social Security sold to our citizens? How is that contradicted by Social Security’s actual legal terms? What impact has Social Security and resulting additional welfare programs had upon America’s culture of self-reliance? What are the myths that perpetuate the Social Security Ponzi scheme? In the face of this fiscal train wreck, what can we do now? [Hint: Plenty and it starts with facing the facts!] As a selfish citizen, what could you do about this? If you are in the DC area, let me know and I can invite you to our event. Read the book! Reuse the above (permission granted) to organize your own discussion of the book. Take advantage of the legislative elections to voice your opposition to Social Security to your candidates and community. If you have a campus based organization, attempt to secure Don Watkins to speak at your campus. Advertisements

The animal was found in a park at Seaton Place, Aberdeen, at around 8.30am on Friday. SSPCA A terrapin has been rescued after being found trapped in ice at a play park in Aberdeen. A pupil from Seaton Primary School made the discovery at around 8.30am on Friday in a park at Seaton Place. After breaking the ice to free the creature, the 11-year-old took the terrapin to his teacher and asked them to call the Scottish SPCA for help. The terrapin was in very poor condition and was taken to a vet before being moved to the charity’s Aberdeenshire Animal Rescue and Rehoming Centre at Drumoak. The animal has been named Theodora after Theo who rescued her. Animal rescue officer Karen Hogg said: "Theodora's legs and the bottom of her shell were completely trapped in a deep puddle which had frozen over. "We can't be sure how she got there but we can't rule out the possibility she was dumped. "Theodora was extremely cold and, as terrapins require heat, she wouldn't have survived for much longer if she hadn't been rescued. "She is underweight and her shell is in very poor condition so it seems she hasn't been receiving the proper care she needs. "Theodora is now doing really well and we're hopeful she'll soon make a full recovery. "Thankfully the boy who discovered Theodora knew what he should do as one of our officers had recently visited his school as part of our free Prevention through Education programme." Anyone with information on the animal is asked to contact the Scottish SPCA on 03000 999 999. Your report: If you have information on this or any other story, please let us know. You can send information, pictures to web@stv.tv or call us on 0141 300 3264. Feedback: We want your feedback on our site. If you've got questions, spotted an inaccuracy or just want to share some ideas about our news service, please email us on web@stv.tv.

Bernie Sanders supporters might already “Feel the Bern,” but their lips are going to start tingling with heat thanks to the #FeelTheBernChallenge The movement, launched by writer Wayne Gladstone earlier this week, involves participants donating $3 to Sanders’s campaign or recording themselves guzzling down a teaspoon of hot sauce. You can also do both, supporting Sanders’ campaign and showing off your tolerance for spice. Take the #FeelTheBernChallenge in support of @BernieSanders for President. RT and tag your friends! https://t.co/BJidzvJfF3 — Gladstone (@WGladstone) December 28, 2015 The Feel The Bern Challenge is reminiscent of the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, which helped raise awareness of and money for the disease. That challenge was all the rage during the summer of 2014. You couldn’t scroll through your newsfeed without seeing yet another friend or celebrity dumping some icy water on themselves. People within Gladstone’s network have already accepted his challenge and begun nominating people in their own networks. So began the chain reaction of Sanders supporters swallowing hot sauce and donating money to help his campaign. This isn’t even the first campaign to combine spicy foods and the Berning sensation. Sanders supporters also ran a #BernChallenge in late November and early December to rally behind the candidate. There’s even a website dedicated to the cause that appears very similar to the #FeelTheBernChallenge, minus the donation option. Either way, if you’re looking to give Bernie Sanders some exposure, grab some Tapatio and a glass of milk. It’s time to feel both the Bern and the burn. H/T Death and Taxes | Photo via yohutch/Flickr (CC BY SA 2.0)

In a bid to improve road safety and cut down on deaths on Ontario streets, the province is reportedly considering reducing speed limits. The change could reduce the default speed limit from 50 km/h to 40 km/h. The Toronto Star reports Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca will consult with municipalities to determine an action plan. Del Duca wouldn’t elaborate to CityNews, but issued the following statement: “The safety of Ontario’s roads and highways is my utmost priority, and making Ontario’s roads safer is part of my mandate as minister.” Sources tell the paper the province is changing their tune on the issue in response to concerns from municipalities. In 2012, the Toronto Board of Health issued a report calling for speed limits to be reduced to 30 km/h on residential streets and 40 km/h on major roads in the interest of public safety. The report cited research claiming the chance of a cyclist or pedestrian dying in a traffic accident is drastically reduced if the car is moving more slowly. At 50 km/h there is an 85 per cent chance the victim will die. At 30 km/h the chance is cut to five per cent. Click here to read the full report. An Ontario coroner’s report on pedestrian deaths also called for lowering speed limits. Then-mayor Rob Ford dismissed a similar recommendation from the Board of Health as “nuts, nuts, nuts.” The Liberal government have four options: keep the default limit at 50 km/h change the provincial law to make the default speed limit 40 km/h let municipalities choose between a 50 km/h or 40 km/h standard let municipalities set different default limits within their boundaries, or within specific neighbourhoods The World Health Organization has found that a pedestrian hit at 45 km/h has 50 per cent chance of being killed. When a person is struck by a vehicle travelling 30 km/h, the chance of surviving is 90 per cent. The organization also found that a car travelling 50 km/h needs 13 metres to stop, but can stop in 8.5 metres or less if it is going 40 km/h. And an increase in speed by one km/h results in three per cent higher risk of crash involving injury, and a four to five per cent increase for crashes that kill. Three pedestrians have died in Toronto so far in 2015, including a 58-year-old woman on Wednesday morning. Another pedestrian is in critical condition after a hit-and-run near Finch and Midland avenues on Wednesday afternoon. New York City, Paris, and London, UK have all lowered speed limits on downtown streets in recent years.

Children were jumping up and down inside the large bounce houses. A collection of classic muscle cars lined the walkway. Rumble the Bison ricocheting from one high-five to another. The residents of Sand Springs gathered at the newly christened Case Community Park where the Thunder organization unveiled a new outdoor basketball court on Saturday morning. Proud to dedicate Thunder Cares Foundation's 17th court, sponsored by @uscellular at Case Community Park in Sand Springs! A post shared by Oklahoma City Thunder (@okcthunder) on Sep 9, 2017 at 9:27am PDT The partnership between the Thunder Cares Foundation, U.S. Cellular and the City of Sand Springs came to fruition when Green Country’s second Thunder court became official once the ribbon snapped and flipped into the breeze amid cheers from the crowd. Overall, the Thunder has built or renovated 17 courts in the state with three more planned. The day featured meet-and-greets with the Thunder Girls and a performance from the Thunder Drummers as part of the excitement during the city’s RiverFest event. “We are thrilled to be part of bringing a new basketball court to this community and adding to the experience for kids in Sand Springs,” said Christine Berney, vice president of Community Relations for the Thunder. “We hope that every time the kids here pick up a basketball and step onto the court, they’ll know that the Thunder cares about them, that we want them to make healthy choices and have a place to have fun.” from today's court dedication in Sand Springs, sponsored by @USCellular pic.twitter.com/NqZ4fHOyIX — OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) September 9, 2017 On many levels, the newly minted court underscored the Thunder organization’s commitment to spreading the love of the game to all Oklahomans. “It’s important for us to spread the love outside of Oklahoma City. Our courts are all across the state of Oklahoma,” said Berney. “That has been our focus from Day One with these basketball courts. It’s the perfect way for an NBA team to share how much we love the game of basketball.” Making connections and enhancing lives in the community were key objectives in undertaking this special makeover project for the area. “It’s an investment into the community,” said Jeff Heeley, director of sales, corporate-owned channel for U.S. Cellular in Oklahoma. “We want to provide a place for kids to come and take advantage of the beautiful park, have fun, stay active and be proud to play on the court.” For Sand Springs resident Jason Ward, the court breathed new life into his neighborhood park. “There was nothing like this. It’s going to be great for the kids to be able to come out here and have a good time with friends and family,” said Ward. “The kids are going to have lights and be able to play at night. So it’ll be used a lot.” Watch: Thunder Dedicates 17th Court

This is a survey of various groups around the world considered to the left of democratic socialism regarding their stances on the Syrian civil war. I have searched the websites of just over 50 left-wing and far left parties, networks, and international tendencies for any articles, blurbs, statements, etc. regarding Syria since 2011. You’ll notice that I tend to focus on American leftist groups, with which I have the most familiarity. Also note that some of the international organizations overlap with each other. I have found that leftists have incredibly diverse attitudes toward Syria, even within ideological tendencies. All the groups profiled below support secularism and socialism (or, in the case of some anarchists, socialist-like systems) and oppose intervention by Western powers, but their attitudes towards the Assad regime, the Kurdish PYD/YPG-led Rojava, the vast and multi-colored opposition, and the so-called Islamic State vary greatly. I will eventually follow up this article with a list of leftist groups in Syria. The organizations are grouped by ideology. A couple of notes regarding ideological nuances: I use “Leninists” to refer to communists who are pro-Lenin but neither pro-Stalin nor pro-Trotsky. “Leninists” usually call themselves Marxist-Leninists, but that same label is also used by those who support Stalin (“ anti-revisionists ”), so I find use of the term “Marxist-Leninist” problematic. “Stalinists” seldomly use this term to describe themselves; as said above, they prefer “Marxist-Leninist”. Nevertheless, I call them “Stalinists” to distinguish them from Maoists, who branched off into their own ideology, and Hoxhaists, who support Stalinism as specifically applied under Albania’s communist leader Enver Hoxha Trotskyists are somewhat notorious for splitting and quarreling with each other over relatively small things. You’ll see that I’ve split the multitude of Trotskyist groups into three tendencies: “post-Pablo”, “anti-Pablo”, and “other”. This refers to the most prominent split in the Trotskyist movement: in 1953, the Fourth International (the original Trotskyist political international) split over the policies of its leader Michel Pablo . Many of the groups that split away, including the Socialist Workers Party in the US, eventually rejoined in 1963 after Pablo had become marginalized and expelled from the FI; the resulting “re-unified” Fourth International is sometimes known as the United Secretariat of the Fourth International, or USFI. I refer to Trotskyists who support this reconciliation as “post-Pablo”. Some of the dissidents continued to see the FI as “Pabloite”; I refer to these as “anti-Pablo” (often they will refer to themselves as “orthodox Trotskyists”). Although there is very little ideological substance to the current divide between post-Pablo and anti-Pablo, relations between the two tendencies are often hostile, so I find it helpful to retain the distinction. The third major Trotskyist tendency is the Third Camp , which had split from the mainstream Trotskyist movement in 1940, having become dissatisfied with the latter’s allegedly too-sympathetic view of the USSR under Stalin. Third Camp Trotskyists, as well as mainstream Trotskyists who do not fall into either category regarding the Pablo split, are grouped under “other Trotskyists”. Leninists V. I. Lenin expanded on the work of Marx and Engels, arguing that an elite vanguard party would be needed to lead the working class to overthrow the capitalist order and establish a socialist dictatorship of the proletariat in order to lead to the achievement of communism. The vanguard party was to be organized along democratic centralist lines: debate within the party was encouraged, but once a majority decision had been reached, party members were expected to comply. This highly centralized mode of organization was opposed by the Mensheviks, the rivals of Lenin’s Bolsheviks. Both the Bolsheviks and Mensheviks held that Russia, as a relatively underdeveloped country, would need to undergo a bourgeois democratic revolution before a socialist revolution could succeed. But whereas the Mensheviks were relatively supportive of the provisional government that came to power in the February Revolution of 1917, the Bolsheviks called for the overthrow of this government and the immediate transition to socialist rule. In the October Revolution later that year, the Bolsheviks seized power and spent the next few years consolidating their rule during the chaotic Russian civil war. Stance on Syria: supported initial protests; later supported government’s reforms in 2012. Now critically supportive of government. Supports negotiations. Sources: http://www.cpusa.org/article/communist-party-says-hands-off-syria/ (2012) http://www.cpusa.org/article/eleventh-hour-to-prevent-catastrophe-in-syria/ (2013) Background information: founded in 1919. The “official” (e.g., pro-Moscow) American communist party during the Cold War. Since the fall of the Soviet Union, it has promoted a softer, more liberal democratic-friendly version of communism while still maintaining its official Leninist doctrine and structure – similar to the Western European Eurocommunist movements of the 70s and 80s. Although this trend has made it the target of much criticism from traditional, hardline communists, it retains links with the “official” communist parties of the world as a participant in the International Meeting of Communist and Workers Parties, which is listed further down. Stance on Syria: supports opposition and YPG. Says original protests were led by working class; attributes failure to lack of working class leadership, harsh government response, and capitalist/Islamist opportunism. Sources: http://www.themilitant.com/2016/8008/800802.html (2016) http://www.themilitant.com/2016/8019/801906.html (2016) Background information: formed in 1938. Originally the major Trotskyist party in the US, it drifted away from Trotskyism in the 80s towards a more Cuba-friendly Leninist position. It leads an informal international grouping of pro-Cuban ex-Trotskyists called the Pathfinder tendency. It remains one of the largest far left parties in the US. Stance on Syria: supports government. Supports “bourgeois nationalist” governments against imperialism. Calls Syria “sole remaining independent secular state in the Arab world”, praises its support of Hamas and Hezbollah. Calls Syria-Iran relationship “strategic progressive alliance.” Says US fomented rebellion to serve own interests, exaggerated harsh government response, exaggerated support for opposition. “By all accounts, the major rebel forces are all sectarian reactionaries — ISIS and Al Nusra being the largest organizations.” “The Russian strategy to support and add to the military strength of the Syrian government and its armed forces is a realistic strategy that can defeat ISIS and the other jihadi groups.” Sources: http://www.workers.org/2011/world/syria_0519/ (2011) http://www.workers.org/2016/01/21/syria-and-isis-some-anti-imperialist-observations-and-analysis/#.V4f_UPkrLcs (2016) http://www.socialism.com/drupal-6.8/statements/freedom-socialist-party-recommendations-june-7-2016-california-state-san-francisco-primar (2016) Background information: split from the SWP in 1958-1959 under the leadership of Sam Marcy. Marcy had supported the controversial 1956 Warsaw Pact invasion of Hungary and admired many aspects of Mao’s China. The WWP maintains a positive – though not completely uncritical – attitude towards all Communist regimes, from the USSR under Stalin to the USSR under Khruschev, from China under Mao to China under Deng Xiaoping, to Vietnam, Cuba, and North Korea. It has loose links with the International Communist Seminar, which is listed further down. Stance on Syria: supports government. Acknowledges mass scale of 2011 protests, but implies there were just as many calls for sectarian Islamism as for democratic reforms. Supports government’s reforms in 2011-2012. Very supportive of Russia’s military intervention and efforts at negotiation. Says US intervention is the main source of chaos. “The dominant ideology of the various rebel groups in Syria is that of reactionary sectarian Islamists, the two main poles being the Islamic State and the Nusra Front.” “Under the current balance of forces in Syria, it is obvious that the only real alternative to ISIS and Al Qaeda is the Syrian state in Damascus.” “If the U.S. priority were to fight ISIS, it would throw its support behind Syria’s government, by far the most significant force fighting against ISIS on the ground.” Sources: https://www.liberationnews.org/u-s-role-in-syrias-civil-war/ (2015) https://www.liberationnews.org/u-s-special-ops-forces-to-fight-against-isis-or-damascus/ (2016) https://www.liberationnews.org/russia-enters-syria-war-exposing-hypocrisy-contradictions-u-s-policy/ (2015) Background Information: split from the Workers World Party in 2004 for reasons that are still unclear. Like the WWP, it is largely supportive of the various different Communist regimes of past and present. Along with the Socialist Workers Party, it is one of the more visible far left groups in the US, regularly running candidates for election. Like the WWP, it also maintains loose links with the International Communist Seminar. Stance on Syria: – supported initial protests, but now only supports YPG. Says Assad is brutal, but that opposition is fractious and dominated by sectarian Islamists. Supportive of PKK/PYD ideology, though somewhat critical of practices. Sources: http://freedomroad.org/2013/09/the-war-drive-against-syria-has-been-stalled-lets-stop-it-cold/ (2013) http://freedomroad.org/2014/05/the-revolution-in-rojava/ (2014) Background information: The original FRSO was formed as a Maoist party in 1985. In 1999, it split into two rival groups, each claiming the name and legacy. This faction, using the domain freedomroad.org, has largely abandoned Maoism, arguing that a more open-minded Leninist approach (e.g., less focused on fighting revisionism) was necessary. Black Liberation and self-determination for other oppressed “nations” continue to play a prominent role in both factions’ platforms. Stance on Syria: supports government. Says “US-vetted militia” began operating in 2011. “U.S.-sponsored ‘dissident organizations’ devoted to overthrowing the constitutional government of Syria have been launching attacks on Syrian security forces since March [2011].” “The Syrian foreign ministry continues to demand that all States guilty of supporting terrorism inside of Syria withdraw their support immediately. So too, the people of Syria continue to organize demonstrations and other mass actions to demand the liberation of the areas occupied by the insurgents.” “In Syria the struggle against foreign aggression and interference is uniting the overwhelming majority of people.” Opposed Geneva talks as “imposed” on Syria by US. Sources: http://www.workersparty.org/pentagon-refuses-to-cut-and-run-from-syria_11-2-15.htm (2015) http://www.workersparty.org/geneva-talks-an-attack-on-edifice-of-intl-law_1-9-14.htm (2014) http://www.workersparty.org/syria-u.s.-imperialism-hands-off_12-19-11.htm (2011) Background information: an ex-Hoxhaist party formed in 1992. Opposition to alleged American imperialism and defense of alleged US targets (e.g., North Korea) are its most prominent themes. Stance on Syria: vaguely supports government. “Regarding Syria it should be clear by now that ‘ISIS’ has been funded and set in motion by the U.S., and that U.S., British and French special forces have been on the ground in Syria from the beginning.” Sources: http://rallycomrades.lrna.org/2014/11/implications-war-syria-iraq/ (2014) Background information: formed in 1993, though its roots lie in a 1958 anti-revisionist split from the Communist Party USA. Its predecessor organizations were Maoist and Black Liberationist. Stance on Syria: supports opposition. Stresses positive role of democratic revolutions even if they are not socialist. “One excuse given for non-support [of the rebels] is that the Syrian fighters accepted weapons from the US and were somehow pawns of the CIA. But an oppressed people has a right to get its weapons from anywhere.” Opposes idea of transitional government, calls for full overthrow of Assad. Says Russia and Assad don’t distinguish between legitimate opposition and jihadis. Accuses Gulf monarchies of funding fundamentalism at expense of democracy advocates; accuses US of ignoring Assad and only focusing on IS. Sources: http://strugglemagazine.net/Str27-1&2.htm (2011) http://www.communistvoice.org/CV50.pdf (2016) http://www.communistvoice.org/DWV-160705.html (2016) http://www.communistvoice.org/DWV-141028.html (2014) Background information: founded in 1995 from remnants of the Marxist-Leninist Party, USA, which was Hoxhaist. CVO describes itself as “anti-revisionist”, but unlike the actual anti-revisionist movement, it considers Stalinism and its ideological descendants – Maoism and Hoxhaism – as revisionist as well as Trotskyism. Instead, it advocates a “return to Lenin”. Stance on Syria: supports government. Supports international negotiations. Sources: http://www.usmlo.org/arch2013/2013-10/VR131008.htm#05 (2013) http://www.usmlo.org/arch2012/2012-06/VR120626.htm#02 (2012) http://www.usmlo.org/arch2012/2012-02/VR120210.htm#04 (2012) Background information: split in 1981 from the Marxist-Leninist Party, USA (see Communist Voice Organization above) after the MLP-USA broke with the Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist). The USMLO remains closely linked to the CPC-ML, which abandoned Hoxhaism in the late 80s in favor of a more Cuba- and North Korea-friendly stance. Hoxhaists and Stalinists Joseph Stalin took over from Lenin during a long intra-party struggle in the 1920s and put forth the idea of socialism in one country, the idea that socialism could be achieved in the USSR despite the failure of other communist revolutions around the world. He was most infamous, of course, for his extremely brutal suppression of dissent and extensive cult of personality. When Nikita Khrushchev secured control of the USSR in 1953 following Stalin’s death, he repudiated what he saw as Stalin’s excesses, leading those who supported Stalin to deem Khruschev “revisionist”. Mao’s China and Hoxha’s Albania led the subsequent anti-revisionist movement but split during the 70s over Mao’s alleged deviations from Stalin’s policies and the increasing détente between China and the US. Hoxhaist ideology is extremely similar to Stalinism; as said above, the difference is that Hoxhaists support Stalinism as specifically applied in Hoxha’s Albania. Stance on Syria: supported initial opposition, but now only supports YPG. “The popular movement of protest has been transformed into a destructive civil war. The bloodthirsty repression is striking the people, and since the beginning, the Assad regime has rejected any democratic reform that would satisfy the aspirations of the Syrian people. This situation is the consequence of the foreign reactionary, imperialist and Zionist intervention, through Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia…” “…there is a battle and polarization between the imperialists and reactionaries in the region on one hand, and the power and actions of the Kurds on the other hand. The Kurdish nation… has progressed towards cementing its identity, to place itself as the alternative of self-determination despite the pressure of the imperialists and their reactionary allies.” Sources: https://theredphoenixapl.org/2012/12/18/international-conference-of-marxist-leninist-parties-and-organizations-resolution-on-the-situation-in-syria/ (2012) http://cipoml.net/en/?p=42 (2014) Background information: a Hoxhaist international founded in 1994; it is referred to with the name of its publication in parentheses to distinguish it from the Maoist international of the exact same name which publishes International Newsletter (see Revolutionary Organization of Labor below). Leading parties include the Marxist-Leninist Communist Party of Ecuador and the Workers’ Party in Tunisia. The American Party of Labor appears to be the unofficial US section of the ICMLPO-US. Stance on Syria: neutral. Rejects all sides as imperialist and/or reactionary. “[The Syrian Communist Party] offer[s] little criticism of Assad’s anti-worker, neoliberal economic policies, or of the corruption and cruelty of a regime that has impoverished millions of Syrians.” “None of the leading rebel forces represent the working class in Syria.” Sources: http://www.plp.org/challenge/2016/3/25/syria-key-to-russian-imperialism.html (2016) http://www.plp.org/challenge/2014/1/31/syria-centuries-of-repression-division-and- exploitation.html (2014) http://www.plp.org/challenge/2013/7/18/syria-lose-lose-lose-for-workers.html (2013) Background information: founded as a Maoist split from the CPUSA in 1962. It controlled nearly half of the well-known Vietnam-era Students for a Democratic Society activist group. It moved away from Maoism in 1971 and is now Stalinist, though as noted in my introduction, they would dispute this label. Not affiliated with any international tendencies, but they claim to have several supporters across the globe. Stance on Syria: supports YPG. Says US uses threat of ISIS to continue intervention in Iraq and launch one in Syria. Sources: http://www.cindysheehanssoapbox.com/8/post/2015/03/support-the-kurdish-women-in-fighters-against-isis-and-oppose-imperialist-war.html (2015) Background information: split from the CPUSA in 1961. Formerly known as the Ray O. Light Group. Very little online presence. Traditionally it has been considered Maoist, and it participates in the International Conference of Marxist-Leninist Parties and Organizations (International Newsletter), a Maoist international, but it is also critical of many key aspects of Maoism, particularly the Cultural Revolution. It is also a member of the International Coordination of Revolutionary Parties and Organizations and is a regular attendant of the International Communist Seminar, both of which are listed further down. Maoists Mao Zedong further developed Stalinism. Whereas most Marxists up to that point focused on the industrial proletariat, Mao focused on the peasantry. He emphasized rural guerrilla warfare and anti-imperialism in “Third World” countries. He also encouraged a “Cultural Revolution” to rid China of treacherous “capitalist-roaders”, “feudal” cultural practices, and other vestiges of capitalism and imperialism. This tumultuous period of Chinese history lasted from 1966 to 1976, when Deng Xiaoping secured power and instituted a number of reforms, including reducing much of the cult of personality around the now-dead Mao, allowing (limited) criticism of the party, and opening the country to market reforms and privatization. Deng called his reforms “socialism with Chinese characteristics.” The ideology of the Chinese Communist Party today is still officially referred to as “Mao Zedong Thought”, but “Maoists” today view the Chinese regime as revisionist. Stance on Syria: neutral. Says US is chiefly responsible for Syrian bloodbath. “It is an unfortunate fact that among the forces ‘in the field’ in Syria, none of them represent the interests of the people—including the regime and its allies and the motley collection of jihadists and more pro-U.S. forces.” Sources: http://revcom.us/a/265/background-US-Syria-en.html (2012) http://revcom.us/a/261/awtwns_syria-021312-en.html (2012) http://revcom.us/a/316/more-lies-for-war-from-the-liar-in-chief-en.html (2013) http://www.revcom.us/a/444/syria-needs-a-real-revolution-en.html (2016) Background information: formed in 1975. The main Maoist party in the US. Led by the charismatic Bob Avakian, it controlled the other half of the Students for a Democratic Society and battled bitterly with the Progressive Labor Party for control. It was a member of the now-defunct Revolutionary Internationalist Movement. The RIM advanced a specific type of Maoism called Marxism-Leninism-Maoism, which placed special emphasis on guerrilla-style “protracted people’s wars” and included such infamous militant groups as the Communist Party of the Philippines, the Communist Party of Peru (“Shining Path”), and one of many Nepalese Maoist factions that overthrew the monarchy in that country in following the 1996-2006 civil war. Stance on Syria: supports government. “Syria plays a positive role in the Middle East. Its people and government are supportive of the struggle to free Palestine and assist the patriotic forces in Lebanon. Syria opposes Zionism and imperialism. The point here is not that the government of Syria is perfect or without fault. The point is this: It would be a sad setback for the collective efforts of the Arab peoples to achieve national liberation if Syria was pushed into a civil war, or delivered into the hands of those who have sold their soul’s to Washington and the West.” “One can debate the nature of the demonstrations against the Syrian government several years ago and what led up to them, but today, right now, the opposition is bought, paid for, and acting on behalf of the U.S. and the most reactionary of Arab regimes.” Sources: http://frso.org/about/statements/2011/syria2011.htm (2011) http://frso.org/about/statements/2013/frso_iso_syria.htm (2013) Background information: the other half of the 1999 split in the FRSO (see Leninist section). This faction continued the original FRSO’s Maoist line. It is affiliated to the International Communist Seminar and is arguably the most pro-North Korean of any US party. Trotskyists Leon Trotsky was Stalin’s chief rival to succeed Lenin. Trotsky criticized Stalin’s bureaucracy as well as the concept of socialism in one country, instead arguing that the only way for socialism to succeed in Russia was if other revolutions occurred around the world at the same time; otherwise, the world’s capitalist forces would overwhelm the isolated Russia and reverse the revolution. Trotsky defined Stalin’s USSR as a “degenerated workers’ state” – that is, a state which had originally been truly socialist but had degraded over time through the lack of world revolution and the poisonous Stalinist bureaucracy, though it was still better than a capitalist state. Workers owned the means of production, but not political power. Trotsky was assassinated in 1940, and when Soviet satellite states began popping up in Eastern Europe following World War II, his followers called these satellites “deformed workers’ states”: similar to degenerated workers’ state, but unlike the USSR, they had been stunted from birth. See the introduction for details on the major splits within Trotskyism. Post-Pablo Stance on Syria: supports opposition, critically supports YPG. Linked to the Revolutionary Left Current, a Syrian leftist group which operated a tiny militia called the People’s Liberation Faction from 2014-2015. Asserts that opposition is still democratic. Criticizes indiscriminate shelling by rebels. “Despite the various truces the Assad regime and its allies have indeed continued military offensives in various parts of the country. This is actually the main reason why the ‘peace’ negotiations are stalled.” Critical of PKK and PYD. “The survival of Rojava against attacks from Islamic State is undoubtedly a victory for the left. The Kurdish movement deserves concrete solidarity in its struggle for self-determination, the more so because in Rojava people are trying to construct a progressive alternative.” “However, it was the uprising against the Syrian state that gave the Kurdish movement the chance to form Rojava as the Assad regime decided to focus on fighting the rebels.” Sources: http://internationalviewpoint.org/spip.php?article4449 (2016) http://internationalviewpoint.org/spip.php?article4492 (2016) Background information: the result of the reunification of the original Fourth International in 1963. Calls itself simply the Fourth International, but it’s often called the United Secretariat of the Fourth International (referring to the name of the leadership council from 1963-2003) to distinguish it from other claimants of the “Fourth International” name. Stance on Syria: originally supported uprising, but now critically supports Russians. Said in 2012 that “the economic exploitation of Syria’s workers and peasants by its ruling class, a class subservient to global capital, and the horrific oppression and murderous policies of the Syrian regime to enforce that exploitation, mean that we stand with the Syrian masses in their uprising against the regime.” Later says US took advantage of Assad’s brutality to try to set up new regime. “… in the absence of anything resembling a revolutionary leadership, the democratic and popular thrust of the anti-Assad mobilizations rapidly dissipated.” Alleges US and Gulf monarchies support IS. Critical of Assad, but says “the removal of Assad’s oppressive capitalist Syrian regime is the sole responsibility of the Syrian people, not U.S. imperialism and its reactionary allied forces.” “Syria’s right to self-determination necessarily includes the right of the Syrian government to seek and accept the support of the militia fighters that are today defending Syria against imperialist intervention in several of its manifestations.” Sees Russia as counterbalance to US imperialism. Criticizes YPG for accepting US aid. Sources: http://socialistaction.blogspot.com/2012/02/us-hands-off-syria-victory-to-uprising_25.html (2012) https://socialistaction.org/2016/01/18/u-s-imperialisms-syria-policy/ (2016) Background information: split from the Socialist Workers Party in 1983 as the SWP abandoned Trotskyism. One of the five major US Trotskyist parties today. Semi-affiliated with the USFI, but it disagrees with most other USFI sections on Syria. Stance on Syria: supports opposition. Defends opposition as revolutionary, “mass popular uprising”. “… the main aim of direct U.S. intervention in Syria is to prevent the grassroots popular movement from coming to power.” Sources: http://www.laborstandard.org/syria_in_eye_of_storm.html (2013) http://www.laborstandard.org/syria_index.html (2013) Background information: founded in 1988. Partly exists as a faction within Solidarity (see below). Considered very close to the USFI, though not officially affiliated. Stance on Syria: critically supports opposition. “If initially there was a popular uprising, by the end of 2011 it had transformed itself into an armed conflict along sectarian lines.” “The role of Marxists is to support the creation of independent organizations of the working class and poor, their self-control and defence, fight against Assad’s brutal dictatorship, but without having any illusions in the bourgeois and imperialist military or in the jihadists, who have nothing to offer to the working class, except more death and misery.” Critical of PKK/PYD ideology and of PYD’s ambiguous relationship with regime and support from the West – says they’re trying to balance between two brutal capitalist powers. Highly critical of Russian intervention and motivations behind it. Sources: http://www.socialistworld.net/doc/7384 (2015) http://www.socialistworld.net/doc/7295 (2015) http://www.socialistworld.net/doc/7316 (2015) http://www.socialistworld.net/doc/6579 (2013) Background information: another major Trotskyist international. Leading party is the Socialist Party in England and Wales. Strong emphasis on the role of trade unions. Historically, it pursued the tactic of entryism (joining another party in the hopes of swaying that party to your position), but that was abandoned in 1991-1992. American section is Socialist Alternative, one of the five major Trotskyist parties in the US. Stance on Syria: supported initial protests, but now neutral. Attributes failure of protests to regime violence and weak, unorganized state of working class. Sources: http://socialistappeal.org/news-analysis/international/1191-the-syrian-tragedy-and-the-imperialist-farce.html (2013) http://socialistappeal.org/news-analysis/international/1683-syria-and-the-hypocrisy-of-western-imperialism.html (2015) http://socialistappeal.org/128-latest-news-analysis/international/1085-the-weakness-of-the-syrian-revolution.html (2012) http://www.marxist.com/syria-which-stage-is-the-war-at.htm (2016) Background information: split from the CWI in 1992 after upholding the tactic of entryism. Formerly known as the Committee for a Marxist International. Leading party is Socialist Appeal in the UK. US section is Workers International League. Stance on Syria: supports opposition. Has reposted other parties’ pro-opposition articles on Syria. Sources: http://www.socialistviewpoint.org/marapr_12/marapr_12_32.html (2012) http://www.socialistviewpoint.org/marapr_12/marapr_12_31.html (2011) http://www.socialistviewpoint.org/sepoct_13/sepoct_13_08.html (2013) http://www.socialistviewpoint.org/sepoct_12/sepoct_12_03.html (2012) Background information: split from Socialist Action in 1999-2001. Like the Socialist Workers Party, it views Cuba very positively. Also known as Socialist Viewpoint after their magazine. Stance on Syria: critically supports opposition and YPG. Critical of political solutions that would retain Assad. Sources: http://www.socialism.com/drupal-6.8/articles/eleven-foreign-powers-bombing-syria-why-and-who%E2%80%99s-who (2016) http://www.socialism.com/drupal-6.8/node/2557 (2013) http://www.socialism.com/drupal-6.8/articles/story-behind-syrias-arab-spring-imperialist-aid-can-only-undermine-goals-revolution (2013) http://www.socialism.com/drupal-6.8/statements/freedom-socialist-party-recommendations-june-7-2016-california-state-san-francisco-primar (2016) Background information: split from the Socialist Workers Party in 1964 over a number of differences. Places a special emphasis on radical feminism. One of the five major Trotskyist parties in the US. Stance on Syria: supports opposition. Opposed to internationally-sponsored negotiations. “There is no way out to this impasse the Arabic [sic] country is in, as long as Assad remains in power. And the only way to defeat him is supporting the groups affiliated to the Free Syrian Army, who hold a democratic, independent position; the ones who have not sold, directly or indirectly, to the different forces acting in the conflict, followed by the interest on how to increase their own influence around the region. We must provide weapons to the rebels fighting against the regime and against the self-denominated Islamist groups, with no previous conditioning.” Sources: http://www.socialistworld.net/doc/6579 (2013) http://litci.org/en/category/world/middle-east/syria/ (various articles) http://litci.org/en/first-part-of-the-interview-to-joseph-daer-member-of-revolutionary-left-tendency-of-syria/ (2016) Background information: split from the United Secretariat of the Fourth International in 1982 under the leadership of Nahuel Moreno after disagreeing with the USFI’s decision to endorse guerrilla warfare in Latin America. Leading party is the United Socialist Workers Party in Brazil. American section is Workers’ Voice. Stance on Syria: supports opposition. Criticizes 2016 Russian-American-sponsored truce as a sham. Sources: http://www.uit-ci.org/index.php/noticias-y-documentos/revolucion-arabe/1031–5-anos-de-revolucion-en-siria (2016) Background information: formed in 1995, partially as a split from the International Workers League – Fourth International. Leading party is the Socialist Workers’ Movement in Argentina. American section is Socialist Core. Stance on Syria: supported initial protests, but now neutral. “… Assad’s regime is neither progressive nor anti-imperialist: it is a despotic dictatorship that has, for decades, been implementing neoliberal policies… The Syrian people rose up against these conditions. However, militarization stifled the popular uprising and gave rise to a civil war, in which imperialist countries and regional powers, like Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the Gulf States, that support the Sunni militias, in order to further their reactionary interests, are intervening, through the different factions in struggle.” “The aim [of US support to the rebels] was to let both sides wear themselves out and then attempt a negotiated solution between Assad’s regime and the opposition, with support from Russia.” Sources: http://www.ft-ci.org/No-to-imperialist-intervention-in-Syria?lang=en (2013) http://www.ft-ci.org/Down-with-Assad-s-brutal-repression-No-to-imperialist-interference-and-intervention?lang=en (2012) Background information: split from the International Workers League – Fourth International in 1993. Formerly known as the Trotskyist Fraction – International Strategy. Leading party is the Socialist Workers’ Party in Argentina. No US section. Anti-Pablo Stance on Syria: vaguely supports government. Characterizes war as “CIA-backed regime change operation” in pursuit of US political-economic goals. “From the outset, the US proxy war for regime-change was launched with the aim of depriving Moscow and Tehran of their principal ally in the Arab world in preparation for direct confrontation with both countries.” Sources: http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/09/19/lect-s19.html (2013) http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2016/06/24/pers-j24.html (2016) http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2016/03/28/syri-m28.html (2016) http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2016/03/18/pers-m18.html (2016) Background information: split from the original Fourth International in 1953 (see introduction). Leading party is the Socialist Equality Party in the US, one of the country’s five major Trotskyist parties, which emerged from a 1964 split from the Socialist Workers Party after the SWP joined the re-unified FI. Stance on Syria: supports YPG. “We have supported the uprising of the poor and dispossessed of Syria and will side with the revolution against the Assad regime in the future as well. But the war that is being prepared now has nothing in common with either the progressive goals or the forces of that insurrection.” Sources: http://www.eek.gr/index.php/englishtext/1858-statement-by-the-crfi-hands-off-syria-andt-it-s-people (2013) Background information: a minor Trotskyist international formed in 2004. It generally holds similar positions to the International Committee of the Fourth International. Leading party is the Workers’ Party in Argentina. American section is Refoundation and Revolution, a faction within the multi-tendency group Solidarity (listed further down), though R&R may be defunct. Stance on Syria: unclear. Opposes opposition. Blames NATO and Gulf monarchies for war. Sources: https://www.socialistorganizer.org/images/TheOrganizer/TheOrganizerApril2016.pdf (2016) Background information: a Trotskyist international founded in 1993. The last in a series of internationals formed around the leadership of French Trotskyist Pierre Lambert. Leading party is the International Communist Current in France, though that organization’s current status in unclear. American section is Socialist Organizer, which puts a special emphasis on Latino activism. Stance on Syria: supports opposition. Opposes YPG and SDF, seeing them as imperialist tools and allied with Assad. Accuses both radical Islamists and pro-western high-ranking military defectors of hijacking the revolution. Opposes internationally-sponsored negotiations. Connected to the Leon Sedov Brigade, an Aleppo-based rebel brigade which is currently part of the Levant Front. Sources: http://www.flti-ci.org/siriaaldia/2017/abril/carta_medios_de_vlo.html http://www.flti-ci.org/siriaaldia/noviembre2016/um_aleppo_29nov2016.html http://www.flti-ci.org/columnaopinion/octubre2015/siriayanquis3oct2015_ypg_pkk.html Background information: I can’t find much in the way of this international’s history. The leading section seems to be the Workers Internationalist League in Argentina, which was the leader of a now-defunct international called the Organizing Committee of Principalist Trotskyism (Fourth International). Stance on Syria: neutral. Views YPG as US puppet, ISIS as anti-imperialist. “The setting up of the SDF [Syrian Democratic Forces] was prepared by a year of joint operations in which the YPG served as proxies for the U.S. military. During that time, as Kurdish forces overran ISIS-controlled villages, they repeatedly carried out communalist expulsions, driving Arabs and Turkmen from their homes.” “We have no side in Syria’s squalid civil war between the butcher Assad and various rebel forces dominated by different kinds of Islamists. But we do have a side against the U.S. and other imperialist powers. Thus, while implacable opponents of everything the reactionary cutthroats of ISIS stand for, we take a military side with ISIS when it aims its fire against the imperialist armed forces and their proxies in the region, including the Kurdish nationalist forces in Iraq and Syria. At the same time, while our main opposition is to the imperialists, we also oppose the other capitalist powers, such as Russia and Turkey, involved in Syria and are for all of them to get out.” Sources: http://www.icl-fi.org/english/wv/1091/syria.html (2016) Background information: split from the International Committee of the Fourth International in 1966. Formerly known as the International Spartacist Tendency. Leading party is the Spartacist League in the US, which had split from the Socialist Workers Party in 1964 after the SWP joined the re-unified FI. Stance on Syria: neutral. “In Syria’s civil war, revolutionaries do not support either the brutal Baathist dictatorship or its reactionary Islamist opponents. At the same time, it is necessary to side militarily with any indigenous forces (including Islamists) when they are attacked by the U.S. and other imperialists.” Sources: http://www.bolshevik.org/statements/ibt_20160212_middle_east_chaos.html (2016) Background information: split from the International Communist League – Fourth International in 1982, accusing the Spartacist League’s leader James Robertson of ruthlessly harassing anyone who posed a threat to his leadership. Leading party is the Bolshevik Tendency in the US. Stance on Syria: neutral. Opposes government, but would support it if West invaded. Sources: http://regroupment.org/main/page_syria__portugus.html (2012) Background information: split from the International Bolshevik Tendency in 2008, accusing its leaders of the same abuse of power that led the IBT to split from the ICL-FI. Unclear if it is just a US group or if it has an international following. Stance on Syria: neutral. “… any blows against imperialist intervention and domination, even by ultra-reactionary forces such as the I.S., [are] in the interests of the working class and oppressed peoples of the world.” Does not consider Russia imperialist. Sources: http://www.internationalist.org/defendraqqadriveoutimperialists1605.html (2016) http://www.internationalist.org/flashpointsyria1510.html (2015) Background information: a minor Trotskyist international formed in 1998. Leading party is the Internationalist Group in the US, which had split from the Spartacist League in 1996. The L4I sees the Spartacists’ ICL-FI as insufficiently devoted to three central principles: maintaining an active and distinctly Trotskyist international, remaining active in the labor movement, and defending the Soviet Union and its satellite states as the lesser evils in the face of capitalism. Stance on Syria: unclear. Supported initial protests. Attributes failure of protests to regime brutality, dependence of minorities on Assad. Criticizes opposition as fractious, and sectarian and/or pro-imperialist. Sources: http://www.union-communiste.org/?EN-srch-show-x-14-1763-6620-fef5f026edb9fcedd1eaf92b47db8499.html (2013) http://www.union-communiste.org/?EN-srch-show-x-6-1597-6332-fef5f026edb9fcedd1eaf92b47db8499.html (2012) Background information: I can’t find information about the origins of this Trotskyist international. It places special emphasis on union activity. Its leading party is the Lutte Ouvrière in France. American section is The Spark, which was formed in 1971 a few years after its members split from the Spartacist League for developing sympathies with the Lutte Ouvrière. Other Trotskyists Stance on Syria: supports opposition. “The Syrian Revolution is in a tragic situation. It is attacked on all sides – by the forces of the Assad regime and its regional and international allies, by the open allies of Western imperialism, and by sectarian jihadi groups. Despite their antagonisms, these different forces have a common interest in crushing the original democratic revolutionary movement, which united Syrians of all religious and ethnic backgrounds in the struggle to overthrow the regime.” Sources: http://internationalsocialists.org/wordpress/2014/04/solidarity-with-syrian-revolutionary-socialists/ (2014) http://internationalsocialists.org/wordpress/2015/09/no-to-akp-us-intervention-victory-to-the-syrian-revolution/ (2015) Background information: a Third Camp Trotskyist international formed over a long period of time between the 60s and 90s. Its (now deceased) leader, Tony Cliff, championed the theory that the Stalinist states were not deformed or degenerated workers states, but rather “state capitalist”, or capitalist economies controlled by state bureaucracies with socialist trappings. Leading party is the Socialist Workers Party in the UK (not to be confused with the SWP in the US). American section used to be the International Socialist Organization (see below). Stance on Syria: supports opposition. Very critical of Iran and Russia. Opposed to US-Russian-backed negotiations. Critical of YPG cooperation with government. “Overwhelmingly, these people [those killed in the war] have been slaughtered by the Assad-Iran-Russia Triple Alliance.” “True, Saudi Arabia has funded jihadis, among other militias, but the Saudis and the U.S. are only the number-three culprit in creating the Syrian disaster. Assad is clearly number one, and his allies are number two.” Sources: https://socialistworker.org/2016/03/01/the-lefts-false-logic-on-syria (2016) https://socialistworker.org/2016/03/31/how-did-syria-become-a-burning-country (2016) Background information: formed in 1977. One of the five major US Trotskyist parties. It was the American section of the International Socialist Tendency until 2001, when it was expelled over disagreements on how to view the end of the Cold War. Stance on Syria: supports opposition. Critical of YPG cooperation with government. “Certainly, the choice between an IS caliphate or a restored totalitarian Baathist dictatorship is a choice between the plague and cholera.” “The fact that, despite four and a half years of struggle, Syrian revolutionaries are still fighting Bashar al-Assad is as much a testament to their resolve, and to their popular support, as it is to the utter absence of any forces assisting them for much of that time.” Sources: http://www.workerspower.co.uk/2015/08/revolution-and-counter-revolution-in-syria/ (2015) Background information: a Trotskyist international formed in 1984. It argues that the original Fourth International broke with true Trotskyism in 1951 when it declared that the Stalinist parties in Eastern Europe were still capable of being reformed. Leading party is the Red Flag Platform (formerly known as Workers’ Power) in the UK, which in 2015 joined the Labour Party. Workers’ Power had split from the same group that later became the Socialist Workers Party (UK, not US; see International Socialist Tendency above) in 1974. American section is also known as Workers’ Power. Stance on Syria: supports opposition. Calls PKK/PYD “pro-imperalist” and “petty-bourgeois.” “Inspired by the Egyptian and Tunisian revolutions, the multinational masses of workers and peasants in Syria started to stand up against the injustices imposed on them by the Assad dictatorship and the world economic crisis. We characterize this uprising as a justified attempt to foment a democratic revolution and at the same time to fight for important social demands.” Sources: http://www.thecommunists.net/rcit/joint-statement-syria/ (2016) Background information: split from the League for the Fifth International in 2011. The leading section is in the UK (they simply go by the name RCIT Britain). No US section. Stance on Syria: critically supports opposition. “But the Western imperialists have feared Syria’s popular revolutionary uprising far more [than the Syria-Iran-Hezbollah alliance], because of its potential to advance the struggle against dictatorship and imperialism throughout the region. Thus they have stood by while Assad, armed by Russian imperialism and Iran, slaughtered hundreds of thousands in his counterrevolutionary war, far more than the IS has killed; they have refused to arm even secular democratic rebel forces because they could not trust them to serve their interests; and they have until now refused to clamp down on support for jihadists as long as they were acting primarily to divide and weaken revolutionary forces.” “Our opposition to U.S. imperialism in Syria means absolutely no support for Assad’s rule and no call to defer the struggle against his regime.” “… when it comes to sending arms to rebel forces, we promote the arming only of those that: 1) are independent of foreign powers and committed to defending Syria and all the region’s peoples against imperialism; and 2) are opposed to religious sectarianism and to attacks on civilians.” Sources: http://www.lrp-cofi.org/statements/iraq_092514.html (2014) http://www.lrp-cofi.org/statements/syria_83113.html (2013) Background information: a small Trotskyist international formed in 1992. Known for its theory that the USSR was “statified capitalist”, with some characteristics of capitalism but not as much as Tony Cliff thought. Leading party is the League for the Revolutionary Party in the US, which is descended from the same group from which the International Socialist Organization split. Stance on Syria: supported initial protests, but now neutral. Criticizes opposition for sectarianism. Criticizes PYD for opportunism, authoritarianism and pro-imperialism. Sources: http://www.workersliberty.org/node/26379 (2016) http://www.workersliberty.org/story/2012/02/15/down-assad-liberty-and-democracy-syria (2012) Background information: a Third Camp Trotskyist party in the UK. It originally formed in 1966 as a split from the group that later became the Militant Tendency, which founded the Committee for a Workers’ International (listed earlier); after several mergers and defections, it emerged in its modern form in 1992. AWL holds that the USSR and its satellite states were “bureaucratic collectivist”, the same conclusion that the American Max Shachtman came to after he split from the original Fourth International in 1940, creating the Third Camp. Due to this particularly negative view of the USSR and its satellite states, as well as its allegedly “soft” view of Western imperialism and Zionism, AWL has a poor reputation among other leftist groups. Left communists Left communists emerged as critics of both the Mensheviks and the Bolsheviks. They promoted a highly decentralized socialist government. Rosa Luxemburg was an important influence on left communism. Stance on Syria: – neutral. Supported initial protests. Particularly critical of government and foreign intervention on both sides. Regards war as “imperialist stalemate”. Sources: http://en.internationalism.org/icconline/201510/13468/syria-russian-intervention-escalates-chaos (2015) http://en.internationalism.org/worldrevolution/201207/5029/imperialist-powers-hover-syria-sinks-barbarism (2012) http://en.internationalism.org/forum/1056/internationalist-voice/9215/syria-war-gangsters-crimes-against-humanity (2013) Background information: a left communist international formed in 1975. Leading party is International Revolution in France. American section is known as Internationalism. Stance on Syria: neutral. “In this situation the proletariat in Syria can do or say nothing. It has already been ideologically and materially dismembered by either falling into line to defend one of the competing forces or it has simply become victim of the conflict.” “Opposing these wars without giving support to brutal regimes like that of Assad is the start of opposing the system that survives by them.” Critical of the PKK/PYD; compares YPG to Irish Republican Army – seen by many as “progressive” and “revolutionary” but still a sectarian nationalist militia. “It is this threat of ethnic/sectarian war, which heralds the danger for the future. Ultimately despite the differences between the PKK and the Da’esh, the similarities between the two are what links them. A socialist veneer does not stop an ethnic militia from playing its part in the escalation of the cycle of ethnic conflict, and ethnic cleansing. It is clear in this struggle that the Da’esh is the aggressor, and that the PKK is merely defending its turf. It is also clear that compared to the Da’esh, the PKK looks positively progressive. None of this stops either of them playing their roles in the intensification of ethnic conflict.” Sources: http://www.leftcom.org/en/articles/2013-09-12/syria-another-unending-imperialist-agony (2013) http://www.leftcom.org/en/articles/2014-10-31/the-bloodbath-in-syria-class-war-or-ethnic-war (2014) http://www.leftcom.org/en/articles/2015-10-13/putin%E2%80%99s-latest-move-in-syria (2015) Background information: a left communist international formed in 1983; formerly known as the International Bureau for the Revolutionary Party. Leading party is the Internationalist Communist Party (Battaglia Comunista) in Italy, which had split from Amadeo Bordiga’s International Communist Party (see below) in 1952. American section is the Internationalist Workers Group. Stance on Syria: neutral. “The rival bourgeois factions fighting for power in Syria today, whether led by Assad or the opposition forces managed and manoeuvred mainly from abroad, are indisputably enemies of the Syrian, Middle Eastern and international proletariat.” “But the working class in Syria will be equally oppressed either by the current government or the new government to support US; change hands only business with oil and gas.” (This second quote is translated from the original Italian by Google Translate) Sources: http://www.international-communist-party.org/CommLeft/CL36.htm (2014) http://www.international-communist-party.org/Espanol/LIC25.htm#Siria (2013) Background information: founded in 1943 in Italy; became an international in the 60s. A leading figure was Amadeo Bordiga; Bordigist left communism has similar views of the “vanguard party” to those of Lenin, although Bordiga heavily criticized the authoritarian state that developed as the Bolsheviks emerged from the Russian civil war. In the late 60s and 70s, the ICP began to split into several different organizations, all claiming the original name. The faction linked above is known as “International Communist Party (Il Partito Comunista)” after their newspaper. No American section. Left anarchists “Left anarchism” encompasses all anarchist schools of thought supporting collectivist economic models, such as Mikhail Bakunin-style collectivism, socialism, or syndicalism (essentially, rule by trade unions). Some also identify as communists (though not Marxists) and are thus called anarcho-communists. Left anarchists themselves typically regard the term “left anarchism” as redundant since they believe all true anarchists are economically left-wing and that laissez-faire anarchists or right anarchists are not true anarchists. Stance on Syria: supported early FSA. Critically supports YPG; critical of PKK/PYD ideology and alleged authoritarianism. Critical of negotiations. “Since the Syrian revolution degenerated into a civil war , when the revolting masses or its co-ordinating committees and its local decentralized militias firstly known as free Syrian army were substituted by warlords-led semi-regular groups backed by regional despots ; Syrian revolutionaries became in a very difficult situation : cannot accept the victory of the dictator, at the same time they knew very well that his defeat doesn’t mean liberating the masses from dictatorship but substituting a dictator with another…” Sources: http://i-f-a.org/index.php/article-2/710-about-putin-s-move-into-syria (2015) http://i-f-a.org/index.php/article-2/624-call-for-a-first-mediterranean-anarchist-meeting (2014) http://i-f-a.org/index.php/statements/federation-membre-de-l-ifa/584-anarchist-federation-great-britain-statement-on-rojava (2014) http://i-f-a.org/index.php/statements/ifa/575-against-religious-and-military-dictatorships-rojava-is-hopefull (2014) http://i-f-a.org/index.php/article-2/544-by-zaher-baher-from-haringey-solidarity-group-and-kurdistan-anarchists-forum (2014) Background information: a left anarchist international. Leading affiliate is the Anarchist Federation in France. No American section. Stance on Syria: supported early FSA. Did not see Islamists as allies. I can’t find much writing on Syria later than 2012, so their current position is unclear. Sources: http://www.solfed.org.uk/?q=international/from-a-syrian-anarchist (2012) Background information: an anarcho-syndicalist international. Leading affiliate is the National Confederation of Labor in Spain (CNT in Spanish), which was one half of the CNT-FAI anarchist alliance that played a prominent role in the Spanish Civil War (the FAI, or Iberian Anarchist Federation, is the Spanish affiliate of the International of Anarchist Federations today). Its American section used to be the Workers Solidarity Alliance (see below). Stance on Syria: critically supports YPG. Critical of PKK/PYD ideology. Sources: http://ideasandaction.info/2014/10/rojava-anarcho-syndicalist-perspective/ (2014) Background information: an anarcho-syndicalist group in the US. It left the International Workers Association for unknown reasons, though it essentially has the same ideology. Stance on Syria: there doesn’t seem to be a single, unified stance on Syria. Most articles are generally critically supportive of the YPG and (to a lesser degree) the opposition. Sources: http://www.blackrosefed.org/on-interventions-and-the-syrian-revolution/ (2013) http://www.anarkismo.net/article/29122?search_text=Syria (2016) Background information: a loose platformist network based around a website created in 2005. “Platformism” is a trend within anarcho-communism and anarcho-syndicalism that promotes the organizational philosophies of Nestor Makhno and other Ukrainian and Russian anarchists who led the ultimately-defeated Free Territory in Ukraine during the Russian civil war. Many of Anarkismo’s unofficial “affiliates” were part of the now-defunct International Libertarian Solidarity. Leading “affiliate” is the General Confederation of Labour in Spain, which split from the CNT (see International Workers Association) in 1979 over how to approach the Spanish transition to democracy. Two American “affiliates”: Black Rose Anarchist Federation and Humboldt Grassroots. Others Stance on Syria: critically to strongly supportive of government, depending on individual member party. All or nearly all describe the war as a Western imperialist intervention. Sources: http://www.solidnet.org/search?ordering=&searchphrase=all&searchword=syria (various articles) Background information: an international based around an annual conference first established by the Communist Party of Greece in 1998. Its members are the “official” Communist Parties – usually, but not always, those which were pro-Soviet. Leninists, Stalinists, Maoists, and Hoxhaists are all represented. Leading parties include the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, the Communist Parties ruling China, Laos, Vietnam, and Cuba, the Workers’ Party of Korea (which has officially abandoned Marxism and Leninism but retains ties to the world’s communist parties), and countless others. Among these are the Syrian Communist Party (Bakdash), which is Stalinist, and the Syrian Communist Party (Unified), which is Leninist; both are members of the Ba’ath-led National Progressive Front. American section is the CPUSA, listed earlier. Stance on Syria: vaguely supports government. Calls opposition “terrorists” funded by reactionary imperialists. Apparently, one of the more strongly pro-Assad parties, the Communist Party of Great Britain (Marxist-Leninist), tried unsuccessfully to include an explicit mention of “the Baathist regime led by Bashar al-Assad” in a 2013 declaration on Syria. Sources: http://web.archive.org/web/20141014094403/http://www.icseminar.org/ICS/2013/resolutions_ao/ICS2013-resolution%20Syria-EN.pdf (2013) http://www.lalkar.org/article/219/the-22nd-international-communist-seminar-brussels-31-may-2013-2-june-2013 (2013) Background information: a loose international based around an annual conference hosted by the Workers’ Party of Belgium, first organized in 1996. Members are mostly anti-revisionist (e.g., Stalinist, Maoist, and Hoxhaist), with some sympathetic Leninists, including some of the “official” Communist Parties, meaning that the ICS overlaps with the International Meeting of Communist and Workers’ Parties. The ICS’ current status is unclear: their website is offline, and as far as I can tell, the last meeting was in 2014. Furthermore, the Workers’ Party of Belgium seems to have abandoned anti-revisionism in favor of Eurocommunism (see CPUSA entry). The Syrian Communist Party (Bakdash) was a regular attendant. American parties that regularly attended include the Freedom Road Socialist Organization (Maoist faction) and Revolutionary Organization of Labor. The Workers World Party and the Party for Socialism and Liberation attended occasionally or were invited but did not attend. Stance on Syria: supports YPG. Very critical of both government and opposition. “We declare ourselves against the two imperialist blocks: if there’s an [American] intervention in Syria we will be opposed to it, but we will not support the wave that eulogizes Russia just because of mere folklore, because they are just as imperialist as the Americans.” Dismisses reports of the Rojava government oppressing or expelling non-Kurds. Sources: http://www.icor.info/2013-1/about-the-situation-in-syria-support-the-syrian-and-kurdish-people (2013) http://www.icor.info/2016/closing-statement-of-the-2nd-conference-middle-east (2016) Background information: an anti-revisionist international founded in 2010. Mostly made up of Maoist parties, with some Stalinists, Hoxhaists, and Leninists. Leading parties include the Marxist-Leninist Communist Party in Turkey, the Marxist-Leninist Party of Germany, and the Provisional Central Committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist). American section is the Revolutionary Organization of Labor. Stance on Syria: critically supports opposition. “[The war can only end] if there’s a major change in the position of the Syrian regime. The minimum that might be seen by the opposition as the basis of agreement would be a transitional government, with Bashar al-Assad stepping down — any transitional set-up that would be presided over by Assad would be a non-starter.” “Russia’s deadly raids and the intervention of Iran, Hezbollah, and sectarian Iraqi militias champion this profoundly reactionary, anti-democratic project [the Assad regime].” Sources: http://www.solidarity-us.org/site/node/4642 (2016) http://www.solidarity-us.org/site/internationalstatementsyriairaq (2015) Background information: a multi-tendency leftist group in the US. It was the result of a merger of three Trotskyist groups in 1986, one of which was the same group from which the International Socialist Organization had split. It maintains loose links with the United Secretariat of the Fourth International. Stance on Syria: neutral. Says 2011 protests arose mainly the economic inequality of “crony capitalism.” “For the Syrian working class the best likely outcome in present circumstances from an ending of the civil war is a bourgeois capitalist liberal democracy and at worst an Islamic fundamentalist reactionary theocracy. Any group replacing the Assad regime will have to continue to run Syrian capitalism for the benefit of the Syrian capitalist class.” Sources: http://www.worldsocialism.org/spgb/socialist-standard/2010s/2013/no-1309-september-2013/civil-war-syria (2013) Background information: an “Impossibilist” Marxist international founded in 1904. Impossibilism is particularly critical of the value of social and economic reforms, arguing that such reforms actually strengthen capitalism and should therefore be avoided. It also rejects Lenin’s concept of the vanguard party and democratic centralism. Leading party is the Socialist Party of Great Britain. American section is the World Socialist Party of the United States. Stance on Syria: supports opposition. Supports establishing a no-fly zone. Critical of PYD/YPG’s ambiguous relations with Assad and “unprincipled attacks” on FSA. Sources: http://newsandletters.org/save-aleppo-may-day-solidarity-with-free-syrians/ (2016) http://www.solidarity-us.org/site/internationalstatementsyriairaq (2015) Background information: a Marxist Humanist organization in the US founded in 1955. Originally Trotskyists, its members, led by Raya Dunayevskaya, combined a focus on Marx’s philosophical works with the ethics- and rationalist-focused philosophy of humanism. Dunayevskaya had sided with Shachtman in the 1940 split in the Trotskyist movement and ended up agreeing with Tony Cliff (see International Socialist Tendency) that the USSR was state capitalist. Stance on Syria: critically supports opposition and YPG. Says West is content with handing “a victory to the murderous Assad regime over its internal opponents, more than 200,000 of whom it has slaughtered, and some of whom remain true to the emancipatory ideals of the 2011 uprising.” Sources: http://www.internationalmarxisthumanist.org/articles/isis-carnage-paris-portends-repression-europe-intensified-war-middle-east-kevin-anderson (2015) http://www.internationalmarxisthumanist.org/articles/russian-intervention-in-syria-and-interimperialist-realignment-statement-of-the-international-marxist-humanist-organization (2015) Background information: a small Marxist Humanist international. It was founded in 2010 by the US Marxist Humanists, which was one half of a 2007-2008 split from News & Letters over alleged cliquish leadership and degenerating activity. Stance on Syria: supports government. Says “Syria is being ravaged by a civil war deliberately promoted by Western powers to destabilize the country and prepare it for regime change. The rebels do not speak for the majority of the population.” Sources: http://forodesaopaulo.org/frankfurter-allgemeine-zeitung-confirms-houla-massacre-committed-by-syrian-rebels/ (2012) http://forodesaopaulo.org/final-declaration-of-the-21th-meeting-of-the-sao-paulo-forum/ (2015) Background information: a loose network of Latin American leftist parties founded in 1990. Member parties range from center-left social democrats to the far-left Communist Party of Cuba. Besides the CPC, leading members include the Workers’ Party of Brazil, the Movement for Socialism in Bolivia, the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front in El Salvador, and the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (the party of the late Hugo Chavez). Three American affiliates, all in Puerto Rico: the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party, the Socialist Front, and the Hostosian National Independence Movement. Advertisements

ASP.NET Identity 2.1 is the latest membership and identity management framework provided by Microsoft, this membership system can be plugged to any ASP.NET framework such as Web API, MVC, Web Forms, etc… In this tutorial we’ll cover how to integrate ASP.NET Identity system with ASP.NET Web API , so we can build a secure HTTP service which acts as back-end for SPA front-end built using AngularJS, I’ll try to cover in a simple way different ASP.NET Identity 2.1 features such as: Accounts managements, roles management, email confirmations, change password, roles based authorization, claims based authorization, brute force protection, etc… The AngularJS front-end application will use bearer token based authentication using Json Web Tokens (JWTs) format and should support roles based authorization and contains the basic features of any membership system. The SPA is not ready yet but hopefully it will sit on top of our HTTP service without the need to come again and modify the ASP.NET Web API logic. I will follow step by step approach and I’ll start from scratch without using any VS 2013 templates so we’ll have better understanding of how the ASP.NET Identity 2.1 framework talks with ASP.NET Web API framework. The source code for this tutorial is available on GitHub. I broke down this series into multiple posts which I’ll be posting gradually, posts are: Configure ASP.NET Identity 2.1 with ASP.NET Web API 2.2 (Accounts Management) Setting up the ASP.NET Identity 2.1 Step 1: Create the Web API Project In this tutorial I’m using Visual Studio 2013 and .Net framework 4.5, now create an empty solution and name it “AspNetIdentity” then add new ASP.NET Web application named “AspNetIdentity.WebApi”, we will select an empty template with no core dependencies at all, it will be as as the image below: Step 2: Install the needed NuGet Packages: We’ll install all those NuGet packages to setup our Owin server and configure ASP.NET Web API to be hosted within an Owin server, as well we will install packages needed for ASP.NET Identity 2.1, if you would like to know more about the use of each package and what is the Owin server, please check this post. Install-Package Microsoft.AspNet.Identity.Owin -Version 2.1.0 Install-Package Microsoft.AspNet.Identity.EntityFramework -Version 2.1.0 Install-Package Microsoft.Owin.Host.SystemWeb -Version 3.0.0 Install-Package Microsoft.AspNet.WebApi.Owin -Version 5.2.2 Install-Package Microsoft.Owin.Security.OAuth -Version 3.0.0 Install-Package Microsoft.Owin.Cors -Version 3.0.0 1 2 3 4 5 6 Install-Package Microsoft . AspNet . Identity . Owin -Version 2 . 1 . 0 Install-Package Microsoft . AspNet . Identity . EntityFramework -Version 2 . 1 . 0 Install-Package Microsoft . Owin . Host . SystemWeb -Version 3 . 0 . 0 Install-Package Microsoft . AspNet . WebApi . Owin -Version 5 . 2 . 2 Install-Package Microsoft . Owin . Security . OAuth -Version 3 . 0 . 0 Install-Package Microsoft . Owin . Cors -Version 3 . 0 . 0 Step 3: Add Application user class and Application Database Context: Now we want to define our first custom entity framework class which is the “ApplicationUser” class, this class will represents a user wants to register in our membership system, as well we want to extend the default class in order to add application specific data properties for the user, data properties such as: First Name, Last Name, Level, JoinDate. Those properties will be converted to columns in table “AspNetUsers” as we’ll see on the next steps. So to do this we need to create new class named “ApplicationUser” and derive from “Microsoft.AspNet.Identity.EntityFramework.IdentityUser” class. Note: If you do not want to add any extra properties to this class, then there is no need to extend the default implementation and derive from “IdentityUser” class. To do so add new folder named “Infrastructure” to our project then add new class named “ApplicationUser” and paste the code below: public class ApplicationUser : IdentityUser { [Required] [MaxLength(100)] public string FirstName { get; set; } [Required] [MaxLength(100)] public string LastName { get; set; } [Required] public byte Level { get; set; } [Required] public DateTime JoinDate { get; set; } } 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 public class ApplicationUser : IdentityUser { [ Required ] [ MaxLength ( 100 ) ] public string FirstName { get ; set ; } [ Required ] [ MaxLength ( 100 ) ] public string LastName { get ; set ; } [ Required ] public byte Level { get ; set ; } [ Required ] public DateTime JoinDate { get ; set ; } } Now we need to add Database context class which will be responsible to communicate with our database, so add new class and name it “ApplicationDbContext” under folder “Infrastructure” then paste the code snippet below: public class ApplicationDbContext : IdentityDbContext<ApplicationUser> { public ApplicationDbContext() : base("DefaultConnection", throwIfV1Schema: false) { Configuration.ProxyCreationEnabled = false; Configuration.LazyLoadingEnabled = false; } public static ApplicationDbContext Create() { return new ApplicationDbContext(); } } 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 public class ApplicationDbContext : IdentityDbContext < ApplicationUser > { public ApplicationDbContext ( ) : base ( "DefaultConnection" , throwIfV1Schema : false ) { Configuration . ProxyCreationEnabled = false ; Configuration . LazyLoadingEnabled = false ; } public static ApplicationDbContext Create ( ) { return new ApplicationDbContext ( ) ; } } As you can see this class inherits from “IdentityDbContext” class, you can think about this class as special version of the traditional “DbContext” Class, it will provide all of the entity framework code-first mapping and DbSet properties needed to manage the identity tables in SQL Server, this default constructor takes the connection string name “DefaultConnection” as an argument, this connection string will be used point to the right server and database name to connect to. The static method “Create” will be called from our Owin Startup class, more about this later. Lastly we need to add a connection string which points to the database that will be created using code first approach, so open “Web.config” file and paste the connection string below: <connectionStrings> <add name="DefaultConnection" connectionString="Data Source=.\sqlexpress;Initial Catalog=AspNetIdentity;Integrated Security=SSPI;" providerName="System.Data.SqlClient" /> </connectionStrings> 1 2 3 <connectionStrings> <add name = "DefaultConnection" connectionString = "Data Source=.\sqlexpress;Initial Catalog=AspNetIdentity;Integrated Security=SSPI;" providerName = "System.Data.SqlClient" /> </connectionStrings> Step 4: Create the Database and Enable DB migrations: Now we want to enable EF code first migration feature which configures the code first to update the database schema instead of dropping and re-creating the database with each change on EF entities, to do so we need to open NuGet Package Manager Console and type the following commands: enable-migrations add-migration InitialCreate 1 2 enable-migrations add-migration InitialCreate The “enable-migrations” command creates a “Migrations” folder in the “AspNetIdentity.WebApi” project, and it creates a file named “Configuration”, this file contains method named “Seed” which is used to allow us to insert or update test/initial data after code first creates or updates the database. This method is called when the database is created for the first time and every time the database schema is updated after a data model change. As well the “add-migration InitialCreate” command generates the code that creates the database from scratch. This code is also in the “Migrations” folder, in the file named “<timestamp>_InitialCreate.cs“. The “Up” method of the “InitialCreate” class creates the database tables that correspond to the data model entity sets, and the “Down” method deletes them. So in our case if you opened this class “201501171041277_InitialCreate” you will see the extended data properties we added in the “ApplicationUser” class in method “Up”. Now back to the “Seed” method in class “Configuration”, open the class and replace the Seed method code with the code below: protected override void Seed(AspNetIdentity.WebApi.Infrastructure.ApplicationDbContext context) { // This method will be called after migrating to the latest version. var manager = new UserManager<ApplicationUser>(new UserStore<ApplicationUser>(new ApplicationDbContext())); var user = new ApplicationUser() { UserName = "SuperPowerUser", Email = "taiseer.joudeh@mymail.com", EmailConfirmed = true, FirstName = "Taiseer", LastName = "Joudeh", Level = 1, JoinDate = DateTime.Now.AddYears(-3) }; manager.Create(user, "MySuperP@ssword!"); } 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 protected override void Seed ( AspNetIdentity . WebApi . Infrastructure . ApplicationDbContext context ) { // This method will be called after migrating to the latest version. var manager = new UserManager < ApplicationUser > ( new UserStore < ApplicationUser > ( new ApplicationDbContext ( ) ) ) ; var user = new ApplicationUser ( ) { UserName = "SuperPowerUser" , Email = "taiseer.joudeh@mymail.com" , EmailConfirmed = true , FirstName = "Taiseer" , LastName = "Joudeh" , Level = 1 , JoinDate = DateTime . Now . AddYears ( - 3 ) } ; manager . Create ( user , "MySuperP@ssword!" ) ; } This code basically creates a user once the database is created. Now we are ready to trigger the event which will create the database on our SQL server based on the connection string we specified earlier, so open NuGet Package Manager Console and type the command: update-database 1 update-database The “update-database” command runs the “Up” method in the “Configuration” file and creates the database and then it runs the “Seed” method to populate the database and insert a user. If all is fine, navigate to your SQL server instance and the database along with the additional fields in table “AspNetUsers” should be created as the image below: Step 5: Add the User Manager Class: The User Manager class will be responsible to manage instances of the user class, the class will derive from “UserManager<T>” where T will represent our “ApplicationUser” class, once it derives from the “ApplicationUser” class a set of methods will be available, those methods will facilitate managing users in our Identity system, some of the exposed methods we’ll use from the “UserManager” during this tutorial are: Method Name Usage FindByIdAsync(id) Find user object based on its unique identifier Users Returns an enumeration of the users FindByNameAsync(Username) Find user based on its Username CreateAsync(User, Password Creates a new user with a password GenerateEmailConfirmationTokenAsync(Id) Generate email confirmation token which is used in email confimration SendEmailAsync(Id, Subject, Body) Send confirmation email to the newly registered user ConfirmEmailAsync(Id, token) Confirm the user email based on the received token ChangePasswordAsync(Id, OldPassword, NewPassword) Change user password DeleteAsync(User) Delete user IsInRole(Username, Rolename) Check if a user belongs to certain Role AddToRoleAsync(Username, RoleName) Assign user to a specific Role RemoveFromRoleAsync(Username, RoleName Remove user from specific Role Now to implement the “UserManager” class, add new file named “ApplicationUserManager” under folder “Infrastructure” and paste the code below: public class ApplicationUserManager : UserManager<ApplicationUser> { public ApplicationUserManager(IUserStore<ApplicationUser> store) : base(store) { } public static ApplicationUserManager Create(IdentityFactoryOptions<ApplicationUserManager> options, IOwinContext context) { var appDbContext = context.Get<ApplicationDbContext>(); var appUserManager = new ApplicationUserManager(new UserStore<ApplicationUser>(appDbContext)); return appUserManager; } } 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 public class ApplicationUserManager : UserManager < ApplicationUser > { public ApplicationUserManager ( IUserStore < ApplicationUser > store ) : base ( store ) { } public static ApplicationUserManager Create ( IdentityFactoryOptions < ApplicationUserManager > options , IOwinContext context ) { var appDbContext = context . Get < ApplicationDbContext > ( ) ; var appUserManager = new ApplicationUserManager ( new UserStore < ApplicationUser > ( appDbContext ) ) ; return appUserManager ; } } As you notice from the code above the static method “Create” will be responsible to return an instance of the “ApplicationUserManager” class named “appUserManager”, the constructor of the “ApplicationUserManager” expects to receive an instance from the “UserStore”, as well the UserStore instance construct expects to receive an instance from our “ApplicationDbContext” defined earlier, currently we are reading this instance from the Owin context, but we didn’t add it yet to the Owin context, so let’s jump to the next step to add it. Note: In the coming post we’ll apply different changes to the “ApplicationUserManager” class such as configuring email service, setting user and password polices. Step 6: Add Owin “Startup” Class Now we’ll add the Owin “Startup” class which will be fired once our server starts. The “Configuration” method accepts parameter of type “IAppBuilder” this parameter will be supplied by the host at run-time. This “app” parameter is an interface which will be used to compose the application for our Owin server, so add new file named “Startup” to the root of the project and paste the code below: public class Startup { public void Configuration(IAppBuilder app) { HttpConfiguration httpConfig = new HttpConfiguration(); ConfigureOAuthTokenGeneration(app); ConfigureWebApi(httpConfig); app.UseCors(Microsoft.Owin.Cors.CorsOptions.AllowAll); app.UseWebApi(httpConfig); } private void ConfigureOAuthTokenGeneration(IAppBuilder app) { // Configure the db context and user manager to use a single instance per request app.CreatePerOwinContext(ApplicationDbContext.Create); app.CreatePerOwinContext<ApplicationUserManager>(ApplicationUserManager.Create); // Plugin the OAuth bearer JSON Web Token tokens generation and Consumption will be here } private void ConfigureWebApi(HttpConfiguration config) { config.MapHttpAttributeRoutes(); var jsonFormatter = config.Formatters.OfType<JsonMediaTypeFormatter>().First(); jsonFormatter.SerializerSettings.ContractResolver = new CamelCasePropertyNamesContractResolver(); } } 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 public class Startup { public void Configuration ( IAppBuilder app ) { HttpConfiguration httpConfig = new HttpConfiguration ( ) ; ConfigureOAuthTokenGeneration ( app ) ; ConfigureWebApi ( httpConfig ) ; app . UseCors ( Microsoft . Owin . Cors . CorsOptions . AllowAll ) ; app . UseWebApi ( httpConfig ) ; } private void ConfigureOAuthTokenGeneration ( IAppBuilder app ) { // Configure the db context and user manager to use a single instance per request app . CreatePerOwinContext ( ApplicationDbContext . Create ) ; app . CreatePerOwinContext < ApplicationUserManager > ( ApplicationUserManager . Create ) ; // Plugin the OAuth bearer JSON Web Token tokens generation and Consumption will be here } private void ConfigureWebApi ( HttpConfiguration config ) { config . MapHttpAttributeRoutes ( ) ; var jsonFormatter = config . Formatters . OfType < JsonMediaTypeFormatter > ( ) . First ( ) ; jsonFormatter . SerializerSettings . ContractResolver = new CamelCasePropertyNamesContractResolver ( ) ; } } What worth noting here is how we are creating a fresh instance from the “ApplicationDbContext” and “ApplicationUserManager” for each request and set it in the Owin context using the extension method “CreatePerOwinContext”. Both objects (ApplicationDbContext and AplicationUserManager) will be available during the entire life of the request. Note: I didn’t plug any kind of authentication here, we’ll visit this class again and add JWT Authentication in the next post, for now we’ll be fine accepting any request from any anonymous users. Define Web API Controllers and Methods Step 7: Create the “Accounts” Controller: Now we’ll add our first controller named “AccountsController” which will be responsible to manage user accounts in our Identity system, to do so add new folder named “Controllers” then add new class named “AccountsController” and paste the code below: [RoutePrefix("api/accounts")] public class AccountsController : BaseApiController { [Route("users")] public IHttpActionResult GetUsers() { return Ok(this.AppUserManager.Users.ToList().Select(u => this.TheModelFactory.Create(u))); } [Route("user/{id:guid}", Name = "GetUserById")] public async Task<IHttpActionResult> GetUser(string Id) { var user = await this.AppUserManager.FindByIdAsync(Id); if (user != null) { return Ok(this.TheModelFactory.Create(user)); } return NotFound(); } [Route("user/{username}")] public async Task<IHttpActionResult> GetUserByName(string username) { var user = await this.AppUserManager.FindByNameAsync(username); if (user != null) { return Ok(this.TheModelFactory.Create(user)); } return NotFound(); } } 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 [ RoutePrefix ( "api/accounts" ) ] public class AccountsController : BaseApiController { [ Route ( "users" ) ] public IHttpActionResult GetUsers ( ) { return Ok ( this . AppUserManager . Users . ToList ( ) . Select ( u = > this . TheModelFactory . Create ( u ) ) ) ; } [ Route ( "user/{id:guid}" , Name = "GetUserById" ) ] public async Task < IHttpActionResult > GetUser ( string Id ) { var user = await this . AppUserManager . FindByIdAsync ( Id ) ; if ( user != null ) { return Ok ( this . TheModelFactory . Create ( user ) ) ; } return NotFound ( ) ; } [ Route ( "user/{username}" ) ] public async Task < IHttpActionResult > GetUserByName ( string username ) { var user = await this . AppUserManager . FindByNameAsync ( username ) ; if ( user != null ) { return Ok ( this . TheModelFactory . Create ( user ) ) ; } return NotFound ( ) ; } } What we have implemented above is the following: Our “AccountsController” inherits from base controller named “BaseApiController”, this base controller is not created yet, but it contains methods that will be reused among different controllers we’ll add during this tutorial, the methods which comes from “BaseApiController” are: “AppUserManager”, “TheModelFactory”, and “GetErrorResult”, we’ll see the implementation for this class in the next step. We have added 3 methods/actions so far in the “AccountsController”: Method “GetUsers” will be responsible to return all the registered users in our system by calling the enumeration “Users” coming from “ApplicationUserManager” class. Method “GetUser” will be responsible to return single user by providing it is unique identifier and calling the method “FindByIdAsync” coming from “ApplicationUserManager” class. Method “GetUserByName” will be responsible to return single user by providing it is username and calling the method “FindByNameAsync” coming from “ApplicationUserManager” class. The three methods send the user object to class named “TheModelFactory”, we’ll see in the next step the benefit of using this pattern to shape the object graph returned and how it will protect us from leaking any sensitive information about the user identity. Note: All methods can be accessed by any anonymous user, for now we are fine with this, but we’ll manage the access control for each method and who are the authorized identities that can perform those actions in the coming posts. Step 8: Create the “BaseApiController” Controller: As we stated before, this “BaseApiController” will act as a base class which other Web API controllers will inherit from, for now it will contain three basic methods, so add new class named “BaseApiController” under folder “Controllers” and paste the code below: public class BaseApiController : ApiController { private ModelFactory _modelFactory; private ApplicationUserManager _AppUserManager = null; protected ApplicationUserManager AppUserManager { get { return _AppUserManager ?? Request.GetOwinContext().GetUserManager<ApplicationUserManager>(); } } public BaseApiController() { } protected ModelFactory TheModelFactory { get { if (_modelFactory == null) { _modelFactory = new ModelFactory(this.Request, this.AppUserManager); } return _modelFactory; } } protected IHttpActionResult GetErrorResult(IdentityResult result) { if (result == null) { return InternalServerError(); } if (!result.Succeeded) { if (result.Errors != null) { foreach (string error in result.Errors) { ModelState.AddModelError("", error); } } if (ModelState.IsValid) { // No ModelState errors are available to send, so just return an empty BadRequest. return BadRequest(); } return BadRequest(ModelState); } return null; } } 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 public class BaseApiController : ApiController { private ModelFactory _modelFactory ; private ApplicationUserManager _AppUserManager = null ; protected ApplicationUserManager AppUserManager { get { return _AppUserManager ? ? Request . GetOwinContext ( ) . GetUserManager < ApplicationUserManager > ( ) ; } } public BaseApiController ( ) { } protected ModelFactory TheModelFactory { get { if ( _modelFactory == null ) { _modelFactory = new ModelFactory ( this . Request , this . AppUserManager ) ; } return _modelFactory ; } } protected IHttpActionResult GetErrorResult ( IdentityResult result ) { if ( result == null ) { return InternalServerError ( ) ; } if ( ! result . Succeeded ) { if ( result . Errors != null ) { foreach ( string error in result . Errors ) { ModelState . AddModelError ( "" , error ) ; } } if ( ModelState . IsValid ) { // No ModelState errors are available to send, so just return an empty BadRequest. return BadRequest ( ) ; } return BadRequest ( ModelState ) ; } return null ; } } What we have implemented above is the following: We have added read only property named “AppUserManager” which gets the instance of the “ApplicationUserManager” we already set in the “Startup” class, this instance will be initialized and ready to invoked. We have added another read only property named “TheModelFactory” which returns an instance of “ModelFactory” class, this factory pattern will help us in shaping and controlling the response returned to the client, so we will create a simplified model for some of our domain object model (Users, Roles, Claims, etc..) we have in the database. Shaping the response and building customized object graph is very important here; because we do not want to leak sensitive data such as “PasswordHash” to the client. We have added a function named “GetErrorResult” which takes “IdentityResult” as a constructor and formats the error messages returned to the client. Step 8: Create the “ModelFactory” Class: Now add new folder named “Models” and inside this folder create new class named “ModelFactory”, this class will contain all the functions needed to shape the response object and control the object graph returned to the client, so open the file and paste the code below: public class ModelFactory { private UrlHelper _UrlHelper; private ApplicationUserManager _AppUserManager; public ModelFactory(HttpRequestMessage request, ApplicationUserManager appUserManager) { _UrlHelper = new UrlHelper(request); _AppUserManager = appUserManager; } public UserReturnModel Create(ApplicationUser appUser) { return new UserReturnModel { Url = _UrlHelper.Link("GetUserById", new { id = appUser.Id }), Id = appUser.Id, UserName = appUser.UserName, FullName = string.Format("{0} {1}", appUser.FirstName, appUser.LastName), Email = appUser.Email, EmailConfirmed = appUser.EmailConfirmed, Level = appUser.Level, JoinDate = appUser.JoinDate, Roles = _AppUserManager.GetRolesAsync(appUser.Id).Result, Claims = _AppUserManager.GetClaimsAsync(appUser.Id).Result }; } } public class UserReturnModel { public string Url { get; set; } public string Id { get; set; } public string UserName { get; set; } public string FullName { get; set; } public string Email { get; set; } public bool EmailConfirmed { get; set; } public int Level { get; set; } public DateTime JoinDate { get; set; } public IList<string> Roles { get; set; } public IList<System.Security.Claims.Claim> Claims { get; set; } } 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 public class ModelFactory { private UrlHelper _UrlHelper ; private ApplicationUserManager _AppUserManager ; public ModelFactory ( HttpRequestMessage request , ApplicationUserManager appUserManager ) { _UrlHelper = new UrlHelper ( request ) ; _AppUserManager = appUserManager ; } public UserReturnModel Create ( ApplicationUser appUser ) { return new UserReturnModel { Url = _UrlHelper . Link ( "GetUserById" , new { id = appUser . Id } ) , Id = appUser . Id , UserName = appUser . UserName , FullName = string . Format ( "{0} {1}" , appUser . FirstName , appUser . LastName ) , Email = appUser . Email , EmailConfirmed = appUser . EmailConfirmed , Level = appUser . Level , JoinDate = appUser . JoinDate , Roles = _AppUserManager . GetRolesAsync ( appUser . Id ) . Result , Claims = _AppUserManager . GetClaimsAsync ( appUser . Id ) . Result } ; } } public class UserReturnModel { public string Url { get ; set ; } public string Id { get ; set ; } public string UserName { get ; set ; } public string FullName { get ; set ; } public string Email { get ; set ; } public bool EmailConfirmed { get ; set ; } public int Level { get ; set ; } public DateTime JoinDate { get ; set ; } public IList < string > Roles { get ; set ; } public IList < System . Security . Claims . Claim > Claims { get ; set ; } } Notice how we included only the properties needed to return them in users object graph, for example there is no need to return the “PasswordHash” property so we didn’t include it. Step 9: Add Method to Create Users in”AccountsController”: It is time to add the method which allow us to register/create users in our Identity system, but before adding it, we need to add the request model object which contains the user data which will be sent from the client, so add new file named “AccountBindingModels” under folder “Models” and paste the code below: public class CreateUserBindingModel { [Required] [EmailAddress] [Display(Name = "Email")] public string Email { get; set; } [Required] [Display(Name = "Username")] public string Username { get; set; } [Required] [Display(Name = "First Name")] public string FirstName { get; set; } [Required] [Display(Name = "Last Name")] public string LastName { get; set; } [Display(Name = "Role Name")] public string RoleName { get; set; } [Required] [StringLength(100, ErrorMessage = "The {0} must be at least {2} characters long.", MinimumLength = 6)] [DataType(DataType.Password)] [Display(Name = "Password")] public string Password { get; set; } [Required] [DataType(DataType.Password)] [Display(Name = "Confirm password")] [Compare("Password", ErrorMessage = "The password and confirmation password do not match.")] public string ConfirmPassword { get; set; } } 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 public class CreateUserBindingModel { [ Required ] [ EmailAddress ] [ Display ( Name = "Email" ) ] public string Email { get ; set ; } [ Required ] [ Display ( Name = "Username" ) ] public string Username { get ; set ; } [ Required ] [ Display ( Name = "First Name" ) ] public string FirstName { get ; set ; } [ Required ] [ Display ( Name = "Last Name" ) ] public string LastName { get ; set ; } [ Display ( Name = "Role Name" ) ] public string RoleName { get ; set ; } [ Required ] [ StringLength ( 100 , ErrorMessage = "The {0} must be at least {2} characters long." , MinimumLength = 6 ) ] [ DataType ( DataType . Password ) ] [ Display ( Name = "Password" ) ] public string Password { get ; set ; } [ Required ] [ DataType ( DataType . Password ) ] [ Display ( Name = "Confirm password" ) ] [ Compare ( "Password" , ErrorMessage = "The password and confirmation password do not match." ) ] public string ConfirmPassword { get ; set ; } } The class is very simple, it contains properties for the fields we want to send from the client to our API with some data annotation attributes which help us to validate the model before submitting it to the database, notice how we added property named “RoleName” which will not be used now, but it will be useful in the coming posts. Now it is time to add the method which register/creates a user, open the controller named “AccountsController” and add new method named “CreateUser” and paste the code below: [Route("create")] public async Task<IHttpActionResult> CreateUser(CreateUserBindingModel createUserModel) { if (!ModelState.IsValid) { return BadRequest(ModelState); } var user = new ApplicationUser() { UserName = createUserModel.Username, Email = createUserModel.Email, FirstName = createUserModel.FirstName, LastName = createUserModel.LastName, Level = 3, JoinDate = DateTime.Now.Date, }; IdentityResult addUserResult = await this.AppUserManager.CreateAsync(user, createUserModel.Password); if (!addUserResult.Succeeded) { return GetErrorResult(addUserResult); } Uri locationHeader = new Uri(Url.Link("GetUserById", new { id = user.Id })); return Created(locationHeader, TheModelFactory.Create(user)); } 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 [ Route ( "create" ) ] public async Task < IHttpActionResult > CreateUser ( CreateUserBindingModel createUserModel ) { if ( ! ModelState . IsValid ) { return BadRequest ( ModelState ) ; } var user = new ApplicationUser ( ) { UserName = createUserModel . Username , Email = createUserModel . Email , FirstName = createUserModel . FirstName , LastName = createUserModel . LastName , Level = 3 , JoinDate = DateTime . Now . Date , } ; IdentityResult addUserResult = await this . AppUserManager . CreateAsync ( user , createUserModel . Password ) ; if ( ! addUserResult . Succeeded ) { return GetErrorResult ( addUserResult ) ; } Uri locationHeader = new Uri ( Url . Link ( "GetUserById" , new { id = user . Id } ) ) ; return Created ( locationHeader , TheModelFactory . Create ( user ) ) ; } What we have implemented here is the following: We validated the request model based on the data annotations we introduced in class “AccountBindingModels”, if there is a field missing then the response will return HTTP 400 with proper error message. If the model is valid, we will use it to create new instance of class “ApplicationUser”, by default we’ll put all the users in level 3. Then we call method “CreateAsync” in the “AppUserManager” which will do the heavy lifting for us, inside this method it will validate if the username, email is used before, and if the password matches our policy, etc.. if the request is valid then it will create new user and add to the “AspNetUsers” table and return success result. From this result and as good practice we should return the resource created in the location header and return 201 created status. Notes: Sending a confirmation email for the user, and configuring user and password policy will be covered in the next post. As stated earlier, there is no authentication or authorization applied yet, any anonymous user can invoke any available method, but we will cover this authentication and authorization part in the coming posts. Step 10: Test Methods in”AccountsController”: Lastly it is time to test the methods added to the API, so fire your favorite REST client Fiddler or PostMan, in my case I prefer PostMan. So lets start testing the “Create” user method, so we need to issue HTTP Post to the URI: “http://localhost:59822/api/accounts/create” as the request below, if creating a user went good you will receive 201 response: Now to test the method “GetUsers” all you need to do is to issue HTTP GET to the URI: “http://localhost:59822/api/accounts/users” and the response graph will be as the below: [ { "url": "http://localhost:59822/api/accounts/user/29e21f3d-08e0-49b5-b523-3d68cf623fd5", "id": "29e21f3d-08e0-49b5-b523-3d68cf623fd5", "userName": "SuperPowerUser", "fullName": "Taiseer Joudeh", "email": "taiseer.joudeh@gmail.com", "emailConfirmed": true, "level": 1, "joinDate": "2012-01-17T12:41:40.457", "roles": [ "Admin", "Users", "SuperAdmin" ], "claims": [ { "issuer": "LOCAL AUTHORITY", "originalIssuer": "LOCAL AUTHORITY", "properties": {}, "subject": null, "type": "Phone", "value": "123456782", "valueType": "http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string" }, { "issuer": "LOCAL AUTHORITY", "originalIssuer": "LOCAL AUTHORITY", "properties": {}, "subject": null, "type": "Gender", "value": "Male", "valueType": "http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string" } ] }, { "url": "http://localhost:59822/api/accounts/user/f0f8d481-e24c-413a-bf84-a202780f8e50", "id": "f0f8d481-e24c-413a-bf84-a202780f8e50", "userName": "tayseer.Joudeh", "fullName": "Tayseer Joudeh", "email": "tayseer_joudeh@hotmail.com", "emailConfirmed": true, "level": 3, "joinDate": "2015-01-17T00:00:00", "roles": [], "claims": [] } ] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 [ { "url" : "http://localhost:59822/api/accounts/user/29e21f3d-08e0-49b5-b523-3d68cf623fd5" , "id" : "29e21f3d-08e0-49b5-b523-3d68cf623fd5" , "userName" : "SuperPowerUser" , "fullName" : "Taiseer Joudeh" , "email" : "taiseer.joudeh@gmail.com" , "emailConfirmed" : true , "level" : 1 , "joinDate" : "2012-01-17T12:41:40.457" , "roles" : [ "Admin" , "Users" , "SuperAdmin" ] , "claims" : [ { "issuer" : "LOCAL AUTHORITY" , "originalIssuer" : "LOCAL AUTHORITY" , "properties" : { } , "subject" : null , "type" : "Phone" , "value" : "123456782" , "valueType" : "http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string" } , { "issuer" : "LOCAL AUTHORITY" , "originalIssuer" : "LOCAL AUTHORITY" , "properties" : { } , "subject" : null , "type" : "Gender" , "value" : "Male" , "valueType" : "http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string" } ] } , { "url" : "http://localhost:59822/api/accounts/user/f0f8d481-e24c-413a-bf84-a202780f8e50" , "id" : "f0f8d481-e24c-413a-bf84-a202780f8e50" , "userName" : "tayseer.Joudeh" , "fullName" : "Tayseer Joudeh" , "email" : "tayseer_joudeh@hotmail.com" , "emailConfirmed" : true , "level" : 3 , "joinDate" : "2015-01-17T00:00:00" , "roles" : [ ] , "claims" : [ ] } ] The source code for this tutorial is available on GitHub. In the next post we’ll see how we’ll configure our Identity service to start sending email confirmations, customize username and password polices, implement Json Web Token (JWTs) Authentication and manage the access for the methods. Follow me on Twitter @tjoudeh References

January 15, 2013 at 1:50 AM The Seahawks had a lot of kind words for the 12th Man as they cleaned out their lockers Monday. Fans sent the team off before each road playoff game and, most recently, welcomed the team home Sunday night in defeat… * * * “I was pretty much down most of the flight back. It was a long flight; you’d think that, especially after a loss. But just to see all the fans there to support us, it just felt great. It kind of put a smile on my face just knowing that they’ve got our back, because we battle and we try to do the best we can week in a week out. It just feels great for the 12th Man to have our back like that. They had their kids out there in the cold; it was just a great experience.” — Earl Thomas, safety “I just want to thank the 12th Man for the all the support that they’ve given us this year, through the wins and losses. No matter how cold it is or how hot it is outside, or whatever the circumstances are, they always showed up, and we really appreciate that.” — Golden Tate, wide receiver “It was unbelievable. I think it was really emotional for a lot of guys. I can only speak for myself, but it was emotional because this season has been a tough season for all of us. The emotional roller coaster from the beginning of the season to the eight-win stretch that we had going at the end of the season. Then for it to accumulate to last night and the way that we fought back in the second half, and then to lose the game in the last seconds was just frustrating. Obviously when we came back home, the fans being out there, they showed their support in an unbelievable manner.” — Doug Baldwin, wide receiver “Oh man, the 12th Man is awesome. I couldn’t believe it. I was just like, ‘Imagine if we had won.’ I couldn’t imagine anything better than that. We appreciate the 12th Man. It was awesome just to see everybody supporting us, even after we lost.” — Michael Robinson, fullback “That was amazing, man. Always big, big, big ups to the 12th Man. This is the only team I’ve ever played for, so I know the power of the 12th Man, the spirit they bring, and the support they have all throughout the year. It’s always big ups. If I do leave, I’ll definitely hate it.” — Leroy Hill, linebacker (free agent to be) “It’s amazing to have the fan base that we have. They make the game fun. They make it easier to play your heart out and leave it all on the field, because you know you’re playing for such fantastic fans, and they deserve it.” — Richard Sherman, cornerback “I mean, that’s as good as it gets. Like I say all the time, the ‘Hawks fans, the 12th Man fans are the best in the National Football League. The fact that as soon as we landed, everybody was at the airport, and as soon as we got back here to the practice facility, everybody was here — that was spectacular. It almost disappoints you that much more as players; we feel like we let you down almost. I know they don’t look at it like that, but as a player, you just want to continue to play.” — Russell Wilson, quarterback

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- For Kevin Greene, picking a presenter for his Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinement was an easy call. Almost as easy as he made it look chasing after quarterbacks in his mentor's defensive scheme. Greene announced this week that he has chosen Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator Dom Capers, who coached him in Pittsburgh and Carolina -- and also got him into coaching. Kevin Greene recorded 56 of his 160 career sacks -- third on the all-time list -- under Dom Capers' tutelage. AP Photo/Chuck Burton "No question he's had a remarkable impact in my life and in my family's life," Greene said in a video distributed by the Pro Football Hall of Fame. "He's helped me provide for me and my family -- [wife] Tara and [children] Gavin and Gabby -- so much through the years. He just had such a remarkable impact on my life. No question it's got to be Dom Capers." The induction ceremony is Aug. 6, and while Capers was going to be in town anyway -- the Packers have been selected to play in the annual preseason game against the Indianapolis Colts the following day -- he'll likely have to miss a day of practice or two to head to Canton, Ohio, in advance of the ceremony. When former Packers general manager Ron Wolf was inducted last year, his presenter, his son Eliot, left Packers training camp for a couple of days for the various pre-induction festivities. Eliot Wolf serves as the Packers' director of player personnel. Greene, who spent five seasons as the Packers' outside linebackers coach under Capers, played four of his 15 NFL seasons for Capers -- two with Pittsburgh (1993-94), when Capers was the Steelers' defensive coordinator, and two with Carolina (1996, '98) when Capers was the Panthers' head coach. Of Greene's 160 career sacks -- third all time behind Bruce Smith and Reggie White -- 56 came when he was playing for Capers. The Packers, of course, have another connection to the Hall of Fame weekend this year. Iconic quarterback Brett Favre will also be enshrined. Favre, who played 16 years for the Packers, has yet to say publicly who will present him, although Ron Wolf, who acquired him from the Atlanta Falcons in 1992, would be the logical choice.

PHOENIX — With just hours left before a midnight deadline, Gov. Doug Ducey of Arizona vetoed legislation on Monday that would have prevented law enforcement agencies from releasing the names of officers involved in serious or fatal shootings for 60 days. Proponents of the legislation argued that it allowed for a cooling-off period, easing tensions and helping reduce threats to officers. But the bill attracted the scrutiny of civil rights groups, news organizations in Arizona and even the chiefs of police departments in the state, who worried that shielding officers’ names would limit transparency, stoke distrust of law enforcement and limit the discretion of local officials. And on Monday, the governor said that he shared some of those concerns. “I know the goal of this legislation is to protect officers and their families, and it’s a goal I share,” Governor Ducey said in a letter explaining the veto. He added, “Unfortunately, I don’t believe this bill in its current form best achieves the objectives we share, and I worry it could result in unforeseen problems.” Supporters of the bill said they were motivated by shootings here, but the bill also tapped into broader anxieties that followed the events in Ferguson, Mo., where the officer who fatally shot an unarmed teenager fled his home.

The Ravens have agreed to a four-year, $4.05 million contract with second-round tight end Maxx Williams, according to NFL sources. Williams is due a $1.2 million signing bonus and a total of $2.261 million guaranteed. The Ravens traded up three spots to draft the Minnesota All-American tight end with the 55th overall selection, sending their 58th overall pick in the second round and a fifth-round pick, 158th overall, to the Arizona Cardinals. Williams could quickly emerge as a starter for the Ravens, who lost Owen Daniels to the Denver Broncos in free agency via a three-year, $12 million contract. Williams declared early for the NFL draft despite having two remaining years of eligibility. He caught 61 passes for 986 yards and 13 touchdowns in college. Williams is the son of former New York Giants starting center Brian Williams, a 1989 first-round draft pick. His mother played volleyball at Minnesota. His grandfather played quarterback at Notre Dame and was drafted by the Chicago Bears. At 6 feet 4 and 250 pounds, Williams ran the 40-yard dash in 4.78 seconds, had a 34.5-inch vertical leap, a 9-9 broad jump and a 4.37 20-yard shuttle. Williams was a second-team All-American and a first-team All-Big Ten Conference selection last season. See pictures and 2014 stats for undrafted rookie free agents the Ravens have agreed to terms with. awilson@baltsun.com twitter.com/RavensInsider

Kickstarter is an ALL-or-NOTHING model. If we don't reach our goal everyone is refunded and the project gets nothing. PLEASE help us meet our goal by clicking the green "Back this Project" button! PUPPYCIDE will be a documentary that takes a journey with victims of puppycide, the dogs and their owners. From the moment they meet and seal their emotional bonds to the excruciating trauma of loss, we follow the dog owners' battles for justice with police culture and the legal system, both of which treat puppycides as acceptable collateral damage. With your help, this film will examine why puppycides are increasing, why they are so devastating, and the tools available to prevent them. NOTE: This is our second try as a Kickstarter project. The first was for a feature length film (60+ minutes) with a goal of $100k and we fell short at $60k raised. We, and our supporters, felt it was worth another shot so we're trying again with a goal of $40k with which we'll make a shorter film (30 minutes). We believe that even a shorter documentary can tell the story of PUPPYCIDE in a powerful way. If we reach our goal of $40k quickly we'll update you all with a plan for how we can expand the project with further fundraising. And if we are able to reach $100k this time around we will return to the original feature film target length. New Stretch Goal If we reach $60,000, we'll produce a 45 minute TV version of the film. Once complete, we will begin shopping it to a variety of networks to air and get this message out as widely as possible. The 45 minute length is perfect for one hour TV spots with commercials. We can do this! Introduction Why We Began This Documentary When we first learned about puppycide, we assumed that these must be cases of police responding to threats on their lives from dogs trained to attack by criminal owners. That couldn't be further from the truth. We found scores of videos and news stories about dogs who were laying down, tails wagging, even running away but still shot by officers who used lethal force as their first and only response. We were very upset by the footage and stories and felt a documentary on the topic was in need. We took our cameras on the road, reaching out to victims and capturing their experiences. We also began exploring the police perspective, which is a vital part of this story. While some incidents involve callous officers too quick with the trigger, we found the issue is much bigger than that. The lack of repercussions, policy changes, new equipment, or apologies, demonstrate how systemic this problem is. Experts have explained in interviews how police officers are not currently offered the simple training, tools, and support they need to change. We've found countless people who don't know puppycide is going on and wish to know more about it. That is why we feel this documentary is so important, and why we need your help to tell these tragic stories in a documentary so that PUPPYCIDE can reach the masses. In April, 2012 Michael Paxton's dog Cisco, an Australian Cattle Dog (Blue Heeler), was shot by an APD officer that responded to the wrong address of a domestic disturbance complaint. On Facebook, one can find pages with hundreds of thousands of supporters devoted to justice for victims of puppycides. One-of-a-kind Hoodie Reward What's Done & What's Left to Do As you can see from our demo, a lot of work has already been done. We've flown across the country, from Nashville to Fort Worth to Washington DC and elsewhere, shooting interviews and conducting research. But there is much more to do to complete this project. We need funding to allow us to: travel to incidents as they occur; step-up our inquiries through Freedom of Information requests of police records; shoot more interviews with owners, advocates, public figures and police; research and acquire footage of puppycides caught on tape; interview experts on dog behavior; participate in police ride-alongs and trainings; editing and other post production; and find a home for the finished film. Knowing how much we love our own dogs and how universal the bond is between every family and their dog, we believe that PUPPYCIDE will resonate with audiences and a shine a light on these tragedies. Spread the Word To help us spread the word about PUPPYCIDE like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. Also, visit our website to sign up for email updates on our progress. Thank you for supporting this documentary we are so passionate about! - Oz & Patrick Oz with Freedom and Bailey, and Patrick with Asta. Infographic from Pets Advisor

Peruvian animals make Bangkok debut A variety of exotic creatures from Peru will be flown in for the "We're From Machu Picchu" fair at Seacon Square, Srinakarin Road, from tomorrow to April 2. Set in the atmosphere of the historic sanctuary of Machu Picchu, which is hailed as one of the New Seven Wonders of the World, the fair is a rare chance to witness the llama, a 40-million-year-old species that migrated from the central plains of North America to South America about 3 million years ago and became the Inca's "beast of burden". Accompanying the llamas will be other species of Peru's wildlife, including the alpaca, whose feathers are used to make garments and apparel; mara, a cavy with long legs and a short tail; rhinoceros iguana, an endangered species of lizard; greater rhea, a flightless bird; white-head eagle; golden eagle; and a Harris's hawk. The event will also feature rarely seen animals from America such as the common squirrel monkey, white-eared marmoset, snowy owl, paca, sloth, iguana, caiman, green iguana, dwarf crocodile, raccoon, coati, capybara, anacondas, white lion, white raccoon dog, and a variety of birds, turtles and tortoises. Visitors are invited to feed the llamas and alpacas and shop for pets from farms and related products at special prices from 50 shops. Call 02-721-8888.

PORTSMOUTH � A man was found dead on a lawn off Heritage Avenue Friday afternoon, and his cause of death is believed to be a self-inflicted shotgun wound, said Police Chief Robert Merner. Police and firefighters were called to 345 Heritage Ave., a U.S. Postal Service sorting facility, on Sept. 15 at about 2:45 p.m., when the deceased was discovered. Merner said a mechanic test driving a car was in the front parking lot checking under the hood of a car when he looked toward the nearby elevated lawn and saw the deceased next to a wood line. The police chief said the man, in his 50s or 60s, was found next to the shotgun, and it's believed he was there for 24 to 36 hours before he was found. He said police do not believe the deceased, a white male with a grey beard, was a postal employee. Anyone with information can leave anonymous tips with Seacoast Crime Stoppers online at seacoastcrimestoppers.com, by calling (603) 431-1199, or by texting CRIMES (274637) and including TIPSCS in the message. Anyone considering suicide is urged to call call 911 or 1-800-SUICIDE (1-800-784-2433). For information about suicide prevention and to get help for loved ones, log onto the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

Poor Donald Trump, so late to the lesson that so many plutocrats before him learned: You can’t find good help. Jeff Sessions? What a bust. True, he was never the nimblest newt in the swamp and had all that racial muck in his past. But he mirrored his master’s irreverence and atavism, with slighter dimensions and a Southern accent: Donald in a Dixie cup. Surely Sessions and his Justice Department could be expected to accomplish something as straightforward as keeping the Muslims at bay. Hah. More than four months since the inauguration, there’s meager, flickering hope for the travel ban that wasn’t a travel ban until it became a travel ban again. The fault for that cannot possibly lie with its foundation of bigotry, its shoddy conception or the president’s own sloppy and shifting characterizations of it over time. No, there must be a fall guy with less shimmering tresses. The buck stops anywhere but hair. So does the pound, the euro and every last bit of spare change and pocket lint. If Trump is feuding with the London mayor, it’s the mayor who should be abashed. If Trump is at odds with Angela Merkel, she must have something to apologize for. Never mind his baseless tweets and boundless pique. He’s the American president, they’re not, and global hegemony means never having to say you’re sorry.

The 1989 Nintendo Game Boy , which established and dominated the handheld market for ten years. A handheld game console, or simply handheld console, is a small, portable self-contained video game console with a built-in screen, game controls, and speakers.[1] Handheld game consoles are smaller than home video game consoles and contain the console, screen, speakers, and controls in one unit, allowing people to carry them and play them at any time or place.[2][3] In 1976, Mattel introduced the first handheld electronic game with the release of Auto Race.[4] Later, several companies—including Coleco and Milton Bradley—made their own single-game, lightweight table-top or handheld electronic game devices.[5] The oldest true handheld game console with interchangeable cartridges is the Milton Bradley Microvision in 1979.[6] Nintendo is credited with popularizing the handheld console concept with the release of the Game Boy in 1989[3] and continues to dominate the handheld console market.[7][8] History [ edit ] Origins [ edit ] The origins of handheld game consoles are found in handheld and tabletop electronic game devices of the 1970s and early 1980s. These electronic devices are capable of playing only a single game,[3] they fit in the palm of the hand or on a tabletop, and they may make use of a variety of video displays such as LED, VFD, or LCD.[9] In 1978, handheld electronic games were described by Popular Electronics magazine as "nonvideo electronic games" and "non-TV games" as distinct from devices that required use of a television screen.[10] Handheld electronic games, in turn, find their origins in the synthesis[citation needed] of previous handheld and tabletop electro-mechanical devices such as Waco's Electronic Tic-Tac-Toe (1972)[9] Cragstan's Periscope-Firing Range (1951),[11] and the emerging optoelectronic-display-driven calculator market of the early 1970s.[12][13] This synthesis happened in 1976, when "Mattel began work on a line of calculator-sized sports games that became the world's first handheld electronic games. The project began when Michael Katz, Mattel's new product category marketing director, told the engineers in the electronics group to design a game the size of a calculator, using LED (light-emitting diode) technology."[14] our big success was something that I conceptualized—the first handheld game. I asked the design group to see if they could come up with a game that was electronic that was the same size as a calculator. —Michael Katz, former marketing director, Mattel Toys.[14] Game & Watch The result was the 1976 release of Auto Race.[15] Followed by Football later in 1977,[16][17] the two games were so successful that according to Katz, "these simple electronic handheld games turned into a '$400 million category.'"[9] Mattel would later win the honor of being recognized by the industry for innovation in handheld game device displays.[18] Soon, other manufacturers including Coleco, Parker Brothers, Milton Bradley, Entex, and Bandai[5] began following up with their own tabletop and handheld electronic games. In 1979 the LCD-based Microvision, designed by Smith Engineering and distributed by Milton-Bradley,[19] became the first handheld game console and the first to use interchangeable game cartridges.[6] The Microvision game Cosmic Hunter (1981) also introduced the concept of a directional pad on handheld gaming devices,[20] and is operated by using the thumb to manipulate the on-screen character in any of four directions.[21] In 1979, Gunpei Yokoi, traveling on a bullet train, saw a bored businessman playing with an LCD calculator by pressing the buttons. Yokoi then thought of an idea for a watch that doubled as a miniature game machine for killing time.[22] Starting in 1980, Nintendo began to release a series of electronic games designed by Yokoi called the Game & Watch games.[23] Taking advantage of the technology used in the credit-card-sized calculators that had appeared on the market, Yokoi designed the series of LCD-based games to include a digital time display in the corner of the screen.[24] For later, more complicated Game & Watch games, Yokoi invented a cross shaped directional pad or "D-pad" for control of on-screen characters.[25] Yokoi also included his directional pad on the NES controllers, and the cross-shaped thumb controller soon became standard on game console controllers and ubiquitous across the video game industry since.[26][27] When Yokoi began designing Nintendo's first handheld game console, he came up with a device that married the elements of his Game & Watch devices and the Famicom console,[28] including both items' D-pad controller. The result was the Nintendo Game Boy. In 1982, the Bandai LCD Solarpower was the first solar-powered gaming device. Some of its games, such as the horror-themed game Terror House, features two LCD panels, one stacked on the other, for an early 3D effect.[29] In 1983, Takara Tomy's Tomytronic 3D simulates 3D by having two LCD panels that were lit by external light through a window on top of the device, making it the first dedicated home video 3D hardware.[30] Beginnings [ edit ] The late 1980s and early 1990s saw the beginnings of the handheld game console industry as we know it, after the demise of the Microvision. As backlit LCD game consoles with color graphics consume a lot of power, they were not battery-friendly like the non-backlit original Game Boy whose monochrome graphics allowed longer battery life. By this point, rechargeable battery technology had not yet matured and so the more advanced game consoles of the time such as the Sega Game Gear and Atari Lynx did not have nearly as much success as the Game Boy. Even though third-party rechargeable batteries were available for the battery-hungry alternatives to the Game Boy, these batteries employed a nickel-cadmium process and had to be completely discharged before being recharged to ensure maximum efficiency; lead-acid batteries could be used with automobile circuit limiters (cigarette lighter plug devices); but the batteries had mediocre portability. The later NiMH batteries, which do not share this requirement for maximum efficiency, were not released until the late 1990s, years after the Game Gear, Atari Lynx, and original Game Boy had been discontinued. During the time when technologically superior handhelds had strict technical limitations, batteries had a very low mAh rating since batteries with heavy power density were not yet available. Modern game systems such as the Nintendo DS and PlayStation Portable have rechargeable Lithium-Ion batteries with proprietary shapes. Other seventh-generation consoles such as the GP2X use standard alkaline batteries. Because the mAh rating of alkaline batteries has increased since the 1990s, the power needed for handhelds like the GP2X may be supplied by relatively few batteries. Game Boy [ edit ] The original Game Boy Nintendo released the Game Boy on April 21, 1989 (September 1990 for the UK). The design team headed by Gunpei Yokoi had also been responsible for the Game & Watch system, as well as the Nintendo Entertainment System games Metroid and Kid Icarus. The Game Boy came under scrutiny by some industry critics, saying that the monochrome screen was too small, and the processing power was inadequate. The design team had felt that low initial cost and battery economy were more important concerns, and when compared to the Microvision, the Game Boy was a huge leap forward. Yokoi recognized that the Game Boy needed a killer app—at least one game that would define the console, and persuade customers to buy it. In June 1988, Minoru Arakawa, then-CEO of Nintendo of America saw a demonstration of the game Tetris at a trade show. Nintendo purchased the rights for the game, and packaged it with the Game Boy system as a launch title. It was almost an immediate hit. By the end of the year more than a million units were sold in the US.[31] As of March 31, 2005, the Game Boy and Game Boy Color combined to sell over 118 million units worldwide.[32][33] Atari Lynx [ edit ] Atari Lynx In 1987, Epyx created the Handy Game; a device that would turn into the Atari Lynx in 1989. It is the first color handheld console ever made, as well as the first with a backlit screen. It also features networking support with up to 17 other players, and advanced hardware that allows the zooming and scaling of sprites. The Lynx can also be turned upside down to accommodate left-handed players. However, all these features came at a very high price point, which drove consumers to seek cheaper alternatives. The Lynx is also very unwieldy, consumes batteries very quickly, and lacked the third-party support enjoyed by its competitors. Due to its high price, short battery life, production shortages, a dearth of compelling games, and Nintendo's aggressive marketing campaign, and despite a redesign in 1991, the Lynx became a commercial failure. Despite this, companies like Telegames helped to keep the system alive long past its commercial relevance, and when new owner Hasbro released the rights to develop for the public domain, independent developers like Songbird have managed to release new commercial games for the system every year until 2004's Winter Games. TurboExpress [ edit ] TurboExpress handheld The TurboExpress is a portable version of the TurboGrafx, released in 1990 for $249.99 (the price was briefly raised to $299.99, soon dropped back to $249.99, and by 1992 it was $199.99). Its Japanese equivalent is the PC Engine GT. It is the most advanced handheld of its time and can play all the TurboGrafx-16's games (which are on a small, credit-card sized media called HuCards). It has a 66 mm (2.6 in.) screen, the same as the original Game Boy, but in a much higher resolution, and can display 64 sprites at once, 16 per scanline, in 512 colors. Although the hardware can only handle 481 simultaneous colors. It has 8 kilobytes of RAM. The Turbo runs the HuC6820 CPU at 1.79 or 7.16 MHz. The optional "TurboVision" TV tuner includes RCA audio/video input, allowing users to use TurboExpress as a video monitor. The "TurboLink" allowed two-player play. Falcon, a flight simulator, included a "head-to-head" dogfight mode that can only be accessed via TurboLink. However, very few TG-16 games offered co-op play modes especially designed with the TurboExpress in mind. Bitcorp Gamate [ edit ] Gamate and game cards The Bitcorp Gamate is the one of the first handheld game systems created in response to the Nintendo Game Boy. It was released in Asia in 1990 and distributed worldwide by 1991. Like the Sega Game Gear, it was horizontal in orientation and like the Game Boy, required 4 AA batteries. Unlike many later Game Boy clones, its internal components were professionally assembled (no "glop-top" chips). Unfortunately the system's fatal flaw is its screen. Even by the standards of the day, its screen is rather difficult to use, suffering from similar motion blur problems that were common complaints with the first generation Game Boys. Likely because of this fact sales were quite poor, and Bitcorp closed by 1992. However, new games continued to be published for the Asian market, possibly as late as 1994. The total number of games released for the system remains unknown. Gamate games were designed for stereo sound, but the console is only equipped with a mono speaker. Sega Game Gear [ edit ] Sega Game Gear The Game Gear is the third color handheld console, after the Lynx and the TurboExpress; produced by Sega. Released in Japan in 1990 and in North America and Europe in 1991, it is based on the Master System, which gave Sega the ability to quickly create Game Gear games from its large library of games for the Master System. While never reaching the level of success enjoyed by Nintendo, the Game Gear proved to be a fairly durable competitor, lasting longer than any other Game Boy rivals. While the Game Gear is most frequently seen in black or navy blue, it was also released in a variety of additional colors: red, light blue, yellow, clear, and violet. All of these variations were released in small quantities and frequently only in the Asian market. Following Sega's success with the Game Gear, they began development on a successor during the early 1990s, which was intended to feature a touchscreen interface, many years before the Nintendo DS. However, such a technology was very expensive at the time, and the handheld itself was estimated to have cost around $289 were it to be released. Sega eventually chose to shelve the idea and instead release the Genesis Nomad, a handheld version of the Genesis, as the successor.[34] Watara Supervision [ edit ] The Watara Supervision with tilting screen. The Watara Supervision was released in 1992 in an attempt to compete with the Nintendo Game Boy. The first model was designed very much like a Game Boy, but it is grey in color and has a slightly larger screen. The second model was made with a hinge across the center and can be bent slightly to provide greater comfort for the user. While the system did enjoy a modest degree of success, it never impacted the sales of Nintendo or Sega. The Supervision was redesigned a final time as "The Magnum". Released in limited quantities it was roughly equivalent to the Game Boy Pocket. It was available in three colors: yellow, green and grey. Watara designed many of the games themselves, but did receive some third party support, most notably from Sachen. A TV adapter was available in both PAL and NTSC formats that could transfer the Supervision's black-and-white palette to 4 colors, similar in some regards to the Super Game Boy from Nintendo. Hartung Game Master [ edit ] The Hartung Game Master is an obscure handheld released at an unknown point in the early 1990s. Its graphics were much lower than most of its contemporaries, similar in complexity to the Atari 2600. It was available in black, white, and purple, and was frequently rebranded by its distributors, such as Delplay, Videojet and Virella. The exact number of games released is not known, but is likely around 20. The system most frequently turns up in Europe and Australia. Late 1990s [ edit ] By this time, the lack of significant development in Nintendo's product line began allowing more advanced systems such as the Neo Geo Pocket Color and the WonderSwan Color to be developed. Sega Nomad [ edit ] Sega Nomad The Nomad was released in October 1995 in North America only.[35][36] The release was five years into the market span of the Genesis, with an existing library of more than 500 Genesis games. According to former Sega of America research and development head Joe Miller, the Nomad was not intended to be the Game Gear's replacement and believes that there was little planning from Sega of Japan for the new handheld.[37] Sega was supporting five different consoles: Saturn, Genesis, Game Gear, Pico, and the Master System, as well as the Sega CD and 32X add-ons. In Japan, the Mega Drive had never been successful and the Saturn was more successful than Sony's PlayStation, so Sega Enterprises CEO Hayao Nakayama decided to focus on the Saturn.[38] By 1999, the Nomad was being sold at less than a third of its original price.[39] Game Boy Pocket [ edit ] The 1st release Game Boy Pocket The Game Boy Pocket is a redesigned version of the original Game Boy having the same features. It was released in 1996. Notably, this variation is smaller and lighter. It comes in seven different colors; red, yellow, green, black, clear, silver, blue, and pink. It has space for two AAA batteries, which provide approximately 10 hours of game play.[40] The screen was changed to a true black-and-white display, rather than the "pea soup" monochromatic display of the original Game Boy.[41] Although, like its predecessor, the Game Boy Pocket has no backlight to allow play in a darkened area, it did notably improve visibility and pixel response-time (mostly eliminating ghosting).[42] Another notable improvement over the original Game Boy is a black-and-white display screen, rather than the green-tinted display of the original Game Boy, that also featured improved response time for less blurring during motion. The Game Boy Pocket takes two AAA batteries as opposed to four AA batteries for roughly ten hours of gameplay. The first model of the Game Boy Pocket did not have an LED to show battery levels, but the feature was added due to public demand. The Game Boy Pocket was not a new software platform and played the same software as the original Game Boy model.[43] The Game.com (pronounced in TV commercials as "game com", not "game dot com", and not capitalized in marketing material) is a handheld game console released by Tiger Electronics in September 1997. It featured many new ideas for handheld consoles and was aimed at an older target audience, sporting PDA-style features and functions such as a touch screen and stylus. However, Tiger hoped it would also challenge Nintendo's Game Boy and gain a following among younger gamers too. Unlike other handheld game consoles, the first game.com consoles included two slots for game cartridges, which would not happen again until the Tapwave Zodiac, the DS and DS Lite, and could be connected to a 14.4 kbit/s modem. Later models had only a single cartridge slot. Game Boy Color [ edit ] The Game Boy Color was the first handheld by Nintendo featuring Colors The Game Boy Color (also referred to as GBC or CGB) is Nintendo's successor to the Game Boy and was released on October 21, 1998, in Japan and in November of the same year in the United States. It features a color screen, and is slightly bigger than the Game Boy Pocket. The processor is twice as fast as a Game Boy's and has twice as much memory. It also had an infrared communications port for wireless linking which did not appear in later versions of the Game Boy, such as the Game Boy Advance. The Game Boy Color was a response to pressure from game developers for a new system, as they felt that the Game Boy, even in its latest incarnation, the Game Boy Pocket, was insufficient. The resulting product was backward compatible, a first for a handheld console system, and leveraged the large library of games and great installed base of the predecessor system. This became a major feature of the Game Boy line, since it allowed each new launch to begin with a significantly larger library than any of its competitors. As of March 31, 2005, the Game Boy and Game Boy Color combined to sell 118.69 million units worldwide.[32][33] The console is capable of displaying up to 56 different colors simultaneously on screen from its palette of 32,768, and can add basic four-color shading to games that had been developed for the original Game Boy. It can also give the sprites and backgrounds separate colors, for a total of more than four colors. Neo Geo Pocket Color [ edit ] Neo Geo Pocket Color The Neo Geo Pocket Color (or NGPC) was released in 1999 in Japan, and later that year in the United States and Europe. It is a 16-bit color handheld game console designed by SNK, the maker of the Neo Geo home console and arcade machine.[44] It came after SNK's original Neo Geo Pocket monochrome handheld, which debuted in 1998 in Japan. In 2000 following SNK's purchase by Japanese Pachinko manufacturer Aruze, the Neo Geo Pocket Color was dropped from both the US and European markets, purportedly due to commercial failure.[45] The system seemed well on its way to being a success in the U.S. It was more successful than any Game Boy competitor since Sega's Game Gear, but was hurt by several factors, such as SNK's infamous lack of communication with third-party developers, and anticipation of the Game Boy Advance.[46] The decision to ship U.S. games in cardboard boxes in a cost-cutting move rather than hard plastic cases that Japanese and European releases were shipped in may have also hurt US sales.[47] Wonderswan Color [ edit ] The Wonderswan Color The WonderSwan Color is a handheld game console designed by Bandai. It was released on December 9, 2000, in Japan,[48] Although the WonderSwan Color was slightly larger and heavier (7 mm and 2 g) compared to the original WonderSwan, the color version featured 512 kB[49] of RAM and a larger color LCD screen. In addition, the WonderSwan Color is compatible with the original WonderSwan library of games. Prior to WonderSwan's release, Nintendo had virtually a monopoly in the Japanese video game handheld market. After the release of the WonderSwan Color, Bandai took approximately 8% of the market share in Japan partly due to its low price of 6800 yen (approximately US$65).[49] Another reason for the WonderSwan's success in Japan was the fact that Bandai managed to get a deal with Square to port over the original Famicom Final Fantasy games with improved graphics and controls.[49] However, with the popularity of the Game Boy Advance and the reconciliation between Square and Nintendo, the WonderSwan Color and its successor, the SwanCrystal quickly lost its competitive advantage. Early 2000s [ edit ] The 2000s saw a major leap in innovation, particularly in the second half with the release of the DS and PSP. Game Boy Advance [ edit ] The Game Boy Advance was a major upgrade to the Game Boy line In 2001, Nintendo released the Game Boy Advance (GBA or AGB), which added two shoulder buttons, a larger screen, and more computing power than the Game Boy Color. The design was revised two years later when the Game Boy Advance SP (GBA SP), a more compact version, was released. The SP features a "clamshell" design (folding open and closed, like a laptop computer), as well as a frontlit color display and rechargeable battery. Despite the smaller form factor, the screen remained the same size as that of the original. In 2005, the Game Boy Micro was released. This revision sacrifices screen size and backwards compatibility with previous Game Boys for a dramatic reduction in total size and a brighter backlit screen. A new SP model with a backlit screen was released in some regions around the same time. Along with the Nintendo GameCube, the GBA also introduced the concept of "connectivity": using a handheld system as a console controller. A handful of games use this feature, most notably Animal Crossing, Pac-Man Vs., Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, Metroid Prime, and Sonic Adventure 2: Battle. As of December 31, 2007, the GBA, GBA SP, and the Game Boy Micro combined have sold 80.72 million units worldwide.[50] Game Park 32 [ edit ] GP32 The original GP32 was released in 2001 by the South Korean company Game Park a few months after the launch of the Game Boy Advance. It featured a 32-bit CPU, 133 MHz processor, MP3 and Divx player, and e-book reader. SmartMedia cards were used for storage, and could hold up to 128mb of anything downloaded through a USB cable from a PC. The GP32 was redesigned in 2003. A front-lit screen was added and the new version was called GP32 FLU (Front Light Unit). In summer 2004, another redesign, the GP32 BLU, was made, and added a backlit screen. This version of the handheld was planned for release outside South Korea; in Europe, and it was released for example in Spain (VirginPlay was the distributor). While not a commercial success on a level with mainstream handhelds (only 30,000 units were sold), it ended up being used mainly as a platform for user-made applications and emulators of other systems, being popular with developers and more technically adept users.[51] N-Gage QD Nokia released the N-Gage in 2003. It was designed as a combination MP3 player, cellphone, PDA, radio, and gaming device. The system received much criticism alleging defects in its physical design and layout, including its vertically oriented screen and requirement of removing the battery to change game cartridges. The most well known of these was "sidetalking", or the act of placing the phone speaker and receiver on an edge of the device instead of one of the flat sides, causing the user to appear as if they are speaking into a taco. The N-Gage QD was later released to address the design flaws of the original. However, certain features available in the original N-Gage, including MP3 playback, FM radio reception, and USB connectivity were removed. Second generation of N-Gage launched on April 3, 2008[52] in the form of a service for selected Nokia Smartphones. Cybiko [ edit ] Cybiko Classic with extended antenna on the main desktop. The Cybiko is a Russian hand-held computer introduced in May 2000 by David Yang's company and designed for teenage audiences, featuring its own two-way radio text messaging system. It has over 430 "official" freeware games and applications. Because of the text messaging system, it features a QWERTY keyboard that was used with a stylus. An MP3 player add-on was made for the unit as well as a SmartMedia card reader. The company stopped manufacturing the units after two product versions and only a few years on the market. Cybikos can communicate with each other up to a maximum range of 300 metres (0.19 miles). Several Cybikos can chat with each other in a wireless chatroom. Cybiko Classic: There were two models of the Classic Cybiko. Visually, the only difference was that the original version had a power switch on the side, whilst the updated version used the "escape" key for power management. Internally, the differences between the two models were in the internal memory, and the location of the firmware. Cybiko Xtreme: The Cybiko Xtreme was the second-generation Cybiko handheld. It featured various improvements over the original Cybiko, such as a faster processor, more RAM, more ROM, a new operating system, a new keyboard layout and case design, greater wireless range, a microphone, improved audio output, and smaller size. Tapwave Zodiac [ edit ] In 2003, Tapwave released the Zodiac. It was designed to be a PDA-handheld game console hybrid. It supported photos, movies, music, Internet, and documents. The Zodiac used a special version Palm OS 5, 5.2T, that supported the special gaming buttons and graphics chip. Two versions were available, Zodiac 1 and 2, differing in memory and looks. The Zodiac line ended in July 2005 when Tapwave declared bankruptcy. Mid 2000s [ edit ] Nintendo DS [ edit ] The Nintendo DS has two screens (the lower of which is a touchscreen), a microphone and Wi-Fi connectivity. The Nintendo DS was released in November 2004. Among its new features were the incorporation of two screens, a touchscreen, wireless connectivity, and a microphone port. As with the Game Boy Advance SP, the DS features a clamshell design, with the two screens aligned vertically on either side of the hinge. The DS's lower screen is touch sensitive, designed to be pressed with a stylus, a user's finger or a special "thumb pad" (a small plastic pad attached to the console's wrist strap, which can be affixed to the thumb to simulate an analog stick). More traditional controls include four face buttons, two shoulder buttons, a D-pad, and "Start" and "Select" buttons. The console also features online capabilities via the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection and ad-hoc wireless networking for multiplayer games with up to sixteen players. It is backwards-compatible with all Game Boy Advance games, but not games designed for the Game Boy or Game Boy Color. In January 2006, Nintendo revealed an updated version of the DS: the Nintendo DS Lite (released on March 2, 2006, in Japan) with an updated, smaller form factor (42% smaller and 21% lighter than the original Nintendo DS), a cleaner design, longer battery life, and brighter, higher-quality displays, with adjustable brightness. It is also able to connect wirelessly with Nintendo's Wii console. In October 2008, Nintendo announced the Nintendo DSi, with larger, 3.25-inch screens and two integrated cameras. It has an SD card storage slot in place of the Game Boy Advance slot, plus internal flash memory for storing downloaded games. It was released on November 1, 2008, in Japan, and was released in North America April 5, 2009, and April 3, 2009, in Europe. As of December 31, 2009, the Nintendo DS, Nintendo DS Lite and Nintendo DSi combined have sold 125.13 million units worldwide.[53] In 2010 Nintendo released a larger version of the DSi, called the DSi XL. Game King [ edit ] The GameKing 2. The GameKing is a handheld game console released by the Chinese company TimeTop in 2004. The first model while original in design owes a large debt to Nintendo's Game Boy Advance. The second model, the GameKing 2, is believed to be inspired by Sony's PSP.[54] This model also was upgraded with a backlit screen, with a distracting background transparency (which can be removed by opening up the console). A color model, the GameKing 3 apparently exists, but was only made for a brief time and was difficult to purchase outside of Asia. Whether intentionally or not, the GameKing has the most primitive graphics of any handheld released since the Game Boy of 1989.[citation needed] As many of the games have an "old school" simplicity, the device has developed a small cult following. The Gameking's speaker is quite loud and the cartridges' sophisticated looping soundtracks (sampled from other sources) are seemingly at odds with its primitive graphics. TimeTop made at least one additional device sometimes labeled as "GameKing", but while it seems to possess more advanced graphics, is essentially an emulator that plays a handful of multi-carts (like the GB Station Light II). Outside of Asia (especially China) however the Gameking remains relatively unheard of due to the enduring popularity of Japanese handhelds such as those manufactured by Nintendo and Sony. PlayStation Portable [ edit ] PlayStation Portable The PlayStation Portable (officially abbreviated PSP)[55] is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment.[56] Development of the console was first announced during E3 2003,[57] and it was unveiled on May 11, 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004.[58] The system was released in Japan on December 12, 2004,[59] in North America on March 24, 2005,[60] and in the PAL region on September 1, 2005.[61] The PlayStation Portable is the first handheld video game console to use an optical disc format, Universal Media Disc (UMD), for distribution of its games. UMD Video discs with movies and television shows were also released. The PSP utilized the Sony/SanDisk Memory Stick Pro Duo format as its primary storage medium.[62][63] Other distinguishing features of the console include its large viewing screen,[64] multi-media capabilities,[65] and connectivity with the PlayStation 3, other PSPs, and the Internet.[66][67] Gizmondo [ edit ] The Gizmondo Tiger's Gizmondo came out in the UK during March 2005 and it was released in the U.S. during October 2005. It is designed to play music, movies, and games, have a camera for taking and storing photos, and have GPS functions. It also has Internet capabilities. It has a phone for sending text and multimedia messages. Email was promised at launch, but was never released before Gizmondo, and ultimately Tiger Telematics', downfall in early 2006. Users obtained a second service pack, unreleased, hoping to find such functionality. However, Service Pack B did not activate the e-mail functionality. GP2X Series [ edit ] The Game Park Holdings GP2X F-100 The GP2X is an open-source, Linux-based handheld video game console and media player created by GamePark Holdings of South Korea, designed for homebrew developers as well as commercial developers. It is commonly used to run emulators for game consoles such as Neo-Geo, Genesis, Master System, Game Gear, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, Nintendo Entertainment System, TurboGrafx-16, MAME and others. A new version called the "F200" was released October 30, 2007, and features a touchscreen, among other changes. Followed by GP2X Wiz (2009) and GP2X Caanoo (2010). Late 2000s [ edit ] Dingoo [ edit ] The Dingoo A320 The Dingoo A-320 is a micro-sized gaming handheld that resembles the Game Boy Micro and is open to game development. It also supports music, radio, emulators (8 bit and 16 bit) and video playing capabilities with its own interface much like the PSP. There is also an onboard radio and recording program. It is currently available in two colors — white and black. Other similar products from the same manufacturer are the Dingoo A-330 (also known as Geimi), Dingoo A-360, Dingoo A-380 (available in pink, white and black) and the recently released Dingoo A-320E. PSP Go [ edit ] PSP Go The PSP Go is a version of the PlayStation Portable handheld game console manufactured by Sony. It was released on October 1, 2009, in American and European territories, and on November 1 in Japan. It was revealed prior to E3 2009 through Sony's Qore VOD service. Although its design is significantly different from other PSPs, it is not intended to replace the PSP 3000, which Sony continued to manufacture, sell, and support. On April 20, 2011, the manufacturer announced that the PSP Go would be discontinued so that they may concentrate on the PlayStation Vita. Sony later said that only the European and Japanese versions were being cut, and that the console would still be available in the US. Unlike previous PSP models, the PSP Go does not feature a UMD drive, but instead has 16 GB of internal flash memory to store games, video, pictures, and other media. This can be extended by up to 32 GB with the use of a Memory Stick Micro (M2) flash card. Also unlike previous PSP models, the PSP Go's rechargeable battery is not removable or replaceable by the user. The unit is 43% lighter and 56% smaller than the original PSP-1000, and 16% lighter and 35% smaller than the PSP-3000. It has a 3.8" 480 × 272 LCD (compared to the larger 4.3" 480 × 272 pixel LCD on previous PSP models). The screen slides up to reveal the main controls. The overall shape and sliding mechanism are similar to that of Sony's mylo COM-2 internet device. Pandora [ edit ] Pandora The Pandora is a handheld game console/UMPC/PDA hybrid designed to take advantage of existing open source software and to be a target for home-brew development. It runs a full distribution of Linux, and in functionality is like a small PC with gaming controls. It is developed by OpenPandora, which is made up of former distributors and community members of the GP32 and GP2X handhelds. OpenPandora began taking pre-orders for one batch of 4000 devices in November 2008 and after manufacturing delays, began shipping to customers on May 21, 2010.[68][69] FC-16 Go [ edit ] The FC-16 Go is a portable Super NES hardware clone manufactured by Yobo Gameware in 2009. It features a 3.5-inch display, two wireless controllers, and CRT cables that allow cartridges to be played on a television screen. Unlike other Super NES clone consoles, it has region tabs that only allow NTSC North American cartridges to be played. Later revisions feature stereo sound output, larger shoulder buttons, and a slightly re-arranged button, power, and A/V output layout. 2010s [ edit ] Nintendo 3DS [ edit ] Nintendo 3DS The Nintendo 3DS is the successor to Nintendo's DS handheld. The autostereoscopic device is able to project stereoscopic three-dimensional effects without requirement of active shutter or passive polarized glasses, which are required by most current 3D televisions to display the 3D effect. The 3DS was released in Japan on February 26, 2011; in Europe on March 25, 2011; in North America on March 27, 2011, and in Australia on March 31, 2011. The system features backward compatibility with Nintendo DS series software, including Nintendo DSi software. It also features an online service called the Nintendo eShop, launched on June 6, 2011, in North America and June 7, 2011, in Europe and Japan, which allows owners to download games, demos, applications and information on upcoming film and game releases. On November 24, 2011, a limited edition Legend of Zelda 25th Anniversary 3DS was released that contained a unique Cosmo Black unit decorated with gold Legend of Zelda related imagery, along with a copy of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D. There are also other models including the Nintendo 2DS and the New Nintendo 3DS, the latter with a larger (XL/LL) variant, like the original Nintendo 3DS. The 2DS also has a successor, the New Nintendo 2DS XL. Xperia Play [ edit ] Xperia PLAY The Sony Ericsson Xperia PLAY is a handheld game console smartphone produced by Sony Ericsson under the Xperia smartphone brand. The device runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread, and is the first to be part of the PlayStation Certified program which means that it can play PlayStation Suite games. The device is a horizontally sliding phone with its original form resembling the Xperia X10 while the slider below resembles the slider of the PSP Go. The slider features a D-pad on the left side, a set of standard PlayStation buttons ( , , and ) on the right, a long rectangular touchpad in the middle, start and select buttons on the bottom right corner, a menu button on the bottom left corner, and two shoulder buttons (L and R) on the back of the device. It is powered by a 1 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, a Qualcomm Adreno 205 GPU, and features a display measuring 4.0 inches (100 mm) (854 × 480), an 8-megapixel camera, 512 MB RAM, 8 GB internal storage, and a micro-USB connector. It supports microSD cards, versus the Memory Stick variants used in PSP consoles. The device was revealed officially for the first time in a Super Bowl ad on Sunday, February 6, 2011. On February 13, 2011, at Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2011, it was announced that the device would be shipping globally in March 2011, with a launch lineup of around 50 software titles. PlayStation Vita [ edit ] PlayStation Vita The PlayStation Vita is the successor to Sony's PlayStation Portable (PSP) Handheld series. It was released in Japan on December 17, 2011 and in Europe, Australia, North and South America on February 22, 2012. The handheld includes two analog sticks, a 5-inch (130 mm) OLED/LCD multi-touch capacitive touchscreen, and supports Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and optional 3G. Internally, the PS Vita features a 4 core ARM Cortex-A9 MPCore processor and a 4 core SGX543MP4+ graphics processing unit, as well as LiveArea software as its main user interface, which succeeds the XrossMediaBar. The device is fully backwards-compatible with PlayStation Portable games digitally released on the PlayStation Network via the PlayStation Store. However, PSone Classics and PS2 titles were not compatible at the time of the primary public release in Japan. The Vita's dual analog sticks will be supported on selected PSP games. The graphics for PSP releases will be up-scaled, with a smoothing filter to reduce pixelation. Razer Switchblade [ edit ] The Razer Switchblade was a prototype pocket-sized like a Nintendo DSi XL designed to run Windows 7, featured a multi-touch LCD screen and an adaptive keyboard that changed keys depending on the game you play. It also was to feature a full mouse. It was first unveiled on January 5, 2011, on the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). The Switchblade won The Best of CES 2011 People's Voice award. It has since been in development and the release date is still unknown. The device has likely been suspended indefinitely. Nvidia Shield [ edit ] Nvidia Shield Portable Project Shield is a handheld system developed by Nvidia announced at CES 2013. It runs on Android 4.2 and uses Nvidia Tegra 4 SoC. The hardware includes a 5-inches multitouch screen with support for HD graphics (720p). The console allows for the streaming of games running on a compatible desktop PC, or laptop. Nintendo Switch [ edit ] Nintendo Switch Portable Mode The Nintendo Switch is a hybrid console that can either be used in a handheld form, or inserted into a docking station attached to a television to play on a bigger screen. The Switch features two detachable wireless controllers, called Joy-Con, which can be used individually or attached to a grip to provide a traditional gamepad form. Timeline of handheld consoles [ edit ] Notable handheld consoles from before the 90s [ edit ] Notable handheld consoles of the early 90s [ edit ] Notable handheld consoles of the late 90s [ edit ] Notable handheld consoles of the early 2000s [ edit ] Notable handheld consoles of the mid-2000s [ edit ] Notable handheld consoles of the late 2000s [ edit ] Nintendo DS Lite (2006) - Redesign of DS, including smaller size, brighter screen levels, and other subtle changes. PlayStation Portable Slim & Lite (2007) - Redesign of PlayStation Portable (PSP), including smaller size, lighter weight, video out capability, USB charge, and other changes. PlayStation Portable-3000 (2008) - Minor redesign of the current PSP Slim & Lite, including brighter screen, built in mic, and a PS button replacing the Home Button Nintendo DSi (2008) - Small redesign of the Nintendo DS Lite. Some changes include built in internet, camera, use of SD card, this model however does not have backward compatibility with Game Boy Advance games PSP Go (2009) - A brand new PSP including no UMD, Internal Memory, Bluetooth, and a sliding screen Nintendo DSi LL/XL (2009) - The fourth iteration of the Nintendo DS handheld game console technically identical to the DSi with its distinguishing feature being its large form factor which will be almost an inch larger than the DSi and slightly thicker. It boasts two 4.25" LCD screens 93% larger than the current DS Lite. Mi2 (2009) - The Mi2 is a small handheld game device created by Planet Interactive in cooperation with the Chinese manufacturer Conny, it contains 100 built in games. Notable handheld consoles of the early 2010s [ edit ] Notable handheld consoles of the mid-2010s [ edit ] See also [ edit ]

Chief Inspector of Nuclear Installations was withering: “The Plant was operated in a culture that seemed to allow instruments to operate in alarm mode rather than questioning the alarm and rectifying the relevant fault.” If we let private companies build new reactors, how can we ensure that higher safety standards are adhered to? I don’t know. At the same time, we must not let ourselves be swept off our feet in horror at the danger of nuclear power. Nuclear power is not infinitely dangerous. It’s just dangerous, much as coal mines, petrol repositories, fossil-fuel burning and wind turbines are dangerous. Even if we have no guarantee against nuclear accidents in the future, I think the right way to assess nuclear is to compare it objectively with other sources of power. Coal power stations, for example, expose the public to nuclear radiation, because coal ash typically contains uranium. Indeed, according to a paper published in the journal Science, people in America living near coal-fired power stations are exposed to higher radiation doses than those living near nuclear power plants. When quantifying the public risks of different power sources, we need a new unit. I’ll go with “deaths per GWy (gigawatt-year).” Let me try to convey what it would mean if a power source had a death rate of 1 death per GWy. One gigawatt-year is the energy produced by a 1 GW power station, if it operates flat-out for one year. Britain’s electricity consumption is roughly 45 GW, or, if you like, 45 gigawatt-years per year. So if we got our electricity from sources with a death rate of 1 death per GWy, that would mean the British electricity supply system was killing 45 people per year. For comparison, 3000 people die per year on Britain’s roads. So, if you are not campaigning for the abolition of roads, you may deduce that “1 death per GWy” is a death rate that, while sad, you might be content to live with. Obviously, 0.1 deaths per GWy would be preferable, but it takes only a moment’s reflection to realize that, sadly, fossil-fuel energy production must have a cost greater than 0.1 deaths per GWy – just think of disasters on oil rigs; helicopters lost at sea; pipeline fires; refinery explosions; and coal mine accidents: there are tens of fossil-chain fatalities per year in Britain. So, let’s discuss the actual death rates of a range of electricity sources. The death rates vary a lot from country to country. In China, for example, the death rate in coal mines, per ton of coal delivered, is 50 times that of most nations. Figure 24.11 shows numbers from studies by the Paul Scherrer Institute and by a European Union project called ExternE, which made comprehensive estimates of all the impacts of energy production. According to the EU figures, coal, lignite, and oil have the highest death rates, followed by peat and biomass-power, with death rates above 1 per GWy. Nuclear and wind are the best, with death rates below 0.2 per GWy. Hydroelectricity is the best of all according to the EU study, but comes out worst in the Paul Scherrer Institute’s study, because the latter surveyed a different set of countries.

Photo via Paul Kittas We’ve previously covered the existing remnants of the Croton Aqueduct, the first to bring fresh drinking water into New York City. Paul Kittas, creator of the app On Coogan’s Bluff recently contacted us to share the discoveries he’s made in Washington Heights – stone retaining walls in High Bridge Park he believes were overlooked in maps by the Friends of the Croton Aqueduct. Kittas tells us, “In 1848, one hundred and sixty seven years ago, the Croton Aqueduct was built here and it looks the same as when the workers walked off the site.” He built the app to allow the curious how to “explore a remote section of Manhattan on your own.” The route takes one from 155th Street in Washington Heights to High Bridge Park Kittas also shared with us cross section drawings he designed, which were drawn by artist JML: Screenshot from the app Photo via Paul Kittas Photo via Paul Kittas Next, read about other remnants of the Croton Aqueduct in New York City, the reopening of High Bridge and its water tower or the secrets of Fort Tryon Park. Croton Aqueduct, High Bridge, washington heights

It looks like a just another Sydney cafe, but beneath the bread boards and beyond the quinoa is the latest McDonald’s incarnation – a testing lab Would you like fries with your pulled pork and Asian slaw salad? McDonald’s has opened a hipster cafe called The Corner in the inner-city Sydney suburb of Camperdown. Described by the fast-food titan as a “lab,” it will serve as a test run for new menu items which may then start being sold in other stores. It is the only one of its kind in Australia. While the staff are dressed in chambray shirts and dark jeans – a far cry from the usual McDonald’s uniform of high pants in surgical green, it still looks like a McDonald’s which is trying not to be a McDonald’s. The hipster touches include tiled walls and a herb garden – and the food is served on those awfully impractical wooden sandwich boards. What will come next? Green juice in Mason jars? Facebook Twitter Pinterest The interior of The Corner. The only McDonald’s branding evident is a tiny “McCafe” logo in small font on the takeaway bags. The logo is minuscule on the sign outside, which in black lettering on a white background proclaims The Corner. Cold drip coffee (though they were out when I swung by on a Tuesday morning), quinoa salads and one of the biggest ingredients of 2014, pulled pork, are on the menu. It could be the only cafe in Sydney’s inner west not to offer macchiatos – possibly to get around any Mac-squared name – and there’s the porridge with poached pear to give you and your university-educated friends the extra frisson of some alliteration with your grains-based breakfast. The coffee is actually very, very good. I had the cold espresso with milk in it and it was strong, with not a hint of a burnt bean in the aftertaste. I also picked up a pre-packaged tomato, bocconcini and pesto salad which was fine though the pesto did taste like those sold by a supermarket chain. I was in there in the morning before the lunch menu kicked in at 11am so brought back the breakfast menu items and tiny $4 takeaway salads for my esteemed colleagues to review. Michael Safi: bacon and egg roll on brioche bun, $6 There’s nothing like heading down to that little cafe on the corner for breakfast and a morning coffee. You know the one – where the barista knows your name, and the multibillion-dollar food conglomerate owner is obscured behind a haze of quinoa and chambray-shirt clad workers. On one hand, the last thing Australia’s thriving cafe industry needs is McDonald’s muscling into the market. On the other, my egg and bacon roll with spinach and chutney on a brioche bun was pretty tasty. The fried egg was perfectly runny and the bacon crispy and lean. They could have lathered on more chutney, and the spinach was missing in action, but on the whole, no complaints. What was interesting was the residual McDonald’s-ness the meal couldn’t shake. Lay it alongside 10 other burgers, in some kind of delicious criminal burger line-up, and you would easily pick it as the McDonald’s product. It’s something about the perfectly symmetrical sugary bun with an inside too white to be produced by nature. Perhaps the most pleasant surprise was that the roll felt composed of actual, real-life food. That dirty feeling you get after scoffing a McDonald’s burger? Non-existent. Nancy Groves: four-cheese toastie, $6 Even for someone who eats McDonald’s more often than I should, the four-cheese toastie was a disappointment. I couldn’t identify one variety, let alone four – the sourdough bread was an improvement on a sugary burger bun, I guess, but I don’t go to McDonald’s for a health kick. Even in a brown paper bag. Give me their basic, tastier and (at $2.45) cheaper cheeseburger any day. Macca’s classic fare already does just fine catering for the munchies, midnight snacks and hangovers in hipster neighbourhoods. It doesn’t need to wear the clothes, too. Facebook Twitter Pinterest The four-cheese toastie. Photograph: Nick Evershed for the Guardian Adam Brereton: chorizo and egg roll on a brioche bun, $6 After initial failed forays into healthy “meals” – salads and other nonsense – McDonald’s realised that what the punters want is the fantasy of health and quality, mediated through fancy lettuce and dusty sourdough buns, not the sour apples-in-bags terror of the real. Maccas breakfast didn’t follow this logic as the chain went through its own transformation. Unlike the purpose of the “real choices” healthy daytime range – to announce ever more loudly our slobbering appetite for the “false choices” of regular McDonald’s products – breakfast time is when we are allowed to wallow gleefully in our sausage and egg-inflected depravity. Now McDonald’s has opened The Corner, which is a kind of cafe/restaurant arrangement with table service and chips served in wire baskets. I had a chorizo breakfast burger thing. It had two big round slices of “chorizo” and an egg, on a slimy brioche bun. It wasn’t bad, but I found myself longing for the genuine article: a rubbery sausage pattie and a circular slab of egg on a gritty English muffin. Brioche buns are definitively not for breakfast; you can’t feel guilty about a brioche bun, only angry. In its attempts to be “realer” than the McDonald’s breakfast range – one of the greatest inventions of western civilisation – The Corner may well compromise the greasy truth of McDonald’s itself. Nick Evershed: egg and bacon roll on brioche bun, $6 It’s much fancier than what you’d normally get at Maccas. Chutney instead of sauce. Brioche instead of the normal white roll. Some baby spinach wedged in as a token nod to health. But it can’t shake its intrinsic McDonald’s-ness. Take the bun, for example. While it’s different to the normal burger buns, it’s still very McDonald’s. Sweet, soft and a bit too moist. The bacon has the same generally undercooked feel that you get in the egg and bacon McMuffins. Even the wrapper itself is McDonald’s in style, albeit with different branding. Overall it was pretty tasty, but it’s really just the textures that fall down compared with something you’d get from your local cafe. I’d take crispy bacon on a good, solid crusty roll over this fancy stealth-McDonald’s fare any day. Brigid Delaney: chorizo and egg roll, $6; pre-packaged brown rice and quinoa with fresh vegetables salad, $4 The bun was brioche – but tasted more like a hamburger bun. It was very soft and sugary, with the barbecue-flavoured sauce soaking through the bun – giving it a damp texture. The McDonald’s taste was tempered by fresh rocket and tasty, well-cooked chorizo. It was good – but nothing more special than you would find in a sandwich shop or deli. I can’t remember the last time I had McDonald’s for breakfast and lunch, but the new healthy menu means you can indulge in double dining without the guilt. I had small salad which contains some of 2014’s most zeitgeist-y ingredients (quinoa, coconut). There were several large, fresh spinach leaves in the small tub and a good serving of the grains, with grated carrots. The salad had a refreshing coconut crunch – and tasted legitimately healthy. I’m Loving It.

East Coast Music Week is coming back to Nova Scotia next year, with five days of events in Sydney. Andy MacLean, the executive director of the East Coast Music Association, confirmed East Coast Music Week will run from April 13 to April 17 in Sydney. The week will feature 40 events at more than 10 venues across the city. One big difference will see the award show at Centre 200 start the week off, rather than end it. MacLean says he hopes the move will help bands better promote themselves. "It's a great opportunity to connect with the buyers that we're bringing in from all over the world so hopefully they'll get booked up," he said. MacLean estimates about 8,000 people will take part in East Coast Music Week, leading to about $3 million for the local economy. "The people who are coming from away. The agents, the managers, the labels and the artists themselves and the fans who are coming to support what's going on," he said. "They need a place to stay, they need to eat, they need to drink and so all of those spinoffs are very important." The Membertou Trade Centre will serve as the conference headquarters and MacLean says First Nations musicians will be front and centre. "Great opening ceremonies, we're on First Nations land, we're going to embrace First Nations aboriginal culture in a big way," he said. "Thursday is the gala. Friday, Saturday, Sunday, the showcases all through the clubs downtown. There will be bands playing everywhere and networking collaborations, great collaborations are going to happen throughout the whole city." The week will feature 420 performing artists representing 200 bands.

Fried chicken was part of a menu announcement that caused outrage. (Photo: Larry Olmsted for USA TODAY) A Northern California private school apologized for a lunch menu that offered fried chicken, corn bread and watermelon to celebrate Black History Month. School administrators for Carondelet High School, an all-girls Catholic school in Concord, Calif., said they did not approve the menu, and it remains unclear who came up with the idea. In an interview with USA TODAY Network, Carondelet communications director Christina Ditzel also said that the Black Student Union was not to blame. In an earlier report from KTVU, Interim President Sister Ann Bernard said students with the group had planned the menu. A spokesman for De La Salle High school, an all-boys school affiliated with Carondelet that runs the Black Student Union, reiterated that the group was not responsible. "I know for a fact they have nothing to do with the menu at Carondelet," said J.A. Gray, director of communications for De La Salle, in an interview with USA TODAY Network. According to Ditzel, a student announced the lunch menu over the school's public address system on Monday. "It was a shock to the administrators, the students and the teachers, and they were angry about it," Ditzel said. Ditzel said she did not hear the announcement and that it had not been approved by the administration, per school policy. In response to the incident, Ditzel said school officials discussed the menu in an assembly Wednesday and sent letters apologizing to parents. In a Feb. 6 letter that was sent to parents, Principal Nancy Libby apologized for "any hurt this caused students, parents or community members." "Please know that at no time at Carondelet do we wish to perpetuate racial stereotypes," Libby wrote. In another letter, Libby said a diversity assembly is planned for later this month. African Americans constitute 2% of Carondelet's student population, according to Ditzel. A letter from De La Salle guidance counselors addressed to faculty explained that fried chicken and watermelon "were some of the stereotypical images commonly used to depict life on the plantation, particularly among African slaves." "It is important to keep in mind that the images of fried chicken and watermelon have been used intentionally for over 100 years to dehumanize black people," according to the letter. "Those foods become, fairly or unfairly, a badge of inferiority," Greg Carr, chairman of the Department of Afro-American Studies at Howard University, told USA TODAY Network. "If anything, what I hope could come out of this is to have a conversation about stereotypes and where those three items came from," Carr said. Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/1nhfN6d

Les Moonves, president and CEO of CBS, has spoken before about the plans for Star Trek launching a new series next year on the CBS All Access streaming platform, and he spoke again today in front of CBS investors at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference about the nature of the service — and the desire that the digital competitors had for the new series. About how streaming competitors Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon all tried to purchase the rights to launch the new Trek series, something on which we first reported back in November: We look at the marketplace, we look at next quarter, but we look at the future. [Netflix] is not our enemy, they’re paying for our content. It’s our job to continue to compete with them. […] They’re our competitor, and that’s okay. Obviously, a lot of conversation went into [selling to another service], and Star Trek is the family jewel. Paramount owns the film rights, but we retain the television rights. So we said, we have this property, a very important property… Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, they all offered us a lot of money. They all wanted it very badly. On the power of international markets, and how the financial benefit will help the new show: The way we are able to monetize shows today is so much different than it was even five years ago, where there are so many places that will take our programming as [Video On Demand] becomes a bigger player. International [distribution] is exploding, not only with just the established markets but the number of new markets that are opening. We’re finally in China in a meaningful way; getting paid a meaningful amount of money for our shows — so having good content, the world is getting bigger and bigger and better and better. The international marketplace, without seeing a word on paper or anything at all, the numbers internationally are astronomical. So that covers about sixty percent of the cost of production right there, before we even begin. So we said that for this relatively minor investment, this is how we’re going to get All Access to be where we want it to be, where there are millions and millions and millions of subscribers. By putting that forward, we said to the world, you know what? CBS is really serious about this. They’ve taken this crown jewel of a property and put it in a place where they know there are so many millions of Star Trek fans that [CBS] will pay for this. It was a decision that took a lot of thought, because we could have taken the quick bucks from Netflix, but it shows we’re investing in a property and we really believe in the future. He also spoke about the potential of an ad-free tier on the All Access service: We estimate that the advertising is worth about four dollars [per subscription], so we’re exploring the idea that for $5.99 you can get All Access with advertisements, and for $9.99 you can do it without advertising. I know Hulu’s tried it, and it hasn’t been very successful — because most people, despite what they say, would rather suffer through the ads and save four dollars than [pay more]. On his vision for the CBS All Access streaming service: You walk on college campuses and they don’t have television sets. We think over-the-top is going to become a very viable way to watch television. […] We’ve added [now] what we think will be the most important thing, which is original programming. As you know, in January of ’17, we will have the new ‘Star Trek’ series on the air, which we know there are millions of big, big fans who will sign up for [it]. And that’s only the beginning of our intent to produce more and more original programming to go on All Access. No matter how slow or how fast [people transition away from traditional TV viewing], it doesn’t matter, because it’s going to be better. CBS is in a great position, and All Access is something clearly we are going to build. [I’m] not going to give you numbers, but it’s way ahead of projections. We think [in 2017] it’s going to be a significant revenue driver for us. It is the future, and we’re right there with it. For those of you outside of the United States still concerned that you won’t be able to easily watch the new series, Moonves’ comments here must surely put those fears at ease. With this kind of international distribution push he’s expecting, we’re sure it’s going to be available to view all over the place without much difficulty at all. You can listen to Moonves’ entire forty-minute presentation online here.

I ran into my friend Rick the other day in a small town near our homes in northern Vermont. He was just coming out of the bookstore, holding a pink plastic bag that, I would soon learn, contained a dozen eggs from his flock of free range hens. After a bit of small talk, Rick asked, “you don’t by any chance have a pair of jumper cables in your car?” I did. “Would you be willing to drive over to the post office and jump my pickup truck? I’ve been trying to park on hills until I can get a new battery, but there just ain’t enough slope at the post office.” After we got his truck started, Rick held out his pink plastic bag and asked, “Could you use some eggs?” As a matter of fact, I could: our elderly hens don’t produce enough for a family of four any more; Rick’s flock, on the other hand, was producing far more than a live-alone bachelor needs. I thanked him for the eggs, and we said our goodbyes. This exchange – a battery jump for a dozen eggs – wasn’t a formal transaction of any kind; it didn’t add to GDP, and won’t be reported to the IRS. It wasn’t even barter, since I would have offered the help without the eggs, and Rick had only brought them to town so he could give them away. But it was an economic exchange nonetheless – one that’s so common around here that it hardly rates notice: childcare, garden help, tools, construction labor, and especially food are routinely exchanged, lent or given away without money changing hands. (This past summer someone posted this bulletin board notice: “Free: Take as much as you want. We have two 5-gallon pails of large cukes, 1/2 pail of beans and that much broccoli. I will leave some paper sacks on the porch.”) Although this may sound like something that only happens in rural areas, similar exchanges occur in big cities, too – in neighborhoods where people know one another well enough to value their mutual interdependence. Transactions like these make up what’s been called a “gift economy”, a concept introduced almost 100 years ago by anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski.[1] An equally apt term might be “sharing economy” – but that name has already been applied to something that, to my mind at least, is very different. The ‘sharing economy’ concept first appeared around 2010, launched on a sea of optimism about technology’s ability to transform the world for the better. In her TEDx talk describing it, Rachel Botsman, author of The Rise of Collaborative Consumption, made liberal use of terms like “revolution” and “seismic shift” to underscore the positive transformations the sharing economy would bring.[2] Exchanges like mine with Rick are okay, she implied, but technology can greatly improve them: “we now live in a global village where we can mimic the ties that used to happen face to face, but on a scale and in a way that has never been possible before.” That scaling up, of course, is thanks to the internet, where most collaborative consumption (soon rechristened ‘the sharing economy’) still makes its home. Botsman’s description of how the sharing economy works is fairly straightforward: through online platforms, people who need a product or service can quickly hook up with someone able to provide it. Need to drill a hole? Don’t go out and buy an electric drill that “will only be used around 12 to 15 minutes in its entire lifetime” – instead borrow or rent it from someone who already has one. Apply that principle to hundreds of other shareable items and multiply it by millions of sharing events, and we’re not only taking steps to eliminate “hyperconsumption” and its environmental impacts, we’re creating community as well. Part of Botsman’s thesis makes sense: most modern households contain plenty of infrequently-used tools, gadgets and implements that could easily be shared among many families. This is one of the benefits of co-housing arrangements and ecovillages, in which washing machines, lawnmowers – even fully equipped kitchens – are shared among all the resident households. But the fact that there are more power drills per capita than necessary is hardly the essence of the hyperconsumption we need to minimize. Thanks to sophisticated marketing campaigns and cradle-to-grave advertising, the consumer culture constantly manufactures new needs; it molds personal identities around brand names, and makes convenience an obsession. Shoppers today can buy robotic vacuum cleaners, forks that monitor their eating habits, and 2-story inflatable cats; they can choose from 504 brands of designer jeans and 2 million smartphone apps.[4] These are symptoms of a consumer culture gone mad – and sharing this empty bounty isn’t much of a cure. Perhaps the most profound benefit Botsman claimed for internet-based sharing is that it will enable us “to engage in humanness” again. The sharing economy, she argued, will make us better people, whose “rediscovery of collective good [will] create an economy of ‘what’s mine is yours’.” The sharing economy has grown rapidly, but the utopian, egalitarian effects Botsman predicted have failed to materialize: today, in fact, much of the sharing economy looks like big-business-as-usual. Although sometimes defined so broadly that it can include everything from recycling to cooperatives,[3] the sharing economy’s standard-bearers are multi-billion dollar corporations: Uber currently has a self-reported value of $62.5 billion – more than the market capitalization of General Motors;[5] Airbnb is said to be worth $24 billion, making it more valuable than the Hyatt Hotel chain;[6] and Zipcar is now owned by conventional car-rental company Avis, which paid $500 million for it in 2013.[7] These sharing economy companies have more in common with big business than just their market valuations. Uber, for example, is notorious for its ill-treatment of drivers, uses opportunistic ‘surge-pricing’ to inflate fares when demand is high, and is reported to be “a workplace where sexual harassment takes place with impunity.”[8] Like other big corporations, these companies use lobbying, PR and campaign contributions to tilt the democratic process in their favor. Uber, for instance, succeeded in quashing New York City’s plan to cap the number of cars on the city’s streets, while Airbnb was able to scuttle a San Franscisco proposition to limit short-term housing rentals – spending 100 times more than its opponents.[9] Maybe the profit-oriented businesses at the top aren’t saying “what’s mine is yours”, but what about all those trusting strangers – aren’t they rediscovering the collective good? Not so much. A recent survey of sharing economy consumers revealed that “saving money was actually the number one reason for people to participate in the Sharing Economy, with 82% of respondents telling us this was very or somewhat important to them.” The least important reason? “New relationships/friends or being part of a community.”[10] To be fair, not all sharing economy enterprises are cut from the same cloth as Uber and Airbnb. Tool-lending libraries, for example, are a non-profit means of addressing the electric drill quandary Botsman described. But by their nature, these are local, place-based initiatives: there’s a physical space where patrons come to find what they need, and where they’ll interact face-to-face with the staff and their own neighbors. Nor are tool-lending libraries an artifact of the internet: the first, in Columbus, Ohio, was founded in 1976, and many others were established in the late 1970s and 80s.[11] But the sad fact is, digital technologies continue to erode the face-to-face interactions that underpin local economies and communities. It has become a cliché to point out how genuine friendships are being eclipsed by the shallow ‘friending’ that takes place on Facebook, or how people sitting together in a café will stare at their phones rather than engage with each other. If my friend Rick ever decides to carry a smartphone, he might find himself hiring a stranger from TaskRabbit to jump his truck, rather than seeking out a neighbor. With Amazon and other online booksellers dominating the market, the local bookstore where Rick and I met may not be around much longer. These are real-world losses, as more of our social and economic life – including reciprocal exchange – is monetized and absorbed by the internet. To give the sharing economy its due, I admit that there can be environmental benefits to sharing goods like cars, rather than each of us owning one. But profit-making online platforms like Uber and Lyft aren’t the only – or the best – sharing models out there. Many years ago I moved from New York City to a remote valley in the mountains of Colorado. Of all the differences from big city life, none fascinated me more than the fact that everyone in this valley left their vehicles unlocked, with their keys in the ignition. I remarked to one of my new acquaintances how wonderful it was that people were so trusting – so confident that no one would just drive off with their car. He looked puzzled a moment, then smiled and said, “that’s not why we leave our keys in the ignition: it’s to make sure that if someone needs a car, they’ll be able to take it.” Now that’s a sharing economy. Photo credit: Albert Gonzalez Farran – UNAMID For permission to repost this or other entries on the Economics of Happiness Blog, please contact [email protected] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gift_economy [2] https://www.ted.com/talk/rachel_botsman_the_case_for_collaborative_consumption?language=en [3] According to the “Chief Sharer” for the web-based non-profit The People Who Share, the sharing economy encompasses “swapping, exchanging, collective purchasing, collaborative consumption, shared ownership, shared value, co-operatives, co-creation, recycling, upcycling, re-distribution, trading used goods, renting, borrowing, lending, subscription based models, peer-to-peer, collaborative economy, circular economy, on-demand economy, gig economy, crowd economy, pay-as-you-use economy, wikinomics, peer-to-peer lending, micro financing, micro-entrepreneurship, social media, the Mesh, social enterprise, futurology, crowdfunding, crowdsourcing, cradle-to-cradle, open source, open data, user generated content (UGC) and public services” – a definition so broad it is meaningless. http://www.thepeoplewhoshare.com/blog/what-is-the-sharing-economy/ [4] https://denimology.com/brands; http://www.statista.com/statistics/276623/number-of-apps-available-in-leading-app-stores/ [5] Rosoff, Matt, “Uber is now more valuable than Ford, GM, and a bunch of huge public companies”, Business Insider Dec 4, 2015. http://www.businessinsider.com/uber-valuation-vs-market-cap-of-publicly-traded-stocks-2015-12 [6] http://www.valuewalk.com/2016/01/why-that-crazy-high-airbnb-valuation-is-fair/ [7] Kell, John, “Avis to Buy Car-Sharing Service Zipcar”, Wall Street Journal, Jan 2, 2013. http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887324374004578217121433322386 [8] http://boingboing.net/2017/02/19/former-uber-engineer-alleges-s.html [9] Slee, Tom, “The Sharing Economy’s Dirty Laundry”, Jacobin magazine, March 23, 2016. https://www.jacobinmag.com/2016/03/uber-airbnb-sharing-economy-housing-tech/ [10] https://www.veridu.com/resources/Sharing-economy-consumer-views-survey.pdf [11] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tool_library Share this: Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn

Australia's offshore "processing" policy keeps some 1150 people, including 173 children, confined to a tiny tropical island in the Pacific whose indigenous population, on the whole, doesn't want them. Most have been there for more than three years. There is no reason for them to hope that they won't be there for another three years, or 10, or a lifetime – unless they agree to return to the countries from which, usually for good reason, they fled in the first place. Children playing near the Refugee Processing Centre on Nauru. Credit:Amnesty International Theoretically, they are no longer detained. They can go where they like, within the rather strict limits imposed by thousands of kilometres of open ocean. The Nauruans charge $8000 to process an application by an Australian for a journalist's visa. If the application is refused – as by far the majority are – this money is not refundable. In recent years only the Nine Network's A Current Affair, and The Australian's Chris Kenny, have been granted visas.

Today, we of the M-Network are doing a series on vacationing. Frugal tips, ideas, experiences, personal accounts…everything. Check out the other M-Network blogs for more. When Micah and I talk about our honeymoon, it always ends in bitter laughter. We had good plans, we thought. Here’s a short version of what we planned: We knew we both don’t like beaches and hot weather. So we headed to New England. We knew we wouldn’t want to travel far after the wedding. So we spent two nights only 2 hours away. Then we headed up through Scranton (2 nights) to New Hampshire (9 nights in 2 places). My parents gave us a week in their time-share, which was basically like a little 1-bedroom apartment. It was a relief from the hotel rooms. We forgot to take into account some important things about ourselves. For starters: we don’t like to travel. At all. Neither of us. I’ve had 2 good vacations (excluding chilling with you Canadians in Toronto, but that was just chilling), Micah’s had 1. We only really like going places if we’re visiting friends or family. That combined with some stuff I’m not going to go into here made for a rather miserable honeymoon. We managed to cope but it wasn’t fun. You know what made us happy? Getting home. I was still job hunting, but we were comfortable in our own place. We made a few day trips to DC. We took walks and cooked together and went for coffee and rented movies. That was us. I’m not saying what was right for our honeymoon will be right for you. But here are some tips I’ve drawn from our experience: 1. You don’t have to take the honeymoon right after the wedding. I think taking a week off to spend together is a good idea. But it doesn’t have to be something elaborate. There’s a lot of pressure around the wedding. Lots of stress and expectation. Honeymoons bring more expectation—of having a good time, great sex, all that. You’re supposed to be off your head with joy the entire time and that’s a lot of pressure to be dealing with. Going on a honeymoon at a different time lowers those expectations. That would have meant a lot to us! This also frees you up to have a less conventional wedding date which is a great way to save money and bridal sanity. If you’re a beach person, you can still get married in March or September and plan the honeymoon for later. Everything wedding is easier to book when it’s not the summer and things may actually be cheaper. And if you don’t have the money for what you really want…take the time to save up for it! Waiting won’t kill you, it may even mean you’ll enjoy yourself more. 2. You don’t have to go at a conventional time of year. Another thing about us…we hate summer. Some people like it, we don’t. We might have been much happier in the fall or spring if we’d traveled at all. We got married two days after our 5-year anniversary of dating, which is why we picked July at all. The summer didn’t affect the happiness of the wedding, but it was a big part of the honeymoon suckiness. Even if you’re a beach person and getting married in June, you might want to think of putting off the honeymoon. There are enough beaches around the world that you can always find somewhere warm and sunny. If it’s off-season you may get a much better deal as well. 3. Do something instead of a honeymoon. Honeymoons cost a lot. I’m not saying cut out the honeymoon to save money, but if you’re just going on the honeymoon because everyone goes on the honeymoon, why not use the money for something you’d like? When I look back and consider alternatives (which I don’t do much but have been this week), I know something that would have made me very happy. Going to NYC for just one night to see a Broadway play/musical. Or heck, for the price of the honeymoon make it two nights and two plays! Then coming back to DC and chilling at our apartment, taking walks, seeing monuments, going for coffee, borrowing movies from the library, all that fun stuff. Basically what we did after the honeymoon without the pressure of job-hunting. That would have made me so happy. We couldn’t afford 2 weeks in New York, but 2 nights & plays wouldn’t have broken the budget…and we’d already paid the rent down here. Getting around in DC is quite cheap (metro!!) and many attractions are free. Hopefully we’ll still get that trip in a few years. Remember that even if your wedding or honeymoon ends up sucking it doesn’t mean your marriage will, or that you can’t plan fun things in the future. 4. Know yourself. This is critical in all parts of life, but especially when planning weddings. Know what it is you really want. When you get married, everything is expected to fall into special patterns that fit our current culture. If you don’t think those current patterns fit the two of you, then screw it! Getting married, going on the honeymoon is a time for YOU to celebrate the beginning of your life together. You don’t have to wear white or have attendants or favors or a reception. You don’t have to go someplace right after the wedding. You don’t have to spend $20,000. Be courteous and hospitable to your guests, but do what makes the two of you happy. Your guests should be able to cope with a non-cookie cutter wedding as long as they’re fed and have places to sit. They might even prefer it. Your friends should respect your choice to go back to work right after the wedding or to hang around your apartment. The one place where we knew ourselves (besides the wedding/reception, which was fun!) was right afterwards. We went back to my parents’ house to change and then went out to Border’s for coffee and books. Spent a couple hours there before heading out. That was the happiest part of my honeymoon. Just doing what we’ve found fun for the last few years and still find fun. Any tips on how not to honeymoon? Some things that made your honeymoon better? Some of us will go on to post more on Wednesday (or Thursday!) because we have a couple good ideas, so check back then. They’ll be turned into an e-book pretty soon too.

“We finished a needle-thread apart. It wasn’t even intelligible to the naked eye” is how the Johnny Miles Marathon co-champion Raymond Moorehead describes crossing the finish line with running rival Scott Clark. The two runners crossed the finish line with a separation of a mere three-hundredths of a second. This is the only tie in the race’s 40-year history. We caught up with Ray Moorehead and Scott Clark in the week after their race, to find out exactly how this came about. Canadian Running: What was the race like this past weekend? Ray Moorehead: I went into it feeling really fit. I expected to run about a 2:47. Right from the start, Scott Clark and I were close together. We run very similarly, the same style, the same pace. At the half, my legs weren’t feeling great. I’d run a 5K the weekend before and I was starting to worry that might not have been such a good idea. Scott Clark: I thought I might have a chance at top five. For the first 30K or so, Ray and I seemed to really have a sense of each other. Every time one of us got a little ahead, we’d tighten it up. RM: Around the 30K mark, I started creating some space. I wasn’t breaking stride at the aid stations and Scott was. At that point, I couldn’t see the front runner, so I was hoping to just hold on and finish second. With about 6 or 7K to go, I finally came across the leader. He was cramping when I passed him. Shortly thereafter I experienced some blurry vision and dizziness myself, but it passed. SC: At one point a spectator told me that Ray was a minute and ten ahead of me, so I thought, well, I just need to keep doing what I’m doing. I kept at it and then all of a sudden I had Ray back in sight. RM: There’s a turn around at a pylon with just 2K to go and when I went around it, I saw that Scott Clark was right there. And all I could think was “Uh-oh, how bad does he want it?” He was coming up after me. SC: When I saw that I was closing in on Ray, I was just thinking, “what do I say when I’m coming up on him in the very last stages of the race?” He’s always been really positive with me whenever we’ve raced together before. We’re competitive, but it’s really good natured. RM: When he caught up he said, “Let’s bring it in together, let’s go.” And then the pace just kept getting faster and faster. We threw ourselves across that line and I collapsed on top of a table there. I was completely depleted. The race director came over and told me that I won by three hundredths of a second. I just said no. We’re equal competitors, it was an equal effort, we both won. It was a tie. The race director agreed. SC: Ray’s a tough racer. He was hurting when I caught up to him, but he just kept digging deep. As we sped up and I kept looking at him through the corner of my eye, I was just thinking, “I’m not going to be able to get ahead of this guy!” It’s a good thing there weren’t any half-marathoners finishing at that time in the shoot. They might have been run over by two stampeding fifty-somethings. RM: I did have a few expletives for Scott at the finish though, along the lines of “don’t ever make me suffer like that again!” CR: How did you celebrate afterwards? SC: I got a massage and I very rarely do that. We had lots of chats with the other finishers, it’s always great to relive the experience with other runners. We talked to a few newspapers. Then it was back to PEI for me. RM: Well, I had a nice big fat greasy hamburger and a beer! My friends all laugh at me because after a marathon I take a week off and have a “fat week.” Chocolate, goodies and kicking back and relaxing. I’m a chocoholic and this is my week to indulge. CR: What are your plans for upcoming races? RM: A few of us from Nova Scotia are venturing to Spain to run the Valencia Marathon in November. I’m also competing in the run Nova Scotia performance series, so another 10K and a half in the next couple of months and just continuing with training. SC: I’m racing a half marathon in PEI this weekend and then a half Ironman next weekend. After that I’m competing in a full Ironman in Mt Tremblant. I’m trying to qualify to get to Hawaii. My wife and I have booked a trip to Kona to volunteer regardless, if I get a spot, that’s great, but if not, we’ll enjoy our trip anyways.

The NHL had its second most talked about trade deadline Sunday night as Tomas Kaberle’s contractually imposed trade deadline came and went at midnight with the long-time Leaf staying in Toronto – despite most people’s predictions.The Tomas Kaberle trade saga is a longer and more bloated tale than anything Stephenie Meyer could have concocted. This has been going on for three years and seems to get more and more disappointing with each passing year.The potential Kaberle trade has been relentless discussed and dissected in every way imaginable. There was more excitement surrounding the possible end of this whole ordeal, rather than the actual excitement of a trade.Even though everyone said they were sick of Kaberle, the Hockeybuzz servers still overloaded with the amount of traffic they received Sunday night, so people clearly cared.However, there was no trade. I can’t say I’m pleased. I consider Jeff Finger a capable defencemen (albeit grossly overpaid), so with Kaberle’s non-trade the Leafs have a group of eight defencemen able to play every night. This probably means that Jeff Finger gets waived to the minors and poor Brett Lebda sits in the press box.Don’t you think that Burke convinced Lebda to sign with the Leafs by promising him an increased role on the team - perhaps an increase in power-play time? Assuredly, Lebda, like everyone else, believed that Tomas Kaberle would be traded before his contractually imposed trade deadline. It didn’t work out that way.The reason Kaberle’s departure seemed so obvious is because he’s fifth on the Leafs’ depth chart and what team pays their fifth defenceman $4.25 million. Probably the same team that spends nearly $28 million on eight defencemen.I will hear an argument that he is better than Francois Beauchemin, but there is absolutely no way that he is better than Dion Phaneuf, Mike Komisarek, or Luke Schenn. Just because he puts up points doesn’t make him a good defenceman. The primary job of a defenceman is to play defence. Kaberle isn’t Marc-Andre Bergeron, but I’m upset now so I’m not going to let fact get in the way of hyperbole.So why would Brian Burke refuse to trade Tomas Kaberle even though the Leafs are stuffed full of defenceman and extremely thin at forward? He overvalued Kaberle and he’s too stubborn to relent from his unrealistic demands. Asking for a top-6 forward is a stretch and asking for a high draft pick as well is insane.There is no harm in setting the bar high in trade negotiations, but knowing when you need to lower your demands is necessary in order to avoid the scenario that just played out.In hindsight, it’s clear why Brian Burke would not relent from his demands if he didn’t receive an offer that would immediately help the Maple Leafs. At first I thought his statements proclaiming Kaberle is likely to stay a Leaf were just posturing in order to keep some minimal leverage in trade talks. In reality, Burke desperately needs the Leafs to make the playoffs this season. And if by some disaster the Leafs are in another lottery position, meaning the Bruins would have received two top-5 picks in exchange for Phil Kessel, Burke will surely be fired and have his legacy tarnished.That’s why any “futures return” for Kaberle doesn’t help Burke and Leafs in the short-term and that’s all Burke cares about at this moment. The offers Burke received probably provided no immediate help for the forward corps because any deal involving even a potential 20 goal scorer should have been jumped at immediately (provided they were young).Trading Kaberle was Burke's chance at mitigating the damage the Phil Kessel trade did to the Leafs' farm system. However, by Burke's logic, letting Kaberle go for prospects that aren't able to immediately help further endangers the outcome of the Kessel deal.Of course, only Brian Burke and the upper management of the Maple Leafs know the type of offers for Kaberle, so it's a little unfair to criticize Burke. If the offers truly were horrible then keeping Kaberle is probably the best course of action. I just don't believe that there was no one that offered anything of value - whether that be short-term or long-term value.So now the Leafs are stuck with their longest serving member (again). Does having Kaberle necessarily make the Leafs better (which is the logic Brian Burke is operating under)? That may seem like a silly question considering Kaberle is consistently in the top-10 in scoring by defencemen. However, before the Dion Phaneuf trade, Kaberle had 5 goals and 38 assists in 56 games (all while being -10). After the Leafs acquired Phaneuf and Giguere, Kaberle scored just 2 goals and 4 assists while being a -6 (despite the team’s much better goal differential). So Kaberle played well when the Leafs were bad and played poorly when the Leafs were good.This isn’t totally fair, considering the Leafs power-play went south quickly after the new additions. Kaberle gets most of his points on the power-play and it could be just a matter of unfamiliarity and lack of practice that affected the power-play. Although, considering Phaneuf has a bomb from the point it seems pretty clear that the game plan should be feed him the puck and have someone stand in front of the net.Or the lack of power-play proficiency could be attributable to Tomas Kaberle – if we are continuing the Kabby bashing (because I’m bitter).Now, the best case scenario that I can possibly think of for the upcoming year is that Kaberle and Phaneuf form a 2010 version of McKaberle on the power-play, reminiscent to when Bryan McCabe blasted home shots from the point after being fed passes right in his wheelhouse. Kaberle is in a contract year and should be sufficiently motivated for a big year in order to cash in on a big UFA payday (from another team because there’s no way he wants to come back to Toronto after being dragged through the mud for three years).If Kaberle is here to stay we may as well hope he has a huge year that makes this entire article look stupid. I'm hoping for that. I want desperately to be wrong about this.The worst case scenario is that Kaberle is pissed at the Leafs for the way he has been treated for the past three years, particularly this summer, and shows up sullen and unmotivated. I hate to see how little an unmotivated Kaberle shoots and hits.Either way Kaberle blocks any sort of trade during the season because either a) he loves Toronto and never wants to leave (the ol’ Mats Sundin trade blockin’ speech) or b) he decides he doesn’t owe Toronto any favours after being treated so shabbily this off-season.Plus, unless the wildly overblown Kaberle trade market does a complete 180 during the season, Burke will have no motivation to even try to trade Kaberle while the Leafs try to contend for a playoff position. So can we please agree that no one should discuss any potential Kaberle trade during the year? It's too much to handle.Barring any other trade (please do not even think of trading Luke Schenn), the Leafs go into the regular season with heightened reliance on a very young and inexperienced group of forwards. The Leafs are now banking on Mikhail Grabovski having a huge bounce back year; Nazem Kadri contributing immediately, rather than slowly acclimatizing to the league; Tyler Bozak avoiding a sophomore slump; Nikolai Kulemin playing like the $3 million player his agent sees him as; Kris Versteeg proving he’s an actual top-6 forward without the help of superstars; and Colby Armstrong adding more than just truculence. Otherwise, Phil Kessel will be largely alone.Or the Leafs can just turn Kaberle into their new number one centre . Uh, people are stretching this Kaberle story pretty thin…

Dutch media this month published articles accusing Ariel Sharon of murdering Palestinian children in Lebanon. Former officials who worked with Sharon said the publications were false. The Israeli foreign ministry called the claim "a modern blood libel." George Sluizer in Beirut, 1977. Courtesy of George Sluizer. The claim first appeared in the Volkskrant, the third largest paper in the Netherlands, in an interview with the well-known Dutch-Jewish director George Sluizer. According to Sluizer, 78, he witnessed Sharon killing two Palestinian toddlers with a pistol in 1982 near the refugee camp Sabra-Shatilla while filming a documentary there. “I met Sharon and saw him kill two children before my eyes,” said Sluizer, who lives in Amsterdam. Sluizer has made several documentaries about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but is best known for directing The Vanishing with Jeff Bridges and Kiefer Sutherland in 1992. Sluizer repeated the accusation in an interview for Vrij Nederland, an intellectual magazine, published on November 13 ahead of a screening of his film at the prestigious International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam. “Sharon shot two children like you shoot rabbits, in front of my eyes,” he said. The children, according to Sluizer, “were toddlers, two or three years old. He shot them from a distance of 10 meters with a pistol that he carried. I was very close to him.” Sluizer added he thought this happened in November, when Sharon was Israel’s minister of defense, but he was not sure of the month. His account was published in a special Volkskrant supplement for the film festival, which opened on Wednesday. The festival featured Sluizer’s fourth and most recent film about Israel, in which he is filmed telling a Sharon effigy that he wished Sharon would have died at Auschwitz. Sharon’s successor as defense minister, Moshe Arens, said Sluizer’s account was “a lie.” According to Arens, “Sharon would never shoot a child and he was not in Lebanon in November of 1982. Thirdly, protocol prohibits ministers from wearing weapons. As civilians they are not allowed to carry firearms.” Amram Mitzna, former chairman of the Israeli Labor Party who served under Sharon as head of the Syrian front during the First Lebanon War, called Sluizer’s account “total nonsense.” Mitzna added: “I attacked Sharon politically over his decisions, but Sharon would never do a thing like that. It’s completely ridiculous.” Keep updated: Sign up to our newsletter Email * Please enter a valid email address Sign up Please wait… Thank you for signing up. We've got more newsletters we think you'll find interesting. Click here Oops. Something went wrong. Please try again later. Try again Thank you, The email address you have provided is already registered. Close Yossef Levy, senior spokesperson for the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, called Sluizer's account a "crude and disgraceful lie. It is hard to believe that any reasonable person would take seriously this kind of modern blood libel, which is not supported by a single shred of evidence." In an interview for Haaretz, Sluizer said his cameraman Fred van Kuyk, who died a few years ago, also witnessed the shooting. Sluizer also said he had personally filed two complaints against Sharon in 1983, with the International Court of Justice in the Hague and the European Court of Human Right in Strasbourg. Mr. Andrey Poskakukhin, head of the ICJ’s information department, said the court had no registration of a complaint by Sluizer. An administrator for the court in Strasbourg said his institution had no record of such a complaint either. “Any serious newspaper should be very careful in accusing a man who cannot defend himself of committing cold-blooded murder,” said Ronny Naftaniel, director of the Center for Information and Documentation on Israel. He has written to Volkskrant’s editor-in-chief to ask if the paper had tried to corroborate Sluizer’s account before publication. “Both papers seem to have published Sluizer’s account without fact-checking it,” Naftaniel also said. “It seems media tend to believe everything negative about Israel, not bothering to even check with their correspondents. In so doing, they are lending themselves to an anti-Israel witch hunt.” Mischa Cohen, who interviewed Sluizer for Vrij Nederland, said he had “tried to corroborate Sluizer’s account” to the best of his ability. “There were some inconsistencies, but the article is mostly about Sluizer’s anger” in relations to Israel’s treatment of Palestinians. “By the time my complaints arrived at their destination and should have been processed, minister of defense Sharon had become prime minister and therefore he was free of prosecution,” Sluizer said. Sharon became prime minister in 2001, 18 years after Sluizer said he filed his complaints. Sluizer says he never received a reply from either institution. “I was busy doing other things then, finishing filming and traveling the Soviet Union and other countries,” Sluizer said when asked why he had not pursued the matter. He added he began thinking more about the shooting after surviving a near-fatal aneurism in 2007. Ariel Sharon, 1982 Defense Ministry

MACON, Ga. -- UGA released its post-spring depth chart Tuesday with few surprises from how the Bulldogs finished spring. (Photo by John Kelley/UGA Sports Communications) Notable observations are that, technically, John Theus will enter preseason without a first-string spot, Tray Matthews is already being called a starter and John Atkins is listed as a nose instead of a defensive end. ====================== Here's how it the full list reads ... OFFENSE QUARTERBACK Murray Mason LeMay OR Welch Bauta Ramsey TAILBACK Gurley Marshall Green Karempelis Harton Bryan Parsons FULLBACK Hall Hicks Maxey Campbell Young FLANKER Mitchell Conley Wooten Tibbs Terry C Johnson Payette SPLIT END Bennett McGowan Scott-Wesley Rumph Erdman Towns Wyatt TIGHT END Lynch Rome H Williams Trolinger Mulkey Star Chapple Loonam LEFT TACKLE Gates Beard DeBell LEFT GUARD Lee Dantzler Cardiello CENTER Andrews H Long Mobley RIGHT GUARD Burnette A Long Pyke Bynum RIGHT TACKLE Ward J Theus McQuillen ====================== DEFENSE NOSE Thornton Mayes Atkins DEFENSIVE END G Smith Taylor DEFENSIVE END Bailey Drew Kirk OUTSIDE LINEBACKER (WILL) J Jenkins J Dawson Stripling OUTSIDE LINEBACKER (SAM) DeLoach Vasser Burrows Pinkston Stagg INSIDE LINEBACKER (MIKE) Wilson Rankin T Long INSIDE LINEBACKER (MO) Herrera Carter Vavlas McDonald CORNERBACK (BOUNDARY) Swann Wilkerson Sailors J Jones CORNERBACK (FIELD) S Dawson Bowman Askew John Bailey STRONG SAFETY Harvey-Clemons Moore Deas Gillespie Herod FREE SAFETY Matthews Norman Mauger Redd ====================== SPECIAL TEAMS KICKER Morgan Beless Pritchard PUNTER Barber Erickson E Jackson SNAPPER N Theus Gazaway

Prosecutors across Michigan are fighting to uphold sentences for most of the 350-plus prison inmates now serving mandatory life terms for crimes they committed as juveniles. Their stance is in apparent defiance of a this year that courts across the nation are supposed to reduce life sentences for young offenders except in only "rare" cases. According to data, which Bridge obtained from a network of Michigan lawyers, at least nine county prosecutors are asking judges to uphold life sentences for every so-called "juvenile lifer" convicted in their courts. They argue that these inmates, including some who have behind bars for decades, can never be safely returned to society. "I think what the prosecutors are doing is appalling," said Ann Arbor lawyer Deborah LaBelle, a prisoner rights advocate who is organizing free legal representation for about 100 juvenile lifers. "The Supreme Court says the vast majority have to have the chance at being paroled," LaBelle said. "You can't just lock them up and throw away the key for things they did as a child." Among the most resistant to the Supreme Court's ruling: Saginaw County Prosecutor John McColgan Jr., who wants to uphold 21 of 21 sentences in which life terms were given to juvenile defendants. It's nine of nine in Kalamazoo County. And seven of seven in Muskegon County. Meanwhile, Oakland County Prosecutor Jessica Cooper has asked judges to uphold mandatory life sentences for 44 of 49 inmates who committed crimes as juveniles. In Genesee County, Prosecutor David Leyton is asking the same in 23 of 27 cases. More broadly, four large Michigan counties - Genesee, Oakland, Saginaw and Wayne - account for 150 of the 218 cases for which prosecutors are seeking to uphold life without parole. In Wayne County, which includes Detroit, Prosecutor Kym Worthy is seeking life without parole in 61 of 153 cases - hardly rare at 40 percent, but lower than Oakland County's request to uphold 90 percent of juvenile life sentences. Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard put an incendiary exclamation mark on the position of prosecutors when he held a press conference in July in which he compared juvenile lifers to a . "I looked at a sample of these individuals and they are who committed very heinous murders - often, multiple murders - and then they've continued to display very assaultive behavior in prison and show no remorse," Bouchard said. The meaning of 'rare' Overall, according to the data, prosecutors are seeking to uphold life-without-parole sentences for 218 of the 363 men and women in state prisons for crimes committed as minors. Most were convicted of first-degree murder or of abetting first-degree murder. Some were as young as 14. The oldest is now 71. The effort to keep juvenile lifers permanently behind bars faces pushback from legal advocates, as well as some federal prosecutors. Critics accuse county prosecutors of ignoring not only the clear instructions of the nation's highest court, but showing that adolescent brains are at once more impulsive than those of adults and yet more capable of change and growth as they mature, even among teens involved in brutal crimes. Oakland County resident Jody Robinson opposes the release of Barbara Hernandez, convicted in 1991 for her part at age 16 in the murder of Robinson's brother. (photo courtesy of MLive) Michigan's tough juvenile sentencing laws - allowing mandatory life without parole for those as young as 14, and for decades treating 17-year-olds as adults - have made the state a leader in imprisoning juveniles for life, ranking second only to Pennsylvania. For years now, the U.S. Supreme Court, relying heavily on developments in brain science, has chipped away at the notion that young criminals are irredeemable. In 2012, in , the justices concluded that juveniles should no longer face the possibility of mandatory life terms. Then, this past January, the court held in Montgomery v. Louisiana that the Miller decision should be applied retroactively to those already in prison. The 6-3 decision required local courts to reconsider a shorter sentence for roughly 2,000 juvenile lifers across the country. The ruling reignited a familiar and contentious debate over crime, punishment - and the redemptive possibilities for young offenders who commit horrible crimes. Mandatory life sentences, the court said, should be reserved for those "rare children whose crimes reflect irreparable corruption," who exhibit "such irretrievable depravity that rehabilitation is impossible and life without parole is justified." Prosecutors in Michigan were given a July deadline to name juvenile lifers within their jurisdictions who they contend remain too dangerous to ever walk free. Those named will face an eventual mini-trial in which prosecutors have to prove they were among the irretrievably depraved. The facts of the original crime, statements by friends or relatives of the victim and each inmate's background and behavior in prison are to be weighed. For those lifers not targeted by prosecutors, in 2014 spells out a default minimum sentence of 25 years in prison to maximum of 60 years. The adolescent mind Juvenile advocates insist that life without parole is too harsh for crimes committed by minors, whose brains are less developed, more impulsive and far more susceptible to peer pressure. They say life terms also ignore young people's greater capacity for rehabilitation. After years in prison, advocates say, many of these younger inmates display rehabilitative qualities that at least merit discussion about their ability to rejoin society. They point to cases like that of Barbara Hernandez, imprisoned since 1991 for the murder of James Cotaling in Pontiac. Cotaling was stabbed to death by Hernandez's then-boyfriend and apparent pimp, Jim Hyde. There was dispute at trial as to whether Hernandez - who was 16 at the time of the crime - physically aided Hyde in the attack. Her champions argue that since entering prison she has overcome a childhood marked by sexual abuse and parental neglect and an abusive relationship with Hyde. Housed at the Huron Valley Correctional Facility, she has become a leader and mentor to other women who suffered similar trauma. She is ready, at age 42, they say, to safely rejoin society. On the other side, victim rights' advocates and prosecutors insist violent crime must be severely punished - regardless of age. In an interview with Bridge, Oakland County prosecutor Cooper called the 44 cases that she challenged for parole some of the most "heinous" crimes she has seen. She said her decision on those cases was reached only after months of exhaustive review. "We are talking about victims who were stabbed, drowned, bludgeoned and decapitated," Cooper said. "We are not talking about people who took Dad's car and drove over somebody's lawn. "Many of these crimes were totally random. They walked up to a car and decided to shoot in it. On and on and on and on. We are really talking about awful cases." She pointed to the crime committed by Thomas McCloud Jr., convicted in 2009 on two counts of first-degree murder in the 2008 fatal beating of two elderly Oakland County homeless men. , convicted with another 14-year-old. Cooper is seeking to keep him in prison for life. According to his attorney, from prosecutors on three separate occasions on his family's advice. Under a proposed plea to second-degree murder, attorney Howard Arnkoff said, the teen would have been eligible for parole - and perhaps out of prison - by age 30. Cooper also cited the of General Motors executive Glenn Tarr and his wife, Wanda, of Rochester Hills. The killers, Bruce Christopher Michaels, and his accomplice, Joseph Andrew Passeno, were 16 and 17, respectively; they received life without parole for the couple's kidnapping, robbery and fatal shooting. Rethinking mandatory terms Lansing has wrestled in recent years with the state's get-tough approach toward younger offenders. For decades, Michigan charged all 17-year-olds as adults, a practice that would change with that cleared the state House in May, but remains mired in the Senate. Michigan is one of just eight states in which 17-year-olds are still automatically treated as adults by the criminal justice system. That law alone accounts for 207 of the juvenile lifers currently in state prisons. In 1996, then-Gov. John Engler signed legislation that allowed prosecutors to try teens as young as 14 in adult court for certain crimes, with life without parole for first-degree murder. Only recently have voices across the political spectrum begun to rethink the mandatory sentencing laws of 1980s and '90s, particularly for crimes committed by juveniles. Those voices now include a group of current and former federal prosecutors, who have publicly rebuked state prosecutors for, in their view, defying the Supreme Court's ruling. Michael Dettmer, former U.S. Attorney for Michigan's Western District, joined with another former Western District U.S. Attorney, James Brady, and Richard Rossman, former U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District, recently wrote an op-ed condemning the move by state prosecutors to challenge lesser sentences for juvenile lifers. "As former U.S. Attorneys," they wrote, "we would have expected Michigan prosecutors to understand Montgomery's central tenet that children are uniquely capable of growth and maturation and must be able to demonstrate their rehabilitation. "Instead, too many prosecutors are focusing on the crime committed by a troubled adolescent without exercising the judgment to recognize whether the adult before them today has rehabilitated himself." Dettmer said he considers state prosecutors' push to keep so many in prison for life "a slap in the face" of the court's instruction on rehabilitation. Former Michigan Gov. William Milliken, a Republican, has also added his criticism of the juvenile lifer law. But county prosecutors have a powerful ally in Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette. Schuette has vigorously fought reconsideration of juvenile life sentences, filing a in 2015 in the Montgomery case on behalf of Michigan and 15 other states opposing any retroactive look at those sentences. Asked to comment on the high rate of challenges by county prosecutors, a Schuette spokesperson said, "In general, Attorney General Schuette supports local prosecutors and their decisions." The next move is in the hands of local judges. Juvenile life - How Michigan got here 1988 - Michigan legislators approve a measure authorizing prosecutors to seek charges in adult court for juveniles as young as 15. Judges retain authority over whether the youth would be tried in adult or juvenile court. 1996 - Gov. Engler signs legislation allow prosecutors to try juveniles 14 through 16 for a list of 18 offenses in adult court, with no provision for judicial review of the prosecutor's decision. A conviction of first-degree murder means life without parole. 2006 - An Alabama jury finds 17-year-old Evan Miller guilty of capital murder in the 2003 beating and burning of a neighbor in his mobile home, sentencing him to life without parole. He was 14 at the time of the crime. The case is appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which weighs whether the sentence violates the Eighth and 14th Amendment prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. June 2012 - Writing for a 5-4 majority in Miller V. Alabama, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan states that mandatory life without parole for juveniles constitutes "cruel and unusual punishment." Justice Anthony Kennedy swings the decision, by joining the court's four liberal members. The decision leaves open the question of whether the prohibition should be applied retroactively. July 2014 - The Michigan Supreme Court rules 4-3 that the Miller decision does not apply retroactively to juveniles in the state serving mandatory life terms. Attorney General Bill Schuette hails the ruling, saying: "This ruling should bring a measure of peace to the many families who struggled with the possibility of painful re-sentencing hearings for cases successfully prosecuted decades ago." August 2015 - Schuette files an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of Michigan and 15 other states in the case of Montgomery v. Louisiana, which considers whether the Miller ruling should apply retroactively. It states in part: "Contrary to the suggestion of some, the prisoners who seek the retroactive application of Miller are not all hapless aiders and abettors who played a secondary role...Rather, the cases span more than fifty years. And they include some of the most vicious criminals anywhere." January 2016 - Voting 6-3, the U.S. Supreme Court says states must consider new sentences for all juvenile lifers. Writing for the majority, Justice Kennedy states: "The court now holds that when a new substantive rule of constitutional law controls the outcome of a case, the Constitution requires state collateral review courts to give retroactive effect to that rule." July 2016 - A seven-judge panel of the Michigan Court of Appeals concludes that a judge, not a jury, should determine whether to sentence a juvenile to life without parole. Do these juvenile lifers deserve parole? County prosecutors in Michigan are challenging sentence reductions for most of the 363 inmates in prison for life for crimes committed as juveniles. Defense lawyers say that inmates like the three profiled below deserve a second chance at freedom. Donald Williams In 1994, Donald Williams was convicted of first-degree murder for his role in a deadly carjacking at a Macomb County gas station. Witnesses agreed that Williams, who was 16 at the time, was not the shooter. But under the felony murder rule, anyone who takes part in a felony (in this case, the carjacking) can be held responsible if someone is killed even if they did not cause the death. It was Williams's accomplice, Antonio Payne, then 15, who pulled the trigger. Payne shot Emil Mazurek as he attempted to flee and was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life without parole. In the court's pre-sentence investigation, Williams told authorities, "I knew of Payne for two days. I didn't know what was going to happen. Payne just snapped - we talked before - I didn't know he was going to rob someone." In recognition of his lesser role in the offense, the prosecution offered to drop the first-degree murder charge and charge him instead with armed robbery, in exchange for his testimony against Payne. Williams turned it down. Like many juvenile lifers, Williams's home life was dire. His father was fatally shot when he was 2. His mother lost her job of 10 years when a General Motors plant relocated; she was later sentenced to four to 20 years in prison for armed robbery. He was raised by a partially blind grandmother in a wheelchair. Now 40, Williams obtained his GED and according to a court filing by his attorney "has maintained employment as a unit porter, recreational official and handicap aide with positive reports and completed vocational skill trainings." Macomb County Prosecutor Eric Smith said Williams was the "least egregious" of the cases he reviewed for resentencing. He filed a request to resentence 10 of 10 juvenile lifers convicted in Macomb to life without parole, as well another two cases that were on appeal when the 2012 Miller decision came down. "This was the one we agonized over the most, for sure," Smith said of Williams. "But to be clear, he was convicted of first-degree murder. Do I have any qualms about sentencing a convicted murderer to life without parole? Absolutely not." Smith, added, however, that he could be open to a sentence of less than life if he is convinced there is evidence that Williams has turned his life around As for the other nine juvenile lifers, Smith said he found no evidence they were ready to return to society. "No one wants them back on the street," he said. James Adrian In 1995, Ypsilanti resident James Adrian was convicted in the murder of Donte Flonnoy, who was shot as he fled a robbery attempt at an Ypsilanti park. Adrian was 17 at the time. Toronto Gardette, then 19, was convicted in the shooting as well. In a motion filed earlier this month, Adrian's lawyer outlined his troubled upbringing, along with evidence of his rehabilitation. They are among the factors the Supreme Court said the legal system must weigh in reconsidering a sentence of life without parole. Indeed, the 2012 Supreme Court decision forbidding mandatory life terms for offenses committed by minors notes that many young criminals are stuck in homes "from which he cannot usually extricate himself -- no matter how brutal or dysfunctional." In Adrian's case, his father abandoned him as a baby, while his mother "used illegal drugs, including crack and failed to care for her son. He grew up in a home with drug users and drug dealers...Guns and drugs were everywhere and law enforcement was not," according to a court filing. "He began drinking alcohol at the age of 12 and attempted suicide as a teen. No one in his family discussed with him the concept of a future and he felt he had nothing to live for." Since his incarceration, the filing said, Adrian has completed numerous courses and training programs as well as leading fundraising efforts for school supplies for a River Rouge elementary school and to purchase cold-weather clothing for students at two other schools. In 2012, he joined the National Lifers of America, which advocates for rehabilitation and release of prisoners "who no longer represent or pose any danger to public safety," and is now vice president of a local chapter. Adrian also discovered a passion for poetry and has performed as part of the University of Michigan Creative Arts Program and Black History Month program. The record, it states, "does not support in any way the sentence sought by the People. To the contrary, it shows deep empathy, sympathy, commitment and service to others, personal growth, responsibility, discipline, perseverance, hopefulness - and remorse for the deep harm that came to the family and friends of Mr. Flonnoy..." He has been in prison for 20 years. Washtenaw County Prosecutor Brian Mackie - who filed for renewed life without parole in four of seven cases - declined comment. Barbara Hernandez Barbara Hernandez grew up in a home where she was sexually abused, with a mother who drank heavily and often left her children to fend for themselves, according to a . At 14, she went to live with Jim Hyde, four years her senior. They lived at Hyde's mother's apartment in Pontiac, where Hyde pushed her into prostitution to support his cocaine habit, the account stated. They moved to an abandoned house, where they slept on the floor, after Hyde was kicked out of the apartment for stealing his mother's welfare check. Hyde beat Hernandez and pulled her by her hair if she did not obey him, the AP reported. Hyde's own step-sister, Deborah Erdman, described the couple's relationship as more resembling a master and slave: "If he had told her to walk out in the middle of the road and stand in front of a speeding semi, she'd have done it. It was almost like she was hypnotized by him," Erdman is quoted as saying. Their victim was James Cotaling, who was killed after being lured to the house in a scheme to rob him and steal his car. Hyde and Hernandez were arrested a short time later. Hernandez said Hyde ordered her to purchase the knife he used to kill Cotaling. Now 42, Hernandez has a level 1 security clearance - the lowest possible - at the Women's Huron Valley Correctional Facility in Ypsilanti. She is one of only two juvenile lifers in the system with such a clearance, according to her lawyer, Royal Oak attorney Cary McGehee. McGehee contends Hernandez has demonstrated rehabilitation and leadership in helping prisoners deal with issues related to substance abuse and past domestic violence. In addition, she has completed two college composition courses and earned awards of excellence for her work on cleaning duty. "I can't think of a better example of somebody who had a difficult life as a juvenile and has done her best to rehabilitate herself. She has been a mentor to other prisoners by demonstrating that even though you are placed in a terrible situation, you can pull yourself up. "The record irrefutably establishes that she is somebody who should be released for her time served," McGehee said. But Cotaling's sister, Jody Robinson, said she sees no reason why Hernandez or other juveniles in prison for life deserve a second chance. The Oakland County resident is president of the , which advocates against release of juvenile lifers. "I don't think she should be let out of prison. You are talking about juveniles who have the capacity to take another life. They don't value human life. I want you to prove to me beyond a reasonable doubt she won't do it again," Robinson said. Robinson said the Supreme Court's decision forcing reconsideration of these cases is dragging families through anguish and emotional pain outsiders can't even imagine. "What is it like? There are not words that can make somebody who has never been through this understand what it is like. It is the most painful, traumatizing thing we are going through. "It brings you back to that day and time. I tell people to close your eyes. I want you to think of your mother, your sister, your son and what it would be like, whether it be to an illness or a car accident, and remember the day you got that phone call. "Now multiply that by 10 times. Now, 27 years later we are forced to live through this as if it was yesterday. That really is the cruel and unusual part."

John B. Sherman of Texas, to be Chief Information Officer of the Intelligence Community, Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Mr. Sherman currently serves as the Deputy Director of CIA’s Open Source Enterprise, where he has been involved in incorporating open source intelligence and capabilities into the IC Information Technology Enterprise. Mr. Sherman began his intelligence career as satellite imagery analyst and manager, and served as a duty officer in the White House Situation Room. He has served in the intelligence community for over 20 years. Sherman has previously served in senior executive positions at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) in areas of analysis, collection, homeland security, agency transformation, and foreign partnerships. Mr. Sherman served as the Principal Deputy National Intelligence Officer for Military Issues on the National Intelligence Council. Mr. Sherman has received the Meritorious Presidential Rank Award, the CIA Intelligence Medal of Merit, and the NGA Meritorious Civilian Service Medal. Prior to his career in the intelligence community, Sherman served as a U.S. Army Air Defense officer. Mr. Sherman holds a B.A. in History from Texas A&M University and an M.P.A. from the University of Houston.

Image: Steve Jurvetson/Flickr Computer vision-assisted license plate reading seems to be a favorite spectre of a certain sort of privacy worrier, at least anecdotally speaking. Something to do with its potential for tracking and profiling an activity that seems to make Americans in particular feel their most, uh, liberated (driving cars). The technology has had a steady uptake among law enforcement agencies, who of course think it's wondertool for busting crimes, but now an open-source implementation is starting to make some waves in the developer world and beyond. This is OpenALPR, and, as Mike James notes at I-Programmer, it's not a new thing but is getting some new attention in the wake of a recent code release. LPR is here for the masses and it's incredibly easy to use. In fairness, it's incredibly easy to use because there's just not that much to it. The application is based largely on the already open-source OpenCV (open-source computer vision) and Tesseract OCR libraries. It's written in C++ and runs as a command-line application. While there's a commercial version that goes for $50, the guts of the thing are free and free to modify. It has bindings for the C#, Python, JavaScript, and Java programming languages, so it's more or less served on a silver platter to devs. What's more, the OpenALPR version can run as a daemon on a Linux system (which is like a background application) monitoring a video stream while spitting back license plate numbers as JSON files. The fundamental task of Openalpr is to take an image file and return text. That's all. It doesn't query government databases for you, and the applications suggested mostly seem to be kind of contrived-sounding small-time security schemes. The promo video is a bit off: OpenALPR works well and fast, at least judging by the demo. It's also legal for the most part. As EFF lawyer Jennifer Lynch tells Ars Technica, "While a handful of states have passed laws explicitly restricting private citizens and companies from using ALPR technology, outside of those states, there is not much in the law that would prevent someone from using the technology unless its use rises to the level of stalking or harassment. License plates are exposed to public view, and ALPR companies like Vigilant consistently argue they have a First Amendment right to photograph plates and retain the data they collect." The Vigilante Lynch mentions is Vigilante Solutions, the almost cartoonish dark-side to private LPR tech. Vigilante sells LRP hardware, but goes a step further by maintaining an actual license plate database of some 550 million entries, largely provided by a Texas-based auto repo firm called Digital Recognition Network and largely employed by law enforcement agencies. (Freelance repo men scanning traffic for targets is a pretty creepy idea though.) On the other hand, this stuff is also pretty neat, from a technology/algorithmic perspective. If you were interested in learning a thing about object-recognition in the real-world, the OpenALPR codebase seems like a decent place to start.

Copyright by WATE - All rights reserved Jason Kennedy appears in court on April 6, 2017 Copyright by WATE - All rights reserved Jason Kennedy appears in court on April 6, 2017 WATE 6 On Your Side staff - KNOXVILLE (WATE) - Jason Kennedy, a former children's pastor at Grace Baptist Church made his first appearance in Knox County Criminal court. Kennedy was arrested during a human trafficking sting operation in May 2016. The former pastor is charged with solicitation of patronization of prostitution from a minor-trafficking for commercial acts. TBI said he responded to ads for what he thought were girls under the age of 18. Copyright by WATE - All rights reserved Jason Kennedy (Photo: Knox County Sheriff's Office) Copyright by WATE - All rights reserved Jason Kennedy (Photo: Knox County Sheriff's Office) In court Thursday a status date for his trial was set for May 19. The case will go before a grand jury. Previously, Kennedy has pleaded not guilty in June 2016. He is represented Knoxville defense attorney Greg Issacs. "Stings of this nature are typically high-pressure law enforcement operations that ensnare a lot of people," Isaacs said. "Many of those individuals are not predisposed to commit the crimes they are swept up and later charged with, so I would encourage everyone to keep an open mind as this matter goes forward."

Indonesian budget airline Lion Air has been given two months to shape up by the Transportation Ministry or face possible sanctions. The warning comes on the heels of a series of service and safety lapses. Fuel leaked out from a Lion Air aircraft onto the tarmac at Juanda Airport in Surabaya, East Java, on Sunday. On March 29, a flight from Jakarta was diverted from Singapore to Johor Baru, after the airline reportedly failed to secure landing rights. The aircraft was to have been flown back from Singapore to Jakarta that same evening, leading to passengers on the second flight needing to be bussed to Senai Airport from Changi Airport. Lion Air senior management were summoned by Transport Minister Budi Karya Sumadi on Monday to explain the airline's recent failings, which he said included the incident on March 29 as well as the oil spill in Surabaya. "We are summoning Lion Air as the regulator and [industry] watchdog. We want to question them... and will find ways to solve the problems they are facing," he said. "I don't want these kinds of things to keep happening." Agus Santoso, a Transport Ministry director in charge of overseeing Indonesia's airport, told reporters after the meeting that the ministry will closely monitor Lion Air's safety and service performance. "They will receive sanctions if they do not do well," he added. Lion Air is committed to improving customer service and will conduct an internal investigation into incidents related to flight safety and security, said its managing director Daniel Putut. The airline had previously confirmed the Surabaya fuel leak after photos posted on social media went viral. A spokesman said a few litres were spilled. Lion Air did not respond to queries from The Straits Times yesterday about the March 29 flight that was diverted to Johor Baru. According to some passengers The Straits Times spoke to, Lion Air had announced at the boarding gate in Jakarta that it had failed to secure landing rights to touch down at Changi and would be diverting the flight to Senai. The announcement led to ugly scenes at the gate, with many taking to social media to air their anger at the budget airline. Mr Paulus Sutrisno and his friends were among the passengers affected. The group had secured tickets to see British band Coldplay at the Kallang Sports Hub on April 1. Mr Paulus told The Straits Times that he understood that Lion Air was not able to secure a landing spot at Changi for the rescheduled arrival time after the flight was delayed. Lion Air offered to place him on a direct flight to Singapore the next morning and provided him one night's hotel stay to make up for the flight diversion to Johor. Others either opted for a refund or went ahead with the flight to Johor Baru. "We paid for a direct Jakarta-Singapore flight, not a transit in Johor Baru then a bus ride to Singapore," Mr Paulus said. Lion Air began operations in 2000, expanding its routes and fleet of aircraft very quickly. The airline is no stranger to service and safety lapses. Last May, one of its pilots wrongly disembarked passengers on JT 161 from Singapore - an international flight - at the domestic terminal of Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta airport. Correction note: In our earlier story, we said Mr Paulus himself booked a direct flight to Singapore the next morning. This is incorrect. Lion Air offered to place him on a direct flight to Singapore the next morning. We are sorry for the error.

Assessing the Costs and Consequences of the 2007-09 Financial Crisis and Its Aftermath David Luttrell, Tyler Atkinson and Harvey Rosenblum Vol. 8, No. 7, September 2013 A confluence of factors produced the December 2007–June 2009 Great Recession—bad bank loans, improper credit ratings, lax regulatory policies and misguided government incentives that encouraged reckless borrowing and lending. The worst downturn in the United States since the 1930s was distinctive. Easy credit standards and abundant financing fueled a boom-period expansion that was followed by an epic bust with enormous negative economic spillover. Despite extensive reviews of the causes and consequences of the most recent financial crisis, there are few estimates of what it cost—the value of what society gave up. Such a figure would help determine the relative expense of policy proposals designed to avoid future crises. Any estimate of the toll exacted is bound to be incomplete—for example, there may be future expenses not yet recognized—so it’s useful to calculate a range of likely costs.[1] What Society Gave Up One way to measure the cost of lost output is in terms of how much worse off society is relative to a baseline trend that might have existed absent the crisis. Such an exercise is crucial to grasping the magnitude of what occurred and the effects of the still-emerging recovery. Output per person as of mid-2013 stood 12 percent below the average of U.S. economic recoveries over the past half-century, corroborating a large body of literature suggesting that recoveries from financial crises are slower than rebounds from typical recessions (Chart 1). Our bottom-line estimate of the cost of the crisis, assuming output eventually returns to its precrisis trend path, is an output loss of $6 trillion to $14 trillion. This amounts to $50,000 to $120,000 for every U.S. household, or the equivalent of 40 to 90 percent of one year’s economic output. This seemingly wide range of estimates is due in part to the uncertainty of how long it might take to return to the precrisis growth trend. However, output may never return to trend—the path of future output may be permanently lower than before. If that’s the case, the crisis cost will exceed the $14 trillion high-end estimate of output loss. The crisis consumed an enormous sum of financial and housing wealth. U.S. household net worth plunged $16 trillion, or 24 percent, from third quarter 2007 to first quarter 2009. In addition, it wiped out a huge amount of “human capital,” both current wage income and discounted future wage income; that is, ahousehold’s expectation of potential earning power. If the effects of the crisis are permanent, the path of consumption observed since 2007 suggests that the cost of the crisis may be more than double the $6 trillion to $14 trillion estimate. The results of both the output-loss and path-of-consumption approaches are presented in Table 1A.[2] Some of the harder-to-quantify impacts of the crisis, shown in Table 1B, are the consequence of extended unemployment, reduced opportunity and increased government presence in the economy. Even taking into account the likely overlap of estimates in Table 1A and 1B, the total cost of the crisis easily exceeds the value of the nation’s output for an entire year. Explaining the Output Loss The $6 trillion to $14 trillion base estimate of lost output following the crisis depends on assumptions about the economy’s trend rate of growth and whether an oil-price shock in 2008 might have caused a mild recession anyway.[3] This estimate of the aggregate cost of the crisis covers 2008 to 2023, when output is assumed to fully return to trend. Ultimately, there is no way to know for sure what path output would have followed or even if the financial crisis caused the output drop. The standard assumption is that trend growth would have continued at a pace similar to that in the preceding period. From 1984 to 2007—a period often referred to as the Great Moderation due to its relative economic and price stability—the average annual growth rate of gross domestic product (GDP) per capita was 2.1 percent. Conceivably, historically high crude oil prices were partly responsible for the contraction that followed, and trend growth overstates what output would have been. The cause of the oil shock, however, may be inseparable from the roots of the financial crisis. A global-imbalances narrative posits that an influx of overseas demand for U.S. financial assets fueled an unsustainable creation of structured credit products (financial instruments such as mortgage-backed securities) that pushed real (inflation adjusted) interest rates lower. This connection between financial flows and various hard-asset commodity prices—including the crude oil price spike—sowed seeds of instability in 2007–08. The estimated gap between what GDP would have been absent the financial crisis and realized GDP is shown in Chart 2. The graphic also captures the possibility that an oil-shock recession would have occurred regardless of the crisis. The forecast (represented by the red line in Chart 2) provides a reasonable middle ground between the extremely unlikely, immediate return to trend and the uncertain, perpetual output loss implied by a continued modest pace of economic growth (represented by the blue line in Chart 2). In addition to impacting the amount of U.S. goods and services produced, the 2007–09 bust triggered (or is at least associated with) a worldwide downturn. A similar output-loss exercise for world GDP excluding the U.S. results in an estimated $8.1 trillion loss just through year-end 2012. Trauma and Reduced Capacity While the recession was an economic phenomenon, its impact went beyond a sizable drop in output or consumption. The adverse psychological consequences are enormous, even if they are not easily quantifiable. Nonfarm payrolls fell by more than 8.7 million, or 6.3 percent, and the number of unemployed climbed to 14.7 million over the course of the recession, peaking at 10 percent of the nation’s labor force in October 2009. Further, many workers faced extended bouts of unemployment or left the labor force altogether. The ranks of the underemployed (those who want a job but can only find part-time work) and frustrated job seekers (those who become discouraged and give up looking for work) rose to 12 million, a 94 percent increase. In July 2013, four years after the recession is deemed to have ended, labor underutilization remains intractably high: 11.5 million people are unemployed and an additional 10.6 million are underemployed or frustrated. Branches of economics that survey broader measures of life satisfaction apart from income have confirmed the intuition of the nonpecuniary costs of unemployment—for example, the psychological effects of stress and feelings of diminished self-worth.[4] In addition, higher unemployment has spillover effects on the rest of society: decreased job security for the employed as well as higher taxes to fund the transfer payments to the jobless and the underemployed. While the psychological toll of a weakened economy may be small for employed workers relative to the unemployed, the aggregate societal consequences can be significant.[5] Although subjective well-being can be hard to quantify, one study estimated a cost of as much as $14 trillion from loss of security in the workforce due to rising unemployment.[6] This figure represents the lost income of the unemployed, the value of the loss of subjective well-being among the unemployed and the negative spillover effects on the employed, including the adverse effects of high unemployment on future income and job prospects. A job is a path to dignity and a sense of accomplishment that is paramount to personal progress. Optimism regarding perceived opportunities—the notion that the future will be better than the present—is a crucial source of motivation for job seekers and job keepers. The crisis deflated this sense of security and optimism for many—reflected in a downward revision to households’ permanent income, some of the decline in the labor force participation rate and a slower pace of household formation observed from 2007 through 2011. Individuals change these behaviors when they reassess their medium- and long-term prospects and do not like what they see. A stark legacy of the recession and the lackluster labor market is reduced opportunity and deterioration captured in subjective measures of well-being. Since the recession’s onset in December 2007, more citizens believed their income would be lower in the future than thought it would be higher. This is the first time in any recession since the 1960s that income expectations turned negative.[7] Unintended Consequences The crisis resulted in a significant loss of trust in government institutions and the U.S. capitalist economic system. In the Fraser Institute’s Index of Economic Freedom global ranking, the U.S. fell from second in 2000 to 18th in 2012. The assessment by the economics and public policy think tank is based on 42 variables that involve aspects of government size, property rights, money soundness, international trade freedom and regulation.[8] The lower ranking reflected perceptions of less-secure property rights, bigger government, increased regulation of businesses and favoritism accorded to special interests. A crisis of confidence portends a loss of public trust. Saving the system from complete collapse—especially with extraordinary government assistance, including bailouts to a handful of giant financial institutions—reinforced a perception that public support exists primarily for large, interconnected, complex financial entities. Deemed “too big to fail,” these financial intermediaries lacked discipline and accountability leading up to the crisis and proved largely immune to the downside of their excessive risk taking. This special treatment violated a basic tenet of American capitalism: All people and institutions have the freedom to succeed and also to fail based on the merits of their actions. In a way, the 2008–09 bailouts exacted an unfair and nontransparent tax upon the American people.[9] Although unprecedented fiscal and monetary action in the throes of panic during 2008–09 may have prevented a full-blown depression, such intervention did not come without significant costs. Society must deal with the consequences of a swollen federal debt, an expanded Federal Reserve balance sheet and increased regulations and government intervention for years to come. Direct government support for the U.S. financial sector totaled approximately $12.6 trillion, or more than 80 percent of 2007 GDP—a sum over and above what was provided via precrisis Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. deposit insurance limits and the Federal Reserve’s traditional monetary policy operations and lender-of-last-resort functions.[10] The degree to which the cost of public policies’ unintended consequences should be attributed to the crisis is not obvious. However, aggressive countercyclical fiscal and monetary stimulus would not have been implemented if not for the crisis, and thus the unintended consequences are largely attributable to the crisis. Government funds allocated to fighting the effects of the crisis couldn’t be spent on other items such as infrastructure and education that enhance the nation’s capital stock—its productive capacity. At Least an Entire Year’s Output The 2007–09 meltdown produced a huge downshift in the path of economic output, consumption and financial wealth. The nation has borne additional costs arising from psychological consequences, skill atrophy from extended unemployment, a reduced set of economic opportunities and increased government intervention in the economy. Assuming the financial crisis is the root cause of all that dislocation, an estimate of the crisis’ overall cost must be weighed against the potential costs of policies intended to prevent similar episodes in the future. We conservatively estimate the loss of national output as a result of the financial crisis and its aftermath at between $6 trillion and $14 trillion. The high end of this range is equal to nearly one year of U.S. output. Including broader and more-difficult-to-quantify measures that reflect the lingering trauma experienced by millions of Americans pushes these costs still higher—possibly to as much as two years’ worth of forgone consumption. Given this range of estimates, the tepid economic recovery and the collateral damage sustained, it is crucial to implement effective policies that avoid future episodes whose magnitude could exceed even the staggering costs and consequences of the most recent financial crisis. Notes

By Norma Erickson, President Opposing Perspectives on HPV Vaccines Every country with an HPV vaccination program also has a group of parents with children who have lost their health, sometimes their lives after HPV vaccine administration. These parents are fighting against all odds to try and find ways to restore their children’s life to pre-vaccine status. They need honest answers and need them NOW. Meanwhile, HPV vaccine promoters are doing their level best to eliminate any conversations about HPV vaccine issues except for those discussing ways to increase uptake and/or market share. One group seems to have all the money, power and influence to accomplish their goal of vaccinating the entire currently healthy global population against HPV infections. The other group is composed of parents who are emotionally, financially and physically exhausted by their efforts to discover exactly what happened to their children and how to repair the damage. Is the situation hopeless? Perhaps not. If you have any questions or concerns about HPV vaccinations, please take the time to read this entire article. Honest discussions about HPV vaccine issues could be a possibility despite the uneven distribution of resources between these two groups. Analyze the Situation Parents left with no choice but to fight to restore their child’s former health after their right to informed consent was ignored and tragedy occurred, hold a power nearly impossible to defeat. There is no force in the universe stronger than a parent defending their child. This fact obviously scares the daylights out of those who wish to administer HPV vaccines to every child on the planet regardless of the consequences. If one observes the outrageous conduct HPV vaccine proponents exhibit when confronted with questions from parents desperately seeking to restore their children’s health to pre-HPV vaccination status, it is painfully obvious that the power these parents hold strikes fear in the heart of vaccine stakeholders. Simply examine how international health authorities respond to questions about HPV vaccines. Typical tactics include (but are not limited to) marginalizing suffering families, blaming psychosomatic disorders, using mass hysteria as an excuse, using threats of custody issues, claiming parental invention of the symptoms, blaming, name-calling, and so on and so on… When questions are answered at all, they are ‘answered’ by a person in ‘authority’ who expects one to accept the answer with absolutely no valid scientific evidence to support their position. It seems using any means necessary to avoid open honest scientific discussion is the standard method of operation. Any country where HPV vaccines are used apparently utilizes the same set of tactics to avoid the possibility of honest scientific discussions regarding the risk/benefit profile of HPV vaccines, potential adverse reactions, or any other concerns about Gardasil, Cervarix, or Gardasil 9. This behavior is not tolerable under any circumstances, but even less acceptable when promoting mass vaccination of a healthy population for a disease they may never have been at risk of contracting in the first place. What do the parents of a child with post-HPV vaccination health issues do? Parents around the world have been given no option but to continue their fight to restore their precious children’s health. These parents want nothing more than to be able to give their children a future promising options other than more pain and suffering. Surrender is not an option for them. These warriors need to know the whole world has not abandoned them and their children. These parents desperately need to know they are not alone in their battle to save their children’s future. The world needs to know these parents will never surrender until their children’s pain and suffering is acknowledged; independent investigations are conducted to discover exactly what happened and why; compassionate and caring medical treatments are provided to restore their children’s former health, and independent scientific/medical risk versus benefit analyses of HPV vaccines are conducted so no other families have to travel the same road without knowing where that road may lead. HPV vaccine stakeholders need to understand that ultimately, it will not matter what tactics were used to try and suppress honest debate because there is no power on earth strong enough to defeat parents who are fighting for their child’s future. It’s time to make these facts common knowledge In order to accomplish this, the SaneVax team is asking everyone who is working to facilitate open honest discussions regarding HPV vaccine issues to seriously consider including the message below whenever you share information regarding the global HPV vaccine controversy on any social media site. This is particularly important when posting reports of successful efforts to provide accurate HPV vaccine information and/or accounts of personal experiences after HPV vaccination. “The (insert your organization’s name) strongly encourages you to DEMONSTRATE YOUR SUPPORT for the parents of HPV vaccine survivors in (insert the appropriate country) for working so hard to protect the children of the world from joining the ranks of those negatively impacted after HPV vaccine administration. Please use the hashtag #parentpower when you share this article to let them know you appreciate their efforts. Show every parent who is fighting with their back against the wall of silence shrouding the truth know you stand beside them.” If we can all cooperate on this one small project, #parentpower will soon be a visible symbol of the true power held in the hands of all parents who will not stop fighting for their children’s future. Please, help the parents of HPV vaccine survivors realize they have your support and encouragement. Help the thousands of parents around the world fighting the same battles unite with a demonstration of global solidarity. Help them witness how much greater that power becomes when multiplied by the strength and support of every parent in the world! Help show the world #parentpower cannot be defeated! Read French translation here.

The Chicago-based 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that a transgender student has the right to use the bathroom that corresponds with his gender identity under federal law. In a unanimous opinion, the court upheld a lower district court order allowing Ashton Whitaker, a 17-year-old senior at Tremper High School in Kenosha, Wis., to use the boys’ bathroom despite the school's claim that Whitaker’s presence in the boys’ bathroom would invade the privacy rights of his male classmates. In delivering the opinion of the court, Judge Ann Claire Williams said the school district failed to provide any evidence of how the preliminary injunction would harm the school or any of its students or parents. “The harms identified by the School District are all speculative and based upon conjecture, whereas the harms to Ash are well‐documented and supported by the record,” she said. ADVERTISEMENT In the 35-page opinion, Williams said a policy that requires an individual to use a bathroom that does not conform with his or her gender identity punishes that individual for his or her gender non‐conformance, which in turn violates Title IX anti-discrimination laws. “The School District’s policy also subjects Ash, as a transgender student, to different rules, sanctions, and treatment than non‐transgender students, in violation of Title IX,” she said. Though the school created a separate bathroom for only Whitaker to use, Williams said that only “exacerbated the harm.” “This action further stigmatized Ash, indicating that he was ‘different’ because he was a transgender boy,” she wrote. LGBT rights advocates were quick to hail the decision, calling it “groundbreaking.” The Transgender Law Center said this is the first federal appeals court to find conclusively that a transgender student has the right to be treated in accordance with the student’s gender identity at school under both Title IX and the Constitution. The group claims it is also the first decision to reach that conclusion without reliance on the Obama administration’s guidance on schools’ Title IX obligations to transgender students, which the Trump administration rescinded in February. The Supreme Court in March tossed out a ruling that allowed Gavin Grimm, a transgender boy in Virginia, to use the bathroom he chooses and ordered a lower court to reconsider the case in light of that new guidance. The justices had planned to hear arguments in the case before Attorney General Jeff Sessions Jefferson (Jeff) Beauregard SessionsTrump says he hasn't spoken to Barr about Mueller report Ex-Trump aide: Can’t imagine Mueller not giving House a ‘roadmap’ to impeachment Rosenstein: My time at DOJ is 'coming to an end' MORE and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos rescinded the Obama-era guidance that said schools should allow transgender students to use the bathrooms corresponding to their gender identity, claiming those rights were covered federal anti-discrimination laws addressing “sex.” In withdrawing that guidance, the Trump administration said the Obama administration failed to "explain how the position is consistent with the express language of Title IX" but didn't make their own case for whether Title IX applies.

Patrick Lefevere is on the verge of securing the future of the Quick-Step Floors team, with an announcement expected in Dusseldorf ahead of the Tour de France, according to a report in Belgian newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws on Tuesday. Related Articles Quick-Step boss Lefevere acquitted in tax evasion case Sagan and Kittel train at altitude in USA ahead of Tour de France Dan Martin, Kittel and Gilbert lead Quick-Step Floors at Tour de France Lefevere anticipating more Tour de France stage wins for Kittel Quick-Step Floors struggling to retain star riders for 2018 - News Shorts Despite the reports, Lefevere said any new sponsorship deal is "not done yet" as he reacted angrily to the news on Tuesday morning. After sarcastically thanking the Belgian newspaper and journalist Nico Dick for a 'cheap victory', he wrote: "Your news not only destroys my day, everybody starts calling me, and it's not done yet." However everything indicates that the future of the team has been secured, though which riders will stay or leave the team remains to be seen. Lefevere's team is one of the most powerful in today's WorldTour peloton, winning over 50 races in each of the past five seasons, but their current sponsorship deals are set to expire at the end of this year. “We have four months to pull together the money to decide the fate of the team," said Lefevere at the start of the year, setting himself the deadline of the Tour de France so as to have time to shore up his roster, with the vast majority of the current team out of contract at the end of the year. According to Het Laatste Nieuws, flooring company Quick-Step, after pondering their long-standing investment, have committed to another four years, with bike manufacturer Specialized also on board. Supermarket chain Lidl have also reportedly extended their backing, having signed an initial two-year deal starting 2016. There have also been question marks over the continued backing of Czech businessman and investor, Zdenek Bakala. The report suggests either he has committed to keep pouring money into the team, or Lefevere has found another sponsor. The experienced Belgian manager was at the team's management company offices in Luxembourg on Monday for a shareholders meeting. It is possible that the team's long-term future was confirmed during the meeting. Lefevere had previously set June 30 as his deadline to confirm the future of the team. The Quick-Step Floors team due to held its pre-Tour de France press conference on Thursday June 29 in Dusseldorf. Quick-Step Floors have named its roster for the Tour de France, putting their hopes in sprinter Marcel Kittel, Dan Matin and Philippe Gilbert.

A northern white rhinoceros named Nabiré died Monday at a Czech zoo, leaving only four of the subspecies alive in the world. Their outlook is bleak: Only one male remains, and at 42 years old he can no longer breed. The 31-year-old female died at the Dvůr Králové Zoo after suffering complications from the rupture of a large cyst, according to a zoo statement . White rhinos are thought to be able to live up to 40 or 50 years. "It is a terrible loss," zoo director Přemysl Rabas said in the statement. "Her species is on the very brink of extinction." (Also see " Extremely Rare White Rhino Dies in Kenya—His Kind Nearly Extinct .") The remaining animals, all captive, include a female at the San Diego Zoo and two females and a male at Kenya's Ol Pejeta Conservancy . View Images Nabiré's death leaves just three females and one male remaining of the critically endangered subspecies. Photograph by Joel Sartore A Rapid Decline Rhinoceros populations in both Asia and Africa have suffered for decades due to poaching, which is spurred mainly by demand for their horns as a key ingredient in many traditional Asian medicines, according to the nonprofit group WWF . Habitat loss is also a factor in their demise. (See a map of the international illegal trade in rhinos.) The northern white rhinoceros subspecies was once robust throughout central Africa, with populations ranging from southern Chad to the Democratic Republic of the Congo . Their numbers declined precipitously from more than 2,000 in 1960 to only 15 individuals by 1984. Like their northern relatives, the southern white rhino went through previous periods of decline, and only a handful remained at the turn of the century, says Kathleen Garrigan, spokesperson for the African Wildlife Foundation , a Washington, D.C.-based group that works to protect African animals. (See "1,000+ Rhinos Poached in 2013: Highest in Modern History.") Conservation efforts by the South African government have helped the subspecies rebound to a healthy population of around 20,000. Those efforts include breeding and relocating rhinos, as well as allowing controlled sport hunting, which has encouraged landowners to care for the rhinos, she says. But the northern white rhino has not been so lucky. The subspecies "disappeared right in front of our eyes," says Garrigan, "and we didn't realize it until it was too late." (Related: "Why African Rhinos Are Facing a Crisis.") View Images Scientists had tried, unsuccessfully, to breed Nabiré in captivity. Photograph by Joel Sartore Last-Ditch Efforts Nabiré was one of only four northern white rhinos ever born in captivity, and efforts to breed more animals have been challenging. Natural breeding is no longer an option, as three of the remaining northern whites are elderly and one has uterine conditions that make it unlikely she could carry a calf. So in-vitro fertilization in the lab remains one of the last hopes for the subspecies. (See " Death of Rare White Rhino Leaves 5 in the World .") During her life, Nabiré suffered severe uterine cysts, and scientists made one unsuccessful attempt to harvest her eggs from her healthy left ovary while she was alive. Zoo experts removed that ovary immediately after her death and transported it to a specialized lab in Italy for further research and reproductive work. Another option that would partially preserve the northern white rhino's genetic material is to breed the remaining northern white females with southern white male rhinos. "Certainly everyone is looking for a new option," says Garrigan. Overall, Nabiré's death "reminds us to look at the other species that are out there," she says, "and double down on our efforts to ensure they survive."

This is another one of those episodes where you will instantly recognize the challenger, despite the fact that you probably have not seen the episode yet. Why? Food Network (or Fuji) chose to include many chefs from 1996/1997 episodes they chose not to air in the added Food Network opening to the show. This is one of them. Philippe Batton saw his mentor and two of his friends go down in defeat at the hands of Iron Chef Sakai. He began his culinary training at the age of 15. He became a head chef at the young age of 32. (He still lives in Japan. Here is a website for his restaurants.) Will the young French chef have what it takes to defeat an Iron Chef? (Edit 3/22) – Only four days after posting this episode, I saw this story on one of the sites I read everyday. What are the odds? (Edit 3/25) – Be sure to check out the comments to this post. You’ll see that we had a VERY SPECIAL visitor to the site. 🙂 What makes this episode a rare and special treat for current Iron Chef fans is that it comes from the time before Iron Chef was aired on Food Network. It was recorded from one of the local stations broadcasting the show. (In fact, it still has some local commercials intact.) It is in Japanese WITH English subtitles. I know you will enjoy being able to experience this rare episode not shown in North America in over 10 years. (And it has BACON!!) There are two options for viewing this episode. The pop-up player will use the usual divx encoded file. This smaller, lower quality file can also be downloaded directly using the “Download File” option. Also in the download menu this time is an option to download a higher quality VOB file (approx. 1.0GB). (You can play the vob file in VLC Player.) New in the video database this week: 426s – Bacon – Sakai vs. Baton (subbed) Please make sure to thank our anonymous benefactor for continuing to provide us with these great episodes.

For Xperia fans in the US, getting the phones is not as straightforward as it is for other major brands like Samsung or HTC because you won't be buying them through a carrier. That means interested buyers need to look to electronics retailers. Well, the search is almost over for the newly-released Xperia X series in the US. It's worth making clear that you can't take these home just yet. Some retailers will allow you to put in a pre-order, others just have placeholder, out of stock listings. Below is the release day pricing along with links to each retailer's listing. Note that additional colors are available beyond the ones I have linked to. Prices are consistent across the stores, so you can make your choice based on whether you like their shipping options, extras, rewards, etc. All except (possibly) Amazon come with the added freebie of a 64GB Sandisk microSDXC UHS-1 memory card when you buy an XA variant and a 128GB version when you buy an X variant. Amazon will ship the XA on July 17th and XA Ultra on July 24th, dates which apply to the other retailers as well. Amazon also lists June 26th as a shipping date for the X, which is again consistent with the others. The X Performance listings on Amazon are displayed as if ready to ship now, but Amazon is not the seller so the prices and shipping options vary. Best Buy, whose shipping dates otherwise comport with Amazon's, has the X Performance shipping on July 17th. Newegg has the X available for pre-order, out-of-stock listings for the XA variants, and no listing for the X Performance. Beyond the phones themselves, those SD cards—particularly the 128GB one—are a real added value. If you want some more help deciding whether you want an Xperia X, you should check out our review of it.

I’ve backspaced over the first sentence a dozen times. I’ve got no idea what to say that won’t sound like an insane person gushing over his car and daughter. I’m just ever so proud, you guys. EVER. SO. PROUD! My little girl got to ride in Sharka for the first time. And SHE LOVED IT!!! First, a note to concerned parents. Harriet has been signed off by her pediatrician for forward-facing since age 12 months. She had enough weight and neck strength. I waited a long time after to take her out in Sharka. A LONG time. We’ve driven around town in Bucky a few times, she and I. But not Sharka. I donno why. I guess I was saving it. Saving the ride till the opportune moment. That came a few days after she turned 21 months. She has a Recaro ProRIDE car seat. You should look it up. It’s a phenomenal car seat. The thing has excellent safety ratings and a great metal structure. It makes most of the ones you can buy in big-box stores feel like toys. And it just looks bad ass. But really, I don’t care so much how it looks. I care about safety, and she’s got it with this seat. Anyways, onto the drive. The weather was incredibly nice for July. Usually it’s just punishing and above 100. Last week, we were treated to low 80s in town and the mountains were even cooler, so it seemed the perfect time to take Harriet out in Sharka. Just driving around town was fun for her. Taking off from lights brought cheers of “WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE” and “VROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM” and “SHARKA AWESOME! SHARKA AWESOME!!!!!!!!!” from her little lungs. I mean… you guys have no idea. My heart was FULL. I thought she liked going out in Bucky. That was nothing. We drove and drove. We got about 3/4 of the way up the mountain and decided to stop to run around and explore. It was snack time and I didn’t want someone to get cranky and be prematurely soured to the Sharka experience. We climbed and explored. She picked up sticks. I remembered doing that as a little one, something I’d not thought of for years. Then we sat on a bench and had snacks together. In the mountains. With Sharka. Honestly, there was not one part she didn’t like. This girl was happy the whole drive. Almost as happy as her daddy. Going up, we drove a little quick. Spirited? Not at all dangerous. Nothing that would even cause a seatbelt to lock. But Harriet was a little bit quiet going up. So, on the way down, I took it back a notch and mostly coasted. The curves are fun and plentiful enough that even taking them at the 30-40 mph is enjoyable. And that seemed to please Harriet. There were many more cheers, shrieks, and giggles. We spotted a patch of mountain sunflowers on the way down. “SUNFLOWER!!!!” was repeated for the following 5 turns, so I took us back to pick them. I expected Harriet to spend a half hour choosing flowers. Nope. She grabbed one bunch and then SPRINTED back to Sharka. There were corners to carve, dad! Sometimes life is a downer. Sometimes I hang my head in my hands and wish something could be easier or some bill could disappear. There are nights I don’t sleep, but just work instead, trying to get on top of things. And then there was the day that Harriet got her first Sharka ride. The phrase “life is good” is horribly inadequate.

Minnesota state lawmakers finished up their work Friday a few days before Monday's Constitutionally-mandated adjournment date. The House in the hours before dawn Friday approved more than $1 billion in spending to pay for capital improvement projects all over the state. The Senate also approved the measure. The measure now heads to Gov. Mark Dayton's desk. Money for the projects came in two chunks: $846 million in state borrowing, and an additional $200 million in cash. The Senate approved the bonding portion by a vote of 47-17 and the cash portion by a vote of 44-19, both with bipartisan support, The Star Tribune reports. ADVERTISEMENT Thanks for watching! Visit Website Sen. Dave Senjem, R-Rochester heaped particular praise on the bill for funding civic center projects around the state. "Finally, at least, civic centers in three major regional centers across Minnesota will be completed," Senjem told the Star Tribune. House lawmakers actually approved two bills, one authorizing state borrowing for $846 million worth of capital improvement projects, plus legislation that shakes free $198.7 million from the state’s budget surplus for more projects, according to the House. Check out a list of projects here. Among them: – $126 million for Capitol building renovations ADVERTISEMENT Thanks for watching! Visit Website ADVERTISEMENT Thanks for watching! Visit Website – $57 million for University of Minnesota Tate laboratory improvements – $56.3 million for remodeling work at the Minnesota State Security Hospital in St. Peter – $33 million for local bridge work, and $54 million for local road work. The measure also includes funding for metro transit and trail improvements, and money for the Nicollet Mall, and the Minnesota Zoo projects. Also on Friday lawmakers approved state regulations for electronic cigarettes, the Star Tribune reports. KSTP reports on the approval of a bill that would end the Minnesota Lottery's online versions of scratch-off games and sales of lottery tickets at gas pumps and teller machines. The Legislature was nearly unanimous in passing $103 million worth of property tax cuts, the Forum of Fargo-Moorhead reports. All of those measures are headed to Gov. Mark Dayton's desk. And so is one of the 2014 session's most contentious pieces of legislation, a medical marijuana bill that lawmakers approved Friday evening.

The Rent a Room Scheme lets you earn up to a threshold of £7,500 per year tax-free from letting out furnished accommodation in your home. This is halved if you share the income with your partner or someone else. You can let out as much of your home as you want. How it works The tax exemption is automatic if you earn less than the threshold. This means you don’t need to do anything. You must complete a tax return if you earn more than the threshold. From 6 April 2016, this is £7,500. For the 2015 to 2016 tax year, the threshold was £4,250. You can then opt into the scheme and claim your tax-free allowance. You do this on your tax return. You can choose not to opt into the scheme and instead record your income and expenses on the property pages of your tax return. More information Read the Rent a Room helpsheet for more detailed information on how to complete the form, and when it makes sense to opt out of the scheme. Eligibility You can opt in to the scheme at any time if: you’re a resident landlord, whether or not you own your home you run a bed and breakfast or a guest house You can’t use the scheme for homes converted into separate flats.

After a season spent out of football, K'Waun Williams has a new home. The San Francisco 49ers announced Wednesday that the cornerback signed a one-year deal with the team. Williams had fielded four contract offers, including one from the Jets, according to NJ Advance Media, but chose the Niners. Williams burst onto the Browns' scene in 2014 as an undrafted free agent who stunned many by usurping first-round pick Justin Gilbert in the secondary, serving primarily as the team's nickel corner. His most memorable performance came during the Browns' historic, comeback win over the Titans in Tennessee in Week 5 of the 2014 season. Less than two seasons later, things got a little hairy. Williams suffered an ankle injury during training camp prior to the 2016 season, and when offered a full workload in a preseason contest against Green Bay, Williams chose not to accept it, citing his injury as the reason. The Browns viewed this as conduct detrimental to the team and suspended him for two games (a loss of one game check). Williams sought a second opinion on his injury, and the independent specialist from the Cleveland Clinic informed him he needed surgery to remove bone spurs. Twelve days after his suspension, Williams was released by the Browns. The corner spent the season out of football while recovering from ankle surgery and filed a grievance against the Browns, which will be heard on May 16 in Cleveland, per Cleveland.com's Mary Kay Cabot. Williams is seeking full payment of his 2016 salary, as well as reimbursement for the cost of his ankle surgery. Now healed up and ready to play, Williams gets to return his focus to the field, where he'll join a Niners secondary that could use an effective nickel corner to join starters Jimmie Ward and Tramaine Brock. It's unknown how well Williams will rebound from the ankle operation, but it's a low-risk signing for the Niners with potential for a great reward if Williams can replicate his play from 2014 and 2015.

LISTEN: Your browser does not support the audio element. Mike Huckabee made a stop during his presidential election campaign to support Kim Davis, the Kentucky clerk who refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Releated: Huckabee supports Kentucky clerk Kim Davis Another woman named Kim, in Washington state, is on a mission to make sure Huckabee will never make it to the White House. “Mike Huckabee, what a joke, stands up on that stage, glad-handing people, trying to get money for his super PAC,” said KIRO Radio’s Don O’Neill. “He’ll never be president because of people like Kim Renninger.” Don has gotten to know Renninger over the past few years after her husband, Lakewood Police Officer Mark Renninger, was murdered while on the job. On Nov. 29, 2009 Maurice Clemmons walked into a Lakewood coffee shop where Mark and three other officers were sitting. Clemmons gunned down each officer. Two days later, Clemmons would be tracked down in South Seattle where he was fatally shot by a Seattle police officer. But what does Mike Huckabee have to do with any of this? Clemmons previously resided in Arkansas, where he had five felony convictions. Clemmons was serving a 95-year prison sentence for aggravated robbery in 2000 when then Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee commuted his sentence. After Clemmons was freed, he moved to Washington where he was charged with eight felonies, including rape of a child and third-degree assault on a police officer. And, eventually, he murdered four police officers. Now, Kim Renninger is making sure people know about Huckabee’s connection to Clemmons. She authored a letter, published in the Arkansas Times. Don said, “This is something that Kim has written and she has told me personally that she will make sure that Mike Huckabee will never become President of the United States because a lot of people do not know this story about him.” “The thing that I saw yesterday that really angered me, is [Kim] took a picture of her little boy going to school,” Don said. “I know with that particular picture, I know she would have loved for her husband to have been there standing next to her son. It was really upsetting to me that it did not happen. The reason that didn’t happen was because of Mike Huckabee. That is why Mark is not here.” “(The letter) is a good read,” Don said. “That’s the real Mike Huckabee.” Here’s an excerpt:

“Taken apart, many of the measures announced today will dismay women across the UK. Add them together and they’re a disastrous blow for women’s equality.” This is the early reaction from Ceri Goddard, CEO of the Fawcett Society to today’s cuts. Probably the full story of the impact of the Spending Review on the most disadvantaged and marginalised in the UK will take a while to unravel. But to begin with, here is Ceri’s take: “The Comprehensive Spending Review, like the previous emergency budget, hits women hardest. It is women who will be the main losers as jobs are cut, public services are rolled back and benefits are slashed. “The cuts are so deep and will hit women so hard that they risk more than women’s financial security – they threaten hard fought progress we’ve made on women’s equality. The Chancellor’s plans undermine the status of women as equal partners with men in the world of work, home and society as a whole. “Of the half a million public sector workers facing unemployment, more than two thirds will be women. This is because 65 per cent of public sector workers are women, and more women work in the low paid, low grade and insecure work most likely to be hit. This comes on top of the 1 million women already unemployed in the UK – last month, 75 per cent more women signed on to unemployment benefit than men. “The £18 billion a year cuts to the welfare budget, as outlined today and in the recent emergency budget will also see women bear the brunt as benefits typically make up one fifth of women’s income as opposed to one tenth of men’s. Taking Housing Benefit as just one example – a million more women claim this than men, and many of these will be lone parents facing poverty. “Targeting local government is tantamount to singling out women for the hit – 75 per cent of local government workers are women; cumulative cuts of 28 per cent in the budget for this sector will have a disastrous impact on women as both employees and service users. “Rolling back public services hits women particularly hard not only because they tend to use services more frequently and more intensively then men, but also because of their sizable caring responsibilities. Slashing at this aspect of the welfare state does more than reduce the support many women rely on, it also increases the burden they carry – many women with caring responsibilities for children and elderly relatives will find it harder to manage as the help they’ve thus far relied on dries up. “The measures unveiled today seem, as is becoming a theme of the Coalition Government, to see women’s services and benefits as a soft target. But women aren’t starting on an equal footing – women typically earn and own less than men, and are more likely to live in poverty. They do not have the same independence and financial security that men do, and they are underrepresented in boardrooms, in politics and in public life generally. Making women bear the brunt of deficit cutting measures makes a mockery of the government’s claimed commitment to fairness.”

We’re always looking for cool new things to work on at Axosoft and this culminates annually in our 30-day-projects. In last year’s 30-day projects a bunch of us started working on a new way to interact with git. One of the things we wanted was a tool that was cross-platform. All of us have different working styles and none of us want to compromise the quality of our tools. So we decided to try something new and different; we decided to make a cross-platform git app using some cool new technologies. We looked into building a git client using nw.js (formerly node-webkit) and Angular JS. The one critical thing we needed was a node module that was cross platform and allowed us to access git. No good cross-platform git options… During our 30-day project we decided that our app shouldn’t require a user to have git installed on their machine. It should be completely independent from other 3rd party applications that most git clients rely on (e.g. msysgit/putty on windows and git/OpenSSH on OSX/Linux). The best option we thought was using libgit2. This is a low level C library that is 100% cross platform. Unfortunately, there were no good ports of this library to Node.js. All of them required some additional work to really get off of the ground. We decided to move forward with a UI demo of our app and if there was any interest, we would come back and try to solve the more technical issues. All systems go! After showing off our UI demo at the end of the 30-day project, we got an overall really good response. So Axosoft decided to start backing some of the technologies that we would need to actually bring a product like this to life. After looking through all of the ports of libgit2 we eventually settled on NodeGit. We reached out to the maintainer of the project Tim Branyen, to see what needed to be done and where we could help. He directed us to help write some of the code that automatically generates the Native Node Module in C++ that wraps the libgit2 library using the supplied libgit2 JSON file from the libgit2 docs page. Wait what?!? Yep, NodeGit generates itself. We have some code that we’ll feed some JSON into that will spit out C++. Pretty cool huh? I could talk endlessly about the crazy stuff we needed to do to pull that off, but I think I’ll save that for another post. So what the heck is NodeGit? NodeGit is an asynchronous native node module that lets you call into libgit2. That means that a node project that uses NodeGit can do low level git commands without assuming anything about the machine it’s being run on! It even handles the SSH credential auth! On Windows!!! You don’t need msysgit or a specific version of git installed. Now that would all be handled for you in this neat little libgit2 wrapper. Not only that, but it’s super fast (and going to get faster) not to mention, it doesn’t block for I/O. That means that your app stays super responsive even while cloning large repos or doing anything else. Big names are already using it! Any given day we have over 80 people idling in our gitter channel. NodeGit is now being used, or is planned to be used in more and more projects, including Microsoft Azure, GitHub’s Atom editor, Netflix, PayPal and more. We had 7.7 THOUSAND downloads off of NPM in March 2015 and we’re on track to exceed that in April. We’re the 2nd most starred wrapper project for libgit2, beaten only by Rugged, which is what GitHub is built off of. I’m pretty proud of how far NodeGit has come since Axosoft decided to back it a few months ago and what our awesome team has been able to pull off. I think this project can really drive better git integrations, more complete git clients and help the community create amazing tools leveraging git. And I’m really excited to see what you can do with it as well. Happy hacking and let us know what you think of our new cross-platform Git client Axosoft GitKraken! CodeProject

NOAA, the FDA and the Gulf states have been rigorously testing Gulf seafood for oil—doing smell tests with teams of human sniffers, and performing chemical tests for the harmful polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs, found naturally in crude oil. But they’re not chemically testing—at least, not yet—for the presence of oil dispersant. BP has thus far applied more than 1.7 million gallons of one chemical dispersant, Corexit, to the Gulf. (The lack of dispersant testing for seafood has been mentioned by The Palm Beach Post and CNN, but we first noticed toward the end of this Los Angeles Times piece.) Both the FDA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration say that dispersant in seafood isn’t the primary concern—it’s oil, because the oil is more likely to be found in the flesh of the fish. Teams of scientists--whose noses are believed to be sensitive enough to sniff out oil--are also trained to detect the smell of dispersant, but the chemical testing is limited to crude oil hydrocarbons. “There is, however, work being done here to develop testing for dispersant. That’s ongoing,” said Monica Allen, a spokeswoman with the National Marine Fisheries Service, a division of NOAA. Until that dispersant test is ready, both the FDA and NOAA have said that “based on current science,” the dispersants BP is using have “a low potential to bioaccumulate in fish flesh and are low in human toxicity, and therefore there is no significant public health risk associated with consuming seafood that has been exposed to them.” But the current science on dispersants is pretty thin, as some federal agencies have acknowledged. “There’s not a huge body of research that has been done,” Meghan Scott, an FDA spokeswoman, told me. “While we are finding that [dispersant] is harmful to the living fish itself, there’s a difference between what it does to a living fish and any harm that it might have for a human consuming a fish that was in or near water with dispersant in it.” NOAA said it is working on tests to better understand dispersants’ bioaccumulation. The manufacturer of Corexit, Nalco, has maintained that ingredients in its product “do not bioaccumulate and are commonly found in popular household products.” The dearth of dispersant research has also led the EPA to do independent testing of dispersant toxicity, separate from the manufacturers’ toxicity data. A first round of testing found that all eight dispersants tested were roughly equal in toxicity when tested alone, and did not significantly disrupt the hormones of small fish and shrimp. Further testing is being performed to determine how toxic the combination of oil and dispersant is. All that said, there’s no need for hysteria, but it’s good to be aware of unanswered questions and possible gaps in the current testing.

No, this isn't a secret UFO installation. It's a natural underground gas tank that contains over a billion cubic meters of helium, important in many industrial processes, located under America's Great Plains. It's covered in mines, domes, and pipelines. This area outside Amarillo, TX, called Cliffside Field, is a natural mega-tank for helium: The ground beneath the fields contains massive caverns that are airtight. From Mammoth, we get geological (and poetic) explanation: This industrial landscape is only possible due to the particular geologic conditions of the region: beds composed primarily of "Brown dolomite" are sufficiently receptive to helium (having been discovered because they contained natural - though less concentrated - helium reserves), while the "Panhandle lime formation", which is layered immediately on top of those beds, provides a natural "caprock", penetrated only by the airtight injection wells (PDF). With those wells, production plants, maintenance roads, and pipelines running across the surface of these formations to prosthetically adapt bedrock to use in industrial process, the ground itself has assumed a hybridized and mechanical nature, comprising a very literal landscape machine. Advertisement Basically companies shoot helium into these giant caverns, and then install "wells" that act as nozzles that can be opened to let the gas out. According to a recent article in Seed: Helium's "Fort Knox" is the Federal Helium Reserve (FHR) near Amarillo, created in 1925 to supply a fleet of military dirigibles that never fully materialized. During the Cold War, when helium was crucial for military and civilian space programs, the FHR linked up to a larger network of gas fields, pipelines, and refineries, growing to contain roughly a billion cubic meters of helium and accruing a $1.4 billion debt in the process. Though the FHR still holds more helium than any other stockpile by far, its stores are rapidly diminishing. Advertisement With so many industries depending on helium, these Texas gas bubbles are as valuable as oil fields.

HOUSTON - After an investigation by the Harris County District Attorney’s Office, the Texas Rangers and the Houston Police Department, a Harris County grand jury took no action Monday against Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast Inc. (PPGC). For more than two months, the 232nd grand jury reviewed a joint investigation into allegations of misconduct by PPGC. The grand jury cleared PPGC of breaking the law. However, the grand jury handed down indictments against two people accused of making the allegations against PPGC public in undercover recordings made in April 2015. David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt were indicted by the grand jury for tampering with a governmental record, a felony offense. An additional indictment for prohibition of the purchase and sale of human organs, a class a misdemeanor, was handed down against Daleiden. “We were called upon to investigate allegations of criminal conduct by Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast,” Harris County District Attorney Devon Anderson said in a press release. “As I stated at the outset of this investigation, we must go where the evidence leads us. All the evidence uncovered in the course of this investigation was presented to the grand jury. I respect their decision on this difficult case.” 2016 Click2Houston/KPRC2

So this is the nonsense I took to UK Nationals this year. In 7 rounds of Swiss, it lost one, ID'd one and won 5 (all kills), taking me (along with my Geist deck) to 15th place and a place in the Top 16! The finals didn't go so well, starting with a Runner loss, followed by a Runner timed win. When I finally got to play this again, it was against Dave Hoyland, with the nemesis of this form of deck: Keyhole. Which he saw turn 1 due to an Inject, along with a Retrieval Run and an I've Had Worse. He quickly took me out and my Nationals journey was over. Anyway, the deck. As you may have guessed, this is a kill deck! (Did the 22 Jinteki cards with the phrase "net damage" present tip you off?) But rather than the more commonly successful Jinteki kill styles of 1000 cuts or draw lock, this is all about the one shot kill. The aim is to build up a board state where you can kill the runner on your turn the moment they make a mistake. That mistake may be "running the wrong server". It may be "running at all". It may even be "not running". Some specific card choices: Agenda Chronos Project - mostly here in case of Geist repeated free draws with multiple runs of Spy Cameras. Saw neither that deck (not counting mine!) or this card for scoring on the day. False Lead - Critically important. Score one and you're 40% of the way to winning. Score two and you're 80% there. (I don't know what happens if you score 3). Improved Protein Source - I wanted to give myself more flexibility for scoring out against well-defended runners, and a 4-3 is great for that. Money doesn't really matter either since runner's don't need to spend cash on this deck. In practice, first time I saw it was when Dave Hoyland looked at it in disbelief in the top 16 game on his first Keyhole run. Philotic Entanglement - an agenda you can fast advance, or Mushin/False Lead/score, for instant damage based on the fact I'm dripping 1-pointers everywhere? Sign me up. Assets Bio-Ethics Association is great for this deck. Most important though: do not rez them until the kill! They'll get trashed and you've gained nothing. They should fire once only (twice in some False Lead based edge cases). But once is all they need. Psychic Field is great for runners aggressively attacking your remotes. Even better if you Mushin one. With a False Lead scored, it's often a win in itself. Ronin - getting one of these on the table is the key for most kills. Ready at 4 counters is ideal, but 3 can do if you're not expecting to use the ID as well. Snare! is for aggressive central runners and aggressive remote runners and is always the best card. Operations Biotic Labor - obviously lets you use the ID and another thing. Also, fast advance a key agenda, or get an extra click for another operation. Always important, and the reason I haven't made this a 54 card Museum deck: I don't want my Biotic Labors harder to find. Cerebral Static - good to counter Employee Strike, and against Geist (or Exile!). I didn't play any Geist, or Employee Strikes. Mushin No Shin - economy, speed, tricks - everything you could want! Neural EMP - spare damage for a click, sure. Salem's Hospitality - Why hello I've Had Worse. This is the only reason it's in here (and the the Marked Accounts are only really here to meet the Alliance requirement for this) but it won me a game on the day, so completely worth it. To be fair, if you have an idea what's in their hand you can use it for a replacement Neural EMP that works if they haven't run, and it may even be more effective if they've got multiple copies of the card. However, I try and avoid guesswork like that if I can avoid it. Targeted Marketing - Useful against Siphon, fun against many other decks, bonus current, and makes up the Alliance requirement. Nice card, but I don't think I saw it all day. ICE Turns out occasionally you want ICE. After months of playing this, I'm happy that this is the right amount for this deck. Did almost all of its work face-down - in fact, I'm not wholly convinced I actually rezzed a piece of ICE during the day. ===== So yes, this is a silly jank deck that I've been playing and adapting for far too long - and did surprisingly well with in a big competition. I can offer some tips on how to play it if anyone cares, but I'm not imagining that many people are going to pick this up and play it for themselves. There are some key obvious weaknesses (Keyhole most of all) and my placing was at least in part down to luck in my pairings. I'll be posting a detailed breakdown of my games at some point in the near future if that's what you're after. Is it the new meta? Absolutely not. Am I glad I took it to Nationals, rather than the same old same old NBN decks? Yup.

FIA FORMULA E CHAMPIONSHIP: SEASON 3, ROUND 1 - HONG KONG RACE REPORT 2016-10-09 15:26:59 After much anticipation, the third season of Formula E began on October 9th 2016, at a brand new venue along the Hong Kong harbourfront. We had many questions going into this new season: How well would the new Jaguar squad, with it's iconic brand, fare on it's return to racing? Would Hong Kong deliver an exciting race? And can anyone stop the juggernaut that is Renault e.Dams and Buemi from taking both titles yet again? All these and more would be answered... Qualifying Qualifying was a highly protracted affair due to a litany of incidents. Between free practice and qualifying, officials had decided to change the curbs at one of the chicanes, but neglected to tell the drivers beforehand. As a result when drivers tried to climb them as they had done in every session up to that point, they often lost control of the car and bounced into the wall; Lucas Di Grassi was the first to discover this, and Robin Frijns too was caught out by this. The Dutchman's car had what he later described as "a disagreement with the wall, which the wall won", and as a result the MS Amlin Andretti's tub was destroyed; his mechanics worked tirelessly to fit the new one in time for Frijn's pitstop to change into. Both of these drivers would occupy the last row of the grid as a result. Due to time delays from yet more crashes, the session was abandoned before Superpole could even commence; the shock result of this was that NEXTEV locked out the front row, with Nelson Piquet Jnr. taking 3 points for pole position and Oliver Turvey just behind in second. Debutant Jose Maria Lopez was a stunning 3rd for DS Virgin, with his teammate Sam Bird alongside him. Reigning champion Sebastien Buemi was 5th in his Renault e.Dams, with impressive Rookie Felix Rosenqvist right behind for Mahindra. All in all, it was a pretty mixed up grid, and everyone looked forwards to a hotly contested race as those behind in faster cars hoped to gain ground, whilst those ahead in unfamiliar territory looked to drive their cars as widely as possible. Frijns' car embedded in the techpro barrier after his monster qualifying shunt. (Courtesy of Formula E media) The Race Laps 1-17: Chaotic start As the lights went out and the a new season of racing began, the NEXTEV cars held their positions at the front of the field going into turn one. However, Jose Maria Lopez attempted to go around the outside of Turvey in an ambitious move. Unfortunately the Formula E Rookie and 3 time World Touring Car Champion got pushed wide by one Englishman and tapped the wall with his left rear whilst being squeezed and overtaken by another; this time his teammate Sam Bird. Unfortunately it emerged that in avoiding in his teammate and rubbing the wall, Lopez had caused damage to his suspension which would go on to have a huge impact in the outcome of the race. A bad start then for the Argentinian, who was down to 5th after turn 1 after Buemi also sneaked by on the straight. One man who had an absolutely stellar start was Nick Heidfeld in the Mahindra who got by far the best launch off the line and then went around the outside of his teammate Rosenqvist to go from 10th to 6th in the opening 12 seconds of the race. The field rounds the hairpin at the start of the race; Piquet is out front already, with Turvey and Bird behind, whilst Lopez is tagging the wall. In the background is the picturesque cityscape of Hong Kong. (Courtesy of Formula E media) Seemingly nothing had gone visibly wrong so far, but the first lap of the season could not remain incident-free for much longer. at the end of the back straight into turn 2, Jean Eric Vergne in the Techeetah entered the 90 degree right-hander slightly cautiously, creating a concertina effect; Daniel Abt immediately behind him managed to brake and not make contact, but in turn Antonio Felix Da Costa in the blue and white Andretti failed to slow in time; Da Costa's front wing was fine, but Abt's rear wing support snapped in the impact and the Abt Schaeffler Audi car would subsequently receive a black and orange flag the next time around and have to enter the pits to ensure that the wing did not fall off at speed and become a safety hazard. But the biggest impact happened just behind them; Nico Prost's e.Dams was absolutely clattered in rear by Techeetah's Ma Quing Hua, who seemingly made no attempt to slow down, and whilst the Frenchman continued with his car fortuitously unscathed, (bar one rear wheel pod) the clumsy Chinese driver came off far worse, damaging his right front wheel and necessitating a slow crawl back to the pits to jump into the second car, which then immediately had a terminal problem which ended Ma's destructive contribution to the race, much to the relief of the rest of the field. Ma's sudden impact with Prost caught out Di Grassi right behind him, who had no time to react and nowhere to go, so he damaged a piece of the purely cosmetic and new for season 3 front wing. On lap 2 Lopez's suspension problems immediately worsened; he fought hard but could do nothing to stop first Heidfeld and then Rosenqvist overtaking him. He began to plummet down the order faster than the value of the British Pound, but resolved to stay out and survive until the pit window in the hope that he could finish his first race in Formula E and gain more experience of the car around a street circuit. On lap 5 Di Grassi took advantage of Lopez' issues to pull off a triple move in one corner on the Venturi of Stephane Sarrazin, the man nicknamed "Pechito", and Jaguar's Adam Carroll, also making his Formula E debut for the nascent British team. But unfortunately these efforts were for naught as almost immediately the Brazilian suffered the same fate as his teammate and at this point received the dreaded black flag with orange disc. (A flag so cruel not even pirates dared to use it) Daniel Abt came in and had the loose rear wing ripped off by his mechanics, and he emerged back into the race without it, but the early setback was not one he would recover from. Turvey leads Bird and Buemi early in the race, with the Hong Kong Observation wheel in the background. (Courtesy of Formula E Media) Oliver Turvey in 2nd had been acting as the rear gunner to teammate Piquet, who was beginning to build a lead of a nearly 4 seconds, but on the sixth lap his defence was broken, first by Sam Bird, and then by Buemi, who made a rather easy move at the first corner on Turvey who had started to save energy and lose pace with the leaders. Di Grassi came in at the latest possible moment to change his damaged front wing on lap 8, obeying the black and orange flag issued to him earlier; it was an efficient stop from the Abt team once again, and Di Grassi for his part wasted no time leaving, narrowly avoid hitting a surprisingly unperturbed marshal on the exit of the pitlane as he slid luridly in frustration. Having lost so much time to the cars ahead, it seemed that Di Grassi needed a miracle to happen to score any points in the race. On lap 15, Jean Eric Vergne swapped cars from 8th place with a technical issue, meaning neither Techeetah would finish the race; this was not only a shame for the Chinese team, as Vergne then went on to briefly set fastest lap in his second before running out of energy later on, but also a cause of concern for Buemi and Prost given that Techeetah are customers of Renault e.Dams who use the exact same powertrains. Still in the race though was Stephane Sarrazin, who made a move into 11th past Mitch Evans's Jaguar, who had done well to stay out of trouble but was suffering from the lack of pace in the Jaguar. Lopez, Buemi and Di Grassi were voted the FanBoost winners, but seeing as none of these three drivers used it at any point during the race this became purely academic. The Mahindras had been boxed in behind a struggling Turvey, and Rosenqvist was even starting to challenge his more experienced teammate Heidfeld. Suddenly the Swedish driver lost control and spun around backwards into the barriers, damaging his rear wing and his steering. He would make it back to the pits to swap cars, but his oversteer moment cost himself 6th place; the remainder of Felix's race was focused around securing the point for fastest lap, which he was subsequently able to do. Finally, on lap 17, Lopez' suspension cried enough, and failed completely at the turn 3/4 chicane, (The one who's curbs had caused so much grief in qualifying) planting him firmly into the wall. The first man on the scene was race leader Piquet, who arrived almost immediately, unsighted and without yellow flags to warn him of an incident ahead. In a very dramatic moment, he was able to apply the brakes in time without hitting the stranded DS Virgin, but instead found himself facing the wall head on in avoidance, from which he had to reverse out and rejoin the race; by the time he had done this Bird had taken the lead from him, with Buemi also going past the NEXTEV into 2nd. The safety car was then promptly called out for the Lopez crash. The Safety Car turned the race on it's head and created a huge headache for the teams' strategists. (Courtesy of Formula E Media) Laps 17-22: Safety Car period With 17 laps of 45 completed, this turned the race on it's head and left drivers and teams with a difficult dilemma; pit now and get essentially a free pitstop but have to save energy to make the end, or stay out, maintain track position and save energy under the safety car, pit later in the race and rejoin with more energy available compared to your rivals for a shorter final stint. The man who rolled the dice and made the biggest gamble was miracle man Di Grassi, who came in almost straight away under safety car from 15th; because he was so far down it seemed a logical decision and calculated risk to try and gain track position. Surprisingly he was the only one to pit on lap 18 to change cars; it wasn't until lap 21 that Buemi, Turvey, Heidfeld, Duval, Prost, and D'Ambrosio all chose to pit en masse under the safety car, and they all came out behind Di Grassi, who had only 2/3% less than the e.Dams of Buemi immediately behind him. Turvey was unlucky to be delayed during his pitstop, meaning that Heidfeld was able to leave the pitlane ahead of him and jump him in the order. Bird still led from Piquet and Antonio Felix Da Costa, (3 of 8 cars yet to stop) but once the safety car came in it would surely be only a handful of laps before they had to come in again, leaving Di Grassi the defacto leader. Buemi managing his powertrain as he presses on towards the finish in the Renault e.Dams. (Courtesy of Formula E Media) Laps 22-45: Closing stages The race began again, and Piquet, in a case of too little, too late followed the safety car in, but unlike his teammate Turvey he wouldn't be able to gain an advantage in terms of track position due to the fact that other cars were now back to racing speeds. It wasn't long before Buemi had found a way past Di Grassi, who was having to coast more than Buemi due to coming in slightly earlier and a battery temp issue; but Buemi, knowing he had to stretch out the stint to make the finish and meet the energy targets, was saving too and both knew it would be very marginal to make it to the finish. Meanwhile Sam Bird was lifting and coasting out front to stay out as long as possible, in order to push like crazy in his final stint; he came in on lap 26, and the two Jaguar drivers interestingly were also able to match the DS Virgin on battery life as they came in on the same lap. Unfortunately any chance of a podium finish or even possible victory disappeared when Sam's car refused to start for 30 seconds. He emerged 15th, and even had to unlap himself from Buemi, knowing that with a bit more luck he could have, and should have been fighting him for the lead! Misery and misfortune for Bird, but joy for Mahindra as Nick Heidfeld found himself in 3rd place with less than 17 laps to go. He had an almighty task to save energy and defend from Nico Prost for the rest of the race, and he managed it, but only just; he crossed the line with a mere 1% in hand and under 2 seconds ahead of the Frenchman, but he'd made it onto the podium for the third time in his FE career along with a victorious Buemi and a grateful Di Grassi. The Andretti cars of Da Costa and Frijns stopped on laps 25 and 27 respectively, so they were on a charge near the end of the race, passing the Dragons of first Loic Duval, then Jerome D'Ambrosio and finally the NEXTEV of Turvey, all of which had pitted during the safety car and were, by contrast, conserving desperately to try and finish the race. They finished 5th and 6th, an impressive result; Da Costa maximised his strategy and stayed out of trouble whilst Frijns recovered from the very back of the grid, conserved for longer than anyone else in the first stint and drove a patched together "Frankenstein" car in the final stint that he had binned in qualifying; he admitted that he owed his mechanics some free beer after they put in the work to fix the damage by adding a whole new tub to the second car before the race. As for the rest, Duval had an issue at the end of the race which dropped him out of the points, whilst D'Ambrosio was able to pass Turvey in the dying laps for 7th. Rounding out the points scorers were the Venturis of rookie Maro Engel and veteran Stephane Sarrazin, who finished in the top 10 for the 12th consecutive race. Pole sitter Piquet finished 11th, but at least came away with the 3 points for pole if nothing else. Jaguar's first ever FE race resulted in a solid run to 12th from Irishman Adam Carroll amidst the attrition, but Sam Bird and DS Virgin came away with nothing after a bitterly disappointing race which earlier had promised so much. HKT Hong Kong ePrix results 1. Sebastien Buemi, Renault e.dams, 53:13.298 (25 points) 2. Lucas di Grassi, Abt Schaeffler Audi Sport, +2.477s (18 points) 3. Nick Heidfeld, Mahindra Racing, +5.522s (15 points) 4. Nico Prost, Renault e.dams, +7.360s (12 points) 5. Antonio Felix da Costa, Andretti, +17.987s (10 points) 6. Robin Frijns, Andretti, +21.161s (8 points) 7. Jerome D'Ambrosio, Faraday Future Dragon Racing, +28.443s (6 points) 8. Oliver Turvey, NextEV Nio, +30.355s (4 points) 9. Maro Engel Venturi +30.898s (2 points) 10. Stephane Sarrazin Venturi +31.784s (1 point) 11. Nelson Piquet Jr NextEV Nio +35.256s (3 points for pole position) 12. Adam Carroll Panasonic Jaguar Racing +43.839s 13. Sam Bird DS Virgin Racing +48.058s 14. Loic Duval Faraday Future Dragon Racing -2 laps 15. Felix Rosenqvist Mahindra Racing -2 laps (1 point for fastest lap) Ret Daniel Abt Abt Schaeffler Audi Sport - 34 laps Ret Jean-Eric Vergne TECHEETAH - 31 laps Ret Mitch Evans Panasonic Jaguar Racing - 24 laps Ret Jose Maria Lopez DS Virgin Racing - 15 laps Ret Qing Hua Ma TECHEETAH - 1 lap Teams' championship: RENAULT E.DAMS RENAULT E.DAMS 37 points ABT SCHAEFFLER AUDI SPORT ABT SCHAEFFLER AUDI SPORT 18 points ANDRETTI FORMULA E ANDRETTI FORMULA E 18 points MAHINDRA RACING MAHINDRA RACING 16 points NEXTEV NIO NEXTEV NIO 7 points FARADAY FUTURE DRAGON RACING FARADAY FUTURE DRAGON RACING 6 points VENTURI FORMULA E VENTURI FORMULA E 3 points DS VIRGIN RACING DS VIRGIN RACING 0 points PANASONIC JAGUAR RACING PANASONIC JAGUAR RACING 0 points TECHEETAH TECHEETAH 0 points A fascinating first encounter, with Buemi continuing his championship winning results from last season, but admitting that a brave strategy call won him this race in Hong Kong and that he was not really the fastest man on track, but definitely one of the best at saving energy. Di Grassi too managed to climb from 19th to second because he made the same brave call, and his decisiveness and quick thinking enabled him to jump a whopping 14 drivers in the pits. There were aggressive moves throughout the field, particularly from the likes of Heidfeld, the two Andretti drivers and even the likes of the Venturis and Jaguars had a great back and forth scrap for the minor points. Overall, a very entertaining and enjoyable start to the season to watch. (We won't speak about Channel 5's lacklustre and at times unprofessional TV coverage in the UK in this report though...) We'll be back for round 2 in Marrakesh, Morocco, on November 12th. Until then, take care. Reported By Edward Hunter Formula E Editor In Association With Formula E Addicts Follow Formula E Addicts on Facebook and Twitter. P.S. Get well soon Mark!

In order to write the tests you need to have a clear idea of what you want the project to do. We know that clients, above all in the initial phase of a project, never know exactly what they want and are apt to change their minds rather frequently! It's important to remember that the problem here is not the testing itself; rather, it is the testing that shines light upon the real problems. The act of writing the tests itself makes it impossible to ignore problems and makes it necessary to confront and resolve them. All developers need practice to get used to working with the idea that code has to pass through tests before further development can take place. In part, this depends on the skills and experience of the developer, but even a very good developer who isn't particularly confident with TDD will find getting used to this way of working and thinking extremely uncomfortable. Writing good tests isn't easy. It requires testing something that does not yet exist, without falling into the trap of pre-engineering the application. There is also the lurking threat of over-engineering to be avoided: entering too deeply into the details of an element of functionality increases the risk of over-generalizing and implementing behaviour and tests that have not been requested and are not really necessary. Then you get into the wonderful world of doubling up! In addition to the "visible" application, it's also necessary to maintain the test suit, which is itself made up of code! If the tests aren't treated with the same (or greater) care than the application code itself, then we risk putting our trust in a weak instrument. Twice the amount of code. The ratio of test code to code is generally around 2:1. And if a test suite ends up having twice as much code in it as the app it's designed to test does, where is the greatest risk of an explosion of chaos occurring? Be very, very careful! Twice the budget. We have to write 200% extra code, above all during the initial start-up phase. This takes time and, obviously, money!

Share. Awwww, Bane ain't so bad! Awwww, Bane ain't so bad! Hey, Batman! Looks like Bane's got a big heart, too. Christian Bale has been widely praised for his charitable appearances and low-key outreach to ailing fans, and now his The Dark Knight Rises' co-star Tom Hardy has also granted a sick fan's wish. According to Entertainment Tonight, Hardy's future sister-in-law saw cancer-stricken mother Kayleigh Duff "on a British talk show talking about her wedding (another milestone she dreamed of doing after being diagnosed with the same rare and aggressive form of cancer that killed her father when she was just eight) and contacted the show to arrange the surprise meeting. 'I nearly died when I saw him,' the 23-year-old Duff said. 'I just thought we were having a day out in London. He was so lovely and down to earth. We had lunch and tea and scones and he bought me a diamond necklace.'"

Document number: N4461 Ville Voutilainen 2015-04-07 Static if resurrected Abstract I want to bring back parts of static if; namely bring it back in a form where it's restricted to block scopes. always going to establish a new scope. required that there exists values of the condition so that either condition branch is well-formed. Why? Because it allows making static decisions without having to resort to multiple overloads. Having a static if allows for simple and local code, without having to know the intricacies of overload resolution, partial ordering and SFINAE. Introduction Richard Smith explained the following: The "controversial" parts of N3329 are that: 1) it does not introduce a new scope, and 2) the non-selected branch is completely ignored (the tokens aren't even required to be parseable) This makes it fundamentally incompatible with the template model used by at least two major implementations. If, instead, it introduced a new scope (as proposed in this thread) and we had a requirement that it is possible to instantiate each arm of the static if (that is, the same requirement we have for other token sequences in templates), then I believe the over-my-dead-body objections from implementors would disappear. So, the proposed static_if (perhaps we could get rid of the space, it avoids splitting the keyword onto multiple lines. Not everyone uses clang-format. Yes, people who don't are foolish, but anyway) should have the characteristics Richard outlined. Motivation As the first example, I find it unwieldy to do pack unpacking with multiple overloads. template <class T> void f(T&& t) { /* handle one T */ } template <class T, class... Rest> void f(T&& t, Rest&&... r) { f(t); /* handle the tail */ f(r...); // I think I have a bug here if I don't have a zero-param overload } It would be much simpler to be able to handle the unpacking in one function template, even though we're still writing recursive code. template <class T, class... Rest> void f(T&& t, Rest&&... r) { /* handle one T */ static_if (sizeof...(r)) { /* handle the tail */ f(r...); // I don't need a zero-param overload to do this } } Mutually exclusive constraints would also be arguably easier to grok. Instead of template <class T, class... Args> enable_if_t<is_constructible_v<T, Args...>, unique_ptr<T>> make_unique(Args&&... args) { return unique_ptr<T>(new T(forward<Args>(args)...)); } template <class T, class... Args> enable_if_t<!is_constructible_v<T, Args...>, unique_ptr<T>> make_unique(Args&&... args) { return unique_ptr<T>(new T{forward<Args>(args)...}); } we could write template <class T, class... Args> unique_ptr<T> make_unique(Args&&... args) { static_if (is_constructible_v<T, Args...>) { return unique_ptr<T>(new T(forward<Args>(args)...)); } else { return unique_ptr<T>(new T{forward<Args>(args)...}); } } Even if the enable_ifs above are turned into constraints, I daresay the single-function solution is much simpler. A "damn sight nicer", if you ask me. I expect there are many more good uses for such a facility than I can imagine. I have heard users hinting at wanting to write a function template that can take both signed and unsigned integral types, and write different code for the signed and unsigned cases, without having to worry about either branch emitting diagnostics even if never being taken - and those users do not think they want to write multiple overloads for integral types, since getting something like that right may end up being a heroic endeavor... Yes, but don't Concepts provide a superior alternative? Yes, for expressing the constraints of a function template, they do. No, for simplicity and locality of code, they don't. It's certainly easier to write (mutually exclusive and other) constraints with concepts, since it's possible to overload on concepts. The lack of locality remains, and the need to understand overload resolution, partial ordering and SFINAE remains. I posit that there are many simple cases where all that is still overly complex when a simple block-scope static condition would do much better. Chances are, of course, that combining Concepts with a static_if can lead to expressive designs that are far superior to what either of these facilities can provide in isolation. For the last part, it seems like some uses of static_if could combine rather nicely with constraint disjunctions: template <typename T, typename U> void f(T, U) requires C1<T> && (C2<U> || C3<U>) { static_if (C2<U>) { } else if (C3<U>) { } } Implementability I fully expect the implementation difficulty of such a facility to be considerable, and it's certainly well beyond the capabilities of an intermediate front-end contributor such as myself. Is that cost worth the benefit of the facility? Hard to say. I guess it would be. :) Teachability Adding this facility will increase the overall complexity of the language, and since it's not identical or even very similar to the static if in D, it's not trivial to teach. I do have high hopes that it would be much simpler to teach for simple cases than using multiple overloads would be.

The growing complexities in the web landscape have motivated web developers to deliver solid web experiences to users accessing the internet via desktops and smartphones/smart tablets etc. Fortunately, responsive web design has offered web creators a variety of tools that can be utilized for creating layouts that can respond to any screen size and resolution. The easy use of flexible images, fluid grids and media queries has allowed web experts to design layouts that can fit every device’s screen dimensions. So, in today’s post, I’ll be walking you through the steps involved in creation of a mobile friendly design. Let’s get going! Books on Responsive Web Design What sort of responsive web design are we creating in this tutorial? In this tutorial, we’ll be looking into creation of an e-commerce product detail page for an anonymous t-shirt firm. The basic idea of creating a mobile friendly design(product detail page) is to make it utmost convenient for the smartphone owners to purchase a product. Read Also: 10 Amazing Techniques To Build Beautiful Responsive Web Design Now, coming to the procedure of creating mobile friendly design Step 1- Author a lean, semantic HTML5 markup- While creating a mobile friendly design, it is imperative to use proper HTML5 input types for introducing virtual keyboard feature on a majority of touch devices. There’s no doubt on the fact that semantic markup is completely portable and can hence be accessed by a wide range of tablets, mobile devices, desktop browsers etc. Step 2– Set the viewport For websites which aren’t optimized for mobile screens, a majority of mobile browsers have set a larger browser viewport which entails better viewing of the websites on different mobile devices. Visitors of such websites can hence pinch-to-zoom in on the website content they want to view. So, use viewport meta tag for setting the screen width to device width as shown below: <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" /> 1 < meta name = "viewport" content = "width=device-width, initial-scale=1" / > Step 3- Create content fragments Here, we’ll be creating two HTML documents viz: reviews.html and related.html for the auxiliary content. While by default the content can be accessed via page links, it is recommended to load the content in case the user requests the same or if the screen’s resolution reaches the specified break-point. Step 4- Use HTML special characters A simple way of eliminating the need for background images is to use HTML special characters. For instance, you can use ☆ for creating empty stars(☆) for the ratings. Step 5- Include a clickable link within the footer Here, you can use tel URI scheme for including in the footer, a link to customer service number. The structure of tel URI scheme is shown below: <a href="tel:+18001230789">1-800-123-0789</a> 1 < a href = "tel:+18001230789" > 1 - 800 - 123 - 0789 < / a > This would also facilitate the initiation of a phone call for finishing a transaction instead of going through the tedious checkout flow. Step 6- Add style enhancements With a semantic foundation in place, it’s time to add some style enhancements to the layout. Since screen sizes won’t remain the same forever, we’d be using the content for determining how the layout must adjust to its corresponding container. Now, we’ll be creating two separate CSS files viz: style.css and responsive.css for delivering styles for screens with dimension less than 40.5em. These two CSS files use media queries for serving responsive styles for screens with dimensions larger than 40.5em. Code snippet associated with the same is shown below: <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="css/style.css" media="screen, handheld" /> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="css/responsive .css" media="screen and (min-width: 40.5em)" /> <!--[if (lt IE 9)&(!IEMobile)]> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="responsive.css" /> <![endif]--> 1 2 3 4 5 < link rel = "stylesheet" type = "text/css" href = "css/style.css" media = "screen, handheld" / > < link rel = "stylesheet" type = "text/css" href = "css/responsive .css" media = "screen and (min-width: 40.5em)" / > < ! -- [ if ( lt IE 9 ) & ( ! IEMobile ) ] > < link rel = "stylesheet" type = "text/css" href = "responsive.css" / > < ! [ endif ] -- > In the above code, I’ve used conditional code <!–[if (lt IE 9)&(!IEMobile)]> for serving enhanced.css to all non-mobile versions of IE lesser than version 9. This method adds an HTTP request for rendering greater flexibility over the styles. Another point to note is that px is being replaced by em unit for maintaining consistency with all the other relative units used for user settings. Additionally, you can introduce advanced layout rules. Here’s an example to demonstrate the same: /*Desktop screen styles first - Avoid*/ .sample-img { width: 70%; float: left; border:1px solid; } @media screen and (max-width: 40.5em) { .sample-img { width: auto; float: none; border:none; } } 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 /*Desktop screen styles first - Avoid*/ . sample - img { width : 70 % ; float : left ; border : 1px solid ; } @ media screen and ( max - width : 40.5em ) { . sample - img { width : auto ; float : none ; border : none ; } } Step 7- Apply media queries By applying media queries, the related product list will increase to 3 in a single row each time the screen size is at least 28.75em wide, followed by getting increased to 6 to a row each time the screen size is at least 40.5em. Code snippet associated with the same is displayed below: /*Default styles*/ .sample-products li { float: left; width: 50%; } /*Display 2 per row for medium displays (like mobile phones in landscape or smaller tablets)*/ @media screen and (min-width: 28.75em) { .sample-products li { width: 50%; } } /*Display 4 to a row for large displays (like medium tablets and up) */ @media screen and min-width: 40.5em) { .sample-products li { width: 25%; } } 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 /*Default styles*/ . sample - products li { float : left ; width : 50 % ; } /*Display 2 per row for medium displays (like mobile phones in landscape or smaller tablets)*/ @ media screen and ( min - width : 28.75em ) { . sample - products li { width : 50 % ; } } /*Display 4 to a row for large displays (like medium tablets and up) */ @ media screen and min - width : 40.5em ) { . sample - products li { width : 25 % ; } } Step 8- Use CSS for reducing HTTP requests Multiple HTTP requests can easily ruin your mobile friendly design. Hence, it is recommended to use CSS techniques for saving the HTTP request. For instance, you can use CSS gradients for reducing the count of image requests, thereby rendering greater control over the web design. The code snippet for the same is shown below: /*Using CSS gradients instead of background images*/ header[role="banner"] { position: relative; background: #000; background: +linear-gradient (top, #000 0%, #222 100%); } 1 2 3 4 5 6 /*Using CSS gradients instead of background images*/ header [ role = "banner" ] { position : relative ; background : #000; background : + linear - gradient ( top , #000 0%, #222 100%); } Step 9- Add Javascript enhancements for adding functionality to image gallery, navigation and auxiliary content 1. Image Gallery- Starting off with adding functionality to image gallery, here is the code snippet associated with the same: <div id="sample-img" class="sample-img"> <figure class="img-container" id="img-container"> <img src="images/sample_img_1.jpg" alt="denim shirts" /> </figure> <nav> <ul> <li><a href="images/sample_img_1.jpg"><img src="images/sample_img_1_thumbnail.jpg" alt="Denim Men's Shirt" /></a></li> <li><a href="images/sample_img_2.jpg"><img src="images/sample_img_2_thumbnail .jpg" alt=" Denim Women's Shirt" /></a></li> <li><a href="images/sample_img_3.png"><img src="images/sample_img_3_thumbnail .jpg" alt=" Denim Logo" /></a></li> </ul> </nav> </div> 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 < div id = "sample-img" class = "sample-img" > < figure class = "img-container" id = "img-container" > < img src = "images/sample_img_1.jpg" alt = "denim shirts" / > < / figure > < nav > < ul > < li > < a href = "images/sample_img_1.jpg" > < img src = "images/sample_img_1_thumbnail.jpg" alt = "Denim Men's Shirt" / > < / a > < / li > < li > < a href = "images/sample_img_2.jpg" > < img src = "images/sample_img_2_thumbnail .jpg" alt = " Denim Women's Shirt" / > < / a > < / li > < li > < a href = "images/sample_img_3.png" > < img src = "images/sample_img_3_thumbnail .jpg" alt = " Denim Logo" / > < / a > < / li > < / ul > < / nav > < / div > The code associated with creation of an image carousel from the available thumbnail images is shown below: function createGallery() { container.html('<div id="img-list"><ul /></div>'); imgList = $('#img-list'); nav.find('a:first').addClass('selected'); //For Each Navigation Link nav.find('a').each(function() { var $this = $(this); var href = $this.attr('href'); //Prepare list item with image source in data attribute arr += '<li data-imgsrc="'+href+'"></li>'; }); //Append to #img-list imgList.find('ul').append(arr); //Nav Thumbnail Click nav.on('click', 'a', function(e) { var pos = $(this).parent().index(); e.preventDefault(); loadImg(pos); if(swipeEnabled) { mySwipe.slide(index, 300); } updateNav(pos); }); } 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 function createGallery ( ) { container . html ( '<div id="img-list"><ul /></div>' ) ; imgList = $ ( '#img-list' ) ; nav . find ( 'a:first' ) . addClass ( 'selected' ) ; //For Each Navigation Link nav . find ( 'a' ) . each ( function ( ) { var $ this = $ ( this ) ; var href = $ this . attr ( 'href' ) ; //Prepare list item with image source in data attribute arr += '<li data-imgsrc="' + href + '"></li>' ; } ) ; //Append to #img-list imgList . find ( 'ul' ) . append ( arr ) ; //Nav Thumbnail Click nav . on ( 'click' , 'a' , function ( e ) { var pos = $ ( this ) . parent ( ) . index ( ) ; e . preventDefault ( ) ; loadImg ( pos ) ; if ( swipeEnabled ) { mySwipe . slide ( index , 300 ) ; } updateNav ( pos ) ; } ) ; } 2. Navigation Within the markup, we’ve created a list called #nav-link which will allow us to toggle the visibility of search bar and navigation for smaller screens. Code snippet for the same is shown below: <ul id="nav-link" class="nav-link"> <li><a href="#navigation" id="menu-anchor">Menu</a></li> <li><a href="#searchBox" id="search-anchor">Search</a></li> </ul> <form id="searchBox" action="#" method="post" class="search reveal"> <fieldset> <legend>Search the Site</legend> <input type="search" placeholder="Search Store" /> <input type="submit" value="Search" /> </fieldset> </form> <nav id="navigation" class="nav reveal"> <ul role="navigation"> <li><a href="#">T-shirts</a></li> <li><a href="#">Hoodies</a></li> <li><a href="#">Pants</a></li> </ul> </nav> 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 < ul id = "nav-link" class = "nav-link" > < li > < a href = "#navigation" id = "menu-anchor" > Menu < / a > < / li > < li > < a href = "#searchBox" id = "search-anchor" > Search < / a > < / li > < / ul > < form id = "searchBox" action = "#" method = "post" class = "search reveal" > < fieldset > < legend > Search the Site < / legend > < input type = "search" placeholder = "Search Store" / > < input type = "submit" value = "Search" / > < / fieldset > < / form > < nav id = "navigation" class = "nav reveal" > < ul role = "navigation" > < li > < a href = "#" > T - shirts < / a > < / li > < li > < a href = "#" > Hoodies < / a > < / li > < li > < a href = "#" > Pants < / a > < / li > < / ul > < / nav > In the above code snippet, we will now add a re-size listener which will determine whether there is sufficient space for displaying the search bar and navigation. Here is how it goes: <script> $(window).resize(function(){ //Update dimensions on resize screenwidth = document.documentElement.clientWidth; screenheight = document.documentElement.clientHeight; checkMobile(); }); //Check if Mobile Size function checkMobile() { mobilesize = (screenwidth > breakpoint) ? false : true; if (!mobilesize) { //If Not Mobile Size $('[role="tabpanel"],#navigation,#searchBox').show(); //Show full navigation and search } else { //Hide if(!$('#nav-anchors a').hasClass('selected')) { $('#navigation,#searchBox').hide(); //Hide full navigation and search } } } </script> 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 <script> $ ( window ) . resize ( function ( ) { //Update dimensions on resize screenwidth = document . documentElement . clientWidth ; screenheight = document . documentElement . clientHeight ; checkMobile ( ) ; } ) ; //Check if Mobile Size function checkMobile ( ) { mobilesize = ( screenwidth > breakpoint ) ? false : true ; if ( ! mobilesize ) { //If Not Mobile Size $ ( '[role="tabpanel"],#navigation,#searchBox' ) . show ( ) ; //Show full navigation and search } else { //Hide if ( ! $ ( '#nav-anchors a' ) . hasClass ( 'selected' ) ) { $ ( '#navigation,#searchBox' ) . hide ( ) ; //Hide full navigation and search } } } </script> 3. Related Content As an attempt to keep the Initial page size down, we aren’t loading the auxiliary content viz: related t-shorts and product reviews. Instead, these contents exist by default as individual HTML pages which are being accessed via links. The code snippet associated with the same is shown below: <div class="markup sample-products" id="sample-products"> <header id="tab-related" class="header"> <a href="related.html"> <h2>Sample shirts</h2> </a> </header> </div> <div class="markup reviews-page" id="reviews-page"> <header id="tab-reviews"> <a href="reviews-page.html"> <h2>10 Reviews</h2> <ol class="stars"> <li class="on">★</li> <li class="on">★</li> <li class="on">☆</li> <li class="on">☆</li> <li>☆</li> </ol> </a> </header> </div> 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 < div class = "markup sample-products" id = "sample-products" > < header id = "tab-related" class = "header" > < a href = "related.html" > < h2 > Sample shirts < / h2 > < / a > < / header > < / div > < div class = "markup reviews-page" id = "reviews-page" > < header id = "tab-reviews" > < a href = "reviews-page.html" > < h2 > 10 Reviews < / h2 > < ol class = "stars" > < li class = "on" > & #9733;</li> < li class = "on" > & #9733;</li> < li class = "on" > & #9734;</li> < li class = "on" > & #9734;</li> < li > & #9734;</li> < / ol > < / a > < / header > < / div > Next, there is another piece of code which when executed will pull in the related content when one of the below mentioned conditions are met: when a small-screen user clicks on related shirts or product reviews links when a screen has enough space for loading the auxiliary content //Check if Mobile <script> function checkMobile() { if(screenwidth > breakpoint) { mobile = false; } else { mobile = true; } if (!mobile) { loadAux(); } } //Set up Markup content function loadAux() { var $markup = $('.markup'); $markup.each(function(index) { var $this = $(this); var markupLink = $this.find('a'); var markupFragment = markupLink.attr('href'); var markupContent = $this.find('[role=tabpanel]'); if (markupContent.size()===0 && $this.hasClass('loader')===false) { loadContent(markupFragment,$this); } }); } function loadContent(src,containerSec) { // Load Tab Content containerSec.addClass('loader'); $('<section role="tabpanel" />').load(src +' #content > section',function() { $(this).appendTo(containerSec); }); } </script> 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 <script> function checkMobile ( ) { if ( screenwidth > breakpoint ) { mobile = false ; } else { mobile = true ; } if ( ! mobile ) { loadAux ( ) ; } } //Set up Markup content function loadAux ( ) { var $ markup = $ ( '.markup' ) ; $ markup . each ( function ( index ) { var $ this = $ ( this ) ; var markupLink = $ this . find ( 'a' ) ; var markupFragment = markupLink . attr ( 'href' ) ; var markupContent = $ this . find ( '[role=tabpanel]' ) ; if ( markupContent . size ( ) === 0 && $ this . hasClass ( 'loader' ) === false ) { loadContent ( markupFragment , $ this ) ; } } ) ; } function loadContent ( src , containerSec ) { // Load Tab Content containerSec . addClass ( 'loader' ) ; $ ( '<section role="tabpanel" />' ) . load ( src + ' #content > section' , function ( ) { $ ( this ) . appendTo ( containerSec ) ; } ) ; } </script> Final Thoughts Creating adaptive experiences allows you to take full advantage of unlimited possibilities that are available for reaching out to the targeted customer base. It is essential to design a website/app keeping the browser and device specifications in mind. I’m sure the above post would have allowed you to dig deeper into creation of a remarkable responsive design that fits every device with any screen size.

In order for a pitcher to consistently receive tremendous run support, it helps to have his club’s most productive hitter in the lineup. Nathan Eovaldi won’t have that advantage Monday night since New York Yankees slugger Mark Teixeira is unlikely to play in the opener of a three-game home series against the Houston Astros. Eovaldi (13-2, 4.24 ERA) is second in the majors with a 7.48 run-support average and is 8-0 with a 3.29 ERA in his last 11 starts. Article continues below ... Getting support Monday will be a challenge if Teixeira misses a third straight game with a shin injury. Teixeira, who took batting practice before Sunday’s 4-3 home defeat to Cleveland, leads the Yankees (68-55) with 31 homers and 79 RBIs. "Obviously, it’s a good sign that we have him on the field to do some stuff, but it’s still not where it needs to be,” manager Joe Girardi said. "My hope was it was going to be (Monday). I’m not sure about that now." Rookie Greg Bird, hitting .273 with two homers and six RBIs in nine games, has been starting in Teixeira’s absence. The Yankees will likely have Alex Rodriguez back in the starting lineup for the first time in three games. The 40-year-old is batting .157 this month for one of baseball’s worst marks. "Just trying to give him a couple days in a row to refresh him," Girardi said. The Yankees, who fell one-half game behind Toronto in the AL East race, totaled 14 runs in losing three of four to the Indians. Rodriguez is 5 for 16 with two homers against Astros starter Scott Feldman (5-5, 4.05), who is 1-1 with a 2.87 ERA in six outings since returning July 18 after right knee surgery. Jacoby Ellsbury is also 5 for 16 in the matchup, while Stephen Drew is 6 for 13 with two homers. Feldman is 1-0 with a 1.89 ERA in his last three outings. He went 2-0 with a 1.35 ERA in two 2014 starts versus the Yankees. Fellow right-hander Eovaldi can move into a tie for the AL lead with his 14th win. He is 5-0 with a 3.46 ERA in 11 home starts. Eovaldi lasted seven innings for the second time in 12 starts Wednesday and allowed three runs to notch a 4-3 victory over Minnesota. The Houston-born starter gave up two runs in six innings June 26 to earn a 3-2 road victory over the Astros. The Houston hitter he has faced the most is Evan Gattis, who is 5 for 17 in this matchup. Gattis, like Rodriguez, has struggled in August with a .194 average. AL West-leading Houston (69-56) starts a six-game trip after a three-game weekend sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers capped a 7-3 homestand. Jason Castro’s solo homer in the 10th inning was the difference in Sunday’s 3-2 victory. "We are a first-place team and the atmosphere here (is) we are the best team in baseball," rookie shortstop Carlos Correa said. Astros starters have a 1.67 ERA in the last six games and the bullpen has pitched 17 consecutive scoreless innings. These clubs split four games in Houston in June.

1.9k SHARES Share Tweet Whatsapp Get the latest viral stories daily! Like us: A few days ago, Mr Lee from Paloh, Johor was on his way back home when a white car infront of him bearing the plate no. JFX 1431, suddenly slammed on the emergency brakes for no absolute reason. Lee, who had front and rear cameras installed on his vehicle, records the car filled with thugs attempting to fake an accident by hitting its emergency brake, not once, but twice! Hoping that Lee would hit the car’s rear. “The car suddenly hit its emergency brake twice, wanting me to hit the back of their car. At that time, I quickly hit my emergency brakes as well and managed to avoid crashing into them. “After that I felt a little off about the situation and sped up to overtake the car.” After Lee got ahead of the car, his realizes his nightmare wasn’t over. “The car kept chasing after me. At one of the red lights, it tried to hit my back tire but luckily the light quickly changed to green and I immediately accelerated. The car would not stop chasing me, and even took hard objects to throw at my car. “The vehicle kept trying to overtake me, trying to let me crash into them but I avoided that.” Lee quickly then sped up again and overtook the thugs’ car. From the video, Lee can be seen hastily trying to cut lanes to get as far away as he could from these men. During the wild chase, the thug driver who was perhaps frustrated with ‘not being able to scam money’ from this target just drove straight into the back of Lee’s truck. However, they soon realize that that wasn’t the best idea after all because.. Right after crashing into the back of Lee’s vehicle, (which was a Hilux by the way) the thugs’ car was immediately wrecked and wasn’t able to move after that. Just look! Point and laugh at the image as you please. Without stopping, Lee headed straight to the police station to lodge a report. That was seriously one heck of a ride. Netizens who saw his post were glad that Lee was safe and the thugs had what’s coming to them. “Serve them right! These ruthless scums deserved it!” one wrote. “Luckily your car is so strong! Just look how easily their car fell apart. Haha!” another user commented. Watch the brake attempt, chase and crash in the videos below:

This post is going to contain some pretty important information, so please read carefully. Firstly, 1.71 is released, so check the download page for that. It’s mostly a bug fixing update, as usual after a big release, I’ll be posting the change-log below. Secondly, We’re aiming for a Steam release this very week. If we’re approved, it may be as early as Tuesday 10am PST. Still trying to determine the best method for distributing those Steam-Keys, so sit tight, it could take a while. Thirdly, Any purchases from this point on will not receive steam-keys. If you purchase Timber and Stone 1.71 via Paypal from the purchase page on this website, starting this very second, we will not be able to provide a steam-key. So if you’re itching to purchase the game and play right away, but do not want to purchase the game twice, I’d suggesting waiting a couple days for the Steam release, it might come with a launch discount . Fourthly, It looks like there are some issues with the Mac version starting after 1.7, we’re going to continue to try to support that here, within our community, but there might not an OSX release on Steam for a while. Unfortunately, there’s not a whole lot we can do about this, OSX bug reports are nearly non-existent, and I’m not comfortable putting a glitchy release on Steam for that platform. Our apologies. Here are those changes in 1.71: - We have a new Achievement system, which is currently only being used for the new in-game tutorial system. Start a new game and make sure “Display tutorials” is checked to see these. It’s quite basic, as any good tutorial should be, and should ease new players into the mechanics and controls for the game. - Archers are now shooting at their full bow range. - There’s a new Archer preference, “Pursue enemies out of range”. When this is off, your archers will no longer chase enemies. This is more important now because of the above fix. This preference should keep your Archers guarding your walls from running down. -Spiders should no longer be climbing out of the map edges. -Archers should now be using Fire arrows properly. -The “Nordic Roof Tiles” are now saving and loading correctly. -Wall Sconces are fixed. -Water no longer breaks line of sight, this allows your Archers to shoot Skeletons and Necromancers who are underwater. -The de-spawn timer for corpses has been reduced to 24 minutes.

What's changed over the weekend, in the light of the Lib-Dems' drubbing, is not the Coalition's willingness to re-look at the NHS reforms; it's the scale of the re-appraisal. Having tried to do several things at once, they may now struggle to achieve just one. Having drifted into presenting the reforms as a kind of market-led Year Zero (and allowed numerous private sector participants to hail it as such) there may now be just a series of incremental changes. But this creates its own problems. At the heart of the NHS White Paper (July 2010) were three principles: 1) Money follows the patient, allowing GPs to choose the best care provider, cutting out the last part of the Labour-invented health bureauracy (the PCT/SHAs) 2) A focus on outcomes not inputs: so an eventual move to patient reported outcome measurements (PROMS) rather than targets for numbers of operations done 3) Clinicians rather than politicians or managers in charge of decisions on care; this meant the effective "denationalisation" of the NHS, creating an arms length body nationally and allowing failing hospitals to go bust. The White Paper was, if nothing else, intellectually coherent. The Conservatives, in opposition, had concluded that the internal market introduced by Labour was functioning badly; failing to boost productivity; failing to bear down on costs; failing to give bang for bucks to the patient or the taxpayer. Being Conservatives they concluded what was needed was a more perfect, less interrupted or constrained market. So they set about constructing a more pure one. First there would be a clear "customer": the GPs, who would hold up to £80bn a year spending power on behalf of the patient. Second there would be a clearer measure of value: PROMS - patient reported outcome measurements would replace input measurements (ie number of operations done, lengths of stay in hospital etc). Third there would be a completely level playing field between the public and private sectors in terms of provision of the service: a free as opposed to an unfree market. In addition the move to private and charity-sector provision would "create the largest social enterprise sector in the world" - fulfilling the touchiest, feeliest of the Big Society goals; mutually-owned clinics etc. It's important to unpack where it's all gone wrong, and how it might be put together again, because the Bill is currently being torn apart by three sets of people: the Libdems, responding to their left-leaning voting base who want no private involvement (none at all, as Simon Hughes said yesterday); the NHS workforce and professions, who all have varying degrees of concern about the workability of the project; and Conservative health policy wonks and civil servants who fear (to their despair) that the whole thing only works if you do it all at the same time. If you take the "pure" market as designed by Andrew Lansley, with its GP customer, its PROMS measure of value and its newly neutral stance on who can provide services, what was the ideal outcome supposed to be? Actually it's the one numerous Labour reforms hinted at but never enacted: a publicly financed market in NHS care from which the private sector can at last make serious profits and into which, eventually, middle class customers (aka patients) can add-on services through insurance, co-payment etc. Early on, Tory ministers and outsourcing company chiefs envisaged a mass of mutually-owned clinics (with protected pay and pension rights for the medics and nurses etc who formed them, but not for the next generation of employees); they envisaged that 30+ NHS trusts would go bust, allowing the private sector to take them over and estabilish a new footprint in the secondary healthcare sector; and that private "commissioning support" companies would swarm into the GP group practices, providing profit-generating services there. It was supposed to be win-win. The health outcomes would get measurably better; patients would feel they had some modicum of choice; the professions, especially primary carers like GPs and practice nurses, would feel like they had a bigger stake in the NHS; the private and mutual sectors would gain access to business opportunities in the NHS. There was only one problem. As numerous medics and health experts pointed out, there was no guarantee it would work. The transition costs alone, in disruption, would be huge. But above that, the reason serial Labour health ministers had constrained the market, adopting state-ist rather than truly market measurements of performance, was: a pure market can go chaotically wrong, or begin to deliver benefits to the wrong participants. So first, there's been a marked reluctance among health professionals form mutuals. As one leading consultant at a London hospital put it to me: "yes we could take over our clinic and run it ourselves; but it would pit us in competition against our neighbouring hospitals whereas our medical ethos is one of collaboration". GPs apart, there were very few material inducements for health professionals to take part; meanwhile a few former managers were going around claiming to have enhanced their salaries by moving to the "commissioning support" sector. True or not, this has played very badly with NHS staff. Second, there is fear among the public that the majority gets a second-class service. One health outsourcing company boss, who'd been influential with Mr Lansley at an early stage, put it to me this way: "even though there's no co-payment, what you could get are GP surgeries totally dedicated to serving professional middle aged men, specialising in prostate screening, cholesterol etc; and then next door maybe there could be a private health company offering the stuff you don't get on the NHS - prompt physio for all those squash injuries; alcohol counselling; a gym etc". This appealed to me, put that way, as I am a professional middle aged man. But as the thought occurred to non-professional, non-sharp elbowed groups that they would be left dumped in surgeries with no middle class people at all, indeed a surfeit of the neediest and unhealthiest, the term "cherry picking" gained currency. As measures were put in place to reassure people about cherry picking, some of the advantages to the middle class (who governments are perennially worried will "desert the NHS" if they are not molycoddled) seemed to fizzle out. Third, there is an obviously un-won argument about private provision. One boss of a private treatment centre group complained to me, during the Labour years: "The NHS is a learning organisation; we will start out beating its performance but given time it will copy us and do it cheaper; we don't need a level playing field; we need the playing field tilted in our direction." One measure he requested was to pay, like the NHS, zero VAT. Though private provision - of core NHS services - is at the heart of the White Paper, large sections of the public remain unconvinced that this will deliver anything more than profits to the private sector at the expense of care. One reason is that the lessons of Labour's experiment with ISTCs - factory style treatment centres staffed by indefatigable South African and Aussie eye surgeons - was not 100% successful. Outsourcing overnight GP services to private companies has, likewise, not been acclaimed as a major success. If this argument about private provision had been aired in the general election, the government might have had less trouble winning it now; but it wasn't. And then there are the minor, cultural niggles which turned out to be major. Many GPs don't want to be businessmen, wielding their part of the £80bn. They don't want to be part of a giant clinic but want to go on being family doctors. It took some time for this feeling to filter through to the GP organisation leaderships, but eventually it did. Meanwhile, many patients, wondering already whether the amount of time their GP spends staring at a computer screen during consultations, were worried that the new arrangements create a conflict of interest: how does the GP take the best decision for the patient when his/her profits depend on the most efficient use of the money attached to that patient? So, predictably once people realised what's involved, the reform has stalled. But what, logically, can be saved? The patient-reported outcome measurement was always something that, given time, might supplant the pure measurement of inputs, if it can be proven technocratically to be better. Given time, in any kind of market - even a constrained one - a better measure of value can deliver better results. Private involvement: well that is already looking more constrained at the level of care provision; private providers were complaining they did not have the capacity to deliver in the short term much more than 5-10% of care (Labour's ceiling on private provision, once, in the last days of Blairism before Andy Burnham took over, was 15%, if you remember). So what you could do is let the private provision angle - and the mutualism - evolve over time. What you cannot do is compromise half-and-half on who spends the budget. Either it is the old commissioning system, half dismantled but now having to be reinstated; or a new one based on GPs. To save the latter proposal you would have to address the problem of conflict of interest, cherry picking and place a limit on the amount of a GP's budget that can be spent on "commissioning support". The problem is, then, none of this becomes a revolution; it becomes a technocratic evolution of the old system by trial and error. But then what you do not need is the "denationalisation" of the NHS. This has been at the heart of the White Paper, and is what many of the Royal Colleges etc are worried about; creating an arms' length service, where the NHS is not controlled by politicians; where there is no duty of the Secretary of State to provide healthcare as now; and where a hospital can - like a university - go bust, disappear, be privatised etc. The White Paper's problem lay in trying to do many things at once: solve a productivity problem; a health outcomes problem; to create biggest mutual sector in world; to mend what they said was a malfunctioning half-market system; and to save money - all at the same time. We will never know if the system as designed would have worked, because it is already clear parts of it will not get through. If you started with just one of the aims outlined above it would choose itself: saving money is a given; and health outcomes are the only measure the public actually cares about. All the rest could be scrapped, or left to evolutionary non-legislative change if you wanted to. But it would not exactly be a great example in systems design, and you could not present it as Year Zero. Finally there is a missing player in all this: Labour. Apart from campaigning to "defend frontline services" and stop an "expensive top down reorganisation" there is little sign of a comprehensive policy (it's in review of course). As 2015 gets closer, health professionals are going to want to know how much of what gets through this year Labour would unpick. There are huge strategic problems facing healthcare in Britian: fiscal austerity, an ageing population, the patchy outcomes of the present system and the growing expectations of patients; de facto rationing; plus the timebomb of an essentially privatised adult social care system. What they demand is a comprehensive strategy. What's probable now is that we get a less comprehensive one.

Lamar’s NBA career is at a standstill, but it looks like the 33-year-old free agent might finally find a home with his old team. HollywoodLife.com has all the EXCLUSIVE details about LO’s potential return to the Los Angeles Lakers! Check it out! Lamar Odom‘s performance has dwindled over the last couple years, but the team that shot him to success is looking to get him back — on their terms. Will Lamar be on board? Lamar Odom Lakers Return? — LO Expected To Sign Back To Former Team The one-time Sixth Man of the Year winner played for the Los Angeles Clippers last season, but he had his most productive years when he was on the Los Angeles Lakers from 2004 to 2011. Lamar really wants to return to the Lakers now that the Clippers have decided to start looking in another direction. “The Lakers desperately need a big man now that Dwight Howard left the team, and since Lamar had his best seasons with the Lakers and he fits well with Kobe, it’s a natural fit,” a source close to the Los Angeles Lakers tells HollywoodLife.com EXCLUSIVELY. “Lamar wants to stay home in LA and the Clippers were an option, but they are moving forward without him, so the best option is the Lakers,” the source adds. “It’s all paperwork and money at this point.” Lamar Odom Wants To Stay In LA To Be Near His Family A few more discussions are meant to happen in the next few weeks, but the probability of Lamar signing with the Lakers is very high, our source reveals. “He will likely sign with the Lakers in the coming weeks, unless he wants to sign elsewhere for more money.” Lamar may have other options, but we know he is big on family and he definitely wants to stay in LA — plus, he probably doesn’t want to uproot his wife Khloe Kardashian! It looks like Lamar will be signing on for another Lake show! Are you excited, HollywoodLifers? What team do YOU think Lamar should play for next year? Let us know! — Russ Weakland Follow @mrsandwich96 More Lamar Odom & Khloe Kardashian News:

Research shows professionals moving from private sector into teaching experience significant levels of frustration 18 February 2016 Professionals moving from the private sector into teaching experience ‘significant levels of frustration’ with a perceived lack of acknowledgement from colleagues about the ‘added value’ they bring to the role, according to research led by Dr Chris Wilkins (pictured) in the School of Education. The study, published in the British Educational Research Journal, identifies that while ‘elite’ career-changers (ECCs) entering Initial Teacher Education (ITE) in England are generally motivated by altruism and a sense of civic duty, they also experience significant levels of frustration with a perceived lack of acknowledgement from colleagues and school leaders of the potential ‘added value’ contribution they could make at a wider institutional level. Dr Chris Wilkins said: “Many governments, including the UK government, have made a significant investment in attracting people to switch career from ‘elite’ fields such as banking, law and medicine into teaching in an effort to improve the quality of entrants. The rationale for this is generally that they bring ‘added value’ to the profession, both through their personal qualities and bringing a different perspective from their previous careers into schools. “However, in our study most of the teachers felt that their colleagues and school leaders were not particularly interested in them sharing expertise and perspectives from previous careers – and in some cases felt that there was a degree of distrust about their motives for changing career, particularly those coming from the private sector. This led to a sense of ‘missed opportunities’."

Calling all nerds … the finale for “King of the Nerds” is almost here! The show will close season 3 on Friday night, and there are only four contestants left competing for the grand prize and the title at the very end: Jonathan, Ben, Lily, and Kaitlin. So as you prepare to witness this nerdy showdown for the ages (we hope it’s like last season), we want to revive an old standby: The contestant rankings! We’re basing these on a variety of different factors, but at the top of the list here are challenge strength, discernible weaknesses, social game, and also to a certain extent the edit. This show is a little bit better than others when it comes to masking the winner, but we feel like after two straight years of a woman coming out on top, this may be the year for the guys. 4. Lily – The main reason she’s last is because she was just sick, and who knows if she’ll be feeling any better? That can make it so much harder to focus during important tasks. 3. Kaitlin – This one was hard, since Kaitlin has been a favorite to watch most of the season. What we worry about is that while she is extremely strong in all scientific fields, she does not have the same pop-culture cloud as some of the other contestants who are left. With a more obvious weakness, her risk is high. 2. Jonathan – We personally picked him to win preseason, and we’ve admired his strategy throughout in keeping himself out of danger. With this being said, Zack made a good point when we talked to him earlier this week: Will he have ticked off some former players with his aggressive play? Having help for the final challenge is important, and he could have a harder time than who we feel right now is in the best spot. 1. Ben – If you asked us before the last Nerd War, we would’ve put Kaitlin and Jonathan ahead of Ben … but he completely killed that challenge. He was so impressive! He has the social game down, knows science, and also knows nerd culture. He doesn’t have an obvious weakness at this point. Of course, we’ll have our full review of the finale very soon, so be on the lookout for that! Also, click here to see our most-recent exit interview, or here to get some other TV updates on all we cover via our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: TBS.) Love TV? Be sure to like CarterMatt on Facebook for more updates!

Shopper Diana Webster looks for winter items at Joseph's Coat in St. Paul. Webster is a regular shopper at the store. "I like shopping here. Really appreciate them," she said. Yvonne Hill and her 14-year-old son waited in line outside Joseph's Coat in St. Paul last week as temperatures dipped into the 20s. Her son shivered and pulled the tiger-striped blanket closer around his shoulders as a cold wind blew down West 7th Street. Hill and dozens of others in line came to the store soon after it opened hoping to find warm clothes. Joseph's Coat gives clothes and other items away for free. "It was kind of a long line, but I have seen a lot of people leaving with coats, and I was hoping that when we came in, maybe we could grab one," said Hill, who works nights cleaning offices. "But I think maybe there's not too many left." • How to help and how to get help: Joseph's Coat | Dorothy Day Center | Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless For the 10,000 homeless Minnesotans and the many others in need, the bitter mid-November cold that dropped into the state is more than just an early hassle. It creates its own special misery, forcing some into an early season scramble for warm clothes and a place to stay off the street. Diana Webster tries to pack her finds from Joseph's Coat into one bag. On the store's one-bag giveaway day, patrons can take one full bag of items with them. Yi-Chin Lee / MPR News "This is not a want in Minnesota, it's a need — to have a jacket, to have mittens, to have a warm cap," said Cheryl Stern, executive director of Joseph's Coat. She estimated about 400 people come through the store on a typical winter shopping day. "In the summertime, you can make do because you're not going to get frostbitten, you're not going to suffer exposure problems." The store is only open for shopping two days a week. On other days, the two employees and roughly 134 volunteers try to deal with the flood of donations. An entire back storage room is often packed to the ceilings as the holidays approach, which Stern calls the store's "silly season." "We get hundreds [of coats] in, and hundreds go out," Stern said. "Yesterday, with the temperatures, all of the coats we had in went out — we had none left. Then it's really hard to tell people when they're cold, 'Sorry, they're gone.'" When Hill and her son walked out of the store, past the line of others still waiting to get in, neither one had a coat. "It's just the world, the economy," Hill said. "Especially, I'm a single a parent, I have two sons, teenagers, so it's kind of rough on me." Shoppers wait in line to check out at Joseph's Coat. Volunteers said about 300 to 500 shoppers visit the store on its giveaway days. Yi-Chin Lee / MPR News Charity Doghor of St. Paul was also at Joseph's Coat searching for warm clothes for her children and husband. The nearby rack for scarves, gloves and winter hats was almost bare. "Some of us here, the money we make, when we work, we use it for food — not everybody has the pleasure to go to the super-malls to shop," she said. "I work a part-time job, so my money, I feed myself my kids and my family with it." The nearby Dorothy Day Center usually closes during the day so shelter staff can clean and get ready for the influx of people again at night, but on very cold days, the lobby stays open as a refuge from the cold. The center doesn't usually open its overflow space until January, but this year that opened in September, said program director Gerry Lauer. The shelter has space for about 208 mats on the main floor and another 50 or so beds in the overflow rooms. Volunteer Alice Vega, right, helps a shopper who is looking for winter coats at Joseph's Coat. Vega says as the weather gets colder, more and more people are asking for winter garments, but the store is low on winter coats, blankets, and long underwear to supply their guests. Yi-Chin Lee / MPR News "The more dangerous the outside weather becomes, the rougher it is for folks," Lauer said. "Instead of seeing the crowd at the Dorothy Day Center and saying, 'I'm not sure I'd be comfortable there,' that goes out the window, 'I need to be safe, I need to be in from the weather.'" One of the bigger problems faced by the homeless is storage, so center staff try to put out boxes of cold-weather gear when temperatures drop. "You and I may pull some boxes out of our closet and get the scarves and gloves, our folks don't have that ability," Lauer said. "They may have yesterday's dirty clothes and tomorrow's clean clothes and that might be it." Even when it gets very cold, some people resist the chaos that can fill the crowded Dorothy Day Center. Verlinda Flax sleeps in a tent with her boyfriend, but comes to the center during the day to warm up and get food. She's slept at the center, but prefers her own space. Volunteer Alice Vega checks the supplies in the store's back room. Yi-Chin Lee / MPR News "The difference here is peace of mind, and just being able to relax and not have to deal with all the noise, the things that come of being in a drop-in center with tons of other people, tons of other attitudes and personalities," said Flax, who moved to Minnesota from Indiana and has been living in the tent while she looks for a job. "It gets difficult, but when you kind of prepare ahead of time, you weatherize the best you can for living outside," Flax said. "I would try to use my common sense and know that if it got too cold, my body would tell me, and common sense would say, 'Well, it's time to go in.'" There were some 130 cases of homeless people dying on the streets last year, although not all deaths were related to exposure, said Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless spokeswoman Kenza Hadj-Moussa. "Most people experiencing homelessness in Minnesota are children and families and youth — they're kids in the classrooms and riding the bus," Hadj-Moussa said. "They're not necessarily people you'd think are homeless, but that's where our greatest population is."

November 2, 2013 at 9:29 AM Updated | 10:20 p.m. Seattle City Light said it expects to restore power to 13,000 customers currently without power by 10 a.m. Sunday. Gusty winds rattled the region Saturday, leaving at least three people injured, cutting power to some 200,000 and even forcing officials to close the Highway 520 bridge for about two hours. The State Patrol closed the bridge about 11 a.m. after some 50 people driving westbound on the bridge “panicked” and decided to abandon their vehicles amid splashing water and low visibility, Trooper Chris Webb said. The bridge was reportedly swaying as much as five feet. “I’ve been on (the State Patrol) 22 years. I don’t think I’ve ever seen something like this,” said Webb, who said drivers should not abandon vehicles in the middle of the road. The drivers were escorted to safety, and the bridge reopened just after 1 p.m. The closure, which backed up traffic on the Interstate 90 bridge, was just one way in which the fall storm affected life in the Puget Sound. None of the injuries were expected to be life-threatening. A construction worker was hurt on Capitol Hill in the morning when a piece of metal awning he was installing blew off and hit him. A 2-year-old boy in the University District was seriously injured by a falling branch around 9:30 a.m. And a 48-year-old Granite Falls man was seriously injured south of Monroe when a tree fell across Highway 203 and onto his Mustang, according to the State Patrol. Roughly 200,000 homes and businesses lost power at some point Saturday, according to reports from three local utilities. Puget Sound Energy tweeted at 3 p.m. that 105,000 customers were without power “due to nearly 1,000 outages across a wide area.” The hardest hit areas were Northern King County, Kitsap County and Whidbey Island, according to another tweet. At 8 p.m., the utility was reporting 55,000 without power, most of them in King County. Outages among Seattle City Light customers were slowly falling in the afternoon. By 10 p.m., the utility reported that just over 13,000 customers, most in North Seattle, were without power. That was down from a high of 46,000. The hardest-hit areas were in Northeast Seattle between Wedgwood and Lake City; just north of Carkeek Park; on both sides of Aurora Avenue North between 165th and 195th streets; and along Lake Washington in Lake Forest Park. Laurelhurst and Madrona were also affected. In Snohomish County, outages peaked at 40,000 in the morning before dwindling to about 10,000 by 3:30 p.m. Those outages were concentrated in the southern part of the county, between Bothell and Monroe, spokesman Neil Neroutsos said. Neroutsos said the outages should be fixed by early evening. But he cautioned that “if we get another set of winds coming through, it could create some more problems.” National Weather Service meteorologist Johnny Burg said the worst of the high winds were passing through the Seattle area around noon, and that high-wind advisories were in place for Seattle until 8 p.m. Breezy weather and scattered showers are forecast to continue throughout the day, with gusts of up to 50 mph. There was no chance of flooding, but Burg said up to 6 inches of snow is expected in the passes this afternoon, as the snow level drops to around 2,500 feet. On Sunday, there is a chance of showers, but the forecast also says it will be partly sunny. Webb, the state trooper, said officials are on high alert. “It’s been a crazy day,” he said. For more information: Seattle City Light’s outage map is updated every 15 minutes, while Puget Sound Energy maintains a map in severe situations.

It has been almost a month now since our last official BGWFans Verbolten picture update. Hard to believe it has been that long, but it has. The good news? We have a huge, and, if I may say so myself, awesome Verbolten update for you today. Now, some of these pictures were actually taken last weekend; however, they were never posted because another big story got in the way. Very little has actually changed on the outside of the ride since last weekend so I hope no one hates me for merging the updates together. If you do, hopefully the testing video will make up for it. Enjoy! What do you think of the progress on Verbolten? Discuss it and just about anything else about the park in our forums!

This email has also been verified by Google DKIM 2048-bit RSA key [big campaign] New Huff Post from Creamer - Assualt Weapons are Weapons of Mass Destruction and Should Be Banned From:creamer2@aol.com To: creamer2@aol.com Date: 2012-12-17 01:45 Subject: [big campaign] New Huff Post from Creamer - Assualt Weapons are Weapons of Mass Destruction and Should Be Banned Assault Weapons are Weapons of Mass Destruction and Should Be Banned http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-creamer/assault-weapons-are-weapo_b_2313290.html The tragedy in Connecticut forces America to confront a simple question: why should we allow easy access to a weapon of mass destruction just because it could conceivably be referred to as a “gun”? I count myself among the many Americans who at various points in their lives have owned and used long guns -- hunting rifles and shotguns – for hunting and target shooting. No one I know in politics seriously proposes that ordinary Americans be denied the right to own those kinds of weapons. But guns used for hunting have nothing in common with assault weapons like the ones that were used last week in the mass murder of 20 first-graders – except the fact that they are referred to “guns.” Rapid-fire assault weapons with large clips of ammunition have only one purpose: the mass slaughter of large numbers of human beings. They were designed for use by the military to achieve that mission in combat – and that mission alone. No one argues that other combat weapons like rocket-propelled grenades (RPG’s) or Stinger Missiles should be widely available to anyone at a local gun shop. Why in the world should we allow pretty much anyone to have easy access to assault weapons? Every politician in America will tell you they will move heaven and earth to prevent weapons of mass destruction from falling into the hands of terrorists. Yet we have allowed the ban on this particular weapon of mass destruction to expire. As a result, a terrorist named Adam Lanza was able to have easy access to the assault weapons he used to kill scores of children in minutes. Let’s be clear, Adam Lanza was a terrorist just as surely as he would have been if we were motivated by an extreme jihadist ideology. It makes no difference to those children or to their grieving families whether their loved ones were killed by someone who was mentally deranged or by someone who believed that by killing children he was helping to destroying the great Satan. When an individual is willing – or perhaps eager – to die making a big “statement” by killing many of his fellow human beings, it doesn’t matter what their motivation is. It does matter whether they have easy access to the weapons that make mass murder possible. And after last week, can anyone seriously question whether assault weapons are in fact weapons of mass destruction? And after last week, can anyone seriously question whether assault weapons are in fact weapons of mass destruction? If Lanza had conventional guns -- or like a man in China who recently went berserk, he only had knives -- he would not have been physically capable of killing so many people in a few short minutes. Of course you hear people say – oh, a car or an airliner can be turned into a weapon of mass destruction – many things can become weapons of mass destruction.. And there is no question after 9/11 that we know that this is true. But cars and airliners have to be converted from their primary use in order to become instruments of mass death. It takes an elaborate plot and many actors to take over an airliner and it isn’t easy to methodically kill 27 people with a car. More important, assault weapons have no redeeming social value or alternative use whatsoever. The only reason to purchase an assault weapon, instead of a long gun used for target practice or hunting, is to kill and maim large numbers of human beings. And it is not the case that if assault weapons were banned ordinary people would get them anyway. We certainly don’t take that attitude with nuclear weapons or dirty bombs. We make it very hard for a terrorist to get nuclear weapons or dirty bomb. It used to be hard to get assault weapons. When the former President of Mexico visited the United States some time ago to discuss the drug-fueled violence on the Mexican border, he pointed out that the end of the assault weapons ban in the U.S. had resulted in an explosion of smuggling of assault weapons from the United States to Mexico. Weapons that were previously unavailable in large numbers, became plentiful. He begged the United States to re-impose the assault weapons ban. Allowing easy access to assault weapons guarantees that terrorists, criminals and mentally unstable people will use them to commit future acts of mass murder – it’s that simple. There are 7 billion people on the planet. Try as we may, we are not going to prevent some of those 7 billion people from becoming terrorists, criminals or mentally unstable. Why make it easy for them to do harm to their fellow human beings by giving them easy access to a weapon of mass destruction? Since this tragedy, there have been calls for greater restrictions and background checks on those who can buy guns – and there should be. But from all accounts, the weapons used in the Connecticut murders were purchased legally by the shooter’s mother – who herself appeared to be perfectly sane right up to the moment that Lanza used those same weapons to end her life. The NRA will no doubt repeat its mantra about the “slippery slope.” “If we ban assault weapons, shotguns will be next”, they say. Really? By banning anyone from buying Stinger Missiles that are used to shoot down airplanes do we make it more likely that the Government will one day prevent people from hunting ducks? The simple fact is that no right is absolute because rights come into conflict with each other. Your free speech does not give you the right to cry “fire” in a crowded theater. Is the NRA’s concern that banning assault weapons will put us on a “slippery slope” more important than the lives of those 20 first graders? Should it really take precedence over the fact that today in Newtown, Connecticut there are 20 families with holiday presents on a closet shelf, that were purchased for an excited 6-year-old who will never open them? Are the NRA’s fears more important than the terror faced by children in the Sandy Hook Elementary school last week? Does the right to own an assault weapon take precedence over the right of those parents to see their children grow up, and graduate from college, and stand at the alter to be married, and have children of their own? The bottom line is that there is no reason why weapons of mass destruction of any sort – chemical weapons, biological weapons, RPG’s, improvised explosive devices (IED’s), missiles, dirty bombs, nuclear devices, or assault weapons -- should be easily accessible. For ten years there was a ban on the production, ownership and use of assault weapons in the United States until Congress and the Bush Administration allowed it to lapse when it sunset and came up for reauthorization in 2004. A serious response to the tragedy in Connecticut requires that Congress act to reinstate the assault weapons ban before the children of other families fall victim to the fantasies of some other mentally unbalanced individual – or the ideology of a terrorist who has been empowered by our failure to act. Robert Creamer is a long-time political organizer and strategist, and author of the book: Stand Up Straight: How Progressives Can Win, available on Amazon.com. He is a partner in Democracy Partners and a Senior Strategist for Americans United for Change. Follow him on Twitter @rbcreamer. Robert Creamer Democracy Partners creamer@me.com Office - 202-470-6955 Cell - 847-910-0363 Robert Creamer Democracy Partners creamer2@aol.com DC Office 202-470-6955 Cell 847-910-0363 -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the "big campaign" group. To post to this group, send to bigcampaign@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe, send email to dubois.sara@gmail.com E-mail dubois.sara@gmail.com with questions or concerns This is a list of individuals. It is not affiliated with any group or organization.

A Powerful Framework For Your Personal Growth Today I’m very excited to share with you the map of consciousness, developed by Dr. David Hawkins in the book Power vs Force. 😀 The reason I’m so excited is that this map is probably the single most powerful tool in your pursuit of growth. Two reasons why I say that: Firstly, the map of consciousness empowers us by letting us know where we stand in our current state of growth. While we can try to live consciously each day, without knowing where we are at, we are just groping in the dark. Having this map lets us get a fix on our current location. When we can identify our starting point, we can then create an action plan to improve. Secondly, this map lists all the different levels of consciousness we can attain, thus serving as a critical framework for conscious living. Think of it as a roadmap for our the development of our consciousness. While we can debate whether Hawkin’s research is valid or conclusive, this map definitely provides us with a very good starting point. For me, the map of consciousness has been very helpful in helping me identify my current state of growth, to understand my own blind spots, and to identify next steps to further raise my consciousness. It has helped me understand why I act the way I do, and that my reactions are never a permanent part of me but a reflection of my consciousness level. And as I work on raising my consciousness, my reactions and thoughts will naturally change to reflect that. Consciousness Defined What is consciousness? Being conscious is more than just being physically awake. It is also more than just being aware. Awareness typically refers to knowingness at the mental level. On the other hand, consciousness is a state of knowingness that encompasses all mental, emotional, and spiritual parts of ourselves. To be conscious is to be fully aware of your own thoughts, emotions, sensations, surroundings, and existence. The consciousness level we are at is equivalent to the lens we use to see reality. Our current perceptions, beliefs, mindset, and values are a result of our current consciousness level. Whenever we shift up in our consciousness level, we break away from our current level and as a result, our old belief system and attitudes. This is the same as shedding the lens we use to see reality and adopting a new lens. Why Increase Your Consciousness Level? As mentioned, your consciousness level is like a lens you use to view reality. Your thoughts, feelings, beliefs, values, and actions right now are outputs of your consciousness level today. Let’s take the example myopia (short-sightedness). At the lowest level of consciousness, it’s like you have an extremely high myopia of -10.00. You can’t see anything beyond an extremely distorted sense of self and the world. At a higher level, however, this fog lifts and you develop a higher clarity of yourself, the world, and your place in the world. The higher you go, the higher your clarity of what the world around you entails. In reality, nothing about your life or the world has changed — all these changes are coming from just a change in your consciousness. To increase your consciousness level thus translates into a fuller and richer life. When you have a clear sight of yourself and the world, you can make many sharp decisions. You are able to interact with the world fully without reservation, without the fear common to people at low levels. You know your weaknesses and you take courageous steps to address them while working on the things that give you meaning in this world. This leads to a happier and more abundant life. Map Of Consciousness The map of consciousness was developed via kinesiology or muscle testing. I’ll not be covering the technicalities here: if you are interested in the details, you can check out the book – there are two full chapters that explain the methodology and experiment. Based on this test, a scale of consciousness/energy level was calibrated from 0 point all the way to the highest end of 1000 points. Within this scale, there is a total of 17 different levels of consciousness marked by different points on the scale. Moving from the 0 to the 1000 mark represent a shift in one’s world view from fear to love. The highest attainable level is enlightenment at 1000. 17 Levels of Consciousness Description of Each Level of Consciousness I will provide a description of each level, starting with the bottom-most level. As you read this, think about the level that you resonate most with now: 1) Shame (1-20): Someone at this level feels humiliated, has low self-esteem, and is paranoid. Common feelings by someone at this level include feeling like he/she has “lost face,” wishing that he/she is invisible and feeling worthless. Some individuals react by becoming overly rigid or neurotic perfectionists. Vibrating at this level for prolonged periods leads to elimination (of self and others), such as suicide, turning into serial killers, rapists, or moral extremists who apply self-righteous judgment onto others. A person’s life view at this state is misery. 2) Guilt (30): Feelings of blame and remorse hover in this level. These feelings are used to consciously or subconsciously manipulate conformance to certain forms of thinking and behaviors. This level is dominant in governments who are high-handed and uses heavy public punishment; in societies with a blame culture; and in religious institutions with a preoccupation with “sin” and “salvation.” This level cultivates destruction. Hawkins cites the life view as evil, though I disagree and feel that condemnation is more adept. A person at the level of guilt is not necessarily evil nor does he/she see the world as evil, but rather focuses a lot on condemning self and others. 3) Apathy (50): A state of helplessness, despair, and despondency. Someone here is needy and dependent on others for help, such as the homeless and poor. Because this level feels “heavy” and is seen as a burden, many people usually avoid those vibrating at these levels. For example, in some countries, we see how the poor and less fortunate are segmented away from mainstream society. We also frequently see situations where the aged are abandoned by their own kin because they are seen as a liability. This level is associated with abdication, which means to give up one’s power to others. The life view here is hopelessness. 4) Grief (75): Feelings of regret, sadness, and loss are abundant here. Many people vibrate at this level in times of loss — of loved ones, relationships, possessions, jobs, and wealth. The outcome is mourning, feeling remorse, regret, and being hung up over what has happened. Someone grieving feels despondent and bleak about the world and life around him/her. The life view is tragic. Grief is a higher level than apathy because one starts feeling more energy at this level, albeit energies of sadness and loss. 5) Fear (100): The energy at this level in anxiety. Common kinds of fear at play would be the fear of rejection, fear of failure, fear of uncertainty, fear of challenges, fear of aging, fear of death, fear of loss, and fear of strangers. This emotion is often played on by marketers and politicians to achieve their agendas. Fear leads to paranoia and can turn into an obsession. At this level, one views everything uncertain as fearful and thus undergoes a state of withdrawal. Thus, fear prevents personal growth from taking place. Someone at this level sees the world as frightening. 6) Desire (125): At the level of desire, the emotion of craving becomes dominant. We have people pursuing money and status as end goals for a better life, lonely singles longing to be in romantic relationships believing that it will complete themselves, marketers conditioning ‘wants’ in people via enticing advertisements and promises of happiness with the consumption of goods, and fashion industry playing on people’s desires to be more attractive and wanted, just to name a few. Addictions are outputs of desire, such as the desire for food, video games, fun, sex, shopping, and money and power. One becomes looped into enslavement at this level because desire is a never-ending emotion. The life view is disappointing, which happens when one cannot obtain what one desires. Desire is a higher level than fear because the desire for something propels someone into action rather than withdraw into a corner. 7) Anger (150): The emotion at this level is hate. Anger expresses itself as resentment, frustration, even revenge. Common manifestations of anger in our society today can be seen in people’s irritable behavior, toxic conversations on the internet, arguments between family members, and at the worst end of the spectrum, murder and war. Because anger is a highly charged feeling, someone who channels this energy constructively will move up to the next level and create positive change — such as via activism (of animal rights, human rights, environmental causes, etc.). Such uses of anger have resulted in the liberation and great movements in society. On the other hand, people who use anger destructively such as to shame, hate, and harm others, create more destruction. The process one undergoes is aggression. The life view here is antagonistic, where one is hostile, unfriendly, and acts in opposition against others. 8) Pride (175): Hawkins cite scorn as the dominant feeling of pride, though I disagree. I feel dignity is a more representative emotion for this level. Scorn comes as a result of this dignity, though it may be too subtle for people to recognize. In our current society, pride is a level that is encouraged and seen as positive — for example, the pride of being part of a group, institution, company, nation, religion, and race. But this leads to a duality, which acts as an invisible force to separate people. For example, nations exist because people identify themselves more with a geographical location rather than a common, universal identity. Religions exist because people attach themselves to their beliefs of god and values, which separate them from the “others.” On a personal level, people develop pride based on their possessions and career achievements, and this is dangerous because such conditions can be removed at any point in time. Pride results in denial and arrogance. At pride, one undergoes inflation (of ego) rather than see things objectively. The life view here is demanding. 9) Courage (200): Affirmation is the key emotion here. This is the separation point between Power and Force, where one starts to create change by using constructive uses of power rather than destructive force. This is the first waking point when one starts to wake from his/her sleepwalker status. At the lower levels before this, the world is seen as hopeless, tragic, frightening, demanding, and antagonistic; people below 200 see themselves as victims, at the mercy of life, and subjected to the forces of the external world. At the level of courage, one sees the world as exciting and filled with possibilities. One undergoes empowerment here. This marks the start of active pursuit of growth. When one sees a gap in their knowledge and abilities, they will act to fill it. For example, learning new job skills, embarking on further education, pursuing personal growth. The life view is feasible – anything is manageable since the person is willing to take action to deal with uncomfortable situations in life. People in levels of >200 recognize that their happiness lies in their hands. 10) Neutrality (250): The emotions at this level are trust and safety. Here, people are non-judgmental, objective, and able to see things as they truly are. They are not attached to possessions, situations, results, and can roll with the punches in life. If they are not able to get something, they are equally happy settling for something else. This is NOT the same as apathy – the power of neutrality comes from a positive place, where one recognizes his/her power, ability, and worth, and does not feel the need to prove anything to anyone. On the other hand, apathy comes from feeling forsaken, resulting in nonchalance and jadedness toward the external world. The process is one of release (of everything). The life view is satisfactory, where anything goes. These people are easy to get along; however, they are difficult to engage toward causes and visions because they are detached toward everything. 11) Willingness (310): Optimism runs high here. At Willingness, the individual is open to doing anything and everything – he/she is not bounded by others’ judgments or limitations. For example, he/she is willing to take on menial jobs if he/she cannot get jobs elsewhere. The difference between Willingness and the levels below it is that at Willingness, one is passionate about doing things well rather than just doing things. Someone at Willingness can readily bounce back from setbacks, is easily moldable, and is genuinely open to everyone. Success follows them easily. The process one undergoes here is of intention (to do anything). The life view is hopefulness. At this level you have people who perform extremely well in their careers in corporations, startups; however as they develop great skills, the question comes to whether they are investing their energy in the best way. 12) Acceptance (350): In my opinion, this marks the second waking point for an individual, where he/she is fully awake from his/her sleepwalker status. Here, one realizes that he/she is THE creator and source of his/her life, as opposed to having relegated part of his/her power to someone else or a different entity. He/she (1) is aware of the social constructs present in one’s life, whether family, society, nation, religion, or work, (2) is able to discern against (limiting) beliefs, viewpoints, and social conditioning, and (3) can consciously craft his/her life above and beyond these social constructs. The behavior at this level is acceptance vs. rejection, seeking for resolution vs. judging whether something is right or wrong, having a long-term vs. short-term view, engaging in life harmoniously based on its terms vs. resisting it, and striving for excellence and growth. Forgiveness is the dominant emotion. The process one undergoes is transcendence (above what one faces in life). The life view here is harmonious. 13) Reason (400): The emotion is understanding and rationality. One seeks out huge amounts of information and analyzes them to infinitesimal detail before reaching a conclusion. This is where the noble prize winners, leaders of science and medicine, and great thinkers of history are at. However, someone at the level of Reason falls into the trap of over-intellectualization in concepts and theories. When theories clash and each argument is sound on its own, we reach a blockade, leading to the inability to resolve discrepancies. This leads to the process of abstraction or preoccupation with data. The life view is meaningful. 14) Love (500): This represents unconditional love – love that is pure, unfaltering, unwavering, not subjected to any external condition. It is not the same love commonly portrayed in mass media, which is rooted in lust, desire, pride, control, addiction, attraction, jealousy, and possessiveness. While the media often establish love and hate as opposites, hate is actually rooted in pride (desire for control/possessiveness), not actual love. Reverence is the main emotion in this level of (unconditional) love. At this level, duality becomes an illusion; the feeling is one of entirety that rises above separation. Unconditional love is inclusive of everyone and expands beyond self. While reason deals with data, love deals with entirety, thus giving rise to the capacity for instantaneous understanding. This aspect is often linked with intuition. The process one undergoes is revelation. The life view is benign: there is no separation, fear or negativity. According to Hawkin, only 0.4% of the population (1 in every 250 people) ever reaches this level. 15) Joy (540): The dominant emotion is serenity and compassion. This is the inner joy that arises from every moment of existence rather than from an external source. This is the level where saints, advanced spiritual students and healers dwell. At this level, one is characterized by enormous patience and an unwavering positive attitude in the face of harsh adversities. The world is seen as one of perfection and beauty. Individuals are motivated to dedicate themselves to the benefit of life rather than for specific individuals. Here, transfiguration occurs, where there is an inner serenity and emanating of radiance and compassion for others. The life view is completeness (of the world). Near-death experiences have the effect of temporarily bumping people into this level. 16) Peace (600): The emotion is bliss. At this level, there is no longer any distinction between the observer and the subject. People here become spiritual teachers and great geniuses in their field to effect great contribution to mankind; they transcend formal religious structures and replace it with pure spirituality which is where religions originate. Perception becomes one of slow motion, suspended in time and space. Everything is perceived as interconnected by an infinite presence. The process one undergoes is illumination. The life view is perfect. Hawkins claims that this level is only attained by 1 out of 10 million people. 17) Enlightenment (700-1000): The emotion is ineffable, in other words – inexpressible. This is the pinnacle of the evolution of consciousness by mankind. The greatest people in history have attained this level, such as Krishna, Buddha, and Jesus. Here, the body becomes recognized as a tool to project consciousness. One’s existence becomes all-encompassing and transcends time and space. The process is described as pure consciousness. The life view here is simply ‘Is‘. As we achieve our highest potential and live our best life, we should strive for the highest possible level of enlightenment. Overview of the Map of Consciousness Below is a map that captures the summary of all 17 levels of consciousness: Update Feb 7, 2012: Unfortunately, Veritas Publishing, David Hawkin’s publishing house, demanded with a very forceful email that I remove the image and I have since taken it off PE. For an organization that preaches the concept of Power vs. Force, I was surprised that they would resort to such forceful threats rather than actions that resonate with the “power” levels of consciousness to achieve their aim. It didn’t feel congruent to what they’re teaching here. Apparently, their approach is not uncommon and has been documented by this website. Still, I wouldn’t let that undermine the message of the book, and it’s more important that we uphold power over force in our daily actions. About the Figures 1. They are logarithmic, not arithmetic What this means is that when you see a figure, say 200, it means 10 to the power of 200 (10^200) and not the absolute number 200. Thus, 200 on the scale does not mean twice the magnitude of 100. 200 is 10^200 (meaning 200 zeroes), while 100 is 10^100 (meaning 100 zeroes). That is a lot of zeroes and a huge difference. 2. A small increment by a few points represents a huge increase in magnitude Because of that, a small increment equals a huge shift. For example, let’s look at 100 and 105. Even though it’s just +5 pt, in logarithmic terms, a +5 pt increase from 100 to 105 means an increase by 10^5 or 100,000 times! This means even if you are at the level of Guilt or Apathy, just raising your consciousness by +5 pt will result in enormous shifts in your well-being and life. About the levels of consciousness 1. The level of consciousness which you are currently at is a weighted average of the different consciousness levels you operate in A person usually vibrates at a default consciousness level and shifts to a couple of levels lower and higher depending on the situation. Every thought, feeling, and action you have in every situation is rooted in a particular consciousness level. All of these can be summed up and averaged to identify your current default level. It is rare that someone will maintain an exact same consciousness level at any one period of time. Even within the same day, you may adopt a certain consciousness level in one situation and a totally different consciousness level in a different situation. For example, you may be at the level of Courage, but you get bumped into Fear when you start reading the news with just the most random and propaganda-filled stories. A big influence on your consciousness is the stimulus in your life. This includes the situations you are in, the people you spend time with, and your environment. In times of pressure, one’s consciousness level usually gets bumped down a few levels. Depending on how the person recovers from the pressure, his or her default consciousness level may be elevated to a higher level after the encounter. 2. One can move across different levels of consciousness Your consciousness level now does not determine your consciousness in the future. It is open to change and is not static. Each person has the choice to move across different levels, depending on how he/she (chooses to) evolve in his/her growth. 3. Distinction of levels of Power vs. levels of Force Hawkins segmented the consciousness into two main categories: one based in force (<200) and one based in power (>200). People in levels of Force vibrate in fear-based emotions. They inclined to exert control over others or themselves (oppression, force, coercion, manipulation, violence) to achieve their desired outcome. For example, crime, war, governmental passing restrictive policies imposing on individual rights, abuse, or even authoritative leadership and parenting styles. People in levels of Power vibrate in love-based emotions. They are in tune with themselves, aligned with the present moment and the universe, and respect fundamental human rights. They use positive leadership and actions to bring about desired results. 4. Each level can be beneficial/detrimental to you depending on the level you are at For example, the level of Fear (100) may look quite undesirable if you are at Desire (125). However, if you are at the level of Guilt (30), being around people at Fear (100) is actually beneficial as it can help elevate you to a higher level. It is generally more effective for you to be around people vibrating at higher consciousness levels that are closer to your level (vs. a huge distance ahead) since it is easier for you to connect and bridge the gap. When the energy gap is too large, you may feel detached and alienated instead. On the same note, when you elevate yourself to a higher level, it becomes obvious that the lower levels are more limiting. For example, if you are at the level of Pride, you will see how the levels of Shame/Guilt/Apathy/Grief/Fear/Desire/Anger hold people down. If you are at the level of Acceptance, you will realize how being at the levels of Pride/Courage/Neutrality/Willingness restrain others. 5. At Courage and Acceptance, one experiences a marked leap in the experience of the world An increase in consciousness at any level changes your experience significantly. However, there are two particular levels where one experiences a marked leap vs. the other levels. The first is Courage, which separates the levels of Force (<200) from the levels of Power (>200). This is the first waking point from being a sleepwalker. The second is Acceptance, where one recognizes it is he and he himself who is the conscious creator of everything in his life. This is the point where one completely awakes from sleepwalking. Where Does Our World Stand Today? If you take a guess, what do you think is the collective consciousness of humanity today? 100? 200? 300? 400? 500? When Hawkins wrote the book in 1995, he calibrated the collective consciousness of our world to be at Courage (calibrated 207). As humanity’s consciousnesses have increased at only about +5 pts every century, 207 is very likely still the figure today. However, this does not mean that the majority of our world is at the level of courage – in fact, 85% of the world calibrates below courage (200). The lower levels of the masses are balanced out by a few individuals near the top (remember the number is logarithmic, not arithmetic), thus giving us an overall calibrated figure of 207. Just having a few highly conscious leaders walk the earth is capable of raising the overall consciousness of the world – for example, Jesus, Buddha, Mahatma Gandhi, and so on. Before this, the world’s collective consciousness has been at 190 for many centuries. Why is the figure so low? If we look at around at what we see in the world, the answer becomes obvious: 1. Over 80% of humanity is living at less than $10/day, under extreme poverty This includes third-world countries, war, and disaster-stricken areas. Many people here are trapped in a state of Apathy (50). 2. Religious teachings and institutions have drastically lowered in consciousness over the years, as they become embroiled with the personal agendas of various men, and leaders The original teachings of Jesus, Buddha, and Krishna calibrated at 1,000. Today, the teachings of Buddhism have dropped over the centuries to an average of 900+; Hinduism at 850; Christianity at 750 or even 500 depending on the denomination; and militant Islam fundamentalism at 130 (Desire). In order to keep members within the religion, many religious leaders turn to Guilt (30) and Fear (100) -based teachings to indoctrinate their members. 3. In first-world nations, our society is deeply entrenched in states of Fear (100), Desire (125), and Pride (175) Fear includes fear of rejection, fear of failure, fear of loss, and fear of uncertainty. Desire includes the insatiable quest for material possessions (wealth and goods), status, power, love, and belongingness. Look at developed nations and look at the central theme in these countries — endless shopping malls, advertising (playing on people’s fears), and the constant push to buy more and more. Pride takes root in dualistic views such as elitism, competition, nationalism, racial pride, factions, religion, as well as attachment to status/wealth/goods. These are all dominant levels in our society today. 4. Our mass media continually perpetuates levels of Pride, Desire, Fear, or even lower Refer to the below on the calibrated consciousness of several popular shows (obtained from a Hawkins lecture in 2004; the link is now defunct). Try examining your favorite shows across the levels of consciousness and see where they are likely to lie. The Passion of Christ: 190 (Pride) Godzilla: 180 (Pride) The Godfather: 155 (Anger) The Matrix: 150 (Anger) American Beauty: 140 (Anger) Terminator: 125 (Desire) The Shining: 55 (Apathy) The Silence of the Lambs: 45 (Apathy) On this note, stop to think about the shows that you tend to watch — the things you are gravitated to will give you a clue on your current state of consciousness. Similarly, by choosing to watch higher-consciousness shows, it’ll help raise your consciousness. What Level of Consciousness Are You At? What level of consciousness are you at? What is the level your thoughts and consciousness tend to fall under? Remember that every thought, belief, feeling, and action you have comes from your level of consciousness. When you shift your consciousness level, you will also change your world view and mentality. Be sure to bookmark this page as it will be a very important tool in your pursuit for growth. 😀 And pass it along to your friends and family as you grow in consciousness in life. 🙂

SHARE 0 email Linkedin StumbleUpon 0 Pinterest 0 A good fare for nonstop service to and from Salt Lake City. There is also availablility via jetBlue at $203. Note that the fare via Delta is an E class fare — a very restrictive class. Please read the terms and conditions during the booking process. Sample Travel Date: Sample via Delta October 14th – 22nd Fare Availability: Valid for travel from late-September – early-December, 2016 and from early-January, 2017 – late-April, 2017. Must purchase at least 7 days in advance of departure. Please note that while this fare is valid at time of posting, if this post is more than two days old, the fare is most likely gone. How to Search for Availability: Use ITA Software Matrix Airfare Search and use the following search criteria: Departing from: MCO MCO Outbound Advanced Routing Code: dl For travel via jetBlue, enter “b6” into both advanced routing code fields dl Destination: SLC SLC Return Advanced Routing Code: dl For travel via jetBlue, enter “b6” into both advanced routing code fields dl (Click on Advanced Routing Codes link to enable advanced routing code input) Select “See calendar of lowest fares” Length of stay “3-10″. The maximum search range is 7 days, so enter ranges like so: 0-7, 5-12, 7-14, etc. You cannot buy tickets using ITA. To buy, follow our instructions in the “How to Buy” section below Fare Class: E Elite Qualifying Dollars $156.28 Sample Routing: MCO – SLC (Salt Lake City) – MCO Sample Mileage: Miles Flown: 3,854 miles or 5.1 cents per mile 3,854 miles or 5.1 cents per mile Elite Qualifying Miles: 3,854 miles 3,854 miles Redeemable Miles: 781 miles How to Buy: Delta: Book on Delta with dates found on ITA Software Matrix Airfare Search. : Book onwith dates found on ITA Software Matrix Airfare Search. JetBlue: Support us by using our Priceline link to book with dates found on ITA Software Matrix Airfare Search. Make sure you enter “JetBlue Airways” in the Airline textbox in the Advanced Flight Options section. Support us by using ourlink to book with dates found on ITA Software Matrix Airfare Search. Make sure you enter “JetBlue Airways” in the Airline textbox in the Advanced Flight Options section. Accommodations HotelsCombined - One of the leading hotel meta-search engines. Search all the hotel and online travel agencies with one search. Car Rentals Rental Cars - One of the world’s leading car rental agencies. Includes all the major brands like Hertz, Avis, Budget, Dollar, Enterprise etc. For more of the latest deals for Orlando, visit our Orlando fares page. ===== To make sure you receive our latest deals, LIKE our The Fare Deal Alert Facebook Page, follow us on Twitter @FareDealAlert, or subscribe to The Fare Deal Alert RSS Feed The Fare Deal Alert does not sell travel products or services. We provide you with information about third-party travel suppliers’ offers, and link you to their sites. The information posted by The Fare Deal Alert is valid at the time of publication. However, we have no control over the suppliers, and we therefore do not warrant or guarantee that their offers will not change or become unavailable. Nor are we responsible for their products, services or site content. Please see their sites for their most up-to-date offer information and all applicable terms and conditions. Stay Informed on the Latest Deals Sign up to receive The Fare Deal Alert NewsLetter, to stay up to date with the latest and greatest flight deals available. Enter your email address:

Unemployment has become so persistent a phenomenon in contemporary times that there is a common feeling that it is a “natural” state of affairs, that nothing can ever be done about it, and that the only way to have greater employment opportunities coming your way is either to oppose the system of job “reservations” for the deprived segments of the population altogether, or to demand that your own “caste” or “community” be included in the category of those eligible for such “reservations”. But this view that unemployment is a “natural” state of affairs is based either on ignorance or on loss of memory, for barely over a couple of decades ago there were societies, a large swathe of them, headed by the Soviet Union, that were so perennially characterised by labour shortages, which is the very opposite of unemployment, that tomes used to be written analysing the key to their unique and remarkable modus operandi. The most celebrated economist-critic of the Eastern European socialist system, Janos Kornai, while analysing these economies, had actually argued that full employment, or even labour shortage, was a central feature of these economies. This raises the question: why do we have unemployment? Just to say that it is because we have a capitalist economy is not enough; we have to look at the causal links carefully. There can be two possible proximate reasons why unemployment exists in an economy: either there is inadequate capital stock to employ everyone willing to work, or there is inadequate demand in the economy to employ everyone willing to work; in the latter case unemployment must co-exist with unused capital stock. Within the first reason again we have to distinguish between two factors: there may be inadequate constant (including fixed) capital; or there may be inadequate variable capital, ie, wage-goods, to employ everyone at the prevailing “customary” level of subsistence. This first reason, of capital shortage, has never been a decisive one. Even if there may be occasions when such shortages might have appeared, such as for instance at the top of some boom (though even that is doubtful), they certainly do not explain the perennial existence of unemployment. In fact as Michal Kalecki the renowned Polish Marxist economist had said “the typical condition of a developed capitalist economy” is that the “resources of the economy are far from being fully utilised”. And this is now the situation even of economies like ours where, under the neo-liberal regime, unutilised capital stock and excess stocks of foodgrains (the main wage-good) have become a more or less permanent feature. The perennial existence of unemployment together with unused capital stock and unsold foodgrains in the Indian economy in its contemporary setting must therefore be attributed to inadequate aggregate demand in the economy. Aggregate demand in turn is made up of four different components: consumption, investment, government spending and net exports (ie, the excess of exports over imports). For a given income distribution, ie, share of economic surplus accruing to the propertied classes in total output, consumption demand itself depends upon the level of employment and output, ie, upon the level of aggregate demand. Hence if consumption demand is to be increased, then (barring transient measures like greater consumption credit) income distribution must be altered in an egalitarian manner, ie, through an increase in the share of the working people in total output, which capitalists would obviously resist. Likewise, investment generally depends upon the expected growth of the market. Of course these expectations are sometimes euphoric and sometimes not so, but they can scarcely be “made to order”. And the view that a lowering of the interest rate brings about significant increases in investment is not borne out by facts; investment in fact is quite insensitive to the interest rate. Government expenditure was considered the main autonomous tool through which aggregate demand, and with it output and employment, could be increased. John Maynard Keynes who had been worried that high levels of unemployment would push capitalism to its doom, and therefore had advocated “demand management” by the State to keep capitalist economies close to full employment as a means of saving the system, had pinned his hopes on this instrument. But under neo-liberalism, when governments are expected to show “fiscal responsibility”, ie, tailor their expenditure to their revenue and run only a small fiscal deficit that is acceptable to globalised finance, this instrument ceases to matter. If output is low, then government revenue is low (and raising larger revenue through taxes on the rich is eschewed under neo-liberalism), and hence government expenditure too is low, which means that output cannot be increased through this instrument. It is no longer an autonomous instrument through which the State can intervene to raise aggregate demand. Finally, net exports depend upon the state of the world economy: when the world economy is booming, individual economies can export more and hence there will be more employment and output in each of them. But since the world economy itself consists only of the individual economies, it can boom only if some individual economy, notably a large economy like the US, starts booming. It follows therefore that in a neo-liberal setting, the level of aggregate demand and hence employment in each economy depends upon whether euphoric expectations get generated in a large economy like the US, ie, whether the US has a “bubble” or not. The “dotcom bubble” in the US in the nineties, and the “housing bubble” in the US in the early years of the current century, were largely responsible for the growth of the world economy over that period and hence ultimately underlay whatever employment generation occurred within the neo-liberal regime in our own country. Those “bubbles” are now over, and there are no prospects of any other “bubbles” emerging in the immediate foreseeable future. The world economy therefore will continue to be mired in crisis; and unemployment in our own economy, which was increasing (though not in an open form) even during the years of high growth, will increase sharply in the coming years. The conclusion that would follow from the analysis at this level is no doubt illuminating; but it is still insufficient. This conclusion can be stated as follows: if we could detach our economy from the global economy, through imposing controls over capital flows into and out of our economy, as we used to have in the days before neo-liberalism, and thereby make the State’s fiscal policy independent of the whims and caprices of globalised finance capital, then “demand management” as in the old days could be resumed; aggregate demand could be boosted, and hence employment could increase. This is certainly true and important. It also constitutes a proximate solution to the crisis of unemployment. But even if this could happen, unemployment would still not be eliminated. This is because a reduction in unemployment, or more accurately in the magnitude of labour reserves (since unemployment does not exist only in an open form), would strengthen the bargaining position of the workers, who would demand higher money wages. If these wage demands are conceded but prices are raised as a result of such money wage increases, then there would be a cost-push inflationary spiral, with money wages and prices chasing one another; this would destabilise the value of money under capitalism. And if these wage demands are conceded and prices not raised as a result of such wage increases, then the share of profits would fall, which the capitalists would certainly not like. It is important for the stability of the system therefore that the relative magnitude of labour reserves must not fall below a certain level. This amounts to saying that the size of the “reserve army of labour” relative to the active (or the total) army has a floor below which it cannot fall. If unemployment has to be eliminated, ie, if the size of the reserve army is to fall below this floor, then pricing of products cannot be left to capitalist enterprises (for that as we have seen would cause a wage-price spiral). There must then be State intervention in the form of an “incomes and prices policy”. The State in such an economy must then not only carry out “demand management”; it must also engage in “distribution management”. When after years of pursuing Keynesian policies of “demand management”, capitalist economies did start experiencing serious cost-price spirals, many governments did try for a while to introduce “incomes and prices policies”, so that the high employment levels could be maintained while inflation could be controlled. But these efforts proved futile. The reason why they proved futile is because capitalists are opposed to any such extensive State intervention in the economy which is not mediated through them, ie, which does not provide them with “incentives” for improving the state of the economy but attempts to do so directly. This undermines the social legitimacy of capitalism: if the State is so badly needed for increasing employment, people begin to ask, then why doesn’t the State take over the running of the economy itself from the capitalists? It is essential for the social legitimacy of the system that capitalists must be seen as indispensible; and to preserve that myth, State intervention must be mediated through them by improving their “incentives”, boosting their “animal spirits” and “euphoria”; and so on. Coming back to the question, why we have unemployment, it follows therefore that under neo-liberal capitalism, where the level of activity requires “bubbles” to sustain itself, the paucity of aggregate demand as a general feature constitutes the obvious explanation. But even in an economy where the State recaptures its ability to boost aggregate demand by pursuing whatever fiscal policy it wishes to, by way of taxation and fiscal deficit, the maintenance of a high level of employment requires increasing intervention by the State, from “demand management” to an “incomes and prices policy”, and so on, which undermines the social legitimacy of the capitalist system and which therefore is impossible to sustain within the confines of the capitalist system. To say this does not mean that we should not demand higher employment under the existing system or that we cannot even achieve through our struggles higher employment under the existing system. What it means in fact is just the opposite, namely that a persistent struggle for employment within the system is a way of transcending the system itself; and this constitutes an all-powerful reason for our engaging in this struggle. Prabhat Patnaik is a Marxist economist in India. This article was first published in People’s Democracy 40.11 (13 March 2016); it is reproduced here for non-profit educational purposes.

Working memory is the place we hold temporary information that we're using to handle ongoing tasks, like dialing a phone number or following a set of directions. We often forget these after we're done—unless it's going to be your daily commute, you don't need to permanently recall that you make a left at the third traffic light—but working memory plays an essential role in many processes, and a person's working memory capacity seems to correlate with their performance on a variety of tests. So, what happens if you wipe a bit of working memory out? Scientists have now found out what happens in mice, although it probably wasn't what they intended to do. A team at the University of Aberdeen were focusing on a specific type of neuron that's damaged in people with schizophrenia, as well as those who abuse ketamine and PCP. (These neurons express a protein called parvalbumin.) They bred mice in which they could selectively stop these neurons by injecting a virus into specific areas of the brain. The virus would only be active in the cells of interest, and ensure the production of a tetanus toxin, which prevents the nerves from firing signals to their neighbors. They found that they could use the virus to paralyze over 80 percent of the parvalbumin-positive neurons in a specific area of the brain, the CA1 region of the hippocampus, a brain structure associated with memory. The mice were then subjected to a battery of tests where, for the most part, they were surprisingly normal, with no signs of problems with locomotion or anxiety. They also learned to navigate a maze just as well as their unaltered peers, showing that spatial reference memory was intact. But they couldn't navigate their way very smoothly. Instead, they had a strong tendency to revisit arms of the maze that they had been in previously, and the numbers of errors they made correlated with the extent of viral infection. Making random lesions in the same area of the brain didn't have the same effect, indicating that the problem really was specific to these cells. It was also specific to that area of the brain, since injections of virus elsewhere in the hippocampus had more general effects on memory. If you had to simplify these results, it appears that the mice that lacked working spatial memory knew where they were trying to go, but didn't quite manage to figure out how to get there, since they couldn't keep track of where they'd been. There are a number of working memory systems beyond spatial memory, though—humans have dedicated systems for images and words, for example—but it will be tough to use mice to determine whether these neurons are a general feature of working memory. Nature Neuroscience, 2011. DOI: 10.1038/nn.2751 (About DOIs).

Not to be confused with Washington Dulles International Airport Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (IATA: DFW, ICAO: KDFW, FAA LID: DFW) is the primary international airport serving the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex area in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the largest hub for American Airlines, which is headquartered near the airport. It is the fourth busiest airport in the world by aircraft movements and the fourteenth busiest airport in the world by passenger traffic in 2017.[2] It is the ninth busiest international gateway in the United States and second busiest in Texas.[4] With nearly 900 daily flights, American Airlines at DFW is the second largest airline hub in the world and the United States, behind Delta's Atlanta hub. Located roughly halfway between the major cities of Dallas and Fort Worth, DFW spills across portions of Dallas and Tarrant counties, and includes portions of the cities of Irving, Euless, Grapevine and Coppell.[5] At 17,207 acres (6,963 hectares; 27 square miles), DFW is larger than the island of Manhattan, and is the second largest airport by land area in the United States, after Denver International Airport.[6] It has its own post office ZIP code and United States Postal Service city designation ("DFW Airport, TX"), as well as its own police, fire protection and emergency medical services.[7] The members of the airport's board of directors are appointed by the "owner cities" of Dallas and Fort Worth, with a non-voting member chosen from the airport's four neighboring cities on a rotating basis. As of December 2018, DFW Airport has service to 244 destinations, including 62 international and 182 domestic destinations within the U.S.[8] In surpassing 200 destinations, DFW joined a small group of airports worldwide with that distinction.[9] History [ edit ] Planning [ edit ] As early as 1927, before the area had an airport, Dallas proposed a joint airport with Fort Worth. Fort Worth declined the offer and thus each city opened its own airport, Love Field and Meacham Field, each of which had scheduled airline service. In 1940 the Civil Aeronautics Administration earmarked $1.9 million for the construction of a Dallas/Fort Worth Regional Airport. American Airlines and Braniff Airways struck a deal with the city of Arlington to build an airport there, but the governments of Dallas and Fort Worth disagreed over its construction and the project was abandoned in 1942. After World War II, Fort Worth annexed the site and developed it into Amon Carter Field[10] with the help of American Airlines. In 1953 Fort Worth transferred its commercial flights from Meacham Field to the new airport, which was 12 miles (19 km) from Dallas Love Field. In 1960 Fort Worth purchased Amon Carter Field and renamed it Greater Southwest International Airport GSW in an attempt to compete with Dallas' airport, but GSW's traffic continued to decline relative to Dallas Love Field. By the mid-1960s Fort Worth was getting 1% of Texas air traffic while Dallas was getting 49%, which led to the virtual abandonment of GSW. The joint airport proposal was revisited in 1961 after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) refused to invest more money in separate Dallas and Fort Worth airports. Although the Fort Worth airport was eventually abandoned, Dallas Love Field became congested and had no more room to expand. Following an order from the federal government in 1964 that it would unilaterally choose a site if the cities could not come to an agreement, officials from the two cities finally agreed on a location for a new regional airport that was north of the abandoned GSW and almost equidistant from the two city centers. The land was purchased by the cities in 1966 and construction began in 1969. Voters went to the polls in cities throughout the Dallas/Ft Worth area to approve the new North Texas Regional Airport, which was named after the North Texas Commission that was instrumental in the regional airport coming to fruition. The North Texas Commission formed the North Texas Airport Commission to oversee the planning and construction of the giant airport. Area voters approved the airport referendum and the new North Texas Regional Airport would become a reality.[11] Under the original 1967 airport design, DFW was to have pier-shaped terminals perpendicular to a central highway. In 1968, the design was revised to provide for semicircular terminals, which served to isolate loading and unloading areas from the central highway, and to provide additional room for parking in the middle of each semicircle.[12] The plan proposed thirteen such terminals, but only four were built initially.[13][14] Opening and operations [ edit ] DFW held an open house and dedication ceremony on September 20–23, 1973, which included the first landing of a supersonic Concorde in the United States, an Air France aircraft en route from Caracas to Paris.[12] The attendees at the airport's dedication included former Texas Governor John Connally, Transportation Secretary Claude Brinegar, U.S. Senator Lloyd Bentsen and Texas Governor Dolph Briscoe.[15] The airport opened for commercial service as Dallas/Fort Worth Regional Airport on January 13, 1974, at a cost of $700 million. The first flight to land was American Airlines Flight 341 from New York, which had stopped in Memphis and Little Rock.[16] The name change to Dallas/Fort Worth International did not occur until 1985. When it opened, DFW had four terminals, numbered 2W, 2E, 3E and 4E.[13] During its first year of operations, the airport was served by American Airlines, Braniff International Airways, Continental Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Eastern Air Lines, Frontier Airlines, Ozark Air Lines, Rio Airways and Texas International Airlines.[17] The Wright Amendment of 1979 banned long distance flights into Love Field,[18] leaving Southwest Airlines as Love Field's only jet airline and operating solely as an intrastate air carrier in the state of Texas.[19] Braniff International Airways was a major operator at DFW in the airport's early years, operating a hub from Terminal 2W with international flights to South America and Mexico from 1974, London from 1978 and Europe and Asia from 1979, before ceasing all operations in 1982.[20] During the Braniff hub era, DFW was one of only four U.S. airports to have scheduled Concorde service; Braniff commenced scheduled Concorde service from Dallas to Washington from 1979 to 1980, using British Airways and Air France aircraft temporarily re-registered to Braniff while flying within the United States. British Airways later briefly flew Concorde to Dallas in 1988 as a substitute for its ordinarily scheduled DC-10 service.[12] Following airline deregulation, American Airlines (which had already been one of the largest carriers serving the Dallas/Fort Worth area for many years) established its first hub at DFW on June 11, 1981.[21] American finished moving its headquarters from Grand Prairie, Texas, to a building in Fort Worth located on the site of the old Greater Southwest Airport, near DFW Airport on January 17, 1983; the airline began leasing the facility from the airport, which owns the facility.[22] By 1984, the American hub occupied most of Terminal 3E and part of Terminal 2E.[23] American's hub grew to fill all of Terminal 2E by 1991.[24] American also began long-haul international service from DFW, adding flights to London in 1982 and Tokyo in 1987.[25] Delta Air Lines also built up a hub operation at DFW, which occupied most of Terminal 4E through the 1990s.[23][24] The Delta hub peaked around 1991, when Delta had a 35% market share at DFW; its share was halved by 2004, after many of its mainline routes were downgraded to more frequent regional jet service in 2003.[26] Delta closed its DFW hub in 2004 in a restructuring of the airline to avoid bankruptcy, cutting its DFW operation to only 21 flights a day from over 250 and redeploying aircraft to hubs in Cincinnati, Atlanta and Salt Lake City. Prior to the closure, Delta had a 17.3% market share at DFW.[27] After the closing of Delta's hub, DFW offered incentives to Southwest Airlines to relocate its service to DFW from Love Field, but Southwest, as in the past, chose to stay at Love Field. Aerial view of DFW in 2007 In 1989 the airport authority announced plans to rebuild the existing terminals and add two runways. After an environmental impact study was released the following year, the cities of Irving, Euless and Grapevine sued the airport over its extension plans, a battle that was finally decided (in favor of the airport) by the US Supreme Court in 1994. The seventh runway opened in 1996. The four primary north–south runways (those closest to the terminals) were all lengthened from 11,388 feet (3,471 m) to their present length of 13,400 feet (4,084 m). The first, 17R/35L, was extended in 1996 (at the same time the new runway was constructed) and the other three (17C/35C, 18L/36R and 18R/36L) were extended in 2005. DFW is now the only airport in the world with 4 serviceable paved runways longer than 4,000 metres (13,123 ft). Terminal D, built for international flights, and DFW Skylink, a modern bidirectional people mover system, opened in 2005.[28][29] From 2004 to 2012, DFW was one of two US Army "Personnel Assistance Points" which received US troops returning from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan for rest and recuperation. This ended on March 14, 2012, leaving Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport as the sole Personnel Assistance Point.[30] Airports Council International (ACI) named DFW Airport the best large airport with more than 40 million passengers in North America for passenger satisfaction in 2016.[31] In June 2018, DFW Airport opened a fully functioning emergency room on airport grounds, located in Southgate Plaze near the Airport Headquarters and Rental Car Center. With this opening, the facility became the first actual ER on an airport's property anywhere around the globe.[32] Future [ edit ] As DFW continues to see growth and set records, the airport is studying the possibility of a sixth terminal, to be known as Terminal F. It would tentatively be located directly south of Terminal D and across International Parkway from Terminal E, in the Express South parking lot. The Skylink was designed and built to accommodate Terminal F, as the track follows a roughly semicircular path over the parking lot, similar to its path through the other terminals.[33] However, discussions are currently underway between the airport and its largest tenant, American Airlines, on whether to construct Terminal F as previously planned or construct an entirely new terminal layout.[34] Facilities [ edit ] Interior of Terminal D A Skylink train making a stop at Terminal E, next to a Spirit Airlines Airbus A320. Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport has five terminals and 165 gates.[8] The airport is designed with expansion in mind and can theoretically accommodate up to thirteen terminals and 260 gates, although this level of expansion is unlikely to be reached in the foreseeable future. The first four terminals were designed by Hellmuth, Obata and Kassabaum and Brodsky, Hopf & Adler.[35] The terminals at DFW are semicircular (except for the newest terminal, Terminal D, which is a "square U" shape) and built around the airport's central north–south arterial road, International Parkway. Until the late 1990s, they were designated by a number (2 being northernmost, 4 being southernmost) and a letter suffix ("E" for East, "W" for West). This system was later scrapped and the terminals are now lettered from A to E. Terminals A, C, and E (from north to south) are on the east side of the airport, while Terminals B and D (from north to south) are on the west side. DFW's terminals are designed to minimize the distance between a passenger's car and airplane, and to reduce traffic around terminals. A consequence of this layout is that connecting passengers had to walk extremely long distances between gates (in order to walk from one end of the semicircular concourse to the other, one must walk the entire length; there were no shortcuts or moving walkways between the ends). The original people mover train (Airtrans APM, later the American Airlines TrAAin) was notoriously slow (17 mph (27 km/h)), uni-directional (running only in a counter-clockwise direction) and was located outside the secured area (thus requiring travelers to go through security again). It was replaced by Skylink in April 2005 after serving approximately 250 million passengers.[36] Skylink serves all five terminals at a considerably higher speed (up to 35 mph (56 km/h)), is bi-directional, and is located inside the secured area.[29] Terminal Link connects all terminals with a shuttle bus system on the non-secure side.[37] DFW Airport tentatively completed a $2.7 billion[38] "Terminal Renewal and Improvement Program" (TRIP), which encompassed renovations of three of the original four terminals (A, B, and E). Work on the project began following the conclusion of Super Bowl XLV in February 2011. Terminal A was the first terminal to undergo these renovations which were completed in January 2017 at a cost of about $1 billion.[39] This was followed by the completion of Terminal E in August 2017 and Terminal B in December 2017. While Terminal C was originally part of the multibillion-dollar renovations, American Airlines in 2014 asked to delay renovations of the terminal. Currently the fate of Terminal C is uncertain with the possible construction of the future Terminal F and American Airlines' need for gate space.[40] Terminal A [ edit ] Terminal A has 26 gates.[8] Originally named "Terminal 2E", it is fully occupied by American Airlines for domestic flights and some international departures.[41] Prior to the opening of Terminal D, Terminal A operated most of American Airlines' international flights at the airport. A satellite terminal near Terminal A was used due to gate restraints. Passengers were taken to the satellite via shuttle buses from gate A6. The satellite terminal was abandoned in 2005 when all American Eagle flights were consolidated into Terminals B and D. It now serves as a Corporate Aviation terminal for private and corporate aircraft, reopening in December 2010.[42] As of January 2017, renovations in Terminal A are now completed.[43] Terminal B [ edit ] Terminal B has 47 gates.[8] This terminal was called "Terminal 2W" when the airport was opened. It was occupied by Braniff International Airways, which was the largest carrier to open DFW in 1974. Braniff was its main occupant until May 1982. The Inter-Faith Chapel near United's former gates commemorates the airline. By the early 1990s, Terminal 2W housed most carriers other than American and Delta.[44] Prior to the opening of Terminal D, all foreign flag carriers operated from this terminal. AirTran Airways, Frontier Airlines, Midwest Airlines, and US Airways (including the former America West Airlines) relocated to Terminal E in 2006. On December 13, 2009, United moved to Terminal E to join its new alliance (and later merger) partner Continental, at which point American Eagle became the sole operator in Terminal B. The terminal contains an American Airlines Admirals Club. Along with the TRIP improvements, a new 10-gate stinger concourse off of Terminal B was constructed between gates B28 and B33 to accommodate growth.[45] The stinger concourse makes Terminal B the largest terminal at DFW in terms of number of gates. Terminal C [ edit ] Terminal C has 28 gates.[8] American Airlines operates all the gates at Terminal C, originally called "Terminal 3E", for only domestic flights. The terminal contains an American Airlines Admirals Club. The Hyatt Regency DFW Airport hotel is directly adjacent to this terminal.[46] A twin hotel building stood across International Parkway but was demolished for the construction of Terminal D.[47] Terminal C has not started their TRIP Improvements. DFW Airport CEO Sean Donohue has been in talks with American about the future of Terminal C. They will either destroy it once the future Terminal F is finished, or renovate and keep it for other carriers to use so American and other airlines do not have to give up gate space.[48] Terminal D [ edit ] Terminal D has 28 gates.[8] It is DFW's international terminal, capable of handling 32,000 passengers daily or 11.7 million passengers annually. The terminal features 200 ticketing positions and a federal inspection facility capable of processing 2,800 passengers per hour. The terminal officially opened on July 23, 2005.[49] The eight-level parking garage has over 8,100 parking spaces and uses a Smart Technology System that lets guests know which floors are full. Air-conditioned skybridges with moving walkways and elevators connect the garage to the terminal, and an arrivals canopy roof shields pedestrians from inclement weather as they enter and exit the terminal. The 298-room Grand Hyatt DFW Hotel is directly connected to the terminal. In addition, Terminal D hosts a Minute Suites hotel located inside security.[50] The terminal contains an American Airlines Admirals Club, a British Airways Lounge, a Korean Air Lounge, a Lufthansa Lounge, and a Qantas Business Lounge and an American Express Centurion Lounge. On May 7, 2014, Qantas announced an upgauge to A380 service beginning in September 2014, and the Airport announced that gates 15 and 16 were being renovated to accommodate the A380 in anticipation of the new service.[51][52] Terminal D had been designed with the A380 in mind;[52] however, loading the double-deck aircraft requires three gates with a separate jet bridge to serve first class and business class passengers on the upper level, so the renovations included the addition of gate 16X.[53] On September 29, 2014, a Qantas A380–sporting a commemorative cowboy hat and bandana on the Kangaroo tail logo–inaugurated service at the remodeled gates.[53][54] Qantas Flights 7 and 8 continue to use A380s and remain the longest non-stop flights to and from DFW Airport. Terminal E [ edit ] Terminal E has 36 gates.[8] Originally called Terminal 4E, it was occupied primarily by Delta Air Lines until Delta closed its hub in 2005 and retained only flights to its other hubs. Delta branded the terminal "Easy Street" and marketed this term to passengers.[55] Today, the terminal is used by all U.S.-based carriers at the airport other than Sun Country, and by Air Canada Express USCBP precleared flights from Canada. Terminal E was formerly the only terminal at DFW in which American Airlines had no presence, but this changed after their merger with US Airways, when they combined gates. The terminal previously had customs facilities that were used when Delta operated flights to Frankfurt in the early 1990s, and when Air France and Aeroméxico used to serve DFW before the International Terminal D was constructed. In the 2000s, SkyTeam partner airlines Continental and Northwest moved to gates adjacent to Delta. Terminal E is connected to the other terminals by Skylink, but lacks a walkway to the other terminals. The terminal includes a Delta Sky Club as well as a United Club. Terminal E is distinctive in that it has a satellite terminal connected by an underground walkway. The satellite, opened in 1988 to accommodate Delta and was later used by Delta Connection. It was briefly used in 2009 to house federal workers who evacuated New Orleans International Airport during Hurricane Gustav. It was refurbished and reopened in 2013 to house US Airways and Spirit Airlines while Terminal E was renovated.[56][57] In April 2018, DFW Airport and American Airlines announced a $20 million renovation to the satellite terminal, converting 9 existing mainline gates to 15 regional gates, along with updating interior fixtures such as carpet, elevators, escalators and moving walkways. American plans to have renovations completed and be fully moved into the terminal in Spring 2019.[58] Ground transportation [ edit ] The International Parkway Toll Road intersects the airport A consolidated rental car facility is located at the south end of the airport and connected to all terminals by a dedicated network of shuttle buses.[59] Hosting ten rental car companies, the center was completed in March 2000.[60] The DFW Airport area is served by International Parkway (partially State Highway 97 Spur), which runs through the center of the airport, connecting to Airport Freeway (State Highway 183) on the southern side of the airport and John W. Carpenter Freeway (State Highway 114) on the northern side. International Parkway continues north of State Highway 114, carrying the State Highway 121 designation for a short while until its interchange with the Lyndon B. Johnson Freeway (I-635), where State Highway 121 continues north as the Sam Rayburn Tollway. Dallas Area Rapid Transit offers bus service to Downtown Irving/Heritage Crossing Station and Southwestern Medical District/Parkland Station on route 408 from the Remote South Parking facility. DART operates light rail from DFW Airport station located at Terminal A.[61] This provides direct rail service on the Orange Line to Dallas and Las Colinas (with a later extension to DFW Airport North station). TEXRail is a commuter rail service between Terminal B and T&P Station via Fort Worth Intermodal Transportation Center. DFW Airport is additionally served by the Trinity Railway Express commuter rail line at CentrePort/DFW Airport Station via shuttle bus to the Remote South parking lot. The line serves both downtown Dallas and downtown Fort Worth. Other facilities [ edit ] The facility at 1639 West 23rd Street is located on the airport property and in the City of Grapevine.[62][63][64] Tenants include China Airlines,[65] Lufthansa Cargo,[66] and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.[67] The DFW Airport Department of Public Safety provides the airport with its own police, fire protection, and emergency medical services.[68] The DFW International Airport headquarters is located nearby at 2400 Aviation Drive, DFW Airport, TX 75261.[69] In 1995, the airport opened Founders' Plaza, an observation park dedicated to the founders of DFW Airport. The site offered a panoramic view of the south end of the airport and hosted several significant events, including an employee memorial the day after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the airport's 30th anniversary celebration in 2004.[70] As part of the perimeter taxiway project, Founders' Plaza was closed in 2007 and moved to a new location surrounding a 50-foot (15 m)-tall beacon on the north side of the airport in 2008. The 6-acre (2.4 ha) plaza features a granite monument and sculpture, post-mounted binoculars, piped-in voices of air traffic controllers and shade pavilions. In 2010, a memorial honoring Delta Air Lines Flight 191 was dedicated at the plaza.[71] Airlines and destinations [ edit ] Passenger [ edit ] Cargo [ edit ] Statistics [ edit ] Top destinations [ edit ] Airline market share [ edit ] Annual traffic [ edit ] Annual passenger traffic (enplaned + deplaned) at DFW[3][114] Year Passengers Year Passengers Year Passengers Year Passengers Year Passengers 1974 7,091,159 1984 32,231,758 1994 52,642,225 2004 59,446,078 2014 63,522,823 1975 7,293,265 1985 37,486,864 1995 56,490,845 2005 59,176,265 2015 65,512,163 1976 7,986,004 1986 43,406,078 1996 58,034,503 2006 60,226,829 2016 65,670,697 1977 8,594,004 1987 41,976,452 1997 60,488,713 2007 59,786,476 2017 67,092,194 1978 13,015,249 1988 44,230,889 1998 60,313,000 2008 57,093,187 2018 69,112,607 1979 14,221,299 1989 47,579,823 1999 60,112,998 2009 56,030,457 1980 11,378,154 1990 48,515,464 2000 60,687,181 2010 56,905,600 1981 24,390,674 1991 48,174,344 2001 55,141,763 2011 57,806,918 1982 24,699,184 1992 51,987,267 2002 52,829,750 2012 58,590,633 1983 26,501,498 1993 49,654,730 2003 53,252,205 2013 60,436,739 Since the opening of DFW in January 1974 through the end of 2018, nearly 2.077 billion passengers have flown in and out of the airport. This represents an average of over 46.15 million passengers annually. Accidents and incidents [ edit ]

Here’s a quick way to create a “nebula” effect without any code at all: Create a default particle system from the menu in Unity’s UI Delete just the “Particle Animator” component Check the “One Shot” option in the emitter settings Now you have a static set of particles. The min & max emission controls how many particles there are (you should probably set them both to the same value, unless you want a random value somewhere between the two). The default particle textures are already fairly suitable as they are have a fuzzy glow look. Try these values for a very quick nebula-like effect: Min size: 0.1 Max size: 0.7 Min & Max emission : 200 You might want to set one of the ellipsoid size dimensions smaller than the others, to give it a sort of oval shape instead of spherical. And of course you could use some custom particle textures, colour variations, and adjust the size to fit your game. When I tried this, I found that having two particle systems in the same location worked really well, where the first particle system serves to show the larger blobby white areas, and the second particle system has the size values turned right down so that the particles are tiny specks, and the emission values turned right up (to 2000 or so). The settings for the first particle system are: Min Size: 0.3 Max Size: 3.5 And for the second particle system: Min Size: 0.01 Max Size: 0.03 And apply these settings to both systems: Emit: On One Shot: On Simulate in world space: off Min Emission: 2000 Max Emission: 2000 Ellipsoid: X:8, Y:4, Z:8 Then add the second system as a child of the first system (by dragging the 2nd onto the 1st in the hierarchy). Because they are not set to simulate in world space, you can then just rotate the parent particle system and the whole nebula will rotate including the tiny dots in the child particle system. (until I sort out proper hosting for my unity files on this blog, you’ll have to make do with pretty pictures and video!)

Federal agents have uncovered a felon’s underground bunker above Lake Sammamish. The FBI and ATF are now looking for at least two more constructed by Bradley Robinett, who was a fugitive for five years. Federal agents hiked into the foothills of Sammamish Tuesday morning and uncovered the first of at least three survival bunkers built by a bank robber who eluded capture for more than five years. The cramped, 8- by 10-foot underground bunker was dug by Bradley Robinett, 45, an ex-Marine, survivalist and prolific car thief. It was uncovered by agents from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives following an investigation stemming from Robinett’s arrest last year.. FBI spokeswoman Ayn Dietrich-Williams said Robinett has identified at least two other bunkers he constructed during his years as a fugitive. The bunker in Sammamish contained “between 15 and 20” large, sealed bins agents were methodically searching. Dietrich-Williams declined to say what they’d found until the inventory was complete. Robinett was first convicted of bank robbery in 2004 and was sentenced to seven years in federal prison. He was released in August 2009 from a prison in Arizona to serve the remainder of his sentence at a halfway house in Seattle. He never showed up, and a warrant was issued for his arrest. Later that year, police officers spotted him and pursued him at high speeds on Bainbridge Island. He got away; officers later found a Glock handgun and a ballistic vest — both stolen earlier from Seattle police — in the stolen car he was driving. Then, in November 2009, two Washington State Patrol detectives encountered Robinett in a stolen car at a park and ride in Bellevue. The State Patrol say Robinett attempted to ram their car and then fled. Last June, police in Hillsboro, Ore., were cruising a Fred Meyer parking lot using an automated license-plate reader and located a stolen car. Robinett was arrested when he got in it. In January, Robinett pleaded guilty to federal charges of escape, being a felon in possession of a firearm and interstate transportation of a stolen vehicle. His attorneys and prosecutors have agreed to a sentence of between 12 and 14 years. Sentencing is sent for May 4 before U.S. District Judge James Robart. The bunker Robinett built had shelves containing bottles, and an old, overturned cot. There were plastic bags on the floor. Rotting timbers and mold indicated it may have been some time since anyone had been there. In addition to his earlier bank-robbery conviction, Robinett has prior state felony convictions for possession of stolen property, unlawful possession of a machine gun, car theft and burglary. Dietrich-Williams said the bunker’s disclosure hopefully will raise awareness of the existence of such bunkers or hidden caches. The FBI believes there are others in Washington state belonging to other criminals. She pointed out the FBI still believes that Alaska serial killer Israel Keyes is believed to have buried at least three victims in Washington, along with possible caches of supplies and “murder kits” used in carrying out his crimes.

By Express News Service KOCHI: A study conducted among the state’s denizens belonging to the 45-69 age group has found over two-thirds of the state’s population (67.7 per cent) are either diabetic or pre-diabetic. Conducted by the Achutha Menon Centre for Health Science Studies, the study was conducted among a representative sample of over 12,000 urban and rural adults in 14 districts. The survey, which was carried out to generate state-level estimates regarding prevalence of risk factors or risk conditions of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), followed the World Health Organisation(WHO) recommended methodology for NCD risk factor surveillance. It also emerged a mere 13 per cent and 16 per cent of the persons diagnosed with hypertension and diabetes achieved adequate blood pressure and blood sugar control status, respectively. “It is an alarming trend as most of our health indices are compared to those of the developed West. The rising incidence is basically due to Malayalees’ mindset. We think there is a pill for every ailment,” said K R Thankappan, emeritus professor, Achutha Menon Centre for Health Science Studies and the survey’s chief investigator. The major NCDs are cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancer and clinical lung disorder, in that order. “ The incidence of heart attacks among Malayalees is rising. If it was 1.3 per cent in 1993 it has jumped to 3.8 per cent in 2016. It is the ‘let’s see’ attitude whether it is a heart attack or accidents which is proving the bane,” said Thankappan. The survey found 69 per cent of the population consumes salt in excess of the recommended 5 gm daily. “It is for the first time these statistics have come out. Mainly bakery products, especially banana, potato and tapioca chips, and pickles are to blame for the high salt intake,“ he said. More than three-fourth of the population (77.8 per cent) reported consumption of less than the recommended three servings of vegetables per day, while almost nine out of 10 participants (86 per cent) reported consumption of less than two servings of fruits per day. It also found one out of every four adults surveyed reported current use of tobacco in some form and over 30 per cent reported current alcohol use among males.

On Tuesday, at a rally in Orange County, Sen. Bernie Sanders finally learned how to pronounce Cenk Uygur’s name. In Irvine, it had been “Chenk.” Once, it was “Senk.” This time, at Anaheim’s air-conditioned convention center, Cenk Uygur introduced Sanders, the senator thanked “Jenk YOO-ger,” and the crowd cheered. “A lot of you know the Young Turks?” asked Sanders, referring to the online news empire Uygur launched in 2002. The cheers gave him his answer. “We live in a world where the corporate media, people who own our country, give us their definition of reality. What Cenk and a few other people are trying to do is give us a different perspective on reality; the reality facing the middle class, working people.” Uygur was beaming, but he had to race up the freeway to his Culver City studio. The Young Turks, which has grown in surges since before the dawn of YouTube, has become something akin to the state network of the “political revolution.” Its hosts run from the merely Sanders-philiac, like Uygur, to the Sanders-obsessed, like comedian Jimmy Dore. Sanders was scheduled to give the Young Turks his second interview Friday in just two months. “In the old days, TV had a lot of power, but that’s shifting now,” Uygur said in an interview at TYT’s Culver City headquarters, a former bar that’s home to two fully outfitted studios, a shelf of awards and an iguana mascot — Mayaguana — who just showed up one day. “So we’d better figure out how to use that power for the issues we care about, because cable TV is worse than propaganda. It’s marketing for the rich and powerful.” Sanders’s campaign for president has sent progressives in search of friendlier media, especially since he fell prohibitively behind Hillary Clinton in the delegate hunt. Formerly reliable sources of news and analysis, like MSNBC, began to look like Clinton PR; comic anchors from Trevor Noah to Samantha Bee to John Oliver have mocked the Sanders voters who can’t see that he’s losing. Cenk Uygur, center, of the Young Turks, departs after speaking at a Bernie Sanders rally at Santa Monica High School this month. (Matt McClain/The Washington Post) “PolitiFact looked into the charges of rigging in Nevada and found no clear evidence the state party hijacked the process,” said Oliver last week, “and you can disagree with that, as I’m sure Bernie supporters in the comment section will.” That’s not a message Sanders diehards want to hear. The search for analysis of how the candidate can still win has built a massive Reddit group, turned freelance columnist H.A. Goodman into a viral hitmaker (typical column: “Bernie Sanders Will Become Democratic Nominee Even If Clinton Leads in Delegates”), and boosted the Young Turks. “MSNBC and CNN are horrible,” said Afton Tarin, 30, a photographer who attended the Anaheim rally. “Cenk is really big on making sure he explains what the media is saying, and explains the reality it’s not covering. I’m seeing these events from the same perspective. Nevada’s a good example. MSNBC said we were throwing chairs. I watched every video — nobody threw a chair. And Cenk was honest about that.” “The Young Turks,” hosted by Uygur, is the flagship program of the YouTube channel of the same name. Like the rest of the channel’s coverage (sports, comedy, movies), the program looks like any other TV show — two hosts riff on a subject as images and punny titles flash behind them. Uygur’s co-hosts often end up as straight men as the founder, clad in a blazer over an open-collar shirt or branded TYT T-shirt, marvels at the stupidity of the media and the establishment. Since the start of 2015, and accelerating with the campaign, TYT has more than doubled its YouTube shares (to more than 4 million), tripled its Facebook likes (to more than 1 million), and grown its subscriber base by 75 percent, including many paid subscribers. [Clinton praises Sanders, calls for party unity] Nearly 3 million people subscribe to TYT’s YouTube channel; for comparison, 1.4 million subscribe to CNN, and 100,000 subscribe to the millennial-focused and consciously hip Fusion. At Sanders’s California rallies, TYT personalities risk being mobbed by fans. On Sunday, as he tried to cover a Sanders speech in Irvine, Jimmy Dore was spotted by dozens of fans who turned and shouted his catchphrase — “Don’t freak out!” So many of them rushed him for photos that the event’s security had to shoo them away. “It’s hard to get any work done,” said Dore, not exactly crestfallen. Uygur himself sidestepped the crowd by speaking from the stage. “Do you trust the establishment media?” he asked a booing crowd in Anaheim. “Do you think they’ve treated Bernie Sanders fairly?” When the boos subsided, he offered a theory of why Sanders couldn’t get fair coverage: “corporate media” and its advertisers. “This cycle alone, they are going to put $4 billion into political ads,” he said. “You think TV wants to change that? They look at Bernie Sanders and say, ‘Whoa, that guy’s gonna rock the boat.’ We look at Bernie Sanders and say: ‘Damn right he is!’ ” For a while, as documented in a warts-and-all film called “Mad As Hell,” Uygur tried to infiltrate that system. He began his punditry career as a Rush Limbaugh Republican. After the impeachment of Bill Clinton, he switched sides and built a cult reputation as a liberal talker who was as loud and fearless as right-wingers — with a home-brewed talk show network. By the end of the George W. Bush administration, he was guest-hosting on MSNBC, shuttling between Los Angeles and New York for a dream job. “I made $70,000 in the 1990s, when I was a corporate lawyer,” said Uygur. “I didn’t see that salary again until I was on MSNBC.” In 2011, Uygur was finally offered a show of his own — a weekend slot for $1 million. He had wanted a weekday slot. TYT fans had even campaigned for it, as if Uygur were a candidate for office. When Uygur turned it down, he told viewers that he’d made a moral stand against the network sidelining him because he criticized the Obama administration from the left. “If I take the money, and I get a reduced role, and I just do whatever I do with it — maybe I rise up in the ranks again — what’s the point?” he asked. TYT moved to Al Gore’s Current TV, then (after Current’s acquisition by Al Jazeera) back to total independence. By taking Sanders’s campaign seriously, it has given his voters the shocking, comforting image of confident pundits, talking on a screen, about how Sanders can actually win. The next question is how it can cover the news when he doesn’t win. The night of New York’s primary, which Clinton won easily, Uygur’s role in TYT live coverage was to look ahead — in the world of a likely Clinton victory. “I got a lot of flack for that,” he said. Uygur is aware, more than most Sanders supporters, of how wrenching a defeat could be. Some progressives, who will have seen a political insurgency almost overthrow the leadership of the Democratic Party, will wonder why they should stick around. “Jimmy’s almost ‘Bernie or Bust’ already,” he said. Uygur was not. “I’ve defended the Clintons longer than I’ve been a liberal, but I don’t have any nostalgia for that,” he said. “I know what I’ll be getting — the same thing I’m getting my whole life. Screwed, but in a reliable way. But that saying, stick with the devil you know? This is the one time it’s true. The devil I know is the establishment, and I’m gonna beat that devil. It’s a matter of time. Trump is a maniac.” In a month, people who discovered the show during the primary might be looking to the Young Turks for debate or analysis of whether they could possibly vote for Clinton. Until then, as Sanders camps out in California and works toward a historic win, Uygur will be besieged by true believers. One of them pounced as he left the Sanders rally in Anaheim. “Can you come speak at our convention?” asked Patrick Kelly, 69, a Teamster. “You’ve got to run for office, man!” Uygur laughed, like he’d heard it before. “No way,” he said. He kept heading toward the door, to make the hour drive back to Culver City, and host the Young Turks.

For a hundred and fifty miles, we had been traversing country that was free of glacial drift. Nowhere to be seen were the tills1 and erratics, the drumlins and kames left behind by Wisconsinan ice. Like a lifted hem, the line of maximum advance had been up in New York State somewhere, but now, in westernmost Pennsylvania, the glacial front had billowed south, and where Interstate So meets the eightieth meridian we co-working space amsterdam again crossed the terminal moraine. Sign of the ice was everywhere-the alien boulders in the woods, the directional scratches on the country rock, the unsorted gravels, cobbles, and sands. The signature of glaciation is as bold as John Hancock’s and as consistently recognizable wherever ice has moved across the solid earth. In the presence of the evidence, one has no difficulty imagining the arctic ambience, the high blue-white ice lobes thickening to the north, the white surface wide as the continent and swept by uninterrupted gales, the view in sunlight blinding, relieved only co-working space leeuwarden by isolated mountain summits, ice moving around them in the way that water slides past boulders in a stream. Welcome to Ohio. A sign in the median said “s TAY AwA KE! STAY ALIVE!” Ohio is not rich in roadcuts. It is a little less poor, however, than Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, and Nebraska, and before long we were running through burrowed marine shales and walls of lithified river sand. It was rippled Carboniferous sandstone. We were still in rock of that age, but gradually and imperceptibly we had been losing altitude since we climbed the Allegheny front. The eastern rim of the plateau had been more than two thousand feet above sea level, and by now we were down to half that, as we moved farther away from the ancestral mountains and their wedge of sediment thinned. We had come into the continent’s province of supreme tectonic calm, the Stable Interior Craton, where a thin veneer of sediment lies flat upon the stolid fundament, where the geology-even by geological standards-is exceptionally slow. “This is the most conservative part of the U.S.,” Anita said. ”I’ve often thought about it. The wildest, craziest people are in the most tectonically active places.”

Trent Dumont: Charges against AFL player accused of robbing taxi driver dropped Updated Aggravated robbery charges against AFL player Trent Dumont and a co-accused have been dropped in the South Australian District Court. The 21-year-old North Melbourne player had been on trial, along with co-accused Joshua David Lomas, after pleading not guilty to one count each of aggravated robbery. Taxi driver Malusi Hamilton Ketse alleged Dumont and Lomas pinned him to the ground and stole $70 from him after he drove them to Banksia Park in Adelaide's north-east in the early hours of October 12, 2014. But today, mid-trial, Prosecutor Edward Stratton Smith told the court that they were no longer proceeding with the case. The decision comes after evidence from the taxi driver, which the court heard contradicted CCTV footage taken from inside the taxi. The CCTV footage, played to the jury on Tuesday, did not contain sound. Dumont's lawyer, Tony Burns, told the court Mr Ketse appeared to be speaking with the men and smiling during the taxi ride and Dumont appeared to be singing. In his evidence, Mr Ketse described the men's behaviour in the taxi as "unruly". "They were touching me, taking the seatbelt out ... that's not allowed," he said. At one point during his cross-examination, Mr Ketse refused to answer further questions from the defence and proceedings were adjourned for 20 minutes. Defence says decision to prosecute was 'scandalous' Judge Paul Muscat explained to the jury that the prosecution had entered a "nolle prosequi", which meant the case was no longer going to proceed. Dumont and Lomas smiled and hugged as they were discharged from the dock. Defence counsel said it was "scandalous" that the matter had got this far and that they had numerous conversations with the Director of Public Prosecutions about the inconsistencies in the taxi driver's evidence. "The prosecution knew two years ago ... there was always a gap in the evidence," Dumont's lawyer Tony Burns said. "It's scandalous really that it got this far, it's cost the state and the parties a lot of money." Judge Paul Muscat said he was not surprised the prosecution had reached that decision but also criticised how long it had taken. "It's the right decision to make, don't get me wrong, but as Mr Burns rightly points out it's come about two years too late," he said. Judge Muscat said he was not criticising the prosecutor who was tasked with handling the case. "It's those who are charged with the responsibility of ensuring there is a reasonable possibility of conviction," he said. "It shouldn't get to the stage where prosecution forms that view after its principal witness had completed giving evidence." North Melbourne Football Club general manager Cameron Joyce said the club was happy with the outcome. "This obviously gives Trent the chance to put everything behind him and focus on his football and the great opportunity he will have at the North Melbourne Football Club this year," he said. Topics: sport, law-crime-and-justice, courts-and-trials, australian-football-league, adelaide-5000, sa First posted

In Win For The FCC, Federal Judge Refuses To Block Net Neutrality Rules A federal court on Thursday refused to block the Federal Communications Commission's new rules that regulate the Internet in a similar fashion to the way it regulates telephone service. ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST: As of today, the Federal Communications Commission is officially enforcing new rules to regulate broadband Internet access. This is a milestone in the long-running fight over the future of the Internet. Big phone and cable companies had asked a federal appeals court to stay the rules. Yesterday, the court declined. As NPR's Joel Rose reports, it is hardly the last challenge the new rules will face. JOEL ROSE, BYLINE: When you turned on your smartphone or computer or tablet today, you probably noticed that - actually, you probably didn't notice anything different at all. MATT WOOD: We feel like we've won a big victory, but the victory is that nothing much is changing. ROSE: Matt Wood is the policy director at Free Press, a Washington, D.C. nonprofit that spent the past decade pushing for strong open-Internet rules. WOOD: This was always about preserving the rights we've always had and keeping users in control of their Internet experience. And the cable company or the phone company can't try to make those choices for you. ROSE: The new rules require phone and cable companies to treat all of the traffic on their networks equally. Supporters say that's needed to stop your broadband provider from blocking or slowing the websites of its competitors or from charging companies like Amazon and Netflix more to get their data to you faster. But big phone and cable companies say the rules aren't necessary, and they're suing to overturn them. John Banks is a senior vice president at U.S. Telecom, an industry trade group that represents AT&T and Verizon, among others. JOHN BANKS: We've all subscribed to open Internet principles that say no blocking, no throttling, our companies don't do that. ROSE: But in 2007, the cable company Comcast was caught throttling. The Federal Communications Commission has tried before to craft similar rules, but they were struck down in court, so the FCC tried a different approach - regulating Internet access like an essential public utility, under laws that were originally written for the telephone. John Banks at U.S. Telecom says that's a mistake. BANKS: The idea that the Internet is like telephone service is a deeply scary one for consumers and businesses everywhere that I think, really, will slow down innovation and make the Internet, you know, a less cool place for people. ROSE: But Matt Wood at Free Press says tough, utility-style rules are the only way to keep giant phone and cable companies from abusing their power. WOOD: What they really don't like is having firm authority and an agency with teeth and with the ability to enforce these rules and protect Internet-users against cable and phone company transgressions. ROSE: Right now, the FCC is facing nearly a dozen lawsuits seeking to block the new rules. One of them comes from Voice Communication Exchange, a Washington, D.C. nonprofit founded by Daniel Berninger. DANIEL BERNINGER: For 20 years, we've been able to solve all these issues as they've arisen without the FCC coming in. ROSE: The Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit says it will expedite the case, with oral arguments as soon as December. That's not the only challenge to the FCC's rules. This week, Republicans in Congress inserted language into a House appropriations bill that would block funding for the FCC to enforce its rules until all legal challenges are resolved, a process that could take years. Joel Rose, NPR News, New York. Copyright © 2015 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

Researchers find some clinical commissioning groups are much better at tackling health inequalities than others The social divide in hospital admissions – which means far more poor people end up in hospital for preventable conditions than richer people – varies dramatically across England, researchers have found. Data compiled by the University of York for NHS England revealed that the performance of a clinical commissioning group (CCG) in tackling the social divide in these preventable hospital admissions is not always linked to how rich or poor the CCG’s patient population is. Liverpool clinical commissioning group, which appears on the worst performers list, and Tower Hamlets and Portsmouth CCGs, which appear on the best performers list, each serve some of the most deprived neighbourhoods in the country. At the wealthy end of the scale, South Cheshire performs badly on inequalities, while East Surrey CCG performs well, appearing in the top 10. Prof Richard Cookson, of the Centre for Health Economics (CHE) at York, led the team that helped devise the indicators for NHS England. “For the first time, you can now find out how fair your local NHS is, compared with similar local areas, in terms of tackling health inequalities between rich and poor,” he said. “It’s not simply that Brexit-voting deprived areas do badly, and posh southern suburbs do well. Some deprived areas do well at tackling local health inequalities – such as Tower Hamlets, Stoke-on-Trent, Portsmouth – and some affluent areas do badly - such as South Cheshire and Windsor.” The information is available on a CCG website. The indicators show how well a CCG is doing in reducing the inequalities that exist between the rich and poor in an area. Although poorer people are likely to have worse health than richer ones, local NHS efforts can reduce this. “These emergency admissions are not just a barometer of wider social ills, but also an indicator of how well the NHS is succeeding in delivering out-of-hospital services to deprived patients with complex long-term conditions,” Cookson said. “This is important for NHS managers to know, because social inequalities in potentially avoidable emergency hospitalisation impose large and rising costs on the NHS, as well as raising important concerns about social justice.” The work was funded by the National Institute of Health Research. Between April 2015 and April 2016, the York team found there were 264,000 preventable hospital admissions in England associated with socioeconomic inequality. The best performing CCG was City and Hackney in London, followed by Fareham and Gosport, East Surrey, Crawley and the Isle of Wight. Tower Hamlets in London was seventh. The worst performer was Central Manchester. North Manchester and South Manchester CCGs were also in the bottom five, as were Blackburn,Darwen and Islington. Miqdad Asaria, the CHE’s lead analyst, said: “There is a social gradient in preventable emergencies meaning everyone, not just the poorest, is affected. The further down the gradient a person is, the greater the chances of suffering a preventable emergency hospitalisation. “The NHS can now start producing our equity indicators on an up-to-date, annual basis to help improve the coordination of care and reduce preventable hospitalisation and mortality arising from social inequality.” Ruth Passman, the deputy director for equality and heath inequalities for NHS England, said being able to compare the performance of the NHS around the country on the issue was of major importance. “For the first time, NHS managers can now find out how well their local CCG area is doing in tackling these inequalities, compared with similar CCG areas, and see how these inequalities are responding to local healthcare initiatives,” she said. “This will help NHS managers learn about the best ways of reducing costly health emergencies associated with social deprivation.” Islington CCG, which was the fifth most deprived borough in London, said: “There are areas of great and increasing affluence next door to neighbourhoods experiencing some of the most significant deprivation in the capital.” It said it was working to improve the diagnosis and management of long-term conditions, keeping people in or close to their homes, and had set up programmes to identify people with complex needs who were at risk of ending up in A&E. It had made “significant and sustained progress on reducing inequalities in cardiovascular disease in recent years”, it said in a statement. A statement from Manchester’s CCGs said: “Manchester has a lot of high-intensity pockets of deprivation. Other ‘norm’ areas, for example Trafford, will have extremes, ie, areas of affluence against areas of deprivation, which is normally shown in findings like this. “The NHS results are not performance indicators – and the rankings are based on values. Manchester CCGs see that the tool is useful in highlighting inequality and will see it as an indicator of variables of the current picture – and will continue with their work, especially via the neighbourhood teams, to reduce health inequalities across Manchester.” • This article was amended on 20 August 2016 to correct some inaccuracies in the headline and text.

The dramatic melting of Arctic ice is already driving extreme weather that affects hundreds of millions of people across North America, Europe and Asia, leading climate scientists have told the Guardian. Severe “snowmageddon” winters are now strongly linked to soaring polar temperatures, say researchers, with deadly summer heatwaves and torrential floods also probably linked. The scientists now fear the Arctic meltdown has kickstarted abrupt changes in the planet’s swirling atmosphere, bringing extreme weather in heavily populated areas to the boil. The northern ice cap has been shrinking since the 1970s, with global warming driving the loss of about three-quarters of its volume so far. But the recent heat in the Arctic has shocked scientists, with temperatures 33C above average in parts of the Russian Arctic and 20C higher in some other places. In November, ice levels hit a record low, and we are now in “uncharted territory”, said Prof Jennifer Francis, an Arctic climate expert at Rutgers University in the US, who first became interested in the region when she sailed through it on a round-the-world trip in the 1980s. “These rapid changes in the Arctic are affecting weather patterns where you live right now,” she said. “In the past you have had natural variations like El Niño, but they have never happened before in combination with this very warm Arctic, so it is a whole new ball game. “It is inconceivable that this ridiculously warm Arctic would not have an impact on weather patterns in the middle latitudes further south, where so many people live. “It’s safe to say [the hot Arctic] is going to have a big impact, but it’s hard to say exactly how big right now. But we are going to have a lot of very interesting weather – we’re not going to get around that one.” Arctic sea ice loss The area covered by Arctic sea ice at least four years old has decreased from 718,000 sq miles in September 1984 to 42,000 sq miles in September 2016. Older ice tends to be less vulnerable to melting. The age of the ice is indicated by shades ranging from blue-gray for the youngest ice to white for the oldest. Credits: Nasa The chain of events that links the melting Arctic with weather to the south begins with rising global temperatures causing more sea ice to melt. Unlike on the Antarctic continent, melting ice here exposes dark ocean beneath, which absorbs more sunlight than ice and warms further. This feedback loop is why the Arctic is heating up much faster than the rest of the planet. This in turn narrows the temperature difference between the Arctic and lower latitudes, which is crucial because it is the temperature gradient between them that drives the jet stream wind, which streaks around the pole at up to 250mph and about 8km above the surface. The jet stream forms a boundary between the cold north and the warmer south, but the lower temperature difference means the winds are now weaker. This means the jet stream meanders more, with big loops bringing warm air to the frozen north and cold air into warmer southern climes. Furthermore, researchers say, the changes mean the loops can remain stuck over regions for weeks, rather than being blown westwards as in the past. This “blocking” effect means extreme events can unfold. “There have been recent studies showing very plausible physical mechanisms of how rapid warming in the Arctic can influence weather in the mid latitudes, both in summer and winter,” said Dim Coumou at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany. Coumou is a former offshore industry geophysicist who has studied the link between extreme weather events and global warming since 2010. “A couple of years ago this was the main criticism on any such links, that the physics was not well understood,” he said. “But the big question [now] is, how important are these mechanisms?” The other main influence on the jet stream is sea surface temperature in the tropics, which waxes and wanes with El Niño, while solar cycles and even volcanic eruptions have smaller effects. The clearest connection so far between the melting Arctic and weather is for extreme winter conditions, such as the intense winters that hit parts of North America and northern Europe in 2009-10, 2010-11 and 2013-14, causing record snowfalls and billions of dollars of damage. In those years, the jet stream deviated deeply southwards over those regions, pulling down savagely cold air. Prof Adam Scaife, a climate modelling expert at the UK’s Met Office, said the evidence for a link to shrinking Arctic ice was now good: “The consensus points towards that being a real effect.” While downswings of the jet stream can bring freezing winters, the accompanying upswings have been linked to worsening the drought in California. “These northward jet stream swings are of course the reason California is having such a terrible drought,” said Francis. This effect was in fact predicted back in 2004, with those researchers now saying: “Reality is moving faster than we thought or hoped it would.” But the winter extremes can also swing the other way and bring mild but torrential weather, as seen in the past two winters in the UK, leading to severe flooding, said Prof Edward Hanna, at the University of Sheffield in the UK. He pointed to the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), a cyclic variation in air pressure that may be affected by the fast melting of Arctic ice. The variability of the NOA has doubled in the last century, he said: “Within the last decade, there have been wild swings in the NAO values in December.” The connection between the vanishing Arctic ice and extreme summer weather in the northern hemisphere is probable, according to scientists, but not yet as certain as the winter link. Blocking patterns caused by slow-moving meanders of the jet stream have been firmly linked to some devastating events, including the 2010 summer floods in Pakistan, which killed 2,000 people and affected 20 million, and also the searing heatwave in Russia in the same year, which killed 50,000 people and wiped out $15bn (£12bn) of crops. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Villagers stand outside their homes during flash floods on the outskirts of Peshawar, Pakistan, on April 2016. Photograph: Mohammad Sajjad/AP “We also see such summer events more often in recent years,” said Coumou. Blocking events have also been linked to summer deluges in the UK, leading to disastrous flooding in 2007 and 2012 which caused billions of pounds in damage. The year 2012 was also an extreme year for Greenland, with record melting across its entire surface flushing water into the ocean and accelerating sea level rise. The hot loop of air that sat on Greenland that year may also be linked to one of the biggest weather disasters of recent years: Hurricane Sandy, which killed 233 people and cost $75bn in damages. Scientists suspect that the blocking event over Greenland, potentially linked to the record low Arctic ice that summer, prevented the hurricane veering north-east out into the Atlantic like most storms. Instead, blocked by the high pressure, Sandy swung left over the most populated area of the east coast of the US. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Damage caused by Hurricane Sandy in Rodanthe, North Carolina, October 2012. Photograph: Steve Earley/AP Another consequence of the fast melting Arctic raises the possibility that there may be even worse extreme weather to come, according to a few scientists: titanic Atlantic superstorms and hurricanes barreling across Europe. The melting of Greenland ice is pouring about 250bn tonnes a year of fresh water, which is less dense than salty sea water, into the ocean. As a result, the water mass sinks less and the current that drags warm water up the Atlantic is weakened – scientists have already found that the current is at its weakest for a millennium. This means a region of the north Atlantic is becoming relatively cool and this exaggerates the contrast with tropical waters to the south, which is the driver for storms. In the worst case scenario, said the renowned climate scientist Prof James Hansen, this “will drive superstorms, stronger than any in modern times – all hell will break loose in the north Atlantic and neighbouring lands”. Hansen– who was one of the first scientists to alert the world to the dangers of climate change in 1988 and has been arrested more than once outside the White House while protesting against fossil fuel developments – pointed to the historical record as a precedent: 118,000 years ago a superstorm tossed 1,000-tonne mega boulders on to the shores of the Bahamas. Hurricanes will worsen as planet warms and sea levels rise, scientists warn Read more “I would certainly not call such [superstorm] scenarios ridiculous,” said Coumou. “But it is speculative – we don’t have the hard evidence.” But even with what is known so far, there is cause for concern that the complex interactions are turning the slow burn of global temperature rise into sudden weather disasters. “The worrying aspect is that such dynamical changes can occur more abruptly than simple background warming of the climate,” said Coumou. “Dynamical changes can change more rapidly and can therefore lead to surprises and I think there are many such possibilities in the system.” Facebook Twitter Pinterest A polar bear swims in Svalbard. The fjords there would usually be partially covered with sea ice, but last winter most of the archipelago was surrounded by open water. Photograph: Nick Cobbing/Greenpeace Amid the gloomy prospects, there is some cause for hope however. “A large fraction of the US public still doesn’t believe that it is humans that are affecting the climate system,” said Francis. “But one of the silver linings of this pretty dark cloud is that the Arctic is such an obvious and conspicuous change, that anybody can see them happening. There is no ambiguity whatsoever.” But this changing of minds needs to happen quickly, said Hansen: “If we wait for the natural world to reveal itself clearly, it may be too late.”

There are two videos at the link. Xtra is reporting that "Lebel and other Conservative MPs were openly 'snickering' and disrespectfully mocking Garrison, Morin and Liberal MP Justin Trudeau as they pressed the government for answers." Randall Garrison -- the NDP's LGBT critic -- is also the author of Bill C-279, the Private Member's Bill that will be coming up for Second Reading (in April or later, it appears) which proposes to add transsexual and transgender people to the list of protected classes in the Canada Human Rights Act and the hate crimes provisions of the Criminal Code of Canada. Garrison, Dany Morin (NDP), and Justin Trudeau (Liberal Party) grilled Transportation Minister Denis Lebel in Question Period Wednesday. In a blog post at Huffpo Canada, Kyle Knight points out that the gender marker match requirement is actually far beyond the international standard for security screening at airports: According to the ICAO [International Civil Aviation Organization], there are four mandatory personal data points on all international travel documents: name, date of birth, nationality, and sex. ICAO standards for Machine Readable Passports indicate that sex may be listed as unspecified, both in the part inspected by humans and in the part that is read by computers. Might this be the reason that Transport Canada apparently pulled their response letter that Xtra had featured on their website? And in an interview with CityNews Toronto, Christin Milloy says she's heard of people having trouble in airports as a result of the regulation. So far, I have no confirmation of this, so we still have to wait until someone comes forward. Garrison and Olivia Chow have reportedly drafted a motion to rescind the new regulations, so there may be more happening today. Stay tuned! Crossposted at DBM with Hansard transcription of yesterday's debate.

Autumn is here, and with shorter days and longer nights finding motivation to get on your bike can that bit harder. However, with the right equipment and clothing you can still make the most of your city riding. The Brompton team have provided their best tips for cycling this Autumn: The Bike There are some great little changes you can make to your bike to ensure it is geared up for autumn riding. - Switch to Schwalbe Marathon tyres, which will provide increased protection against punctures. All Brompton accredited stores will be able to help you out with this, or if you’re confident in changing tyres why not order your own here? - Fit lights to your bike. Whether you’re commuting or taking a leisurely ride there is always a chance you will end up riding in the dark, so good lights are essential to road safety. Even if it’s just a bit misty or raining heavily, it’s worth making yourself seen by other road users. Maintenance The autumn period will put your bike through its paces but, by keeping it maintained and clean, you will keep on pedaling whatever the weather. You can view our full cleaning guide here, but here are some of the key areas of maintenance to focus on: - Checking the pressure on your tyres. The maximum they should be inflated to is 100psi, but during poor weather 80psi is a good level to ease you over slippery roads and rough surfaces. - Apply a wet weather chain lube. By regularly applying lube to your bike (every 80-120miles) you will protect your chain and ensure a smooth ride. - Get your bike serviced regularly. All Brompton accredited stores offer this service, so make sure you get your bike checked over on a regular basis. Find your nearest store here. Clothing With the temperature dropping every day as we head towards the festive season, the need for warm and visible clothing isn’t going anywhere soon! - Always have a coat or jacket with you on a ride. The weather can change quickly and keeping warm is a must when cycling in the cold, so don’t get caught short. - Wear reflective cycling gear. Don’t assume cars or other cyclists can see you on the road - reflective clothing will ensure you are visible to other road users, and there’s no need for it to be Lycra either!

Statistics Canada said Monday the country's estimated population topped 36 million this year for the first time. The agency estimated Canada's population at 36,048,500 on Jan. 1, up 62,800 from on Oct. 1, 2015. Population growth slowed slightly to 0.95 per cent in 2015 compared with 1.04 per cent in 2014. The increase in the fourth quarter was due in part to 95,300 births compared with 67,900 deaths, based on preliminary estimates, the agency said. International migration was the main driver of the population growth, Statistics Canada says. "During the same period, net international migration was 35,400, up 600 from the same quarter in 2014, which had recorded the lowest level for a fourth quarter since 1971." Population growth was positive in all provinces and territories, except Yukon. It was higher than the national average in Manitoba, Nunavut, Alberta and Saskatchewan.

keywords: paris, attacks, terrorism, security forces, bomb squad. Local time. 06:50 The suspect identity check in north Paris street went wrong and he opened fire on a policeman and then escaped. 08:30 The suspect attacks on-duty soldier (female) to take gun without succeeding at Paris-Orly airport, put out of harm’s condition, shot dead by soldiers. 09:00 The airport is closed and 3,000 people evacuated. 09:30 The air traffic is stopped on both terminals. 11:00 The deminors/bomb squad finish their intervention, no explosives found. 11:20 French Interior Minister statement : “The individual is known to the police. Do not go to Orly. The air traffic always suspended”. 11:50 Hundreds of people still confined for anti-terror check as long as all video surveillance/protection records are not checked, the security forces looking for potential accomplices. 13:00 The fire open situation by soldiers uncleared, the female soldier in possible hostage-taking situation by attacker uncleared too. Inquiry in progress. 13:00 West terminal reopened. South terminal still closed until further notice. 14:15 French President Hollande statement: “The presence of soldiers in airports and train stations is essential”. “We still have to be extremely vigilant”. “Security forces were very efficient today”. “I have to bring protection to the French people”. 15:00 South terminal reopened, air traffic progressively back to normal. Share this page with:

Hey Yo, Draven here. The Wrap is now confirming what we have been hearing for a couple of months now, Paul Rudd is indeed going to be Edgar Wright’s ANT-MAN. Most people are assuming that means he is going to be playing Hank Pym, but Devin Faraci believes that he is actually going to be Scott Lang, who ends up stealing Pym’s Ant-Man technology. This is great news as rumors had been floating around that Wright really wanted Rudd as the lead of his film, while the studio really wanted the younger, Joseph Gordon-Levitt. I guess if Devin is right and Rudd is indeed playing Lang and not Pym, this would make it possible to have both in the film. If that is the case, I wonder if both Lang and Pym are in Marvel’s long term plans, as ANT-MAN is really the kick-off to their Phase III films. It is also possible that Pym will show up in THE AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON and will indeed have a role in Ultron's creation. Nonetheless, I am a big Paul Rudd fan and I think this is a perfect casting choice. Rudd has a special quality to him in that he is always so damn likable in all of his roles no matter how thin they are. Imagine him working with a script from Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish. This really feels like it could be something special, and in the loaded summer of 2015, for ANT-MAN to be successful it is going to have to be. Hopefully Rudd experiences similar success that Robert Downey Jr. did when he took the role of IRON MAN. ANT-MAN will be released July 31st, 2015. What do you guys think of this news? Is Rudd the right choice? Follow me on Twitter here!

At a theoretical level, they are no different semantically. You can implement a mutex using semaphores or vice versa (see here for an example). In practice, the implementation is different and they offer slightly different services. The practical difference (in terms of the system services surrounding them) is that the implementation of a mutex is aimed at being a more lightweight synchronisation mechanism. In oracle-speak, mutexes are known as latches and semaphores are known as waits. At the lowest level, they use some sort of atomic test and set mechanism. This reads the current value of a memory location, computes some sort of conditional and writes out a value at that location in a single instruction that cannot be interrupted. This means that you can acquire a mutex and test to see if anyone else had it before you. A typical mutex implementation has a process or thread executing the test-and-set instruction and evaluating whether anything else had set the mutex. A key point here is that there is no interaction with the scheduler, so we have no idea (and don't care) who has set the lock. Then we either give up our time slice and attempt it again when the task is re-scheduled or execute a spin-lock. A spin lock is an algorithm like: Count down from 5000: i. Execute the test-and-set instruction ii. If the mutex is clear, we have acquired it in the previous instruction so we can exit the loop iii. When we get to zero, give up our time slice. When we have finished executing our protected code (known as a critical section) we just set the mutex value to zero or whatever means 'clear.' If multiple tasks are attempting to acquire the mutex they the next task that happens to be scheduled after the mutex is released will get access to the resource. Typically you would use mutexes to control a synchronised resource where exclusive access is only needed for very short periods of time, normally to make an update to a shared data structure. A semaphore is a synchronised data structure (typically using a mutex) that has a count and some system call wrappers that interact with the scheduler in a bit more depth than the mutex libraries would. Semaphores are incremented and decremented and used to block tasks until something else is ready. See Producer/Consumer Problem for a simple example of this. Semaphores are initialised to some value - a binary semaphore is just a special case where the semaphore is initialised to 1. Posting to a semaphore has the effect of waking up a waiting process. A basic semaphore algorithm looks like: (somewhere in the program startup) Initialise the semaphore to its start-up value. Acquiring a semaphore i. (synchronised) Attempt to decrement the semaphore value ii. If the value would be less than zero, put the task on the tail of the list of tasks waiting on the semaphore and give up the time slice. Posting a semaphore i. (synchronised) Increment the semaphore value ii. If the value is greater or equal to the amount requested in the post at the front of the queue, take that task off the queue and make it runnable. iii. Repeat (ii) for all tasks until the posted value is exhausted or there are no more tasks waiting. In the case of a binary semaphore the main practical difference between the two is the nature of the system services surrounding the actual data structure. EDIT: As evan has rightly pointed out, spinlocks will slow down a single processor machine. You would only use a spinlock on a multi-processor box because on a single processor the process holding the mutex will never reset it while another task is running. Spinlocks are only useful on multi-processor architectures.

CLEVELAND -- As Chris Bosh laid on the floor dazed with blood streaming from his nose, the Toronto Raptors felt a different pain. Their road to the playoffs could be even tougher now. Flattened by an inadvertent elbow from Cleveland's Antawn Jamison, Bosh sustained a broken bone in his face Tuesday night as the Raptors, battling the Chicago Bulls for the final postseason spot in the Eastern Conference, were beaten 113-101 by the Cavaliers, who have won 11 straight at home. Bosh was accidentally struck by Jamison as the two jostled for position in the lane in the opening minutes. Bosh, who had blood dripping from his nose and mouth area as he was assisted from the floor, was immediately taken to the Cleveland Clinic for a CT scan. Following the game, the Raptors said tests showed the All-Star forward suffered a "maxilla and nasal fracture to the right side of his face." Bosh, who returned to Quicken Loans Arena in the fourth quarter, will not travel with the team. Instead, he was to be kept in the hospital overnight for further evaluation. Bosh's loss couldn't have come at a worse time for the Raptors, who entered the night clinging to the No. 8 playoff spot. Toronto has a tough week ahead with games against the Boston Celtics, Atlanta Hawks and Bulls, who lost to the Milwaukee Bucks and remain one game behind the Raptors. It's not known when Bosh, who is eligible for free agency this summer, will rejoin the team or if he'll be able to play once he returns. "We have to keep fighting, regardless if we have him or not," said Jarrett Jack, who led the Raptors with 23 points. "It doesn't get any easier and you can't run. Timing is never perfect it seems in the NBA. It happens and you have to deal with it. It's part of the game like anything else. Injuries are part of it. "As silly as this may sound, with Chris going down, it creates an opportunity for somebody to step up. You might have been wanting that playing time all season. It's in front of you now. You have an opportunity to do something with it and come through for our team, because we're going to need someone to step up if he's not able to go," he said. Toronto's loss also clinched a playoff spot for the Miami Heat. Jamison scored 20 points -- 12 in the third when the Cavs opened a double-digit lead -- and Anthony Parker had a season-high 18. LeBron James scored 19 with 13 assists and Mo Williams had 14 and 12 assists for Cleveland, which has wrapped up the NBA's best record and home-court advantage throughout the playoffs and is expected to rest players in the next few games to get ready for the postseason. The Raptors also lost forward Antoine Wright in the third quarter with an ankle injury. Bosh was battling with Jamison when he was nailed by the elbow. Bosh immediately dropped to the floor and stayed there as play continued at the other end. Stunned by the blow and in obvious pain, Bosh got to his knees as blood splattered on the court. "I didn't think it was that severe," Jamison said. "But once he went down, you knew it was. I didn't think I hit him that hard at all. It was just a bad angle and an unfortunate play. Freakish things like that happen." When there was finally a whistle, medical personnel from both teams went onto the floor to attend to Bosh. Holding a towel to his face, he was helped from the court and taken to Cleveland's locker room, where he was examined by Cavs team physician Dr. Richard Parker. "He's a friend of mine and an Olympic teammate," James said. "You hate to see that happen to anybody, especially this late in the season when they're trying to make a push for the playoffs. He may have to wear a mask or something." Despite losing Bosh, who averages 24.3 points and 11 rebounds, the Raptors were still within seven points with seven minutes to go. James, who sat out the first 4:21 of the fourth, then scored six straight points as the Cavaliers opened a 104-91 lead. With nothing to play for until the playoffs, Cavaliers coach Mike Brown intends to rest his players in the coming days. "I look at these games as a high-level practice," he said. "If we don't win, it doesn't really matter." The Raptors don't have that luxury. Every game is crucial, and if Toronto is able to hang on and make the playoffs, which will be difficult with or without Bosh, the Raptors could face the Cavs in the opening round -- a matchup that Toronto guard Sonny Weems wouldn't mind. "Every game we've played them, it's been real close," Weems said before the game. "I don't think they want that in the first round of the playoffs. We're going to come to play." James dismissed Weems' comment and didn't want to get involved in any trash talk. "I'm not getting into that," James said, grinning. "They're having a great season so far." The Cavaliers were without guard Delonte West, rested as a precaution with what the team said were lower back spasms. Anderson Varejao returned after missing three games with a sore hamstring and had 10 points in 28 minutes. Game notes Cavs center Shaquille O'Neal has not yet been cleared for contact, Brown said. O'Neal has been out since Feb. 25 after undergoing surgery to repair a torn thumb ligament. ... Duke winning the NCAA title was tough on Jamison, a former North Carolina Tar Heel. "It's a sad day in Chapel Hill," Jamison said, referring to UNC's campus. "I don't think anybody even went outside down there." ... Toronto has lost 11 in a row at Cleveland. The Raptors haven't won here since April 6, 2004.

The Pirate Bay has been the most popular torrent site for the past decade, but on Dec. 9 the Swedish police force managed to... The Pirate Bay has been the most popular torrent site for the past decade, but on Dec. 9 the Swedish police force managed to raid the server room, shutting down the piracy site. What was marvelled as a big step towards beating piracy has had almost zero effect however, after six days piracy levels have returned back to 101 million, the same level before The Pirate Bay got shut down. According to Excipio, a piracy researching firm, the piracy rate on Dec. 8 was 101 million, when The Pirate Bay went down it dropped to 98 million and then down against to 95 million, but on Dec. 12 the number jumped back up to 101 million. Part of this may have to do with IsoHunt’s relaunch of the classic The Pirate Bay, but most pirates were unscathed by the shutdown, as seen by the Dec. 9 and Dec. 10 figures. Over 90 percent of pirates found an alternative in hours. It is not hard to find an alternative to The Pirate Bay and piracy experts claim shutting the network down might bring even tougher piracy sites into the market. This does reinforce the age-old argument that piracy cannot be dealt with through shutting down sites and getting court orders. It needs to come from value-for-money services that offer more than torrenting sites. Spotify hit the nail on the head with its music streaming service. Users can listen to thousands of songs on the go, it has offline play and works on mobile, all for $9.99 per month. The streaming services for music have been an active deterrent to music piracy rates. Netflix has also shown people want to subscribe to a service to watch movies and TV shows. More people subscribe to Netflix than HBO in the U.S. and millions continue to pay for the monthly subscription worldwide. The film industry needs to understand that people are not going to pay $15 per movie, when they can watch thousands of films on Netflix for $7.99 a month, or simply pirate the film for free from one of the many services. Unfortunately, the old media studios seem trapped in the 1990s, and piracy is still only a growing phenomena that can be tackled through website shutdowns.

Silent Hill II (Revelation 3D) is reported to be filming in Toronto right now, and one of the sets has provided some wonderfully cinematic fodder for local photographers. Located near Cherry Beach, this creepy carnival has been the backdrop for some late night photo shoots that'd make you think a full crew was working to achieve the eerie lighting. The set has also produced some downright scary waterfront discoveries. I'm thinking that no matter what your disposition, it'd be a bit disconcerting to stumble upon the scene below. Check 'em out. Lead photo by Kim Yokota. And if you have shots of the Silent Hill film set, send them to the blogTO Flickr pool. Photo by ~EvidencE~. ~EvidencE~. ~EvidencE~. ~EvidencE~. ~EvidencE~. Photo by Dan Cronin. Dan Cronin. Dan Cronin. Photo by Ben Lean. Photo by Kevin McBride. Photo by Michael Mitchner. Michael Mitchner.

An ambitious midshipman has made an ambitious spirit video that exhorts, “May the 14th be with you.” It's a must-see video. WASHINGTON — The Naval Academy has beaten the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in the annual Army-Navy football game 13 years in a row, and as the team goes for No. 14 next week, an ambitious midshipman has made an ambitious spirit video that exhorts, “May the 14th be with you.” The video, by Midshipman Ryan Tuohy, is a retelling of the original “Star Wars” story, with the midshipmen as the rebels and Army as the Empire (naturally), complete with the following: A Princess Leia who takes an active part in her rescue from the evil forces at U.S. Military Academy; A jab at the pillow-fight scandal at Army earlier this semester; High diving (you’ll have to watch); and Supposed Army guards who claim, without the help of Jedi mind control, that they wished they went to Navy. The video also features high-powered cameos from such as Marine Col. Stephen Liszewski, the commandant of midshipmen; Vice Adm. Walter E. Carter, the academy superintendent, and Adm. John Richardson, chief of naval operations, who delivers the final blow to the U.S. Military Academy Darth Vader. If that’s not enough dazzle, the special Navy uniforms for the game are pretty snazzy too, complete with customized helmets for each position group. The game is Dec. 12. Follow @WTOP on Twitter and WTOP on Facebook. © 2015 WTOP. All Rights Reserved.