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USA Buys Enough Guns in 3 Months to Outfit the Entire Chinese and Indian Army Law abiding US citizens bought on average 3,177,256 guns every 3 months in 2008. EveryTown, USA – -(AmmoLand.com)- In just 3 months Americans bought enough guns to outfit the entire Chinese and Indian army's combined. “You cannot invade the mainland United States. There would be a rifle behind every blade of grass.” – Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto WWII You also bought 1,529,635,000 rounds of ammunition in just the month of December 2008. Yeah that is right, that is Billion with a “B”. This number takes no accounting of reloading or reloaded ammunition. This is an evaluation of overall firearms and ammunition purchases based on low end numbers per Federal NIC instacheck data base Statistics. The numbers presented are only PART of the overall numbers of arms and ammunition that have been sold. The actual numbers are much higher. Follow Up:

A 12-hour rooftop riot at a prison in Gippsland overnight is believed to have been sparked in part by a change in toothbrushes as a security measure. Inmates at the Fulham Correctional Centre near Sale were forced to use flexible toothbrushes after fears that hard toothbrushes could be filed down to make weapons, Corrections Commissioner Bob Hastings said. Hard to reach ... Rioting inmates on the roof of Fulham Prison, where a change to flexible toothbrushes is believed to have sparked fury. Credit:Geoff Parrington ‘‘This is really a safety issue because unfortunately some of the prisoners with the conventional toothbrushes used those to become weapons,’’ Mr Hastings told the ABC radio today. ‘‘There was also some other discussion up around Fulham around a pay TV deal that was about to finish and move to a more digital free-to-air process. There were also some issues around dress standards that people objected to.’’

Abstract Early warning signals of the coronary heart disease (CHD) risk of sugar (sucrose) emerged in the 1950s. We examined Sugar Research Foundation (SRF) internal documents, historical reports, and statements relevant to early debates about the dietary causes of CHD and assembled findings chronologically into a narrative case study. The SRF sponsored its first CHD research project in 1965, a literature review published in the New England Journal of Medicine, which singled out fat and cholesterol as the dietary causes of CHD and downplayed evidence that sucrose consumption was also a risk factor. The SRF set the review’s objective, contributed articles for inclusion, and received drafts. The SRF’s funding and role was not disclosed. Together with other recent analyses of sugar industry documents, our findings suggest the industry sponsored a research program in the 1960s and 1970s that successfully cast doubt about the hazards of sucrose while promoting fat as the dietary culprit in CHD. Policymaking committees should consider giving less weight to food industry–funded studies and include mechanistic and animal studies as well as studies appraising the effect of added sugars on multiple CHD biomarkers and disease development. Introduction In the 1950s, disproportionately high rates of coronary heart disease (CHD) mortality in American men led to studies of the role of dietary factors, including cholesterol, phytosterols, excessive calories, amino acids, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals in influencing CHD risk.1 By the 1960s, 2 prominent physiologists were championing divergent causal hypotheses of CHD2,3: John Yudkin identified added sugars as the primary agent, while Ancel Keys identified total fat, saturated fat, and dietary cholesterol. However, by the 1980s, few scientists believed that added sugars played a significant role in CHD, and the first 1980 Dietary Guidelines for Americans4 focused on reducing total fat, saturated fat, and dietary cholesterol for CHD prevention. Although the contribution of dietary sugars to CHD is still debated, what is clear is that the sugar industry, led by the Sugar Association, the sucrose industry’s Washington, DC–based trade association,5 steadfastly denies that there is a relationship between added sugar consumption and CVD risk.6,7 This Special Communication uses internal sugar industry documents to describe how the industry sought to influence the scientific debate over the dietary causes of CHD in the 1950s and 1960s, a debate still reverberating in 2016. Methods The Sugar Association evolved from the Sugar Research Foundation (SRF), founded in 1943.8 We located correspondence between the SRF and Roger Adams, a professor who served on the SRF’s scientific advisory board (SAB) between 1959 and 1971, in the University of Illinois Archives9 (319 documents totaling 1551 pages). We located correspondence between the SRF and D. Mark Hegsted, professor of nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health and codirector of the SRF’s first CHD research project from 1965 to 1966,10 in the Harvard Medical Library11 (27 documents totaling 31 pages). We collected additional SRF materials through a WorldCat search including annual reports, symposium proceedings, and internal reviews of research. We reviewed historical reports and statements contextualizing scientific debates in the 1950s and 1960s on dietary factors causally related to CHD published by the National Academy of Sciences–National Research Council (NAS-NRC), US Public Health Service, the American Heart Association (AHA), and American Medical Association (AMA). Findings were assembled chronologically into a narrative case study. Results SRF’s Interest in Promoting a Low-Fat Diet to Prevent CHD Sugar Research Foundation president Henry Hass’s 1954 speech, “What’s New in Sugar Research,”12 to the American Society of Sugar Beet Technologists identified a strategic opportunity for the sugar industry: increase sugar’s market share by getting Americans to eat a lower-fat diet: “Leading nutritionists are pointing out the chemical connection between [American’s] high-fat diet and the formation of cholesterol which partly plugs our arteries and capillaries, restricts the flow of blood, and causes high blood pressure and heart trouble… if you put [the middle-aged man] on a low-fat diet, it takes just five days for the blood cholesterol to get down to where it should be… If the carbohydrate industries were to recapture this 20 percent of the calories in the US diet (the difference between the 40 percent which fat has and the 20 percent which it ought to have) and if sugar maintained its present share of the carbohydrate market, this change would mean an increase in the per capita consumption of sugar more than a third with a tremendous improvement in general health.”12 The industry would subsequently spend $600 000 ($5.3 million in 2016 dollars) to teach “people who had never had a course in biochemistry… that sugar is what keeps every human being alive and with energy to face our daily problems.”12 Growing Evidence That Sucrose Elevates Serum Cholesterol Level In 1962, the SRF became concerned with evidence showing that a low-fat diet high in sugar could elevate serum cholesterol level. At its November 1962 SAB meeting,13 the SRF considered an AMA Council on Foods and Nutrition report, The Regulation of Dietary Fat,14 that, according to the SRF, “indicate[d] that, in low fat diets, the kind of carbohydrate ingested may have an influence on the formation of serum cholesterol.”13 The SAB concluded, “that research developments in the [CHD] field should be watched carefully.”13 The SRF’s vice president and director of research, John Hickson, started closely monitoring the field.15 In December 1964, Hickson reported to an SRF subcommittee15 that new CHD research was a cause for concern: “From a number of laboratories of greater or lesser repute, there are flowing reports that sugar is a less desirable dietary source of calories than other carbohydrates, eg,—Yudkin.”15 Since 1957, British physiologist John Yudkin16 had challenged population studies singling out saturated fat as the primary dietary cause of CHD and suggested that other factors, including sucrose, were at least equally important.17,18 Hickson proposed that the SRF “could embark on a major program” to counter Yudkin and other “negative attitudes toward sugar.”15 He recommended an opinion poll “to learn what public concepts we should reinforce and what ones we need to combat through our research and information and legislative programs” and a symposium to “bring detractors before a board of their peers where their fallacies could be unveiled.”15 Finally, he recommended that SRF fund CHD research: “There seems to be a question as to whether the [atherogenic] effects are due to the carbohydrate or to other nutrient imbalance. We should carefully review the reports, probably with a committee of nutrition specialists; see what weak points there are in the experimentation, and replicate the studies with appropriate corrections. Then we can publish the data and refute our detractors.”15 In 1965, the SRF asked Fredrick Stare, chair of the Harvard University School of Public Health Nutrition Department19 to join its SAB as an ad hoc member.20 Stare was an expert in dietary causes of CHD and had been consulted by the NAS,1 National Heart Institute,21 and AHA,22 as well as by food companies and trade groups.19 Stare’s industry-favorable positions and financial ties would not be widely questioned until the 1970s.23 Link Between Sucrose and Elevated Serum Triglyceride Level On July 1, 1965, the SRF’s Hickson visited D. Mark Hegsted, a faculty member of Stare’s department,24,25 after publication of articles in Annals of Internal Medicine in June 196526-29 linking sucrose to CHD. The first 2 articles26,27 reported results from an epidemiological study suggesting that blood glucose levels were a better predictor of atherosclerosis than serum cholesterol level or hypertension. The third28(p210) demonstrated that sucrose, more than starches, aggravated carbohydrate-induced hypertriglyceridemia and hypothesized that “perhaps fructose, a constituent of sucrose but not of starch, [was] the agent mainly responsible.” An accompanying editorial29(p1330) argued that these findings corroborated Yudkin’s research and that if elevated serum triglyceride levels were a CHD risk factor, then “sucrose must be atherogenic.” On July 11, 1965, the New York Herald Tribune ran a full-page article on the Annals articles stating that new research “threatened to tie the whole business [of diet and heart disease] in a knot.”30 It explained that, while sugar’s association with atherosclerosis was once thought to be theoretical and supported by limited studies, the new research strengthened the case that sugar increased the risk of heart attacks. SRF Funds Project 226: A Literature Review on Sugars, Fats, and CHD On July 13, 1965, 2 days after the Tribune article, the SRF’s executive committee approved Project 226,31 a literature review on “Carbohydrates and Cholesterol Metabolism” by Hegsted and Robert McGandy, overseen by Stare.10 The SRF initially offered $500 ($3800 in 2016 dollars) to Hegsted and $1000 ($7500 in 2016 dollars) to McGandy, “half to be paid when you start work on the project, and the remainder when you inform me that the article has been accepted for publication.”31 Eventually, the SRF would pay them $650032 ($48 900 in 2016 dollars) for “a review article of the several papers which find some special metabolic peril in sucrose and, in particular, fructose.”31 On July 23, 1965, Hegsted asked Hickson to provide articles relevant to the review.33 Most of the articles Hickson sent34-40 contained findings that could threaten sugar sales, which suggests that the industry expected the review authors to critique them. Hickson also sent the Tribune article30 and a letter to the editor that criticized findings questioning the therapeutic value of corn oil.41,42 On July 30, 1965, Hickson emphasized the SRF’s objective for funding the literature review to Hegsted: “Our particular interest had to do with that part of nutrition in which there are claims that carbohydrates in the form of sucrose make an inordinate contribution to the metabolic condition, hitherto ascribed to aberrations called fat metabolism. I will be disappointed if this aspect is drowned out in a cascade of review and general interpretation.”34 In response, Hegsted assured Hickson that “We are well aware of your particular interest in carbohydrate and will cover this as well as we can.”43 Nine months into the project, in April 1966, Hegsted told the SRF that the review had been delayed because of new evidence linking sugar to CHD: “Every time the Iowa group publishes a paper we have to rework a section in rebuttal [emphasis added].”44 The “Iowa group” included Alfredo Lopez, Robert Hodges, and Willard Krehl, who had reported a positive association between sugar consumption and elevated serum cholesterol level.45 It is not clear whether the SRF commented on or edited drafts of the review. However, on September 6, 1966, Hickson asked Hegsted, “Am I going to get another copy of the draft shortly?”40 suggesting Hickson had been involved. Hegsted responded on September 29, “I expect to get it down to you within a week or two.”46 Hickson received the final draft on October 25, 1966, a few days before Hegsted intended to submit it for publication.47 On November 2, Hickson told Hegsted, “Let me assure you this is quite what we had in mind and we look forward to its appearance in print.”47 Publication of Project 226 Project 226 resulted in a 2-part literature review by McGandy, Hegsted, and Stare “Dietary Fats, Carbohydrates and Atherosclerotic Disease,” in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) in 1967.48,49 Industry and nonindustry funding of the review authors’ experimental research was disclosed, but the SRF’s funding and participation in the review was not. Evidence reported in the review was relevant to 2 questions: (1) Does the high sucrose content of the American diet cause CHD? and (2) What is the comparative effectiveness of interventions modifying the sucrose or saturated fat content of the diet for the prevention of CHD? The review concluded there was “no doubt” that the only dietary intervention required to prevent CHD was to reduce dietary cholesterol and substitute polyunsaturated fat for saturated fat in the American diet.49(p246) High Sucrose Content of the American Diet and CHD The review summarized findings from epidemiologic, experimental, and mechanistic studies examining the role of sucrose in CHD (see eTable 1 in the Supplement). It reported that epidemiologic studies showed a positive association between high sucrose consumption and CHD outcomes48(pp187-189)and that experimental studies showed that sucrose caused serum cholesterol and serum triglyceride levels to rise in healthy individuals,48(pp190-192) and serum triglyceride levels to rise in those with hypertriglyceridemia.49(pp242-243) Finally, it reported that mechanistic studies demonstrated the biological plausibility of (1) sucrose affecting serum cholesterol level mediated through changes to the intestinal microbiome,49(p243) and (2) fructose, a component of sucrose, affecting serum triglyceride levels mediated through endogenous lipogenesis in the liver, adipose tissues, and other organs.49(pp244-246) The review evaluated the quality of individual studies, including the work of Yudkin and the Iowa Group48(pp187-188) (see eTables 1 and 2 in the Supplement), investigators whom the SRF had identified as threatening before initiating the review15 and in correspondence while it was being prepared.34,44 The review discounted these studies on the grounds that they contained questionable data or incorrect interpretation.48(pp187-189)49(pp242-243) It questioned whether entire classes of evidence were relevant (see eTables 1 and 3 in the Supplement). It discounted epidemiologic evidence for identifying dietary causes of CHD because of multifactorial confounding48(p188) and experimental evidence from short-term studies using large doses of sucrose because they were not comparable with amounts typically consumed in the American diet.48(pp191-192) It discounted mechanistic studies conducted with fructose or glucose, not sucrose,49(p244) and animal evidence because of species differences and because people rarely consumed low-fat diets typically fed to rats.49(pp243-244) Overall, the review focused on possible bias in individual studies and types of evidence rather than on consistency across studies and the coherence of epidemiologic, experimental and mechanistic evidence. Comparative Effectiveness of Dietary Interventions for the Prevention of CHD The NEJM review summarized findings from human randomized clinical trials (RCTs) evaluating the effect of sucrose interventions on serum cholesterol and triglyceride levels in healthy and hypertriglyceridemic individuals, and the effect of fat interventions on serum cholesterol levels in healthy persons (see eTable 4 in the Supplement). Regarding sucrose interventions, it argued that substituting fat for sucrose caused a large improvement in serum triglyceride levels in healthy individuals,48(p190) substituting starch for sucrose caused a large improvement in serum triglyceride levels in patients with hypertriglyceridemia,49(pp242-243) and that substituting leguminous vegetables for sucrose caused a large improvement in serum cholesterol levels in healthy individuals.48(pp190-191) Finally, it reported that substituting starch for sucrose caused a small improvement in serum cholesterol levels in healthy individuals.48(pp190-191) Regarding fat interventions, the review reported that reducing dietary cholesterol and substituting polyunsaturated fat for saturated fat caused a large improvement in serum cholesterol level in healthy persons.48(pp189-190) The review discounted RCTs that had shown that substituting starch for sucrose had a large effect on improving serum triglyceride levels and implied that only studies that had used serum cholesterol level as a biomarker of CHD risk should be used to compare the efficacy of sucrose interventions to fat interventions (see eTable 4 in the Supplement). The review then discounted RCTs that had shown that substituting fat or vegetables for sucrose had a large effect on improving serum cholesterol level, by arguing this intervention was infeasible48(p191) (see eTables 4 and 5 in the Supplement). Substituting refined starches (sweetened with artificial sweeteners) for sucrose, despite being feasible, was dismissed because the magnitude of effect on serum cholesterol level was minimal compared with reducing dietary cholesterol level and substituting polyunsaturated for saturated fat.48(pp190-191) Unlike its summary of sucrose intervention RCTs, the review reported few study characteristics and no quantitative results in its summary of fat intervention RCTs.48(pp189-190) Consulting the original fat intervention RCTs reveals that the review overstated the consistency of studies (see eTable 6 in the Supplement). Only 1 RCT, conducted by Hegsted et al,50 concluded that reducing dietary cholesterol and substituting polyunsaturated fat for saturated fat substantially improved serum cholesterol levels. Consulting the original clinical studies cited to substantiate reducing dietary cholesterol and substituting polyunsaturated fat for saturated fat reveals that they were not well controlled. Despite arguing earlier in the review that epidemiologic evidence was irrelevant to determining dietary causes of CHD,48(pp187-189) the review implied that the epidemiologic evidence pointed to dietary cholesterol and saturated fat as the primary dietary causes of CHD.49(p246) The review argued that the lack of mechanistic evidence confirming the biological plausibility that dietary cholesterol and saturated fat raised serum cholesterol levels was unimportant.49(p246) Finally, the review emphasized that polyunsaturated fats were readily available and would be well accepted as substitute for saturated fats in the American diet.49(p246) Discussion These internal documents show that the SRF initiated CHD research in 1965 to protect market share and that its first project, a literature review, was published in NEJM in 1967 without disclosure of the sugar industry’s funding or role. The NEJM review served the sugar industry’s interests by arguing that epidemiologic, animal, and mechanistic studies associating sucrose with CHD were limited, implying they should not be included in an evidentiary assessment of the CHD risks of sucrose. Instead, the review argued that the only evidence modality needed to yield a definitive answer to the question of how to modify the American diet to prevent CHD was RCTs that exclusively used serum cholesterol level as a CHD biomarker. Randomized clinical trials using serum cholesterol level as the CHD biomarker made the high sucrose content of the American diet seem less hazardous than if the entire body of evidence had been considered. Following the NEJM review, the sugar industry continued to fund research on CHD and other chronic diseases “as a main prop of the industry’s defense.”51 For example, in 1971, it influenced the National Institute of Dental Research’s National Caries Program to shift its emphasis to dental caries interventions other than restricting sucrose.8 The industry commissioned a review, “Sugar in the Diet of Man,” which it credited with, among other industry tactics, favorably influencing the 1976 US Food and Drug Administration evaluation of the safety of sugar.51 These findings, our analysis, and current Sugar Association criticisms of evidence linking sucrose to cardiovascular disease6,7 suggest the industry may have a long history of influencing federal policy. This historical account of industry efforts demonstrates the importance of having reviews written by people without conflicts of interest and the need for financial disclosure. Scientific reviews shape policy debates, subsequent investigations, and the funding priorities of federal agencies.52 The NEJM has required authors to disclose all conflicts of interest since 1984,53 and conflict of interest disclosure policies have been widely implemented since the sugar industry launched its CHD research program. Whether current conflict of interest policies are adequate to withstand the economic interests of industry remains unclear.54 Many industries sponsor research to influence assessments of the risks and benefits of their products.55-57 The influence of industry sponsorship on nutrition research is receiving increased scrutiny.58 Access to documents not meant for public consumption has provided the public health community unprecedented insight into industry motives, strategies, tactics, and data designed to protect companies from litigation and regulation.59 This insight has been a major factor behind successful global tobacco control policies.60 Our analysis suggests that research using sugar industry documents has the potential to inform the health community about how to counter this industry’s strategies and tactics to control information on the adverse health effects of sucrose. Study Limitations The Roger Adams papers and other documents used in this research provide a narrow window into the activities of 1 sugar industry trade association; therefore, it is difficult to validate that the documents gathered are representative of the entirety of SRF internal materials related to Project 226 from the 1950s and 1960s or that the proper weight was given to each data source. There is no direct evidence that the sugar industry wrote or changed the NEJM review manuscript; the evidence that the industry shaped the review’s conclusions is circumstantial. We did not analyze the role of other organizations, nutrition leaders, or food industries that advocated that saturated fat and dietary cholesterol were the main dietary cause of CHD. We could not interview key actors involved in this historical episode because they have died. Conclusions This study suggests that the sugar industry sponsored its first CHD research project in 1965 to downplay early warning signals that sucrose consumption was a risk factor in CHD. As of 2016, sugar control policies are being promulgated in international,61 federal,62,63 state, and local venues.64 Yet CHD risk is inconsistently cited as a health consequence of added sugars consumption. Because CHD is the leading cause of death globally, the health community should ensure that CHD risk is evaluated in future risk assessments of added sugars. Policymaking committees should consider giving less weight to food industry–funded studies, and include mechanistic and animal studies as well as studies appraising the effect of added sugars on multiple CHD biomarkers and disease development.65 Back to top Article Information Correction: This article was corrected online October 3, 2016, to include additional information regarding funding and additional contributions. Corresponding Author: Stanton A. Glantz, PhD, UCSF Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education, 530 Parnassus Ave, Ste 366, San Francisco, CA 94143-1390 (glantz@medicine.ucsf.edu). Accepted for Publication: July 2, 2016. Published Online: September 12, 2016. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2016.5394 Author Contributions: Drs Kearns and Glantz had full access to all the data in the study and take responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of data analysis. Study concept and design: All authors. Acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data: All authors. Drafting of the manuscript: Kearns. Critical revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content: All authors. Statistical analysis: Glantz. Obtained funding: Glantz. Administrative, technical, or material support: Kearns, Glantz. Study supervision: Schmidt, Glantz. Conflict of Interest Disclosures: None reported. Funding/Support: This work was supported by the UCSF Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies, a donation by the Hellmann Family Fund to the UCSF Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education, the UCSF School of Dentistry Department of Orofacial Sciences and Global Oral Health Program, National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research grant DE-007306 and National Cancer Institute grant CA-087472. We also thank Gary Taubes, MS, co-founder of Nutrition Science Initiative, for providing funding for travel to the Harvard Medical Library. Role of the Funder/Sponsor: The funders had no role in design and conduct of the study; collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data; and preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript. Additional Contributions: We thank Kimber Stanhope, PhD, RD, for advice on the analysis of the SRF-funded NEJM review and the original studies it cited. No compensation was received for her contribution. We also thank Gary Taubes, MS, co-founder of Nutrition Science Initiative, for photographing documents in the D. Mark Hegsted papers at the Harvard Medical Library.

A quick history of Motorola devices will tell you they have yet to release a smartphone with a full HD 1080p display. Tell us why then — when talking about their new Android 4.4.3 feature that allows users to disable the carrier name from being displayed in the status bar — Motorola VP of Product Management Punit Soni posted a screenshot of a phone with a 1080×1920 resolution display? Weird? Not really. We’ve heard rumors that the upcoming Motorola Moto X +1 would arrive with a more up-to-date full HD display. While nothing is confirmed, it’s highly unlikely Soni would be using some other Android device to show off a new Motorola feature, so this could be our confirmation that the Moto X+1 will, in fact, feature a 1080p display. Anyone surprised? Relieved? After checking out current flagships, this Android blogger has his money on the Moto X+1 as his next smartphone purchase. Let’s hope Motorola doesn’t hold back much this time around. [Google+]

Jon Stewart’s last Daily Show was much more than just a cameo-packed, Springsteen-soundtracked, emotion-infused blow-out. The legendary host’s final episode was also a financial lightning rod for an excellent cause. Stewart partnered with charity fundraising platform Omaze to raise money for New York Collaborates for Autism. Donors who gave $10 or more were entered in a drawing to attend The Daily Show’s final taping, meet Stewart and hang out on the set. More than 47,000 people from 78 countries donated, generating a whopping $2.23 million for NYCA. Here’s the complete donation breakdown: —Total Raised: $2,235,520 —Winning Donation: $100 —Number of Donors: 47,048 —Number of Countries: 78 —Average Donation Amount: $45.50 —Average Amount Raised Per Day: $14,707 —Highest Donation: $35,000 Here’s Stewart with the drawing’s big winner, Sameer: “Over the last 16 years, no one has done more than Jon to engage people around the issues that truly impact our lives,” said Matt Pohlson, Omaze’s co-founder, “and it’s fitting that he leveraged his final show to raise more than $2 million for this incredible cause.” Pohlson took to Instagram to voice his admiration for Stewart, posting a photo of the two working together. Watch Stewart’s final episode of The Daily Showhere, but be warned: you’re going to feel all the feelings. The Daily Show with Trevor Noah premieres on Monday, Sept. 28.

Authorities in Bahrain, which has been rocked by protests for two years, have voiced "dismay" over an assessment by the US State Department of the rights situation in the kingdom. "The report includes texts which are totally far from the truth, adopting a manner that fuels terror and terrorists targeting Bahrain's national security," state news agency BNA late on Wednesday quoted government spokeswoman Samira Rajab as saying. The strategic tiny kingdom of Bahrain, home to the US Fifth Fleet, has been hit since February 2011 by a wave of Shia-led protests calling for the ouster of Prime Minister Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa in office since 1971. A US State Department report released on April 19 said that "the most serious human rights problems included citizens' inability to change their government peacefully; arrest and detention of protesters on vague charges, in some cases leading to their torture in detention." It criticised the "lack of due process in trials of political and human rights activists, medical personnel, teachers, and students, with some resulting in harsh sentences." The report claimed that "discrimination on the basis of gender, religion, nationality, and sect persisted, especially against the Shia population" which makes up a majority in Bahrain, ruled by the Sunni Al-Khalifa dynasty. Rajab "deplored the report for lacking objectivity, totally siding with the terrorists who seek to sow chaos in the whole region." Bahrain refers to protesters who clash frequently with police forces in Shia villages as "terrorists" it claims are backed by Shia-majority Iran. The kingdom "reiterated full commitment to comply with the human rights principles and standards in confronting terror which targets Bahrain and innocent civilians," said Rajab. The State Department report acknowledged that "some protesters engaged in lethal acts of violence against security forces, including the use of improvised explosive devices, Molotov cocktails, and other improvised weapons." Rajab in her statement "urged the US State Department to help countries protect their national security and back their stability, the way the US itself does in the war it is waging on global terror." UN torture investigator trip cancelled Meanwhile, the UN torture investigator said Bahrain had effectively cancelled a trip he had planned to the Gulf Arab state. Juan Mendez, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, said in a statement it was the second time a scheduled visit had been postponed at short notice. His trip had been set for May 8-15. "It is effectively a cancellation as no alternative dates were proposed, nor is there a future road map to discuss," he said on Wednesday. "Let me be clear, this was a unilateral decision by the authorities." Mendez said "this postponement could be perceived as if there is something to hide." Bahrain's state news agency said on Monday the authorities had asked Mendez to delay his trip, without giving a reason. Mendez then put it off until further notice, the agency said.

8:58 AM - 1st floor - I arrive to work. Hayley picked me up because I knew I'd be getting drunk today, and I would never get behind the wheel of a car while intoxicated. A boat, maybe. A plane, damn right. But a car? Please. I'm not a daredevil. 9:09 AM - 1st floor - I get a sausage biscuit from Starbucks. I'm not trying to start puking at 11 AM just because I drank on an empty stomach. Oh, and thanks for the $12 sausage biscuit, Starbucks. You Starfucks. 9:33 AM - 1st floor - I put 3 shots worth of Jameson into my coffee, because any coffee with two shots or less is regular coffee. I also don't want to get too drunk too quickly (this notion goes to shit). So far Elie is none the wiser, and my deliciously evil plan is budding beautifully. Drinks so far: 3 shots of whiskey 9:54 AM - 1st floor - I'm halfway done with my Irish coffee. I'm already feeling a bit frisky. O'blivious McUnobservant over here still has no idea what's going on, and he isn't even a tiny bit drunk. That's called a "lose-lose" scenario. 10:00 AM - 1st floor - I snap a selfie of Elie's butt (or lack thereof) and myself. Whether these photos end up for work or for pleasure...well, frankly, that's none of your business. But between you and me? Pleasure. 10:27 AM - 1st floor - My Irish coffee is really kickin' in now. I'm definitely not drunk, but I'm teetering on buzzed. I see a Pringles can, and my huge brain and I come up with an idea. It still has chips in it, but the flavor is Serrano Ham aka warm ocean poop. I empty the chips and slip my PBR into the canister, right before Elie shows up. Close call. 11:07 AM - 1st floor - Elie is one of those weirdos with a standing desk, conveniently set up right behind me. It worries me, and my reasoning is twofold: 1) I don't like him lurking behind me, it makes me feel uncomfortable, and we all know that he's probably staring at my ass. Perv. Well, I guess we're even; 2) he can turn around at any time and watch what I'm doing and I would never know. Thankfully I had Pete, the wise Sancho Panza to my moronic Don Quixote, keeping a vigilant eye out for me. 11:19 AM - 1st floor - My Irish coffee is officially finished. Now I'm working on the "PBR in the Pringles can" operation. I am feeling aaaaa-loosey goosey! The can is too short for the Pringles canister, so any beer that exits the can and doesn't make it into my mouth gets lost in the abyss at the bottom of the canister, collecting that finely ground chip dust, then goes back towards my mouth during the next sip. I am now drinking an Xtra Kickin' Jalapeño Pabst Blue Ribbon. It makes me ponder on the time my Aunt gently (aggressively) informed me that I'll likely never be married. Things are beginning to click. Drinks so far: 3 shots of whiskey , 2 beers 11:22 AM - 2nd floor - I proceed to exhale into my coworker Marc's breathalyzer in order to figure out how far along I've come. I feel like store-bought breathalyzers always tell you you're more sober than you are, whereas the breathalyzers from the po-po will be a little more generous. That being said, I am surprised and slightly depressed to see I only blew a .053. Tucker Max would be disappointed. 11:29 AM - 1st floor - The way Hayley is wearing her headphones makes me laugh. Does she have an ear where her sideburns are or something? What is she listening to, brain waves? Who does she think she is, DJ Paris Hilton? Friggin' nerd. She's cool though. If she and someone that I hated were hanging off of a cliff, I'd save her. Maybs. 11:41 AM - 2nd floor - Somebody in the office is playing the theme to Happy Days. One of the younger interns asks where the song is from. I hold back an unyielding urge to bitch slap that bomboclat. Some old timey dancing is about to go down if this music keeps up. Either the twist or the jitterbug, I'm pretty open to new old things. 12:11 PM - 2nd floor - As I continue drinking, I am forced to keep coming up with cunning ways to consume my alcohol. I finish my Starbucks drink and my Pringles beer, now I'm drinking an entire beer out of a styrofoam to-go box. I only do this so that I can walk by Elie and mock him further when I reveal the truth. The mission is a success. Elie is none the wiser, and I am all the drunker. 12:27 PM - 2nd floor - Marc's girlfriend, Annie, arrives for lunch. I found some shot glasses to (quietly) take shots with the upstairs people, but I couldn't pull the cups apart. Annie used her Beowulf-like strength and staunch sense of justice to help me out. Somewhere Batman wipes a tear of proud approval from his righteous cheek. Annie and I joke about fighting, but it's all in good fun, because she'd wreck myself before I could even check myself. 12:37 PM - 3rd floor - I just took a shot with Rudy, Ethan, Marc and Molly, all while Elie roosts on the 1st floor. They're fuggin' troopers and they totally understand the struggle. I mean, who doesn't actively try to get drunk at work? Losers, squares and Elie, that's who. 12:51 PM - 1st floor - Hayley said she's meeting her roommate at 1pm for lunch. I belligerently inquire from across the room, "What, are you gonna BANG your roommate? TOOOIGHT, TOOOIGHT." Hayley is not amused, my other coworkers are slightly amused but also disturbed, and Elie is still none the wiser. Sean is winning all over the place. 12:53 - 1st floor - Pee pee time! I bravely waddle as quickly as possible to the bathroom, like a man. 1:03 PM - 1st floor - (2 Months Ago): Jamba Juice just dropped off smoothies for the whole office. I take the last two smoothies and put them in the freezer. I have no idea when they'll come in handy, but I feel as though one day Future Sean will be able to use them for something, and will pay homage to my genius resourcefulness. 1:13 PM - 1st floor - I suddenly remember that Past Sean put two smoothies in the freezer. I rub my hands together in a deliciously evil way, because I'm about to rock the civilized world's dick off and put vodka in my Jamba Juice. Clever, I know. I look up and nod my head approvingly to Past Sean in order to pay him homage for his genius resourcefulness. Why I looked up as if he were dead and in heaven, no one knows. Unfortunately, the only vodka we have is Jalapeno Vodka. Why is this in existence? I presume Jalapeno Vodka is the source of the world's troubles: every major war, disease and disaster. It is the devil's urine. Drinks so far: 5 shots of whiskey , 2 beers , 2 shots of jalapeno vodka (in the Jamba Juice) 1:36 PM - 2nd floor - I just took another shot of whiskey. I also find a small flask of Fireball Whiskey. I was going to down it, but Marc begged me not to finish it. Legitimately begged. And Marc is cute as fuck, only a barbarian would say no to him. 1:37 PM - 2nd floor - I said no to him. 1:53 PM - 1st floor - I ask Elie if I can write an article about drinking at work. Little does he know that I am already drinking at work. He gives me genuine advice on how to approach the topic. I give him genuine looks of boredom. I don't have time for his managerial ways. I am thinking about Ferrero Rocher chocolates the whole time and how they shaped my childhood (and my ass). Good luck breaking that train of thought, Mr. Look-At-Me-I'm-Sober-And-Responsible-And-Shit. 2:17 PM - 3rd floor - I take another shot of Jameson upstairs. I express to Ethan (our Finance Manager) my gameplan, then blow in his face to see how much I smell like booze. He approves, and regrets smelling my breath on a cosmic level. Everything is going swimmingly. Rudy demands that I get my drunk ass back to work, so I respond by yelling at everyone else to, "Get back to work!" 2:35 PM - out of office - I'm at C4 Deli with Pete and Evan for lunch. I order a French dip sandwich and a glass of Merlot. I finish the glass of Merlot like I've never seen wine before. I quickly order another, and the waitress looks at me like I'm her shitty ex-boyfriend that didn't treat her how feminist memes depict a woman should be treated. She's probably right, who knows...either way, I forgive her. She's hot, and hot people are easy to forgive. Drink status: 7 shots of whiskey , 2 beers , 2 shots of jalapeno vodka , 1 glass of wine 2:46 PM - out of office - I am drinking my second glass of wine. I have been elected as the new mayor of Struggle City, and I do lots of civil work in the bordering cities of Tipsyborough and Drunkshire. I am clearly running unopposed in the forthcoming election. I also demolish my French Dip sandwich like a rapper "eating booty groceries" or whatever they say, and now Pete is looking at me like I just greatly offended his ancestors. *3:02 PM - out of office - A hot homeless woman with a zebra backpack asks for a cigarette. I tell her to pick three categories, then I will ask her a trivia question using one of those three categories. I choose her category "entertainment". I ask her who Jay-Z is married to. She can't answer. I wonder what sort of fuckery this is, because it's literally the easiest question of all time. I give her the ultimate clue, which is, "She wants you to SAY HER NAME, because she's a SURVIVOR, and she sticks up for herself and ALL THE SINGLE LADIES." I even flawlessly perform the choreography to All The Single Ladies and she still doesn't know. Eventually she says Beyoncé, so I give her a smoke and walk the fuck away in sheer disgust, but also with a feeling akin to reserved paternal pride. I'm proud of you, vagabond. 3:35 PM - 1st floor - I try to walk past Elie, who is studiously working on the couch in the lobby, like the Pink Panther. I believe I succeeded, however the look on his face says, "What is wrong with that guy?" 3:37 PM - 3rd floor - I go upstairs to take another shot. I decide to take a shot at Elie's desk, because I live life on the edge, and danger turns me on. I laugh at my boss's remarkable lack of environmental awareness. I also called him a "dummy." I thought that shit was hysterical. He's not a dummy, but he sure is making my job easy today. *4:01 PM - 1st, 2nd and 3rd floor - I spend the next 10 minutes walking around the office discreetly flipping everybody off. I find a never-ending source of happiness from this. I once did this with famous buildings and works of art in Europe. I love being obnoxious, and I'm really good at it. Final drink status: 10 shots of whiskey , 2 beers , 2 shots of jalapeno vodka , 2 glasses of wine *4:14 PM - 2nd floor - Hayley comes upstairs solely to laugh at me. I make fun of her for being an unpaid intern, then immediately apologize because she is my ride home. Elie is also a good sport about being the butt of everybody's jokes ALL. DAY. LONG. He gives Hayley and me a Jack In The Box gift card so that she can feed me on the way home. 6:26 PM - home - I finally arrive home. I am too drunk to continue doing things. Goodbye reading peoples! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *3:02 PM - Pete later informs me that despite my assuredness, the homeless woman was not hot. He's obviously trying to keep her for himself, so I express gratitude for his guidance, then curse his filthy, whorish name under my breath. *4:01 PM - I found the pictures of me flipping off European things. You're welcome, world. Except you, Europe. You kind of asked for it. *4:14 PM - I can't remember if she actually fed me or not. Hayley, if you didn't feed me, you owe me one egg roll and a Double Jack. Friggin' interns, man.

Although my wife and I have taken several trips together since getting married, we still haven’t gone on an official honeymoon. My old job required me to work weekends and I couldn’t take any time off around the date of our wedding ceremony, so I was back in the office two days after saying “I do.” As such, my wife and I didn’t get to do the typical newlywed travel activities. You know, things like toasting each other with champagne every night for a week, lounging on the beach and giggling as we call each other Mr. and Mrs. Baseel, or beating the hell out of a convenience store clerk, like the Chinese newlyweds who are not only just married, but were also just arrested in Japan. On the morning of Saturday, September 26, a pair of newlywed Chinese nationals, the groom 36 and the bride 25, walked into a convenience store in the Chuo Ward of Sapporo, the largest city on Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido. Apparently craving a post-breakfast treat, they grabbed a package of ice cream from the cooler box, opened it up, and started munching away on it in the store. Unless you’re the Dalai Lama, however, Japanese convenience stores prefer you pay for the merchandise before you start consuming it. When the 24-year-old Japanese male clerk who was on-duty spotted what the couple was doing, he gestured for them to leave the store. It’s unclear whether he first tried to speak to the couple in Japanese, or why he gestured for them to leave the store instead of pay for their ice cream. What is clear, though, is that the couple responded by punching him in the face, kicking him, and grabbing his hair. While two-on-one-ing a common opponent with that move set will get you a high score in Double Dragon, it’s generally frowned upon in the real world of inexpensive snack commerce. The police were called, arrived to find the assault ongoing, and promptly arrested the pair. The husband, who told the authorities he is a banker from Shanghai and that he and his wife are on their honeymoon in Japan, said that he felt the clerk was being disrespectful, giving his statement as “I thought my wife was being insulted. It is true that I hit him.” The pair remain in police custody, and now face the possibility of having to downgrade from convenience store sweets to the subpar desserts served by the Japanese penal system’s correctional facilities. Source: Sankei News Top image: Wikipedia/Kuha455405

WikiLeaks has published 294,546 emails along with thousands of attached files from 762 mail boxes that allegedly belong to the primary email domain of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). The most recent email in the trove released by the whistle-blowing organisation on Tuesday was sent on July 6, 2016. The oldest dates back to 2010. "It should be noted that emails associated with the domain are mostly used for dealing with the world, as opposed to the most sensitive internal matters," WikiLeaks said on its official website. WikiLeaks said it obtained the emails a week before Friday's attempted coup. "WikiLeaks has moved forward its publication schedule in response to the government's post-coup purges. We have verified the material and the source, who is not connected, in any way, to the elements behind the attempted coup, or to a rival political party or state," the organisation said. READ MORE: WikiLeaks to release Turkey power structure documents WikiLeaks previously claimed that the Turkish government would attempt to censor the distribution of the documents, and urged the Turkish public to be ready to bypass any government attempts at blocking access to the material. "Turks will likely be censored to prevent them reading our pending release of 100k+ docs on politics leading up to the coup," the organisation said on Monday via Twitter. "We ask that Turks are ready with censorship bypassing systems such as TorBrowser and uTorrent. And that everyone else is ready to help them bypass censorship and push our links through the censorship to come." WikiLeaks later claimed that its infrastructre was "under sustained attack," following its announcement of the imminent publication of the AKP emails. "We are unsure of the true origin of the attack. The timing suggests a Turkish state power faction or its allies. We will prevail & publish," WikiLeaks said on Twitter.

The last week brought about some cooler temperatures to South Florida and believe me that is quite a relief! This delightfully cool weather inspired me to make one of my favorite Cuban potajes (stew) ... Potaje de Garbanzo. I think of a potaje (poe-tah-hey) as not quite a soup, not quite a stew and not quite a porridge. It's a hearty chickpeas (garbanzo), simmered with Spanish chorizo, ham, smoked pork shank, Cuban calabaza and potatoes. The taste takes me back to the days of sitting in my mom's kitchen, talking and watching her prepare this divine "potaje". It's funny how so many of the memories of my mom, that mean so much to me and that I hold dear, took place in her kitchen. A little choked up and a big sigh inserted here! Anyway, back to the "potaje". To me, the perfect spoonful has a piece of chorizo, calabaza, and chickpea swimming in the smokey, paprika infused tomato-y broth. Add your favorite bread to dunk in the savory broth or white rice and your meal has just graduated to a traditional Cuban meal. This is nothing short of absolutely, positively delicious! I am pretty certain that my favorite Potaje de Garbanzo may become one your favorites too!1 tablespoon olive oil1 large vidalia onion, chopped3-4 garlic cloves, chopped1 large bell pepper chopped4 small dried and cured Spanish chorizo* links, sliced on the diagonal1 tablespoon sweet, smoked Spanish paprika1 tablespoon granulated garlic powder1 laurel bay leaf1 8 oz can tomato sauce4 cups chicken stock1 1/2 dry white wine1 pounds of garbanzo beans1 1/2 pounds of smoked pork shank8 oz ham steak cubed1/2 Cuban calabaza squash (or butternut squash), peeled and diced into large pieces1 - 2 large red potatoes, peeled, diced1/2 teaspoon salt Soak the beans 24 hours ahead of cooking time, change water whenever possible. Place the rinse beans and place in a pot with enough water to go about 2 inches above beans. Bring to a rolling boil and cook for 5 minutes on high. Cover and turn off heat. Leave in water for 1 hour. Remove and rinse beans set aside. Throw out water.Heat a deep, heavy bottomed dutch oven over medium heat. Add olive oil, onions, pepper and garlic. Saute for 5-7 minutes or until vegetables are tender, add sliced chorizo, paprika, bay leaf and garlic powder stir well to incorporate. Cook, stirring often, for 5 minutes, making sure the chorizo has expelled it's oils. Add tomato sauce, lower heat to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes, covered. Add all of the remaining ingredients,, and stir to combine. Cook for 1 hour or until beans are almost tender. Add salt and cook for another 1/2 hour.Serve in deep bowls along with crusty Cuban or French bread and/or, as served traditionally, with white rice. Enoy!substitute Spanish chorizo with Mexican chorizo, the flavor profiles are completely different.I like to to dice my calabaza (squash) in large pieces so that I actually have pieces of it remaining in the stew once it is done cooking. It tends to break down considerably during the cooking process.. After sauteing and simmering vegetables and chorizo in the tomato sauce, transfer all ingredients,, to the slow cooker and cook on high for 4-5 hourson low for 8-9 hours. Half hour before cook time is up add in the salt.I never add salt to beans until they are almost done. It is my experience that salt added to the beginning of the bean's cooking process will keep the beans from softening. See my post Salt Will Keep Your Beans from Softening for more information on bean cookery!

Microsoft’s policy, which it calls its Services Agreement, allows it to analyze customer content from one its free products and use it to improve another service — for example, taking information from messages a consumer sends on Windows Live Messenger and using it to improve messaging services on Xbox. Previously, that kind of sharing of information between products would not have been allowed under Microsoft policies, which limited the use of data collected under one of its products to that product alone. Microsoft has promised, however, that it will not use the personal information and content it collects to sell targeted advertising. It will not, for example, scan a consumer’s e-mails to generate ads that might interest the user. Google does that, and expanding its ability to draw on that content was part of the reason Google changed its privacy policy this year. But the new Microsoft policy does allow for such targeted advertising. Microsoft promised not to do so in blog posts and e-mails informing its customers about the change, but not in the formal policy. That has some privacy advocates nervous. “What Microsoft is doing is no different from what Google did,” said John M. Simpson, who monitors privacy policy for Consumer Watchdog, a California nonprofit group. “It allows the combination of data across services in ways a user wouldn’t reasonably expect. Microsoft wants to be able to compile massive digital dossiers about users of its services and monetize them.” Jack Evans, a Microsoft spokesman, says the company’s plans are benign. He differentiates between the Services Agreement, also known as the terms of use, that was changed on Friday and the company’s Privacy Policy, which was last updated in April. “Over the years, we have consistently informed users that we may use their content to improve the services they receive,” Mr. Evans said in a written statement. “For instance, we analyze content to improve our spam and malware filters in order to keep customers safe. We also do it to develop new product features such as e-mail categorization to organize similar items like shipping receipts in a common folder, or to automatically add calendar invitations. “However,” he added, “one thing we don’t do is use the content of our customers’ private communications and documents to create targeted advertising. If that ever changes, we’ll be the first to let our customers know.” Newsletter Sign Up Continue reading the main story Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box. Invalid email address. Please re-enter. You must select a newsletter to subscribe to. Sign Up You will receive emails containing news content , updates and promotions from The New York Times. You may opt-out at any time. You agree to receive occasional updates and special offers for The New York Times's products and services. Thank you for subscribing. An error has occurred. Please try again later. View all New York Times newsletters. Microsoft’s new services agreement affects only its free, Web-based products, not the software programs that individuals and companies buy off the shelf for home or business use. It covers Hotmail, and its related e-mail service, Outlook.com, but not the Outlook e-mail and calendar program that is individually loaded onto computer hard drives and widely used by corporations. Bing, its search engine, is covered, but Internet Explorer, its browser, is not. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Microsoft’s pledge not to use the data from its Web services to target advertising has some credibility, given the company’s broader privacy initiatives. The company has said it will include a “do not track” feature in its new Internet Explorer 10 Web browser that prevents online advertising companies from monitoring the browsing habits of users so they can target promotions. Microsoft has made “do not track” the default setting on the new version of Explorer, a move that has caused a firestorm among online advertising companies. Microsoft’s push to provide better privacy protections for consumers comes at a time when its efforts in Internet advertising have sputtered. Online advertising remains a small fraction of Microsoft’s overall business, accounting for $2.6 billion, or about 3.5 percent, of the company’s revenue during its last fiscal year, which ended June 30, according to Microsoft’s filings with securities regulators. But it is easy to see how Microsoft customers might be confused, because the different divisions of Microsoft that draft and oversee its user agreements and privacy policies did not anticipate that the changes in the services agreement would raise privacy questions. The drafters of the service agreement, a more technical bunch, thought the changes were so small that they were mentioned in August in a specialty “Volume Licensing” blog dedicated to commercial customers, but seemingly nowhere else on Microsoft’s vast array of corporate Web sites. Microsoft also sent an e-mail about the change in late August to all of its 325 million Hotmail users. But those notices became the subject of nervous online chatter when some users learned that a similar message, using the same template, was being used by hackers to distribute harmful malware. Online message boards warned against even opening the messages. Inside Microsoft, officials were focused not on whether the policy changes affected privacy but rather on a different change, one that limits the ability of Microsoft customers to sue the company, including in a class action, over its products. The new agreement requires the use of binding arbitration. Mr. Evans said the change put in place on Friday in the Services Agreement “did not alter our existing privacy policies.” Those policies include a 4,000-word main policy and at least 16 related product-specific privacy policies. That itself is an example of how users cannot possibly know what Internet companies are doing with their personal information, said Jeff Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy, a consumer protection group based in Washington. “No one understands how all this data is being put together and being used,” he said. “All of these companies are in a digital arms race to tie together all the information they have about individuals. For companies like Google and Microsoft, the real goal is to expand market share.”

FRENCH voters planning to back centre-right incumbent President Nicolas Sarkozy in next month's election have sex less often than their left-wing rivals, according to a poll published today. The survey, conducted by the respected polling institute Ifop on behalf of the pornographic magazine Hot Video, measured the intensity and variety of the sex lives of various voting blocs using several criteria. According to the results, voters for Sarkozy's UMP make love on average 6.7 times a month, slightly less often than supporters of his main challenger, the Socialist Party's Francois Hollande, on 7.6. Followers of Marine Le Pen's far-right anti-immigrant National Front top the frequency league, having sex eight times a month, while those of centrist Francois Bayrou manage only 5.9 trysts in the same period. Right-wingers also report having had fewer partners over the course of their lives, with seven compared to nine on the left, but once again it was the extreme right on top, with Le Pen supporters claiming 10. But these extra partners don't seem to satisfy the far-right, as 31 per cent of them declare themselves unhappy with their sex life, compared to 26 per cent in the population as a whole and 21 per cent among Socialists. Supporters of Jean-Luc Melenchon's Communist-backed Left Front were the most sexually frustrated, with 35 per cent of them complaining. Ifop said it had conducted the poll among 1411 adults in a weighted sample designed to reflect French society, and had taken care to minimise the margin of error "inherent in a questionnaire dealing with such intimate topics".

The Last Jedi doesn’t feel like a Star Wars movie. This isn’t a bad thing, exactly. There are moments of brilliance where director Rian Johnson is clearly trying to elevate this franchise, imbue it with a greater complexity. There are other moments that feel like the worst of Marvel films. And then there are the porgs, which are a bit like the Minions of the franchise. I’m going to go ahead and discuss spoilers from here on out, because I feel this film is difficult to dissect without going into detail, and let’s be honest, nobody needs a recommendation to go and see a Star Wars film. So if you haven’t seen it, read no further. Major Spoilers ahead The very first scene, with Hux’s threat to Poe turning into a prank call, was tonally off. Guardians of the Galaxy was heavily influenced by Star Wars, and now it seems that inspiration has turned full circle. In fact, although some of the humor was welcome, there was far too much wisecracking throughout the film. At the end, I half expected Rey’s ship to crash land on Earth and encounter the Avengers, only to turn to the camera and wink as the credits rolled. On the other hand, there are some surprisingly mature themes here, as the franchise moves beyond the very clearly defined good and evil of the past installments. The importance of failure, the refusal to define Kylo by his Force allegiance, and the admission that heroes can come from humble backgrounds are all interesting attempts to diversify the narrative. I confess, I never liked Luke Skywalker as a character before (please don’t hate me), but I really enjoyed his presence in this film. Luke has grown beyond the starry-eyed boy and into a jaded, isolated old master, paralleling Yoda’s journey from the original trilogy. But the moment where he intended to murder the young, sleeping Kylo felt utterly wrong, going against the grain of everything the character is. It may have been only an instant, but Skywalker always seemed genuinely innocent, the kind of guy who doesn’t learn to masturbate until his late teens. The man is a boy scout, and he has no business murdering sleeping students. That being said, Mark Hamill has only improved with age, and I was deeply sorry to see him go. I loved his dramatic force-projection scene with Kylo, and him peacefully fading off into the Force after a long, accomplished life seemed the most fitting end to the space Messiah. But I’m getting ahead of myself. The new face of the franchise is Rey, and she has grown less and less interesting the more we see of her. Daisy Ridley is likable and charismatic, but she doesn’t have much to go on here; she’s wildly overpowered, and an early hint that she may embrace the dark side never really goes anywhere. She seems fascinated by the potential of evil, and then not. I don’t understand her motivation, other than to have an exciting adventure. The much-anticipated reveal of her parentage can best be described as an enjoyable disappointment. I like the fact that genius can emerge from nothing, as Star Wars has always been fixated on heritage and fatalism. But I also feel like I need some sort of explanation for the seemingly most powerful individual in the franchise. Then again, Kylo Ren may have been lying. But I’m starting to feel like I don’t much care what Rey does from now on. Kylo Ren has turned into the most fascinating and complex Star Wars character ever, as far as I’m concerned. For a series that’s always been so black and white, Kylo is very grey indeed, and is set up to be the major villain, or perhaps even hero, of the new trilogy. Adam Driver puts in a strong, understated performance, as Kylo has matured beyond tantrums. Well, almost. He does shatter his Vader-wannabe mask in a fit of rage, physically and metaphorically destroying his old identity and embracing himself for who he truly is. I always liked the idea of Darth Vader being a legend in this fictional universe, so much so that he has a fanboy trying to emulate him. But Kylo’s utter humiliation at the hands of Rey, and manipulation by Snoke has taught him that there was only one Darth Vader, and his story ended long ago. Kylo’s story, on the other hand, looks to be completely unpredictable. The Force-connection scenes between him and Rey were among the highlights of the film, and provided some much-needed characterization for both of them, allowing both to speak, debate, even flirt, without any need for a lightsaber battle. But I must say, I felt cheated when it comes to lightsaber battles. The Last Jedi has way too many lasers and speeding spacecraft. Starfighters are cool, I guess, but they’re just not as fun as two people desperately fighting to the death with laser swords, and the countless scenes of Poe shooting through space, effortlessly avoiding being hit, really made me notice the runtime. There’s a lot of time spent at a space casino, with little payoff. Poe appears to be the new Han Solo, and a surrogate son for Leia, which is cute. Finn shows an understandable desire to run away, only to be stopped by the cheery, vaguely annoying Rose. The two spark it off, but prove to be a dull couple indeed, and we’re given very little reason to care for them. Dearly departed Carrie Fisher gives a strong final(?) performance for Princess Leia, and there are several instances where it looks as though she’s about to die onscreen, only for her to survive to the end credits intact. I’m hoping her character will peacefully die offscreen before the next installment, which is surely the most tasteful thing to do, given the circumstances. I was kind of worried Disney was going to use that creepy face-capturing technology to continue her story, but they have stated that they won’t, even if they’d really like to. The scene where Kylo chooses not kill his mother is powerful – the man is more than willing to stab his father in the gut, but we all know that only a true monster kills their mom; that’s Norman Bates level of villainy. But his comrades go ahead and do the job for him, only for Leia to float through the vacuum of space, proving her command of the Force. It’s another scene I’m conflicted by – Leia always seemed like she chose a more “normal” life compared to her brother, and this feels like another scene that dilates the power of the Force. The Last Jedi, much like The Force Awakens, gives the impression that mastering the Force is kind of easy. Thankfully, there’s no mention of midichlorians. One of the greatest scenes in the film is between Rey and Kylo (most of the great scenes involve the two, really) in Snoke’s fabulously red throne room – he’s not an attractive man, but he certainly has a flair for interior design. When Kylo betrays Snoke, he establishes himself as the big bad, which is great, but also renders Snoke utterly pointless. What on earth was the point of him, other than to be a diet Palpatine? Not everybody needs a padded backstory, but characters that significantly drive the plot need more than this. Where did this guy come from, and what was his ultimate plan, other than “being evil?” It feels as though the new trilogy is finding the story as it goes along, which isn’t exactly a bad thing, but has led us down a few dead ends in the process. I wanted to at least hear Snoke say, “you wanna know how I got these scars?” Then there are the porgs, which are deeply unsettling. I know Star Wars has a history of inserting Beanie Babies into scenes where they don’t belong, but hell, these creatures aren’t even cute. They’re right on the edge of the uncanny valley, more akin to deformed fetuses rather than adorable little critters. And they’re everywhere, breaking the tension, interrupting the narrative flow like a blaring toy commercial, which is what they are, really. Seeing past the various flaws, this film is a joy to look at. The salt planet (let’s all thank that guy who licked the ground for clarifying that for us), the beautiful isolation of Luke’s island, the ragtag, chipped-away aesthetic of the Rebellion, were all wonderfully depicted. But there was a certain emptiness here that’s difficult to pin down. The Last Jedi is tough to define; I really loved some moments in this film, and despised others. Luke had his finest appearance on screen, as far as I’m concerned, and a great send-off. Princess Leia is supremely dignified throughout, even when she’s floating through the depths of space, frosted in ice. Rey’s emptiness was balanced by Kylo’s complexity, and Finn, Poe, Rose and whoever Benicio Del Toro was, were all … there. Oh, and I forgot to mention Captain Phasma. But that’s ok, because she never did anything. I left the theatre in a strange mood, unsure if I was even looking forward to the next installment. I had very high hopes for Rian Johnson, seeing as Looper is one of my favorite sci-fi films. But The Last Jedi lacked Looper’s slickness. It was bloated, burpy, tonally wobbly. Forty minutes could have been sliced out of this film, and would have left it leaner, healthier. I still trust Rian Johnson with the new trilogy, I think. But I’m even more wary about Disney’s alarming takeover of the entertainment world. Are all their films going to feel like they’re part of the Marvel cinematic universe now? We’ll see what’s next for Star Wars. I had a lot of issues with The Force Awakens recycling old story, but it still felt very much like a Star Wars film. The Last Jedi manages to be both a bold step forward, and a significant step back. Follow me on Facebook or Twitter

Residents in a Dublin city centre apartment complex have been told to pay €4 million in less than a week or face eviction after major fire safety deficiencies were discovered in their building. Residents in a Dublin city centre apartment complex have been told to pay €4 million in less than a week or face eviction after major fire safety deficiencies were discovered in their building. 'We're the victims here' - Longboat Quay residents face eviction unless they cover €4m repair bill for fire safety failings Around 900 people live in the 299 apartments in the Longboat Quay complex by the Dublin docklands. Residents of the apartments on Sir John Rogerson's Quay were left horrified when they were told last night owners would have to pay between €9,300 to €18,000 depending on the size of their apartment. “I was asked to pay €18,000 and I told the chap last night I wouldn’t be paying it – I haven’t got that kind of money,” one resident told RTE’s Six One News. Longboat Quay was built by developer Bernard McNamara in 2006 with owners paying between €450,000 and €750,000 at the height of the boom. However serious fire safety deficiencies were uncovered last year and so far Dublin Docklands Development Authority, the nominal landlord, has paid €1 million to fix the fire alarm system. But further work is required to upgrade fire walls and smoke vents at a cost of €4 million. Read More: Enda Kenny urged to help resolve plight of residents in 'fire risk' complex The docklands authority insists this is the responsibility of apartment owners as the company used by Mr NcNamara has gone into receivership. But many owners say while they could pay some of the cost, they should not be responsible for “problems they did not know existed”. Richard Eardley Director Longboat Quay Management “We the owners are the victims here, we all bought apartments here in the last few years without knowing these problems existed and now we’re faced with a big problem,” said Richard Eardley Director Longboat Quay Management. He told Six One News that while owners could be part of the solution, the receiver and the DDDA also had a part to play. Longboat Quay is 60 pc owner occupier and 40 pc tenants. Speaking to Independent.ie this morning, local Cllr Dermot Lacey (Labour), who was at the public meeting last night, said both Dublin City Council and the Dublin Docklands Development Authority (DDDA) have a "moral responsibility" to deal with the issue and not leave residents "in the lurch". "I am horrified by the lack of engagement by public bodies in this matter. Dublin City Council are the moral landlords and the DDDA have a moral responsibility... and yet people are walking away from responsibility," he said. "My job is to sit down with both Dublin City Council and the DDDA and try and resolve it and not leave people in the lurch," he added. Read More: Bernard McNamara's development firm Gendsong behind the Longboat Quay property Speaking to Today with Sean O’Rourke on RTÉ One today, resident Paula Daly said that residents knew about a potential problem 24 months ago. “Apparently, going back to 2011, Dublin Fire Brigade gave the ok that everything was ok, but they came back two years ago and told us there was a problem. “Last night we got hit with the amount they’re looking for everyone to pay. I’m in a three-bedroom duplex and they want €18,000. Myself and my husband have two children and we both work, but I don’t know where we’re going to get this money.” In the last six weeks, Dublin Fire Brigade has twice threatened to apply for a fire safety notice if remedial works to make the complex safe were not performed. Last night, residents were told a tender for the remedial works has been accepted - but funding required for the work has not yet been acquired. Residents were then told that a sum of €4 million was required or Dublin Fire Brigade could move in to evacuate the premises. "I think the Dublin Fire Brigade is trying to be helpful here. They are trying to push for a resolution," Cllr Lacey said. "The DDDA was a very successful company - and they do have some assets. There is funding there. It's not a lot of money but it could help," he said. Cllr Lacey also claimed that some 18 apartments were owned by a receiver. Read More: Residents angry at new charges for fire safety work at Dockland homes The complex was constructed by Gendson, a vehicle for bankrupt developer Bernard McNamara, which has now gone into receivership. Cllr Lacey suggested that these apartments could be sold in order to help residents with the funding required. "The figures outlined last night at the meeting - whether they can find that money at the end of the week, it's a little unreal. We need to identify where such monies will come from in a very short period of time." The 299 units in the development were built eight years ago by former developer Bernard McNamara who later went bankrupt. Most were sold to private buyers and some cost more than €500,000. In February, it emerged serious shortcomings were discovered in an inspection last summer, including some walls deemed inadequate to contain a fire and an absence of some smoke vents needed if a fire broke out. Consultations with Dublin Fire Brigade resulted in an evacuation of the blocks being avoided on condition that fire warden patrols were implemented. One couple said their annual management fee for their one-bedroom apartment was increased by €200 a year to €1,200 for the next four years to pay for some of the work. Online Editors

Japan's exports have also declined amid economic contraction [File: EPA] Japan's economy has slipped into recession after a worse than expected performance for the first quarter of the year. The economy contracted sharply in the first quarter, as factory production and consumer spending declined in the aftermath of the March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami. Real gross domestic product - a measure of the value of all goods and services produced domestically - shrank at an annualised rate of 3.7 per cent in the January-March period, the country's cabinet office said on Thursday. The result marks the second straight quarter that the world's third largest economy has lost steam and undershoots an annualised 2.3 per cent fall forecast in a Kyodo News agency survey. While there is no universally accepted definition of a recession, many economists define it as two consecutive quarters of GDP contraction. Others consider the depth of economic decline as well as other measures like unemployment. Japan's magnitude-9.0 earthquake and tsunami left more than 24,000 people dead or missing, and wiped out entire towns in the hardest-hit areas. Damage is estimated at $300bn, making it the most expensive natural disaster in history. It damaged factories in the region, causing severe shortages of parts and components for manufacturers across Japan, especially automakers. A crippled nuclear power plant caused widespread power shortages that added to the difficulties faced by businesses and households. Seijiro Takeshita, director of Mizuho International, told Al Jazeera that recovery may take a long time because clean-up efforts were taking so long. Consumer spending falls Japan's factory production and consumer spending both fell the most on record in March. Exports in March went south for the first time in 16 months. Companies are reporting lower earnings and diminished outlooks for the rest of the fiscal year. Toyota, Japan's biggest automaker, said last week that its quarterly profit tumbled more than 75 per cent because of parts shortages after the tsunami. As of May, the crisis cost the company production of 550,000 vehicles in Japan and another 350,000 overseas. Toyota is expected to lose its spot as the world's top-selling automaker to General Motors this year. Even before the disaster, Japan's economy was shaky. In a historic shift, China overtook the country as the world's second largest economy last year. Japan struggled to address a slew of problems including years of deflation, a rapidly ageing and shrinking population, and ballooning public debt. 'Instant evaporation' Japanese companies increasingly relied on exports to drive growth and offset the persistently lackluster demand at home. After four solid quarters of growth, Japan's GDP turned negative in the last three months of 2010 due to weaker exports and consumer demand. The downturn was expected to be temporary. Instead, Japan has now recorded consecutive quarters of contraction for the first time since the global financial crisis. GDP fell for four straight quarters starting April 2008. The country's economy and fiscal policy minister Kaoru Yosano described the current slump as milder than the previous slide, when global demand "evaporated instantly". "The Japanese economy's ability to rebound is sufficiently strong,'' Yosano said, according to the Kyodo News agency.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and Singapore founder Lee Kuan Yew. File photo / Composite Despite both ruling with an iron fist, the late Singapore founder Lee Kuan Yew is extremely different from Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, Singapore's biggest newspaper said Friday. In a strongly-worded opinion piece, the Straits Times scoffed at commentaries that Lee and Duterte had similar administrative styles and nation-building approaches. Lee, under an authoritarian rule, transformed Singapore from a third world to a first world country. He passed away in March 2015. "The analogy would have been interesting except that it is laughably inappropriate," wrote Global Affairs associate editor Ravi Velloor. The first big difference between them, said the piece, was that Lee "was not a man to have a person's life taken away without absolute attention to due process." "People with no links to the drug trade, either as consumers or suppliers, have been assassinated in the process, perhaps to settle private vendettas. Criticism is met with abuse. An army of online warriors, some of whom are perhaps employed in the booming outsourcing industry, seem to be readily on hand to troll presidential critics, putting a fright into even seasoned commentators," it said. In Duterte's ongoing war against illegal drugs, at least 1,840 deaths have been recorded. Of this number, 1,088 were killed during police operations. Aside from this, the piece said Lee would never back away from a territorial claim "for the elusive promise of a few bags of silver in development aid." The Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled last July that China's economic claim on the South China Sea was without basis. The Duterte administration, however, has been careful not to bring up the matter in international fora or with China, saying it wants to work with the rising superpower in resolving the issue. "The Duterte-ordered extrajudicial killings, and his gyrations on the maritime dispute with China, have raised a stench for the Philippines that is far more perverse than the haze that used to spread out from Indonesia. If it goes on for too long, it could potentially be a bone in ASEAN's throat," said the Straits Times. It also warned against signs that Duterte may be endangering the Philippines' once promising economic future. "Global investors have turned skittish in recent weeks as his coarse tongue and take-no-prisoner methods get attention," it said, citing the Peso dropping to a seven-year low. "Mr Duterte has many good reasons to be in a hurry to accomplish his mission. Presidents in his nation are allowed only a single six-year term, after all. Sometimes, though, it is wise to make haste a tad slowly," it added.

As many as 8 passengers have been charred to death in a tragic accident involving a luxury bus and a diesel tanker in the outskirts of Mumbai. The luxury bus, which was on way to Ahmedabad from Pune, hit a diesel tanker near Kude village in Manor, Maharashtra between 1 and 2 a.m. on Wednesday. Seven people were charred to death after the bus caught fire in the impact of the collision. The tanker, which was carrying diesel towards Hazira in Gujarat, also caught fire. The incident reportedly took place when most of the passengers were asleep. Police officials, emergency services and medical staff rushed to the spot to carry out rescue operations. "We had to be very careful in our operations as there was a diesel tanker and a risk of explosion," a senior police officer who was on the spot told NDTV. The charred bodies of victims were recovered. "The bodies could not be identified as they are charred beyond recognition. The bodies have been sent for postmortem. The district administration is in the process of contacting the bus operator to get the names of the passengers travelling in the bus," Thane District Collector P Velrasu told the Press Trust of India. At least 14 people were injured in the accident and they have been rushed to Manor rural hospital for treatment. The accident halted traffic on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway for several hours.

The only scientists who kept the Business-as-Usual sign hanging out during the war were the mathematicians and astronomers. The other men of learning were engaged in war work. Physicists were making better range-finders, chemists were making better poison gases, and theologians were proving that their gods were in the trenches qualifying for meritorious-conduct medals and kisses on both cheeks. But the astronomers and mathematicians were not doing their bits. While the war was in progress, Albert Einstein was completing his theory at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute in Berlin, and British astronomers were working on plans to test it. It was fraternizing with the enemy. Scientists of this type have always been dangerous internationalists. They did incalculable harm to Church and State at an earlier time by casting suspicion on the Bible truth that the earth was flat and had four corners, and even today a man who meddles with the universe is regarded as unsafe. One of the organizers of the American Legion started an agitation to bar Einstein from the United States as a Red; the Woman Patriot Corporation lodged a complaint against him with the State Department; an American consular official nearly heckled the scientist into abandoning an American trip; Cardinal O’Connell denounced the Einstein theory as false, atheistic, and immoral; a religious writer charged that Einstein had cribbed the theory from the writings of a thirteenth-century saint. Nevertheless, Einstein slipped past the immigration authorities in 1930, and he did it again last October. Today, he is openly carrying on mathematical work at Princeton. The anti-nationalistic taint in astronomy manifested itself when British astronomers, even before the Treaty of Versailles had been signed, confirmed the new theory that had been made in Germany. On May 29, 1919, two expeditions under the Union Jack—one at Sobral in Brazil, and the other at Principe off the coast of West Africa—photographed an eclipse in order to discover whether starlight, as Einstein’s calculations had indicated, was twisted when it passed a massive body like the sun. They reported that Einstein was right. Since then, his theory has been retouched in detail, but its essentials have been repeatedly verified. No important scientist is to be found among the skeptics, although there is every incentive to debunk Einstein, if it can be done. Immortality awaits the man who can overthrow Einstein. The popular uproar over the theory surprised no one more than the author of the theory. He had been almost a recluse. His contacts had been with quiet, scholarly men of his own type, and his sudden glory appalled him. Interviewers, photographers, lion-hunters, cause-promoters, testimonial-seekers, and reflected-glory chasers of every kind came swarming into his life. A man of soft, plastic nature, Einstein was helpless in their hands. He was forced into the rôle of publicist, propagandist, and oracle. After fourteen years of experience with international nuisances and go-getters, Einstein has developed some resistance, but he has not yet learned how to say “No” successfully, and he is still the prey of determined busybodies. The Einstein of 1933 has become fairly reconciled to the occupation of popular idol. He has developed into a mixer, a wit, an authority on things in general, and the probable successor of George Bernard Shaw as the world’s miscellaneous consulting expert, but his countenance still reflects the bewilderment of his early years as a demigod in spite of himself. Permanent astonishment shines from his great eyes under their apprehensive brows. When he first became famous, Einstein was a strange compound of cosmic wisdom and worldly inexperience. Presented by Lord Haldane to the Royal Society in England as a man of unparalleled intellectual boldness, Einstein found himself intimidated by the livery of the Haldane retainers. “He is too formidable,” said the Professor later at the Haldane place, when Mrs. Einstein wanted to summon the butler to fix a window. When he visited the Queen of the Belgians, Einstein failed to notice the welcoming party at the railway station and surprised the royal household by arriving on foot, baggage in hand. The Professor and his wife were both bewildered by the barbaric hospitality which overwhelmed them on their earlier visits to this country. They agreed that they must blindly accept whatever occurred to them in this bizarre republic; at a dinner in Cleveland, Mrs. Einstein, shrugging her shoulders at what appeared to be an elegant American eccentricity, ate a bouquet of orchids which she found on what seemed to be a salad plate. Einstein knew things that everybody else was ignorant of, and was ignorant of things that everybody else knew. The name of the richest man in the world meant nothing to him. He used a $1,500 check from the Rockefeller Foundation as a bookmark, lost the book, and could not remember who had sent the check. It took Mrs. Einstein some weeks to clear up the affair and to obtain a duplicate check, which was needed to pay the salary of an assistant. “My God, do you even have to sleep in those things?” Einstein is a mental Hercules, according to those who know his work. He has performed prodigious labors. By all the theories of physiognomy, he should be a granite-visaged Norse god of the Hindenburg type, instead of looking like a poet or musician. On theoretical grounds, he should have an iron will, instead of being pliant, docile, compromising. The explanation seems to be that Einstein, unlike most men of achievement, has never had to coerce or harden himself. His work was an exalted revel and his whole scientific life was a perpetual carnival, to judge from a speech of his at a dinner in Berlin in honor of the physicist, Max Planck. A preceding speaker had talked of the “agonizing toil” and “superhuman will” required of a great scientist. Einstein demurred. “This daily striving,” he said, “is dictated by no principle or program, but arises from immediate personal need. The emotional condition which renders possible such achievements is like that of the religious devotee or the lover.” On another occasion, Einstein described the impulse to grapple with his problems as “a demoniac possession,” needing no stimulation from conscious effort of the will. Einstein’s own theory about himself must be correct; nothing else could account for his irresistible energy in his own regions of thought and his lamblike helplessness in ordinary contacts. To catalogue a few of his lost wars of everyday life: For a time he refused to play the violin for charity because of his modest estimate of his own ability, and because he thought it unfair to professionals; under pressure, however, he gave many recitals. He declined a de-luxe cabin on a trip to America because of his scruples against luxury, but accepted when informed that he was hurting the feelings of the steamship line. On his trip to India, he refused to travel in a rickshaw because he thought it degrading to use a human being as a draught animal; he reconsidered, however, on the ground that rickshaw boys must live, and patronized them extensively. Hating fuss and feathers, he has been induced to make triumphal progresses on four continents. He has compared mass newspaper interviews to being bitten by wolves and to being hanged, but nevertheless he is frequently gang-interviewed. This easy yielding to pressure would lead another man to cheapen himself, but Einstein is saved by his aesthetic sense and his unworldliness. He could not do anything sordid. He doesn’t want anything; there is nothing about the man for temptation to work on. When he received the Nobel Prize in 1921, he gave it to charity. When a magazine offered him an amazing sum for an article, he rejected it contemptuously. “What?” he exclaimed. “Do they think I am a prizefighter?” But he finally wrote the article after arguing the magazine into cutting the price in half. It is said that he declined his present post at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton on the ground that the salary was preposterously munificent, and was persuaded to accept only by the promise of an enormous pay cut. He objected to gifts, but his 1930 trip to this country netted him five violins and other valuable booty. His backbone stiffened, however, when an admirer sought to press on him a Guarnerius valued at $33,000; this he firmly refused, saying that he was not enough of a musician to do justice to the instrument. Probably no man has been more plagued than Einstein by offers of money for testimonials for toothpaste, pimple-eradicators, corn plasters, and cigarettes. He brushed all this aside as “corruption” and would have no compromise. Einstein regards money as something to give away; in 1927, he was aiding one hundred and fifty poor families in Berlin. Einstein’s amiable infirmity of purpose was illustrated on his trip to America on the Belgenland, in 1930. The liner stopped five days in New York Harbor on the way to the Pacific Coast. Before leaving Germany, the scientist had announced that he would give no interviews, pose for no pictures, make no speeches, and pay no visits, but would remain aboard the ship. He was chivied into doing just the opposite of what he had planned. His five days were spent in interviews, broadcasts, luncheons, teas, dinners, and sightseeing expeditions. He even toured Chinatown. He went to the opera, visited Jeritza, and gave his written approval to the late Bill Guard’s brief definition of the Einstein theory: “There is no hitching-post in the universe.” The interviewing on the ship went on so long that the Professor finally uttered a resolute “No more” and went into hiding. A reporter found him. “Go away,” said Einstein, in his slow, reproachful manner, “immediately.” Seeing the disappointment on the reporter’s face, the scientist called after him, “Come back, young man, and I will try to answer your questions.” Pen-and-ink artists were also barred at this time. But when one of them surreptitiously made a sketch, Einstein autographed it and added a rhyme in German to the effect that “This fat, overfed pig seems to be Prof. Einstein.” It is the habit of this good, easy man to reward those who violate his rules and penalize those who respect them; courteous reporters, photographers, and artists are continually scooped by their unmannerly brethren, who by harrying and badgering the scientist put him into an affable, complying humor. While Einstein may have suffered to some extent under press cross-examinations, he has a miscellaneous journalistic inquisitiveness of his own and is an expert in baiting others with who and which. During an illness in 1928, he was attended in Germany by a world-famous New York physician. The physician memorized one hundred and fifty funny stories and told them to his celebrated patient. It was supposed that he did this to keep Einstein cheerful. “Not at all,” said the physician. “I told him funny stories in self-protection. He asked me so many questions that I was constantly embarrassed by my ignorance. When I found that he liked jokes, I memorized them to stop his questions.” “Gosh, Jack, I was born in a room like this.”

Matti Breschel (Saxo-Tinkoff) won stage 3 at the Tour of Denmark from a five-rider breakaway and also moved into the general classification lead of his national Tour. Francesco Bongiorno (Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox) and Wilco Kelderman (Belkin) finished second and third respectively behind the 28-year-old Dane, followed by Lars Bak (Lotto Belisol) in fourth and Edoardo Zardini (Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox) in fifth. Related Articles Tour of Denmark hints at Swedish sojourn for 2015 Breschel not only won his second straight stage, but now holds the leader's yellow jersey with a six-second advantage over Bak while Bongiorno moves up to third at 14 seconds. The peloton was shattered on the 200km queen stage from Sønderborg to Vejle through a combination of crosswinds, record heat, hills, plus a taxing finishing circuit. Overnight race leader Magnus Cort Nielsen (Team Cult Energy) finished in a 16-rider group at 48 seconds and dropped to ninth on general classification. The day's early break formed just 10km into the stage as six riders went out on the attack: Alex Rasmussen (Garmin-Sharp), Mikhail Ignatyev (Katusha), Mark Sehested Pedersen (Blue Water Cycling), Michael Reihs (Team Cult Energy), Søren Kragh Andersen (Team Tre-For) and Mikkel Mortensen (Team Concordia Forsikring-Riwal). After 25km of racing their lead reached three minutes and for the next couple of hours their advantage fluctuated slightly between 2:40 and three minutes on the peloton. Crosswinds split the peloton at the 84km mark, but the field eventually re-grouped. The Belkin team had been setting tempo at the head of the peloton and after covering 113km the break's lead had dropped to 1:30. In addition to the hilly terrain during the Tour of Denmark's longest stage, the peloton was having to grapple with the hottest temperatures in race history, with the mercury reaching 31.5 Celsius. Belkin kept the break's advantage pegged at 1:30 for the next 30km but then the escape group started to falter as both Rasmussen and Sehested were dropped at 146km. Saxo-Tinkoff and Lotto Belisol both provided assistance to Belkin in the peloton and the four riders in front saw their lead drop below one minute. With approximately 35km remaining, the break was caught and a group of 10 went out on the attack. Just prior to reaching the 5.6km finishing circuit in Vejle, to be completed three times, the lead group had increased in size to approximately 20 riders. The finishing circuit featured a stiff, 21 percent ascent which provided a perfect platform for riders to go on the attack. Lars Bak, Matti Breschel and Wilco Kelderman were particularly aggressive and eventually a lead group formed inside the final 10km comprised of Bak, Breschel, Kelderman, Björn Leukemans (Vacansoleil-DCM), Troels Vinther (Team Cult Energy) plus a pair of Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox riders, Francesco Bongiorno and Edoardo Zardini. Bak was the highest-place rider on GC in the front group, starting the day just seven seconds out of yellow, but Breschel, too, was a threat to take over the race lead as he was only one place behind Bak on GC at 11 seconds. Not wanting to go head-to-head with Breschel in a sprint finish, Bak tried to solo away to victory on the final lap as he pushed the pace on the Kiddesvej climb. The Lotto Belisol rider, however, would again be chased down by his breakaway companions, with Breschel, Kelderman, Bongiorno and Zardini making contact and setting up a sprint finale. Breschel once again proved the fastest as he won for the second straight day, plus earned the leader's yellow jersey to cap off another strong performance. Full Results 1 Matti Breschel (Den) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 4:44:41 2 Francesco Manuel Bongiorno (Ita) Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox 3 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team 4 Lars Bak (Den) Lotto Belisol 5 Edoardo Zardini (Ita) Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox 6 Jelle Wallays (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:00:09 7 Björn Leukemans (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 0:00:13 8 Viacheslav Kuznetsov (Rus) Katusha 0:00:21 9 Juan Antonio Flecha (Spa) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 10 Troels Vinther (Den) Team Cult Energi 0:00:31 11 Michel Kreder (Ned) Garmin-Sharp 0:00:40 12 Marco Canola (Ita) Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox 13 Laurens De Vreese (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:00:44 14 Marc Goos (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team 0:00:48 15 Damien Gaudin (Fra) Team Europcar 16 Tim Declercq (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise 17 Arthur Vanoverberghe (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise 18 Sacha Modolo (Ita) Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox 19 Jesper Hansen (Den) Team Cult Energi 20 Gijs Van Hoecke (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise 21 Enrico Battaglin (Ita) Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox 22 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling Team 23 Wouter Mol (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 24 Björn Thurau (Ger) Team Europcar 25 Kevyn Ista (Bel) IAM Cycling 26 Michael Mørkøv (Den) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 27 Magnus Cort Nielsen (Den) Team Cult Energi 28 Rasmus Mygind (Den) Team Tre-For 29 Thomas Löfkvist (Swe) IAM Cycling 30 Marc Garby (Den) Team Post Danmark 0:00:53 31 Emil Vinjebo (Den) Team Tre-For 0:01:12 32 Enrico Barbin (Ita) Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox 33 Martin Mortensen (Den) Team Concordia Forsikring-Riwal 0:01:19 34 Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox 0:01:28 35 Martin Elmiger (Swi) IAM Cycling 0:01:39 36 Maarten Tjallingii (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team 37 Rob Ruijgh (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 38 Martijn Keizer (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 39 Jimmi Sørensen (Den) Team Post Danmark 0:01:50 40 Alexander Porsev (Rus) Katusha 0:01:59 41 Gustav Larsson (Swe) IAM Cycling 0:02:14 42 Matthias Brândle (Aut) IAM Cycling 0:02:28 43 Frantisek Rabon (Cze) Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling Team 0:02:43 44 Jos Van Emden (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team 0:03:55 45 Yves Lampaert (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise 46 Koldo Fernandez (Spa) Garmin-Sharp 47 Rasmus Guldhammer (Den) Blue Water Cycling 0:04:53 48 Daniel Foder (Den) Blue Water Cycling 49 Vladimir Isaychev (Rus) Katusha 50 Rudiger Selig (Ger) Katusha 51 Nikola Aistrup (Den) Team Concordia Forsikring-Riwal 52 Stijn Vandenbergh (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling Team 53 Fabio Calabria (Aus) Team Novo Nordisk 54 Tyler Farrar (USA) Garmin-Sharp 55 Olivier Kaisen (Bel) Lotto Belisol 56 Martin Velits (Svk) Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling Team 57 Marko Kump (Slo) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 58 Andrew Fenn (GBr) Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling Team 0:05:27 59 Nicolai Brøchner (Den) Team Post Danmark 0:07:34 60 Timofey Kritskiy (Rus) Katusha 0:07:40 61 Manuele Boaro (Ita) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 62 Pieter Vanspeybrouck (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise 63 Andre Steensen (Den) Team Cult Energi 64 Asbjørn Kragh Andersen (Den) Team Tre-For 0:09:33 65 Mikkel Mortensen (Den) Team Concordia Forsikring-Riwal 0:10:03 66 Christopher Juul Jensen (Den) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 67 Julien Vermote (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling Team 0:10:15 68 Mikhail Ignatyev (Rus) Katusha 0:10:23 69 Marco Haller (Aut) Katusha 0:10:46 70 Robbie Hunter (RSA) Garmin-Sharp 0:10:57 71 Kenny Van Hummel (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 72 Jens Debusschere (Bel) Lotto Belisol 73 Marco Coledan (Ita) Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox 0:11:23 74 Moreno Hofland (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team 75 Kristian Haugaard Jensen (Den) Team Post Danmark 76 Michael Valgren Andersen (Den) Team Cult Energi 77 Anders Lund (Den) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 78 Maarten Neyens (Bel) Lotto Belisol 0:11:26 79 Tony Hurel (Fra) Team Europcar 80 Sander Cordeel (Bel) Lotto Belisol 81 Bryan Coquard (Fra) Team Europcar 82 Christophe Kern (Fra) Team Europcar 83 Pim Ligthart (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 0:11:51 84 Andrea Peron (Ita) Team Novo Nordisk 85 Marco Bandiera (Ita) IAM Cycling 0:11:54 86 Matteo Pelucchi (Ita) IAM Cycling 87 Michael Berling (Den) Team Concordia Forsikring-Riwal 0:13:47 88 Jay McCarthy (Aus) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 89 Martijn Verschoor (Ned) Team Novo Nordisk 90 Alexey Tsatevitch (Rus) Katusha 91 Michael Reihs (Den) Team Cult Energi 92 Christopher Williams (Aus) Team Novo Nordisk 93 Alex Rasmussen (Den) Garmin-Sharp 94 Kevin De Mesmaeker (Bel) Team Novo Nordisk 95 Rasmus Sterobo (Den) Team Cult Energi 96 Barry Markus (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 97 Kristof Goddaert (Bel) IAM Cycling 98 Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling Team 99 Rolf Broge (Den) Team Post Danmark 100 Stephen Clancy (Irl) Team Novo Nordisk 101 Morten Øllegaard (Den) Blue Water Cycling 102 Dennis Hereford Jensen (Den) Team Post Danmark 103 Christopher Stevenson (Swe) Team Concordia Forsikring-Riwal 104 Frederik Plesner (Den) Team Tre-For 105 Jacob Nielsen (Den) Blue Water Cycling 106 Kasper Klostergaard (Den) Team Concordia Forsikring-Riwal 107 Morgan Lamoisson (Fra) Team Europcar 108 Sébastian Turgot (Fra) Team Europcar 109 Giovanni Bernaudeau (Fra) Team Europcar 110 Martin Grøn (Den) Team Concordia Forsikring-Riwal 111 Christian Moberg Jørgensen (Den) Team Cult Energi 112 Markus Kilsgaard (Den) Team Post Danmark 113 Rick Flens (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team 0:14:03 114 Martijn Maaskant (Ned) Garmin-Sharp 115 Iljo Keisse (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling Team 116 Kenny Dehaes (Bel) Lotto Belisol 117 Frederique Robert (Bel) Lotto Belisol 118 Justine Morris (Aus) Team Novo Nordisk 119 Aske Vorre (Den) Blue Water Cycling 0:14:43 120 Graeme Brown (Aus) Belkin Pro Cycling Team 0:15:54 121 Theo Bos (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team 122 Mark Sehested Pedersen (Den) Blue Water Cycling 123 Søren Kragh Andersen (Den) Team Tre-For 0:15:56 124 Mathias Gade Jacobsen (Den) Team Concordia Forsikring-Riwal 0:18:43 125 Jonas Aaen Jørgensen (Den) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 0:19:01 126 Lasse Norman Hansen (Den) Blue Water Cycling 0:19:40 127 Rasmus Christian Quaade (Den) Team Tre-For 128 Mathias Møller Nielsen (Den) Blue Water Cycling 129 Kaspar Schønnemann Larsen (Den) Team Tre-For 130 Casper Von Folsach (Den) Team Tre-For DNF Sébastien Rosseler (Bel) Garmin-Sharp DNF Brian Bulgac (Ned) Lotto Belisol DNF Michael Van Staeyen (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise DNF Sebastian Lander (Den) Team Post Danmark Sprint 1 1 Mikhail Ignatyev (Rus) Katusha 5 pts 2 Mark Sehested Pedersen (Den) Blue Water Cycling 3 3 Alex Rasmussen (Den) Garmin-Sharp 1 Sprint 2 1 Michael Reihs (Den) Team Cult Energi 5 pts 2 Mark Sehested Pedersen (Den) Blue Water Cycling 3 3 Mikkel Mortensen (Den) Team Concordia Forsikring-Riwal 1 Mountain 1 1 Søren Kragh Andersen (Den) Team Tre-For 10 pts 2 Michael Reihs (Den) Team Cult Energi 6 3 Mikkel Mortensen (Den) Team Concordia Forsikring-Riwal 4 4 Alex Rasmussen (Den) Garmin-Sharp 2 Mountain 2 1 Søren Kragh Andersen (Den) Team Tre-For 10 pts 2 Michael Reihs (Den) Team Cult Energi 6 3 Mikkel Mortensen (Den) Team Concordia Forsikring-Riwal 4 4 Mikhail Ignatyev (Rus) Katusha 2 Mountain 3 1 Søren Kragh Andersen (Den) Team Tre-For 10 pts 2 Michael Reihs (Den) Team Cult Energi 6 3 Mikkel Mortensen (Den) Team Concordia Forsikring-Riwal 4 4 Mikhail Ignatyev (Rus) Katusha 2 Mountain 4 1 Michael Mørkøv (Den) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 10 pts 2 Arthur Vanoverberghe (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise 6 3 Marc Goos (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team 4 4 Vladimir Isaychev (Rus) Katusha 2 Most aggressive rider 1 Søren Kragh Andersen (Den) Team Tre-For 10 pts 2 Michael Reihs (Den) Team Cult Energi 6 3 Mikhail Ignatyev (Rus) Katusha 4 Young riders 1 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team 4:44:41 2 Gijs Van Hoecke (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:00:48 3 Magnus Cort Nielsen (Den) Team Cult Energi 4 Marc Garby (Den) Team Post Danmark 0:00:53 5 Emil Vinjebo (Den) Team Tre-For 0:01:12 6 Yves Lampaert (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:03:55 7 Nicolai Brøchner (Den) Team Post Danmark 0:07:34 8 Asbjørn Kragh Andersen (Den) Team Tre-For 0:09:33 9 Marco Haller (Aut) Katusha 0:10:46 10 Moreno Hofland (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team 0:11:23 11 Kristian Haugaard Jensen (Den) Team Post Danmark 12 Michael Valgren Andersen (Den) Team Cult Energi 13 Bryan Coquard (Fra) Team Europcar 0:11:26 14 Jay McCarthy (Aus) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 0:13:47 15 Kevin De Mesmaeker (Bel) Team Novo Nordisk 16 Rasmus Sterobo (Den) Team Cult Energi 17 Barry Markus (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 18 Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling Team 19 Stephen Clancy (Irl) Team Novo Nordisk 20 Frederik Plesner (Den) Team Tre-For 21 Martin Grøn (Den) Team Concordia Forsikring-Riwal 22 Markus Kilsgaard (Den) Team Post Danmark 23 Aske Vorre (Den) Blue Water Cycling 0:14:43 24 Mark Sehested Pedersen (Den) Blue Water Cycling 0:15:54 25 Søren Kragh Andersen (Den) Team Tre-For 0:15:56 26 Lasse Norman Hansen (Den) Blue Water Cycling 0:19:40 27 Mathias Møller Nielsen (Den) Blue Water Cycling 28 Casper Von Folsach (Den) Team Tre-For Teams 1 Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox 14:14:43 2 Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 0:00:42 3 Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:01:01 4 Team Cult Energy 0:01:27 5 Belkin Pro Cycling Team 0:01:47 6 IAM Cycling 0:02:35 7 Team Saxo-Tinkoff 0:05:01 8 Katusha 0:06:33 9 Omega Pharma-Quick Step 0:07:44 10 Garmin-Sharp 0:08:48 11 Team Post Danmark 0:09:37 12 Team Trefor 0:10:53 13 Team Europcar 0:12:22 14 Lotto Belisol 0:15:10 15 Concordia Forsikring-Riwal 0:15:35 16 Blue Water Cycling 0:22:53 17 Team Novo Nordisk 0:29:51 General classification after stage 3 1 Matti Breschel (Den) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 13:34:33 2 Lars Bak (Den) Lotto Belisol 0:00:06 3 Francesco Manuel Bongiorno (Ita) Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox 0:00:14 4 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team 0:00:16 5 Edoardo Zardini (Ita) Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox 0:00:19 6 Jelle Wallays (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:00:29 7 Björn Leukemans (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 0:00:33 8 Juan Antonio Flecha (Spa) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 0:00:41 9 Magnus Cort Nielsen (Den) Team Cult Energi 0:00:47 10 Troels Vinther (Den) Team Cult Energi 0:00:51 11 Michel Kreder (Ned) Garmin-Sharp 0:01:00 12 Marco Canola (Ita) Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox 13 Laurens De Vreese (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:01:04 14 Rasmus Mygind (Den) Team Tre-For 0:01:06 15 Kevyn Ista (Bel) IAM Cycling 0:01:08 16 Björn Thurau (Ger) Team Europcar 17 Thomas Löfkvist (Swe) IAM Cycling 18 Tim Declercq (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise 19 Wouter Mol (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 20 Michael Mørkøv (Den) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 21 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling Team 22 Jesper Hansen (Den) Team Cult Energi 23 Enrico Battaglin (Ita) Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox 24 Damien Gaudin (Fra) Team Europcar 25 Arthur Vanoverberghe (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise 26 Gijs Van Hoecke (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise 27 Sacha Modolo (Ita) Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox 0:01:24 28 Emil Vinjebo (Den) Team Tre-For 0:01:32 29 Martin Mortensen (Den) Team Concordia Forsikring-Riwal 0:01:39 30 Martijn Keizer (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 0:01:59 31 Rob Ruijgh (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 32 Martin Elmiger (Swi) IAM Cycling 33 Maarten Tjallingii (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team 34 Viacheslav Kuznetsov (Rus) Katusha 0:02:03 35 Alexander Porsev (Rus) Katusha 0:02:19 36 Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox 0:02:20 37 Gustav Larsson (Swe) IAM Cycling 0:02:34 38 Matthias Brândle (Aut) IAM Cycling 0:02:45 39 Frantisek Rabon (Cze) Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling Team 0:03:03 40 Yves Lampaert (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:04:15 41 Koldo Fernandez (Spa) Garmin-Sharp 42 Nikola Aistrup (Den) Team Concordia Forsikring-Riwal 0:04:53 43 Marko Kump (Slo) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 0:05:07 44 Tyler Farrar (USA) Garmin-Sharp 0:05:13 45 Rudiger Selig (Ger) Katusha 46 Rasmus Guldhammer (Den) Blue Water Cycling 47 Vladimir Isaychev (Rus) Katusha 48 Daniel Foder (Den) Blue Water Cycling 49 Fabio Calabria (Aus) Team Novo Nordisk 50 Martin Velits (Svk) Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling Team 51 Marc Garby (Den) Team Post Danmark 0:05:28 52 Olivier Kaisen (Bel) Lotto Belisol 0:05:34 53 Jos Van Emden (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team 0:05:37 54 Andrew Fenn (GBr) Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling Team 0:05:47 55 Stijn Vandenbergh (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling Team 0:06:11 56 Manuele Boaro (Ita) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 0:08:00 57 Pieter Vanspeybrouck (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise 58 Nicolai Brøchner (Den) Team Post Danmark 0:08:51 59 Timofey Kritskiy (Rus) Katusha 0:09:22 60 Marc Goos (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team 0:10:06 61 Mikhail Ignatyev (Rus) Katusha 0:10:40 62 Asbjørn Kragh Andersen (Den) Team Tre-For 0:11:11 63 Jens Debusschere (Bel) Lotto Belisol 0:11:17 64 Christopher Juul Jensen (Den) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 0:11:22 65 Moreno Hofland (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team 0:11:39 66 Robbie Hunter (RSA) Garmin-Sharp 0:11:42 67 Kristian Haugaard Jensen (Den) Team Post Danmark 0:11:43 68 Michael Valgren Andersen (Den) Team Cult Energi 69 Bryan Coquard (Fra) Team Europcar 0:11:46 70 Maarten Neyens (Bel) Lotto Belisol 71 Tony Hurel (Fra) Team Europcar 72 Julien Vermote (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling Team 0:11:55 73 Pim Ligthart (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 0:12:05 74 Sander Cordeel (Bel) Lotto Belisol 0:12:09 75 Andrea Peron (Ita) Team Novo Nordisk 0:12:11 76 Marco Coledan (Ita) Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox 0:12:15 77 Enrico Barbin (Ita) Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox 0:12:21 78 Marco Haller (Aut) Katusha 0:12:24 79 Kenny Van Hummel (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 0:12:32 80 Anders Lund (Den) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 0:12:42 81 Matteo Pelucchi (Ita) IAM Cycling 0:12:46 82 Jimmi Sørensen (Den) Team Post Danmark 0:12:59 83 Martin Grøn (Den) Team Concordia Forsikring-Riwal 0:14:04 84 Morten Øllegaard (Den) Blue Water Cycling 0:14:07 85 Alexey Tsatevitch (Rus) Katusha 86 Kasper Klostergaard (Den) Team Concordia Forsikring-Riwal 87 Sébastian Turgot (Fra) Team Europcar 88 Kristof Goddaert (Bel) IAM Cycling 89 Kenny Dehaes (Bel) Lotto Belisol 0:14:23 90 Barry Markus (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 0:14:32 91 Dennis Hereford Jensen (Den) Team Post Danmark 0:14:39 92 Markus Kilsgaard (Den) Team Post Danmark 0:14:43 93 Martijn Maaskant (Ned) Garmin-Sharp 0:14:48 94 Jay McCarthy (Aus) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 0:14:59 95 Mikkel Mortensen (Den) Team Concordia Forsikring-Riwal 0:15:20 96 Giovanni Bernaudeau (Fra) Team Europcar 0:15:22 97 Michael Reihs (Den) Team Cult Energi 0:15:26 98 Alex Rasmussen (Den) Garmin-Sharp 0:15:28 99 Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling Team 0:15:29 100 Jacob Nielsen (Den) Blue Water Cycling 101 Martijn Verschoor (Ned) Team Novo Nordisk 0:16:04 102 Mark Sehested Pedersen (Den) Blue Water Cycling 0:16:10 103 Marco Bandiera (Ita) IAM Cycling 0:16:12 104 Søren Kragh Andersen (Den) Team Tre-For 0:16:16 105 Christophe Kern (Fra) Team Europcar 106 Theo Bos (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team 0:18:01 107 Graeme Brown (Aus) Belkin Pro Cycling Team 108 Frederique Robert (Bel) Lotto Belisol 0:18:05 109 Stephen Clancy (Irl) Team Novo Nordisk 0:18:28 110 Rick Flens (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team 0:19:07 111 Rolf Broge (Den) Team Post Danmark 0:19:11 112 Jonas Aaen Jørgensen (Den) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 0:20:13 113 Lasse Norman Hansen (Den) Blue Water Cycling 0:20:25 114 Andre Steensen (Den) Team Cult Energi 0:20:29 115 Christopher Williams (Aus) Team Novo Nordisk 0:22:15 116 Frederik Plesner (Den) Team Tre-For 0:22:34 117 Christian Moberg Jørgensen (Den) Team Cult Energi 0:22:50 118 Kevin De Mesmaeker (Bel) Team Novo Nordisk 0:22:51 119 Iljo Keisse (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling Team 0:22:56 120 Morgan Lamoisson (Fra) Team Europcar 0:23:34 121 Aske Vorre (Den) Blue Water Cycling 0:27:20 122 Michael Berling (Den) Team Concordia Forsikring-Riwal 0:28:39 123 Christopher Stevenson (Swe) Team Concordia Forsikring-Riwal 124 Kaspar Schønnemann Larsen (Den) Team Tre-For 0:30:27 125 Justine Morris (Aus) Team Novo Nordisk 0:31:02 126 Rasmus Sterobo (Den) Team Cult Energi 0:31:57 127 Rasmus Christian Quaade (Den) Team Tre-For 0:32:29 128 Mathias Møller Nielsen (Den) Blue Water Cycling 0:32:35 129 Mathias Gade Jacobsen (Den) Team Concordia Forsikring-Riwal 0:38:59 130 Casper Von Folsach (Den) Team Tre-For 0:39:23 Points classification 1 Matti Breschel (Den) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 30 pts 2 Lars Bak (Den) Lotto Belisol 22 3 Nikola Aistrup (Den) Team Concordia Forsikring-Riwal 18 4 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team 18 5 Magnus Cort Nielsen (Den) Team Cult Energi 16 6 Tyler Farrar (USA) Garmin-Sharp 15 7 Kenny Dehaes (Bel) Lotto Belisol 13 8 Francesco Manuel Bongiorno (Ita) Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox 12 9 Marko Kump (Slo) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 12 10 Björn Leukemans (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 11 11 Moreno Hofland (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team 10 12 Pim Ligthart (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 10 13 Bryan Coquard (Fra) Team Europcar 9 14 Edoardo Zardini (Ita) Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox 9 15 Sacha Modolo (Ita) Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox 8 16 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling Team 7 17 Jelle Wallays (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise 7 18 Mark Sehested Pedersen (Den) Blue Water Cycling 6 19 Viacheslav Kuznetsov (Rus) Katusha 5 20 Barry Markus (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 5 21 Matthias Brândle (Aut) IAM Cycling 5 22 Mikhail Ignatyev (Rus) Katusha 5 23 Michael Reihs (Den) Team Cult Energi 5 24 Martin Grøn (Den) Team Concordia Forsikring-Riwal 5 25 Kevyn Ista (Bel) IAM Cycling 4 26 Andrea Peron (Ita) Team Novo Nordisk 4 27 Juan Antonio Flecha (Spa) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 4 28 Troels Vinther (Den) Team Cult Energi 3 29 Robbie Hunter (RSA) Garmin-Sharp 3 30 Rasmus Mygind (Den) Team Tre-For 3 31 Martijn Verschoor (Ned) Team Novo Nordisk 3 32 Michel Kreder (Ned) Garmin-Sharp 2 33 Björn Thurau (Ger) Team Europcar 2 34 Jens Debusschere (Bel) Lotto Belisol 2 35 Alexander Porsev (Rus) Katusha 1 36 Yves Lampaert (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise 1 37 Marco Canola (Ita) Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox 1 38 Alex Rasmussen (Den) Garmin-Sharp 1 39 Mikkel Mortensen (Den) Team Concordia Forsikring-Riwal 1 40 Markus Kilsgaard (Den) Team Post Danmark 1 41 Rolf Broge (Den) Team Post Danmark 1 Mountains classification 1 Søren Kragh Andersen (Den) Team Tre-For 30 pts 2 Michael Reihs (Den) Team Cult Energi 18 3 Mikkel Mortensen (Den) Team Concordia Forsikring-Riwal 14 4 Magnus Cort Nielsen (Den) Team Cult Energi 10 5 Michael Mørkøv (Den) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 10 6 Rolf Broge (Den) Team Post Danmark 10 7 Arthur Vanoverberghe (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise 6 8 Matthias Brândle (Aut) IAM Cycling 6 9 Frederik Plesner (Den) Team Tre-For 6 10 Nikola Aistrup (Den) Team Concordia Forsikring-Riwal 4 11 Marc Goos (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team 4 12 Martijn Verschoor (Ned) Team Novo Nordisk 4 13 Mikhail Ignatyev (Rus) Katusha 4 14 Vladimir Isaychev (Rus) Katusha 2 15 Jimmi Sørensen (Den) Team Post Danmark 2 16 Alex Rasmussen (Den) Garmin-Sharp 2 Most aggressive rider classification 1 Matthias Brândle (Aut) IAM Cycling 10 pts 2 Jimmi Sørensen (Den) Team Post Danmark 10 3 Søren Kragh Andersen (Den) Team Tre-For 10 4 Magnus Cort Nielsen (Den) Team Cult Energi 6 5 Michael Reihs (Den) Team Cult Energi 6 6 Rolf Broge (Den) Team Post Danmark 6 7 Mikhail Ignatyev (Rus) Katusha 4 8 Pim Ligthart (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 4 9 Martijn Verschoor (Ned) Team Novo Nordisk 4 Young riders classification 1 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team 13:34:49 2 Magnus Cort Nielsen (Den) Team Cult Energi 0:00:31 3 Gijs Van Hoecke (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:00:52 4 Emil Vinjebo (Den) Team Tre-For 0:01:16 5 Yves Lampaert (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:03:59 6 Marc Garby (Den) Team Post Danmark 0:05:12 7 Nicolai Brøchner (Den) Team Post Danmark 0:08:35 8 Asbjørn Kragh Andersen (Den) Team Tre-For 0:10:55 9 Moreno Hofland (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team 0:11:23 10 Kristian Haugaard Jensen (Den) Team Post Danmark 0:11:27 11 Michael Valgren Andersen (Den) Team Cult Energi 12 Bryan Coquard (Fra) Team Europcar 0:11:30 13 Marco Haller (Aut) Katusha 0:12:08 14 Martin Grøn (Den) Team Concordia Forsikring-Riwal 0:13:48 15 Barry Markus (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 0:14:16 16 Markus Kilsgaard (Den) Team Post Danmark 0:14:27 17 Jay McCarthy (Aus) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 0:14:43 18 Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling Team 0:15:13 19 Mark Sehested Pedersen (Den) Blue Water Cycling 0:15:54 20 Søren Kragh Andersen (Den) Team Tre-For 0:16:00 21 Stephen Clancy (Irl) Team Novo Nordisk 0:18:12 22 Lasse Norman Hansen (Den) Blue Water Cycling 0:20:09 23 Frederik Plesner (Den) Team Tre-For 0:22:18 24 Kevin De Mesmaeker (Bel) Team Novo Nordisk 0:22:35 25 Aske Vorre (Den) Blue Water Cycling 0:27:04 26 Rasmus Sterobo (Den) Team Cult Energi 0:31:41 27 Mathias Møller Nielsen (Den) Blue Water Cycling 0:32:19 28 Casper Von Folsach (Den) Team Tre-For 0:39:07

The notion of continuations as first-class values has been a tricky subject for me to understand to a comfortable level of certainty. I think this is probably true for many PLT-laymen like myself. This article represents my attempt at collecting and presenting my thoughts in a coherant manner! I'd be happy to receive corrections and comments. I will start by defining a few key terms in my own style. Continuation We can observe that every expression, regardless of complexity, has the ultimate goal of returning a value to some surrounding execution context. That context is known as a continuation - it represents everything that is left to compute. Therefore, every computation has an associated continuation, which specifies the place from which execution should continue once control has been returned. As a simple example, consider the following Scheme form: ( lambda ( n ) ( + n 1 )) The continuation associated with the sub-expression "1" is an anonymous function, whose body consists of a call to the + primitive procedure whose first argument is the local variable n and whose second argument is being sought. With this understanding we can say expressions deliver values and continuations receive values. Current continuation By "current", we are referring to the continuation that would be derived from the current point in a programs execution. In other words, the current point of execution, lexical environment and state of the call stack (You should be familiar with the stack and the heap). First-class object For an object to be a "first-class citizen" in a programming language, it needs a few properties. Specifically, it must support being: passed as a parameter to a function; returned from a function; stored in a variable or within a data structure; constructed at runtime. Things like numbers and strings are first-class in most programming languages. Functions are first-class in all functional programming languages. And in Scheme, my language of choice for this article, nearly everything can be considered first-class - including continuations as we'll see shortly. OK, now continuations in Scheme In order to render the abstract notion of the current execution context (the current continuation) to the programmer, Scheme needs some way to represent it. It would have been possible to implement specific objects and syntax into the language to handle this, but it's much easier to simply represent the current continuation as a first-class function. This process of transforming something implicit into something that can be explicitely expressed is known as "reification". So we can say Scheme reifies the current continuation as a function object. Scheme provides the function call-with-current-continuation (aliased as call/cc) to furnish continuations to the programmer. call/cc is a unary function that accepts a further unary function, f, as it's argument. When invoked, Scheme will reify the current continuation, c, as a function and apply f to c. Therefore: c ( call/cc f ) --> c ( f c ) ; Not Scheme. c(...) represents the current continuation When c is applied to an argument, v, the existing continuation is terminated and the one represented by c is reinstated. So program flow will continue on from where the continuation was captured and v will become the overall value of the call/cc invokation. Confusing? Take a look at this simple example: ( call/cc ( lambda ( return ) ( + 2 ( return 4 ) 1 ))) At first glance, you may think this expression will evaluate to 7, but infact, it will evaluate to 4. This is because we've captured the current continuation in the formal parameter return and then applied it to the number 4. This causes program flow to return instantly to the point at which the continuation was taken. Yep -- when applied, c will never return! We are effectively emulating the "return" control operator that allows early-escape in many popular programming languages. To demonstrate the concept of early-escape in a more effective manner, let me show you two versions of a small Scheme procedure - one that makes use of continuations and one that does not. The procedure has-sym? accepts as arguments an S-expression (in this case a list of symbols and/or nested lists of symbols) and a symbol. It returns true if the given symbol is present somewhere within the S-expression. First of all, take a look at the non-continuation version: ( define ( has-sym? lst s ) ( cond (( empty? lst ) #f ) ; Nothing left, must not be present. (( list? ( car lst )) ; Is a sublist, inspect it also. ( or ( has-sym? ( car lst ) s ) ( has-sym? ( cdr lst ) s ))) (( eq? s ( car lst )) #t ) ; Found a match, return true to the caller! ( else ( has-sym? ( cdr lst ) s )))) ; Nothing yet, keep looking... Whilst concise and easy to understand, this implementation (because it's defined as a recursive process) suffers from the slight hassle in that even if we find a match, we need to wait until the call-stack unwinds before the actual result gets back to the continuation in which the has-sym? procedure was called. If, perhaps, we captured the continuation of the has-sym? procedure with call/cc and then defined a local helper procedure (to perform the search) inside our function argument, we'd be able to invoke the continuation object and jump straight out of the procedure as soon as we found a match. For example: ( define ( has-sym? lst s ) ( call/cc ( lambda ( return ) ( define ( find lst ) ; Helper proc, local to lambda argument of call/cc. ( cond (( empty? lst ) #f ) (( list? ( car lst )) ( or ( find ( car lst )) ( find ( cdr lst )))) (( eq? s ( car lst )) ( return #t )) ; A match! Invoke 'return' for an early-escape! ( else ( find ( cdr lst ))))) ( find lst )))) ; We end up here when/if 'return' is invoked. At this point it may be worth pointing out that continuations in Scheme, whilst far more powerful, are also more conservative than the GOTO statement of other languages for we can only revert control back to a place we have already visited (obviously, this is a good thing!). Also note that applying a continuation, unlike lexical closures, does not reinstate the referencing environment! If you change the values of variables - they will remain changed. Continuations as first-class citizens So far I've tried to explain the notions of both first-class objects and continuations in Scheme, but when we combine the two and start considering continuations themselves as being of first-class status, we open up a treasure trove of cool ideas. For example, consider the following mind-bender: ( define ( fact n ) ( let* (( total n ) ( k ( call/cc ( lambda ( kk ) kk )))) ( set! n ( - n 1 )) ( set! total ( * total n )) ( if ( <= n 1 ) total ( k k )))) We can demonstrate the indefinite extent of continuations in Scheme by capturing the continuation (reified as a first-class function) in the local variable k. This definition of factorial works by capturing the continuation object, modifying the parameter n and local variable total in place, and then invoking the continuation with itself as an argument. This causes something of a local GOTO and rebinds the original continuation to the local variable k. This process continues until n reaches 1 at which point we return the total back to the user. The let* ** form is important here as it will expand into a series of nested **let forms. Without this, we'd rebind total to the original value of n on each invokation of the continuation object. With *let ** we can store a running total. As you can see, we have used our power over control flow to compute factorial without using recursion or any built in looping construct. Of course, this implementation also suffers from two obvious downsides: It's somewhat esoteric and hard to understand It mutates local state, which makes it harder to prove that this function will maintain referential transparency. And so... With the power of first-class continuation handling at our disposal, we have the ability to define several control flow constructs common to other programming languages, such as backtracking, try/catch exception handling and "green" threads. Studying a topic like continuations helps us to solidify our knowledge of several concepts we may generally grow to take for granted. The idea of managing control flow is so rudimentary to our field that we may never stop to think about how such an implicitely understood idea can be explained effectively. In terms of further reading, I'd suggest the call-with-current-continuation, Continuation and Call stack articles on Wikipedia. The R5RS standard documents call/cc and other control-handling procedures that are available in Scheme. The discussion on understanding continuations at Lambda the Ultimate also helped me in writing this article. And, finally, I think when such high-level control of continuations is given to a programmer, the words of the great Uncle Ben must be remembered:

A group of outraged Florida voters has launched the Web site MyCongressmanIsNuts.com in a drive to oust Democratic Rep. Alan Grayson, the outspoken lawmaker who grabbed national headlines after it was revealed that, among other comments, he called an adviser to the Federal Reserve chairman a “K Street whore” in a radio interview in September. The site is raising money to defeat the Orlando-area congressman and the site’s organizers describe it as a “more appropriate alternative” to Mr. Grayson’s CongressmanWithGuts.com, which the Grayson campaign said helped to raise more than $250,000 in the first three weeks of October. The “Nuts” site took in about $3,335 overnight after its Thursday evening launch, according to a donation ticker on the Web page. “Alan Grayson’s recent self-indulgent behavior has paralyzed his ability to serve as an advocate for the citizens of central Florida,” the Web site says in a plea for contributions. The site features YouTube videos of TV and cable news reports critical of Mr. Grayson’s exploits. “Every penny that we raise is going to go to exposing his policies and who he really is,” said Angie Langley, 34, chairwoman of the recently formed political action committee behind the Web site. “We are going to flood the district with bumper stickers, yard signs, and we are prepared to launch radio and television ads - whatever it takes to make sure this guy is not re-elected.” Ms. Langley, a business development consultant in the Lake County portion of Mr. Grayson’s district, said the PAC is not affiliated with a political party and is not backing any candidates. She is not new to politics, however, having previously served as chairman of the Lake County Republican Party. The PAC’s two other board members are a registered Republican and a registered libertarian. Mr. Grayson’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Several Republicans have lined up to challenge Mr. Grayson, including a trio of “tea party” activists hoping to capitalize on the anti-tax, anti-big government movement that flourished over the summer. But national Republicans reportedly are looking for a stronger candidate in what has historically been a GOP-leaning district. The Bronx, N.Y.-born Mr. Grayson, a wealthy businessman and lawyer, was a freshman House member virtually unknown on the national stage before his stinging rhetoric and take-no-prisoners style began to draw attention in September. That’s when he stood on the House floor and said the Republican health care plan is “to die quickly if you get sick.” He responded to calls for an apology by apologizing instead to “the dead and their families that we haven’t voted sooner to end this holocaust in America.” He also set up his own Web site - NamesOfTheDead.com - that claims to list people who have died without health insurance. He has described criticism of his frank comments as “Republican hissy fits.” Some House Republicans talked of an official censure for Mr. Grayson over his health care remarks on the floor, but the effort died. But on Tuesday Mr. Grayson did offer what he called “my sincere apology” to Linda Robertson, the adviser to Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke whom he called a “K Street whore” last month on the nationally syndicated “Alex Jones Show.” Such derogatory references to K Street, a base of many Washington lobbyists, are not unheard of in the nation’s capital, but are usually reserved for private conversations and not nationally syndicated radio. On the “Alex Jones Show,” Mr. Grayson said: “This lobbyist, this K Street whore, is trying to teach me about economics.” The remark was widely criticized by Republicans and Democrats alike. “This characterization of Ms. Robertson, made during a radio interview last month in the context of the debate over whether the Federal Reserve should be independently audited, was inappropriate, and I apologize,” he said. Copyright © 2019 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.

OAKLAND, Calif. — On a sun-drenched Saturday, Eddie Metairie wandered around the Cat Town Cafe & Adoption Center, past the miniature-golf-size buildings, cat perches and a bed shaped like a tuna can as he followed Lucia, an independent-minded brown tabby. Going to a shelter to find a cat in a cage “is heartbreaking,” said Mr. Metairie, a project manager at a hotel supply company, but the Cat Town Cafe “feels organic.” He was having fun. By the time his $10-an-hour playtime was up, Mr. Metairie had made plans to take the cat home and rename her Amélie. The Cat Town Cafe & Adoption Center, which opened in late October and has arranged 52 cat adoptions so far, claims to be the first permanent cat cafe in the United States. Customers line up for locally brewed strong coffee, handmade bagels and “vegan fig nut pop tarts” (the proprietors clearly know their audience). When it is time to visit the cat zone, visitors push through glass doors to another world of lounging cats, all of them candidates for adoption. There are no cages.

In California, where there are nine festivals devoted to lavender alone, you’re never far from something that needs celebrating. But sometimes an event or theme or setting is so attractive, you might want to make a weekend or even a week of it. Here are 10 in 2018 worth a look. Mendocino Crab, Wine and Beer Festival: This scenic hamlet on the north coast draws visitors with a variety of festivals throughout the year, but its crab fest is one of the best of its kind, thanks to its all-you-can-eat cioppino and crab feeds, a crab-cake cook-off and the area’s excellent local wines and beer. www.mendocino.com (Jan. 19-28) ScotsFestival on the Queen Mary: When you remember that Mary was Queen of Scots, it’s obvious why the famed ship, built on the bonny banks of the River Clyde and now permanently moored in Long Beach, is home to the state’s most unusual gathering of the clans. Expect all the usual competitions, music, games, haggis-eating and whisky-tasting opportunities, plus a Robert Burns Supper. www.queenmary.com (Tentative dates: Feb. 17-18) Palm Springs Modernism Week: What began as a single showcase now draws lovers of midcentury-modern architecture, design and culture from around the world for 10 days of activities that include film screenings, lectures, symposiums, art events, home tours, martini parties and even an ode to the beloved Airstream travel trailer. Sign up early enough and you can rent a gem of a private midcentury home. www.modernismweek.com (Feb. 15-25) Like our Facebook page for more conversation and news coverage from San Jose, the Bay Area and beyond. Pebble Beach Food and Wine: This is the younger sister of Aspen’s famous signature culinary festival, but with even better wine. Set on one of the most prestigious stretches of coastline in the country, the event draws thousands to sample offerings by more than 100 celebrity chefs and 250 wineries. Enjoy culinary demos, grand tastings, special events — such as last year’s Southern Breakfast with Hugh Acheson — while taking in sumptuous views. www.pbfw.com (April 5-8) Paso Robles Wine Festival: Anchored in the Downtown City Park, with additional events hosted by wineries in the nearby rolling hills, this four-day eating and sipping extravaganza includes winemaker dinners, live music and barrel tastings. Buy tickets to the Grand Tasting early. www.pasowine.com. (May 17-20). Valhalla Renaissance Faire: Renaissance fairs can be found closer to home, but why not hang out with the jousters and wenches on the shores of Lake Tahoe? Held at the Camp Richardson Historic Resort, this one offers four stages of entertainment, 900 costumed actors and more chances to buy food, drink and cool stuff than you can shake a turkey leg at. www.valhallafaire.com (June 2-3 and 9-10) Festival Napa Valley: As a fundraiser for youth music programs, this 10-day festival offers everything from decadent winemaker dinners to free concerts in the park as it hops from high-end restaurants and prestigious wineries to concert halls. The price tag to some of its five-star events can be steep, but they offer a rare opportunity to see and even rub shoulders with international music superstars and other celebrities. www.festivalnapavalley.org (July 20-29) Pageant of the Masters: You’ve got two months to enjoy Laguna Beach’s Festival of the Arts, one of the best juried fine-arts shows in the country. But make plans now to buy tickets to the “Pageant of the Masters” in which theatrical magic and creative humans re-create a series of “living pictures” every night. In 2018, the tradition will celebrate 85 years with “Under the Sun,” evoking masterpieces by impressionists and plein air artists. www.foapom.com (July 7-Sept. 1) Russian River Jazz and Blues: Over its 40-plus-year history this summer swan song has hosted legions of musical legends, including Etta James and Buddy Guy. The music is top-notch and the atmosphere is even better, with a stage set right on the beach. Pitch a tent under the redwoods and kayak, paddle boat or swim in the river while the bands play. www.russianriverfestivals.com (Mid-September) Reading this on your phone? Stay up to date with our free mobile app. Get it from the Apple app store or the Google Play store. Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Festival: This is the mother of all pumpkin festivals. In a state with this much agriculture, that’s no small feat. Cars line Highway 92 throughout the two-day celebration of all things October, a time of year when this Pacific coast-side town simply sparkles. This time why not avoid the traffic and make a weekend of it? www.pumpkinfest.miramarevents.com (Mid-October)

The filmmaker announced via Twitter that he hopes to debut his hockey movie at Sundance 2013. Kevin Smith is sharing details about his next -- and final -- film via Twitter, telling fans that he hopes to unveil Hit Somebody during Sundance 2013. PHOTOS: Kevin Smith in Action The auteur had initially planned to create the movie in two parts, but wrote on Jan. 5 that he is currently “Writing script two, but now gonna make one big movie instead… Makes more sense anyway: the movie’s about taking one, good shot.” Smith revealed that he hopes to begin shooting in June. FILM REVIEW: Red State In response to another follower, Smith noted that the film’s total running time could reach 150 minutes with credits. Last January, Smith told reporters that Hit Somebody would be his last film. “I feel good about that,” he said while promoting his most recent film, Red State. “I feel like my critics are probably saying ‘Oh, good, he’s leaving.” STORY: Kevin Smith Slams Indie Spirits on Twitter After His 'Red State' Is Snubbed Smith clarified that while he is closing the curtain on theatrical films, he is “willing to try other directing projects.”

In the latest episode of To Be Continuous, Edith and Paul discuss the challenges and benefits of refactoring monolithic applications into microservices. They examine various approaches for creating microservice boundaries and dispel the myth that they should be defined as small as possible. Transcript 00:00:00 00:00:00 Paul Biggar: The idea of having something that you have a slow delivery cycle for some particular reason, or you have a normal delivery cycle but that still takes a day or whatever because there's code review and that sort of thing. And you want to have something really, really fast. You want to have multiple stages, multiple speeds of delivery based on different needs of different parts of the company, and that sort of thing. Edith Harbaugh: I'm just so excited about this today, started talking about it. I mean this is really the promise of microservice. Like the old way was you had this monolith. The best thing I ever heard was a friend call it disgusting monolith, where everything was all tied together, and if you wanted to change one thing, you had to test everything all together. Paul: Right, and we've all been there I'd say. Edith: Yeah and it's very painful. It's very painful because then you get into this fix/release cycle. But decoupling things into different components that means that you can start iterating on some of them faster than others. Paul: Right, One of the questions that you get around microservices is, "How do you define microservices boundaries?" And a lot of people just go, "Oh you make them as small as possible" which I think is ridiculous. But the ones that have always made sense to me is that you have service boundaries where there's different teams, or service boundaries when there's needs to deploy the service at different pace from the services around it. Edith: Yeah, I mean I don't think you should decompose for the point of decomposing. Because that's when you end up with like 8,000 microservices, and you're like, "I don't know," this happens. I think you should decompose when, as you said, there's a functional reason why something has to move at a different speed. Paul: Right, so the obvious one apart from those two is that it makes logical sense as a dependency for the API. This is a good API boundary for all the things that rely on it. Edith: Yeah, because that releases you basically from release hell. Because you want to have a logical way that you can say, "Okay, this microservices interacts with this one at a certain time in a certain boundary." A really good example I heard is There's this myth that you iterate very frequently on your UI, and I think this is true if you're in more consumer business where you can get a million people looking at your app and rapidly iterate. If you're at a company, if you're a B2B company, and you're rolling out your own customers, they don't actually want to have two people in the same customer have different user experiences. It's very confusing so you have to get a lot of support calls. Paul: So I agree with you in the general case. But having used AB testing, it is an extremely useful tool to roll features out slowly and that's what I think even in B2B case. Edith: I think it really depends on your B2B. Because I have heard some horror stories about people who try to do it at a B2B, and they get a lot of support calls. You know, "What's happening? The button I expected there to be is not there." Or "we just did a whole lot of training on this last week." Paul: Yeah, and something has changed? Edith: Yeah. Paul: So I think one of the things that's really valuable about the modern dev tools go to market is that you have both on-prem and on-cloud customers. Edith: Are we just doing buzzword bingo now? Paul: Sure, sure, sure. So when you have customers who use both your cloud service and your downloadable software, the customers who use your downloadable software are the people who are naturally much more conservative. That's why they're using your downloadable software in the first place. So you can do your AB testing in the cloud on the cloud customers who are much more early adopters and much more willing to put up with that sort of thing and happier to get the good UX that comes out of it. Edith: Even then most people don't have sufficient volume to do effective AB testing. Paul: I don't think that's true at all. Edith: I think that's very true. Paul: You don't have sufficient volume to do minor AB testing like to tell the difference between two different versions of blue, right? That's something you need Google Scale for. But if you're trying at a new positioning, you have AB testing. I think the major value when people complain about AB testing, the major value that they overlook is that it tells you that you didn't fuck something up. Edith: Yeah, I think AB testing is a misnomer. I think it's really risk tolerance. Paul: Right, so if you're launching a new messaging or a new onboarding page or something like that that you think is going to deal with your position much better, or it mentions a new product which hadn't been mentioned before, you want a B version that was just the old version that tells you you didn't tank your conversions. Edith: Yeah, and the dirty secret is that most changes have no effect at all. Paul: Right, right. But you want to be sure of that. We launched a new, beautiful home screen once or homepage, and it dropped our conversions 20%. Edith: Yeah, I remember. Paul always teases me cause I talk about TripIt. Like we tried a different footer, and it destroyed our conversion. Paul: Oh! A footer. Edith: A footer Paul: Did it have a different call to action or move to call to action or something or provided more calls to action? Edith: The footer had a lot of calls to action. Paul: Yeah, that was exactly the thing with ours. We had, "You can sign up right now you can read the docs or you can do something else." And it ended up that a lot of people go read the docs, and then just forget about us. Edith: Yeah, and this is the kind of classic product debate then. Do you want them to sign up if all they're going to do is read the docs? And you can argue about this for hours about qualifying leads, when to get people into the funnel. Paul: I think if you have a drip marketing campaign, you generally want them to cross the line which gets them into drip marketing campaign. Edith: Paul, you're a marketer! Paul: I was the CEO of a company. I've done fucking everything, for three months each. Edith: What was the rotation? If you fucked everything three months each? Paul: Yeah, everything that got done by me was done badly, but it was better than not being done at all. Edith: So what was your rotation? Paul: I did sales. I did marketing. I did PR. I did UX. I did support. I did everything. Edith: What was it like when you were sales? Paul: So fortunately Circle had so much interest and such strong product market fit that sales was literally having a call with the CFO saying the price is this. And he's like, "Can you lower the price?" "Uh, no. All right, well thanks." I had a couple of calls that were literally that. They brought some financy person or the manager and they were like, "We demand a discount." And it's like, "Yeah, this is a good price we feel." Edith: So do they end up buying? Paul: Yeah, yeah. I mean, some of them don't. I hated giving discounts. I felt like we had a really good price, and it was actually kind of cheap for the value that customers got out of it. And so when people came for discounts, I was just like, "No." Edith: That's funny. You know there's the opposite which is you should price a little high expecting that you'll discount. Paul: Yeah, I think for bottom-up tills, you can't really do that. Because people won't ask for it, they'll just leave. Edith: Ah! Paul: The old oracle way doesn't apply to our modern bottom-up. I guess, do you have a top-down? Edith: We have both. I mean as soon as you get into procurement department, like their job is to get a discount. Paul: Right, right Edith: So if you don't give them a discount, they feel like they didn't do their job, and their like, "What happened here?" Paul: Yeah, and that's why you end up, I guess in the microservice version of the sales process is you apply a different sales process to different people. And the bottom-up people get the price on the website, and the people who go through their procurement department get another thing. And the fact that you have to talk to their procurement department means that they're getting charged an outrageous price in the first place to deal with that. Edith: I think the words continuous delivery terrifies a lot of people. Paul: Mmhmm Edith: It's funny because we do a podcast called.. Paul: To Be Continuous, yeah, I think that's what it's called. Edith: I mean let me check the label. Yeah I think people think of continuous delivery is that you have to push out multiple times a day an hour. When really it just means that you need to be able to push out what you want. Paul: Right, right I've rarely seen a continuous delivery company that does continuous delivery and uses that to mean we're only doing it when we can. I think they all push at every version. I find it extremely rare for people to push out, especially in small companies. Maybe there's a small company bias. Edith: No, I'm talking more at larger orgs. They find continuous delivery terrifying. Because they're like, "Our processes are not set up to have a new version of the UI every day." Like, "We need to go train our support people. We need to go do this. We need to update this." So to go back to what you said, I think there's different functions within their systems that they would like to be updated at different speeds. Paul: Yep, I agree with that. You can kind of think of the UI as one microservice. You can think of all the other things as different microservices. But the one that I've always found, people need to update quickly, but they don't necessarily want to update it repeatedly, is the marketing pages. So the entire front-end of your thing. You'll get to a point when you have marketers and the marketers ask for the front-end, which was beautifully built by developers. Edith: With Han Loverdly and Jekyll Paul: I think actually Jekyll is pretty good for them, but like will typically be built-in react, you know whatever the same as your website is it'll be nicely unified and has an excellent release process. And the marketers will be like, "Yeah, we don't want to talk to you to make a change here. We need you to put in the optimizely pixel and could you switch this over to WordPress." Edith: Yeah, cause they want to be able to do it themselves, they don't want to have to go bug their developers. Paul: Yep, Then they end up with a terrible release process from a developers perspective in that there's no staging environment. There's no ability to preview your stuff. There's no code review. There's no nice automated releases that have pull request in them. There's just like someone playing around in Word Press. Edith: I could feel the horror in your voice. Paul: Well, I think it's easy to fuck things up that way. But it's better to only have to rely on your team to get something out. When you have to start to rely on other teams, that's when your deliver really gets slow. Edith: Yeah, I thought of a classic thing where you want to have very quick releases and it's anything security related. This is actually one of my big things is that you want to be able to constantly patch security vulnerabilities. And the security vulnerabilities that exist today will be different tomorrow, the day after and the day after and the day after. Paul: You generally want to have a way of dealing with security vulnerabilities immediately even though that is extremely scary and very, very dangerous. Edith: But whatever you know today will be different later. Paul: Yep, we had multiple approaches of dealing with different container images. Because a container image would take like 36 hours to roll and to deploy. So we needed to be able to run something on that image. It was partially for security. It was partially for user experience. It was partially because sometimes things broke in the ecosystem. But we had the ability to go change, we called it the pseudo hack. So a command that would run a pseudo. And there was 30, 40 times where we need to make some change to the pseudo hack to support something weird that was going on. Edith: Yeah I think a lesson is if you have to do a fix, how long does it take you to do it? Paul: Right, there's the actual fix itself, and then there's the process of getting the fix into production. Edith: Yeah, and if that process is more than a day, you're in serious trouble. Paul: Yep. Well, I mean if it takes you a day, but you're able to get it patched really quick, I mean that's kind of the source of the word patch, right? If you patch it immediately and then you go fix it, and it takes a day, that's no big deal. Edith: Oh, yeah, but as long as you can patch. Paul: Exactly yeah. So we ended up at various points with a very quick process to update our engine X, so that we could filter particular data or filter particular user types and that kind of thing, and a bunch of different levels to deal with particular security vulnerabilities that might theoretically come up. Not just security vulnerabilities, but also like DDOS. Edith: Yeah, just everything that comes up. Paul: Incidents of whatever kind. Edith: Yeah incidents that are not your core functionality, but are crucial to be quickly addressed. Paul: Right exactly. Edith: So I think I could break down different speeds of which you want stuff to update. Stuff that leaves you vulnerable to the outside world, that's kind of like your protective cocoon, if there's a hole breech there, you need to repair it immediately. Or else you'll end up hacked. Paul: The problem with those is that you also need to maintain those. So you need to have testing around those. You need to have people remember how to do them. If you go to use one of those things, and no ones touched it in six months and it went stale or it rotted in some way, then you're even more fucked now especially if you've provided yourself an accidental back door, or provided your attackers an accidental back door. Edith: Yeah, and then there's stuff that you want to go at different speeds. Like if you're doing any sort of billing update, you actually want to be kind of cautious. Paul: Yeah, I mean this is for feature flags I find particularly useful. You enable a billing chains like that for one person and then you watch what happens. You make sure that they're able to do the thing, and you go very, very cautiously. Edith: Thanks for wearing LaunchDarkly shirt, Paul. Paul: No worries! Feature flags are awesome. Edith: It looks really good on you by the way. It matches your haircut. Paul: Thanks. Edith: I get really excited the more I talk to our LaunchDarkly customers right now because I've seen the way just the world has changed even in the couple years that we've been around. Paul: What are people using LaunchDarkly for that blew your mind? Or how perhaps are they using it that blew your mind? Edith: I'm pretty jaded so not much blows my mind. But it's more like they visited a big customer and they said how much less stress they were in and how much less risky their releases were now. Paul: Right, we've been saying this for years that Continuous delivery is less risky than monolithic delivery or stage delivery. What did we use to call it when it wasn't continuous? Edith: Waterfall? Paul: Sure waterfall. I think people didn't really believe us. Edith: I think there's still a lot of doubt. I think if you draw like a crossing the chasm type thing, I think we're still like squarely in the early adopters. Paul: Yep, that's true. Edith: But I think it's starting to move. Paul: Yep.

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Ahead of her meeting with Trump tomorrow, British Prime Minister Theresa May joked that "opposites attract" and called on the US President to renew the "special relationship" between Britain and the United States and lead in a new, changed world. In the United States for what will be Trump's first meeting with a foreign leader since he took office last week, May signaled a shift in foreign policy, bringing her position more in line with that of Trump. Following a disparaging statement from the French Finance Minister earlier in the day, in which Michel Sapin said that “Madame May can go see whoever she wants. I understand she goes to see the new U.S. president given the history between the U.S. and the U.K" and added that "she is not going there to negotiate," because allegedly "neither she nor Mister Trump are in a position to negotiate", May decided to prove him wrong, and urged the US and UK and their leaders to stand united and confront new challenges, including the rise of economies in Asia that people fear could "eclipse the West," the threat of Islamic extremism and a resurgent Russia. "So we - our two countries together - have a responsibility to lead. Because when others step up as we step back, it is bad for America, for Britain and the world," May told members of Republican Party at their retreat in a speech often punctuated by applause from an enthusiastic crowd. "This cannot mean a return to the failed policies of the past. The days of Britain and America intervening in sovereign countries in an attempt to remake the world in our own image are over. But nor can we afford to stand idly by." Following her speech, UKIP's Nigel Farage tweeted that "I can hardly believe Mrs May's words about our place in the world and with America. I've wanted all of these things for years" and added that the PM said "things that I could only ever have dreamt that a British Prime Minister would say." I can hardly believe Mrs May's words about our place in the world and with America. I've wanted all of these things for years. — Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) January 26, 2017 Some of the key points touched upon by May in her speech as summarized by Axios: The U.S. and U.K. are at the start of crafting a great trade agreement, but that the new deal must serve both national interests. (This can't happen until after Britain official leaves the EU.) U.S. and U.K. should stop intervening in other countries to try to "remake the world in our image." On working with Trump, she said, "Haven't you ever noticed, sometimes opposites attract?" She added she would challenge Trump on issues like torture. When it comes to Putin, May's advice was "to engage, but beware." She said "there is nothing inevitable about conflict between Russia and the west," and that the countries should work to make "cooperation more likely than conflict." She is pushing for major reform of multinational organizations to better serve the nations that formed them. She added, "The most important institution is and should always be the nationstate." NATO should be "as equipped to fight cyber warfare" as it is to fight conventional warfare. U.S. and U.K. should work together to fight the "evil ideology" of "extremist Islamism Of note, as Reuters points out, is her break with the interventionism that launched wars in Iraq and Afghanistan underscores a change in global politics. It also fits with Trump's move to put "America first" and scores well with voters in Britain whose feeling of being left behind by globalization helped fuel Britain's vote to leave the EU last year that propelled May to power. Aware that Brexit will shape her legacy, May welcomed her early visit to the United States, a boost to her attempts to show that Britain can prosper outside the European Union despite criticism at home for cozying up to Trump. On her U.S.-bound flight, May concentrated on similarities with the U.S. leader, who some reporters suggested had a style in stark contrast to her more cautious, restrained approach. "Haven't you ever noticed ... sometimes opposites attract?" she answered with a laugh The biggest open issue, however, is trade, and the desire of both nations to eventually sign mutually beneficial bilateral contracts. Eager to win favor - and a trade deal - with the new U.S. president to bolster her hand in the divorce talks with the European Union, May said both countries shared many values and that, contrary to his statements that NATO was "obsolete," Trump had told her he was committed to the U.S.-led military alliance. May said she supported Trump's "reform agenda" to make NATO and the United Nations "more relevant and purposeful than they are today," and "many of the priorities your government has laid out for America's engagement with the world." But there may be sticking points in Friday's talks - May said she condemned the use of torture and would stick to UK policy, suggesting Britain may not accept intelligence that could have come from such methods that Trump could reintroduce. "We condemn torture and my view on that won't change – whether I'm talking to you or talking to the president," she said when asked what impact it would have if Trump brought back a CIA program for holding terrorism suspects in secret prisons. May will have navigate the middle ground carefully, wary of being criticized as too pro-Trump or alternatively as too negative toward a future trading partner. But the take home message is that any gain for the UK and US, is a loss for Europe, which would prefer to see the UK in a position of weakness, and May knows this well. She has threatened to walk away from the EU if she fails to get a good deal, and some critics say that could give other countries, like the United States, the upper hand in any talks. And the EU might not take kindly to any overly friendly overtures to a president some of the bloc's main leaders have voiced concern about. Some kind of trade agreement, though, is high on her list of priorities, despite Britain and the United States being at odds over genetically modified organisms, meat production and public procurement and May unable to sign deals until after Brexit. May says she will launch the divorce talks by the end of March by triggering Article 50 of the EU's Lisbon Treaty, which gives up to two years to negotiate an exit deal. Only then can she agree with third countries. Both leaders should use the time to find areas where they could remove trade barriers, May said. What tomorrow will boil down to? "We're both very clear that we want a trade deal." For those who missed it, May's full Philly speech is below

When Kalimah Priforce was eight years old and in foster care, he got more books the only way he could. He went on a hunger strike. – RSVP for #StopRacism Weekly Calls – Every great story has its miracles. A few weeks before reaching nine years of age, impossible became a daily part of my life as a foster care resident of a Bedford Stuyvesant group home–deep in the heart of Brooklyn. It belonged to the very powerful Central Brooklyn Coordinating Council (CBCC) of New York City. There weren’t many leisure activities other than a single television that most of the kids fought regularly over. Residents weren’t allowed to leave the premises except to attend school, group trips escorted by staff members, or chauffeured around in vans to fulfill medical appointments. Rather than engaging in squabbles with other kids about which shows to watch (Yo MTV Raps was very popular then), I monopolized a small library of donated books to satisfy my insatiable curiosity about the world. Don’t like ads? Become a supporter and enjoy The Good Men Project ad free I read every book, many of them twice. As a result, I approached one of the group home staffers and kindly requested that they order more books to expand the library in a, “Please sir, can I read some more?” Dickensian way. ♦◊♦ I was the first to make such an odd request, so they ignored me at first, but I was persistent. Several hours later, I got my answer that it was “impossible” and that there simply “wasn’t enough funding for more books.” I wasn’t convinced, and it didn’t help them that I had just finished reading the stories of Peter Pan, Encyclopedia Brown, Huckleberry Finn, The Little Prince, Pippi Longstocking, and other precocious youth. I wanted more books, and even tried negotiating with them. I was already a vegetarian by the time I arrived to the group home, and my dinner selections consisted mostly of salads and breads. I calculated that for every meatloaf or chicken sandwich I didn’t eat, that the agency was saving a dollar or two per day. My suggestion to them was that they use the money they were saving to purchase of books. They angrily declined and forcefully stated that it couldn’t be done. Since all my neogotiaitons failed. it was then that I decided, at eight, that if they couldn’t feed my brain, there was no use to them feeding my stomach. I wrote a letter to them declaring that I would fully withdraw from eating any food until they ordered more books. I was on a hunger strike, though I didn’t know what to call it. They called my bluff, but by the third day of my hunger strike, they were getting worried and threatened to have me psychologically evaluated and be force-fed. Their campaign to stop my civil disobedience included bribing my fellow dorm mate to bring food to my bed. I wrote a letter to them declaring that I would fully withdraw from eating any food until they ordered more books. I was on a hunger strike, though I didn’t know what to call it. I slept most of the day because of my volunteered malnourishment. Once. I woke up and discovered a plate of macaroni and cheese (my favorite) beside my bed. I brought the plate to the kitchen, politely placed it on the counter, and returned to the male dorm. Day four was when my life would be changed forever, as the offsite director of the group home visited the offices and photocopied paperwork. I was mopping the floors near him (it infuriated the staff that though I wasn’t being fed, I continued to complete my assigned chores) when out of courtesy he asked me how I was doing, as he was directly involved in my social work case as the physically tortured and neglected Haitian kid who was brave enough to testify against his mother in family court. I replied, “I haven’t eaten in three days.” After an immediate shock and awe, he quickly arranged for a meeting between me and the staff. Through its duration, I sat right beside him. I always distrusted adults, so it didn’t help that they accused me of being obstinate, and that my eating disorders were due to mental instability on my end. Still, their words did upset me. However, their labels wouldn’t stick as accurate depictions of my character, because prior to and throughout my hunger strike I remained well-behaved. I completed all my chores in addition to assuming the cleaning duties of other kids who were too ill or traumatized to complete them during their first few days there. Chronic or intermittent homelessness will do that to anyone–especially kids and young teens. It’s completely demoralizing. He asked them for solid reasons why they didn’t inform him of the issue. They explained that they didn’t feel it bore enough importance to be referred upwards to him. This made him even more upset, and I was getting my front-seat first lesson on the spectacle of adult incompetence and mediocrity. They only cared about their jobs and would only exercise intelligence when they felt their jobs would be threatened, and so they “quieted” my request for books. If fear over the loss of their jobs wouldn’t have clouded their foresight, they would have seen this incident from the perspective of the director. If word had gotten out to major media outlets that a Black (Haitian) kid in what was once considered “The largest ghetto in the United States—Bed Stuy”, went on a hunger strike after his request for “more books” was denied by a taxpayer funded group home, it would have rocked the entire social services community. A city and state investigation of the CBCC organization would have been made, and absolutely everyone would have lost their jobs. Don’t like ads? Become a supporter and enjoy The Good Men Project ad free The staff members weren’t thinking, and even at eight years old, I knew better than to take that level of stupidity too seriously. The director turned towards me, leaned forward, and promised me that if I ate immediately after the meeting, he’d personally see to it that more books be added to the library. Though I didn’t trust many adults, I respected him enough to agree to the deal. After the meeting was over, I went into the small cafeteria and ate lunch with everyone else. To this day, I’ll never forget that I had mixed vegetables and a cheese sandwich with plenty of mayonnaise. Grilled cheese never tasted so scrumptious. Surprisingly, the next day men in jumpsuits arrived to set up bookshelves for the boxes of new books that had just been delivered. How he pulled it off so quickly, I will never know, but I marveled as I saw the covers of The Hobbit, D’Aulaire’s Greek Myths, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Oliver Twist, and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe for the first time. At that moment, I knew I would be destined to be the smartest boy in the world! One of the female staffers approached me with an envelope, rather than lazily calling me into her office as she usually did. It was a typewritten letter from the director I had brokered the deal with. Don’t like ads? Become a supporter and enjoy The Good Men Project ad free I don’t recall the exact words, but it was a permission slip that allowed me the special privilege to leave the group home during visitation hours—to the local library and museum. As long as I had the letter, and showed it to the museum receptionist, my admission would be free. I imagine this was a preventive measure on his part in expectation that I would finish reading all the books in the group home library–and I did. I was the only group home resident given this access. ♦◊♦ Standing up for the right to read books drastically changed my world. Eventually, I would be discovered by a Buddhist nun (impressed by my juvenile hunger strike story) and along with her monastic community, provided me with a free five-year-long formal education and tutorship. In 1999, New York City finally ended a multi-million dollar contract with CBCC after a crackdown uncovered the foster care agency’s widescale mismanagment and corruption. Don’t like ads? Become a supporter and enjoy The Good Men Project ad free Also, it wouldn’t be the last time I held a hunger strike against seemingly powerful change-resistant forces. During my sophomore year at Central State University, when faced against a school administration that wouldn’t budge on its policies toward the dietary needs of students, I held another hunger strike that brought the heads of a major food corporation together along with college administrators. I presented my proposal that by tailoring menus to address the dietary diversity of the student body, it would save them money and benefit both parties. After negotiations were made, I broke my second and last hunger strike with a veggie burger that they prepared for me. Every good story has its miracles, but every miracle needs pushing. The problem with “in the box” education solutions is that they run counter to recent studies revealing that when we place students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds into the same classroom with higher income students, they still perform below expectations. That’s because the key to knowledge is exposure, and exposure is what we don’t talk enough about in education circles. The difference between kids that make it and ones that don’t isn’t decided by test scores or even their natural talents, but more to do with whom and what they are exposed to. Thanks to Twain, Barrie, Dickens, Caroll, and so many more…books gave my earliest dreams the push they needed to make the incredible journey from the confines of a Brooklyn group home to the learning labs of sillicon valley—where I currently run an edtech startup. My life’s work is about giving every learning miracle its push. So every morning when I smile into the mirror, a precocious eight-year old boy smiles back at me, because his miraculous journey is far from over. Please sir, can I read some more? — RSVP to join weekly calls on Conscious Intersectionality We are proud of our SOCIAL INTEREST GROUPS—WEEKLY PHONE CALLS to discuss and help solve some of the most difficult challenges the world has today. Calls are for Members Only (although you can join the first call for free). Not yet a member of The Good Men Project? Join now! Join The Good Men Project Community. The $50 Platinum Level is an ALL-ACCESS PASS—join as many groups and classes as you want for the entire year. The $20 Gold Level gives you access to any ONE Social Interest Group and ONE Class–and other benefits listed below the form. Or…for $5, join as a Bronze Member and support our mission. Register New Account Log in if you wish to renew an existing subscription. Username Email First Name Last Name Password Password Again Choose your subscription level Annual Platinum - $50.00 - 1 Year Annual Gold - $25.00 - 1 Year Annual Bronze - $12.00 - 1 Year Credit / Debit Card PayPal Choose Your Payment Method Auto Renew Subscribe to The Good Men Project Daily Newsletter our Terms of Service which can be found here. *Payment is by PayPal. Please note: If you are already a writer/contributor at The Good Men Project, log in here before registering. (Request new password if needed). ◊♦◊ ANNUAL PLATINUM membership ($50 per year) includes: 1. AN ALL ACCESS PASS — Join ANY and ALL of our weekly calls, Social Interest Groups, classes, workshops and private Facebook groups. 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What’s on the horizon for 2016 and beyond? Find out in this annual ebook sampler of excerpts from some of Del Rey’s most exciting science fiction and fantasy titles! Inside are a slew of iconic authors and brands. Michael J. Sullivan, the author of the Riyria series, kicks off an original five-book saga. Elizabeth Moon revisits her classic military sci-fi epic Vatta’s War with a new standalone novel. Science Fiction Hall of Famer Connie Willis returns with a satire of love and (mis)communication. China Miéville, one of the most consistently original voices in any genre, presents a brilliant work of alternate history. And a bold era of World of Warcraft storytelling begins with a tale of justice and vengeance. Here, too, are emerging voices and incredible new visions. At the edge of the Russian wilderness, a young girl tries to protect her family from terrifying fairy tales come to life. In Kolkata, India, a college professor learns of a race of people at once more than human yet kin to beasts. An ordinary family in England undertakes a ten-year period of servitude to a ruling class endowed with powerful magic. A contestant on a reality TV show, cut off from all outside contact, learns that the real world may have changed in terrifying ways. A young man with inexplicable powers is recruited by a secret training program at West Point. And in South Dakota, a child falls through the earth—only to wake up in the palm of a giant metal hand. This marvelous ebook sampler contains excerpts from eleven recent and upcoming works: AGE OF MYTH by Michael J. Sullivan THE BEAR AND THE NIGHTINGALE by Katherine Arden COLD WELCOME by Elizabeth Moon CROSSTALK by Connie Willis THE DEVOURERS by Indra Das GILDED CAGE by Vic James THE LAST DAYS OF NEW PARIS by China Miéville THE LAST ONE by Alexandra Oliva THE POINT by John Dixon SLEEPING GIANTS by Sylvain Neuvel WORLD OF WARCRAFT: ILLIDAN by William King Keep Reading

Kaju katli recipe with step by step photos. Kaju katli (vegan cashew fudge) recipe or kaju barfi recipe is one of the most sought after Indian sweet recipes. Here is an easy kaju katli recipe for beginners to try without sugar syrup. These thin, melt in mouth and smooth kaju katlis are just like what you get in sweet stalls. This is one of the most tried and tested recipes from the blog too. Do try out this fool proof kaju katli recipe as a treat to the family or edible gift during festivals like Diwali, navratri, Ganesh chaturthi etc. Kaju katli recipe or kaju barfi recipe or Indian vegan cashew fudge recipe is a royal Indian sweet that takes a pride position in most Indian festival treats. It is one of the most loved sweets and often gifted to friends and relatives during festivals like diwali. I have tried making kaju katli recipe 2-3 years before and did not get it right. I always have a problem with sugar syrups . I try to stay away from sweets calling for even one string syrup and the most popular recipe of kaju katli is the one with powdered cashews and one string syrup,obviously not my cup of tea. I so badly wanted to try kaju katli recipe as it one of our favorite sweets and I was desperately searching for kaju katli without sugar syrup recipe. I found this easiest recipe for kaju katli in Mrs Mallika Badrinath’s 100 sweet varieties and there was no need for sugar syrup.You just have to grind sugar and cashew,mix and cook,can it get easier than this . Usually varak (edible silver foil) is placed on kaju katli but i never use it. Though this is an easy kaju katli recipe we need to be extremely focused and careful as when to stop cooking,kneading etc. Please be sure to check the notes section for more pointers. This kaju katli recipe is so rich that you wont believe it is vegan.I have used just a drop of ghee just to grease the plate and that can be avoided too if you wish. There is absolutely no need for ghee in this recipe, this is a vegan Indian cashew fudge recipe 🙂 I can confidently say this is the best recipe for kaju katli that even beginners can try without any fear. I really urge you all to try this quick and simple kaju kalti recipe or kaju burfi recipe as it is called in few places and surprise your loved ones with this royal Indian sweet 🙂 To make kaju katli recipe you have to make sure your cashews are at room temperature. Do not use cashews that were stored in fridge. Make sure to bring the cashew nuts to room temperature. You can even dry roast the cashews briefly to remove the moisture in them. You can flavor kaju katli recipe with rose water or saffron. I like to add saffron in kaju burfi. This royal Indian sweet kaju katli keeps well for up to a week at room temperature. There are few kaju katli recipes with milk but the should be consumed on the same day as prepared. Store kaju katli in airtight container and serve kaju katli as required. Another delicious variation of kaju katli recipe is kesar kaju katli. You can even try badam katli, kaju pista rolls,kaju strawberry recipes. Here is how to make kaju katli recipe with step by step photos. Few more Indian sweet recipes you might like are coconut pista ladoo, quick chocolate burfi, easy dhoodh peda, badam katli How to make kaju katli recipe with step by step photos. 1.Soak cashews in water for 30 minutes. I soaked the cashews in hot water, you can soak in milk too but kaju katlis made that way have less shelf life. 2. Powder the sugar using a dry grinder or mixer. 2. Grind cashews to a very fine paste. You can use the milk or water used for soaking to ease the grinding. You have to grind the cashews to a very smooth and fine paste with minimum water. For the 1 cup of cashews I used 3 tablespoons water for grinding. 3.Measure one cup of ground cashew paste and powdered sugar and take in a non stick pan. Mix well. Make sure to mix very well before you start cooking as the mixture gets cooked very easily. 4.Now heat the mixture over low-medium flame and start to stir. Mix well and keep stirring in low flame. keep scarping the sediments while stirring. Add saffron and mix well. 5. Keep stirring for 7-10 minutes, The kaju sugar mixture will start bubbling and it will begin to thicken. Make sure to scrape the edges while stirring. Add saffron at this stage if you want to add. 6. Once the kaju sugar mixture forms a lump and gathers in the center,pinch a very small amount and make a ball with your fingers. if you are able to form a ball,then it is the correct consistency. Switch off the flame and let the mixture cool for a while. 7.Once the mixture is warm to touch,knead into a very soft dough. This is the very important step for getting perfect,soft melt in mouth kaju katli. You should not let the mixture cool down completely. Knead the kaju mixture in to a very smooth dough while it is still warm. If you are unable to knead you may add few drops of warm milk but again that will reduce the shelf life. 8.Roll the dough into a 1/4 inch thick circle and make diamond shaped pieces. The thickness of kaju katlis is your choice. The kaju katlis you get in shops will be very thin,so roll the dough as thin or thick as you prefer. 9. Allow the pieces to set for 10 minutes. Store kaju katlis airtight in room temperature. If you refrigerate the kaju katlis may turn a bit hard. Kaju katli recipe card below: 5 from 6 votes Print Kaju katli recipe, cashew fudge recipe | how to make kaju katli Prep Time 30 mins Cook Time 10 mins Total Time 40 mins Kaju katli recipe is a royal Indian sweet,vegan cashew fudge,rich melt in mouth with just 4 ingredients! Course: Sweet/dessert Cuisine: Indian Servings : 20 kaju katlis Calories : 83 kcal Author : Harini Ingredients (1 cup=250 ml) 1 cup cashews 1 cup powdered sugar 1/8 teaspoon saffron optional 1/2 teaspoon cardamom powder Instructions Soak cashews in water for 30 minutes. Powder the sugar. Grind cashews to a very fine paste,just y sprinkling water. Measure one cup of ground cashew paste and powdered sugar and take in a non stick pan. Mix well. Now heat the mixture over low-medium flame and start to stir. Add saffron and mix well Keep stirring for 7-10 minutes,till the mixture thickens and leaves the sides.Scrape the edges while stirring. Once the mixture forms a lump and gathers in the center,pinch a very small amount and make a ball with your fingers. if you are able to form a ball,then it is the correct consistency.Switch off the flame and let the mixture cool for a while. Once the mixture is warm to touch,knead into a very soft dough. Roll the dough into a 1/4 inch thick circle and make diamond shaped pieces. Allow the pieces to set for 10 minutes. Store kaju katlis airtight. Recipe Notes 1. Do not add more water while grinding. Just sprinkle to ease the grinding,the cashew paste should be very smooth. 2.Do not cook the mixture more than 10 minutes. Once the lump reaches soft ball stage,remove from flame.The mixture will further thicken when it cools. 3.Knead the mixture very well but gently,the more you knead the more soft your kaju katlis will be. 4. If the dough seems to be dry you can a tablespoon of milk or water while kneading. Sharing is caring!

Sometimes I fall into a rut with Italian sausages and go with the usual sausage with onion and peppers. Not that there's anything wrong with that but I needed a change! And that is what led me to developing this recipe. I braised the sausages in red wine until the wine completely evaporated and started to crisp up the skin. The sausages take on the deep color of the wine and are then simmered in a spicy tomato, olive and caper sauce. Was it good? Nope ... it was mouth-watering! The Hub, had seconds and he's my "this stuff is good" barometer ... if he's having seconds I know it's a home run.Serves 41 pound Italian sausage1 cup red wine2 tablespoons olive oil1 medium onion, chopped6 garlic cloves, minced or pressed through a press1/4 cup of drained non-pareil capers, roughly chopped1/2 cup of drained kalamata olives, pitted and roughly chopped1 tablespoon tomato paste2 pounds of roma tomatoes, diced or 1- 28 ounce can of diced tomatoes, including juice1 teaspoon fresh or 1/2 dried thymeI bay leaf2 pinches of sugar1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes or to taste (If you don't like heat just leave it out)1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)1/4 teaspoon black pepper1 pound linguine or pasta of choiceIn a deep skillet add the wine and bring to a boil over medium heat. Add the sausage links, cook until the wine evaporates (about 7 - 9 minutes) and sausage casing begins to crisp up and brown. Set aside.Heat skillet over medium heat, add olive oil and onions and cook for 5-7 minutes. Add garlic, capers and olives, cook for an additional 3-6 minutes or until fragrant. Add the remaining ingredients including the sausage. Bring up to a low boil and reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.Prepare pasta according to package instructions.Serve over pasta of choice, I prefer linguine, french bread and a glass of red wine or beer. ENJOY!

Raheem Sterling was allegedly attacked and racially abused as he arrived at Manchester City’s training ground on Saturday morning in preparation for their game against Tottenham Hotspur. The England forward was believed to have been kicked and branded a “n-----” by a man who appeared to be waiting for the 23-year-old at the players’ entrance at City’s football academy training base, according to sources. Sterling had pulled into the entrance in his car as he arrived for City’s pre-match preparations, at which point he is believed to have been confronted by the man hurling a barrage of abuse at him. Telegraph Sport understands that Sterling got out of his car to ask what the problem was only for the man to react by reputedly kicking the City player in the leg. It is unclear at this stage whether City have opted to report the incident to Greater Manchester Police but it is thought the sickening scenes were caught on CCTV. It is not believed the man was known to Sterling. City have yet to comment on the matter. Sterling did not suffer any injuries in the alleged attack and he went on to start and score twice – his 14th and 15th goals of an extraordinary season – in City’s 4-1 victory over Tottenham as Pep Guardiola’s side moved 14 points clear at the top of the Premier League.

Prosecutors often understand what’s going on but threaten the women with long sentences (sometimes based on conspiracy laws) to get them to testify against their men. That’s how the criminal justice system works, but when the women refuse to cave, they go to prison for many years — and the guys then drop them. When men are in prison, they seem to get visits frequently from girlfriends, who also add money into their commissary accounts so they can buy small items and make phone calls. But the prisoners and social workers I spoke to said that when women are imprisoned, they get fewer visitors and their accounts are often empty. Mass incarceration also has an abysmal record. Recidivism is high, and imprisonment breaks up and impoverishes families. A newly published study from the Russell Sage Foundation found that incarceration of a family member is associated with a 64 percent decline in household assets, magnifying poverty and the race gap in America. And the 2.6 million American children who have a parent in prison or jail pay an enormous price — which, as Rabbit’s story shows, isn’t always necessary. Rabbit was diverted from prison to a model program in Tulsa called Women in Recovery. (Hunter also is in the program.) It reduces the numbers of women in prison, saves money and has had remarkable success helping troubled women shake drugs and restart their lives. It has a two-generation approach that works with both the women and their children. The program offers counseling, intensive support, coaching on budgeting and conflict resolution, and help getting high school equivalency diplomas, housing and jobs. The upshot is that Rabbit has now been clean of drugs for nine months — the longest since she was a young child — and has a job in a warehouse with some prospects for promotion. She has custody on weekends of her son, 12, and daughter, 11, and is trying to rebuild relationships with them. Women in Recovery programs last 17 months and cost $19,700 on average; after that, the woman is in a job, and recidivism over the next three years is just 4.9 percent. Without the program, the state might imprison the women for years at a much greater cost — and end up with a much higher recidivism rate.

Special Status Whatsapp groups and Facebook pages are abuzz with activity, ahead of the event, planned on January 26. With the resounding success of the jallikattu saga in neighbouring Tamil Nadu, it is now the turn of Andhra Pradesh to follow suit. Only this time, the purpose is to ensure that the Centre accords ‘special status’ to the state. Several Whatsapp groups and social media pages are abuzz, as Andhraites plan a day-long protest at the RK Beach in Visakhapatnam on Republic Day this year. Thousands are expected to gather at the beach in support of their long-standing demand that 'special status' be accorded to Andhra Pradesh. The hashtag #APDemandsSpecialStatus is currently one of the trending topics on social media in the state, with enthusiasts urging people from all over AP to gather at the beach in a massive show of solidarity for the cause. "We have been coordinating with several hundred people through Whatsapp groups and Facebook pages for the protest. We are trying to mobilize as many people as we can for the protest,” says Satish -a student from Visakhapatnam- who plans to be a part of the protest along with his friends. Speaking to The News Minute, organisers say that arrangements are being made to provide free transportation to the venue. “We have already spoken to three autorickshaw unions. They support our cause and have promised to make available at least 40 autos in the RK Beach area to provide free transport to protesters," says Sai Keshav, one of the organisers who is coordinating with youngsters from Guntur to ensure maximum participation. Like many others, Keshav and his friends plan to reach Visakhapatnam on the previous day itself. "People are seething with anger at the gross neglect of the state by the Centre for so long. There is so much of potential in here, but what do we get…absolutely no support from the Centre," he fumes. Speaking about what exactly sowed the idea of such a protest, Keshav replies: "When we saw the jallikattu protest in Marina, we were inspired to start our own protest for our very own cause. Just the way the youth of Tamil Nadu got an ordinance passed in favour of jallikattu, we too shall seek to put pressure on the Centre to pass a ‘special status’ ordinance for AP." He also claims that there are many active Whatsapp groups that function solely to try and get as many people to participate in the protest. Many people have even reportedly volunteered to provide food, snacks and water to the protesters. The lack of a central organiser is evident, as there is a sense of disarray among volunteers over certain aspects of the protest. "We had trouble getting police permission too, as a two-day CII Partnership Summit is to be held on 27-28 January at the same venue. They have however agreed to let us hold it, as long as we are peaceful. We initially decided to start the protest at 9 am in the morning, but we may have to start as early as 7.30 am, or as late at 11 30am. The protest may go on till late in the night, as the YSRC party plans to hold a candle march in the evening,” remarks Keshav. According to Harish -an organiser- more than 50,000 people will join the protest, with 7000-odd people expected to join from Vijayawada alone. Several Telugu actors too have backed the demand for special status, with ‘Power Star’ Pawan Kalyan even releasing a special song Desh Bachao -a protest musical- to extend his full support to the movement. Actor Varun Tej tweeted: "Will be supporting anything that is for the welfare of the people of our states. I support the special status of AP." (sic) Sai Dharam Tej wrote: "It's time for us to be united and fight for what we were promised and deserve. AP demands special status." (sic) Actor Sundeep Kishan confirmed his participation in the silent protest. "Will be taking part in the silent protest in Vizag on the 26th to do my bit as a responsible citizen. Please join us,” (sic) Sundeep tweeted. The state government however persists in its claim that the planned protest is the handiwork of the ‘Opposition parties’. Hitting out at the Opposition on Monday, state Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu accused them of simply wanting to create a ruckus. Naidu also took strong exception to the comparison of Special Category Status (SCS) promised to Andhra Pradesh with TN’s jallikattu campaign. "Some parties are trying to provoke people and create disturbances. But we will not allow this. We will be very firm," he told reporters. Massive protests broke out all over the state last September, after Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced a 'special economic package' for Andhra Pradesh, instead of ‘special status’ that the state had demanded.

Mona T. Brooks / KCPB While the world's first coders helped build the tech industry, its designers will define the industry's future, said graphic designer and computer scientist John Maeda. Maeda spoke Sunday at the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas, where he issued the findings of his #DesignInTech report. Before 2010, Maeda said, design played a secondary role in the technology industry. How a product or service looked or worked, and the ways users interacted with it, were typically an after-thought that focused mostly on cosmetics. Design only ever grabbed attention when companies like Apple pushed outside the norm. But that's changing fast. Startups and large tech firms all recognize that their products need to be both visually appealing and deliver great user experiences -- and that means thinking about design from the beginning. It also means the industry needs people who can communicate those ideas and create more satisfying experiences. In other words, it needs designers who contribute from the start of a project -- not the end. "Twenty-seven startups co-founded by designers and 10 creative agencies were acquired by tech in the last four years," Maeda said. The former president of the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), Maeda joined the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers last year as Silicon Valley's first ever design partner. Since he joined KPCB, he said, six other venture capital firms have brought on designers to help scout new talent and incorporate design into their portfolio companies 'products. Take Airbnb, Maeda said. Founded in 2008, the company makes it easy for people to rent out their homes or a single room to those looking for a place a stay. It was dreamed up by designers Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia, both RISD graduates, after the two attended an industrial design conference. "[Silicon Valley] didn't think a designer could build and run a company. They were straight up about it. We weren't MBAs, we weren't two Ph.D. students from Stanford. Being designers they thought we were people that worked for people that ran companies," Chesky told Dezeen magazine in January 2014. Maeda also pointed to Dropbox's 2013 acquisition of Orchestra, the makers of sleek email app Mailbox, for $100 million. That deal brought former IDEO designer Gentry Underwood to the cloud storage company as head of design. Microsoft, too, has acquired design talent in the mobile app space with its purchases of email app Acompli and calendar app Sunrise. Both products had been hailed for their design and experience. In his report, Maeda also points out the growing need for designers who double as programmers. Dropbox's Underwood, for instance, holds both a Stanford degree in human-computer interaction as well as degrees in psychology and anthropology. Maeda found that more than a third of 110 surveyed designers in the tech industry had formal engineering training and over half had formal art or design training. In a survey of 370 designers, 93.5 percent described the ability to code as useful and at some times essential. Intriguingly, not all of those designers work in the tech industry.

Robert Cumming / Shutterstock.com I recently sent a letter of complaint by email to Air New Zealand about their policy of treating all male passengers as potential child molesters, and seating them away from unescorted minors. True to the promise of their auto responder, I have received a more personal response. Rather I should say that they have responded with a non response. Following is their email to me and then my response back to them. —– Dear Mr Elam Thank you for your email regarding your recent flights with us. It was a pleasure to read your comments regarding the excellent standard of service which you received on your flights with us, and that you had an enjoyable stay in New Zealand. It is certainly always encouraging to receive feedback such as yours as it is proof to us that the high standards which we aim to provide are being maintained. However, I am sorry to read of your disappointment in an aspect of our Unaccompanied Minor policy, namely in regards to not seating minors next to male passengers. By way of explanation, Air New Zealand ’s internal procedures relating to the seating of unaccompanied minors and young persons travelling alone are as follows: For Crew surveillance reasons, unaccompanied minors and young persons travelling alone are normally seated together in the rear of the aircraft and next to the crew galley. Where possible, a spare seat is kept empty next to unaccompanied minors and young persons travelling alone to be used by the crew where special attention is required. Where a flight is full, we will endeavour to seat a female passenger next to unaccompanied minors and young persons travelling alone. These procedures reflect the approach adopted by leading airlines around the world and have been in place for some time. Mr Elam, thank you once again for taking the time to write in to us. I trust that I have been able to address some of your concerns, and that we may have the opportunity of welcoming you and your wife onboard our flights again in the future. Kind regards, Claire McLister Customer Support Specialist ——- Dear Ms McLister, Thank you for taking the time to respond to my questions, and in such a prompt manner. However, your response would have been much more satisfying had you actually answered my questions rather than just tell me what I already knew, namely that it is Air New Zealand’s official policy to practice gender profiling against male passengers, regarding them all as threats from which the children on your planes need to be protected. I sought in my query to find out why that was happening, Ms. McLister, not to get a non responsive reiteration of what I was obviously complaining about in the first place. So I am here, asking you again. What determinants did your airline use to arrive at such a policy? How do you respond to my concerns that the policy is discriminatory and fostering inaccurate and negative stereotypes of fully half of your clients? I am quite sorry, Ms. McLister, but your statement of “These procedures reflect the approach adopted by leading airlines around the world and have been in place for some time,” has the ring of a child excusing their poor judgment by saying “ Well, everyone else was doing it.” First of all, not everyone else is doing it. As I indicated in my original communication, Qantas, who appears to be your primary competitor among the USA to NZ air service providers, does not do it. And, as I also reminded you, British Airways was recently sued over the policy, and was compelled to change it because there was no demonstrable reason to have it in the first place. Your response to me, as courteous and professionally worded as it was, was simply avoidant of these points and the quite reasonable questions raised about your practices. Would you kindly answer those questions, or am I to understand that you are going to defend a sexist policy by avoiding any meaningful discussion with a customer? Lastly, Ms.McLister, I am not married, and so was not traveling with my wife. It appears you just made that assumption when seeing I was traveling with a female. Given the other assumptions you made about me, and all men boarding your flights, I should not, I suppose, be surprised. It seems to be policy on all levels at Air New Zealand. But I would nonetheless really appreciate either a straight answer from you regarding my inquiry, or the courtesy of forwarding these questions to someone who will provide as much. Kind Regards, Paul Elam Claire McLister’s email address: flightcomment@airnz.co.nz

Four hours after three suicide bombers killed at least 41 people and wounded hundreds more at Istanbul’s Ataturk airport, CIA Director John Brennan said the attacks bore the grim hallmarks of ISIS and warned that the fanatically violent Islamic terrorist group wants to conduct similar large-scale attacks in the United States. “I am worried from the standpoint of an intelligence professional who looks at the capabilities of Daesh … and their determination to kill as many as people as possible and to carry out attacks abroad,” Brennan said in an exclusive interview at CIA headquarters with Yahoo News. Brennan credited effective homeland security measures and intelligence for the fact that ISIS has been unable to attack America directly — the Orlando and San Bernardino shootings were carried out by radicals inspired by ISIS but not under its control — but he believes the group will keep trying to penetrate American defenses. “You look at what happened in the Turkish airport, these were suicide vests. It’s not that difficult to actually construct and fabricate a suicide vest … so if you have a determined enemy and individuals who are not concerned about escape, that they are going into it with a sense that they are going to die, that really does complicate your strategy in terms of preventing attacks.” He added: “I’d be surprised if Daesh is not trying to carry out that kind of attack in the United States.” Daesh is an acronym for the Arabic name of the Islamic State, better known as ISIS or ISIL. Without confirming that the airport bombings were carried out by ISIS, which as of Wednesday morning had not claimed responsibility, Brennan indicated that the method of attack — suicide bombers wearing explosives-laden vests — pointed to the Islamic extremist group rather than to Kurdish nationalists, who have been waging a campaign of violence against the Turkish state. “It was a suicide bombing [which] is usually more a Daesh technique,” Brennan said. Moreover, Brennan said that ISIS has a motive to spread its terror to Turkey, which has been targeting ISIS terrorists across the border in Syria. Until recently, Ankara’s failure to police its border with Syria was a sore point with Washington. “Turkey has been cracking down on some of the transit of foreign fighters who are flowing into, as well as out of, Turkey, and they are part of part of the coalition providing support, allowing their territory to be used by coalition aircraft, so there are a lot of reasons why Daesh would want to strike back.” Brennan said ISIS is using terror tactics to “offset” tactical battlefield setbacks and losses of territory in Syria and Iraq. But he was quick to add that the wider offensive in the region and Europe and beyond is “not solely” a reaction to losses in Iraq and Syria. “Over the past year and a half they have made a more determined effort to carry out attacks abroad, and we see in terms of their plans, their preparations, the movement of people as well as propagandizing outside, exhorting, inciting a much more determined effort to carry out these external operations,” Brennan said. Slideshow: Deadly attack at Istanbul’s Ataturk >>> In the interview, Brennan was blunt about the slow nature of progress both in the fight against ISIS and efforts to push Syrian President Bashar Assad out of power. He echoed somewhat pessimistic comments he made earlier this month before the Senate Intelligence Committee about the enduring strength of ISIS as a terrorist organization with global reach. “We’ve yet to really thwart Daesh’s ability to reach beyond the Syria-Iraqi borders and put in place some of the plans and preparations to carry out attacks,” Brennan said. He added, “I am very concerned we have not had the success against Daesh in that environment as we’ve had in the core areas of Syria and Iraq.” A key prong of U.S. strategy to defeat ISIS is the removal of Assad, whom Brennan described as a “magnet” for a wide spectrum of extremist groups in Syria. But the CIA chief acknowledged that Assad is getting stronger rather than weaker. “Relative to where he was on the battlefield last year, [Assad] is in a better and stronger position [today],” he said. For that he blames Russia, which intervened last September to prop up its flagging client with thousands of troops and sophisticated weaponry. Frustrated with Moscow, Brennan said, “The Russians sometimes want their cake and eat it too as far as having the cooperation with us against terrorists but not wanting to do anything that’s going to lead to a political settlement that will have a more durable future as a far as a political agreement.” Continue reading

The 48 Laws of Power (1998) is the first book by American author Robert Greene.[1] The book is a bestseller,[2][3] selling over 1.2 million copies in the United States,[4] and is popular with prison inmates and celebrities.[4][5][6][7][8][9] Background [ edit ] Greene initially formulated some of the ideas in The 48 Laws of Power while working as a writer in Hollywood and concluding that today's power elite shared similar traits with powerful figures throughout history.[5] In 1995, Greene worked as a writer at Fabrica, an art and media school, and met a book packager named Joost Elffers.[4][8] Greene pitched a book about power to Elffers and six months later, Elffers requested that Greene write a treatment.[4] Although Greene was unhappy in his current job, he was comfortable and saw the time needed to write a proper book proposal as too risky.[10] However, at the time Greene was rereading his favorite biography about Julius Caesar and took inspiration from Caesar's decision to cross the Rubicon River and fight Pompey, thus inciting the Great Roman Civil War.[10] Greene wrote the treatment, which later became The 48 Laws of Power.[10] He would note this as the turning point of his life.[10] Reception [ edit ] The 48 Laws of Power has sold over 1.2 million copies in the United States and has been translated into 24 languages.[4] Fast Company called the book a "mega cult classic", and The Los Angeles Times noted that The 48 Laws of Power turned Greene into a "cult hero with the hip-hop set, Hollywood elite and prison inmates alike".[4][11] The 48 Laws of Power has been reported to be much requested in American prison libraries,[5][12] and has been studied as a first year text in some US colleges.[13][14] Rapper 50 Cent stated that he related to the book "immediately", and approached Greene with the prospect of a potential collaboration, which would later become The 50th Law, another New York Times bestseller.[15] Busta Rhymes used The 48 Laws of Power to deal with problematic movie producers.[8] DJ Premier has a tattoo inspired from Law #5, "Reputation is the cornerstone of power", on his arm[6] and DJ Calvin Harris has an "Enter with boldness" arm tattoo based on Law #28.[16] The 48 Laws of Power has also been mentioned in songs by UGK, Jay Z, Kanye West, and Drake.[6][17][18] [19] Dov Charney, founder and former CEO of American Apparel, frequently quoted the laws during board meetings, has given friends and employees copies of the book, and appointed Greene to the board of American Apparel.[4] Former Cuban President Fidel Castro is also claimed by the book's author to have read the book.[4] The book has been banned by several US prisons.[20] Professor Jeffrey Pfeffer said that Greene's so-called laws are based on isolated examples, and not on solid research.[5] Kirkus Reviews said Greene offers no evidence to support his world view, Greene's laws contradict each other, and the book is "simply nonsense".[21] Newsweek also points out ways the laws contradict each other and says "Intending the opposite, Greene has actually produced one of the best arguments since the New Testament for humility and obscurity."[22] Director magazine notes "some of Greene's 'laws' seem contradictory" and the work is "plodding and didactic".[23]

The fermentor that started it all, reinvented again! We've taken the revolutionary Big Mouth Bubbler® glass and re-engineered it with the help of world-class Polish master glassmakers to ensure sturdy, solid, superior craftsmanship. Extra-thick glass eliminates oxygen permeation and keeps your brew safe. Banish bugs and bacteria with perfectly air-tight seals from a carefully ground, completely smooth and obsessively flat neck top. In the evolution of Big Mouth Bubbler®, we've added some perks! Instantly measure volume with gallon graduation marks. Easier transfer of clear beer with a taller, narrower body while ensuring less liquid is left behind. Bid your funnel and siphon sayonara! Pour cooled wort directly from your kettle into the Big Mouth Bubbler® for instant transfers. Pitch yeast without it running down the sides of your fermentor. Easily add flavorings to secondary, and then just as easily remove them! Gallon graduation markings help ensure precise measurement of fermenter volume. Last but not least, you asked and we listened: more space for the adhesive FermagraF° LCD thermometer than any other glass fermentor! The most obsessively engineered glass fermentor ever created, we are proud and excited to introduce the new and improved Big Mouth Bubbler® EVO 2. Note: We still strongly recommend the Big Mouth Bubbler® carrying harness. Each Big Mouth Bubbler® Includes: Big Mouth Bubbler® Glass Fermentor, Universal Lid* Big Mouth Bubbler® Microfiber Cleaning Cloth *The new Big Mouth Universal Lid (included) fits all Big Mouth Bubbler® Fermentors. The Big Mouth Bubbler® Universal Lid is just like a traditional carboy bung, only bigger! Just as easy to sanitize and set in place too. Ribbed silicone rings ensure a positive seal to keep out pests, while the non-threaded design allows the lid to move, preventing an out-of-control fermentation from dangerously pressurizing your fermentor. You will also need a Small Universal Carboy Bung - drilled or solid.

Lounès Matoub (Kabyle: Lwennas Meɛṭub; Berber languages: ⵍⵡⴻⵏⵏⴰⵙ ⵎⴻⵄⵜⵓⴱ or ⵎⵄⵟⵓⴱ ⵍⵓⵏⵉⵙ; Arabic: معطوب لونّاس‎ (January 24, 1956 – June 25, 1998)) was a famous Algerian Berber singer, poet, thinker and mandole player who was a prominent advocate of the Berber cause, human rights and secularism in Algeria throughout his life. Matoub was reviled by most of the Muslim population in Algeria for his Laïc political and atheist views and the alleged blasphemy of some songs (like Allahu Akbar) along with his militant advocacy of Berber rights,[1] so he was unpopular among both warring parties during the Algerian Civil War. His assassination, in circumstances which remain unclear, provoked violent riots in Kabylie. Berber Algerians still accuse the Algerian government of killing Matoub Lounès, but some of the Algerian government's figures accused the Islamist terrorists of this crime. Early life [ edit ] Lounes Matoub was born on 24 January 1956 in the village of Taourirt Moussa in Algerian Kabylie. When he turned 9, he built his first guitar from an empty car oil can and composed his first songs as a teenager. His political and cultural identity was awakened by armed confrontations between Kabyles and government forces in 1963–1964. In 1968, the Algerian government introduced a policy of Arabization in the education system. Matoub reacted by skipping school; his memoirs recall: "We had to give up Berber and reject French. I said no! I played hooky in all my Arabic classes. Every class that I missed was an act of resistance, a slice of liberty conquered. My rejection was voluntary and purposeful."[2] By 1975, he had abandoned formal education. He left for France in search of work. Musical career [ edit ] Lounès Matoub with his Algerian mandole in 1975. He was an Algerian singer of Kabyle music. Matoub began his singing career under the patronage of the established singer Idir. He recorded his first album Ay Izem (The Lion) in 1978; it was a phenomenal success. He went on to record 36 albums, as well as writing songs for other artists. He gave his first major concert in April 1980, at the time of the "Berber Spring" protest movement in Kabylie. His music mixes Algerian Andalucian Chaabi orchestration with politicized Berber (Tamazight) lyrics, and covers a broad variety of topics including the Berber cause, democracy, freedom, religion, Islamism, love, exile, memory, history, peace and human rights. Unlike the Amazigh poet/musicians who preceded him, Matoub's style was direct and confrontational. Fellow musician Mohamed Alileche recalls: He went straight. He criticized a president. He mentioned the president of Algeria right in the beginning of his career. He goes black and white. He was very, very clear in his songs, and he is the only singer – not only Algeria, but in all of North Africa – who criticized the government and criticized clearly. He would never get afraid.[3] Despite being banned from Algerian radio and television during his life, Matoub became, and remains, an extremely popular Kabyle singer. Political events [ edit ] During the riots in October 1988, Matoub was shot five times by a policeman[citation needed] and left for dead. He was hospitalised for two years, requiring 17 surgeries, including the insertion of an artificial sacrum and the contraction of his leg by 5 cm. His 1989 album L'Ironie du sort describes his long convalescence. During the civil war, which began in 1992, the Islamist Armed Islamic Group (GIA) added his name to a hitlist of artists and intellectuals. Matoub remained in Algeria. On 25 September 1994, he was abducted. He was held for two weeks in a GIA mountain stronghold and condemned to death. He was released following a large public demonstration in which his supporters threatened "total war" on the Islamists. In 1994, he published his autobiography entitled Rebelle (Paris: Stock, 1995). Prizes [ edit ] Matoub Lounès (in the middle with the white shirt) with his friends, notably Mourad Nechab, known to be his favorite, and family in Kabylie On December 6, 1994, Matoub received Le Prix de la Mémoire ("The Memorial Prize") from Mrs. Danielle Mitterrand, President of La Fondation France Libertés ("The French Liberties Foundation") in Paris; the prize recognises those who devote themselves to recording and preserving the impact of political events on ordinary lives. ("The Memorial Prize") from Mrs. Danielle Mitterrand, President of ("The French Liberties Foundation") in Paris; the prize recognises those who devote themselves to recording and preserving the impact of political events on ordinary lives. On March 22, 1995, the Canadian journalists' organisation SCIJ awarded him Le Prix de la Liberté d'Expression ("The Prize for Freedom of Expression"). ("The Prize for Freedom of Expression"). On December 19, 1995, he received Le Prix Tahar Djaout ("The Tahar Djaout Prize") from La Fondation Nourredine Abba ("The Nourredine Abba Foundation") at UNESCO headquarters in Paris; the prize is named for an Algerian writer who was assassinated by Islamists in 1993. Assassination and aftermath [ edit ] On 25 June 1998, at approximately 12:30 pm local time, Matoub's car was stopped at a roadblock while he was driving along a mountainous road in eastern Algeria. The car was fired upon by masked gunmen, killing Matoub and wounding his wife, Nadia Matoub, and two sisters-in-law. Within hours, news of Matoub's murder had spread throughout Kabylie and thousands of angry mourners gathered around the hospital where his body was taken. The crowd shouted "Pouvoir, Assassin" ("Government, Assassins"). A week of violent riots followed his death. Young demonstrators clashed with riot police and attacked government property. On 28 June 1998 tens of thousands people attended his funeral in front of his house in his native village. He was buried between a fig tree and a cherry tree, opposite the house he was born in. Matoub's family played a scathing parody of the Algerian national anthem, which came from Matoub's final album Lettre ouverte aux... ("Open letter to..."), released after his death (Gold-Disc). Matoub's assassination occurred a week before a law excluding languages other than Arabic from public life was due to come into effect. Matoub had been an outspoken critic of this law. On 30 June 1998 the GIA claimed responsibility for the assassination of Lounes Matoub. On the first anniversary of his death, a general strike was observed in Kabyle's capital Tizi-Ouzou and thousands protested on the streets. Protesters broke into the town's court room and tore down its scales of justice. The BBC reported that many Berber activists blamed the government for Matoub's death and rejected its claim that Islamists were responsible. Around 20,000 people marched in Tizi-Ouzou to mark the third anniversary of Matoub's assassination. His family have created a foundation in his name to promote his memory, throw light on the circumstances of his assassination and promote the values he defended. Two streets in France have been named after Matoub, one in Grenoble and one in Lyon. On 18 July 2011, two men, Malik Madjnoun and Abdelhakim Chenoui, were convicted of killing Matoub, and sentenced to 12 years in jail. The one-day trial was suspended twice when Matoub's family interrupted to insist the suspects were innocent.[4] As Madjnoun and Chenoui had been in prison awaiting trial since 1999, they were released in 2012, having served their time.[5] Political views of Matoub [ edit ] Matoub Lounès spoke out in favour of federalism, secularism, democracy, freedom of speech, the recognition of Berber as a national and official language, and the decentralization of public schools in Algeria. For a period of time, he was a member of the Rally for Culture and Democracy, an opposition party in Algeria, although he had left the party by the time of his death.

New questions over A-G's link to embattled priest Updated New questions are being asked about the link between the New South Wales Attorney-General and a retired Catholic priest who allegedly abused a number of female children during his time in the church. Father Finian Egan's more than 50 years as a priest took him to at least half a dozen churches in and around Sydney. But the priest's service in the Catholic church came to an end when a number of women came forward to accuse him of abusing them when they were children. Within weeks of 7.30 airing a series of stories on Father Egan, at least five people had gone to police and a widespread investigation was underway. But nearly two years later, the priest has not been arrested or charged. One of his alleged victims, Nikki Wells, says there is no reason the case should be taking so long. "The wait has been absolutely horrendous. It's been really traumatic. The statements with the police have been finalised in 2010," she said. "We've been told the case is on the DPP's desk, but it's been on the DPP's desk for seven months. Now they keep telling us they're just waiting for a signature, so it's beyond me how it's been so long. "The case has been investigated. It's very clear the evidence is there from all the witnesses, so I don't understand why he hasn't been charged." Father Egan has always denied the allegations, and as the case dragged on questions were raised elsewhere in the media about the alleged sex offender's long-time association with Attorney-General Greg Smith. Mr Smith and Father Egan go back some years, and when Mr Smith was elected to Parliament five years ago he cited Father Egan's influence in his maiden speech to Parliament. "At St Gerard's, Father Finian Egan charmed us with his Irish wit and his pastoral devotion to his flock," he said in the speech. Damien Tudehope, now the Attorney-General's chief of staff, also knows Father Egan well, attending the priest's church and, as a solicitor, defending him against sexual abuse allegations. The ABC does not suggest that either Mr Smith or Mr Tudehope have interfered with the potential prosecution involving Father Egan, but critics argue there is an appearance of a potential conflict which the A-G should address. 'Completely horrified' But 7:30 can reveal discussions it is alleged the Attorney-General has had regarding the Egan matter which cast doubt over his impartiality. Last year Ms Wells spoke to another Catholic priest about her frustration at the delay. That priest, who the ABC has agreed not to name, says he then met Mr Smith last July. After that meeting the priest detailed his version of what was said in an email to Ms Wells which the ABC has obtained. In the email the priest says Mr Smith told him he thought Ms Wells was trying to take money from the church. "I was with Greg Smith the other day and I raised your case with him. He commented that 'you were just trying to get $1m from the church'," the priest said in the email. Ms Wells says the conversation was completely inappropriate. "I was completely horrified that the chief lawmaker in the state could comment on an open criminal case for a start," she said. "Secondly, that he'd pass judgment on someone he doesn't even know and just disbelief that the whole matter that our Attorney-General could speak so publicly about me and my case and a criminal matter. "Clearly he thinks I'm a liar and that other witnesses are liars too because I'm not the only victim in this matter - a clear lack of empathy and devastating unprofessionalism." The ABC asked Mr Smith if the priest's email description of the meeting and what was said was correct, and in response the Attorney-General issued a statement saying he "recalls no such conversation". "The Attorney-General recalls no such conversation and notes that 7.30 has failed to provide any detail which would help his recall," the statement said. "He says he would never suggest any victim of sexual abuse was simply motivated by a desire to claim a financial payout." Questions Beyond the alleged comment that Ms Wells was just after money, the email raises other questions. In fact Ms Wells said she had discussed a $1 million figure with the church, not for herself, but as a loan for a charity she was running to care for survivors of childhood abuse. She was shocked the Attorney-General would know anything about the $1 million figure, something she had raised only with senior churchmen, and she said so in her email reply to the priest. "I am horrified that Greg Smith knows about us seeking assistance for the Sunrise Centre - I am also further disgusted that he said that I just wanted to get $1 million out of the church," she wrote in the email to the priest. The priest replied, saying he had similar concerns about the fact Mr Smith knew about the $1 million figure. "This is what he had heard and that concerns me where this had come from," he said. "He is well connected within the church - he seems to know all the hierarchy - much more in the know than I am." Those connections troubled Greens MP David Shoebridge, who put a series of questions about the matter to Mr Smith on notice in Parliament. "In my dealings with him, it's an attorney that's more likely to defend the church than to get out and defend the victims," he said. Among the questions, he asked Mr Smith whether he had had any communication with anyone beyond the DPP regarding the Egan case. But Mr Shoebridge says in his answers Mr Smith did not address that issue, only stating that his office had not been in contact with the DPP about it. "That's a remarkable lack of candour... it was a very specific question capable of a very precise answer and we simply didn't get that," Mr Shoebridge said. "If the half of the answer you don't give is the core of the information, you've got to ask whether or not that is misleading." Topics: government-and-politics, states-and-territories, crime, sexual-offences, catholic, nsw First posted

T-Mobile is capping off the first calendar year of its Uncarrier strategy with a quarter of more customer additions than it's seen in years. The carrier says in its Q4 2013 results that it now serves 46.7 million customers, an increase of over 13 million year-over-year. This quarter alone it saw the addition of 869,000 postpaid customers — a major shift from losing 515,000 postpaid customers this quarter last year. T-Mobile says it hasn't done this well on postpaid since 2005. More customers, more losses But despite the gain in customers, T-Mobile continues to take a hit on overall earnings, posting a loss of $20 million, compared to a loss of $8 million from the prior year's quarter. In part, that's because T-Mobile has begun spending more money in order to get new customers — a cost up 40 percent year-over-year — and it's ultimately seeing less revenue from some of the most valuable ones. Average revenue per user for postpaid dropped around 9.4 percent from this quarter last year, lending to the increased losses. Revenue for the quarter was up, though how much depends on whether you factor in MetroPCS, which has been folded into the company since this time last year. Including MetroPCS, T-Mobile saw revenues leap to $6.83 billion for Q4 from $4.9 billion the prior year; without MetroPCS, it still sees a 10 percent improvement on the back of strong equipment sales. Smartphones in particular soared this quarter, with T-Mobile selling 6.2 million units during Q4 2013, up from just 2.8 million in the prior year's quarter. In a statement, T-Mobile CEO John Legere says that its fourth quarter numbers prove the company's new strategy is working. "Customers are fed up with the old ways and are voting in favor of choice, innovation and doing business with a company that cares about them and is willing to earn their business," Legere said. Earning their business is continuing to come at a cost, but for T-Mobile, that appears to be a cost worth bearing as it begins to improve its services and gain attention in the market. Update: In a conference call discussing its quarterly earnings, members of T-Mobile's executive team expressed a positive outlook on the company's ability to turn its newfound growth into profitability as it moves forward, though they acknowledged that costs involved with its Uncarrier initiatives may not turn around immediately. Some of its more recent Uncarrier plans have apparently been off to a strong start though, including its offer to pay ETF fees for customers transferring from other carriers. T-Mobile also said that its free data offer for tablets has been successful in getting new customers to try its network, and it suspects that many will eventually convert into paying tablet or smartphone customers. Legere declined to comment on the possibility of further industry consolidation.

"I am looking to put this guy out," Bradley says, "I don’t want to go 12 rounds with this guy." In anticipation of Timothy Bradley’s return to the ring against Ruslan Provodnikov on Saturday, March 16, at the Home Depot Center in Carson California, Bradley and his trainer recently met with the press. The WBO welterweight champion remains undefeated at 29-0 and is one of the premier fighters in the game today. But things have not gone smoothly. There were promotional issues. There were family issues. There were public relations issues. And there were issues with the fans of Manny Pacquiao, who he defeated, albeit controversially, in his last fight. “Every fight from here on out is a statement fight, especially coming after the Pacquiao fight,” Bradley said. “I am looking to make a statement in this fight and I am looking to damage this guy. I am looking to put this guy out. I don’t want to go 12 rounds with this guy. The longer he stays around the more confident he will get so I want to get him out of there as soon as possible.” Bradley is known for many things, but power isn’t among them. The same, however, cannot be said for the hard-hitting but overmatched Provodnikov (22-1). “I don’t know about his knockout power,” admitted Bradley. “I’m not worried about his power. He needs to worry about my power. I am not worried about anything he is going to bring. He is going to stand in the middle of the ring. I know exactly how to beat this guy—outbox him. Provodnikov has to worry about me. I am not worried about him.” Bradley’s trainer, Joel Diaz, feels much the same way. “We don’t take anyone light,” he said, “no matter who it is or what style he has. Ruslan has his style and I know he is training really hard because this is a great opportunity for him. I watch Provodnikov fights every night and know what he is and he’s not going to change very much. I know he has power in both hands, but to catch Tim Bradley is going to be very hard. Tim is really smart and now his punching power has increased because we made some adjustments. You are going to see a different Tim Bradley on the 16th and don’t be surprised if it doesn’t go the distance.” Wherever Bradley goes, it seems Pacquiao is soon to follow. “The Pacquiao made me grow as a person and as a fighter and it made me realize who was important and who was not important and what is important in my career,” said Bradley. “What is not important is what people’s perception of me is. Everyone has an opinion and they can say whatever they want to say but it’s not going to stop me from what I do and that’s kick butt in the ring. What’s important is my family and I pay attention to my career and stop worrying about everyone else’s career and what they are making. I just need to focus on my career and my life. Stop reading all this garbage that all these people are writing about me. I stopped reading columns. I used to read it all the time now I don’t read it at all.” It’s easy to understand why Bradley is upset. When he defeated the Philippine icon, many were unhappy. Some even went so far as to make death threats. But whether one agrees with the judges’ decision or not, it was hardly a dominating performance. The best one can say is that Bradley held his own, an accomplishment in its own right, if not quite enough to limp away with the crown. “I don’t get any credit after the Pacquiao fight, whatsoever,” he complained. “People talk about me, my style, that I’m boring. Some people talk about my wife, my kids. People sent me death threats after the fight because I won undeservingly. I should have given the belt back. A lot of different things went on. I can talk all day about things that people said about me. But it doesn’t matter. None of these people are going to get in the ring with me. People can say whatever they want—it’s a free country—so I am going to say whatever I want, when I want to say it and how I want to say it. Those people don’t know me at all. If you get to know me, if you know what I go through, how I train and you still talk crap about me, then you have the problem. No one knows what I go through to prepare for my fights. People need to sell papers I guess. I am the nicest guy you will ever meet on the street, ever.” Appearances can be deceiving, yet it’s the appearance of arrogance that turns many off. Blanket dismissals are not, after all, how to win friends and influence people. Bradley can no sooner be Asian than Pacquiao can be African American. But when says he’s “the nicest guy you will ever meet,” Bradley is tempting fate. Like Bradley, Provodnikov will never be mistaken Pacquiao. For one thing, he is considerably easier to hit. “Oh heck yes,” agreed Bradley. “Pacquiao is tough to hit. He is good defensively.” Diaz seconded that emotion. “Pacquiao is really smart, but at the same time Tim is the same way. Pacquiao was throwing punches from every angle and missing most of them. For the Pacquiao fight we wanted to execute Manny’s strategy, movement, technique, but the injury made us survive for the fight. But this guy (Provodnikov) comes straight forward. He is just a target in front of you.” One of the things that Provodnikov has going for him is cornerman Freddie Roach. Roach’s career, after the two Pacquiao losses, no less than Amir Khan’s loss to Danny Garcia and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.’s loss to Sergio Martinez, is being reassessed. His star has lost its luster. Some blame the Parkinson’s. But others, like Joel Diaz, blame Roach himself. “Freddie Roach was just a name that was created,” he said. “I think Freddie Roach lost the love of the sport. He created a name and it’s out there but he doesn’t have the compassion for the sport that he had a few years ago. I’ve seen it in the last Marquez fight. I’ve seen it in the fight before, the third fight with Marquez. Freddie Roach is the least of my concern for any fight. I just focus on the fighter. Freddie Roach is always trying to play mind games. Freddie says Tim is going to run. That is just Freddie playing mind games. They don’t know how we are going to fight. He is trying to get under Tim’s skin. At the end of the day Tim is going to be a winner, and that’s what matters.”

Increasing competition in the wireless market highlights the need for consolidation among operators, UBS Analyst John Hodulik said this morning. And an attempt at a deal between T-Mobile and Sprint may be the first domino to fall as M&A activity heats up. The U.S. wireless industry has seen an unexpected war over unlimited data plans and an accelerated race to 5G in recent months. Meanwhile, the FCC’s ongoing incentive auction of 600 MHz spectrum has straightjacketed any significant mergers and acquisitions due to its anti-collusion rules, which prevent the discussion of deals by wireless companies and broadcasters that could influence bidding in the event. Analysts said we may see a flurry of activity in the coming weeks, though, after the auction ends and as Donald Trump’s administration settles in. And an attempted merger between the nation’s third- and fourth-largest carriers may be in the offing, Hodulik said. Mobile World Congress 2019 Attend the 2-Day Executive 5G Panel Series FierceWireless is returning to Barcelona, Spain, during Mobile World Congress 2019 with a two-day Executive 5G Panel Series at the Fira Congress Hotel, conveniently located across the street from the MWC Convention Center. The panel events will take place on Feb. 25-26 and will cover 5G and The Fixed Wireless Access Opportunity, Taking 5G Indoors, and Making 5G Ubiquitous. Attendees will have the opportunity to network and hear from 5G leaders including Verizon, Vodafone, Orange, Sprint, NTT Docomo, Boingo Wireless, Qualcomm, and more over the course of two days. Secure your spot at the event today! Now is your chance to join fellow industry professionals for networking and education. Registration information and the schedule can be found on the website here. Register today “We continue to believe a Sprint/T-Mo announcement is likely given the benefits of moving from four wireless players to three and the significant synergies it would create,” Hodulik wrote in a research note. “In addition, we believe the timing is appropriate: (Sprint’s parent) SoftBank has already recovered its cost basis, turned the asset around operationally and financially, and moreover a deal would allow SoftBank to deconsolidate $30B+ in debt. SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son has already laid the political groundwork, promising to invest and create jobs in the U.S. We also note that the company has focused on strategic value rather than valuation in past acquisitions; we believe a premium here would make sense given asset scarcity and also valuation support and synergies.” A tie-up between T-Mobile and Sprint makes sense on multiple levels: It would enable the two smaller carriers to better compete with Verizon and AT&T, which claim much larger customer bases, and it would enable T-Mobile—which is thriving financially—to tap Sprint’s significant high-band spectrum assets. Such a deal would still face major hurdles, however. T-Mobile has become much more valuable in the last few years as its business has thrived, and Sprint’s precarious financial position may forestall any deal. Meanwhile, much of Sprint’s value lies in its spectrum holdings rather than its actual wireless business, further complicating any potential marriage. That possible merger isn’t the only possible tie-up that could alter the wireless landscape in coming months, of course. Comcast and Charter have made no secret of their plans to move into wireless and may be looking to partner with an existing carrier to do so. And Dish Network and Ligado Networks are aiming to put their spectrum to use by building IoT-focused networks that could be complementary to current cellular networks. T-Mobile is particularly well-positioned to take advantage of any M&A activity on the horizon, Hodulik said. “With the incentive auction wrapping up, carriers will be free to start talks for the first time in a year,” he wrote. “Over this time period, a new deregulatory administration has entered the White House and wireless competition has become extremely aggressive, setting the stage for potential M&A. While many scenarios are possible, we believe T-Mobile stands to benefit given its strong fundamentals and strategic value.”

Image copyright Reuters Image caption The couple smiled at each other through the announcement Japan's Princess Mako has formally announced her engagement to a non-royal after receiving the emperor's approval. This announcement kicks off a lengthy marriage process, and it also means the princess will lose her royal status. Under a controversial Japanese law, female imperial family members forfeit their status upon marriage to a "commoner" whereas male members do not. At a press conference, she said she was first attracted to Kei Komuro's "smile like the sun". "I've been aware since my childhood that I would lose royal status once I married," Princess Mako said. "While I've worked to help the emperor and fulfil duties as a royal family member as much as I can, I've been cherishing my own life." The formal announcement came from Japan's Imperial Household Agency on Sunday, after local media reported news of the planned engagement in May. The princess was not in line to the throne, as a 1947 succession law states that only men from her family's lineage can become emperor. Image copyright AFP/Getty Images Her fiancé, Kei Komuro, is a 25-year-old law firm employee. The couple met five years ago while studying at the same university. In the televised conference, he described the princess as someone who quietly watched over him "like the moon". Princess Mako, 25, is the eldest child of Prince Fumihito, whose official title is Prince Akishino. She is pursuing a doctorate and works as a museum researcher. The announcement was originally expected in July, but was postponed after a rain disaster hit western Japan. The wedding is expected to take place next year, according to the public broadcaster NHK.

The province of New Brunswick is toying with the idea of adding a second moose hunt in 2017. Dwayne Sabine, a biologist with the Department with Natural Resources, says the minister has been looking into the idea. Sabine says there are benefits to having a split season. "We see some crowding right now in some wildlife management zones where we have a lot of tags out with healthy moose populations," said Sabine. "A split season would split the hunters up, a little less crowded in the woods." The Department of Natural Resources registered a record number of moose this season, 3,728 animals were killed in total. The Department of Natural Resources is considering a move to split moose hunting season in 2017. (CBC) That's up from the previous year, which had a record 3,683 moose tagged. The success rate of hunters is around 80 per cent. Sabine says a split season wouldn't necessarily mean more hunters in the woods. "Sustainability would still be our first responsibility," said Sabine. "It would also be helpful for the butcher situations," said Sabine. "A lot of butchers are booked up solid right now, and I've heard a lot of hunters complaining they have no place to take their moose." Larry Henderson, a meat cutter just outside of Fredericton, says he's booked solid after every hunting season. "I've got 35 moose right now," said Henderson. "It's the busiest time of the year." Henderson, a meat cutter since the 1970s, says he works non-stop for days after moose season begins each year. "Well you work away at it. I've always had a full cooler, doesn't matter if it's a three-day season, five-day season, or a six-day one," said Henderson. The Department of Natural Resources 3,728 animals were killed in total. (CBC) "If I didn't have to hang them as long, that would help, but breaking it up like that would probably help." Any changes to the season in the future would require a vote in cabinet. The province is returning to a three-day moose season in 2016, down from the previous two years which saw five-day hunts.

0 Shares 0 0 0 0 In statements at a panel in the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday Iran Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said US president-elect, Donald Trump, "will be surprised" if he tries to renegotiate the hard-won nuclear deal. The top diplomat noted that he's taking a "wait and see" attitude about the Trump administration and "the jury is out." Pressed by the Associated Press afterward on Wednesday, Zarif said it "won't be the end of the world if he [Trump] tries to walk away from the deal [officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action]". "He wants to surprise people, so he will be surprised," if he does, Zarif said with a smile, without elaborating. Zarif also criticized the outgoing administration of Barack Obama, saying it "did not implement their side of the bargain in a full and complete way" notably about difficulties faced by Iranian banks. In addition, he told the panel that Iran and Saudi Arabia should be able to work together to help end conflicts in Syria and Yemen, after successfully cooperating over Lebanon last year, Reuters reported. "I do not see any reason why Iran and Saudi Arabia should have hostile policies toward each other. We can in fact work together to put an end to miserable conditions of the people in Syria and Yemen and Bahrain and elsewhere in the region," Zarif said. "Iran and Saudi Arabia were able to actually stop impeding the process of the presidential election in Lebanon. We have a success story."

NEW DELHI: Real estate major DLF was on Wednesday directed by the Supreme Court to deposit Rs 630 crore fine slapped on it by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) for allegedly resorting to unfair business practices.The apex court said the total ammount will be deposited within three months with its registry pending the outcome of the appeal filed by DLF against May 19 order of Competition Appellate Tribunal's upholding the penalty of Rs 630 crore imposed by the CCI."We direct the appellant (DLF) to deposit the amount of Rs 630 crore in this court," a bench comprising justices Ranjana Prakash Desai and N V Ramana said in its interim order.The bench said so far as the interest on the amount was concerned it has to be determined as per the November 9, 2011 order of the CCI that was fixed at 9 per cent.It also directed DLF to file a fresh undertaking that in the event of dismissal of the appeal it will pay such amount as directed by the court.DLF pleaded that it should be granted at least six months time to deposit the amount. However, the bench said it was inclined to grant three months time only.Further, the bench directed that out of Rs 630 crore, the real estate major has to deposit Rs 50 crore in three weeks and the Registry will be at liberty to invest it in any of the nationalised banks.The apex court adjourned the hearing by admitting DLF's appeal in which Haryana government, Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) are parties along with the residents' association on whose plea the competition watchdog had imposed the penalty on the company.The CCI in 2011 had found DLF violating fair trade norms and imposed a fine of Rs 630 crore on it following a complaint by Belaire Owners' Association in Gurgaon.It was in May 2010 that the buyer's association had complained against DLF.

When I initially started my Magic Mirror project, it was just to see if it was possible. It was never meant to be an open source project, let alone a commercial project. When the project eventually got more famous, it wouldn’t take long for the first commercial opportunities … After the blog posts of my Magic Mirror went viral (mainly because the Raspberry Pi foundation blogged about it), the first inquiries started to appear in my inbox. An though I wasn’t really interested in building Magic Mirrors as paid projects, one inquiry really stood out. It turned out a successful entrepreneur was building a new house and was looking for a nice eye-catcher as the center piece of the living room. Since the living room would contain a mirror anyway, the Magic Mirror project was the perfect fit. The mirror ended up being a 2 x 3 meter mirror with a 60" LED TV behind it. As far as I know this is the largest Magic Mirror so far. The client’s work consists of a lot of traveling, and thus he wanted a way to show the places on earth he visited most. Using Google’s WebGL Globe I created a module that showed the visited spots using spikes on a rotating globe. If a spot is visited more than once, the spike becomes longer. Above video was made during the development process. The rotating globe really gives a nice futuristic touch to the project. Because of the WebGL usage, this Mirror isn’t running on a Raspberry Pi. It uses a Mac Mini as its host allowing me to built more processor intensive modules. Since the mirror is larger than the screen itself, a black frame is placed around the monitor. This prevents you from seeing the guts of the Magic Mirror. On the photo you can see the frame around the monitor. But honestly, in real life it doesn’t affect the end result in a negative way. Better yet: it gives some depth to the project. Having such a large Magic Mirror in the center of your living room gives you a lot of opportunities for cool home automation projects. So as you can guess, this is an ongoing project. The best part of this project? It allowed me to work on the Magic Mirror on a paid basis, resulting in the MagicMirror² platform. Of course, the client specific modules (like the globe) are kept private. But any modification in the core will be added to the open source platform. That leaves me with the most important part of this blog: thanking my client for the trust in the work he has shown by letting me built this awesome Magic Mirror and allowing me to continue my work on the MagicMirror² project.

Most of the technology inside the headset is common across all of the manufacturers, but ASUS has worked hard to make its offering unique where it can. For instance, the company used a polygonal-art covering for the visor, ensuring that it looks much nicer than, say, Acer's View Master-esque offering. Similarly, ASUS's headset feels much lighter than its rivals' models, and the company included an antimicrobial cushion inside. The headset, like its brothers, has inside-out tracking, which uses the two front-mounted cameras to track the controllers. That makes it significantly cheaper than Vive or Rift handsets, which require additional peripherals for tracking. Before testing, my concern was that the cheaper technology would compromise the accuracy and reliability of the controllers. That concern was misplaced, and the system actually works really rather well. The controllers themselves are designed by Microsoft and clearly sail close to the style laid down by Oculus for its Touch paddles. The biggest difference is a less gaming-focused button layout, with a touchpad, Windows key and thumb stick on the main platform. Your other fingers fall naturally around the other triggers that are situated on the slender hand sticks. They scream that they can be used for business just as naturally as play, as Microsoft is wont to do with its hardware design. On the outside ring, you'll find a halo of 32 small LEDs that the headset uses to pinpoint the position of the controllers in the air. But even when pulling my hands well beyond the visor's field of view, the tracking remained pretty reliable. One of the demo titles required me to pull weapons out from over my shoulder, and the tracking remained impeccable. The funny thing is that, personally, I was concerned that these headsets would attempt to please two masters and fail for both of them. After all, the inside-out tracking wouldn't be as accurate or reliable as more expensive alternatives, and its price was too high for a casual purchase. I'm happy to admit that I was wrong and that I'm actually pretty excited for this technology, especially now that it's compatible with Steam VR games. ASUS doesn't know when its hardware will make its debut beyond the end of this year or the start of the next. Although it would be lunacy if it missed the holiday season, given that this may be many people's first attempt at buying VR gear for their homes. Either way, when it does arrive, it'll set you back €449, and you could expect it to set you back around $500-ish when US pricing is announced. Follow all the latest news from IFA 2017 here!

John Tyndall FRS (; 2 August 1820 – 4 December 1893) was a prominent 19th-century Irish physicist. His initial scientific fame arose in the 1850s from his study of diamagnetism. Later he made discoveries in the realms of infrared radiation and the physical properties of air. Tyndall also published more than a dozen science books which brought state-of-the-art 19th century experimental physics to a wide audience. From 1853 to 1887 he was professor of physics at the Royal Institution of Great Britain in London. Early years and education [ edit ] Tyndall was born in Leighlinbridge, County Carlow, Ireland. His father was a local police constable, descended from Gloucestershire emigrants who settled in southeast Ireland around 1670. Tyndall attended the local schools (Ballinabranna Primary School) in County Carlow until his late teens, and was probably an assistant teacher near the end of his time there. Subjects learned at school notably included technical drawing and mathematics with some applications of those subjects to land surveying. He was hired as a draftsman by the Ordnance Survey of Ireland in his late teens in 1839, and moved to work for the Ordnance Survey for Great Britain in 1842. In the decade of the 1840s, a railroad-building boom was in progress, and Tyndall's land surveying experience was valuable and in demand by the railway companies. Between 1844 and 1847, he was lucratively employed in railway construction planning.[1][2] John Tyndall circa 1850 In 1847 Tyndall opted to become a mathematics and surveying teacher at (Queenwood College), a boarding school in Hampshire. Recalling this decision later, he wrote: "the desire to grow intellectually did not forsake me; and, when railway work slackened, I accepted in 1847 a post as master in Queenwood College."[3] Another recently arrived young teacher at Queenwood was Edward Frankland, who had previously worked as a chemical laboratory assistant for the British Geological Survey. Frankland and Tyndall became good friends. On the strength of Frankland's prior knowledge, they decided to go to Germany to further their education in science. Among other things, Frankland knew that certain German universities were ahead of any in Britain in experimental chemistry and physics. (British universities were still focused on classics and mathematics and not laboratory science.) The pair moved to Germany in summer 1848 and enrolled at the University of Marburg, attracted by the reputation of Robert Bunsen as a teacher. Tyndall studied under Bunsen for two years.[4] Perhaps more influential for Tyndall at Marburg was Professor Hermann Knoblauch, with whom Tyndall maintained communications by letter for many years afterwards. Tyndall's Marburg dissertation was a mathematical analysis of screw surfaces in 1850 (under Friedrich Ludwig Stegmann). Tyndall stayed in Germany for a further year doing research on magnetism with Knoblauch, including some months' visit at the Berlin laboratory of Knoblauch's main teacher, Heinrich Gustav Magnus. It is clear today that Bunsen and Magnus were among the very best experimental science instructors of the era. Thus, when Tyndall returned to live in England in summer 1851, he probably had as good an education in experimental science as anyone in England. Early scientific work [ edit ] Tyndall's early original work in physics was his experiments on magnetism and diamagnetic polarity, on which he worked from 1850 to 1856. His two most influential reports were the first two, co-authored with Knoblauch. One of them was entitled "The magneto-optic properties of crystals, and the relation of magnetism and diamagnetism to molecular arrangement", dated May 1850. The two described an inspired experiment, with an inspired interpretation. These and other magnetic investigations very soon made Tyndall known among the leading scientists of the day.[5] He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1852. In his search for a suitable research appointment, he was able to ask the longtime editor of the leading German physics journal (Poggendorff) and other prominent men to write testimonials on his behalf. In 1853, he attained the prestigious appointment of Professor of Natural Philosophy (Physics) at the Royal Institution in London, due in no small part to the esteem his work had garnered from Michael Faraday, the leader of magnetic investigations at the Royal Institution.[6] About a decade later Tyndall was appointed the successor to the positions held by Michael Faraday at the Royal Institution on Faraday's retirement. Main scientific work [ edit ] Beginning in the late 1850s, Tyndall studied the action of radiant energy on the constituents of air, and it led him onto several lines of inquiry, and his original research results included the following: Tyndall's setup for measuring the radiant heat absorption of gases. (Click on image for a description). Tyndall explained the heat in the Earth's atmosphere in terms of the capacities of the various gases in the air to absorb radiant heat, also known as infrared radiation. His measuring device, which used thermopile technology, is an early landmark in the history of absorption spectroscopy of gases. [7] He was among the first to correctly measure the relative infrared absorptive powers of the gases nitrogen, oxygen, water vapour, carbon dioxide, ozone, methane, etc. (year 1859), after Eunice Foote in 1856. He concluded that water vapour is the strongest absorber of radiant heat in the atmosphere and is the principal gas controlling air temperature. Absorption by the other gases is not negligible but relatively small. Prior to Tyndall it was widely surmised that the Earth's atmosphere has a Greenhouse Effect, but he was the first to prove it. The proof was that water vapour strongly absorbed infrared radiation. [8] [9] Relatedly, Tyndall in 1860 was first to demonstrate and quantify that visually transparent gases are infrared emitters. [10] He was among the first to correctly measure the relative infrared absorptive powers of the gases nitrogen, oxygen, water vapour, carbon dioxide, ozone, methane, etc. (year 1859), after Eunice Foote in 1856. He concluded that water vapour is the strongest absorber of radiant heat in the atmosphere and is the principal gas controlling air temperature. Absorption by the other gases is not negligible but relatively small. Prior to Tyndall it was widely surmised that the Earth's atmosphere has a Greenhouse Effect, but he was the first to prove it. The proof was that water vapour strongly absorbed infrared radiation. Relatedly, Tyndall in 1860 was first to demonstrate and quantify that visually transparent gases are infrared emitters. He devised demonstrations that advanced the question of how radiant heat is absorbed and emitted at the molecular level. He appears to be the first person to have demonstrated experimentally that emission of heat in chemical reactions has its physical origination within the newly created molecules (1864). [11] He produced instructive demonstrations involving the incandescent conversion of infrared into visible light at the molecular level, which he called calorescence (1865), in which he used materials that are transparent to infrared and opaque to visible light or vice versa. [12] He usually referred to infrared as "radiant heat", and sometimes as "ultra-red undulations", as the word "infrared" did not start coming into use until the 1880s. His main reports of the 1860s were republished as a 450-page collection in 1872 under the title Contributions to Molecular Physics in the Domain of Radiant Heat . He produced instructive demonstrations involving the incandescent conversion of infrared into visible light at the molecular level, which he called calorescence (1865), in which he used materials that are transparent to infrared and opaque to visible light or vice versa. He usually referred to infrared as "radiant heat", and sometimes as "ultra-red undulations", as the word "infrared" did not start coming into use until the 1880s. His main reports of the 1860s were republished as a 450-page collection in 1872 under the title . In the investigations on radiant heat in air it had been necessary to use air from which all traces of floating dust and other particulates had been removed. [13] A very sensitive way to detect particulates is to bathe the air with intense light. The scattering of light by particulate impurities in air and other gases, and in liquids, is known today as the Tyndall Effect or Tyndall Scattering. [14] In studying this scattering during the late 1860s Tyndall was a beneficiary of recent improvements in electric-powered lights. He also had the use of good light concentrators. He developed the nephelometer and similar instruments that show properties of aerosols and colloids through concentrated light beams against a dark background and are based on exploiting the Tyndall Effect. (When combined with microscopes, the result is the ultramicroscope, which was developed later by others). A very sensitive way to detect particulates is to bathe the air with intense light. The scattering of light by particulate impurities in air and other gases, and in liquids, is known today as the Tyndall Effect or Tyndall Scattering. In studying this scattering during the late 1860s Tyndall was a beneficiary of recent improvements in electric-powered lights. He also had the use of good light concentrators. He developed the nephelometer and similar instruments that show properties of aerosols and colloids through concentrated light beams against a dark background and are based on exploiting the Tyndall Effect. (When combined with microscopes, the result is the ultramicroscope, which was developed later by others). He was the first to observe and report the phenomenon of thermophoresis in aerosols. He spotted it surrounding hot objects while investigating the Tyndall Effect with focused lightbeams in a dark room. He devised a better way to demonstrate it, and then simply reported it (1870), without investigating the physics of it in depth. [15] In radiant-heat experiments that called for much laboratory expertise in the early 1860s, he showed for a variety of readily vaporisable liquids that, molecule for molecule, the vapour form and the liquid form have essentially the same power to absorb radiant heat. [16] (In modern experiments using narrow-band spectra, some small differences are found that Tyndall's equipment was unable to get at; see e.g. absorption spectrum of H 2 O). (In modern experiments using narrow-band spectra, some small differences are found that Tyndall's equipment was unable to get at; see e.g. absorption spectrum of H O). He consolidated and enhanced the results of Desains, Forbes, Knoblauch and others demonstrating that the principal properties of visible light can be reproduced for radiant heat – namely reflection, refraction, diffraction, polarisation, depolarisation, double refraction, and rotation in a magnetic field. [17] Using his expertise about radiant heat absorption by gases, he invented a system for measuring the amount of carbon dioxide in a sample of exhaled human breath (1862, 1864). The basics of Tyndall's system is in daily use in hospitals today for monitoring patients under anaesthesia. [18] (See capnometry.) (See capnometry.) When studying the absorption of radiant heat by ozone, he came up with a demonstration that helped confirm or reaffirm that ozone is an oxygen cluster (1862).[19] Tyndall's setup for preserving broths in optically pure air. In the lab he came up with the following simple way to obtain "optically pure" air, i.e. air that has no visible signs of particulate matter. He built a square wooden box with a couple of glass windows on it. Before closing the box, he coated the inside walls and floor of the box with glycerin, which is a sticky syrup. He found that after a few days' wait the air inside the box was entirely particulate-free when examined with strong light beams through the glass windows. The various floating-matter particulates had all ended up getting stuck to the walls or settling on the sticky floor.[20] Now, in the optically pure air there were no signs of any "germs", i.e. no signs of floating micro-organisms. Tyndall sterilised some meat-broths by simply boiling them, and then compared what happened when he let these meat-broths sit in the optically pure air, and in ordinary air. The broths sitting in the optically pure air remained "sweet" (as he said) to smell and taste after many months of sitting, while the ones in ordinary air started to become putrid after a few days. This demonstration extended Louis Pasteur's earlier demonstrations that the presence of micro-organisms is a precondition for biomass decomposition. However, the next year (1876) Tyndall failed to consistently reproduce the result. Some of his supposedly heat-sterilized broths rotted in the optically pure air. From this Tyndall was led to find viable bacterial spores (endospores) in supposedly heat-sterilized broths. He discovered the broths had been contaminated with dry bacterial spores from hay in the lab. All bacteria are killed by simple boiling, except that bacteria have a spore form that can survive boiling, he correctly contended, citing research by Ferdinand Cohn. Tyndall found a way to eradicate the bacterial spores that came to be known as "Tyndallization". Tyndallization historically was the earliest known effective way to destroy bacterial spores. At the time, it affirmed the "germ theory" against a number of critics whose experimental results had been defective from the same cause. During the mid-1870s Pasteur and Tyndall were in frequent communication.[21][22] One of Tyndall's setups for showing that sound is reflected in air at the interface between air bodies of different densities. Invented a better fireman's respirator, a hood that filtered smoke and noxious gas from air (1871, 1874). [23] In the late 1860s and early 1870s he wrote an introductory book about sound propagation in air, and was a participant in a large-scale British project to develop a better foghorn. In laboratory demonstrations motivated by foghorn issues, Tyndall established that sound is partially reflected (i.e. partially bounced back like an echo) at the location where an air mass of one temperature meets another air mass of a different temperature; and more generally when a body of air contains two or more air masses of different densities or temperatures, the sound travels poorly because of reflections occurring at the interfaces between the air masses, and very poorly when many such interfaces are present. (He then argued, though inconclusively, that this is the usual main reason why the same distant sound, e.g. foghorn, can be heard stronger or fainter on different days or at different times of day.)[24] An index of 19th century scientific research journals has John Tyndall as the author of more than 147 papers in science research journals, with practically all of them dated between 1850 and 1884, which is an average of more than four papers a year over that 35-year period.[25] In his lectures at the Royal Institution Tyndall put a great value on, and was talented at producing, lively, visible demonstrations of physics concepts.[26] In one lecture, Tyndall demonstrated the propagation of light down through a stream of falling water via total internal reflection of the light. It was referred to as the "light fountain". It is historically significant today because it demonstrates the scientific foundation for modern fibre optic technology. During second half of the 20th century Tyndall was usually credited with being the first to make this demonstration. However, Jean-Daniel Colladon published a report of it in Comptes Rendus in 1842, and there's some suggestive evidence that Tyndall's knowledge of it came ultimately from Colladon and no evidence that Tyndall claimed to have originated it himself.[27] Molecular physics of radiant heat [ edit ] With this setup Tyndall observed new chemical reactions produced by high frequency light waves acting on certain vapours. The main scientific interest here from his point of view was the additional hard data it lent to the grand question of the mechanism by which molecules absorb radiant energy Tyndall was an experimenter and laboratory apparatus builder, not an abstract model builder. But in his experiments on radiation and the heat-absorptive power of gases, he had an underlying agenda to understand the physics of molecules. Tyndall said in 1879: "During nine years of labour on the subject of radiation [in the 1860s], heat and light were handled throughout by me, not as ends, but as instruments by the aid of which the mind might perchance lay hold upon the ultimate particles of matter."[28] This agenda is explicit in the title he picked for his 1872 book Contributions to Molecular Physics in the Domain of Radiant Heat. It is present less explicitly in the spirit of his widely read 1863 book Heat Considered as a Mode of Motion. Besides heat he also saw magnetism and sound propagation as reducible to molecular behaviours. Invisible molecular behaviours were the ultimate basis of all physical activity. With this mindset, and his experiments, he outlined an account whereby differing types of molecules have differing absorptions of infrared radiation because their molecular structures give them differing oscillating resonances. He'd gotten into the oscillating resonances idea because he'd seen that any one type of molecule has differing absorptions at differing radiant frequencies, and he was entirely persuaded that the only difference between one frequency and another is the frequency.[29] He'd also seen that the absorption behaviour of molecules is quite different from that of the atoms composing the molecules. For example, the gas nitric oxide (NO) absorbed more than a thousand times more infrared radiation than either nitrogen (N 2 ) or oxygen (O 2 ).[30] He'd also seen in several kinds of experiments that – no matter whether a gas is a weak absorber of broad-spectrum radiant heat – any gas will strongly absorb the radiant heat coming from a separate body of the same type of gas.[11] That demonstrated a kinship between the molecular mechanisms of absorption and emission. Such a kinship was also in evidence in experiments by Balfour Stewart and others, cited and extended by Tyndall, that showed with respect to broad-spectrum radiant heat that molecules that are weak absorbers are weak emitters and strong absorbers are strong emitters.[10] (For example, rock-salt is an exceptionally poor absorber of heat via radiation, and a good absorber of heat via conduction. When a plate of rock-salt is heated via conduction and let stand on an insulator, it takes an exceptionally long time to cool down; i.e., it's a poor emitter of infrared.) The kinship between absorption and emission was also consistent with some generic or abstract features of resonators.[31] The chemical decomposition of molecules by lightwaves (photochemical effect) convinced Tyndall that the resonator could not be the molecule as a whole unit; it had to be some substructure, because otherwise the photochemical effect would be impossible.[32] But he was without testable ideas as to the form of this substructure, and did not partake in speculation in print. His promotion of the molecular mindset, and his efforts to experimentally expose what molecules are, has been discussed by one historian under the title "John Tyndall, The Rhetorician of Molecularity".[33] Alpine mountaineering and glaciology [ edit ] Tyndall visited the Alps mountains in 1856 for scientific reasons and ended up becoming a pioneering mountain climber. He visited the Alps almost every summer from 1856 onward, was a member of the very first mountain-climbing team to reach the top of the Weisshorn (1861), and lead of one of the early teams to reach the top of the Matterhorn (1868). He is one the names associated with the "Golden age of alpinism" — the mid-Victorian years when the more difficult of the Alpine peaks were summited for the first time.[34] John Tyndall explored the glacial tributaries feeding Mer de Glace in 1857. General topology (left); dirt-bands in glacier (right). In the Alps, Tyndall studied glaciers, and especially glacier motion. His explanation of glacial flow brought him into dispute with others, particularly James David Forbes. Much of the early scientific work on glacier motion had been done by Forbes, but Forbes at that time didn't know of the phenomenon of regelation which was discovered a little later by Michael Faraday. Regelation played a key role in Tyndall's explanation. Forbes didn't see regelation in the same way at all. Complicating their debate, a disagreement arose publicly over who deserved to get investigator credit for what. Articulate friends of Forbes, as well as Forbes himself, thought that Forbes should get the credit for most of the good science, whereas Tyndall thought the credit should be distributed more widely. Tyndall commented: "The idea of semi-fluid motion belongs entirely to Louis Rendu; the proof of the quicker central flow belongs in part to Rendu, but almost wholly to Louis Agassiz and Forbes; the proof of the retardation of the bed belongs to Forbes alone; while the discovery of the locus of the point of maximum motion belongs, I suppose, to me."[35] When Forbes and Tyndall were in the grave, their disagreement was continued by their respective official biographers. Everyone tried to be reasonable, but agreement wasn't attained. More disappointingly, aspects of glacier motion remained not understood or not proved. Tyndall Glacier located in Chile and Tyndall Glacier in Colorado were named after John Tyndall, as is Mount Tyndall in California[36] and Mount Tyndall in Tasmania.[37] Educator [ edit ] Heat Considered as Mode of Motion, is his setup for demonstrating that air cools during the act of expanding in volume; and that air heats up during the act of compressing in volume. (Click on image for more explanation). John Tyndall's tutorial books about physics contained many illustrations. This one, from, is his setup for demonstrating that air cools during the act of expanding in volume; and that air heats up during the act of compressing in volume. (Click on image for more explanation). Besides being a scientist, John Tyndall was a science teacher and evangelist for the cause of science. He spent a significant amount of his time disseminating science to the general public. He gave hundreds of public lectures to non-specialist audiences at the Royal Institution in London.[38] When he went on a public lecture tour in the USA in 1872, large crowds of non-scientists paid fees to hear him lecture about the nature of light.[39] A typical statement of Tyndall's reputation at the time is this from a London publication in 1878: "Following the precedent set by Faraday, Professor Tyndall has succeeded not only in original investigation and in teaching science soundly and accurately, but in making it attractive.... When he lectures at the Royal Institution the theatre is crowded."[40] Tyndall said of the occupation of teacher "I do not know a higher, nobler, and more blessed calling."[41] His greatest audience was gained ultimately through his books, most of which were not written for experts or specialists. He published more than a dozen science books.[42] From the mid-1860s on, he was one of the world's most famous living physicists, due firstly to his skill and industry as a tutorialist. Most of his books were translated into German[43] and French[44] with his main tutorials staying in print in those languages for decades. As an indicator of his teaching attitude, here are his concluding remarks to the reader at the end of a 200-page tutorial book for a "youthful audience", The Forms of Water (1872): "Here, my friend, our labours close. It has been a true pleasure to me to have you at my side so long. In the sweat of our brows we have often reached the heights where our work lay, but you have been steadfast and industrious throughout, using in all possible cases your own muscles instead of relying upon mine. Here and there I have stretched an arm and helped you to a ledge, but the work of climbing has been almost exclusively your own. It is thus that I should like to teach you all things; showing you the way to profitable exertion, but leaving the exertion to you.... Our task seems plain enough, but you and I know how often we have had to wrangle resolutely with the facts to bring out their meaning. The work, however, is now done, and you are master of a fragment of that sure and certain knowledge which is founded on the faithful study of nature.... Here then we part. And should we not meet again, the memory of these days will still unite us. Give me your hand. Good bye."[45] As another indicator, here is the opening paragraph of his 350-page tutorial entitled Sound (1867): "In the following pages I have tried to render the science of acoustics interesting to all intelligent persons, including those who do not possess any special scientific culture. The subject is treated experimentally throughout, and I have endeavoured so to place each experiment before the reader that he should realise it as an actual operation." In the preface to the 3rd edition of this book, he reports that earlier editions were translated into Chinese at the expense of the Chinese government and translated into German under the supervision of Hermann von Helmholtz (a big name in the science of acoustics).[46] His first published tutorial, which was about glaciers (1860), similarly states: "The work is written with a desire to interest intelligent persons who may not possess any special scientific culture." His most widely praised tutorial, and probably his biggest seller, was the 550-page "Heat: a Mode of Motion" (1863; updated editions until 1880). It was in print for at least 50 years,[47] and is in print today. Its primary feature is, as James Clerk Maxwell said in 1871, "the doctrines of the science [of heat] are forcibly impressed on the mind by well-chosen illustrative experiments."[48] Tyndall's three longest tutorials, namely Heat (1863), Sound (1867), and Light (1873), represented state-of-the-art experimental physics at the time they were written. Much of their contents were recent major innovations in the understanding of their respective subjects, which Tyndall was the first writer to present to a wider audience. One caveat is called for about the meaning of "state of the art". The books were devoted to laboratory science and they avoided mathematics. In particular, they contain absolutely no infinitesimal calculus. Mathematical modelling using infinitesimal calculus, especially differential equations, was a component of the state-of-the-art understanding of heat, light and sound at the time. Demarcation of science from religion [ edit ] Vanity Fair, 1872 Tyndall caricatured as a preacher in the magazine, 1872 The majority of the progressive and innovative British physicists of Tyndall's generation were conservative and orthodox on matters of religion. That includes for example James Joule, Balfour Stewart, James Clerk Maxwell, George Gabriel Stokes and William Thomson – all names investigating heat or light contemporaneously with Tyndall. These conservatives believed, and sought to strengthen the basis for believing, that religion and science were consistent and harmonious with each other. Tyndall, however, was a member of a club that vocally supported Darwin's theory of evolution and sought to strengthen the barrier, or separation, between religion and science. The most prominent member of this club was the anatomist Thomas Henry Huxley. Tyndall first met Huxley in 1851 and the two had a lifelong friendship. Chemist Edward Frankland and mathematician Thomas Archer Hirst, both of whom Tyndall had known since before going to university in Germany, were members too. Others included the social philosopher Herbert Spencer. Though not nearly so prominent as Huxley in controversy over philosophical problems, Tyndall played his part in communicating to the educated public what he thought were the virtues of having a clear separation between science (knowledge & rationality) and religion (faith & spirituality).[49] As the elected president of the British Association for the Advancement of Science in 1874, he gave a long keynote speech at the Association's annual meeting held that year in Belfast. The speech gave a favourable account of the history of evolutionary theories, mentioning Darwin's name favourably more than 20 times, and concluded by asserting that religious sentiment should not be permitted to "intrude on the region of knowledge, over which it holds no command". This was a hot topic. The newspapers carried the report of it on their front pages – in the British Isles, North America, even the European Continent – and many critiques of it appeared soon after. The attention and scrutiny increased the friends of the evolutionists' philosophical position, and brought it closer to mainstream ascendancy.[50] In Rome the Pope in 1864 decreed that it was an error that "reason is the ultimate standard by which man can and ought to arrive at knowledge" and an error that "divine revelation is imperfect" in the Bible – and anyone maintaining those errors was to be "anathematized" – and in 1888 decreed as follows: "The fundamental doctrine of rationalism is the supremacy of the human reason, which, refusing due submission to the divine and eternal reason, proclaims its own independence.... A doctrine of such character is most hurtful both to individuals and to the State.... It follows that it is quite unlawful to demand, to defend, or to grant, unconditional [or promiscuous] freedom of thought, speech, writing, or religion."[51] Those principles and Tyndall's principles were profound enemies. Luckily for Tyndall he didn't need to get into a contest with them in Britain, nor in most other parts of the world. Even in Italy, Huxley and Darwin were awarded honorary medals and most of the Italian governing class was hostile to the papacy.[52] But in Ireland during Tyndall's lifetime the majority of the population grew increasingly doctrinaire and vigorous in its Roman Catholicism and also grew stronger politically. It would have been a waste of time for Tyndall to debate the Irish Catholics, but between 1886 and 1893 Tyndall was active in the debate in England about whether to give the Catholics of Ireland more freedom to go their own way. Like the great majority of Irish-born scientists of the 19th century he opposed the Irish Home Rule Movement. He had ardent views about it, which were published in newspapers and pamphlets.[53] For example, in an opinion piece in The Times on 27 December 1890 he saw priests and Catholicism as "the heart and soul of this movement" and wrote that placing the non-Catholic minority under the dominion of "the priestly horde" would be "an unspeakable crime".[54] He tried unsuccessfully to get the UK's premier scientific society to denounce the Irish Home Rule proposal as contrary to the interests of science.[55] In several essays included in his book Fragments of Science for Unscientific People, Tyndall attempted to dissuade people from believing in the potential effectiveness of prayers. At the same time, though, he was not broadly anti-religious.[56][57] Many of his readers interpret Tyndall to be a confirmed agnostic,[58][59][60][61][62][63][64] though he never explicitly declared himself to be so.[56][57] The following statement from Tyndall is an example of Tyndall's agnostic mindset, made in 1867, and reiterated in 1878: "The phenomena of matter and force come within our intellectual range... but behind, and above, and around us the real mystery of the universe lies unsolved, and, as far as we are concerned, is incapable of solution.... Let us lower our heads, and acknowledge our ignorance, priest and philosopher, one and all."[56] Private life [ edit ] A memorial to John Tyndall above Belalp in the Swiss Alps. Tyndall did not marry until age 55. His bride, Louisa Hamilton, was the 30-year-old daughter of a member of parliament (Lord Claud Hamilton, M.P.). The following year, 1877, they built a summer chalet in the Swiss Alps. Before getting married Tyndall had been living for many years in an upstairs apartment at the Royal Institution and continued living there after marriage until 1885 when a move was made to a house near Haslemere 45 miles southwest of London. The marriage was a happy one and without children. He retired from the Royal Institution at age 66 having complaints of ill health. Tyndall became financially well-off from sales of his popular books and fees from his lectures (but there is no evidence that he owned commercial patents). For many years he got non-trivial payments for being a part-time scientific advisor to a couple of quasi-governmental agencies and partly donated the payments to charity. His successful lecture tour of the United States in 1872 netted him a substantial amount of dollars, all of which he promptly donated to a trustee for fostering science in America.[65] Late in life his money donations went most visibly to the Irish Unionist political cause.[66] When he died, his wealth was £22,122.[67] For comparison's sake, the income of a police constable in London was about £80 per year at the time.[68] Death [ edit ] In his last years Tyndall often took chloral hydrate to treat his insomnia. When bedridden and ailing, he died from an accidental overdose[69] of this drug in 1893 at the age of 73, and was buried at Haslemere.[70] The overdose was administered by his wife Louisa. “My darling,” said Tyndall when he realized what had happened, “you have killed your John.” [71] Afterwards, Tyndall's wife took possession of his papers and assigned herself supervisor of an official biography of him. She dragged her feet on the project, however, and it was still unfinished when she died in 1940 aged 95.[72] The book eventually appeared in 1945, written by A. S. Eve and C. H. Creasey, whom Louisa Tyndall had authorised shortly before her death. John Tyndall's books [ edit ] See also [ edit ] Notes [ edit ] Sources [ edit ]

Here are some recent developments on bitcoin and the blockchain from around the world. Russia’s Love-Hate Relationship Russia’s stance towards bitcoin and blockchain is a study of a great contrast. While Russia has been unfriendly towards bitcoins, it is showing enthusiasm towards its underlying technology, the blockchain. However, this could be changing. As Russia’s Central Bank moved to embrace the blockchain technology, comments by Andrei Lugovoi, Deputy Chairman of the Russian State Duma Committee for Security and Anti-Corruption generated hope for the future of cryptocurrencies as well. A press release by Russia’s Central Bank revealed that the central bank is setting up a working group to engage in the “analysis and evaluation” of application possibilities of new financial technology. An extract from the release read, “The Central Bank established the Working Group on the analysis of advanced technologies and innovations in the financial market. Among the priority issues - the study of distributed technologies (e.g. blockchain), as well as new developments in the mobile, payment, and other areas.” Russia’s has been hard on its attitude towards bitcoin but the same has seen a gradual shift from a time when the Finance Ministry prepared a draft on banning all forms of money substitutes in Russia which includes bitcoins. According to Andrei Lugovoi, “In the beginning of 2016 after a series of meetings with the fiscal authorities and businesses, it was stated that in the future the Central Bank could begin to legalize and regulate certain transactions with Bitcoin, particularly peer-to-peer transactions and settlements with individuals.” Russia currently ranks fifth in the world with 200,000 users of cryptocurrency users, and thus if the above proposal is enforced, it will provide a big boost to virtual currencies. Bitcoin Could Be ‘Real Money’ in Japan In an interesting development, Japan’s financial regulators are reportedly considering treating virtual currencies such as bitcoin equivalent to real money, a move that would strengthen the mechanism of consumer protection and pave a way for growth in the virtual economy. Currently, virtual currencies in Japan are “recognized as objects but are not treated on a par with their more established counterparts.” As per the Nikkei report, FSA is considering amendments to legislation to include virtual currencies such as bitcoin as “fulfilling the functions of currency.” The proposal will be submitted during the ongoing Ordinary Diet Session. This move would bring entities like exchanges for virtual currency under a regulatory preview with tighter oversight, thereby enabling virtual currency to expand in a safer mode. Australia, Bitcoin & Blockchain In a recent speech Greg Medcraft, Chairman, Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) spoke about the blockchain. He said, “This technology has the potential to fundamentally change our markets and our financial system .... Blockchain will have profound implications for how we regulate.” ASX has already collaborated with Digital Asset Holdings, LLC to develop solutions for the Australian equity market using the blockchain technology. Meanwhile in February, Melbourne based Bitcoin Group, a company that mines bitcoins, completed its initial public offering raising $4.2 million to be listed on Australian Stock Exchange (ASX). It was the first IPO by a company engaged in bitcoin mining. Other than finance, blockchain is being applied to politics. Flux, “a revolutionary political party and politico-economic structure” is looking to revamp the way the orthodox system of politics by bringing in the blockchain technology. Flux provides a modern voting system using the blockchain technology which allows transparency, immutable records and ease of online voting. It filed its papers with the Australian Election Commission in January, and aims to elect six senators. Flux describes itself as “a layer for the redistribution of political power. And when a Flux candidate is elected they become a gateway for voters to directly influence parliament.” Flux now has 1238 registered members according to the website. Blockchain Coming to Korea The Korea Stock Exchange (KRX) as reported by The Korea Times has begun “preliminary steps” to develop a trading platform for off-board dealers based on the blockchain technology. The new platform will bring together buyers and sellers OTC which would facilitate trading by reducing efforts in finding trade partners and reducing costs involved. Dubai’s Global Blockchain Council To promote innovation and adopt next generation technologies at a global level, Dubai Museum of the Future Foundation recently announced the launch of Global Blockchain Council. Al Aleeli, CEO, Dubai Museum of the Future Foundation said that “the significant growth in the volume of transactions using Blockchain platform during 2015, which reached 56%, refers to the great opportunities that can be utilized through the optimal application of this technology in the relevant sectors." According to him, the global investments in blockchain could reach $300 billion over the next four years. The Global Blockchain Council will explore and promote blockchain and digital currencies as well as study its advantages and disadvantages while working on ways to utilize the technology in the best possible way. European Parliament A new draft report by the European Parliament on virtual currencies stresses that virtual currencies and blockchain technology can contribute greatly towards consumer welfare and economic development by dramatically lowering transaction costs for payments and transfer of funds while enhancing the speed and resilience of payment systems, and allowing transactions to be tracked in case of malfeasance. The report calls for the creation of a horizontal Task Force DLT (distributed ledger technology) under the leadership of the Commission to facilitate the necessary technical and regulatory expertise to support the relevant actors (at both EU and Member State level) in efforts to ensure a timely and well-informed response to the new opportunities and challenges. Meanwhile the European Central Bank (ECB) showed “openness to new technologies” and said that it intends to assess the relevance of blockchain and distributed ledger technology for various banking services like payments, securities settlement as well as collateral. Final Word The developments around bitcoin and the blockchain technology are fast evolving. While banks, and technology companies are already involved in many such projects, governments are becoming increasing open the changes which have entered the financial ecosystem (and extending beyond finance), while making sure that they do not compromise on issues such as money laundering and other illicit activities.

Your browser does not support HTML5 video tag.Click here to view original GIF Asura is a hack and slash that puts you in the role of a dangerous demon fighting an evil maharaja. Inspired by Indian myths and full of intense combat, it’s this week’s Indie Pick. I’m a big fan of rougue-lites and classic dungeon crawling. I picked up Brutal last year and still take time for the occasional bit of questing. Asura scratches the same itch. Our editor in chief, Stephen Totilo, looked at it at E3 2016, enjoying the game while literally sitting on the show floor. It has snappy combat, fun magical spells, and constantly reshuffles level design to offer new configurations to explore each time you load it up. One of the things I like the most about Asura is how it takes mythology and uses it to inspire these gameplay systems. It’s not just lore. And the designers at Ogre Head Studios took their story and integrated it nicely into the mechanics. “When a demon dies he does not stay dead,” designer Zainuddin Fahad told Kotaku. “Instead he reincarnates. With a new skill tree in this case.” Advertisement Fahad and his co-workers come from an initial background in mobile game design, which quickly took off in India. They found themselves working on project they lacked passion for. Inspired by games like Diablo and Age of Empires, they set off to create their own games. The result was Asura. “Our [goal] was to bring a much needed change in the Indian games industry,” Fahad said. “We have rich culture and heritage which are personal to us. We wanted to fuse this with game design and mechanics.” Asura might not revolutionize the hack and slash genre but it’s definitely held my attention. There’s always allure to finding a new treasure chest or slaying a difficult boss. It’s crafted with care. In this day and age, with bloated storefronts and rushed games, that makes all the difference in the world. Advertisement You can play Asura on PC, Mac, and Linux. Each week, I show off a new, affordable indie game using the tag “Heather’s Indie Pick.” Advertisement

In Local News, Public Transport / By Anthony Lim / 7 December 2016 10:22 am / 46 comments It looks like taxi drivers may have lost the champion of their cause. According to a Malay Mail Online report, Big Blue Taxi Services’ owner Datuk Shamsubahrin Ismail has had a change of heart and is now backing the legalisation of ride-sharing services. He announced the turnaround after his company was supposedly robbed of RM8,000 by a driver three days ago. The driver, a man in his 50s and who had driven for Big Blue Taxi for six years, has since disappeared. “I have helped him out so many times and this is how he repays me,” Shamsubahrin said. He had lodged a police report and will be taking the taxi company, which the missing driver had obtained his permit from, to court. The case will be filed under Section 43 of the Land Public Transport Act Section, which states that a company can be held responsible if a taxi driver is found guilty of any wrongdoing. Shamsubahrin claims this is the first time any taxi company is being brought to court under the section. “The existing law we have is already strong but Land Public Transport Commission must be more effective and proactive in ensuring that we don’t allow unethical and immoral people to work as taxi drivers,” he explained. With regards to ride-sharing services, Shamsubahrin said that because taxi drivers were unfazed by the competition from Uber and Grab by refusing to change, he was urging the government to speed up the process of regulating them. “I support the approval of Uber and GrabCar services,” he stated. This is a stark contrast to the stand taken previously. In October, he had said that the government’s idea of encouraging aspiring ride-sharing drivers with a RM4,000 rebate to purchase a Proton Iriz was a clear indicator of the government’s intention to wipe out the taxi industry in favour of ride-sharing companies. “You said you want to transform the taxi industry, but we saw nothing from the budget that was helpful to the taxi industry. Instead you promote the people to drive Uber,” he had then said. He also took a swipe at the government’s initiative in handing out 12,000 individual permits to qualified taxi drivers, saying the policies appeared to be half-baked. “There is nothing concrete. If they want to really help and allow us to compete at a level playing field they should regulate Uber’s fares as well,” he said.

Panhandler Lawsuit Kim Pindak stands outside Chicago's federal courthouse after the first day of testimony in a civil lawsuit involving him and and other panhandlers Monday, Jan. 25, 2016, in Chicago. He and another panhandler brought a suit that alleges they lost up to $10 a day because authorities bar them from begging in Daley Plaza, a popular public square in the city. The trial that started today is a rare instance of jurors being asked to decide the issue of panhandlers' rights. (AP Photo/Michael Tarm) CHICAGO -- A federal civil trial pitting two panhandlers against one of the nation's largest sheriff's departments got underway Monday, in a case stemming from a lawsuit that alleges the men were improperly stopped from begging at a popular Chicago square. Kim Pindak and Sam Phillips claim they lost up to $10 a day over four years because Cook County sheriff's deputies told them repeatedly they couldn't ask for money at Daley Plaza, best known for its iconic Chicago sculpture by Pablo Picasso. Pindak, 63, said during a break in the trial that he was forced to supplement his income by begging because all but $30 of his $750-a-month federal disability assistance went toward paying living expenses at an assisted-living facility. "A lot of people see us as scam artists," he said. "I don't live in the Waldorf Astoria. I'm just trying to survive." Wearing a sports jacket his attorneys bought him for the trial, Pindak said over lunch that he never imagined he would one day be a subject in a rare panhandler case to go before a federal jury. He quickly added, "I never thought I would be a panhandler, either." He said he once aspired to become a physician before suffering debilitating mental illness. The extra income from panhandling allows him to buy an occasional coffee, a pair of shoes or sometimes books about his favorite hobby -- chess. Back in the courtroom, he often looked uneasy as he sat at a table for the plaintiffs. The judge, Rebecca Pallmeyer, has presided over some of the most notable cases in recent Illinois history, including the corruption trial of former Illinois Gov. George Ryan. In recent years, courts nationwide have increasingly agreed that asking passers-by for money is constitutionally protected free speech under the First Amendment, said Rebecca Glenberg, a civil liberties lawyer at the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois. A man panhandles on the street Monday, Jan. 25, 2016, in Chicago. A lawsuit brought by panhandlers who say they lose up to $10 a day because authorities bar them from a popular public square in Chicago is set to go to trial. The trial that starts Monday in Chicago federal court is a rare instance of jurors being asked to decide the issue of panhandlers' rights. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green) The case in Chicago will examine whether lax or nonexistent training for sheriff's deputies regarding panhandlers' rights contributed to violations of Pindak's and Phillips' rights. Pallmeyer already ruled that the men's rights were violated, at least in some instances. Jurors will be asked to come up with a dollar amount for any damages determined. Pindak calculates he may have lost up to $10 a day for four days a week over a four-year period because of the sheriff's department; that could add up to more than $8,000. Adele Nicholas, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, told jurors during her opening statement Monday that the case is about the responsibility law enforcement agencies have to adequately train their staffs about citizens' rights. She said money wasn't the point. "This case is about something bigger," she said. "It's about responsible police practices." But an attorney defending the sheriff's office, Patrick Russell, told jurors there was never a concerted effort to bar panhandlers from Daley Plaza. At worst, he said, panhandlers like Pindak might have been asked to "move along" from time to time. He said they were not arrested, detained or prosecuted. "So I ask you: What are the damages?" he said. Another attorney for the plaintiffs, Mark Weinberg, has filed other panhandler lawsuits. One, a 2001 class-action suit, argued it was illegal for Chicago to define panhandling as disorderly conduct. That suit was settled, entitling 5,000 panhandlers to payouts of $400 each. City ordinance prohibits aggressive panhandling tactics. But no one accuses Pindak or Phillips of that. Phillips said he simply holds a sign while panhandling that reads, "I'm Just Hungry."

Wednesday Writing Hook Sure Hump-Day can suck, but we’ve decided to turn it into a *Hooray-Day* by releasing a new writing hook every week! Each edition will feature an image of an artefact, a complementary writing hook, and a little about its historical provenance, with a further reading option. We’d love to hear about the stories and adventures you wrote with them – be sure to detail them in the comments below! You can subscribe for more writing hooks, or find them on Facebook or Twitter. The Writing Hook A pregnant woman has disappeared. The villagers mutter nervously and exchange dark looks – such disappearances have been going on regularly for the last 20 years, not to mention livestock rippings and other attacks. No one has ever been implicated. A blood-trail leads back to the house of wealthy, pleasant local farmer, Peter Stummp, but there is no obvious evidence in the property. When questioned, neither Stummp nor his daughter seem to know anything, although you do notice that the kitchen is filled with the tantalising aroma of meat stock… The Historical Facts Peter Stummp, during 1589, had one of the most famous werewolf trials in history. As he was brutally tortured, he confessed to having practiced black magic since the age of 12, and that the Devil had given him a magical belt, which turned him into a great wolf until he removed it. He also confessed to killing and eating fourteen children, one of whom was his son, and two pregnant women. He later described the fetus hearts as “dainty morsels”, which he plucked out and ate whilst they were still beating. He was accused of incest with his daughter, and also confessed that he had intercourse with a succubus sent to him by the Devil. How would you use this writing hook for your writing or role-playing campaigns? How would you make this writing hook better? Let us know in the comments below! Looking for more inspiration? Why not try last week’s writing hook, Writing Hook #1: The Mysterious Box.

Last season, the Los Angeles Chargers offensive line was ranked second to last. Veteran quarterback Phillip Rivers was pressured 238 times last season and out of the 1, 510 total rushing yards the team totaled last season, 960 of them came after contact. While there are other areas the Bolts need to address, shoring up their offensive line should be a top priority for the team if they hope to have Rivers behind center for a couple more seasons. Aside from center Matt Slauson, the offensive line was a train wreck in 2016. The team has signed former Seattle Seahawk Russel Okung to a four-year deal worth $53 million and are likely parting ways with left tackle King Dunlap and have already parted with former first-round pick D.J. Fluker. Related Kenjon Barner prodded by two former Chargers to join team Although it’s a weak 2017 Draft class for offensive lineman, here are three options for the Chargers in the first three rounds.

Advertisement Advertisement Over the last two months, GOP Texas Sen. Ted Cruz has been forced to deal with various allegations against him and his campaign. With less than three months until the Republican National Convention, a new conspiracy has been released, this time against his father. Conspiracy Cruz Last month, the National Enquirer broke a story claiming that Cruz allegedly had affairs with at least five separate women, including former campaign staffers. Cruz quickly denied the allegations, which quickly faded away over the next week. Now a new claim has been released, this time targeting Cruz's father, Rafael Cruz, allegedly linking him to the assassination of former President John F. Kennedy, as reported by The American Intelligence Report on April 17. Advertisement WAS CRUZ’S FATHER LINKED TO THE JFK ASSASSINATION? https://t.co/acN2jQQm14 pic.twitter.com/FFwwZLuTzy — Kristan T. Harris (@KristanTHarris) April 17, 2016 The site notes that Rafael Cruz Sr. was in New Orleans and Dallas shortly before Kennedy was assassination on November 22, 1963. The elder Cruz married his first wife, Julia Ann Gara, following his graduation from the University of Texas in 1959. The couple moved from Dallas to New Orleans three years later in 1962. The claims of a conspiracy are based on a photo of alleged Kennedy assassin Lee Harvey Oswald standing with a man that the site claims is Cruz. The American Intelligence Report, via the Wayne Madsen Report, claims that Oswald hired Cubans to help distribute "Hands off Cuba" propaganda in New Orleans during the summer of 1963. In a photo released by the site, Oswald can be seen standing next to a man who looks similar to Cruz. Advertisement Top Videos of the Day Going even further, the report states that a "source" confirmed that it was Rafael Cruz in the photograph, and that "there is a strong reason to believe that Cruz was associated with Central Intelligence Agency’s anti-Castro operations." Conspiracy debunked There have been hundreds of conspiracy theories about the murder of President Kennedy, with some having legitimate claims to contradict the findings of the Warren Commission. However, while some theories deserve investigation, others have been proven false, or to be downright silly. Snopes: Was Ted Cruz's Father Linked to the JFK Assassination?: Disreputable web site posits a link between Te... https://t.co/qEIuNjPEl2 — Skeptic Network (@SkepNet) April 17, 2016 Just hours after the report of Cruz being linked to Oswald and the JFK assassination, Snopes released their findings. Advertisement Describing the Wayne Madsen Report as "disreputable" and a "notoriously unreliable conspiratorial," Snopes found nothing that could backup the claims made in their report. Snopes also pointed out that Cruz left the city of Dallas a year before Kennedy even made his trip to Dealey Plaza, sarcastically noting, "the conspiracy in which Cruz and Oswald were involved was so vast, they were able to predict the movements of President Kennedy several months before Kennedy himself planned them." Conclusion The idea that Sen. Cruz's father had anything to do with the plot to kill Kennedy is, at least as of press time, a conspiracy that belongs with the Umbrella man. In 1978, United States House Select Committee on Assassinations released their findings in the Kennedy assassination and concluded that "Kennedy was probably assassinated as a result of a conspiracy," though it's highly unlikely that Cruz had anything to do with it.

Toys that we really can’t describe! Bowlingual Voice A Tomy employee poses with the Bowlingual Voice, a gadget that expresses dogs’ emotions, at the annual Tokyo Toy Show 2009. Tomy claims the gadget analyses a dog’s voice through a wireless microphone attached to its collar and then displays its emotions. Maui Flowers Dog Bikini Make a summertime splash with the Maui Flowers Dog Bikini. Your dog will not be able to resist this cute Spandex bathing suit. Canine Maui Flowers Bikini is two-piece for easy movement with a comfy and practical fit. Dog Spinny Interactive Toy By Nina Ottosson ‘Dog Spinny’, has a single removable bone that has to be dislodged by the dog, who can then rotate the top section to access treats in the compartments below. By gradually reducing the number of treats, you can encourage him to work harder. Nina Ottosson’s range of durable interactive games have been designed to stimulate a dog’s brain whilst reinforcing his relationship with people. Each design has a unique mechanism that requires mental as well as physical dexterity to work through the challenges and reveal hidden food rewards. They can be set to differing levels of complexity, to satisfy all ages and breeds of dog. Zig A Zag Ball The Zig A Zag Ball is a motorised ball that gives hours of crazy fun! Using 1 AA battery which is supplied with the toy you can turn the ball on and watch your dog play for hours with the unpredictable movements the ball makes. The toy is made from non toxic material and measures approx 9cm in diameter. Dog Tornado Interactive Toy By Nina Ottosson The idea behind the ‘Dog Tornado’ is for the dog to dislodge the removeable bones, then turn the revolving sections to reveal hidden treats. The Tornado has many variables to increase the level of difficulty as the dog’s skill improves. With a little practise, he will soon learn to dislodge the bones and turn the Tornado to access the rewards. Nina Ottosson’s range of durable interactive games have been designed to stimulate a dog’s brain whilst reinforcing his relationship with people. Each design has a unique mechanism that requires mental as well as physical dexterity to work through the challenges and reveal hidden food rewards. They can be set to differing levels of complexity, to satisfy all ages and breeds of dog. Hotdoll, Love Doll for Dogs Dogs are animals with enormous sexual appetites that can’t be controlled easily. So this is in artificial way to stop dogs inborn character. The Hotdoll is a natural way (and actually a beneficial one for dog’s health) to control its sexual impulses. This Love Doll for dogs is shaped to be grabbed easily by the dog’s paws like grabbing female hips. Designer: Clement Eloy. Humunga Stache Dog Toy The Humunga Stache Dog Toy. On one side, it’s a fun black ball for your dog to play with while on the flip side is a gigundus moustache (yes, gigundus). A Holiday Meal Fit for a Dog Really, how cute is this? The set includes turkey, corn, baked potato, biscuit, and what appears to be broccoli, served on top of a Frisbee. Yes, a Frisbee plate! Grrrona Mexican Beer Dog Toy Long Summer days kicking back with a Mexican beer and a slice of lime. Summer bliss! Your pooch will love this embroidered plush Grrrona toy featuring a squeaker inside for added delight. Doggie Chill Pill Oh boy, don’t you just feel sometimes like giving your dog a “chill pill”? Well, now you can — er — figuratively. These Chill Pills plush and rope toys from Loopies crack me up.

What does "open source" mean? With open source software being so prevalent in our lives (Android, WordPress, Mozilla Firefox are almost fixtures), you would think that it would be simple enough to find somebody who can explain the term around here. A quick survey around the office turned out dismal results, however. A fellow intern told me "open source software" simply meant that the source code is open for view; another insisted that it means the software is free to use. I personally had the impression that it meant the code was crowd sourced and created by volunteer developers--the idea was immediately shot down by the other two. So what, really, does "open source" mean? In an attempt to understand and clarify some of the misconceptions surrounding the term, I contacted the Open Source Initiative (OSI), a foundation that oversees the use of the term and approves open source licenses. I talked to Karl Fogel, the author of the book "Producing Open Source Software: How to Run a Successful Free Software Project" and a board member of OSI. I put to the test a few common beliefs about open source software: Open source only means that the source is open to view. False Under the OSI's Open Source Definition, software that is open source must also allow unrestricted redistribution and modifications. Certain licenses are also copyleft, which means that any derived work must also be distributed under the same license--So check your licenses carefully before proceeding. This misconception is due to a direct interpretation of the word "open source", says Fogel. Its actual meaning is supposed to invoke the idea of 'freedom'--the liberty to change and recreate--but finding the correct lexicon was difficult. "It is a problem inherent in the English Language. In Spanish and French you have the word 'Libre', but there is no such equivalent in English, " Fogel says. Open source software is free. True This point is tricky, because it depends on what your definition of "free" is, and who you talk to. As mentioned above, the OSI's definition of open source software is “free” in the sense of giving freedom to those who use it. So in the most common way of thinking, where "free" means no upfront cost to use, modify, or distribute, the answer is yes: the software is free. That said, if you lean towards economics and like to think about the long-term costs of open source software, you may have brought to mind the old adage "There's no such thing as a free lunch". (Or, as it is commonly used to compare with open source, a Free Beer.) Open source software rarely comes with the technical support and warranty services that proprietary software provides. So while you may not pay upfront now, the expenses for the software maintenance and upkeep may accumulate and charge you in the future. On a smaller note, if you follow the Free Software Foundation (FSF)'s official four-point definition for free software, you may also have a problem with equating open source with free. FSF's definition, though similar, is not technically the same as OSI's definition for open source software. Indeed, on FSF's front page there is a link to an article by Richard Stallman, FSF's founder, with the title "Why Open Source Software misses the point of Free Software". The rift in the definitions causes a few select cases where the licenses are open source but not technically free software licenses. One such example is the NASA Open Source Agreement. In response to questions about this technicality, Fogel stresses that they are, in actuality, small differences. "Although the wording of two definitions is different, their meaning is basically the same," he says. He points out that the two organizations often informally synchronize the types of licenses accepted so that the vast majority of open source licenses are also free licenses. It is "extremely rare" to find main stream software that falls under a license approved by one organization and not the other. In the end, it all depends on what you think is "free" and there are many arguments for each. But for all general purposes and definitions, open source software is free. Open source software cannot be commercial. False "All open source software is commercial software by definition," Fogel explains, " There's also the point that 'commercial' does not mean 'proprietary'. " Companies may not be able to sell open source software, but they can sell services and products related to it. For instance, they can offer a premium version of the software that has additional features. An example of this is RedHat Linux Enterprise, a premium version of the widely available CentOS and Fedora. It offers binaries and support services on top of the original software, and is purchased through a subscription plan. Open source software is crowd sourced and vice versa. False Crowd sourcing refers to the process of using a large group of public contributors to complete a task. While there are hundreds of crowd sourced projects that are open source as well (such as Wikipedia), the two terms are not interchangeable. In crowd sourcing, the original group that initiated the project is allowed to keep intellectual property and distribution rights--restrictions which should not be present in an open source project. Yelp.com is one such example: Members of the public contribute by posting reviews on the site, but they are not allowed to, say, redistribute Yelp's content. Nonetheless, Fogel believes that crowd sourcing is most sustainable when it operates on open source materials. "Then everyone in the crowd has equal claim to the results of the collective labor -- no one has a monopoly," he says.

When members of the opposition are trying to outflank Netanyahu on the right, even the IDF seems like a saner alternative to Israeli politicians. By Yoni Mendel “A nation in uniform,” “an army that has a state,” “a democracy of army bases.” In academic research of the critical kind, Israel is understood as a militaristic state. This, among other things, is what the sociologist Baruch Kimmerling meant when he said, “whether we want it or not — we are a clearly militaristic society, and this militarism is also a central principle around which Israeli society is organized.” Uri Ben Eliezer wrote about Israel as a “nation in uniform,” researching the military characteristics of Israeli society. Oren Barak analyzed the development of “Israeli security networks” and their social and political role in the country. In other words, much academic research has been dedicated to the topic. It is not difficult to find quotes from Israeli policymakers, most of them (unsurprisingly) Jewish men who served in high-ranking positions in the IDF — men who straddle the line between military and civil society in Israel. This begins with IDF Chief of Staff Yigal Yadin’s declaration in the 1940s that “the Israeli civilian is a soldier with 11 months leave” and continues with Prime Minister Netanyahu’s remarks that Israel must “forever live by the sword.” Lapid vs. Abbas and the security establishment On the backdrop of Israel’s militarism, it is important to say a few things about the security establishment. This past month has seen a great number of examples that show how this establishment, and specifically the IDF, has begun to be viewed by the Israeli leadership — both by the government as well as by both the coalition and what, for some reason, is deemed the “opposition” in the Knesset — as outdated, irrelevant, ignorant, and deceitful. This began with the violence and stabbings in October 2015. The propagandists of the Israeli government announced openly that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ incitement was behind the uprising. The demagoguery quickly became the prominent message, with the media quickly adopting the words “incitement” and “Abbas” as inseparable. Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tzipi Hotovely went as far as to organize a training for senior members of the ministry focusing on “incitement,” which included talks by researchers who support her worldview. The same happened with Culture Minister Miri Regev, Energy and Water Resources Yuval Steinitz, Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, and others. What did the “opposition” do in the meanwhile? It isn’t hard to guess. MK Yair Lapid fell into line, stating that “Abbas is continuing with his crusade of incitement,” adding his own bit of militarism and claiming that “anyone who harms us will bear responsible for the outcome.” On the other hand, we have an organization called the IDF’s Intelligence Corps. As opposed to the incitement of the right and the left, the corps released the following two professional assessments: “Abbas is not inciting in order to harm Israelis,” and “Abbas is considered a very moderating force in Judea and Samaria.” How did Education Minister Naftali Bennett respond? “The security establishment is wrong.” This continued with the banning of the Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement; a movement that has the support of one-third of Muslims in Israel, that has a network of schools and restaurants, and which has its own newspaper. This movement, we must remember, has existed in a reality in which “Israel’s Arab citizens have been discriminated against since 1948 because they are Arab,” according to the government-appointed Or Commission. The cabinet, however, decided to outlaw the group, as opposed to outlawing discrimination and those who support it. After all, some of them hold high-ranking positions among the Israeli leadership. There is no reason to provide a stage for the remarks coming from government ministers, who all sang the same tune against the Islamic Movement. Not a single one of them actually knows the movement, aside from a few choice quotes provided by a “research organization” whose ideas match up with theirs. But let’s see what those in the “opposition” thought about the decision. There, the leader of the “opposition,” Isaac Herzog, described the ban as the “first step in protecting democracy.” His co-leader, Tzipi Livni, added that she supports the ban. When asked why she didn’t take the same step when she was justice minister, she responded that the Shin Bet didn’t support it. Had Livni maintained the same security-oriented stance she held back then, she would discover that the Shin Bet actually did publish a response to the ban. It turns out that the Shin Bet expressed doubts about banning the Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement. In fact, the Shin Bet believed that doing so will only lead to more unrest among Israel’s Arab citizens. This is not a new position. It was presented to the government in 2014, when the Shin Bet wrote that “there is no intelligence that connects the Islamic Movement to real violent activity,” and that it opposes banning the group. Netanyahu, Livni, Herzog and others didn’t seem to care. Yair Lapid did not disappoint and praised the move. Jewish Home vs. the IDF The same phenomenon continued and reached the Israeli street. Over the last few days, as the violence in the West Bank has continued to flare up, and protests have begun to take place primarily in refugee camps, the same voices could be heard from the benches of the government. But there is no real need to give a stage to the extreme remarks by government ministers about what is happening in the West Bank. We must give the right to respond to the representatives of the “oppositional right” of Herzog-Livni-Lapid, and only after that give the IDF a chance to respond. The representatives of the Zionist Union have already proposed it all. Herzog has already proposed that Netanyahu’s coalition put the West Bank on lockdown, place all the Palestinian neighborhoods in East Jerusalem under closure, and consider calling up a large number of reserve soldiers. Chairman of the Council of Judea and Samaria (Yesha Council) Avi Ro’e, saw eye to eye with Herzog, stating that the opposition head would “do a much better job at dealing with Palestinian terror.” As opposed to the hawkish views of Herzog, Netanyahu, Livni, Shaked, Lapid, Regev, Bennett and others, the IDF Central Command provided a different perspective. The commander of the Central Command stated that the terror attacks are not the result of institutionalized incitement or work of a terrorist organization, but rather part of a “limited uprising… and the attacks are inspired by other attacks, not by a centralized leadership… the terrorists are young, desperate, and frustrated, some of them are unemployed.” According to Central Command, the violence can be stopped through easing restrictions: “economic relief, including providing more permits to work inside Israel, providing building permits in Area C, releasing prisoners, and approving the supply of weapons to the Palestinian Authority.” The government’s disdain for the IDF recommendations was difficult to hide. MK Moti Yogev (Jewish Home) toed the line of his friends from the right, stating that the army’s assessments were, put simply, “irresponsible.” The swan song? It is difficult to belittle the phenomenon we see before our eyes. It is also difficult to write these things, when considering the military’s involvement in our daily lives — an organization that deals with security, that has a clear preference for men, that excludes Arab citizens and is seen by many of them as the enemy for fighting their brothers — is a process that Israeli civil society must limit, not to mention refrain from celebrating. The latest phenomenon reveals that both the army and the security establishment know that while the gut thinking of people like Netanyahu and Herzog might win elections, it is not good for the citizens of Israel. Palestinians live under occupation, and there is nobody who knows this better than the power hat occupies them: the commanders of the Central Command, which has been in control of the West Bank since 1967. They know that Palestinians in Al-Fawar refugee camp are desperate and frustrated. We are also coming to terms with the political shallowness in which we are living: an extreme right-wing government that wins the support of the “opposition” for every violent step it takes, even if the price is rejecting assessments by state security experts. These are members of Knesset who think only of the next primaries, of how to give the public what it wants, as long as it is viewed as “relevant.” In reality, this translates to thinking of solutions that promote Netanyahu’s theory of living by the sword. Perhaps this is the swan song. No one can promise that this kind of thinking will not eventually permeate the IDF. Perhaps soon the army will not abide solely by security-based thinking — which in itself is limited and limiting — but will start taking cues from the legislative and executive branches of the government. Forget for a moment about stopping the attacks, forget about granting freedom to a nation we have been controlling for nearly 50 years. What’s really important is whether the candidate will be viewed as more nationalist than the nationalists. The recipe is simple, and the dish is being cooked up daily in the Israeli political kitchen: for everything Netanyahu says, say something even more extreme. And whenever the army says something, just oppose it and say that the security establishment is wrong and misleading the public. Woe to us that we are resigned to put our trust in human rights, clearheaded thinking, and restraint in the hands of an army. An organization that is, first and foremost, dedicated to security. But as the Jewish sages said, “in a place where there are no men, strive to be a man.” And today, more than ever, it seems that both the opposition and coalition are bereft of decent people. Yoni Mendel is the projects manager of the Mediterranean Unit at the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, and co-editor of the book review section of the Journal of Levantine Studies (JLS). This article was first published in Hebrew on Local Call, where he is a blogger. Read it here.

Everything seems in order when you scroll down the list of young Peruvian players called up to represent their country at Under-15 level. That is, until you reach the name Osama Vinladen Jiménez López. Vinladen called up by Peru The Unión Comercio player has a startingly similar name to Osama Bin Laden, who was the founder of terrorist group al-Qaeda, the organisation responsible for the 9/11 attacks in the United States. Given that the Spanish pronunciation of the letter 'V' is very similar to the letter 'B' in this case, the name bears an even closer resemblance to that of the Saudi Arabian when spoken. Peruvian naming tradition offers explanation It is common in Peru for parents to name their child after a famous individual, regardless of how that individual entered the public consciousness. Peruvian culture places importance on names, and parents may think that giving their child a famous name will help them achieve notoriety. As such, it is not uncommon to come across Peruvians with names ranging from 'Hitler' to 'Ringo Starr'.

​"We wear white to unite against any attempts by the Trump administration to roll back the incredible progress women have made in the last century, and we will continue to support the advancement of all women," Frankel said via a statement released to Vox. "We will not go back." Frankel is the Beyonce of the party. She's the chair of the House Democratic Women's Working Group. A group of 66 Democratic women members, many of whom she has mobilised for the movement and are expected to take part in this fashion statement. When they are not syncing up their wardrobes, the group advocates for pay equality, reproductive health services and paid sick and family leave. Since the inauguration they have been particularly vocal about some of Trump's "achievements" that have wound back women's progress. Just three days after taking office he reinstated the "global gag rule", also known as the Mexican City policy. A Reagan-era piece of legislation that prevents financial aid from the US funding non-government organisations that provide or advise on abortions and access to contraception for about 27 million women in developing countries. That executive order came just hours after the 44th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, a Supreme Court ruling that recognises abortion as a constitutional right. Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi was, for a politician, refreshingly enthusiastic about the latest campaign by her party's working group. "​Tonight, our Democratic #WomenWearWhite in support of women's rights - in spite of a POTUS who doesn't!," she tweeted.

Patent Troll That Accused Company Of 'Hate Crime' For Fighting Back Now Asking Court To Silence Company from the you-fail-at-law dept For the foregoing reasons, Lumen View respectfully requests that the Court grant its Motion for a Protective Order ... to protect Lumen View’s confidential information and (1) prohibiting FTB and its attorney from further communicating with representatives of the media regarding confidential settlement information, or posting such information on social media, (2) require FTB and counsel to take necessary steps to remove from the internet its prior media disclosures, blog posts or press releases that disseminate this protected information, and (3) to grant any other such relief as this Court deems just and proper. Wasserbauer's request has a couple of problems. First, his idea of what constitutes "confidential information" is pretty broad—it includes not just the $50,000 demand but Wasserbauer's own simple admission about who is behind Lumen View. Second, FindTheBest never signed any kind of non-disclosure or confidentiality agreement.... [....] The rule that Wasserbauer cites, Rule 408 of the Federal Rules of Evidence, is not actually the legal gag order he apparently imagines it to be. The rule doesn't say anything about talking to the media. It simply states that offers of compromise or settlement are often not admissible as evidence in court. We recently wrote about how patent troll Lumen View's lawyer Damian Wasserbauer had gone off the deep end, claiming that an entrepreneur who was fighting back against the trolling was guilty of a hate crime . Kevin O'Connor, the CEO of FindTheBest (FTB) didn't want to give in to a patent troll shakedown, turning down a $50,000 settlement offer and pledging to spend $1 million fighting Lumen View just on principle. That's resulted in a countersuit, arguing that Lumen View is engaged in extortion and racketeering. Wasserbauer (who, frankly, appears to be a bit out of his league here) doesn't seem to be handling the publicity very well. He's asking the court for an astoundingly broad gag order against O'Connor, including saying he needs to try toprior disclosures.Yeah, good luck with that...Of course, as Joe Mullin notes over at Ars Technica, the entire basis of Wasserbauer's argument appears to be a significant misreading of the law:And we won't even get into the laughable claims by Wasserbauer that there's no First Amendment worries in such a gag order, because that's clearly false. It seems clear that Wasserbauer isn't happy with the media attention -- most trolls aren't -- especially since it's been fairly effective in highlighting the way Lumen View's trolling works. Trolls often get away with what they do because it's too much effort to even figure out how to fight back. If someone else is doing it publicly, it lowers the barrier tremendously. Filed Under: damian wasserbauer, gag order, kevin o'connor, patent trolls, patents Companies: findthebest, lumen view

Stephen Hawking says pope told him not to study beginning of universe HONG KONG (AP) — World-renowned astrophysicist Stephen Hawking said Thursday that the late Pope John Paul II once told scientists they should not study the beginning of the universe because it was the work of God. Hawking, author of the best-seller A Brief History of Time, said John Paul made the comments at a cosmology conference at the Vatican. He did not say when the meeting was held. Hawking quoted the pope as saying, "It's OK to study the universe and where it began. But we should not inquire into the beginning itself because that was the moment of creation and the work of God." The scientist then joked that he was glad John Paul did not realize that he had presented a paper at the conference suggesting how the universe began. "I didn't fancy the thought of being handed over to the Inquisition like Galileo," Hawking said during a sold-out audience at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. The church condemned Galileo in the 17th century for supporting Nicholas Copernicus' discovery that the Earth revolved around the sun. Church teaching at the time placed Earth at the center of the universe. But in 1992, Pope John Paul II issued a declaration saying the church's denunciation of Galileo was an error resulting from "tragic mutual incomprehension." Hawking is one of the best-known theoretical physicists of his generation. He has done groundbreaking research on black holes and the origins of the universe, and he proposes that space and time have no beginning and no end. During a question-and-answer session, Hawking was asked where constants like gravity come from and whether gravity can distort light. But there were several humorous moments. The wheelchair-bound Hawking, who suffers from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, communicates with an electronic speech synthesizer. Hawking was asked why his computerized voice has an American accent. "The voice I use is a very old hardware speech synthesizer made in 1986," he said. "I keep it because I have not heard a voice I like better and because I have identified with it." He said he once considered using a machine that gave him a French accent, but he did not because his wife would divorce him. But Hawking said he is shopping for a new system because his current hardware is large and fragile, using components that are no longer made. "I have been trying to get a software version, but it seems very difficult," he said. He urged people with physical disabilities not to give up on their ambitions. "You can't afford to be disabled in spirit as well as physically," he said. "People won't have time for you." Hawking ended his lecture saying, "We are getting closer to answering the age-old questions: Why are we here? Where did we come from?" Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Dyngus Day Date When Celebrated : Always the Monday after Easter Dyngus Day, also spelled Dingus Day, is a fun Polish Holiday. It is very popular in Poland, as well as in Polish communities across America. After the long Lenten holiday, Dyngus Day is a day of fun. And, perhaps a little romantic fun. It is always celebrated on the Monday after Easter. The Irish traditions and celebration on Saint Patrick's Day is well known. For those of Polish decent, Dyngus Day is a similar day of fun, parades, drinking and festivities. You do not have to be Polish to enjoy Dyngus Day. Rather, consider yourself Polish for the day, and join in on the fun. You'll be glad you did. Dyngus Day Tradition: There are all sort of ways for boys to meet girls. But, this one takes the cake. Guys, on this day you get to wet the ladies down. Sprinkling or drenching with water is your goal. Chase after the ladies with squirt guns, buckets, or other containers of water. The more bold and gallant boys, may choose to use cologne. Hitting (gently, please) the ladies on the legs with switches or pussy willows is also common. Yes ladies, you can strike back. Ladies , you get your revenge on Tuesday, when tradition has it that you throw dishes or crockery back at the boys. It has become increasingly popular for the ladies to get their revenge on Monday, tossing water back at the boys. Note: Dyngus Day is also called Wet Easter Monday. Hmmmmm, I wonder why!? More about Pussy Willows What happened on this Day? This Day in History Famous Birthdays Origin of Dyngus Day: When exploring the roots of Dyngus Day, Historians point to the baptism of Polish Prince Mieszko I in 966 A.D. Baptism with water signifies cleansing, fertility, and purification. Somewhere along the way, the tradition of tossing water on the girls and hitting them with pussy willows evolved. Ecards We've got you covered with free Ecards for just about any other holiday, occasion, event, or no event at all!

news A senior IT professional specialising in regional telecommunications in Victoria yesterday afternoon delivered an extraordinarily erudite and pointed education to a 3AW radio host who had gone on an extended and inaccurate rant live on air, rebutting claims that the National Broadband Network project would cost $233 billion but deliver speeds no different to ADSL broadband. Yesterday afternoon, the host of 3AW’s Drive program, Tom Elliott, broadcast a segment which contained a large number of factual errors regarding the National Broadband Network project initiated by Labor, which has been continued as the Coalition’s Broadband Network project. Elliott highlighted an article in The Australian newspaper which had reported that Labor’s NBN project had passed just three percent of Australian premises, but had cost $7 billion to date. “If I got out my trusty calculator, if it cost the same amount of money to cover 100 percent of homes, which the NBN is supposed to do, and businesses, it would cost $233 billion,” Elliott claimed. In fact, NBN Co’s recent Strategic Review (PDF) showed Labor’s version of the NBN would cost as little as $63 billion if funded by the Government completely, or $54 billion if the rollout was reworked. The Coalition’s version will cost even less. In addition, under all scenarios, the NBN project is slated to make a long-term modest return on its capital; effectively rendering its initial expenses meaningless. In addition, with major capital projects such as the NBN, it is common for a substantial amount of the overall capital cost to be lodged up-front; these costs do not reflect the remaining cost of such projects. The host went on to interview a series of listeners live on air, who sequentially claimed that the NBN was delivering only equivalent or even worse service than prior ADSL broadband connections possible on Telstra’s copper network. “Broadband via the old copper network and ADSL is getting pretty quick. Unless it’s a huge leap forward, I just don’t know whether we should be spending anywhere between $70 billion and $233 billion on it,” said Elliott, who appeared to grow increasingly hostile towards the NBN project as the segment went on and anti-NBN caller after anti-NBN caller lined up to agree with him. However, one of the later callers in the segment was able to substantially educate Elliott on the specific advantages of the NBN rollout. Elliott introduced the caller as George Fong, the executive director of Victorian regional telecommunications consultancy Lateral Plains. However, Fong is actually a much more senior figure than he appeared on the call (see his biography here). Fong (pictured, right) started his career practising law in Singapore, before moving to Australia in 1987 to lecture at the University of Ballarat. He then founded one of the nation’s first regional ISPs, NetConnect Communications, as early as 1994, and has subsequently spent over 20 years teaching, managing and consulting on IT matters. He is also vice president of the Internet society of Australia and sits on a number of other organisation’s management committees. Fong spoke with absolute authority on the NBN project, answering all of Elliott’s comments with aplomb and leaving the host appearing to be speechless at some points. You can listen to the entire interview online; the MP3 file is available here and Fong’s segment starts around 1 hour and 19 minutes and 20 seconds. For example, asked about the final cost of the project, Fong firstly pointed out that virtually every other major nation-building capital infrastructure project had gone at least slightly over their budget, before stating that the cost of the NBN project could only be examined in terms of the length of time the infrastructure would last. “Instead of saying, this is what the immediate cost is, we need to look at the next 20, 30, 40, 50 years and amortise it across that in terms of the returns that we get from the advantages that we’ve got,” Fong told Elliott. “Remember dial-up. You would never go back to dial-up, would you? In ten years’ time we’re probably never going to go back to ADSL, and that sort of future-proofing that we need, that’s what fibre will do for us in the regional areas.” Fong also commented with strong authority on issues such the disconnection of Telstra’s copper network, the inherent advantages of fibre over copper, the fact that the copper will need to be replaced eventually, the higher availability and ease of switching between competing ISPs on the NBN’s fibre, and even the expected boom in online media as a consequence of the project. Elliott had no comeback to Fong’s comments, abandoned his criticism during the encounter and merely thanked him for appearing on the show. It is very common for radio commentators to heavily criticise the NBN project. Shockjocks such as Alan Jones and Ray Hadley have become notorious for their ongoing, often vitriolic criticism of the project. However, it is very rare that an informed, erudite commentator such as Fong is allowed on the programs to refute the claims being made by the host. opinion/analysis This morning I was all set to write another in a very long line of articles about ignorant and ill-informed radio shockjocks criticising the NBN and Labor’s preferred Fibre to the Premises technology when I started listening to Elliott’s incredible segment on 3AW yesterday. And then George Fong came along. I have never, in all my time reporting on the NBN project, heard such an erudite, educated and convincing counter-argument made on air or anywhere else. In the face of Elliott’s raving technical and commercial illiteracy, Fong’s calm and self-assured words were balm to my soul, and I’m sure many listeners felt precisely the same way. I’ve interacted with Fong before on Twitter, but never realised quite how convincing he could be on air. George Fong, you are a bloody legend, mate, and have done a service to your country, educating thousands of listeners and one very ill-informed radio commentator about what the NBN project really is (or at least should be) all about. I hope you consider getting involved in further commentary on the issue, perhaps on other radio stations or on television. I now class you as a bona fide hero of the Australian IT industry. Fong is on Twitter: I recommend you message him and tell him what a good job he’s done. It’s not often you see this kind of thing happen in Australia’s mainstream media. Image credit: Lateral Plains

1 of 6 Names are not required on the backs of jerseys in college football, so why have a rule legislating what can be written in the space? The NCAA only allows three FBS schools—Air Force, Army and Navy—to put something other than a player's name on the space above the numbers on the backs of their uniforms. Yet for every other school it's a surname or nothing at all. A handful of teams wanted to go with non-names in 2014, yet each was rebuffed. Vanderbilt still went ahead and wore its "Anchor Down" jerseys for the season opener against Temple and nearly paid a steep price. "We sent an email design concept to the NCAA football rules committee, got a cursory response which says, 'It looks good to us,'" Vanderbilt athletics department spokesman Rod Williamson said via David Climer of The Tennessean. "We thought that meant every piece of the communication was fine." Initially, officials working the game announced that the Commodores' uniform violation would result in a loss of a timeout for each quarter those jerseys were worn. That ruling was quickly overturned, though it didn't help Vandy in the long run, as it was blown out 37-7 in its first game under new coach Derek Mason. This isn't a matter of schools wanting their players to stand out, like with the old XFL and its use of nicknames on jerseys. Instead, it's meant more to inspire camaraderie and solidarity, as with South Florida coach Willie Taggart's (disallowed) wish to have "The Team" on the back of the Bulls' tops.

He's a "nice guy," she's "a wild child"; will they ever make it work?! That's the question at the core of Love, a new comedy-adjacent series from Judd Apatow and writers-slash-real married couple Paul Rust and Lesley Arfin. Aspiring writer Gus (Rust) and adrift radio producer Mickey (Gillian Jacobs) repeatedly and hesitantly weave into and out of each other's lives, as if trying to determine whether they're looking at a life raft or an anchor that'll drag them into the depths of their worst selves. Rating 2.5 It's not an uninteresting premise. The problem is that Love just takes way too long to get to a place that makes you realize why Gus and Mickey's relationship merits its own television series. Early on, it meanders just as aimlessly as Gus and Mickey. It moves so slowly that it almost feels like watching their emotional horrorshow in real time, which sounds audacious until you consider that its first four episodes span a combined 142 minutes of screen time. If I weren't committed to watching all 10 episodes of Love for this review, I would have tapped out after the second episode — and that's a shame, because the back half of the series is so much stronger than the early episodes that it's actually shocking. So to make sense of the confusing bundle of insecurities that is Netflix's latest original series, let's get into the good, the bad, and the "wait, what?" of Love. The good: Addiction is incredibly difficult to portray. As Mickey, Gillian Jacobs digs in deep. In Love's shapeless first few episodes, Jacobs's Mickey is by far the more interesting character to watch, even if her constant cursing left me — a New Jersey native whose own mouth tends to run NC-17 — feeling exhausted by the end of the series premiere. The character is a clear proxy for Arfin, who turned her frank "Dear Diary" column for Vice into an equally frank book that discussed her heroin addiction; she's now been sober for a decade. Playing Mickey affords Jacobs the opportunity to stretch in all sorts of unflattering directions, and she rises to the occasion with obvious relish. And once Love peels back Mickey's protective layer of disdain to get to the addict underneath, she's a lot easier to understand. Addiction is tricky to portray accurately; it's even trickier to portray both accurately and comedically. Working through self-destructive valleys to achieve lasting sobriety is an excruciating, maddening, constant process. Thus, it's a huge challenge to depict addiction on television shows, which depend on the audience connecting to characters in some way or another. But that's not to say it can't be done: CBS's Mom, for example, has found a way to tackle this tricky balance — and on a weekly multi-camera sitcom — to both devastating and hilarious effect. Very often, Mickey is a tough character to swallow. But it makes perfect sense that she's unstable, erratic, selfish, and hungry for validation in the context of her addictions. So while it takes some time for Love to fulfill its potential, the moments when Jacobs gets to rip into what drives Mickey — and what keeps her stumbling backward — are truly great. The bad: Love takes its sweet time to get anywhere particularly interesting Television shows that assume their audience will binge-watch several episodes at once walk a very shaky line. On the one hand, they can lean into a slower, maybe more satisfying burn like few other mediums can. On the other hand, they risk devoting too much time to various characters and stories, just because they can. So I get it, Love. You had 10 episodes to fill, and Netflix didn't restrict their running time, so you took that freedom and ran with it. But assuming that just because people have the opportunity to binge-watch, they'll stick with your show for a while — no matter what — is a dangerous trap. Airing on Netflix gives you more breathing room and flexibility, but it should in no way stop you from producing compelling, tightly edited work. TV episode runtimes are fluctuating now more than ever, thanks to streaming platforms like Netflix and Amazon, but the standard episode length for any show that's not a drama is still around 30 minutes at most. (On a show that airs with commercials — basically anything that's not on premium cable — episodes usually top out around 22 minutes.) All but two episodes of Love run at least that long, and a handful run longer. Assuming that just because people have the opportunity to binge-watch, they'll stick with your show for a while — no matter what — is a dangerous trap It's one thing if you can justify a longer runtime with crucial character work, or a particularly funny bit. But on Love, those extra minutes hang like extra weight the characters have to drag around. Without any purpose, their banter is just kind of ... there. Maybe Love should have looked to its Netflix peer Master of None for an example of how to balance extra room with smart editing. In its first season, the Aziz Ansari comedy could have easily pushed the boundaries of the 30-minute episode, but kept every episode under that mark. At the recent Television Critics Association winter press tour, Ansari's co-creator Alan Yang even said that their "Mornings" episode — a highly ambitious collection of moments spread over a couple's first year living together — was originally 52 minutes long, or about twice as long as the final cut. As much as I loved "Mornings," a loose 52 minutes of that material very likely would have been a slog. That Love slacks off on editing isn't particularly surprising, given that Apatow has a co-creator credit. His direction often yields projects that are two-thirds great and one-third superfluous, from 2009's Funny People to last summer's Trainwreck with Amy Schumer. At the same TCA winter press tour, Apatow got defensive when questioned about Love's 40-minute pilot, saying it's really the show's only longer episode — but with three other installments surpassing 36 minutes, that's just not true. And so Love doesn't really click into gear until its fifth episode, after laying over two and a half hours of groundwork. In "The Date," Mickey resets her sober clock to "zero," and Gus goes on a disastrous date with her roommate, Bertie (a completely delightful Claudia O'Doherty). From that point on, every episode is noticeably more focused, and therefore, way more effective as a chapter in a love story. The "wait, what?": Outside of Mickey, Love isn't sure where to direct your sympathy Naturally, Love would like you to feel at least a little sympathetic toward both Mickey and Gus, since they're the main characters and all. But you can feel the show struggling to define both characters before that fifth and crucial episode, and in the meantime, it's just about impossible to know how the series itself views them. Gus is very simply presented as a standard, somewhat dorky nice guy. He's less of an overt jerk than the egomaniacs Mickey usually goes for, but he's certainly got his own emotionally manipulative tendencies, and it's not clear until somewhere around the seventh episode whether the show realizes that or not. Episode six serves as another weird interlude, sympathy-wise, as it sees Mickey going on a bender with actor and comedian Andy Dick, playing himself. In "Andy," he and Mickey get trashed together, and as they come down, he confesses that he believes drinking has destroyed his life from the ground up. Dick has had very messy, publicly documented addiction issues, and his heart-to-heart with Mickey certainly feels like an honest, significant moment. But it's muddled by a vague story about going out with Vince Vaughn that "probably" ended in Dick "getting gropey" — an eyebrow-raising detail in the context of Dick's real-life, alcohol-influenced encounters, some of which resulted in sexual assault lawsuits as recently as 2012. It's difficult to know exactly what the show thinks of Dick in this moment, but if you're aware of the real-world accusations that've been against him, this tossed-off allusion to his "gropey" tendencies is even harder to understand. The verdict: Love — both the show and the concept — is a promising mess I've rarely been as frustrated by a TV show as I was while watching Love. I could tell it was trying to appeal to me — a 20-something writer who lives in Los Angeles — but all it did was remind me that this portrayal of Los Angeles can get insular and self-indulgent, fast. Most annoyingly, as the later episodes of the season eventually revealed, there was an incisive and witty show hidden all along beneath the sludge of its opening few chapters. In fact, Love's first four episodes are so overstuffed with bland filler that episodes two, three, and four could've been cut altogether, and the show could've skipped right from the pilot with "The Date" without the plot losing much importance. The show's saving grace is that the far more interesting end of season one is a promising sign for season two, which Netflix ordered months before the show even premiered. If there's one piece of writing advice that's stuck with me, it's the one delivered by a college professor who chopped three introductory paragraphs off a paper and told me I should do that with everything I write: "It's just clearing your throat before you get to the good stuff." I couldn't get that idea out of my head while watching Love; it just kept clearing its throat, over and over again, until it finally realized what it wanted to say.

Async IO for Rust (part II) PaulColomiets Blocked Unblock Follow Following Nov 12, 2015 This is a second article about designing “rotor”, the library for doing asynchronous IO in Rust. This part describes what changed since the previous article as well as expands on discussion points of the previous write-up. State Machines Are Good Enough One of the hottest topics in the discussion of the previous article was whether threads are the better abstraction for I/O. And if OS threads are not good enough some kind of green threading should be introduced. There are two such libraries being developed: mioco and simplesched (both of them do not work in stable rust yet). Still I don’t believe it’s a good fit for low-level protocol handling. This section looks at issues with the threading model for handling I/O in Rust. You may skip the section if you are more interested in Rotor rather than design decisions. Memory ownership Typical request processing code looks like: It looks nothing wrong at a glance. No memory leaks here. But note that both “buf” and “parsed” are still being allocated while the response is being sent. But they are useless at that point in time. Is it easy to fix? Yes, just pass them by value, or wrap code block in braces. Is it easy to find? No. The code is too simplistic to show you the complexity. But compare it to the state machine: It’s easy to reason about memory usage in this case. Also, note that nothing is allocated for idle connection at all (except obviously the state machine itself). 2. Timeout handling Timeout handling is inevitable in any networking code. In most languages with green threading timeouts are simple: spawn another micro thread that sleeps and throws an exception to parent. If parent finished earlier, kill timer thread. But Rust doesn’t have exceptions. An example of timeout handling in go should show you the complexity. To give you the short breakdown: it adds a timer with a callback, which finds current “cancel callback” in a map, which in turn closes an underlying connection. The process involves at least 3 shared locked objects, and may involve sending a message through a channel. A cancel callbacks are changed during the lifetime of the request several times and special channels just for cancel operation are created in multiple places (if it’s not clear: that happens on every request even if no timeout occurred). 3. Connection pooling Threaded code dealing with client connections usually works along the lines of: Acquire a connection from pool Do something with the connection Release the connection to pool Sometimes it’s okay. But often things go out of control. For example, one may use two different connections for backends A and B, and keep both acquired at the same time. When resource A becomes slow, connection pool B quickly becomes exhausted too, just because coroutines hold on the resource. This is probably the norm for small python applications which handle ten simultaneous requests. But this can quickly become an issue for a server in Rust which can probably process a million requests per second (unproven yet, but I’ve got half of the million on 4 core i7). Rotor forces the user to think about such cases. The easiest way to handle client connection in rotor is to send a message to a connection pool with the message being “do this unit of work for me”. Where examples of the unit of work are: execute a request, push message to Kafka, execute a transaction. This is possible with threading model, just much less common. 4. Unit tests And it’s much easier to unit test a state machine. You can inspect it layer by layer because the state machines in Rotor are generic over the type of the next layer. You can test each state and each action separately without starting from the initial handshake. Often you can clone the state machine in test and continue by multiple paths. Obviously, you can test an assembled state machine. You can test with fake transport (i.e. without actually creating the sockets). Many of the unit test features are easy and obvious on state machines but are impossible or very cumbersome on threaded code. What’s New in Rotor? So we keep state machines. We still pass them to action by value and rely on return value optimization (RVO) to do that fast. We still use the Context thing and have state machine types generic over it. However, we get rid of Scope. This was an object that was carrying main loop operations to the state machine. It was too hard to handle because each layer of abstraction required a new unique type passed to the next layer and required that type to implement a number of traits. The traits could not be derived automatically in current rust language. The most important subset of the functionality is now served by return value. We have a common return type that is used in all actions: The M is a state machine, and V is a return value from the action to the lower layer. The V is defined by the specific lower layer. You should think of it as of asynchronous counterpart of Result. Any action may return “Continue” to wait for the next event. “Stop” to stop the state machine and “Timeout” to set the timeout on a connection. The value V is very dependent on layer used. For example on lowest layer there is a trait EventMachine, which has the following action: If an action returns “Continue(m, Some(n))” this means n is a new state machine that must be inserted into the map of the state machines of the main loop. The “accept” transport uses it to accept connections. (Note the type of both things is the same because all connections are stored in the same slab, so are of the same type; “accept” transport uses enum to differentiate between the initial listening socket and a client connection). Any communication between two subsequent layers may be performed as a series of the action calls and return values. For example, HTTP server implementation may accept full Response as value, but may also accept enum of Headers, ChunkOfBody, EndOfBody, to allow asynchronous response generation. Timers work similarly: return the time of the next wake up. Next timer returned from the action replaces the previous one. This allows to get rid of possible timer leaks. The timers of each subsequent layer coalesce into a single timer (simple “min(x, y)” operation), so we have maximum one timer per state machine. We currently use a deadline-style timers instead of timeout-style, unlike in system calls. The return type will probably slightly change in the future. For example, the Stop action may grow an error type. But overall Async type looks like a more deliberate decision than what we have used before. Another thing we keep is Transport. It is the structure that contains network buffers which we pass from the stream to the protocol parser. We don’t pass the socket directly for a couple of reasons: This way protocol parser doesn’t need to be generic over streams (TCP, Unix, SSL). Transport type is the same for all of them. It’s easier to unit test protocol parser. Just fill the buffers, instead of opening real OS sockets (especially it’s important for testing partial sends, which might be coalesced by OS) It’s unproven, but by using this API it should be possible to pass RDMA buffers or TCP buffers of userspace TCP stack directly to the protocol without changing the code. If protocol itself handles buffers, it will do additional buffering anyway in those cases. Future Work In the near future, I’m going to figure out the shape of the “Async” object. In particular, whether it’s possible to use it as a Carrier for Trait-based exception handling RFC, and what consequences of this are. Also, I’m going to play with timeouts more. The large problem of the timeouts is not how to handle them but rather how to define them. For example, HTTP application might have five timeout classes: idle, header-receiving, request-body-receiving, response-generation, response-sending. And at least two of them may depend on the request itself. Another hot topic is messaging between state machines. Currently, it is accomplished by a “wakeup” event that is triggered by a message to the main loop that contains machine token and no payload. The action then propagates through the state machine to all layers. It’s expected that state machine will find out what is the payload itself by looking into some queue or a cell. Still better abstractions should be created to accomplish request-reply pattern on top of that (probably something that looks like a Future) similar thing for queues shared between connection pool and may be other things. Another exciting task is to figure out a better interface for the Stream/Transport pair. This is interesting for two reasons: Simpler to write protocols Super-efficient RDMA and Userspace network stack The second point needs a detailed explanation. For example, instead of the current “wake me up after the next read” abstraction we could provide a “wake me up when there are 128KiB in the buffer” operation. Then changing the underlying stream, into userspace TCP, the driver can arrange a network buffer of this size for the connection. So you don’t copy incoming packets and still have a contiguous chunk of data from the network, which can be used directly. Disclaimer: my understanding of how RDMA or userspace TCP stack work are very sparse and theoretical, so I may be wrong. Conclusions Different languages have different idioms. I think I’ve found a good way to make asynchronous applications in rust. This is not to say that threads are bad. Threads in rust are very great. Just threads for handling a large number of network connections and timers is not very good. I believe that “rotor” library starts to gain its shape. Which means there will probably be no drastic changes in how it will work. Still some types, names, and other things will change in backwards-incompatible ways until it is feature complete. Which probably means that at least some critical number protocols implemented and at least few small applications. Benchmark And the fun part. I’ve just passed the point of 0.5 millions of requests per second served: This works on i7–4790K (which is desktop-class CPU), on localhost (which also means that “wrk” runs on the same machine too).

SAN FRANCISCO (CN) – Oakland police beat a war veteran so badly they ruptured his spleen, then sent him to a jail where “medical personnel mocked and ignored his pleas for help,” the man claims in court. Kayvan Sabeghi sued Oakland and three police officers – Marcell Patterson, Sgt. Patrick Gonzalez, and Frank (last name unknown) – in Federal Court. Sabeghi claims the police beat him as he walked home alone after participating in an Occupy Oakland protest. “These wrongs occurred in the wee hour of Nov. 3, 2011, during political demonstrations initiated by the Occupy Oakland movement,” the complaint states. “Mr. Sabeghi had participated in the protect activity, gone out to dinner and was making his way home when he encountered a police line blocking his path. When Mr. Sabeghi, a veteran of the war in Afghanistan, questioned and verbally criticized the officers’ actions, defendant Officer Frank Uu and other Oakland Police officers brutally beat and arrested him in retaliation for his exercise of his First Amendment rights. “Officer Uu and other officers beat plaintiff so viciously that they ruptured his splenic vein, causing severe pain and internal bleeding. Rather than summoning medical attention or taking plaintiff to the hospital, the Oakland Police officers proceeded to detain him at various locations near City Hall for some hours, and then transferred him to the Alameda County Jail, in further unlawful punishment for his First Amendment expression. Police officers, jailers and jail medical personnel mocked and ignored his pleas for help. Plaintiff was not taken to a hospital until approximately 18 hours after the beating. He had been bleeding internally the entire time and was in dire condition necessitating immediate emergency surgery.” Sabeghi says the officers confronted him after her stopped at a newsstand near his home. “Plaintiff asked to be allowed to pass, but the officers refused. Plaintiff was upset by this arbitrariness and began verbally arguing with the officers and criticizing the police. The police line began to move slowly forward … and two Doe officers jabbed plaintiff repeatedly with wooden clubs. Plaintiff retreated backward at a pace with the police. At no time did plaintiff present a physical threat to the police. “Suddenly, defendant Uu came through the police line and confronted plaintiff, cursing at him, and then struck him repeatedly with a club, driving him towards the west sidewalk in front of the police line. Although plaintiff did not resist or fight back and was not physically aggressive in any way, defendants Uu, Patterson, and other officers tackled him at or near the curb with unnecessary and excessive force, piling on top of him and violently twisting his arms. Plaintiff suffered internal injuries as well as cuts and bruises. There was no justification for the use of force on plaintiff. Defendant Sgt. Gonzalez and other superiors failed to adequately supervise Officer Uu and other officers, failed to intervene, and approved and condoned the officers’ unlawful conduct against plaintiff.” Sabeghi says he was put in a police van alone after the beating, then forced to sit on a curb with other handcuffed prisoners. He says police refused to wash a “chemical agent” from his face, to loosen “his painfully tight handcuffs,” or provide medical attention. “Eventually, defendants caused plaintiff to be put on a sheriff’s bus and taken to the Alameda County Jail, in violation of their California statutory obligation to cite and release a misdemeanor arrestee such as plaintiff and in retaliation for plaintiff’s exercise of his First Amendment rights. Defendants failed to communicate plaintiff’s need for medical attention to the Alameda County personnel,” the complaint states. “Plaintiff had been bleeding internally this entire time and once at the jail, he began to experience severe pain and to vomit repeatedly. The sheriff’s personnel and medical personnel at the jail ignored plaintiff’s requests for help even though he was vomiting and unable to stand. Rather than providing medical attention, the jail and medical personnel ridiculed plaintiff, accusing him of being a heroin addict. Plaintiff was confined under unreasonably unsanitary conditions, and moved from holding cell to holding cell, each one filthy and stinking, as he continued to bleed internally. Even after a friend paid his bail, he was not released for several more hours. Finally, an ambulance was brought and he was taken to Alameda County Highland Hospital, some 18 hours or more after he was beaten by defendants. At the hospital, plaintiff received emergency surgery to repair a ruptured blood vessel in his abdomen, caused by the police beating. He remained in the hospital for five days.” Sabeghi says he suffered pain and disability for eight months after the beating. He lost earnings and was unable to participate in “many of his customary exercise and leisure activities.” He seeks punitive damages for constitutional violations, assault and battery and false imprisonment. He is represented by Dennis Cunningham. Like this: Like Loading...

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. -- Robert Quinn crept toward the line of scrimmage with just over nine minutes remaining in Sunday's second quarter. He burst around Indianapolis Colts left tackle Anthony Castonzo at the snap, then picked himself up off the ground and wrapped his arms around the upper body of quarterback Scott Tolzien for his first sack of the year. Two plays later, with the Los Angeles Rams in a nickel package on third and long, Quinn operated out of a three-point stance and did the very same thing -- he got around Castonzo, went after Tolzien, then quickly shifted his focus to Robert Turbin after a quick pitch, sending the Colts' running back to the ground almost immediately after he caught the football. In a span of three plays, Quinn was personally responsible for a loss of 11 yards. "That was just the official knock the rust off," Quinn said, smiling. "It's just fun to make a couple plays." In defensive coordinator Wade Phillips' 3-4 base set, Robert Quinn has transitioned from defensive end to outside linebacker, where he will sometimes drop into coverage but mostly rush the passer. Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images If he can remain healthy, Quinn should make a whole lot more plays in Wade Phillips' system. Phillips' 3-4 base set required Quinn to transition from defensive end to outside linebacker, where he will take on a role similar to the one DeMarcus Ware played in Dallas and in Denver, occasionally dropping back in coverage but predominantly going after the quarterback. Ware announced his retirement with an Instagram post that highlighted his accomplishments on his jersey. That post is now laminated and taped to Quinn's locker for motivation, as are the career statistics for some of the other great defensive ends and outside linebackers throughout NFL history. The Rams have been very careful with Quinn, who amassed 40 sacks from 2012-14 but made only 15 starts from 2015-16. He didn't play in any preseason games and was held out of several practices while under what first-year head coach Sean McVay continually referred to as a "maintenance program." But Quinn made most of his adjustment to outside linebacker during the offseason program and said in the days leading up to the regular-season opener that he is "pretty comfortable with where I'm at." The Rams played Quinn in only 50 percent of the defensive snaps in their 46-9 rout of the Colts, but he made his presence felt nonetheless. "He's certainly a rusher that you have to account for," said McVay, who will probably give Quinn more snaps as the weeks go by. "He's got a great get-off; love the effort and intensity he plays with. He's one of the guys that I've always had a lot of respect for, just coaching against him in years past. When No. 94 is right, you feel him. He is an elite rusher and he certainly looked like that guy [on Sunday]."

It's nowhere near Valentine's day but Google is feeling the love. Maybe it wants to help you find that special person before New Year's Eve so you have someone to kiss at midnight, or maybe it's just setting you up for a healthy relationship in preparation for February 14th, but regardless of the reason, Google Search now responds to the command, "Give me a love quote." Try it and out pops a card with a random famous quote about love. Got one you don't like? You can try again. It might not be as fun as flipping a coin or rolling a dice through a search, but it could potentially be life-altering. Who knows, you might start by wooing your date with some romantic words provided by Google, then end up committing to the ultimate quote of, "till death do us part." Sure, chances are you'll wind up searching for heartbreak or divorce quotes, but I'm an optimistic person. Go get'em tiger! Source: @Google

Look in your bathroom. Got a loofah in there? Ever used one? You know, like a sea sponge? Now think about it being used for building houses. Huh!? This is exactly what’s happening right now in Paraguay. Elsa Aldivar, a social activist teamed up with Pedro Padros, an industrial engineer to make this happen. It didn’t happen right away. Aldivar was searching for a way to give women an earth friendly way to generate income, and encouraged them to cultivate loofah, that grows easily there, to be dried out and made into cosmetic products. But they found that a certain portion weren’t up to export standards, and 30% of the quality material was being shaved off while making mats, slippers, insoles and the cosmetic tools. [social_buttons]So she wondered what use/value could be created from these. Material for house walls and roofs, she decided. After extensive trial and error, she and Padros devised the perfect combination of loofah, recycled plastic, and things like cotton netting and corn husks, all of which would otherwise be disposed of. At less than $3 a square meter, competitive with wood. But beyond being merely equivalent in price, it exceeds wood’s capabilities, with the ability to take dye during manufacture, making painting unnecessary. They are flexible, able to better withstand disaster situations. If they do fall, there’s less chance of injury, as they’re lighter weight. And they can be recycled, repeatedly. And with care in initial selection of plastics, when they can no longer be remade into housing material, they can be used as biofuel. While totally viable as a building material in many environments far outside rural Paraguay, their ease of use, and ability to work with local, familiar materials like adobe makes them ideal for use locally, providing both shelter and income. They are the winners of the Rolex Award for Enterprise, and with this, they’ll be building three demonstration homes and have a promotion center, where both urban and rural people will be able to learn about this innovative material. Readers: What else are you seeing out there to make super efficient use of resources, for building and otherwise? What other, lesser known options are being developed that we should know about? Article & image source: Rolex Awards for Enterprise

The 11-time winner is calling time on his F1 career after Sunday's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, and was centre stage at a special team farewell party hosted in the Yas Marina paddock on Saturday night. After deputy team principal Claire Williams paid tribute to the contribution he had made since joining the outfit in 2014, she announced that as well as presents of a photo album and specially-commissioned cartoon illustrating his career, he will be given his Brazilian GP chassis. The car featured a unique rebranding from title sponsor Martini, which replaced its name with 'Massa' on the car. Right time As Massa struggled to hold back the tears after being told of the gift, he told team members, rival drivers, media, friends and family that he had huge gratitude for everything Williams had done for him but was even more convinced he was quitting F1 at the right time. "I am so proud of my career, everything I passed through, difficult moments, and great moments," he said. "I think it is a good time, so I am really happy with my decision. "It is very difficult to decide or stop, because we are young and you need to decide something in the moment that you are still fit. To keep doing and keep working for very long, I am really sure I chose the right moment to do that." Final emotions Massa secured a slot in Q3 in his final qualifying – and he was clearly delighted about the opportunity to show well after ending up 10th on the grid. "Definitely it is a good thing, so definitely it is always good to be quick," he explained. "It is my last qualifying so it is good to finish with a good performance. "I had quite a good qualifying. I am happy. So my last real qualifying of my career in F1, and it is always good to be quick. "I am not stopping because of the speed. I am stopping because of other things – it is a nice gift. I am concentrated and ready for the race tomorrow and hopefully things will be even better tomorrow." Massa insisted he was heading into Sunday's race with no feelings of sadness at all, having been overwhelmed by the support he has received in recent weeks. "I am not sad. I am happy for my decision anyway," he said. "It is a really good feeling to finish your last qualifying but with a good performance, a good performance gives you happiness and I am happy for my job today and I hope we can have a good race tomorrow. "We know the car we have. The race will not be easy, so many cars around that are more competitive than ours. But I will try everything I can for the best of my car." Don’t miss our Abu Dhabi GP video preview…

CocoRosie / Busdriver Venue, Vancouver BC, October 24 Photo: Alan Ranta Published Oct 25, 2013 9 Surrealism was in the air as the CocoRosie faithful came out in force, as hippy-gypsy Renaissance Fair ladies in frilly dresses that looked like they walked out of the freak-folk duo's liner notes filled Venue to capacity.With skeletons and mummies hanging from the ceiling to light the Halloween spirit, and a clothesline stretched across the stage, Los Angeles rapper Regan Farquhar (a.k.a. Busdriver) warmed the crowd up with a solo set. He tweaked beats ranging from hard house to symphonic glitch over which he laid his signature cerebral flows, delivered at a breakneck pace that could rival Busta Rhymes in his prime. While obviously talented, Farquhar seemed almost schizophrenic, alternately dazzling and befuddling as he attempted to engage the distracted crowd with hard-stop teasers and beckons to the crowd for responses.Upping the theatrics, CocoRosie sisters Bianca and Sierra Casady, along with multi-instrumentalist Takuya Nakamura and ace beatboxer TEZ, took the stage wearing stripy muumuus, the first of many costumes they'd move through. Sierra would rock lingerie, an apron, and a sequin geometric tutu, while Bianca put on a Twin Rivers t-shirt from the clothesline, a top hat, overalls, a "Pride" baseball hat, and saggy bottom jogging pants, with both later donning the tribal masks from their "We Are On Fire" video.Their performance went far beyond costumes, though: Nakamura played a Nord keyboard, upright piano, and trumpet, among other things; Sierra spent time between harp, piano, and vocal processors; and Bianca laid down bass lines on a Korg and performed various wind instruments. TEZ was the only musician who didn't change instruments between every song.Everything felt live and fresh. For all the dense soundscapes, they sprinkled in stunning minimal moments like when Bianca sang the majority of "Harmless Monster" from their recent albumwith just a piano accompaniment, or when TEZ nailed an awe-inspiring solo beatboxing exhibition mid-set, including his take on Ginuwine's "Pony."Their theatricality was something else. They played with the clothesline, or at least got caught up in it a couple times, and used a white vanity set to stage Broadway moments, fanning themselves there before an early costume change or reapplying makeup. With her creepy, childlike voice and hip-hop style, Bianca was reminiscent of Beth Gibbons, but Sierra earned MVP of this show; her opera training at the Conservatoire de Paris shined through, hypnotizing with her shimmering soprano, and imbuing hooks like "welcome to the afterlife" and "this is the end of time" with all the drama of a Disney princess.Near the end of their set, during a downtempo new-age take on "God Has A Voice, She Speaks Through Me," Sierra put on a silver dangly headpiece that slipped down and became tangled. Abandoning the third verse, she turned away from the crowd and ripped it off, taking a large chunk of her hair with it. While Bianca momentarily looked at her with concern, Sierra ditched the clump of jewelry and tresses and returned to the mic, powering through to sing the rest of the track like nothing happened.Although the biggest crowd response arguably went to their trip-hop laden "Smokey Taboo" from 2010's, Busdriver came back for an incendiary verse on their upbeat take on "K-Hole" from, which brought their set to a natural crescendo.

Review Article 1Department of Molecular Physiology, Westfälische Wilhelms-University Münster, Schlossplatz 8, 48143 Münster, Germany 2Unit for Drug Discovery, Department of Parasitology, Institute of Biomedical Science, University of São Paulo, 1374 Prof. Lineu Prestes Avenue, 05508-000 São Paulo, SP, Brazil 3Bernhard-Nocht-Institute, Bernhard-Nocht-Straße 74, 20259 Hamburg, Germany Received 14 February 2014; Revised 28 May 2014; Accepted 29 May 2014; Published 15 July 2014 Academic Editor: Nongyao Sawangjaroen Copyright © 2014 Dana Ditgen et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Abstract Helminths are the largest and most complex pathogens to invade and live within the human body. Since they are not able to outpace the immune system by rapid antigen variation or faster cell division or retreat into protective niches not accessible to immune effector mechanisms, their long-term survival depends on influencing and regulating the immune responses away from the mode of action most damaging to them. Immunologists have focused on the excretory and secretory products that are released by the helminths, since they can change the host environment by modulating the immune system. Here we give a brief overview of the helminth-associated immune response and the currently available helminth secretome data. We introduce some major secretome-derived immunomodulatory molecules and describe their potential mode of action. Finally, the applicability of helminth-derived therapeutic proteins in the treatment of allergic and autoimmune inflammatory disease is discussed. 1. Introduction During the last centuries living conditions in western countries changed extremely and social and economical structures shifted dramatically. As a suggested consequence of the resulting improvements in hygiene, antiparasite treatments, and the reduced exposure to pathogens and childhood infections, the occurrence of chronical inflammatory diseases and allergies increased rapidly [1, 2]. In 1989, David Strachan was the first one to link these two developments and enunciated the “Hygiene Hypothesis.” According to this thesis, the observed increases in certain inflammatory disorders were due to the decreased early-life exposure to microorganisms and other eukaryotic infectious agents including helminths [3]. Worm-like parasites that belong to unrelated phyla, namely, the plathelminthes (trematodes and cestodes) and the nematodes, were already present in early Hominidae. This long coexistence between humans and helminths must have had a fundamental impact on the constitution and regulation of the immune system [4–6]. As an advancement of the “Hygiene Hypothesis,” the “Old Friend Hypothesis” was put forward by Graham Rook. He hypothesized that numerous harmless pseudocommensals, including the helminths, were tolerated by the immune system due to their abundant presence [6]. In this way, the tolerance of helminths reduces the negative impact on the host’s fitness, since it decreases the tissue damage or other fitness costs [8]. Recently, William Parker extended this hypothesis to the “Lost Friends Theory” or the “Biome Depletion Theory.” This theory describes the consequences of separating us from our partners in coevolution. Accordingly, the reduced pattern of exposure to microorganisms and helminths and their depletion from the human ecosystem lead to an unstable and unbalanced immune state [9]. Since the loss of components of our biome is partly responsible for epidemics of immune-related diseases such as autoimmune and allergic diseases, the most reasonable solution would be the restoration of the biome [10]. Hence exposure to helminth parasites could again establish and maintain the normal immunological balance in humans. However, colonization with intestinal helminths as immune therapy is problematic due to various physiological side effects. Furthermore, the induced immune hyporesponsiveness could affect immune reactions to concomitant infections and vaccination efficacies [4, 11]. An alternative approach therefore is to identify the immune modulatory molecules produced by helminths that can alter immune functions. 2. Helminths Infections with helminth parasites have great impact on global health and it has been estimated that at least one-third of the human population is infected with these parasites, prompting helminth infections to be termed the “Great Neglected Tropical Diseases” [4, 12]. Although highly parasitized individuals can suffer from severe pathology, helminths usually cause asymptomatic or subclinical chronic infections, with little evidence of an inflammatory response or overt tissue destruction. As such, many helminths can survive within their host for decades. About one-third of mankind in the tropics and subtropics are chronically infected with one or more helminths [4, 12]. According to the WHO, more than 1.5 billion people or 24% of the world’s population are infected with soil-transmitted infections (WHO, report 2014). The most common helminthiases of humans are caused by soil-transmitted nematodes, namely, Ascaris lumbricoides, Trichuris trichiura, and the hookworms Necator americanus and Ancylostoma duodenale, followed by schistosomiasis (blood flukes of the genus Schistosoma) and lymphatic filariasis (Wuchereria bancrofti, Brugia malayi, and Brugia timori) [13] (Table 1). According to the CDC, approximately 807–1,121 million people are infected with A. lumbricoides, 604–795 millions with whipworms, and 576–740 millions with hookworms (CDC, report 2013). Table 1: Overview of the most common human pathogenic helminths. While these helminths show a remarkable variety in their mode of life, their hosts, and life history stages, they induce a canonical host immune response pattern. 3. Helminth-Associated Immune Response The human immune system responds to the invasion of helminths into the organism differently than to bacterial or viral infections. While microbial pathogens are usually eliminated from the host with a rapid and inflammatory immune response, the immune response to helminths is less severe and has a strong regulatory character [14]. Worm infections elicit T H 2 cell responses associated with a significant production of IL-4, IL-5, IL-9, IL-13, IL-31, IL-25, and IL-10 [13, 15]. Furthermore, the worm infections are often associated with high levels of IgE, IgG1, and IgG4 and stable eosinophil and mast cell responses [16]. Eosinophils become activated in helminth-infected sites and secrete proinflammatory cationic proteins, oxygen radicals, lipids, and other mediators like cytokines. Eosinophils and mast cells release their cytotoxic products during degranulations at infected sites [17]. The release of mediators leads to blood vessel enlargement, increased mucus production, and cell contraction of smooth muscle cells [18]. It is assumed that the primary role of eosinophils lies in the defence against large organisms which cannot be phagocytosed. Eosinophils can bind to carbohydrate ligands and fixed antibodies on the parasites surface, degranulate and release their cytotoxic agents to harm the parasite [19], and then get phagocytosed by macrophages after their response [17, 18]. Within 24 h after penetration into the host organism most helminths trigger an immediate production of T H 2 cytokines [14]. The protective effect of helminths against allergy and autoimmunity strongly depends on worm species (age, state of infection, and parasite burden) [20, 21]. Individuals infected with filarial nematodes like W. bancrofti and Onchocerca volvulus or with trematodes like Schistosoma mansoni and Schistosoma japonicum develop a strong T H 2 immune response [22]. Nevertheless, three helminth stages are known, which do not induce a T H 2 response immediately after infection: the cercariae of schistosomes, the microfilarial stage of B. malayi, and the nematode Trichuris muris [14]. In case of helminth and Mycobacterium tuberculosis coinfection, a dramatic reduction of protective immune responses can be observed [22]. However, some infections with parasitic worms like Nippostrongylus brasiliensis and Toxocara canis with Mycobacterium bovis or M. tuberculosis do not lead to an impaired protective immune response [22–24]. Although allergy-associated T H 2 responses and antihelminthic T H 2 responses are very similar, they also differ as follows: (1) larger amounts of polyclonal, non-parasite-specific IgE antibodies are produced that do not cause allergic reactions and (2) during helminth infection an induction of strong inflammatory regulatory immune responses occurs [25, 26]. In worm infections the Fcε receptors on mast cells can be saturated with non-worm-specific IgE; thereby, a binding of worm-specific IgE is averted. This occupation of receptor-binding sites suppresses the immediate hypersensitivity responses and the degranulation of mast cells (IgE blocking hypothesis) [18]. The IgE blocking hypothesis is still a matter of discussion. Larson and colleagues have shown that in mice the suppression of basophil responsiveness by chronic helminth infections was found to be dependent on host IL-10 [27]. IL-10 downregulates key-IgE signaling molecules [27] causing the level of serum IgE to decrease. This in turn influences the production of IgE receptors on basophils and mast cells [28–30]. Additionally, Mitre and coworkers demonstrated that the blocking of FcER1 on mast cells and basophils by parasite-induced polyclonal IgE does not mediate the protection against atopy, since the ratio of polyclonal IgE to allergen-specific IgE is too low to saturate the receptors and to suppress degranulation of mast cells and basophils [28]. Furthermore, Larson and colleagues compared the release of histamine from basophils in helminth-infected children before and after anthelminthic drug treatment and observed the suppression of basophil responsiveness during the intestinal helminth infection. They proposed that this inhibition of basophils, which are involved in the development of T H 2 responses and function as effector cells for allergy, leads to protection against allergic diseases [31]. Helminth parasites have developed a lot of strategies to evade or modulate the host immune responses with advantages on both sides [32]. Thus, there is a shift in the T H 2 response towards immunosuppression, immunological tolerance, or modified T H 2 response [16]. In case of immunosuppression an upregulation of regulatory T cells takes place which suppresses protective T H 2 as well as inflammatory T H 1 responses. During immunological tolerance development, effector T H 2 cells enter a state of anergy and fail to develop specific T effector cells which mediate resistance. Finally, in the modified T H 2 response, downstream effects of the normal T H 2 responses are muted and result in an increase of noncomplement fixing IgG4 and IL-10 [16, 33, 34]. In case of asymptomatic parasitic infections, the concentration of the T H 2-dependent isotype IgG4 is increased. A differential stimulation of IgG4 is promoted by IL-10 which is formed at high concentrations during chronic helminth infections [18]. Furthermore, many studies have shown that these helminth-mediated T H 2 responses can also prevent the often harmful inflammatory T H 1 responses by inducing suppressive regulatory T cells which contribute to the formation of IL-10 and TGF- . Thus, helminths are able to regulate the immune responses and ensure homeostasis under various disease conditions such as autoimmune diseases, inflammations, cancer, and microbial infections [13, 15, 35]. Affected by IL-4, IL-13, and IL-21, the differentiation of alternative activated macrophages (AAMs) occurs that can inhibit the proliferation of other cells and support an increased intracellular growth of bacteria [13]. In addition to their recruitment to sites of infection and various effector functions, they also have strong anti-inflammatory properties. These are manifested by the secretion of IL-10 and TGF- and the expression of certain genes that are involved in the repair of the extracellular matrix, fibrosis, and wound healing [13, 15]. Thus, AAMs serve tissue homeostasis, act as effector cells against parasites, and downregulate the adaptive immune system [16]. In summary, chronic helminth infections result in a downregulation of proinflammatory responses, an enhanced T H 2 response, and repair mechanisms [13, 32]. Figure 1 describes the interactions in the immune response to helminths. Figure 1: Cellular interactions in the immune response against helminths. Helminth-secreted excretory/secretory (ES) products are capable of inhibiting in vitro generated dendritic cells (DCs). They can inhibit the maturation of DCs and induce the expansion of functional T regs [35, H 2 response starts with the recognition of parasitic pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) by certain pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) that are expressed on the DCs of the host [ H 2 cells. This response includes IL-4, IL-5, IL-13, and IL-10 secretion and production of IgG4 and IgE by B cells, as well as the activation of effector cells such as mast cells, eosinophils, and basophils [ H 1, T H 2, and T H 17 cells. Thus, these cells have strong anti-inflammatory properties, which are manifested by the secretion of IL-10 and TGF-β as well as the expression of additional genes [16, RI) on mast cells and basophils; this leads to an activation of these cells and a secretion of inflammatory mediators like histamine, heparin, leukotrienes, and prostaglandin D2 [38– H : T helper cells; TGF- : transforming growth factor- ; ADCC: antibody dependent cellular cytotoxicity; EDN: eosinophil derived neurotoxin; DC: dendritic cell; APC: antigen-presenting cell; T reg : regulatory T cell. Cellular interactions in the immune response against helminths. Helminth-secreted excretory/secretory (ES) products are capable of inhibitinggenerated dendritic cells (DCs). They can inhibit the maturation of DCs and induce the expansion of functional T 36 ]. The helminth-induced T2 response starts with the recognition of parasitic pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) by certain pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) that are expressed on the DCs of the host [ 13 37 ]. Through contact with the antigen, the DCs become activated, allowing them to act as antigen-presenting cells (APC) after the migration to the adjacent lymph nodes, with the ability of processing and presenting the antigen to T cells to initiate an immune response [ 16 ]. The helminth-induced host immune response is focused on the protection of the host organism and is mediated by T2 cells. This response includes IL-4, IL-5, IL-13, and IL-10 secretion and production of IgG4 and IgE by B cells, as well as the activation of effector cells such as mast cells, eosinophils, and basophils [ 35 ]. Affected by IL-4 and IL-13 occurs the differentiation of alternatively activated macrophages (AAMs) which can inhibit the proliferation of other cells like T1, T2, and T17 cells. Thus, these cells have strong anti-inflammatory properties, which are manifested by the secretion of IL-10 and TGF-as well as the expression of additional genes [ 13 32 ]. Furthermore, IL-4 and IL-13 lead to an increased contractility of smooth muscle cells and a hypersecretion of mucus for expulsion of intestinal helminths [ 38 ]. Immune complexes of IgE bind to high affinity IgE receptors (FcRI) on mast cells and basophils; this leads to an activation of these cells and a secretion of inflammatory mediators like histamine, heparin, leukotrienes, and prostaglandin D2 [ 16 40 ]. PAMPs: pathogen-associated molecular patterns; PRRs: pattern recognition receptors; ES: excretory/secretory; IL: interleukin; Ig: immunoglobulin; AAM alternatively activated macrophages; T: T helper cells; TGF-: transforming growth factor-; ADCC: antibody dependent cellular cytotoxicity; EDN: eosinophil derived neurotoxin; DC: dendritic cell; APC: antigen-presenting cell; T: regulatory T cell. 4. Therapeutical Use of Helminths Since there was such mounting evidence that helminth infections can modulate the mammalian immune response, treatment of immune dysregulatory diseases with live worms was considered to possess therapeutic capability, even though the suppression of an ongoing dysregulated immune response is probably more difficult to achieve than the prevention of its development. Because of the predicted lack of pathogenicity of certain helminth species, these were used in a series of clinical trials. For ethical reasons only individuals were treated who already suffered from immune dysregulatory diseases and in most studies the helminth dose was much lower than in natural infection [41, 42]. In the beginning, in a small trial three patients suffering from ulcerative colitis were treated with ova from the pig whipworm Trichuris suis [43]. In a clinical trial carried out by Summers et al., T. suis ova (TSO) were administered to 29 patients suffering from Crohn’s disease. 79.3% improved significantly and 72.4% experienced remission [44, 45]. Similar results were obtained in a larger trial where patients with ulcerative colitis were treated. A decrease of pathological symptoms was observed among 43.3% of the 54 patients treated with TSO [46]. Further double-blinded placebo-controlled clinical trials using TSO are currently conducted by Coronado Biosciences and Falk Pharmaceutical company [47] (http://www.clinicaltrials.gov). A different approach, using 50 live N. americanus larvae, was executed by Croese and colleagues with 9 patients suffering from Crohn’s disease. Following the treatment, a decrease in pathology was recorded for two patients [48]. Correale and Farez conducted studies with multiple sclerosis patients that had also been affected by parasites. They were able to show that in these patients the disease pattern was weaker than in the control group [49, 50]. Nacher et al. observed that malaria patients with an additional gastrointestinal helminth infection, notably Ascaris, rarely showed acute renal failure or cerebral malaria in comparison to other malaria patients [51]. In mice infected with Helicobacter pylori, helminth infections were shown to reduce the tissue-damaging inflammation [52]. Recent epidemiological studies have clearly demonstrated that helminth, for example, Schistosoma spp., infected children had a reduced prevalence of allergic disorders. Other studies have shown that chronic infections with helminths protect people against allergic sensitization. The same results were achieved by infecting mice with Strongyloides stercoralis [25, 26]. Here, anthelmintic treatment led to loss of immune suppression and to an increase in atopic reactivity to allergens. Furthermore, the relationship between suppression of allergies and Schistosoma infection has been shown in both infected humans and mouse models [53]. A suppression of lung inflammation was shown in S. stercoralis-infected mice [54]. Also, extracts of the porcine parasite Ascaris suum inhibit IgE antibody production against unrelated antigens or antigens without reference and the generation of ovalbumin-specific T H 2 responses in a murine model of asthma [25, 55]. Infection with the rodent intestinal nematode N. brasiliensis is another example of suppression of T H 2 type allergic reactions, which inhibits the development of allergen-induced airway eosinophilia [56]. ES products of N. brasiliensis (NES) elicit a T H 2 response by affecting DCs. But besides the regulation of T H 2 response, NES also affect the proinflammatory T H 1 responses by suppressing mitogen-dependent IFN-γ release as well as DCs produced and LPS induced IL-12p70 [57–59]. The trematode Fasciola hepatica causes liver fluke disease in sheep and cattle. F. hepatica infected mice, which were experimentally coinfected with Bordetella pertussis, showed a reduced bacterial-specific T H 1 response. Furthermore, the mice were unabled to eliminate the microbe [60, 61]. This might be triggered by F. hepatica tegumental antigens that inhibit mast cells [62]. Contrariwise, F. hepatica did not suppress the IFN- -driven T H 1 response triggered by Toxoplasma gondii infection [63]. As described before, helminths can downregulate harmful T H 1 responses which are upregulated during autoimmune diseases. A therapeutic use of helminths could lead to a modified T H 2 response and to an induction of T regs . This could result in a simultaneous reduction of T H 1/T H 17 responses and thereby reduce the pathology of autoimmune diseases [64–66]. In summary, all these studies support the concept of bystander immunoregulation by chronic helminthic infections being able to control allergen-specific or other inflammatory responses [67]. Since the dampening of the systemic immune response of the host is beneficial in transplantation, recent publications even suggest the use of helminthic therapy or helminth product therapy to enhance the allograft tolerance [68]. Despite these promising trials, the use of helminths within the therapeutical range is currently not possible due to various reasons: the breeding of helminths in the required amounts is not feasible and there are safety factors that need to be considered. Since there is evidence that only chronic but not acute infections are protective, parasite loss over time needs to be monitored [37]. The parasitic modes of action within the host are hardly explored and in some cases even completely unknown, so that possible side effects like diarrhea and intestinal pain are unpredictable [41, 69]. Unfortunately, most of the current experiments were performed with animal models and the assignability on humans cannot be guaranteed [70]. Furthermore, the psychological burden of the patients needs to be considered here as well [11, 25, 26]. The most potent anti-inflammatory response observed in humans is caused by chronic helminth infections, such as with Schistosoma spp. or O. volvulus and not by a transient infection. Therefore, it is obvious that only chronic infections with long-living helminths offer great therapeutic and preventive antiallergic effects [25, 26]. But not only live parasites can modulate or suppress the immune response. Glycans of the cuticula as well as helminth eggs or soluble extracts of worms can have the same effect. For example, S. mansoni egg soluble antigen (SEA) has the ability to prevent autoimmune type 1 diabetes by inducing a stronger T H 2 and T reg cell response as well as functional changes in APCs [65, 71–73]. However, the repeated use of helminth antigens might also induce neutralizing antibodies, thereby preventing long-term protection. In order to avoid the possibly critical therpeutic infection with a parasite, one major research aim is to identify and characterize helminth-derived molecules that are capable of modulating the immune system and to implement therapeutic approaches based on such molecules and thus replicate the protective effect already observed in helminth therapy. These immunomodulators could lead to the generation of novel strategies for anti-inflammatory drug development [41, 58, 70, 74, 75]. 5. Excretory/Secretory (ES) Products The immunomodulatory potency of helminths appears to be largely achieved by their surface or ES products [25]. Secretory products are substances with certain biological functions that are secreted from cells or glands. Contrariwise, excretory products are unnecessary metabolic products that are released from the body. Both, however, are sometimes difficult to distinguish from one another. The composition of these products varies significantly from parasite to parasite, but in general all of them contain different glycoproteins, proteins, and smaller peptides; nonprotein components include glycans, glycolipids, and bioactive lipids, like the eicosanoid inflammatory mediators, prostaglandins, and leukotrienes [76, 77]. The term ES products describes both substances that are actively secreted by helminths and products that are released within the course of physiological processes, for example, digestion or egg-laying [58, 78]. Furthermore, varying compositions of ES products at different life cycle stages can be expected [78, 79]. Given below are a few examples of ES products that exert the antiallergic and anti-inflammatory effects of helminth infections. In a chemically induced colitis mouse model the ES products of the canine hookworm Ancylostoma caninum reduced the inflammatory response and expression of proinflammatory cytokines while inducing the production of IL-4 and IL-10 [32, 75]. Furthermore, the ES products of the hookworm Ancylostoma ceylanicum can protect against chemically induced colitis by downregulating T H 1 and T H 17 cytokines [80]. Similar protection against inflammation was also obtained by using recombinant ES protein rTsP53 from T. spiralis in a colitis model [81]. Hsieh and associates also describe a secretory protein from N. americanus which binds to natural killer cells and stimulates the production of interferon-gamma [82]. The secreted protease inhibitor cystatin from Acanthocheilonema viteae, Av17, modulates macrophage-mediated inflammation in a murine model of colitis and significantly reduces inflammatory infiltrations and epithelial damage. As immunomodulatory strategy, the enhancement of IL-10 production by macrophages is proposed [83]. The immunomodulatory effect of ES products has also been shown for the cestode Taenia crassiceps. T. crassiceps ES products regulate DC activity by binding multiple receptors (e.g., MGL, MR, and TLR2), thereby downregulating TLR-mediated DC maturation and secretion of IL-12 and TNF- . This results in T H 2 polarization [84]. There are a growing number of helminth mediators identified in the secretome that have the potential to be used in new therapeutic strategies against inflammatory diseases. Furthermore, the identification of the mechanisms and pathways these mediators utilize to redirect the immune system might reveal further key mechanisms that have evolved in host-parasite coevolution. Below we provide some examples of immunomodulatory proteins found in the secretome of parasitic nematodes. 6. Proteins Found in the Secretome of Parasitic Helminths The secretome contains functionally diverse classes of molecules that are involved in different vital processes. While some proteins are secreted by exocytosis via the classical pathway using a hydrophobic signal peptide, other alternative pathways include exosomes, lysosomes, and microvesicles. Exosome-like vesicles have been described in the trematodes Echinostoma caproni and F. hepatica. These extracellular vesicles are internalized by an unspecific endocytic pathway or by specific ligand-receptor recognition mechanisms [85]. Transmembrane flipping and translocation can also result in the release of proteins. Finally, proteins can shed their extracellular domains, while other parts remain inside [86]. Parasitic nematodes secrete a wide range array of proteins and obviously not all of them interact locally and systemically with host immune cells; for example, there are proteolytic enzymes that are secreted to help parasites penetrate the host skin, enable tissue migration, or are involved in feeding. Furthermore, detoxifying enzymes or stress-related proteins are released to assist parasite survival in inflamed tissues. Acetylcholinesterases (AChe) are utilized that potentially interfere with secretion processes of the intestinal mucosa involved in the expulsion of pathogens [87]. Recently, it has been shown that acetylcholine is capable of modulating the activity of macrophages and attenuating local and systemic inflammation [88], making the secretion of AChe by parasites even more intruiging. Parasitic nematodes include pathogens from plants and animals. Ectoparasitic plant parasites feed on the roots, while endoparasites penetrate the root. The obligate root-knot Meloidogyne species have evolved a highly sophisticated relationship with their hosts. Here, secretory proteins play an important role during migration through the roots and the formation and maintenance of proliferating cells [89]. Besides this, just like in animal-infecting parasites, molecules are secreted that are involved in the suppression or evasion of the innate immune system of the host plant. Here, antioxidant proteins coat the surface of the nematode or jasmonic acid-dependent responses are blocked. Furthermore, plant cells are reprogrammed to form multinucleate giant cells as a permanent feeding structure by the induction of nuclear division without cytokinesis [90]. Most secretory proteins of parasitic plant nematodes are produced in the oesophageal, amphidial, and rectal glands, as well as in the hypodermis and intestine [90, 91]. Common secretome components include cell-wall-degrading enzymes and expansins, venom allergen homologues (VAL), SXP/RAL-2 protein, MAP-1, SEC-2, and cuticle collagens [90]. Unlike the previously mentioned nematodes, the pine wood nematode Bursaphelenchus xylophilus does not establish permanent feeding sites but kills quickly by feeding on parenchymal cells after migrating through the resin canals of the tree. Following the death of the plant cells, the nematode feeds on fungal growth [79]. Due to this special feeding habit, ES products of the parasite include cell-wall-degrading enzymes like cellulases, pectate lyase, expansin-like, and venom allergen-like proteins. Furthermore, cysteine and aspartic peptidases are two of the most abundantly secreted peptidase groups found in the B. xylophilus secretome [79]. These could be beneficial for the parasite in several ways: it either allows the degradation of host molecules for their own nutritional purposes or serves as a defense against host responses [79]. Besides peptidases, 47 peptidase inhibitors were found that could battle against host plant peptidases. Interestingly, expression of host peptidases was significantly increased during B. xylophilus infection [79]. In general, animal parasitizing helminths secrete two sets of protease inhibitors that have immunomodulatory properties, cystatins, and serpins. The varying properties of cystatins from parasitic nematodes with respect to their free-living relatives point to the acquisition of anti-inflammatory properties during the coevolution of the parasites and their hosts. Cystatins have been shown to interfere with the host immune cell signaling pathways. They inhibit cysteine proteases such as cathepsins and aspartyl endopeptidase which are important for the processing and presentation of antigens by APCs. Thereby, they inhibit T cell activation. Furthermore, cystatins also prevent T cell proliferation and trigger the decrease in costimulatory molecule expression by APCs [58]. Serpins on the other hand are inhibitors of serine proteases and are able to inhibit neutrophil proteinases and elastase and cathepsin G [92]. The serpin SPN-2 is the most abundant member of secreted proteins from B. malayi microfilariae; however, its function is still not clear [93]. To survive within their host, nematodes secrete a battery of diverse antioxidant systems that detoxify oxygen radicals produced by infection-stimulated host phagocytes. These proteins include peroxiredoxin, catalase, glutathione peroxidase, superoxide dismutase, thioredoxin, thiroredoxin peroxidase, and many more [7, 94]. Secretory glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) are thought to participate in the protection of parasite membranes from peroxidation [95]. Interestingly, the secretory GST-1 from O. volvulus has prostaglandin D2 activity, thereby contributing to the production of parasite-derived prostanoids [96]. The nematode Haemonchus contortus belongs to the order of the Strongylida and can infect both cattle and humans worldwide. This blood feeding nematode elicits haemorrhagic gastritis, anemia, oedema, and associated symptoms by nurturing on capillaries of gastric mucosa [97, 98]. H. contortus has a large set of secreted peptidases and peptidase inhibitors that function in host penetration, blood feeding, and blood-digestion [97–100]. Similar to the ES products of other parasitic nematodes, H. contortus releases substances influencing the host-parasite interaction as well as the host immune response, resulting mostly in a T H 2 response. ES products also include sugar-binding proteins that act as receptors for glycoprotein ligands. These C-type lectins and galectins mimic host molecules and might facilitate evasion by competing with host lectins for the binding to ligands that are involved in inflammation [58, 98, 101]. Interestingly, galectin-9 from the canine gastrointestinal nematode Toxascaris leonina was shown to suppress dextran sulfate sodium-induced intestinal inflammation in mice and elevated levels of IL-10 and TGF-β were observed [102]. Other types of molecules that mimic host molecules are IFN- , TGF- , and the macrophage migration inhibition factors (MIFs) [103]. The cytokine MIF is an early mediator of innate and aquired immune responses and is rapidly upregulated in various inflammatory conditions [104]. Besides having cytokine activity, MIFs also have oxidoreductase and tautomerase activity. The filarial MIF homologue from B. malayi promotes alternative activation of macrophages in a T H 2 environment. This activation can be directly linked to its oxidoreductase activity [105, 106]. ES products from the murine gastrointestinal parasite Heligmosomoides polygyrus were shown to have a wide range of immunomodulatory activities including the suppression of airway allergic inflammation [41]. Also, the calcium-binding chaperone calreticulin was shown to induce a T H 2 response and at the same time interact with the mammalian scavenger receptor type A on DCs [107]. The proteins VAL-1 and AChe-1 are prevalent in L4 and adult ES products. They are considered as antigenic targets, since they induce protective immunity in mice; however, their mode of action is still unknown. While ES products from L4 and adults also seem to have TGF-β activity, released molecules from the egg stage appear to be less important in immunomodulation [108]. The Sushi domain protein family and the ShK/SXC domain toxin family are highly prevalent in the L4 secretome [108]. Sushi-like proteins are prevalent in mammals and regulate complement activation. The conserved ShK/SXC domain that shows similarity to cnidarians toxins is also extensively expressed by other nematodes including T. canis [108, 109]. Proteins of this family are able to inhibit calcium-dependent lymphocyte activation [110]. The A. suum secretome comprises about 750 molecules and contains many peptidases used for penetration and degradation of host tissue and molecules which serve to escape or modulate the host immune response. Secreted peptidases such as astacin, serine-, cysteine-, and metalloproteases ensure migration and feeding of the worm [111]. Besides this, these proteases are involved in the modulation of the host immune response [111–113]. In a murine air pouch model, the A. suum-derived protein PAS-1 inhibits the inflammatory leukocyte migration and reduces the synthesis of proinflammatory cytokines. Furthermore, the suppressive effect of PAS-1 in OVA-induced lung allergic inflammation was shown to be attributed to the induction of CD4+CD25+ T cells and CD8+ T cells [114]. The secretome from the canine filarial parasite Dirofilaria immitis contains a 15 kDa antigen (DiAg) that can induce antigen-nonspecific IgE production in rats through increased generation of T H 2-related cytokines. Interestingly, DiAg suppresses the immediate dermal response to allergen-IgE interactions. This supports the IgE blocking hypothesis mentioned above [115]. In Teladorsagia circumcincta, an astacin-like metalloprotease and cathepsin F were identified as the most abundant ES products. These proteins are known to digest host proteins; however, the astacin-like metalloprotease additionally stimulates the immune responses during the early phase of the infection [116, 117]. Carbohydrates that are linked to proteins and lipids of nematodes have been shown to have immunogenic and immunomodulatory properties [118]. ES proteins of A. suum that are homologous to helminth-secreted peptides with important immunogenic or immunomodulatory roles in host animals are mostly O-linked glycosylated proteins. These glycans are unusual and structurally distinct from host glycans and induce a glycan-dependent cytokine response biased toward Th2 cells [111]. The major antigenic determinant phosphorylcholine (PC) is a small hapten that is often linked to carbohydrate epitopes in gastrointestinal and filarial nematodes [119]. PC-bearing antigens are able to interfere with key proliferative pathways in B and T cells, DC maturation, and mast cell degranulation [120]. The rodent filarial parasite Acanthocheilonema viteae secretes the aminopeptidase ES-62, which is the most intensely studied PC-substituted protein. ES-62 exerts its effect on various immune cells, where its anti-inflammatory action depends on the PC-moiety. It has the ability to inhibit B cell, T cell, and mast cell proliferation, promotes the alternative activation of macrophages, and is responsible for the T H 2 response through inhibition of IL-12p70 production by DCs [121]. In a mouse model for rheumatoid arthritis, ES-62 was able to significantly reduce the severity of developing collagen-induced arthritis and suppress further progression of an already established disease [122] Furthermore, its anti-inflammatory action was also observed in human rheumatoid arthritis-derived synovial tissue cultures [123]. Here we have given a few examples of proteins found in the secretome of parasitic nematodes, some with known functions in immune modulation and some with as-yet hypothetical functions. Helminth secretomes are a rich source of novel drug and vaccine targets, diagnostic markers, and immunomodulatory proteins. While the analysis of secreted proteins from different life stages of helminths is still quite challenging, numerous secretome analyses of helminths exist by now (Table 2). The combination of the existing data towards a more integrated view of ES products from helminths will be the next logical step. Existing difficulties, such as the lack of genomic sequence information, can be dealt with by using RNA-sequence assembly as reference for the identification of ES products. More challenging, however, are low protein concentrations due to high dilutions of cultivation media, is contamination of normally nonsecreted proteins due to cell lysis and death, or is that most developmental stages cannot be cultivated in vitro [117]. Here enrichment methods could be applied that are based on posttranslational modifications of secreted proteins, for example, glycosylation [124]. Table 2: Overview of the proteomic analyses of helminths secretome. 7. Conclusion Helminthic infections have a large impact on global health and can cause severe forms of helminthiasis. Nevertheless, they have proven to have immunomodulatory and immunoregulatory effects on the host’s immune system which can be exploited in the treatment of immune dysregulatory diseases. While helminths have independently evolved various strategies to gain entrance to host tissues and to actively evade or even manipulate the signaling network of the immune system, the host developed strategies to limit pathology by shifting the T H 2 response towards immunosuppression instead of triggering an inflammatory tissue-damaging response. A number of promising clinical trials were performed using live worms to treat immune dysregulatory diseases. However, the major research aim is to identify and characterize helminth-derived modulators which can foster anti-inflammatory drug development. Abbreviations AAM: Alternative activated macrophages ACE: Acetylcholinesterase AcES: Ancyostoma canium ES products APC: Antigen-presenting cell DCs: Dendritic cells DiAg: Dirofilaria immitis antigen ECM: Extracellular matrix ES: Excretory/secretory Fc RI: High affinity IgE receptors GST: Glutathione S-transferase IBD: Inflammatory bowel disease IFN- : Interferon-gamma Ig: Immunoglobulin IL: Interleukin LF: Lymphatic filariasis LPS: Lipopolysaccharide MGL: Macrophage galactose C-type lectin MHC: Major histocompatibility complex MIF: Macrophage migration inhibitory factor MR: Mannose receptor NES: N. brasiliensis ES products NK: Natural killer cells OVA: Ovalbumin PAMPs: Pathogen-associated molecular patterns PAS-1: Protein from A. suum PC: Phosphorylcholine PRRs: Pattern recognition receptors RELM- : Resistin-like molecule-alpha SEA: S. mansoni egg soluble antigen TGF- : Transforming growth factor-beta T H : T helper TLR: Toll-like receptor TNF- : Tumor necrosis factor-alpha T regs : Regulatory T cells TSLP: Thymic stromal lymphopoietin TSO: Trichuris suis ova VAL: Venom allergen/Ancylostoma secreted protein-like. Conflict of Interests The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests regarding the publication of this paper. Authors’ Contribution Dana Ditgen and Emmanuela M. Anandarajah contributed equally to this work. Acknowledgment The authors acknowledge the CAPES/DAAD support within the UNIBRAL Programme entitled “INFECTBIO-USP-WWU” (348/2013).

In the early evening on Friday, a woman arrived at hospital, bloody stumps instead of fingers on her right hand, her left hand all but severed. "Chop wounds" is the medical term used by the doctors and nurses in remote Papua New Guinea - and for this woman the injury was the horrible consequence of her father attacking her with a machete. Irish nurse Aoife Ni Mhurchu treats a patient last year at Tari Hospital in the highlands region of Papua New Guinea. The woman sought treatment for lacerations after her husband cut her with a knife on the back of her head and both hands. Credit:Jodi Bieber/MSF "We still don't know if we've succeeded in saving her hand," said Aoife Ni Mhurchu, an Irish nurse who was called in to help for the two hour emergency surgery after the woman arrived at the Tari hospital in the southern highlands region. Violence is a cruel fact of life for many women in PNG, with a recent report estimating almost two-thirds of local women suffer physical or sexual violence in their lifetime.

Cisco today announced that SURFnet has completed a technology test of Cisco's 100G DWDM solution between the National Supercomputing Center, SARA, in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and CERN in Geneva, Switzerland, using the Cisco ONS 15454 M6 Multiservice Transport Platform. The Cisco system uses dense wavelength-division multiplexing (DWDM) to unite multiple optical carrier signals on a single optical fiber, leading to several benefits including increased fiber capacity. The test involved introducing 100G single carrier optical interfaces into SURFnet's existing optical infrastructure made up of a combination of 10G, 40G and 100G wavelengths. Once connected, the Cisco 100G DWDM solution was quickly operational without any disruption to the existing network. This demonstration shows that SURFnet can utilize its existing infrastructure and help protect its network investment while supporting new 100G data services over the existing fiber infrastructure.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump greets the crowd as he arrives to speak at a campaign rally in Fredericksburg, Va. (Photo: Courtesy photo) Donald Trump will host a public rally at Asheville's U.S. Cellular Center on Sept. 12. Doors open at 3 p.m., and the event begins at 6 p.m. Tickets are available at no charge through the Trump campaign's website, donaldjtrump.com/schedule/register/asheville-nc. Nathan West, chair of the Buncombe County GOP, which helped organize the event, said he's expecting a casual rally as opposed to a formal, teleprompter speech. “I think it’s going to be more of a rally," he said. "I don’t think there’s going to be any specific policy, but I’m not 100 percent sure right now. We just wanted to make a statement in Asheville and to let people know Western North Carolina is in play.” The Republican National Committee, the North Carolina GOP, the local Republican party and the Trump campaign are involved in organizing the event, West said. Other GOP leaders will attend the rally, West said, but those details are forthcoming. West said the organizers are prepared for crowds and protesters. “Have we heard of any (protests)? No. But I’m sure that will develop over the next few days," he said. The United States Secret Service is in charge of security in and around the U.S. Cellular Center, said Joey Robison, public information officer for the city of Asheville, which owns the venue. Local law enforcement will play a supporting role, she said. Matt Quinn, public information officer at the Secret Service's field office in Charlotte, said he could not release details about road closures or protest procedures, but he said details might become available prior to the event. Drivers who do not have to come downtown Monday should avoid the area because of traffic and security, West said. The U.S. Cellular Center website encourages attendees to carpool. West said the event will highlight the number of Trump supporters in the area. Republican organizers want to show that Buncombe County and Western North Carolina are significant this election season, he explained. “I think Asheville, specifically Buncombe County, there is some doubt as to the momentum here," he said. The Asheville metro area displayed a variety of results in the presidential primary in March. More Buncombe County residents voted for Democrat Bernie Sanders than all the Republican candidates combined. In Henderson County, where the majority of primary voters were Republican, Ted Cruz was the front runner, although Trump was a close second with 8,374 and 7,042 votes, respectively. He also placed second behind Cruz in Transylvania County's primary. In Haywood County, Trump was the No. 1 Republican primary candidate, although Sanders and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton each garnered more votes. In Madison County, Trump lagged behind Sanders, Clinton and Cruz, and Democrats outnumbered Republicans. Trump performed best in the far western portion of the state. He was No. 1 in presidential primaries in Macon, Graham, Swain, Cherokee and Clay counties. He also performed best in McDowell, Polk and Avery counties. It's unclear whether Trump will make additional Western North Carolina stops. The Trump campaign was not immediately available for comment Thursday. Online, Trump's schedule is sparsely populated. Asheville is the only campaign stop scheduled after Friday, when he will appear in Washington, D.C. and Pensacola, Florida. Read or Share this story: http://avlne.ws/2ca2BSI

At one point, he called out in Mandarin in an attempt to confuse the enemy. He was wounded, but the tactic worked, allowing his unit to reposition and drive back the Chinese. Awarded the Navy Cross, the second-highest honor a Marine can receive, he was cited for “extraordinary heroism.” “Despite serious wounds sustained as he pushed forward,” the citation read, “First Lieutenant Lee charged directly into the face of the enemy fire and, by his dauntless fighting spirit and resourcefulness, served to inspire other members of his platoon to heroic efforts in pressing a determined counterattack and driving the hostile forces from the sector.” Less than a month later, while Lieutenant Lee was recovering in a field hospital from a gunshot wound to an arm, tens of thousands of Chinese forces surged into the region, overwhelming 8,000 American troops fighting as United Nations forces. His arm was still in a sling when he and a sergeant left the hospital against orders, commandeered an Army jeep and returned to the front. Over the next two weeks, Lieutenant Lee helped lead his unit of several hundred Marines across snowy mountain passes at night, using only a compass, to find and reinforce a smaller group that had been surrounded. His unit then repeatedly drove back Chinese soldiers, ensuring that the vastly outnumbered Americans were able to retreat to the sea. A final wound during the fighting ended his combat duty in Korea. For this action he was awarded the Silver Star. “First Lieutenant Lee’s platoon was pinned down by intense hostile fire while attacking south on the main service road from Koto-Ri,” the citation said. “Observing that the heavy fire was inflicting numerous casualties, he exposed himself to the deadly fire to move among his troops, shouting words of encouragement and directing a withdrawal to covered positions. Assured that the last of his wounded was under cover, he was seeking shelter for himself when he was struck down and severely wounded by a burst of enemy machine-gun fire.” Some who either served with Major Lee or knew of him said they believed he was deserving of the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest military award.

Hey everybody! Welcome to Clix O’Clock, a new weekly feature here on We the Nerdy! Assistant Editor Henry has been playing Heroclix for a very long time and wants to spread his love of the game with everybody who’ll listen! This week he talks about the constant obsession people have over the War of Light Entities, and why he is perfectly okay if he never has one in his clutches again (Other than to trade it away for some sweet Clix swag!) So this weekend my school ran a small convention where we hosted a Heroclix event. We were very fortunate that we were able to play with some War of Light boosters and play a miniature Month 4 event. A friend of mine, newer to Heroclix, was able to buy his first War of Light boosters and pulled Proselyte. I was really happy for him and tried to hold back my secret envy, since Proselyte has a great value on the secondary market. But I got over this quickly and realized something. I really don’t care about the Entities anymore. I’ll admit that there is a part of me that does want the entities, but for a much simpler purpose than most. I just like the idea of adding people to certain theme teams. How fun would it be to make Superman a Blue Lantern with Adara, or for the Joker to be inducted via the Butcher into the Red Lantern Corps? But apparently, most people seem excited by them because they have the potential to be so deadly via the possession trait. For a mere 25 points, you can make any piece objectively more awesome, something that anybody can get behind. People quickly gravitated towards this incredible mechanic, and the prices of the already rare pieces (1 per case) skyrocketed. Here’s the thing. Paying upwards of $100.00 for a Heroclix is kind of insane for me. I’ll admit that I’ve bought expensive pieces in the $70.00 range, but those are few and far between. Entities have been heralded as game-breaking pieces that can ruin the spirit of Heroclix. They’re not.I was lucky during my Month 3 Event and I pulled Ion, the Green Lantern Entity. I used him, equipping him to my Black Lantern John Stewart (Which I later realized wasn’t necessary), and went to town on opponents. But when the event was over, and I had won my prizes, I quickly traded him off. His initial value of $280.00 was too much to pass up, and it got me a slew of Marvel Zombies and convention exclusives. I was very happy to do that, because it allowed me to get a bunch of pieces I had wanted for quite some time. The very moment where I stopped caring about Entities came last week, when I played against a team that had three of them in a 300 point game. It was a pretty nasty team, with an overall worth of over $400.00, but it didn’t demolish me. It beat me, yes, but even with all of the crazy nonsense that it gained from the Entities, it didn’t break the game. I felt like I held my own and had my opponent shaking in his boots a few times. Ultimately, a good player can go toe-to-toe with an Entity based team. They are good, but they cost a lot and the cost becomes more apparent with the more they use. When you think about how little you are really facing, you don’t have nearly as much to worry about as you’d expect. Despite this, people are obsessed with collecting them all. And there is nothing wrong with wanting them all, but I really hope people can keep things in perspective. They aren’t going to automatically give you victories, and even for all they can do, there is so much else you can do for 25 points in today’s age of Heroclix. You can add some tokens, an ATA, or change a resource entirely. I think that though the Entities are good and have their value, the obsession that people have with equipping them to other characters and using the “Possession” ability is a bit absurd. At the end of the day, they are nothing more than the current new hotness, and in a few months there will be something else that completely negates them. The band-wagoners will move on and fawn over something new and exciting. And the cycle will continue. Thanks for checking us out! Be back here next week at the same time, Clix O’Clock! Related

It's a valid question: why is it that the United States has long refused to launch air strikes or other military action against the Islamic State (ISIS), the extremist group responsible for untold suffering and destruction in Syria, but is happy to bomb ISIS now that it has pushed into Iraq? Why is it okay to attack ISIS on one side of the largely-hypothetical Syria-Iraq border, but not okay to do on the other side, particularly given that ISIS is doing way more harm in Syria than it is in Iraq, and is only able to attack Iraq at all because of its huge haven in Syria? It turns out, though, that there are legitimate reasons for bombing Iraq and not Syria. And while there are arguable cases for attacking ISIS in Syria, it is also true that the distinction matters a great deal, and that the Obama administration's approach isn't as hypocritical as it might look at first glance. Here are six reasons why. 1) Bombing Iraq is about preserving the status quo; bombing Syria would be about changing the status quo, which is much harder and more open-ended Obama ordered air strikes against ISIS in Iraq focused on the narrow goal of defending Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region. Kurdistan had been mostly secure until ISIS began pushing into the territory about a week ago; it's got a stable, pro-American, oil-producing government. Obama's strikes are meant to help Kurdistan defend itself, and to preserve the status quo of a secure Kurdistan. The strikes are very clearly not about trying to change the larger ISIS war in Iraq, or to help Iraq retake the vast ISIS-held swathes of territory. In Syria, there is no "good" status quo to defend. Any strikes against ISIS there would be about pushing the group back from Syrian territory it already controls, so that more moderate Syrian rebels could seize it. In other words, the air strikes would be about changing the facts on the ground in Syria, rather than preserving them. Obama seems willing to use force when he can protect something good — a stable, secure Iraqi Kurdistan — but not to try to fix something bad. He doesn't want to "own" the outcome, get dragged into a potentially long engagement that could easily escalate, or risk sending the conflict spinning in an unpredictable new direction. So the US approach to Syria and Iraq is consistent in this respect. 2) The US has a local partner that can take the lead in Iraq, but not in Syria President Obama does not want to be responsible for either of these wars. He's willing to intervene in Iraqi Kurdistan, but not in Syria (or in non-Kurdistan Iraq, for that matter), because in Iraqi Kurdistan there is a trustworthy, stable, pro-American partner that can take the lead in fighting ISIS: the Kurds. So the US doesn't have to run an entire side of the war; it can just help out the Kurdish forces and leave the conflict to them. The thinking here is both that the US doesn't want to get sucked into putting boots on the ground for an open-ended occupation and that the US doesn't want to create a power vacuum. Bombing ISIS in Iraqi Kurdistan won't create a power vacuum because the Kurdish government is already on the ground to take territory back. In Syria, however, it's not clear that the moderate rebels are capable of pushing back ISIS; even if they were, the disorganized network of rebels isn't exactly a stable and self-perpetuating government that we know will act predictable and responsibly. And there are plenty of other extremist groups in Syria that could take over any territory ISIS is booted out of. 3) Bombing ISIS in Syria would mean helping Bashar al-Assad In Syria, ISIS's two main enemies are Syrian moderate rebels and the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad. The US bombing ISIS, then, would indirectly help out Assad. No one in the American government likes Assad, whose government has played the leading role in slaughtering civilians during the three-year civil war. But the tricky thing here is that US policy is still to avoid toppling Assad outright, since this could open a dangerous power vacuum that ISIS might fill. If there were a way to bomb ISIS without helping Assad, then the US might be more open to it. But there's not. Obama has said he doesn't want the US military to start acting as Iraq's unofficial air force — that's just not a job for Americans to take on, he thinks — so he certainly wouldn't want to act as Assad's air force. 4) Meanwhile, bombing Assad would help ISIS Another argument you hear is that, if Obama isn't going to bomb ISIS in Syria, he should at least bomb Syrian regime targets. But, again, there is no way to do this without helping ISIS, even if the aim would be to help Syrian moderate rebels. As long as the Syrian civil war is a three-way fight between two American enemies (Assad and ISIS) plus one maybe-sorta-potential American ally that is nowhere near winning, the US is just very unlikely to intervene. Meanwhile, in northern Iraq the fighting is between an American enemy (ISIS) and a close American ally (Iraqi Kurdistan), so the calculus is much clearer. 5) The US has legal authority to intervene in Iraq, but not in Syria The Iraqi government has authorized the US to conduct air strikes against ISIS in Iraq, which means that the US does not need authorization from the United Nations Security Council in order for the operation to be legal under international law. In Syria, by contrast, there was no Security Council authorization for the use of force, because Russia made it clear that it would veto any attempt to pass one. And there was, obviously, no invitation from the Assad regime for the US to conduct air strikes against it. That means that any military operation to protect Syrian civilians would have had far shakier legal authority. That's not necessarily entirely dispositive — under some legal theories, humanitarian intervention is permissible even in the absence of Security Council authorization if it is responding to an urgent civilian protection need. But those doctrines are less established, and thus less legally certain, than the legal authority for intervention in Libya, and now Iraq. Legally, the US strikes in Iraq are more akin to the NATO-led operations conducted in Libya in 2011. UN Security Council resolution 1973, which authorized the Libya campaign, used very similar language to the August 7 resolution on Iraq: it referred to "widespread and systematic attacks" against the civilian population, which "may amount to crimes against humanity." For Syria, meanwhile, there was no such legal authority and no clear way to get it. That's something that clearly matters to Obama. 6) Iraq strikes have broad international support, Syria strikes do not Immediately before the Iraq operation was announced, the Security Council, after an emergency meeting, passed a unanimous resolution expressing "deep outrage" at ISIS's attacks on vulnerable minority groups, and noting that such actions "may constitute crimes against humanity." The resolution also "call[ed] on the international community" to support the Iraqi government's efforts to help communities targeted by ISIS. This strongly suggests that the Security Council supports the air strikes. There's a reason that the UN Security Council is used as a benchmark for international support for military operations. The five permanent members are the five largest stakeholders in the international system — the US, UK, France, Russia, and China — and it can take a lot for them all to agree on something. Syria's Bashar al-Assad has a high-placed friend on the Security Council — Russia — and by virtue of being a state has other allies that don't want to see Syria bombed by the US. ISIS, meanwhile, is universally loathed, so countries are generally happy to have the US push it back. In case this weren't clear enough, US Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power tweeted a photo of the resolution minutes before Obama announced that he had authorized air strikes, suggesting that the administration wanted to establish that there was international support for the operation before they announced it.

TIM Cahill has declared that Melbourne City’s clash with the ‘defensive’ Sydney FC is an FFA Cup final replay. The star attacker revealed that he had struggled since the team’s chaotic trip to Coffs Harbour a month ago after playing on a “cricket pitch”. The guest marquee was back in starting contention for Friday night’s AAMI Park clash along with right-back Ivan Franjic who set up his Cup final winner almost three months ago. City's Tim Cahill is penalised for this tackle on Sydney's Berni Ibini during the round 10 match. Source: AAP Round 21 Visit Match Centre Visit Match Centre Visit Match Centre Visit Match Centre Visit Match Centre Cahill vowed to attack the Sky Blues, expecting the visitors to pick their moments. “This is like another FFA Cup final, they’re coming to our place,’’ Cahill said. “There’s a lot on it, we’re excited by it. There’s a fresh buzz about our team and we’re starting to click. “When you play Sydney FC you know they’re going to come here and defend, it’d be very unlikely for them to come out and attack,’’ he said. “They know we’ve got a lot going forward. They’ve based themselves on a manager (Graham Arnold) that makes sure they’re well drilled. “The way they play, all the midfield fuses back in. They wait and pray and there’s 11 behind the ball, 24/7. “You have to really respect that, that’s the reason that they’re at the top but questions will be asked when it’s about winning games at the right times. “We need to finish as high as possible and come finals, we need to be firing. It’s about whoever’s up for the fight at the end of the season.’’ Tim Cahill. Source: AAP Cahill’s last start was in the January 27 loss to Newcastle and featured for just a few minutes off the bench last week, with a suspension sandwiched in between. “Coffs Harbour was a big one for me playing on a cricket pitch, it was a difficult trip, travelling almost 48 hours and the morning of the game and I had a bit of a knock,’’ he said. “It’s working out OK; it’s about management. There’s eight games until finals.” City are third on goal difference, trailing leaders Sydney FC by 17 points.

President Barack Obama bases his surrender to Iran’s nuclear ambitions on the notion that his olive branch is reversible. In effect, he believes, it can’t hurt to talk. That’s a notion inculcated into diplomatic culture, and put forward by at various times by accomplished diplomats like Nicholas Burns and Ryan Crocker. It’s also a notion which is demonstrably wrong. A nuclear deal isn’t like mail ordering a child’s toy with 100-percent guarantee on returns. Once Obama went down the path toward even a framework agreement—never mind that the framework seems increasingly illusionary by the day—he effectively ceded any and all momentum to the Iranians. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif once studied in the States. He speaks English. But spending time in America and speaking English does not make a foreign ideologue sympathetic to America; rather, it simply enables that ideologue to be able to communicate more easily with Americans. Just as after a visit to Damascus as senator, John Kerry became convinced of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s reformist nature, now as secretary of state, Kerry has allowed Zarif to substitute charm for sincerity. Hence, Zarif’s triumphalist gloating upon his return to Tehran: Bahman Kalbasi, a correspondent for BBC TV Persian Service, tweeted, “State TV host: ‘But the US says the architecture of sanctions stays?’ Zarif laughs: It has already collapsed.” Rouhani, likewise, has been triumphalist as he once again lives up to his reputation as the regime’s “Mr. Fix-It,” getting the financial relief the Iranian leadership so craved at little or no cost to the Islamic Republic itself. The sanctions, Obama promised, would “snap back into place” if Iran didn’t meet its obligations. But since the death fatwa against author Salman Rushdie, through the early days of Critical Dialogue (when, against Europe’s outstretched hand, Iranian hitmen assassinated dissidents in downtown Berlin), and after the 1994 bombing of the Jewish community center, the Iranian government understands that the European Union cares more about mercantile issues than human rights or international security. Nor does Russian President Vladimir Putin even bother about the pretense of caring about human rights. Zarif is right; international sanctions crafted and carefully pushed through the Security Council by men like John Bolton (something Obama and partisans forget) have effectively been squandered upon the altar of Obama’s ego and Kerry’s ambition. There is no going back. Deal or no deal on June 30, Iran’s goal in negotiations has always been sanctions relief, not nuclear normalization. Tehran has won; international momentum against it has evaporated. From Iran’s perspective, Zarif has reason to gloat.

Westminster Presbyterian Church on Nicollet Mall in Minneapolis plans to demolish an eight-story glassy office building adjacent to its historic site and expand the church’s footprint in its place. The building project, contingent upon church board approval next week, is part of a larger campaign focused on positioning the church for its next 100 years in downtown Minneapolis. The campaign also will raise up to $7 million for charity and community services, including about $4 million for new affordable housing in the city, said senior pastor Tim Hart-Andersen. Westminster is seeking city approval for a two-story, 41,000-square-foot modern expansion with large plazas and gardens lining the highly trafficked street. Early cost estimates put the project at $27 million to $28 million. The church in 2012 purchased the property at 1221 Nicollet Mall for $8.7 million. At that time, the 3,100-member Westminster announced that it planned to eventually raze the blue-hued office building to make way for a church expansion. The original portion of Westminster was built in 1897 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Westminster plans to use the addition for worship and gathering space, a multipurpose room, classrooms, youth spaces, church offices and community partnership space, according to documents filed with the city. Westminster Presbyterian Church on Nicollet Mall in downtown Minneapolis plans to demolish the 9-story office tower it owns next door and replace it with a two-story, 41,000 square foot church expansion. “We want to be a part of this city’s growth for years to come,” Hart-Andersen said. “One of our principles is to be ecologically responsible as it is our understanding of caring for creation. There will be a green roof that will water the plaza and provide water for the bathrooms. “We really want it to be an example of how you can have a green and sustainable building in the heart of the city.” Community partners About 25 percent of the new space is designed to host community partners, including one of two possible nonprofits, Hart-Anderson said. Declining to name the organizations they are having conversations with, Hart-Andersen did say it will probably either be a nonprofit that provides services for early intervention for babies and toddlers who have suffered trauma or an urban school. In addition to the expansion, Westminster plans to renovate 30,000 square feet of its existing interior to provide new libraries and co-working space. The modern-style expansion will use more natural materials like limestone, zinc-coated copper and a stucco-like plaster. Westminster plans to start demolition on the 1980s-era office building April 15. Plans also include a two-story underground parking garage for more than 230 vehicles. The church would get rid of its existing surface parking lot. Instead, there will be large outdoor plazas and gardens on both the Nicollet Mall and Marquette Avenue sides. “We want this to be a beautiful and inspiring space,” Hart-Andersen said. “It’s part of a larger effort to position the church for the next 100 years.” Coincides with mall project The construction coincides with a high-profile makeover of Nicollet Mall, the city’s signature street. Westminster has been in communication with the Nicollet Mall redevelopment team to make sure construction timing and designs don’t conflict with one another. “A lot of thought went into how the Nicollet Mall redesign would fit in with its space,” said Steve Cramer, president and chief executive of the Minneapolis Downtown Council. “Apart from the aesthetic value of their project, which I see as high, their investment in the community is hugely important. So an A-plus from the Downtown Council’s perspective.” The plans are on the agenda of the city’s Planning Commission Committee of the Whole for March 17 — the same day the church board will vote on the project. Westminster has committed to building 150 affordable housing units in or near downtown Minneapolis over five years. It contributed to The Rose, a recent affordable housing complex at the corner of Portland and Franklin avenues. The church is working with Aeon to construct another 90 units near Hennepin County Medical Center in Downtown East. $4M Affordable housing will be built in the program 41,000 Square footage of the modern expansion $28M Estimated total cost of the whole project If approved, Westminster will launch its fundraising campaign on April 10. The construction is expected to take two years, with a targeted completion date of Easter 2018. “We’ve had a generous response from our congregation already,” Hart-Andersen said. “People are really energized and excited by this.”

• Scaffolds • Cord Blood & Regenerative Medicine • Bone and Cartilage Tissue Engineering • Stem Cells-Tools to Battle Cancer • Novel Approaches in Guided Tissue Regeneration • Clinical Medicine • Clinical Trials with Stem Cells • Biomaterials and Bioengineering • Tissue Biomarkers • Regeneration and Therapeutics • Rejuvenation • Immunotherapy • Stem Cell Treatment for Diabetes • Applications of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine • Bioreactors in Tissue Engineering • Biochips and Tissue Chips • Cancer Stem Cells • Tissue Regeneration • Advances in Stem Cell • Materials and Designs for Tissue Engineering • Tissue Engineering and 3D Printing • Whole Organ Engineering and Approaches • Stem Cell Engineering (SCE) Conference Series llc LTD is a World’s leading Event Organizer that organizes 1000+ Global Events inclusive of 300+ Conferences, 500+ Upcoming and Previous Symposiums and Workshops in USA, Europe & Asia with support from 1000 more scientific societies and publishes 700+ Open access journals which contains over 30000 eminent personalities, apparent scientists as editorial board members. Conference Series llc LTD invites all claimants to attend “ 12 th International Conference on Tissue Engineering & Regenerative Medicine ” which is going to be held during November 11-12, 2019 at Madrid, Spain mainly focuses on two key topics viz. Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine with basic theme “ Regenerative Medicine: Power to Repair, Rejuvenate, Renew ”. Sessions & Tracks Scaffolds Scaffolds are one of the three most important essentials constituting the basic concept of Regenerative Medicine, and are included in the core technology of Regenerative Medicine. Every day thousands of surgical procedures are done to replace or repair tissue that has been damaged through disease or trauma. The developing field of tissue engineering (TE) aims to regenerate damaged tissues by combining cells from the body with highly porous scaffold biomaterials, which act as templates for tissue regeneration, to guide the growth of new tissue. Scaffolds has a prominent role in tissue regeneration the designs, fabrication, 3D models, surface ligands and molecular architecture, nanoparticle-cell interactions and porous of the scaffolds are been used in the field in attempts to regenerate different tissues and organs in the body. The world stem cell market was approximately 2.715 billion dollars in 2010, and with a growth rate of 16.8% annually, a market of 6.877 billion dollars will be formed in 2016. From 2017, the expected annual growth rate is 10.6%, which would expand the market to 11.38 billion dollars by 2021. Related Regenerative Medicine Conferences | Stem Cell Conferences | Stem Cell Congress | Tissue Science Conferences | Europe Conferences 9th Advanced Cell and Gene Therapy conference, March 21-22, 2019 Rome, Italy; 12th Genomics and Molecular Biology conference, April 15-17, 2019 Berlin, Germany; 7th Integrative Biology conference, April 15-16, 2019 Berlin, Germany; Pacific Regenerative Medicine Conference, May 16-19, 2019 Hawaii, USA; Annual conference & Exhibition on Transversal, Translational & Transformative, December 2-5, 2019 Florida, USA; 21st International Conference on Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, June 27 - 28, 2019 London, United Kingdom; World Advanced Therapies & Regenerative Medicine Congress 2019, May 15 – 17, London, UK; 6th Annual European Congress on Clinical & Translational Sciences, October 18-20, 2019 Vienna, Austria; Europe: EuroStemCell (European Consortium for Stem Cell Research); German Stem Cell Network (GSCN); German Society for Stem Cell Research (GSZ); Stem Cell Network North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW); Norwegian Center for Stem Cell Research (NCSCR); USA: California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM); New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF); Tissue Engineering International & Regenerative Medicine Society (TERMIS); International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR); Asia: The New South Wales Stem Cell Network; Korean Society for Stem Cell Research; Japanese Society for Regenerative Medicine; Taiwan Society for Stem Cell Research; Stem Cell Society Singapore (SCSS); Cord Blood Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine Recently, cord blood stems cells are developed in the treatment of different diseases, including a broad range of cancers, blood disorders, and genetic diseases. In a cord blood transplant, stem cells are infused in to a patient’s bloodstream for healing and repairing damaged cells and tissue. In a successful transplant, new healthy immune system has been created. The natural power and purity of newborn's cord blood are responsible for healthy development during gestation. Cord blood applications have developed beyond transplant medicine into the areas of regenerative medicine including brain injuries, autism, Cardiac Problems, and Autoimmune Deficiencies. The latest research in routine transplantation of cord blood are reviewed followed by the critical role of cord blood stem cells in regenerative medicine research and novel approaches using cord blood as a source of whole blood for transfusion. Related Regenerative Medicine Conferences | Stem Cell Conferences | Stem Cell Congress | Tissue Science Conferences | Europe Conferences 9th Advanced Cell and Gene Therapy conference, March 21-22, 2019 Rome, Italy; 12th Genomics and Molecular Biology conference, April 15-17, 2019 Berlin, Germany; 7th Integrative Biology conference, April 15-16, 2019 Berlin, Germany; Pacific Regenerative Medicine Conference, May 16-19, 2019 Hawaii, USA; Annual conference & Exhibition on Transversal, Translational & Transformative, December 2-5, 2019 Florida, USA; 21st International Conference on Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, June 27 - 28, 2019 London, United Kingdom; World Advanced Therapies & Regenerative Medicine Congress 2019, May 15 – 17, London, UK; 6th Annual European Congress on Clinical & Translational Sciences, October 18-20, 2019 Vienna, Austria; Related Associations and Societies: Europe: EuroStemCell (European Consortium for Stem Cell Research); German Stem Cell Network (GSCN); German Society for Stem Cell Research (GSZ); British Association of Tissue Banks; British Association for Tissue Banking; European Tissue Repair Society; Spanish Association of Tissue Bank; European Calcified Tissue Society; European Association of Tissue Banks; USA: California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM); New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF); Tissue Engineering International & Regenerative Medicine Society (TERMIS); International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR). Asia: The New South Wales Stem Cell Network; Korean Society for Stem Cell Research; Japanese Society for Regenerative Medicine; Taiwan Society for Stem Cell Research; Stem Cell Society Singapore (SCSS). Bone and Cartilage Tissue Engineering This interdisciplinary engineering has attracted much attention as a new therapeutic means that may overcome the drawbacks involved in the current artificial organs and organ transplantation that have been also aiming at replacing lost or severely damaged tissues or organs. Tissue engineering and regenerative medicine is an exciting research area that aims at regenerative alternatives to harvested tissues for organ transplantation with soft tissues. Although significant progress has been made in the tissue engineering field, many challenges remain and further development in this area will require on-going interactions and collaborations among the scientists from multiple disciplines, and in partnership with the regulatory and the funding agencies. As a result of the medical and market potential, there is significant academic and corporate interest in this technology. Related Regenerative Medicine Conferences | Stem Cell Conferences | Stem Cell Congress | Tissue Science Conferences | Europe Conferences 9th Advanced Cell and Gene Therapy conference, March 21-22, 2019 Rome, Italy; 12th Genomics and Molecular Biology conference, April 15-17, 2019 Berlin, Germany; 7th Integrative Biology conference, April 15-16, 2019 Berlin, Germany; Pacific Regenerative Medicine Conference, May 16-19, 2019 Hawaii, USA; Annual conference & Exhibition on Transversal, Translational & Transformative, December 2-5, 2019 Florida, USA; 21st International Conference on Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, June 27 - 28, 2019 London, United Kingdom; World Advanced Therapies & Regenerative Medicine Congress 2019, May 15 – 17, London, UK; 6th Annual European Congress on Clinical & Translational Sciences, October 18-20, 2019 Vienna, Austria; Related Associations and Societies: Europe: EuroStemCell (European Consortium for Stem Cell Research); German Stem Cell Network (GSCN); German Society for Stem Cell Research (GSZ); Stem Cell Network North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW); Norwegian Center for Stem Cell Research (NCSCR); ScanBalt Stem Cell Research Network; USA: California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM); American Association of tissue banks; New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF); Tissue Engineering International & Regenerative Medicine Society (TERMIS); Asia: Asia Pacific Association of Surgical Tissue Banking; The New South Wales Stem Cell Network; Korean Society for Stem Cell Research; Japanese Society for Regenerative Medicine; Taiwan Society for Stem Cell Research; Stem cells to Battle cancer Stem cell transplant is treatment in some types of cancers like leukemia, multiple myeloma, or some types of lymphoma. Stem cell transplantation is the procedure that restores blood-forming stem cells in patients who have had theirs destroyed by the very high doses of chemotherapy or radiation therapy that are used to treat certain cancers. Related Regenerative Medicine Conferences | Stem Cell Conferences | Stem Cell Congress | Tissue Science Conferences | Europe Conferences 9th Advanced Cell and Gene Therapy conference, March 21-22, 2019 Rome, Italy; 12th Genomics and Molecular Biology conference, April 15-17, 2019 Berlin, Germany; 7th Integrative Biology conference, April 15-16, 2019 Berlin, Germany; Pacific Regenerative Medicine Conference, May 16-19, 2019 Hawaii, USA; Annual conference & Exhibition on Transversal, Translational & Transformative, December 2-5, 2019 Florida, USA; 21st International Conference on Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, June 27 - 28, 2019 London, United Kingdom; World Advanced Therapies & Regenerative Medicine Congress 2019, May 15 – 17, London, UK; 6th Annual European Congress on Clinical & Translational Sciences, October 18-20, 2019 Vienna, Austria; Related Associations and Societies: Europe: EuroStemCell (European Consortium for Stem Cell Research); German Stem Cell Network (GSCN); German Society for Stem Cell Research (GSZ); Stem Cell Network North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW); Norwegian Center for Stem Cell Research (NCSCR); USA: California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM); New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF); Tissue Engineering International & Regenerative Medicine Society (TERMIS); International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR); Asia: The New South Wales Stem Cell Network; Korean Society for Stem Cell Research; Japanese Society for Regenerative Medicine; Taiwan Society for Stem Cell Research; Stem Cell Society Singapore (SCSS); Novel Approaches guided in Tissue Engineering GTR are dental surgical procedures that use barrier membranes to direct the growth of new bone and gingival tissue at sites with insufficient volumes or dimensions of bone or gingiva for proper function, esthetics or prosthetic restoration Related Regenerative Medicine Conferences | Stem Cell Conferences | Stem Cell Congress | Tissue Science Conferences | Europe Conferences 9th Advanced Cell and Gene Therapy conference, March 21-22, 2019 Rome, Italy; 12th Genomics and Molecular Biology conference, April 15-17, 2019 Berlin, Germany; 7th Integrative Biology conference, April 15-16, 2019 Berlin, Germany; Pacific Regenerative Medicine Conference, May 16-19, 2019 Hawaii, USA; Annual conference & Exhibition on Transversal, Translational & Transformative, December 2-5, 2019 Florida, USA; 21st International Conference on Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, June 27 - 28, 2019 London, United Kingdom; World Advanced Therapies & Regenerative Medicine Congress 2019, May 15 – 17, London, UK; 6th Annual European Congress on Clinical & Translational Sciences, October 18-20, 2019 Vienna, Austria; Related Associations and Societies: Europe: EuroStemCell (European Consortium for Stem Cell Research); German Stem Cell Network (GSCN); German Society for Stem Cell Research (GSZ); Stem Cell Network North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW); Norwegian Center for Stem Cell Research (NCSCR); USA: California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM); New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF); Tissue Engineering International & Regenerative Medicine Society (TERMIS); International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR); Asia: The New South Wales Stem Cell Network; Korean Society for Stem Cell Research; Japanese Society for Regenerative Medicine; Taiwan Society for Stem Cell Research; Stem Cell Society Singapore (SCSS); Clinical Medicine Clinical medicine relates to medicine field that deals mainly with the study and practice of medicine based on the direct examination of the patient. In clinical medicine, medical practitioners assess patients in order to diagnose, treat, and prevent disease Related Regenerative Medicine Conferences | Stem Cell Conferences | Stem Cell Congress | Tissue Science Conferences | Europe Conferences 9th Advanced Cell and Gene Therapy conference, March 21-22, 2019 Rome, Italy; 12th Genomics and Molecular Biology conference, April 15-17, 2019 Berlin, Germany; 7th Integrative Biology conference, April 15-16, 2019 Berlin, Germany; Pacific Regenerative Medicine Conference, May 16-19, 2019 Hawaii, USA; Annual conference & Exhibition on Transversal, Translational & Transformative, December 2-5, 2019 Florida, USA; 21st International Conference on Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, June 27 - 28, 2019 London, United Kingdom; World Advanced Therapies & Regenerative Medicine Congress 2019, May 15 – 17, London, UK; 6th Annual European Congress on Clinical & Translational Sciences, October 18-20, 2019 Vienna, Austria; Related Associations and Societies: Europe: EuroStemCell (European Consortium for Stem Cell Research); German Stem Cell Network (GSCN); German Society for Stem Cell Research (GSZ); Stem Cell Network North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW); Norwegian Center for Stem Cell Research (NCSCR); USA: California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM); New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF); Tissue Engineering International & Regenerative Medicine Society (TERMIS); International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR); Asia: The New South Wales Stem Cell Network; Korean Society for Stem Cell Research; Japanese Society for Regenerative Medicine; Taiwan Society for Stem Cell Research; Stem Cell Society Singapore (SCSS); Clinical trials with Stem Cells Stem cell treatments and clinical trials have been going on for over 40 years; however we are still in the initial stages of stem cell therapy being utilized as an effective alternative treatment method to traditional pharmaceutical based treatments. Much of the early work in stem cell clinical trials focused on the overall effectiveness and safety of the procedures involved. The primary concern with any new treatment is the long term safety and standardization of results. There have been countless journals and research papers focusing in on these clinical trials that have revealed promising results from these initial trials around the world Related Regenerative Medicine Conferences | Stem Cell Conferences | Stem Cell Congress | Tissue Science Conferences | Europe Conferences 9th Advanced Cell and Gene Therapy conference, March 21-22, 2019 Rome, Italy; 12th Genomics and Molecular Biology conference, April 15-17, 2019 Berlin, Germany; 7th Integrative Biology conference, April 15-16, 2019 Berlin, Germany; Pacific Regenerative Medicine Conference, May 16-19, 2019 Hawaii, USA; Annual conference & Exhibition on Transversal, Translational & Transformative, December 2-5, 2019 Florida, USA; 21st International Conference on Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, June 27 - 28, 2019 London, United Kingdom; World Advanced Therapies & Regenerative Medicine Congress 2019, May 15 – 17, London, UK; 6th Annual European Congress on Clinical & Translational Sciences, October 18-20, 2019 Vienna, Austria; Related Associations and Societies: Europe: EuroStemCell (European Consortium for Stem Cell Research); German Stem Cell Network (GSCN); German Society for Stem Cell Research (GSZ); Stem Cell Network North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW); Norwegian Center for Stem Cell Research (NCSCR); USA: California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM); New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF); Tissue Engineering International & Regenerative Medicine Society (TERMIS); International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR); Asia: The New South Wales Stem Cell Network; Korean Society for Stem Cell Research; Japanese Society for Regenerative Medicine; Taiwan Society for Stem Cell Research; Stem Cell Society Singapore (SCSS); Biomaterials & Bioengineering Biomaterials are being utilized for the social insurance applications from old circumstances. In any case, consequent development has made them more flexible and has expanded their utility. Biomaterials have reformed the territories like bioengineering and tissue designing for the advancement of novel methodologies to battle perilous infections. Together with biomaterials, immature microorganism innovation is additionally being utilized to enhance the current human services offices. These ideas and innovations are being utilized for the treatment of various maladies like cardiovascular disappointment, cracks, profound skin wounds, and so forth. Presentation of nanomaterial’s then again is turning into a major seek after a superior and a reasonable social insurance. Mechanical headways are in progress for the advancement of persistent observing and controlling glucose levels by the implantation of sensor chips. Related Regenerative Medicine Conferences | Stem Cell Conferences | Stem Cell Congress | Tissue Science Conferences | Europe Conferences 9th Advanced Cell and Gene Therapy conference, March 21-22, 2019 Rome, Italy; 12th Genomics and Molecular Biology conference, April 15-17, 2019 Berlin, Germany; 7th Integrative Biology conference, April 15-16, 2019 Berlin, Germany; Pacific Regenerative Medicine Conference, May 16-19, 2019 Hawaii, USA; Annual conference & Exhibition on Transversal, Translational & Transformative, December 2-5, 2019 Florida, USA; 21st International Conference on Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, June 27 - 28, 2019 London, United Kingdom; World Advanced Therapies & Regenerative Medicine Congress 2019, May 15 – 17, London, UK; 6th Annual European Congress on Clinical & Translational Sciences, October 18-20, 2019 Vienna, Austria; Related Associations and Societies: Europe: EuroStemCell (European Consortium for Stem Cell Research); German Stem Cell Network (GSCN); German Society for Stem Cell Research (GSZ); Stem Cell Network North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW); Norwegian Center for Stem Cell Research (NCSCR); USA: California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM); New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF); Tissue Engineering International & Regenerative Medicine Society (TERMIS); International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR); Asia: The New South Wales Stem Cell Network; Korean Society for Stem Cell Research; Japanese Society for Regenerative Medicine; Taiwan Society for Stem Cell Research; Stem Cell Society Singapore (SCSS); Biomarkers Biomarkers, in the hands of clinical investigators, provide a dynamic and powerful approach to understanding the spectrum of diseases with obvious applications in analytic epidemiology, biomarkers and clinical research in disease prevention, diagnosis and disease management. Biomarkers have the additional potential to identify individuals susceptible to particular diseases. This conference is a podium that brings and shares collective knowledge and research explorations in biomarkers study. In the recent years, the information about cancer biomarkers has increased largely providing a huge potential for improving the management of cancer patients by improving the accuracy of detection and efficacy of treatment. Latest technological advancements have enabled the examination of many possible biomarkers and renewed interest in developing new biomarkers. All such developments can be evidenced in this biomarker congress. Cancer Biomarkers, Molecular Biomarkers, Genomics biomarkers, Biomarkers in Clinical Research & Development, Biomarkers and Pathology Related Regenerative Medicine Conferences | Stem Cell Conferences | Stem Cell Congress | Tissue Science Conferences | Europe Conferences 9th Advanced Cell and Gene Therapy conference, March 21-22, 2019 Rome, Italy; 12th Genomics and Molecular Biology conference, April 15-17, 2019 Berlin, Germany; 7th Integrative Biology conference, April 15-16, 2019 Berlin, Germany; Pacific Regenerative Medicine Conference, May 16-19, 2019 Hawaii, USA; Annual conference & Exhibition on Transversal, Translational & Transformative, December 2-5, 2019 Florida, USA; 21st International Conference on Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, June 27 - 28, 2019 London, United Kingdom; World Advanced Therapies & Regenerative Medicine Congress 2019, May 15 – 17, London, UK; 6th Annual European Congress on Clinical & Translational Sciences, October 18-20, 2019 Vienna, Austria; Related Associations and Societies: Europe: EuroStemCell (European Consortium for Stem Cell Research); German Stem Cell Network (GSCN); German Society for Stem Cell Research (GSZ); Stem Cell Network North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW); Norwegian Center for Stem Cell Research (NCSCR); USA: California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM); New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF); Tissue Engineering International & Regenerative Medicine Society (TERMIS); International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR); Asia: The New South Wales Stem Cell Network; Korean Society for Stem Cell Research; Japanese Society for Regenerative Medicine; Taiwan Society for Stem Cell Research; Stem Cell Society Singapore (SCSS); Regeneration & Therapeutics Some parts of our bodies can repair themselves quite well after injury, but others don’t repair at all. We certainly can’t regrow a whole leg or arm, but some animals can regrow - or regenerate - whole body parts. Regeneration means the regrowth of a damaged or missing organ part from the remaining tissue. As adults, humans can regenerate some organs, such as the liver. If part of the liver is lost by disease or injury, the liver grows back to its original size, though not its original shape. And our skin is constantly being renewed and repaired. Unfortunately many other human tissues don’t regenerate, and a goal in regenerative medicine is to find ways to kick-start tissue regeneration in the body, or to engineer replacement tissues. Related Regenerative Medicine Conferences | Stem Cell Conferences | Stem Cell Congress | Tissue Science Conferences | Europe Conferences 9th Advanced Cell and Gene Therapy conference, March 21-22, 2019 Rome, Italy; 12th Genomics and Molecular Biology conference, April 15-17, 2019 Berlin, Germany; 7th Integrative Biology conference, April 15-16, 2019 Berlin, Germany; Pacific Regenerative Medicine Conference, May 16-19, 2019 Hawaii, USA; Annual conference & Exhibition on Transversal, Translational & Transformative, December 2-5, 2019 Florida, USA; 21st International Conference on Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, June 27 - 28, 2019 London, United Kingdom; World Advanced Therapies & Regenerative Medicine Congress 2019, May 15 – 17, London, UK; 6th Annual European Congress on Clinical & Translational Sciences, October 18-20, 2019 Vienna, Austria; Related Associations and Societies: Europe: EuroStemCell (European Consortium for Stem Cell Research); German Stem Cell Network (GSCN); German Society for Stem Cell Research (GSZ); Stem Cell Network North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW); Norwegian Center for Stem Cell Research (NCSCR); USA: California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM); New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF); Tissue Engineering International & Regenerative Medicine Society (TERMIS); International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR); Asia: The New South Wales Stem Cell Network; Korean Society for Stem Cell Research; Japanese Society for Regenerative Medicine; Taiwan Society for Stem Cell Research; Stem Cell Society Singapore (SCSS); Rejuvenation Rejuvenation is a medical discipline focused on the practical reversal of the aging process. Rejuvenation is distinct from life extension. Life extension strategies often study the causes of aging and try to oppose those causes in order to slow aging. Rejuvenation is the reversal of aging and thus requires a different strategy, namely repair of the damage that is associated with aging or replacement of damaged tissue with new tissue. Rejuvenation can be a means of life extension, but most life extension strategies do not involve rejuvenation. Immunotherapy Immunotherapy, also called biologic treatment, is a kind of disease treatment that lifts the body's common guards to battle the malignancy. It utilizes substances made by the body or in a research facility to enhance or re-establish safe framework work. Immunotherapy may work in these ways: Halting or abating the development of tumor cells, preventing malignancy from spreading to different parts of the body, helping the safe framework work better at crushing disease cells. There are several types of immunotherapy, including: Monoclonal antibodies, Non-specific immunotherapies, oncolytic virus therapy, T-cell therapy, Cancer vaccines Related Regenerative Medicine Conferences | Stem Cell Conferences | Stem Cell Congress | Tissue Science Conferences | Europe Conferences 9th Advanced Cell and Gene Therapy conference, March 21-22, 2019 Rome, Italy; 12th Genomics and Molecular Biology conference, April 15-17, 2019 Berlin, Germany; 7th Integrative Biology conference, April 15-16, 2019 Berlin, Germany; Pacific Regenerative Medicine Conference, May 16-19, 2019 Hawaii, USA; Annual conference & Exhibition on Transversal, Translational & Transformative, December 2-5, 2019 Florida, USA; 21st International Conference on Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, June 27 - 28, 2019 London, United Kingdom; World Advanced Therapies & Regenerative Medicine Congress 2019, May 15 – 17, London, UK; 6th Annual European Congress on Clinical & Translational Sciences, October 18-20, 2019 Vienna, Austria; Related Associations and Societies: Europe: EuroStemCell (European Consortium for Stem Cell Research); German Stem Cell Network (GSCN); German Society for Stem Cell Research (GSZ); Stem Cell Network North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW); Norwegian Center for Stem Cell Research (NCSCR); USA: California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM); New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF); Tissue Engineering International & Regenerative Medicine Society (TERMIS); International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR); Asia: The New South Wales Stem Cell Network; Korean Society for Stem Cell Research; Japanese Society for Regenerative Medicine; Taiwan Society for Stem Cell Research; Stem Cell Society Singapore (SCSS); Stem cell treatment for Diabetes Insulin is a very important hormone that is produced by the pancreas and helps to keep the body’s blood sugar (glucose) levels in check. Diabetes is caused when there is an imbalance of insulin in the body. Type 1 Diabetes: This is usually diagnosed during childhood where the body makes very little or no insulin. In conventional therapy, there is only a way to maintain the right levels of insulin with daily injections. Type 2 Diabetes: In this condition, the body becomes resistive to insulin and the pancreas loses the capability to make enough insulin which is required to keep blood glucose levels normal. This is usually because of incorrect diet, lack or exercise or being overweight. Most diabetics suffer from Type 2 Diabetes. Related Regenerative Medicine Conferences | Stem Cell Conferences | Stem Cell Congress | Tissue Science Conferences | Europe Conferences 9th Advanced Cell and Gene Therapy conference, March 21-22, 2019 Rome, Italy; 12th Genomics and Molecular Biology conference, April 15-17, 2019 Berlin, Germany; 7th Integrative Biology conference, April 15-16, 2019 Berlin, Germany; Pacific Regenerative Medicine Conference, May 16-19, 2019 Hawaii, USA; Annual conference & Exhibition on Transversal, Translational & Transformative, December 2-5, 2019 Florida, USA; 21st International Conference on Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, June 27 - 28, 2019 London, United Kingdom; World Advanced Therapies & Regenerative Medicine Congress 2019, May 15 – 17, London, UK; 6th Annual European Congress on Clinical & Translational Sciences, October 18-20, 2019 Vienna, Austria; Related Associations and Societies: Europe: EuroStemCell (European Consortium for Stem Cell Research); German Stem Cell Network (GSCN); German Society for Stem Cell Research (GSZ); Stem Cell Network North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW); Norwegian Center for Stem Cell Research (NCSCR); USA: California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM); New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF); Tissue Engineering International & Regenerative Medicine Society (TERMIS); International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR); Asia: The New South Wales Stem Cell Network; Korean Society for Stem Cell Research; Japanese Society for Regenerative Medicine; Taiwan Society for Stem Cell Research; Stem Cell Society Singapore (SCSS); Applications of Tissue engineering & Regenerative Medicine There are many applications of Tissue engineering but majorly they are used in Organ Transplantation and Therapeutic Cloning like Bio Artificial liver device, artificial pancreas, artificial bladders, and Cartilage. When there is damage in our body cells or organs we use tissue engineering techniques to overcome the damage by replacing the old cell. There is wide range of Tissue Engineered product or materials which are used to cure diseases in human and save life. Related Regenerative Medicine Conferences | Stem Cell Conferences | Stem Cell Congress | Tissue Science Conferences | Europe Conferences 9th Advanced Cell and Gene Therapy conference, March 21-22, 2019 Rome, Italy; 12th Genomics and Molecular Biology conference, April 15-17, 2019 Berlin, Germany; 7th Integrative Biology conference, April 15-16, 2019 Berlin, Germany; Pacific Regenerative Medicine Conference, May 16-19, 2019 Hawaii, USA; Annual conference & Exhibition on Transversal, Translational & Transformative, December 2-5, 2019 Florida, USA; 21st International Conference on Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, June 27 - 28, 2019 London, United Kingdom; World Advanced Therapies & Regenerative Medicine Congress 2019, May 15 – 17, London, UK; 6th Annual European Congress on Clinical & Translational Sciences, October 18-20, 2019 Vienna, Austria; Related Associations and Societies: Europe: EuroStemCell (European Consortium for Stem Cell Research); German Stem Cell Network (GSCN); German Society for Stem Cell Research (GSZ); Stem Cell Network North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW); Norwegian Center for Stem Cell Research (NCSCR); USA: California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM); New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF); Tissue Engineering International & Regenerative Medicine Society (TERMIS); International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR); Asia: The New South Wales Stem Cell Network; Korean Society for Stem Cell Research; Japanese Society for Regenerative Medicine; Taiwan Society for Stem Cell Research; Stem Cell Society Singapore (SCSS); Bioreactors in Tissue Engineering Bioreactors in Tissue Engineering a bioreactor is a device that utilizations mechanical intend to impact organic procedures. In tissue designing bioreactors can be utilized to help in the in vitro advancement of new tissue by giving biochemical and physical administrative signs to cells and urging them to experience separation as well as to create extracellular network before in vivo implantation. This section examines the need for bioreactors in tissue building, the various kinds of bioreactor that exist, the methods by which they empower cells and how their usefulness is represented by the prerequisites of the particular tissue being built and the cell compose experiencing incitement. Related Regenerative Medicine Conferences | Stem Cell Conferences | Stem Cell Congress | Tissue Science Conferences | Europe Conferences 9th Advanced Cell and Gene Therapy conference, March 21-22, 2019 Rome, Italy; 12th Genomics and Molecular Biology conference, April 15-17, 2019 Berlin, Germany; 7th Integrative Biology conference, April 15-16, 2019 Berlin, Germany; Pacific Regenerative Medicine Conference, May 16-19, 2019 Hawaii, USA; Annual conference & Exhibition on Transversal, Translational & Transformative, December 2-5, 2019 Florida, USA; 21st International Conference on Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, June 27 - 28, 2019 London, United Kingdom; World Advanced Therapies & Regenerative Medicine Congress 2019, May 15 – 17, London, UK; 6th Annual European Congress on Clinical & Translational Sciences, October 18-20, 2019 Vienna, Austria; Related Associations and Societies: Europe: EuroStemCell (European Consortium for Stem Cell Research); German Stem Cell Network (GSCN); German Society for Stem Cell Research (GSZ); Stem Cell Network North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW); Norwegian Center for Stem Cell Research (NCSCR); USA: California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM); New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF); Tissue Engineering International & Regenerative Medicine Society (TERMIS); International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR); Asia: The New South Wales Stem Cell Network; Korean Society for Stem Cell Research; Japanese Society for Regenerative Medicine; Taiwan Society for Stem Cell Research; Stem Cell Society Singapore (SCSS); Biochips & Tissue chips Biochips refer to the complete fundamental functional unit, capable of performing multi biochemical tasks simultaneously. Tissue chips on the other hand are similar miniaturized units that can replace a tissue or some part of it, enabling the organ to work normally. Both biochips & tissue chips have been elemental in tissue engineering technology and have proven to be of utmost importance in the same arena. DNA microarray also called as biochip in simple terms consists of a two dimensional grid system where upon sensors or solid flat substrates are incorporated. These solid substrates can be either positively charged just like silicon or glass or can also be consisting of integrated circuitry units that perform best in signal transduction studies. These sorts of microarrays have application in micromechanical studies. Related Regenerative Medicine Conferences | Stem Cell Conferences | Stem Cell Congress | Tissue Science Conferences | Europe Conferences 9th Advanced Cell and Gene Therapy conference, March 21-22, 2019 Rome, Italy; 12th Genomics and Molecular Biology conference, April 15-17, 2019 Berlin, Germany; 7th Integrative Biology conference, April 15-16, 2019 Berlin, Germany; Pacific Regenerative Medicine Conference, May 16-19, 2019 Hawaii, USA; Annual conference & Exhibition on Transversal, Translational & Transformative, December 2-5, 2019 Florida, USA; 21st International Conference on Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, June 27 - 28, 2019 London, United Kingdom; World Advanced Therapies & Regenerative Medicine Congress 2019, May 15 – 17, London, UK; 6th Annual European Congress on Clinical & Translational Sciences, October 18-20, 2019 Vienna, Austria; Related Associations and Societies: Europe: EuroStemCell (European Consortium for Stem Cell Research); German Stem Cell Network (GSCN); German Society for Stem Cell Research (GSZ); Stem Cell Network North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW); Norwegian Center for Stem Cell Research (NCSCR); USA: California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM); New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF); Tissue Engineering International & Regenerative Medicine Society (TERMIS); International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR); Asia: The New South Wales Stem Cell Network; Korean Society for Stem Cell Research; Japanese Society for Regenerative Medicine; Taiwan Society for Stem Cell Research; Stem Cell Society Singapore (SCSS); Cancer Stem Cells Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are cancer cells (found within tumors or hematological cancers) that possess characteristics associated with normal stem cells, specifically the ability to give rise to all cell types found in a particular cancer sample. CSCs are therefore tumorigenic (tumor-forming), perhaps in contrast to other non-tumorigenic cancer cells. CSCs may generate tumors through the stem cell processes of self-renewal and differentiation into multiple cell types. Such cells are hypothesized to persist in tumors as a distinct population and cause relapse and metastasis by giving rise to new tumors. Therefore, development of specific therapies targeted at CSCs holds hope for improvement of survival and quality of life of cancer patients, especially for patients with metastatic disease. Related Regenerative Medicine Conferences | Stem Cell Conferences | Stem Cell Congress | Tissue Science Conferences | Europe Conferences 9th Advanced Cell and Gene Therapy conference, March 21-22, 2019 Rome, Italy; 12th Genomics and Molecular Biology conference, April 15-17, 2019 Berlin, Germany; 7th Integrative Biology conference, April 15-16, 2019 Berlin, Germany; Pacific Regenerative Medicine Conference, May 16-19, 2019 Hawaii, USA; Annual conference & Exhibition on Transversal, Translational & Transformative, December 2-5, 2019 Florida, USA; 21st International Conference on Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, June 27 - 28, 2019 London, United Kingdom; World Advanced Therapies & Regenerative Medicine Congress 2019, May 15 – 17, London, UK; 6th Annual European Congress on Clinical & Translational Sciences, October 18-20, 2019 Vienna, Austria; Related Associations and Societies: Europe: EuroStemCell (European Consortium for Stem Cell Research); German Stem Cell Network (GSCN); German Society for Stem Cell Research (GSZ); Stem Cell Network North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW); Norwegian Center for Stem Cell Research (NCSCR); ScanBalt Stem Cell Research Network; USA: California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM); American Association of tissue banks; New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF); Tissue Engineering International & Regenerative Medicine Society (TERMIS); Asia: Asia Pacific Association of Surgical Tissue Banking; The New South Wales Stem Cell Network; Korean Society for Stem Cell Research; Japanese Society for Regenerative Medicine; Taiwan Society for Stem Cell Research; Chemotherapy Chemotherapy is a widely used treatment for cancer. It usually entails the use of chemicals to destroy cancer cells on a selective basis. As part of the body's natural process, cells are constantly replaced through a process of dividing and growing. When cancer occurs, cells reproduce in an uncontrolled manner. More and more cells are produced, and they start to occupy an increasing amount of space until they occupy the space previously inhabited by useful cells. It usually is used to treat patients with cancer that has spread from the place in the body where it metastasized. Chemotherapy destroys cancer cells anywhere in the body. It even kills cells that have broken off from the main tumor & travel through the blood or lymph systems to the other parts of the body. Chemotherapy drugs: Impair mitosis, or prevent cell division, as in the case of cytotoxic drugs. Target the cancer cells' food source, which consists of the enzymes and hormones they need to grow. Apoptosis stop the growth of new blood vessels that supply a tumor in order to starve it. A single drug or a combination of drugs is used. These can be delivered either directly into the bloodstream, to attack cancer cells throughout the body, or they can be targeted to specific cancer sites. Related Regenerative Medicine Conferences | Stem Cell Conferences | Stem Cell Congress | Tissue Science Conferences | Europe Conferences 9th Advanced Cell and Gene Therapy conference, March 21-22, 2019 Rome, Italy; 12th Genomics and Molecular Biology conference, April 15-17, 2019 Berlin, Germany; 7th Integrative Biology conference, April 15-16, 2019 Berlin, Germany; Pacific Regenerative Medicine Conference, May 16-19, 2019 Hawaii, USA; Annual conference & Exhibition on Transversal, Translational & Transformative, December 2-5, 2019 Florida, USA; 21st International Conference on Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, June 27 - 28, 2019 London, United Kingdom; World Advanced Therapies & Regenerative Medicine Congress 2019, May 15 – 17, London, UK; 6th Annual European Congress on Clinical & Translational Sciences, October 18-20, 2019 Vienna, Austria; Related Associations and Societies: Europe: EuroStemCell (European Consortium for Stem Cell Research); German Stem Cell Network (GSCN); German Society for Stem Cell Research (GSZ); Stem Cell Network North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW); Norwegian Center for Stem Cell Research (NCSCR); USA: California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM); New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF); Tissue Engineering International & Regenerative Medicine Society (TERMIS); International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR); Asia: The New South Wales Stem Cell Network; Korean Society for Stem Cell Research; Japanese Society for Regenerative Medicine; Taiwan Society for Stem Cell Research; Stem Cell Society Singapore (SCSS); Tissue Regeneration In the field of biology, Regeneration is the progression of renewal, regeneration, and growth that makes it possible for genomes, cells, organ regeneration to natural changes or events that cause damage or disturbance. This study is carried out as craniofacial tissue engineering, in-situ tissue regeneration, adipose-derived stem cells for regenerative medicine which is also a breakthrough in cell culture technology. The study is not stopped with the regeneration of tissue where it is further carried out in relation with cell signalling, morphogenetic proteins. Most of the neurological disorders occurred accidental having a scope of recovery by replacement or repair of intervertebral discs repair, spinal fusion, and many more developments. The global market for tissue engineering and regeneration products such as scaffolds, tissue implants, biomimetic materials reached $55.9 billion in 2010 and it is expected to reach $89.7 billion by 2016 at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.4%. It grows to $135 billion by 2024. Related Regenerative Medicine Conferences | Stem Cell Conferences | Stem Cell Congress | Tissue Science Conferences | Europe Conferences 9th Advanced Cell and Gene Therapy conference, March 21-22, 2019 Rome, Italy; 12th Genomics and Molecular Biology conference, April 15-17, 2019 Berlin, Germany; 7th Integrative Biology conference, April 15-16, 2019 Berlin, Germany; Pacific Regenerative Medicine Conference, May 16-19, 2019 Hawaii, USA; Annual conference & Exhibition on Transversal, Translational & Transformative, December 2-5, 2019 Florida, USA; 21st International Conference on Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, June 27 - 28, 2019 London, United Kingdom; World Advanced Therapies & Regenerative Medicine Congress 2019, May 15 – 17, London, UK; 6th Annual European Congress on Clinical & Translational Sciences, October 18-20, 2019 Vienna, Austria; Related Associations and Societies: Europe: EuroStemCell (European Consortium for Stem Cell Research); German Stem Cell Network (GSCN); German Society for Stem Cell Research (GSZ); Stem Cell Network North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW); Norwegian Center for Stem Cell Research (NCSCR); USA: California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM); New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF); Tissue Engineering International & Regenerative Medicine Society (TERMIS); International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR); Asia: The New South Wales Stem Cell Network; Korean Society for Stem Cell Research; Japanese Society for Regenerative Medicine; Taiwan Society for Stem Cell Research; Stem Cell Society Singapore (SCSS); Advances in Stem Cell Since the beginning of there has been a effective research in the field of stem cell biology, recent advances in the field of stem cell research mainly focused in the translation of scientific insights into new therapies. It represents a new strategy for organ and tissue repair in several pathologies. Additional treatment strategies are urgently needed due to donor organ shortage that costs many lives every year and results in lifelong immunosuppression. Stem cells are characterized by the ability to renew themselves and differentiating into a various range of specialized cell types. Stem cells have potential to treat various diseases, genetic bone marrow disorders and the treatment of malignant. Being all other stem cell applications highly experimental, Moreover, there is a growing body of evidence showing that administration of stem cells leads to the successful regeneration of tissues or organ. Related Regenerative Medicine Conferences | Stem Cell Conferences | Stem Cell Congress | Tissue Science Conferences | Europe Conferences 9th Advanced Cell and Gene Therapy conference, March 21-22, 2019 Rome, Italy; 12th Genomics and Molecular Biology conference, April 15-17, 2019 Berlin, Germany; 7th Integrative Biology conference, April 15-16, 2019 Berlin, Germany; Pacific Regenerative Medicine Conference, May 16-19, 2019 Hawaii, USA; Annual conference & Exhibition on Transversal, Translational & Transformative, December 2-5, 2019 Florida, USA; 21st International Conference on Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, June 27 - 28, 2019 London, United Kingdom; World Advanced Therapies & Regenerative Medicine Congress 2019, May 15 – 17, London, UK; 6th Annual European Congress on Clinical & Translational Sciences, October 18-20, 2019 Vienna, Austria; Related Associations and Societies: Europe: German Stem Cell Network (GSCN); German Society for Stem Cell Research (GSZ); Stem Cell Network North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW); ScanBalt Stem Cell Research Network; EuroStemCell (European Consortium for Stem Cell Research); Norwegian Center for Stem Cell Research (NCSCR); British Association of Tissue Banks. USA: Regenerative Medicine Foundation; American association of tissue banks; California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM); New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF); Tissue Engineering International & Regenerative Medicine Society (TERMIS). Asia: Asia Pacific Association of Surgical Tissue Banking; Japanese Society for Regenerative Medicine; Taiwan Society for Stem Cell Research; The New South Wales Stem Cell Network; Korean Society for Stem Cell Research. Materials and Designs for Tissue Engineering Tissue engineering of musculoskeletal tissues, particularly bone and cartilage, is a rapidly advancing field. In bone, technology has centered on bone graft substitute materials and the development of biodegradable scaffolds. Recently, tissue engineering strategies have included cell and gene therapy. The availability of growth factors and the expanding knowledge base concerning the bone regeneration with modern techniques like recombinant signalling molecules, solid free form fabrication of scaffolds, synthetic cartilage, Electrochemical deposition, spinal fusion and ossification are new generated techniques for tissue-engineering applications. The worldwide market for bone and cartilage repairs strategies is estimated about $300 million. During the last 10/15 years, the scientific community witnessed and reported the appearance of several sources of stem cells with both osteo and chondrogenic potential. Related Regenerative Medicine Conferences | Stem Cell Conferences | Stem Cell Congress | Tissue Science Conferences | Europe Conferences 9th Advanced Cell and Gene Therapy conference, March 21-22, 2019 Rome, Italy; 12th Genomics and Molecular Biology conference, April 15-17, 2019 Berlin, Germany; 7th Integrative Biology conference, April 15-16, 2019 Berlin, Germany; Pacific Regenerative Medicine Conference, May 16-19, 2019 Hawaii, USA; Annual conference & Exhibition on Transversal, Translational & Transformative, December 2-5, 2019 Florida, USA; 21st International Conference on Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, June 27 - 28, 2019 London, United Kingdom; World Advanced Therapies & Regenerative Medicine Congress 2019, May 15 – 17, London, UK; 6th Annual European Congress on Clinical & Translational Sciences, October 18-20, 2019 Vienna, Austria; Related Associations and Societies: Europe: European Association of Tissue Banks; Norwegian Center for Stem Cell Research (NCSCR); ScanBalt Stem Cell Research Network; Danish Stem Cell Society (DASCS); Stem Cell Network North Rhine-Westphalia. USA: American association of tissue banks; International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR); Adult Stem Cell Research Network (ASCR); California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM); New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF) Asia: Korean Society for Stem Cell Research; Stem Cell Society Singapore (SCSS); Japanese Society for Regenerative Medicine; Australian Society for Stem Cell Research (ASSCR); Taiwan Society for Stem Cell Research; Tissue Engineering and 3D Printing Aims to fabricate of multifunctional scaffolds that meet the mechanical, structural, and nutritional requirements based on optimized models. Computer-aided three-dimensional (3D) printing technology is driving major innovations in many areas, such as engineering, manufacturing, art, education and medicine. It is being applied to regenerative medicine to address the need for tissues and organs suitable for transplantation. Recently, it has shown a great promise in tissue fabrication with structural control from micro- to macro-scale by using a layer-by-layer approach. It involves additional complexities, such as choice of materials, cell types, growth and differentiation factors, and technical challenges related to the sensitivities of living cells and the construction of tissues. It has been already used for the generation and transplantation of several tissues, including multi-layered skin, bone, vascular grafts, tracheal splints, heart tissue and cartilaginous structures. Other applications involve developing the high-throughput 3D-bioprinted tissue models for analysis, drug discovery, and pharmacological medicine. This track will cover several approaches that have advanced the field of 3D technology through novel fabrication methods of tissue engineering constructs. Related Regenerative Medicine Conferences | Stem Cell Conferences | Stem Cell Congress | Tissue Science Conferences | Europe Conferences 9th Advanced Cell and Gene Therapy conference, March 21-22, 2019 Rome, Italy; 12th Genomics and Molecular Biology conference, April 15-17, 2019 Berlin, Germany; 7th Integrative Biology conference, April 15-16, 2019 Berlin, Germany; Pacific Regenerative Medicine Conference, May 16-19, 2019 Hawaii, USA; Annual conference & Exhibition on Transversal, Translational & Transformative, December 2-5, 2019 Florida, USA; 21st International Conference on Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, June 27 - 28, 2019 London, United Kingdom; World Advanced Therapies & Regenerative Medicine Congress 2019, May 15 – 17, London, UK; 6th Annual European Congress on Clinical & Translational Sciences, October 18-20, 2019 Vienna, Austria; Related Associations and Societies: Europe: The Swiss Stem Cell Network; Danish Stem Cell Society (DASCS); Stem Cell Network North Rhine-Westphalia. EuroStemCell (European Consortium for Stem Cell Research); German Stem Cell Network (GSCN); ScanBalt Stem Cell Research Network; European Calcified Tissue Society; European Association of Tissue Banks. USA: Adult Stem Cell Research Network (ASCR); International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR); California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM); New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF); American association of tissue banks; Tissue Engineering International & Regenerative Medicine Society (TERMIS). Asia: Asia Pacific Association of Surgical Tissue Banking; Japanese Society for Regenerative Medicine; Taiwan Society for Stem Cell Research; The New South Wales Stem Cell Network; Korean Society for Stem Cell Research. Whole Organ Engineering and Approaches Guided tissue regeneration is defined as procedures attempting to regenerate lost periodontal structures through differential tissue responses. Guided bone regeneration typically refers to ridge augmentation or bone regenerative procedures it typically refers to regeneration of periodontal therapy. The recent advancements and innovations in biomedical and regenerative tissue engineering techniques include the novel approach of guided tissue regeneration. Related Regenerative Medicine Conferences | Stem Cell Conferences | Stem Cell Congress | Tissue Science Conferences | Europe Conferences 9th Advanced Cell and Gene Therapy conference, March 21-22, 2019 Rome, Italy; 12th Genomics and Molecular Biology conference, April 15-17, 2019 Berlin, Germany; 7th Integrative Biology conference, April 15-16, 2019 Berlin, Germany; Pacific Regenerative Medicine Conference, May 16-19, 2019 Hawaii, USA; Annual conference & Exhibition on Transversal, Translational & Transformative, December 2-5, 2019 Florida, USA; 21st International Conference on Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, June 27 - 28, 2019 London, United Kingdom; World Advanced Therapies & Regenerative Medicine Congress 2019, May 15 – 17, London, UK; 6th Annual European Congress on Clinical & Translational Sciences, October 18-20, 2019 Vienna, Austria; Europe: Stem Cell Network North Rhine-Westphalia; German Stem Cell Network (GSCN); German Society for Stem Cell Research (GSZ); Stem Cell Network North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW); Norwegian Center for Stem Cell Research (NCSCR); European Tissue Repair Society; Spanish Association of Tissue Bank. USA: International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR); Tissue Engineering International & Regenerative Medicine Society (TERMIS); Adult Stem Cell Research Network (ASCR); California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM); New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF); Regenerative Medicine Foundation. Asia: Japanese Society for Regenerative Medicine; Australian Society for Stem Cell Research (ASSCR); The New South Wales Stem Cell Network; Korean Society for Stem Cell Research; Taiwan Society for Stem Cell Research; Stem Cell Society Singapore (SCSS); Stem Cell Engineering (SCE) Stem cell engineering (SCE) was to gather information on the worldwide status and trends of research and development in field SCE, that is, the engineers and engineering approaches in the stem cell field, both in basic research and translation of research into clinical applications and commercial products. The study of Stem Cells Engineering is facilitated and managed by the World Technology Evaluation Center (WTEC). This will provide a support for the generation of future economic growth and new markets. The process involved site visits in both Europe and Asia, and it also included several different workshops. Related Regenerative Medicine Conferences | Stem Cell Conferences | Stem Cell Congress | Tissue Science Conferences | Europe Conferences 9th Advanced Cell and Gene Therapy conference, March 21-22, 2019 Rome, Italy; 12th Genomics and Molecular Biology conference, April 15-17, 2019 Berlin, Germany; 7th Integrative Biology conference, April 15-16, 2019 Berlin, Germany; Pacific Regenerative Medicine Conference, May 16-19, 2019 Hawaii, USA; Annual conference & Exhibition on Transversal, Translational & Transformative, December 2-5, 2019 Florida, USA; 21st International Conference on Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, June 27 - 28, 2019 London, United Kingdom; World Advanced Therapies & Regenerative Medicine Congress 2019, May 15 – 17, London, UK; 6th Annual European Congress on Clinical & Translational Sciences, October 18-20, 2019 Vienna, Austria; Related Associations and Societies: Europe: Danish Stem Cell Society (DASCS); Stem Cell Network North Rhine-Westphalia; German Society for Stem Cell Research (GSZ); Stem Cell Network North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW); Spanish Association of Tissue Bank; European Calcified Tissue Society; European Association of Tissue Banks. USA: Adult Stem Cell Research Network (ASCR); California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM); New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF); Tissue Engineering International & Regenerative Medicine Society (TERMIS); International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR); Regenerative Medicine Foundation. Asia: Australian Society for Stem Cell Research (ASSCR); The New South Wales Stem Cell Network; Korean Society for Stem Cell Research; Japanese Society for Regenerative Medicine; Taiwan Society for Stem Cell Research; Stem Cell Society Singapore (SCSS)

The graphic disparity between Watch Dogs' reveal trailer and yesterday's story trailer have been an extremely hot topic. Online communities are filled with discussions about the game's graphics being “downgraded” and we're seeing reports of Ubisoft's PR working to handle the immense backlash. One such Ubisoft PR person is Tessa Vilyn, Ubisoft Benelux PR and events manager. Due to her comments supporting the game's visuals, she has become a target for questions from the distraught community looking for answers. Her initial tweet about the matter is as follows, “Bit bummed about some people not liking the graphics of the #Watchdogs trailer! I saw the game guys and it looks INCREDIBLE! #promise” When faced with a tweet asking her if the graphics have been toned down since the E3 reveal, she responded by saying that such a thing is “impossible”. “it is impossible, of couse [sic] it is not downgraded at all. :),” she wrote. “i love graphics, its because i know they look good i'm bummed they think differently about it.[...] its a true next gen game for sure... for sure.. “ Tessa states that she's played the latest demo of the game and that reactions are too harsh and lack the hands-on experience that she had had with the game. “Believe me the game is not downgraded, that would just be a bit ridiculous. :) … Again this is my opinion based on what i saw when playing the latest demo.” One such comparison that's making the rounds is the one that I have embedded below. It shows footage of a car chase from Watch Dogs footage in 2012 and footage from the latest trailer. The lighting effects shown are not very comparable. In a Eurogamer interview with Watch Dogs' creative director, Jonathan Morin, posted yesterday, Morin stated that despite the game's delay to improve functionality of gameplay mechanics, the game will not look like the game's reveal trailer. "Are we delivering the 'movie [style vision] of every single person on Earth who saw that [The Games Reveal Trailer]? Probably not, that's not possible. But are we delivering on this fantasy of being a hacker, controlling everything and approaching things in different ways – yes,” said Morin. Last year, Morin told VideoGamer that there would be no visual downgrade from the game's reveal to retail state. "There's no scale down in quality, especially the next-gen versions," Morin told VideoGmer in September. "It's pretty much the opposite. What we showed at E3 2012 in a lot of respects was less good. I think it's in the details. So no, there's no scale down." Watch Dogs Delay: Game Delayed to Tend to "Important Details", Will Not Look As Good As E3 2012 Reveal Honestly, the backlash toward the game's graphics seems a bit excessive - especially when it's driving people to toss vitriol towards Vilyn, someone that had no hand in the game's development or the latest trailer. Watch Dog's still looks like a good game, even if the graphics have been downgraded, but there are many prospective buyers out there that want answers, and the only material that they have are comparisons comprised of media coverage footage and trailers. Ubisoft is going to have to release some official comparison shots and or footage, or a statement if they want to nip this backlash in the bud.

No timetable on pulling jets, says Defence Minister Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan Canada will not pull its CF-18 fighter jets from the combat mission in Iraq and Syria if it degrades the overall capability of the coalition forces, Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan told SiriusXM in an interview on “Everything in Political with Evan Solomon.” “The decision for that will be based on my conversations with my counterparts, making sure that the coalition’s capability is not reduced,” the defence minister said. He said he is working on various options and will announce a decision soon. This stands in contrast to what the Foreign Affairs Minister Stéphane Dion said on Monday, when he announced that the combat mission would end imminently. “It will be a matter of weeks not months,” Dion told reporters. Dion also said pulling out Canada’s jets would be done in conjunction with Canada’s allies and rolled out alongside a new plan, but he never hinted that the defining issue would be “capability.” Sajjan also said he is considering leaving Canada’s air refueling and reconnaissance aircraft as part of the mission. The Conservative defence critic James Bezan responded to Sajjan, demanding to see the details of the Liberal plan for the military mission. He believes there have been contradictory messages sent about the nature of the mission and whether the Liberal government will eventually put more boots on the ground. “I’m looking forward to seeing exactly what the plan is because that wasn’t apparent,” says Bezan. “The defence minister is using language that’s quite different from what we’re hearing from the Prime Minister,” he said. Bezan said the Prime Minister has said in the House that Canada needs to fight ISIS in its own territory. “Does that mean boots on the ground?” he asked. The defence minister joined Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at Pearson airport on Thursday night to greet the incoming Syrian refugees, but Sajjan says the government is trying to avoid using military bases to house more refugees. “We are trying to, hopefully, not even be able to use military bases, but if it’s needed, we are available for that purpose,” the minister said. Today the threat level from ISIS was raised in Geneva after suspects related to the Paris attacks are being tracked by police, but the defence minister maintains his previous statement that Canada has nothing to fear from ISIS. “Canada should not fear ISIS, and I am firm believer in that,” he said. “Canadians should feel safe but that does not mean that we are going to eliminate all threats, but we have security forces that 24/7 are looking out for these types of threats,” he said. Sajjan also said his most important job is protecting the mental health of the men and women in the Canadian military. The comments came in a wide ranging interview ton “Everything is Political” that covered new money in the budget for the military, sexual misconduct in the forces, and Canada’s support for the Afghan police force. The entire interview can be heard by clicking on the link below or by subscribing to the “Everything is Political podcast here..

On March 4th, 2017 – 2 PM, at the Peace Wall in Berkeley, CA fascists are coming back. The feeling across organized circles is that this is, on some level, a trap. So come and enjoy a strategy of vigilance. Please don’t run alone after the first fascist you see, but collect yourself and take note of your surroundings. Find allies and accomplices. There will be no platform for fascism in the Bay Area nor will revolutionaries be pawns in some neo-reactionary game. Our strength is exercised not just in our ability to respond and react but in our proactive autonomy that creates a cool, determined, collected atmosphere of safety and solidarity. May we humbly suggest not taking any bait but make collective decisions. Stay with your affinity group and resist the frogmen that come out from behind the keyboards. This is not a statement on any particular tactic – it’s a call for strategic engagement. Some wisdom garnered from fascist demonstrations over the least few years in California suggests that some participants on their side are easily shaken and violently react with weapons. This is to say Anti-Fascists should be aware of this in scenarios in which small numbers of boneheads/frogmen walk to and from the demonstration. What began as a direct response to Feb. 1st – a march for “free speech,” with the frat-brownshirt Proud Boys as special guests – has been completely rebranded since Milo’s fall from grace. Now the organizers of these “Marches 4 Trump” are trying to pull together a coalition of libertarians, ancaps, armed militias, brownshirt alt-right enforcers, the “patriotic” Tea Party crowd, and alt-lite Deplorables without alienating any of them. People getting organized against fascist 'Proud Boys' holding 'March 4 Trump' in #Berkeley pic.twitter.com/sF29nUxLVS — FireWorks (@FireWorksBAY) February 22, 2017 Rich Black is the public face of the March on Berkeley. His Twitter header is a pastel ancap flag. He neglected to make the March on Berkeley Facebook event page (or its guest list) private. In an attempt to funnel every angry conservative in California into downtown Berkeley, he (or other organizers) canceled the Sacramento and Los Angeles marches and combined them with Berkeley’s. He seems very eager to simultaneously a) reassure everyone that this is not an alt-right event and b) tag Gavin McInnes begging for promotion, retweet the Proud Boys, and tag both them and the Oath Keepers in his tweets. For someone who isn’t organizing a fascist march, he sure wants all the fascists to know about it. Black wants his fascist cake and eat it too. The Berkeley College Republicans, everyone’s favorite concentration of truly banal evil, will be in attendance as well. In meetings they’ve been enthusiastically hyping March 4th and are trying to get the California State Militia to show up. BCR’s alt-right and white nationalist ties are well documented and getting stronger. Jack Palkovic was spotted on BART with Identity Evropa founder Nathan Damigo. They hugged each other goodbye. The feeling on the ground is that this is, on some level, a trap. They’re massing outside the police station. The cops are ready to protect these fascists, and they aren’t going to be hands-off this time. Camera-hungry Milo counter-protesters like Eddie Brock show up in Rich Black’s Twitter conversations. They call themselves a march, but there’s no parade route even being discussed. Their organizers claim to be working with police, militias, and the FBI. And they’re expecting antifascist resistance. They’ve been circulating our calls to action, warning each other that the spectre of antifa will be back to haunt them. So show up and haunt these motherfuckers. Bring your friends. Give ’em hell, but be careful. Berkeley is the hill that the alt-right and their growing coalition have chosen to flounder on, and they’re only getting cockier. We shut these fascists down before, and we’ll do it again.

by Lucy Peltz From America’s Declaration of Independence in 1776 to the end of the Napoleonic wars in 1815, Britain’s economic, social and political stability was in turmoil. Against this backdrop of revolution abroad, the relations between the sexes – and their proper roles — were increasingly challenged. While the figure of the respectable female writer of sentimental novels, poetry or didactic literature had become a cultural commonplace, there was a new backlash against the literary woman asserting her views in the more ‘masculine’ genres of history and politics. The tightening of gendered boundaries can be particularly identified in the reception and troubled reputation of a new generation of political voices, including the radical Mary Wollstonecraft. In 1787, Mary Wollstonecraft was a relatively unknown writer who was running a school when she published Thoughts on the Education of Daughters. This was a ‘conduct book’, one of the few genres deemed acceptable for women writers. A year later Wollstonecraft wrote Mary, A Fiction, a semi-autobiographical novel in which she created an independent female protagonist whose ‘grandeur is derived from the operations of [her] own faculties, not subjugated to opinion’. It was also in 1788 that Wollstonecraft began to write for the Analytical Review. It was in this radical newspaper, that she first declared her admiration for the controversial republican thinker, Catherine Macaulay. This happened when Wollstonecraft was reviewing the older woman’s Letters on Education, where there was a clear overlap between Macaulay’s ideas and those Wollstonecraft had published in Letters on Education, especially around the importance of parental nurture and the coeducation of girls and boys. Wollstonecraft also empathised with Macaulay’s attack on the way girls were expected to ‘counterfeit . . . weakness in order to attract the notice of the male’. And while Wollstonecraft had formerly imagined herself the ‘first of a new genus’, in 1790 she was pleased to identify Macaulay as a female role model. Her enthusiastic sense of affinity with the ageing radical is evinced in the unsolicited and bold letter that Wollstonecraft wrote to Macaulay. Madam, Now I venture to send you < blank >, with a name utterly unknown to you in the title page, it is necessary to apologise for thus intruding on you – but instead of an apology shall I tell you the truth ? You are the only female writer who I consider in opinion with respecting the rank our sex ought to attain in the world. I respect Mrs Macaulay Graham because she contends for laurels whilst most of her sex only seek for flowers. Whereas the final sentence of this letter captures the spirit of the two writers’ shared interest in promoting a new model of assertive womanhood, it is the first (now expurgated) sentence that indicates Wollstonecraft’s main excuse for writing to Macaulay without prior introduction. With this letter, we can deduce that Wollstonecraft had sent a copy of her recent publication the Vindication of the Rights of Men. This was her impassioned reply to Burke’s Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790) which had appeared a few months before — Observations on the Reflections of the Rt. Hon. Edmund Burke, on the Revolution in France (1790). Her letter to Macaulay thus attempted to reach out to a kindred political and intellectual woman whose own published attack on Burke’s Reflections had also just appeared. Both pamphlets reflect the feeling among radicals who had welcomed the French Revolution, in its first years. Wollstonecraft later summed up the mood when she stated that a ‘new spirit has gone forth, to organise the body-politic . . . Reason has, at last, shown her captivating face.’The Vindication was Wollstonecraft’s first major success and it moved her into the masculine terrain of political discourse. It argued in favour of a more meritocratic society and scorned the privilege and property of the aristocratic hierarchy which Burke had defended. The first edition of the pamphlet made no mention of Wolstonecraft’s name and many critics assumed it was the work of a man. The Analytical Review knew better and their critic could not resist mocking Burke on this point: ‘How deeply must it wound the feelings of a chivalrous knight . . to perceive that two of the boldest of his adversaries are women!’ For conservatives in Britain desperate to maintain the status quo the deferential relationship expected between men and women took on an increasingly politicized charge at this time at this time. In this context, the image of the empowered woman – as identified particularly in the French mob — became deeply emotive. An example of this can be seen in the satire Don Dismallo running the Literary Gauntlet.This etching was published by William Holland, a radical printseller, just one month after the publication of Burke’s Reflections. It portrays Burke in the character of Don Dismallo, the deluded knight from Don Quixote who champions chivalrous but pointless causes. The inference here is that Burke’s support for the French monarchy was just such a pointless cause. To reinforce this point, Burke is presented in a fool’s costume running the gauntlet past a line of opponents who are each armed with a cat-o’-nine-tails to punish him. On Burke’s left we can see: Helena Maria Williams, the poet, Richard Price, the Dissenting minister and polemicist, Anna Letitia Barbauld, the poet and educationalist. To Burke’s right, are: Richard Brinsley Sheridan, an MP who opposed Burke in the House of Commons, and the figures of Justice, holding out her sword, and Liberty, who turns her back on Burke to support a frail figure with a banner bearing scenes from the storming of the Bastille. To their right, are John Horne Tooke another radical MP and Catharine Macaulay. She, like the other women, wears French tricolours.The people in this print are all linked by their support for the Revolution. The women were distinguished for refuting Burke in print, or so it seemed. Williams who was noted for her sympathetic, eyewitness Letters Written in France had just published a poem in praise of the storming of the Bastille. Catharine Macaulay’s forthcoming attack on Burke’s Reflections had been announced and Barbauld, who had first opposed Burke in March1790, was assumed to be writing another refutation of his Reflections.While only a handful of the responses to Burke were by women, Don Dismallo indicates how the female political voice raised special anxieties. Horace Walpole, who shared Burke’s anti-revolutionary conservatism, dismissed them as cheap hacks who ‘spit their rage at eighteenth pence a head’. He vilified further, describing them as ‘Amazonian allies, headed by Kate Macaulay and the virago Barbaud, whom Mr Burke calls our poissardes’. By referring to Burke’s description of working-class women in the French mob — as fishwives, or the ‘furies of hell’ – Walpole’s comments reflect the conservative fear of female activism.Wollstonecraft’sappeared just a few days before Don Dismallo which explains why she is not figured in the print. According to her biographer, the Vindication received ‘extraordinary notice’, especially once it was identified as the work of a woman.At the same time, her name became associated with other leading revolutionaries who, like Tom Paine, had attacked Burke’s Reflections. She met Paine and many others through Joseph Johnson, the bookseller who was like a father figure to her. He gave weekly dinners which were a meeting place for London’s religious dissenters and political radicals. Among them were Henry Fuseli an extrovert but married artist for whom Wollstonecraft developed a desperate infatuation and eventually proposed a ménage à trois — and William Godwin – a shy and awkward philosopher who was initially irritated by the way she monopolized the conversation but would later become her husband. It was also through Johnson that Wollstonecraft met John Opie, the fashionable artist who became her life-long friend. This was his first portrait of Wollstonecraft painted in the period immediately following the Vindication. It is a sensitive and confident image of a female author, showing her distracted momentarily from her studies.With Opie’s typically dark palette we have the sense that Wollstonecraft is working late into the night. Although Fuseli had criticized her as a ‘philosophical sloven’, Wollstonecraft is shown here with the powdered hair and silk gown of a polite woman. There is no record of Wollstonecraft’s views on this portrait. But her comments on sitting for the portrait below, at about the same time are, however, revealing.She wrote to her supporter William Roscoe, stating that ‘I do not imagine that it will be a very striking likeness; but, if you do not find me in it, I will send you a more faithful sketch – a book that I am now writing, in which I myself . . . shall certainly appear, hand and heart’. This comment contains both prosaic and psychological insight. Apparently Wollstonecraft doubted Williamson’s work but, more importantly, she was did not like giving up control over her own self-representation. The book that she refers to in this letter was her The Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792).It would be an overstatement to call the Rights of Woman an autobiography. The work does however tackle issues of female education, identity and autonomy that had preoccupied and effected Wollstonecraft for most of her adult life. English women she argued had been forced into narrow roles within society, were denied access to education and were thereby trivialized as frivolous creatures whose purpose was only to please men. Moreover, women were complicit in their own cultural subordination through their love of sentimental novels, gossip and fashion. Advocating serious study to lift a woman from sensation to intellect, Wollstonecraft’s rallying cry was aimed at the radical reform of Britain as a whole. “It is time to effect a revolution in female manners – time to restore them their lost dignity – and make them, as part of the human species, labour by reforming themselves to reform the world.Having renounced Christianity in 1790, Wollstonecraft’s proposals were rooted in her belief in ‘perfectibility’ – the doctrine that people can achieve perfection in their lifetime. The work was also based on a levelling principle which took its inspiration from the French Revolution. Both were contentious positions to adopt and yet the Rights of Woman was greeted with approval in 1792. That is because most reviews treated it as ‘an elaborate treatise on female education’. The Analytical Review, for one, managed to overlook the radical elements and conclude that ‘If the bulk of the great truths which this publication contains were reduced to practice the nation would be better, wiser and happier’. The only periodical to attack the Rights of Woman was the Critical Review. This Tory paper correctly identified the revolutionary ambitions and implications of Wollstonecraft’s proposals. It envisaged a world in which Wollstonecraft’s proposals were put into action and decried the social impact if women, once educated to the level of men, refused to continue their allotted duties of child care and nursing the sick. Ironically the French Revolutionary government concurred. Although Wollstonecraft had dedicated the book to the French diplomat Talleyrand, his report on education to the National Assembly in France expressed the view that women were indeed the weaker sex and should follow the ‘will of nature’ in pursuing gentler, domestic occupations.Despite its initial success, the Rights of Woman and its author would become synonymous with libertarian immorality and would soon be shunned. The reasons for this fall from grace were manifold including the reception of Wollstonecraft’s subsequent writings, the details of her private life and the increasingly repressive social and political situation. The personal details were revealed by her widower William Godwin whose Memoirs of the Author of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman was rushed into press four months after Wollstonecraft’s gruesome death in childbirth in 1797.Godwin, a leading radical philosopher, was grief-stricken and stayed away from Mary’s funeral writing ‘I have not the least expectation that I can ever know happiness again’. During a deep and prolonged melancholy, his one consolation was reading Wollstonecraft’s manuscripts including her unfinished novel Maria, or the Wrongs of Woman. Within two weeks, he had begun to write her Memoirs which were published with four volumes of her posthumous works. If this was a cathartic exercise for Godwin, his inability to dissemble ruined the Wollstonecraft’s reputation for generations to come.True to his philosophical ideal that perfection could be achieved by reason alone, Godwin made no attempt to hide the scandals of her life. He shocked readers with details of how Wollstonecraft had lived out of wedlock and had a child with another man, had twice attempted suicide, had become pregnant before her marriage to Godwin and, finally, had refused religious rites on her deathbed. In focussing on her personal life and distress, Godwin aimed to present his dead wife as a ‘female Werther’ – the doomed character in Goethe’s influential novel The Sorrows of Young Werther (1774). But in the end, Godwin’s writing is in fact more an exploration of his own feelings and the culture of sensibility than the Wollstonecraft’s political philosophy.Before her death in 1797, Wollstonecraft was the most widely read political woman in Europe. While her death had been recorded by respectful obituaries, Godwin’s Memoirs made a spectacle of her unconventional life. Describing her as having ‘sentiments as pure, as refined, and as delicate, as ever inhabited a human heart’ his principle mistake was to ask for sympathy for her plight and pose her as ‘the fairest source of animation and encouragement to all who would follow’. Godwin was of course deluded by grief but he also misjudged the moral climate in presenting Wollstonecraft as a role model. Those periodicals that had applauded the Rights of Woman were almost unanimous in wishing Godwin had never written such a ‘tribute’. Her posthumous reputation was also poorly served by his publication of her unfinished novel Maria, or the Wrongs of Woman which excuses adultery, argues for women to have control over their own property and is frank about female sexual appetites.In the end, there was no literary model which Godwin could use to represent Wollstonecraft as a subjective, intellectually assertive woman with desires in a way that did not render her contemptible. Moreover, his catalogue of her sexual exploits and political beliefs provided a rod with which to beat all radical women writers. The grand inquisitor was Reverend Richard Polwhele whose long verse-diatribe The Unsex’d Females, of 1798, was one of the most concerted critiques of late eighteenth-century feminist writers. Using the inflammatory category ‘unsex’d’, Polwhele named and attacked a band of women who, he declared, had abandoned ‘natural’ modesty, supported the introduction of democratic politics and who even went as far as to demand equality with men. Unsurprisingly, he considered Wollstonecraft the archetypal ‘unsex’d female’: See Wollstonecraft, whom no decorum checks, Arise, the intrepid champion of her sex; O’er humbled man assert the sovereign claim, And Slight the timid blush of virgin fame.

A gay couple living in Wynantskill, New York had their home and car struck by vandals this week. John Mcenerney said his partner Lyle Houston woke up Thursday morning to discover the spray painted slur on the side of their home. The crude graffiti is difficult to read but “Jenner Fags” appears visible. A window pane in a side door and the window of Houston’s Jeep were also broken. “You would think my initial gut reaction would be like, ‘oh my God, I fear for my life.,'” said Mcenerney in an interview with WNYT. “I kind of feel more sorry for the person that they felt it was necessary to try to destroy somebody’s house.” WYNT adds: Lyle said there was also an incident Monday night, but his pitbull scared away someone he now thinks was trying to break in. The couple says they aren’t scared, they’re just going to remain positive

Denver's cannabis industry is hoping to add more minorities to its workforce. Two local organizations are teaming up to bridge the gap between people in minority groups and employment opportunities. Marijuana Industry Group and Servicios de La Raza started the initial effort on Sunday at the Vangst Cannabis Career Summit at Mile High Station. Servicios de La Raza provides support services for communities it says are underrepresented in the Denver area. The strong push to hire more minorities was spurred by Denver’s city council, according to MIG executive director Kristi Kelly. “They really threw down the gauntlet to us in the last year and said, ‘Hey, we’re not seeing people of color represented at the same proportion as our city,’” Kelly said. “So, we really want to change that.” The partnership aims to “break down barriers of discrimination and lack of access,” said Servicios de La Raza executive director Rudy Gonzales. “Cannabis businesses offer meaningful employment at living wages,” Gonzales said. “That’s what we look for when we want to break the cycle of poverty.” The two groups hope to use the new strategy to also create opportunities for the people they say have gotten into trouble with the law because of marijuana. The organizations said previous offenders often have a hard time getting jobs and their hope is to make it easier for them to find work. Copyright 2017 KUSA

July 21, 2009 Dennis Kosuth responds to a critique of his article on the 1989 Tiananmen uprising from a member of the Party for Socialism and Liberation. MY ARTICLE on the 1989 Tiananmen Square uprising in China ("Twenty years after Tiananmen Square") for SocialistWorker.org drew a harsh response from Richard Becker, writing for the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL). Including footnotes, Becker's reply is nearly twice as long as my original article. It is packed, every inch of the way, with denunciations of me and the International Socialist Organization, which publishes SocialistWorker.org. Why should a relatively brief article on Tiananmen provoke such a lengthy and hostile response? It isn't because my article was a sustained attack on PSL--I mentioned the organization once, three paragraphs from the end. The answer is that what you think about the Tiananmen Square uprising goes to the heart of what you think about socialism. The American socialist Hal Draper once wrote a brilliant essay titled "The Two Souls of Socialism" that identifies two trends in the socialist movement historically--those who believe socialism can be imposed "from above," in the name of the working class, whether by electing socialists to government office or through a military victory and force of arms; and those who think socialism must be achieved "from below," by the collective action of the working-class majority in overturning capitalism and creating a workers' state based on mass democracy and freedom. The 1989 Tiananmen Square uprising shook China's rulers Becker and the PSL have two feet firmly planted in the "socialism from above" camp. Their identification of China with socialism depends, above all else, on the fact that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) remains in charge. To the PSL, the CCP is, ultimately, the embodiment of socialism, rather than anything to do with the Chinese working class. Therefore, at those points when the CCP bureaucracy was at odds with the mass of the Chinese working class, the PSL sides with the CCP--even when that means defending indefensible repression and violence by China's state machine. Ultimately, PSL's socialism from above drives people like Becker to ever greater--and ever more shrill--twists of logic and distortions of fact about Tiananmen Square. THIS IS clear from the beginning of Becker's response to my article, when he takes offense at my distaste for the Chinese National Anthem--a sign, he says, of my "cultural arrogance, jingoism and apparent ignorance." Besides being born in Hong Kong, I lived on the mainland as well, where I attended public primary school. Since I actually had to listen to the Chinese National Anthem weekly during the flag-raising ceremony at school, I might have some basis for my personal opinion. Perhaps even a stronger one than Becker has for his. In fact, in my article, I pointed out that China's anthem, unlike those of other countries, calls on the people to "stand up" and refuse to be slaves. But it's worth mentioning that the author of these lyrics, Tian Han, died in 1968 while in prison for "standing up." This was during China's Cultural Revolution, which Becker refers to as a period of "debate [and] fierce polemics." Tian Han was on the wrong side of those debates--he was denounced as a "poisonous weed" and charged with opposing the CCP in 1964. He refused to recant and remained in prison until his death at age 70. During this time, the national anthem was changed to "Sailing the Seas Depends on the Helmsman," which ends with the line "Mao Zedong Thought is a sun that never sets." Becker's gripes about me and China's national anthem serve as a jumping-off point for the complaint that I'm hostile to "the Chinese Revolution in its entirety"--back to the 1949 revolution and the victory of Mao's Red Army after the "Long March." Leaving aside the fact that my article is about a rebellion in China 40 years later, the truth is that the ISO does view the 1949 revolution as a step forward in having driven out the colonial powers and ended the imperialist occupation of China. But that doesn't mean we have to say China is a socialist society. It's possible to support the Chinese Revolution, but also believe it wasn't a revolution that put the working class in power--which is the ISO's definition of a socialist revolution, and more to the point, Karl Marx's. The mass of Chinese workers played no role in the 1949 revolution--"socialism" was imposed from above in classic fashion, by the victorious Red Army--and they have never exercised any real authority since then in how China was run. That authority has stayed in the hands of the leaders of the CCP. Becker spends yet more time on another point in China's history that preceded the Tiananmen revolt--the Cultural Revolution. Though initiated by Mao against other members of the CCP leadership, says Becker, the Cultural Revolution sparked a "truly mass movement--first among young people and later among Chinese workers." He also states that "millions of mainly young Chinese engaged in fierce struggle within the CCP, and against some of its top leaders, including Deng." This begs a question about the Tiananmen rebellion in 1989. While it wasn't started by a CCP leader to further a faction fight within the bureaucracy, the Tiananmen movement did take root among "millions of mainly young Chinese," and "later among Chinese workers." It engaged in "fierce struggle" against the CCP and "some of its top leaders, including Deng." So why does Becker hold up one as an example of open debate and free thinking, and the other as something only George Bush Sr. and the CIA could love? What exactly is the PSL's criteria for supporting or opposing a movement from below in a supposedly socialist country? One can only infer that because the Cultural Revolution was initiated by Mao--rather than a mass popular movement from below, as in the case of Tiananmen--it has merit to the PSL. An issue of PSL's Socialism and Liberation magazine that focuses on China characterizes the Cultural Revolution as an "advance and retreat"--with the "old capitalist roaders" ultimately successful at defeating Mao and his allies, some of whom supported a "commune-style state." So for the PSL, the Cultural Revolution was a mixed bag of positives and negatives--while the right-wingers won, it was at least an example of the freedom to dissent in socialist China. Neither Becker nor the Socialism and Liberation writers mention how, from the end of 1968 until Mao's death in 1976, tens of millions of youth were deported to the countryside to halt the Cultural Revolution--and tens of thousands were simply killed. Nor that Mao himself closed ranks with the rest of the CCP leadership to put an end to the Cultural Revolution, out of fear that society would get out of control. SOME SELF-described Maoist organizations view Mao's death and the end of the Cultural Revolution as the end of socialism in China. But for the PSL, even this is going too far. Despite the fact that the "capitalist roaders" have run China without any significant resistance within the leadership since 1976, the PSL still maintains that the CCP should not have been overthrown in 1989. According to PSL leader Brian Becker in Socialism and Liberation, the process of capitalist class relations becoming entrenched in China is "unfinished," and "as long as the [CCP] retains its hold on political power, there is a possibility, however great or small, that this trend can still be reversed." On this basis, the Tiananmen movement is slandered, and the CCP is defended for crushing the uprising by students and workers--with the same logic that the PSL and its forerunner, the Workers' World Party, used in supporting USSR assaults on Hungary to put down the 1956 revolution and on Czechoslovakia in 1968 against the Prague Spring. It would have been a step forward for Chinese workers if the 1989 uprising had won more rights. Becker snidely dismisses this suggestion by me as "some rosy, democratic and affluent future where everyone could vote for various millionaire politicians." I wonder if he would make the same argument about Black people in the U.S. who struggled against murderous Jim Crow racism for the right to vote? Becker views the continued rule of the CCP as more important than the right to free speech, protest or, yes, even voting. He sides with CCP leader Li Peng, who said there were "sufficient human rights" in China--just prior to ordering troops to crush the Tiananmen resistance. Having the rights to free speech, to protest and to organize independent trade unions isn't the end of the matter, of course. But it is certainly better to have them than to be rounded up in the middle of the night and carted off for talking to your coworkers about working conditions. When it comes to insisting that few people were killed in the suppression of the Tiananmen protests, Becker quotes selectively from his dependable sources in the U.S. corporate media, the New York Times and Wall Street Journal. Despite his recognition that the "capitalist roaders" were in charge in China and were developing commercial ties with the U.S., Becker seems unable to comprehend that the U.S. ruling class might have had an interest in downplaying the bloodshed at Tiananmen. There was, after all, money to be made, and after a short period of token protest, the U.S. government and Corporate America got down to the business of making it in China. No one knows how many people died in the Chinese military's crushing of the Tiananmen revolt. What we can say for sure is that the protesters and ordinary people in Beijing suffered the brunt of the violence--not the Chinese military, as Becker absurdly claims. Whatever the exact body count, this is a question of which side you're on--the state and its repressive apparatus, or the resistance. The actions of the student and worker protesters of Tiananmen deserve our support, not the Chinese government. No amount of political contortions can excuse being on the wrong side about Tiananmen.

Well it's haraam for Muslims to fight each other and take each others properties. But besides the scenario, it's permitted to have Muslim/Mumin slaves. Allah speaks about believing slaves in several ayahs of the Quran. In Surah al-Baqara 2:221 = And do not marry polytheistic women until they believe. And a believing slave woman is better than a polytheist, even though she might please you. And do not marry polytheistic men [to your women] until they believe. And a believing slave is better than a polytheist, even though he might please you. Those invite [you] to the Fire, but Allah invites to Paradise and to forgiveness, by His permission. And He makes clear His verses to the people that perhaps they may remember. Surah an-Nisa 4:92 = And never is it for a believer to kill a believer except by mistake. And whoever kills a believer by mistake - then the freeing of a believing slave and a compensation payment presented to the deceased's family [is required] unless they give [up their right as] charity... So Allah speaks about believing slaves while they are enslaved. There's nothing wrong with having slaves in general as long as you treat them properly and give them their rights.

With the help of EB Games and numerous A-League football clubs, Livewire In-Hospital recently hosted a series of launch nights for FIFA 14; the most recent release in the incredibly popular soccer video game franchise. The launch events were held in Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Newcastle, with the participation of players from Perth Glory, Adelaide United, Melbourne Victory, Sydney FC, Western Sydney Wanderers, and Newcastle Jets. Patients in the hospitals were given the opportunity to play FIFA 14 on the day of its release, meeting some of their favourite A-League players, and going head-to-head with them on the game. As it turns out – some of the professionals really met their matches in the video games, with the kids coming out on top on numerous occasions! EB Games provided Livewire with copies of the game, as well as vouchers for prizes. Sydney FC was kind enough to donate some awesome seats to their games for the patients, and all of the clubs bought some sweet swag along to the events. All of the players involved had a great time experiencing the Livewire program too – beyond playing FIFA, players were given the chance to hit the wards (one patient at Sydney Children’s Hospital decked out his room with a plethora of Sydney FC merch – the guys were impressed), do some origami, play some drums, and participate in some of Livewire and Starlight’s favourite pastimes old (Uno Championships) and new (the Head’s Up app is proving immensely popular recently). This series of FIFA 14 launch events was an incredible success for the Livewire program, the clubs involved, EB Games, and most importantly, the patients admitted to hospital nationally. Livewire has plenty more planned for the coming months – hopefully, we can work with clubs again prior to the release of FIFA 15. Livewire is showcasing some of the stuff that we do on Instagram – so check us out there by following @starlight_livewire. Livewire In-Hospital is one of Starlight’s adolescent programs, which is proudly supported by nib Foundation. Livewire In-Hospital aims to bring fresh and exciting workshops to the wards, and empowers hospitalised teenagers to be social and have fun during their admission. Advertisements

Connecticut Secretary of State Denise Merrill has submitted draft legislation to her state legislature’s General Administration and Elections Committee that would establish a system of automatic voter registration through its Department of Motor Vehicles offices. The legislation is modeled after similar laws that recently went on the books in Oregon and California. Including Connecticut, automatic voter registration bills have been proposed in fifteen states in 2016 alone. In 2015, 20 states, plus Washington, DC and the federal government, considered automatic voter registration legislation. In New Jersey, Chris Christie vetoed an AVR bill that passed both houses of the state legislature, although activists in the state have vowed to put the proposal on the statewide ballot and pass it via referendum. Oregon began implementing its automatic voter registration system last month, and has already reported that its rate of voter registration has skyrocketed. According to the Brennan Center for Justice, “Oregon officials reported that based on preliminary data, Oregon Motor Voter added 4,300 people to the rolls in the first six days – more than double the previous average number of registered voters per month.” According to Secretary Merrill’s office, “The data provided to the DMV would populate a voter registration form. An ‘e-signature’ program would permit an electronic signature to be collected so the client could certify citizenship; accept or refuse to register to vote or affiliate with a party. The registration applications would be electronically transmitted to the Registrars of Voters.” The inclusion of an e-signature in their process underscores the fact that, in response to one of the most commonly-raised objections to the policy, automatic voter registration really won’t lead to a large number of undocumented immigrants being added to the voter rolls. As I’ve written before, there aren’t any good arguments against automatic voter registration, although there are a few bad ones. The United States remains one of the world’s only modern democracies that places the burden of registering to vote on the citizen, as opposed to the state. This hurdle keeps millions of Americans who would otherwise vote from casting ballots every year. To that point, a recent report from Demos projected that automatic voter registration via the DMV would add 312,000 people to the state’s voter rolls. The margin of victory in the state’s 2014 gubernatorial race was just over 27,000 votes.

No one at Nabisco’s corporate headquarters in New York City had any idea why members of the National Organization for Women were lined up outside. It was the fall of 1971, and the manufacturer best known for their Oreo and Chips Ahoy! snacks had not made any obviously sexist advertisements or taken any particular political stance. They sold cookies. Then they read the signs: “Sick toys for children make for a sick society.” That May, Nabisco had attempted to diversify by purchasing Aurora Company, the West Hempstead, New York model kit maker best known for their plastic kits of Frankenstein’s monster, the Wolf Man, and other horror film icons. The cheap plastic toys came in pieces and could be glued together and painted. Unknown to Nabisco, Aurora had recently branched out and begun offering entire model kit dioramas. Instead of a single figure, consumers could buy detailed “sets” for their monsters to interact with. There was a guillotine, a razor-sharp pendulum, and a laboratory; a female protagonist, referred to in the copy as “the Victim,” was scantily-clad and ready to be dismembered, beheaded, or trapped in a spiked cage. Kids could also opt to have Vampirella, the top-heavy villain licensed from Warren Publishing, operate the winch and pulley while her plastic captive was shackled to a table. Each kit also contained a comic, which instructed builders on how to assemble the torture scenes for maximum enjoyment. A narrator named Dr. Deadly seemed to opine on the appeal of the Victim once she was fully assembled. “Now that you’ve gotten her all together, I think I like the other way. In pieces … yesssss.” In addition to Fig Newtons, Nabisco realized it had also been peddling tiny torture racks. Z1DO4U via YouTube Since its inception in 1952, Aurora had seen enormous success by exploring the horror genre. As television came into prominence and late movies screened the classic Universal monster films of the 1930s, a new generation of monster buffs had been nourished. Kits featuring Dracula, the Mummy, and even Godzilla were cheap to produce and sell. (Many models retailed for just 98 cents.) Having the consumer construct them with contact cement and model paint gave them a sense of accomplishment. Aurora held contests for custom kits, highlighting winners in monster magazines. By the 1960s, they had started noticing that a lot of submissions revolved around expansive, morbid scenarios: a mad scientist’s laboratory, or an execution motif. To Aurora, it was a clear indication that their consumers wanted context for their models. In 1964, the company unveiled its Chamber of Horrors Guillotine, which featured an unfortunate male sentenced to death via a chopping blade: once activated, his head could be retrieved from the basket, re-attached, and executed once again. While the toy did have some precedent in 1700s France—a two-foot-tall guillotine was popular among children, some of whom used it to decapitate rodents—there was some minor furor from parents, and Aurora didn’t pursue the line. Six years later, the company felt the cultural climate was ready for something more provocative: They began developing a line dubbed Monster Scenes. Using generic characters like the Victim, designers concocted elaborate scenarios that put the unfortunate captives in mortal peril. One scenario had a mad scientist hovering over his captive with a tray full of hot coals and a set of tongs; another designed after Edgar Allan Poe’s The Pit and the Pendulum featured a swinging blade that would cleave the Victim in two. (Or at least nudge her side; once assembled, the toys didn’t easily come back apart.) Aurora also pursued the license for Vampirella, a buxom vampire featured in James Warren’s horror periodicals: Warren sold a lot of Aurora kits via his mail order business, and a decision was made to include his character in the line rather than risk dissolving a partnership. Unpainted, she appeared to be virtually naked. Her counterpart, the Victim, sported hot pants and a halter top; a dress or flowing skirt was deemed impractical in order to have her fit on the torture rack. In a big departure from previous kits, the Monster Scenes featured snap-on parts, the better to lure in consumers who were concerned over fumes from glue or contact cement. Once assembled, the characters could be placed in the Pain Cage, the Pain Parlor, and other disturbing scenarios. Eager to trumpet their daring new line, Aurora’s marketing made the unfortunate choice of plastering each box with a stamp: “Rated ‘X’ for Excitement!” In an included comic book, Vampirella quells concern that someone might hear the Victim screaming by saying, “Don’t worry—this is New York. No one will help her.” (The gallows humor was later interpreted to be a reference to Kitty Genovese, a woman who was murdered in 1964 while apartment-dwellers nearby did nothing.) Monster Scenes debuted at the Hobby Industry Association of America’s trade show in February 1971. Aurora hired model Nina Anderson to demonstrate the playsets, which attracted a stream of curious media members. Anderson, not particularly versed in the features, made a show of lopping off arms and legs before an angry Aurora executive told her the parts weren’t meant for that. But Anderson had perfected her sales pitch. Of Vampirella, she told the Chicago Sun-Times that the busty character could be placed in a cage to “make her a go-go girl.” Still, Aurora thought they had a hit. They even began to sketch out plans to license DC Comics's Lois Lane as a marquee “victim.” Aurora began shipping the kits in March 1971. The characters—Vampirella, Doctor Deadly, the Victim, and Frankenstein—were $1.30, while the dioramas retailed for $2. There was no overestimating adolescent interest. By the fall, approximately 800,000 of the kits had been sold. According to Aurora, the toys were paradoxically healthy for young consumers, allowing them to overcome fearful scenarios by having control over them. The company said it had consulted with psychiatrists prior to producing the torture scenes and found no objection. But parents objected plenty. Letters came in to syndicated newspaper columns and to company headquarters. Kids wrote, too, but with requests for more sets to be added; they wanted gallows, a bed of nails, man-eating plants, and wheels of torture. In her syndicated advice column, Ann Landers weighed in: "For $1.99 you can own a doll named Vampirella. She comes equipped with a beaker of blood. If all this isn’t symptomatic of a warped society, I’d like to know what is." Under fire by NOW and other activism groups, Nabisco was horrified to see headlines in The New York Times and other papers calling attention to the fact that one of its subsidiaries was peddling toys of victimized women in shackles. Under corporate pressure, Aurora began toning down the line by identifying “the Victim” as Doctor Deadly’s daughter, a slightly less generic personification. They also began shipping Vampirella in red plastic instead of the neutral, skin-toned gray that led some critics to declare her nude out of the box. The Pendulum was deemed beyond hope and pulled entirely. The furor over the toys reached television: Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In got a reaction from a joke about the torture toys. By December 1971, Nabisco had endured enough. After promising media they would cease production of the toys, they began to announce a recall of inventory already in stores. Treated like a contaminated product, Monster Scenes had lasted a paltry nine months. As the 1970s wore on, Aurora returned to less controversial kits. Nabisco, flustered by the negative publicity, cut their development budget before selling the company to Monogram in 1977. Plans for a prehistoric line of kits and an extension of Monster Scenes were curtailed in the process. The kits eventually became embraced by collectors, some of whom tried to recreate the store displays or make modifications to the existing kits. Aurora employees queried about the project expressed amazement that the toys had been perceived as sadomasochistic or misogynistic—they felt they were simply delivering the kind of exaggerated play premise that adolescent kids loved. Decades later, toys like Electric Chair Marv—a character from Sin City who could be electrocuted on command—from McFarlane Toys would invite a similar level of controversy, though nothing that quite reached the levels of Aurora’s misstep. Their product had helped compel California legislature to pass a toy ban into law on July 1, 1972 prohibiting “torture toys” and replica grenades from being sold in the state. As for the excess inventory: when Nabisco made the call to discontinue the kits, the remaining stock was hauled to Canada. The boxes removed the “Rated X” endorsement but kept another bit of fine print: “For ages 8 and up.” Additional Sources: Aurora Monster Scenes: The Most Controversial Toys of a Generation.

Guardian investigation reveals death toll over 12 months with many desperately trying risky routes into UK to escape makeshift camps without sanitation at French port Facebook Twitter Pinterest Calais migrants: ‘Get to England or die trying’ At least 15 migrants in and around the French port of Calais have died in the past year as an influx of young men and women from east Africa take ever greater risks to get the UK, according to an investigation by the Guardian. Growing numbers of young families, some with children as young as three, have also arrived in the French town in the past few months and are living in makeshift camps without sanitation or running water. The European director of the UN’s refugee agency (UNHCR) described the situation as shameful and warned more people will die in the refugee camps in the coming weeks as temperatures plummet. “The conditions are totally unacceptable and are not consistent with the kind of values that a democratic society should have,” Vincent Cochetel from the UNHCR told the Guardian. “This is a shameful situation to witness in the heart of the Europe Union.” The French authorities do not generally keep a record of the migrants who die in Calais, but local charities and the UNHCR say at least 15 people, including young women and teenagers, have died in the past 12 months. Last month one man died after attempting to jump from a motorway bridge onto a moving lorry, and two more were killed in nearby Dunkirk when the truck they were hiding in caught fire. Earlier this month an Eritrean man was knocked down and killed as he looked for a lorry to board. Cochetel said he believed conditions in Calais were now worse than those at refugee camps in Turkey, where hundreds of thousands of people arrive each month to escape the bloodshed in Syria. He said the British and French governments had yet to appreciate the severity of the situation. “You will have people dying of cold and even more desperate people taking even more risks,” he said. “Some of the people there are becoming so tired and desperate that they are ready to do very dangerous things.” The French port has repeatedly hit the headlines in the past year, amid an increasingly hostile debate in the UK around immigration and asylum. As more people arrived in Calais – and conditions deteriorated – clashes erupted between different groups of migrants and politicians on both sides of the channel called for ever tougher measures to secure the port. Despite this the harsh reality of life for the people in the camps has been largely ignored. Today a Guardian investigation also reveals: • More and more teenagers and young children – some just three years old – have arrived over the past few months, mainly from East Africa. • Young women living in the camps are being sexually exploited often by trafficking gangs which are offering a route into England in exchange for sex. • New camps are springing up along the coast and around the entrance to the Euro Tunnel as French and British authorities step up security at the Calais port. Juliette Delaplace, who works for Secours Catholique, a charity that has been assisting migrants in Calais for 10 years said: “No other year has seen as many migrants die. They are jumping on lorries and taking more risks.” Most – but not all – of these deaths in the Calais area happened as migrants attempted to make the perilous journey to the UK. In the event of a migrant death the charity helps to raise money from local community groups to repatriate the body. The charity receives no support from local authorities in this process. Those families and friends who can not raise enough money to repatriate their bodies are buried in unmarked graves in cemetery plots usually reserved for the homeless. Migrants, mainly from Eritrea, have gathered their tents in an abandoned warehousein Calais. Many try to hop on trucks to get to England. Photograph: Etienne Laurant/EPA Hussain, an agricultural engineer who left his wife and two young children in Egypt to try to find work to provide for his family, said a friend of his, a 32-year-old from Sudan, died earlier this year after holding onto the underside of a lorry for three hours. “He just couldn’t hold on any longer,” said Hussain who has been in the camp nicknamed “the jungle” for two months and tries every night to get onto a lorry bound for the UK. Cochetel said it was typical of the growing risks people were prepared to take. “We are seeing more and more people taking crazy risks because they feel they have nothing to lose so they take whatever chance they can to get to a place where they feel their life is going to be better or to where they think they will be protected.” Migrants also told the Guardian that trafficking gangs were openly operating in Calais and offering to smuggle people into the UK for between £800 and £2,500. Some said traffickers were coercing vulnerable young girls into having sex in return for being smuggled into the UK. Cochetel said: “We know that it is going on. For a few of them it might be what is termed “survival sex”, a sort of strategy, for others yes it is in-kind exploitation by smugglers in exchange for getting them on the back of a truck.” A 23-year-old Eritrean woman who has been living in Calais for two months told the Guardian she was fearful: “I am not safe living in the jungle. There is a lot of drinking in the camp and this creates problems. It is very dangerous for a woman living here.” Earlier this year more than 100 migrants broke through port security in an attempt to force their way onto ferries bound for the UK. There have also been clashes between different groups of migrants in the town. The UK government has pledged £12m to help secure the port but Cochetel said that was not enough, arguing that people would “always find a way around fences”. He said the UK – along with other northern European countries - had to “provide a mechanism” that allows those with legitimate claims to seek asylum when they first arrived in southern EU countries. And he warned that until there was concerted EU-wide action the situation in Calais was likely to deteriorate further. “There will be more deaths and more tension… in the mid term it is just bad news coming for these people,” Cochetel warned. • Additional reporting: Anne Penketh Escaping from Calais camp: ‘I risk my life – whatever if takes’ With his face lit by the flames from the small campfire Mohammed, a 23-year-old who fled the conflict in Gaza earlier this year, quietly explains how he ended up in a squalid camp just 20 miles from the English coast. “I had no choice but to leave and try and find something better,” he says. “Our house was destroyed …we had nothing, I just wanted to feel one moment of safety, one moment when I am not cold, when I am not treated like an insect.” Migrants in Calais gather food and supplies during the day, waiting for the night or a traffic jam to hop on trucks on their way to England Photograph: Etienne Laurent/EPA Tonight, as on every other evening for the past month, Mohammed and his four friends – two Syrians and two Egyptians, who met on a smugglers’ boat crossing the Mediterranean – will set off on their nightly quest; pitting themselves against the French police and private security guards protecting Calais’s lorry parks and motorways in an attempt to find their way onto the back of a truck and what they hope will be a better life in the UK. “It is dangerous and difficult when you have not had food or sleep but every night we must try,” Mohammed says with a smile as he pulls his hat down against the biting cold. “We have left our homes to find a better life. We can not stay here and put up with this.” He gestures behind him to the muddy field stretching into the distance, spotted with campfires and covered with makeshift shelters. Beyond the tents are piles of rubbish, and beyond that, the strip of wasteland used by the hundreds of people who live here as a toilet. Mohammed and his friends are among thousands of people who, having fled war, persecution and poverty beyond Europe’s borders, are living in increasingly precarious conditions in makeshift camps across northern France – waiting and hoping for their chance to make it to the UK. Many more people seek refuge in other European countries but the concentration of those waiting here and the conditions in which they are living set Calais apart. According to local charities and the UN’s refugee agency at least 15 people, including young women and teenagers, have died in the past 12 months. As first light spreads over the largest camp in Calais – known as the jungle – Mohammed and his friends make their way back to their shelter along a disused railway track after another fruitless night. During the early hours they were chased by police and one of Mohammed’s friends, Hussain from Egypt, was pepper sprayed, before falling into a ditch. His plight prompts gentle mocking from his friends but the atmosphere is sombre. The men have just been told another of their friends – a 32-year-old from Sudan – has died. The group, exhausted and cold from a night tramping the dual carriageways and lorry parks that surround the French port, falls silent. They know it is a fate that could befall any of them. Over the past few months it is not just the numbers of people arriving in Calais that have caused alarm among politicians and aid workers – it is their age. Following the chaos in Libya since the overthrow of the Gaddafi regime thousands of young people have used the failed state to flee oppressive regimes in east Africa in search of a better life in Europe. Among the dirt and makeshift shelters of the jungle, three-year-old Adiam watches her mother Winta, 18, cooking over a small fire of twigs. In one pan are two potatoes, in the other coffee. Adiam plays on a filthy plastic trike as her father Ataklti, 24, explains how he left Eritrea to escape compulsory military conscription and a brutal regime that Amnesty says is responsible for widespread human rights abuses. He takes a battered picture from his wallet of himself smiling next to another man. “He killed himself rather than stay or get locked up and so I knew I had to leave,” says Ataklti quietly. The family left their home in Eritrea a year ago, heading first to Sudan before paying smugglers to take them across the Sahara desert, through Libya and onto another smugglers’ boat bound for Europe. Like many of those in the camp he is reluctant to reveal too many details in case the Eritrean authorities take action against his remaining family. But in a halting voice he says the worst part of the journey was crossing the Sahara, where they had little water and seven of the people they were with died. He says the gangs in Libya “treated them like dogs”. And now sitting in the camp in northern France in the cold he admits he faces a fresh challenge: getting onto the back of a lorry with his three-year-old daughter and young wife. If he does not succeed, the family – who have never experienced a north European winter – face months of freezing conditions sheltering in a derelict sports hall at the centre of the jungle with little food. “It’s very difficult here with a young child because we are trying to get onto lorries which is very dangerous, but I would do anything for her, for her future. I will risk my life whatever it takes,” says Ataklti. According to the UNHCR Adiam and her family are among about 3000 migrants in and around Calais – three times the number at the beginning of the year – who are taking greater risks to try To get to the UK. Most of them live in makeshift camps like the jungle or in squats scattered around the town and survive on one meal a day provided by local charities. The French authorities have pledged to open a new day centre in January to help the most vulnerable people. Opponents have claimed this will only attract more migrants to the town. Those in the camps are sceptical it will ever open and say even if it does it will be too little, too late. Whether the centre does help or not it is clear the problem is no longer confined to Calais. The Guardian spent time with truck drivers who say their lorries are regularly targeted by smugglers in car parks more than 125 miles (200km) from the French port. Migrants have also set up smaller camps across the region from the fields near the entrance to the Channel tunnel to a small wood near a shopping centre in Dunkirk. At one lorry park about half way between Calais and Paris, Matthew, who works for a UK-based furniture removal company, checks his lorry for the final time before turning in for the night. He seems overly paranoid as he points to the hedge surrounding the car park. “They will be in there now watching and waiting to see which lorries look the best bet.” But as dusk settles he is proved right. There is a movement in the hedge and Matthew goes for a closer look in time to see three young men in their late teens or 20s sitting in the bushes. “Even here so far from the coast they are trying to get on now. It is getting beyond a joke.” Two weeks later his firm decide to stop using Calais altogether. For many UK politicians the answer to the unfolding crisis in Calais seems to be two-fold: build bigger and higher fences and make life for those who do make it through to the UK as uncomfortable as possible. Others suggest that only closer co-operation at EU level – with countries from northern Europe working much more closely with those in the south to offer asylum to refugees and return others when they first arrive – can the problem be addressed. However, as record numbers of people flee poverty and war in the Middle East and Africa it seems unlikely that people will stop leaving their homes in search of a better, safer life in Europe for the foreseeable future. “When I get to England I will study and then get a job and work so my daughter can have a better life,” says Ataklti, who a few weeks after we spoke discovered his wife was pregnant with their second child. As he settles down to his one meal of the day as the night closes in on the Jungle he remains sure he is doing the right thing, despite the risks. “We did not have a life at home and we do not really have one here. So we must keep trying.”

Share this... Reddit Linkedin email “No freeman may be taken or imprisoned or be disseized of his freehold or liberties, or his free customs, or be outlawed or exiled, or in any manner destroyed, but by the lawful judgement of his peers, or by the law of the land.” These words were first written in the Coronation Charter, also called the Charter of Liberties, which was a proclamation by Henry I issued in 1100. In 1100! Just think about that for a moment. 915 years ago on this island, uniquely in the world, great men were laying the philosophical foundations of a special type of liberty and striving to restrain the power of their rulers. It marked the beginning of an historic struggle for the soul of England that took place over centuries while absolutism and tyranny was established unchallenged on the continent. When the struggle was won this great country of ours was the freest in the world. Freeborn Englishmen were envied and admired around the globe for the constitutional liberty they enjoyed and the spirit of freedom that thrived here like nowhere else. Sadly, that is all part of history now and we must fight this struggle once again. It is a sign of the times that a British Prime Minister, and a Conservative at that, can say something like this: “For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens ‘as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone’” Did our Prime Minister really think about what he was saying when he uttered these disgraceful words when addressing British citizens? It is astonishingly blinkered to not realise just how dangerous this kind of rhetoric is and what the wider implications are. The British people have been numbed to shockingly illiberal rhetoric such as this, it’s just a continuation of the Blairite authoritarian mantra. It is the equivalent to when Blair said, let no one be in any doubt, the rules of the game are changing”. Well, the rules are changing again and we are close to sweeping away every last vestige of British liberty. As long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone should be a slogan for the British state to forever abide by because it is a basic tenet of a free society. The Prime Minister should remember that he works for British citizens and he is not our master. Sadly, the majority election win is being seen as a mandate to clamp down on civil liberties in the name of security from the Islamist bogeymen. A ghastly combination of paternalism, New Labour style authoritarianism and the restless government urge to be seen to be doing something is the dominant force in the Conservative Party now. There are no longer any restraints on Theresa May and she is preparing anti-terror measures that trample over our freedoms. A counter-terrorism bill including plans for an “extremism disruption order” is to be included in the Queen’s speech. This had previously been blocked by the Liberal Democrats on the grounds of protecting free speech, which is a stand worth remembering and giving credit for. The police will be given powers to apply to the high court for an order to limit the “harmful activities” of someone they deem to be an “extremist individual”. The worryingly elastic definition of “harmful” is to include a risk of public disorder, a risk of harassment, alarm or distress or creating a “threat to the functioning of democracy”. Those deemed to be “extremist individuals” will be banned from broadcasting and will be required to submit in advance to the police any publication intended to be printed or placed on the internet. Extremist groups deemed to be undermining democracy or indulging in hate speech in public places will also be banned. The measures have been stretched beyond stopping those who incite violence to those who are perceived by the authorities to be espousing views or undertaking harmful activities for the “purpose of overthrowing democracy”. How vague, if it to be made illegal to not believe in democracy, should anarchists and purist libertarians be worried? Are revolutionary socialist groups to be illegal? The “extremism disruption orders” are designed to criminalise the intent to promote terrorism, or give hate speeches, and whether an individual has that intent will be based on the judgement of ministers. Essentially the measures are expanding the definition of people who could potentially be imprisoned or have their freedom restricted from those who do things, to those who think things. The language of the Police gets a bit Minorty Report-ish when they speak of targeting individuals who operate in what they call “pre-criminal space”. These new measures have a terrifying potential to be used zealously to the point that they are used in situations in which certain “bad” or “extreme” thoughts never actually led to any action being taken and were perhaps never going to lead to any action being taken. It could mean British citizens being prosecuted in our courts on the basis of their thoughts. The age old test of criminal liability according to Common Law, actus reus non facit reum nisi mens sit rea (the act is not culpable unless the mind is guilty) will be violated as the courts prosecute based only on the guilty mind (mens rea) in the absence of action (actus reus). Thought crime has become part of our public life and discourse and we already arrest people simply for what they say, or tweet. All the old customs of English liberty are fading into memory. Now we seem set to officially introduce thought crime into our legal system. To override the many difficulties of prosecuting thought crime in our criminal justice system (which is set up to protect the rights of the individual) and to pre-empt all the legal challenges it would likely inspire, it is the Home Secretary and ministers who will make judgements, further breaking down the barriers separating the government and the courts that are in place to prevent exactly the abuse of power that these measures represent. “…because it may be too great a temptation to human frailty apt to grasp at power, for the same persons who have the power of making laws, to have also in their hands power to execute them” – John Locke The Terrorism Investigation and Prevention Measures will restrict the individual’s freedom of movement and expression without guilt being proven at a fair and public hearing. We have witnessed the erosion over time of Habeas Corpus, jury trial and the presumption of innocence- the finest safeguards of liberty ever conceived- and we are now witnessing their abolition. These restrictions are also violations of our much ballyhooed “human rights” but luckily these rights come with the conditions, caveats and get out clauses necessary for the government to remove them at will. The Human Rights Act didn’t protect us from New Labour’s bonfire of liberties, it won’t protect us now. The test that should be applied before introducing legislation in the name of security is to hypothesise whether we can foresee this government, or any future government, and the all the authorities it empowers, potentially abusing these new powers in the future. Any thinking and sceptical person can see these measures have a huge potential for serious abuse. Throughout history liberty has been abolished and totalitarianism imposed in a sudden revolution or invasion to the tune of marching jack boots. We feel safe and secure in the knowledge that this is unlikely to happen in Britain but we have been lulled into a false sense of security. Our liberal democracy will not be abolished through a flash of violence; the state will become totalitarian incrementally, measure by measure, introduced with consent of a timid and fearful populace cowering from the terrorist threat. It is unjust and totally contrary to our values for restrictions to be placed on individual freedom without due process. I urge every liberty minded Conservative to dissent; you cannot stand up for, and conserve, British values while violating them in a climate of fear and intimidation. With the exception of incitement to violence, in all cases speech must be free. In a genuinely free society it is only after a crime has been committed that the law becomes involved. Nor do the authorities have any right to pre-approve speech or publications before they are expressed. Just think of what a sad state of affairs it would be for the police to be poring over speeches and articles for signs of “extremism”. Curbing free speech is setting us on to the road to serfdom and tyranny, a road paved with good intentions and calls for greater security. By allowing fanatics to speak and publish openly they can be identified, observed and their networks monitored. If we oppress opinions we are merely ensuring that they are expressed in secret, which is dangerous. The free competition of ideas is essential for societal development and progress, and therein lays the answer. If we allow those who we perceive to have abhorrent and “extreme” views to express them openly we can combat them fiercely. For we know that the ideals, principles and values we hold dear are superior and will endure (if we conserve them). Our timidity is betraying young Muslims lured into temptation by false prophets and corrupt ideology. The ideas and views of Islamists are not just immoral and disgusting; they are downright stupid, ridiculous and laughable. Let us speak up for British values and all the virtues of our free society. We have all the cultural muscle we need to face down these pretentious Islamist dogmatists in the open exchange of ideas. Let them speak openly, and we can defeat them through criticism, refutation, ridicule and satire. By readily betraying our values in the face of terrorism, we are defeated. We are letting them win and we are proving right their assertion that we are weak and hypocritical. It has been said repeatedly that the proposed security measures are designed to protect “British values”. Well, upholding British values means protecting the principles of equality before the law and freedom of expression. If David Cameron and Theresa May are unsure as to what constitutes a British value, I’m happy to offer the following examples: “We must be free or die, who speak the tongue That Shakespeare spake; the faith and morals hold Which Milton held.” “Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conscience, above all liberties.” “If the arguments of the present chapter are of any validity, there ought to exist the fullest liberty of professing and discussing, as a matter of ethical conviction, any doctrine, however immoral it may be considered.”. “He that would make his own liberty secure, must guard even his enemy from oppression; for if he violates this duty, he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself.” Celebrate the Magna Carta – and the continuing importance of liberty – with us on June 10th.