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I just returned from the International UFO Congress (IUFOC) near Phoenix, AZ. We spent the week in a lovely desert casino and resort. The presentations were polished, deeply interesting and certainly entertaining. As one of a dozen representatives of the press, I had the opportunity to privately interview a number of the speakers and a handful of interesting guests. I even got to interview a real Man-In-Black (A retired USAF Colonel). The attendance at the 23rd IUFOC was quite large, about a thousand people, dominated by middle aged to senior citizen attendees. I met more retired engineers, scientists and PhDs than I ever thought I’d know. The younger crowd began showing up towards the weekend. Here’s a sampling of the topic matters presented: • “UFO Abductions are They Spiritual” by Dr. Ted Peters; this talk examined abductions from the context of the spiritual opening up of the abductee. Pointing out that many abductees, despite the initial trauma, found spiritual growth from the experience. • “Owls, Synchronicity, and the UFO Abductee” by Mike Clelland; discussed the phenomena where people who have had close encounters seem to overwhelmingly have a memory of an owl, something that is an artifact in our natural mental archetypes. • “Is Life Restricted to Planet Earth” by Richard Hoover; Professor Hoover established the first astrobiology laboratory for NASA and he discussed the latest findings about life out there from micro fossils found on meteorites. • “How Modern Physics is Revealing the Technology of UFOs” by Robert Schroeder; This presentation was a lively, understandable explanation of how modern understanding of dimensional and particle physics begins to reveal how certain UFO characteristics might be done. This presentation received wide praise. • “Closer than Ever Before” by Jaime Maussan; Jamie is a respected Mexican journalist who showed us video clips from a range of international sources. These clips were the clearest I’ve ever seen and if you didn’t believe in alien craft were in our skies before, you most certainly did after the presentation. These clips clearly showed us craft of a dozen different configurations doing the most amazing things. Did you know that China has had to shut down several of their airports in the middle of their busiest days because alien craft were parked above the airport terminal or hovering over the flight line? This has happened several times in the past several years. We saw the video! • “UFO Disclosure” by Stephen Bassett; scrutinized the topic of Advocacy for Disclosure of the UFO reality by our government and ending the 70 years of truth embargo on the topic. This was one of the most important presentations I attended. Mr. Bassett focused on the long history of secrecy regarding the topic of visitors from elsewhere. The facts are, they’ve been lying to us for 70 years and it’s about time for the government to come clean about it. It could start with honest and serious congressional hearings on the topic. The last hearing (one day’s worth) was in 1968 when the Air Force who had been chasing these things for years, said it was all mass hallucinations, natural phenomena and crazy people. That hearing ended with the recommendation that the subject didn’t deserve the government’s attention or funding for university research. Independent researchers have amassed enough evidence that would standup in any court of law, anywhere in the world. It’s time for the American press and people of America to demand the truth. It’s time for Congress to hold hearings on the topic. Let’s look at some recent New York UFO sightings: 7 February 2014: at about 6:30 p.m. a motorist and his wife were driving near Harriman and observed an orange fireball “streaking” across the sky east to west. 8 February 2014: at about 6 p.m. a Brooklyn resident reported seeing three bright green balls flying rapidly across the sky under the clouds in a south-easterly direction. 8 February 2014: at about 9:30 p.m. a Flushing family observed a “huge cylinder” shaped object moving across the sky accompanied by three bright orange “craft.” 8 February 2014: at about 10:30 p.m. a Queens resident reports that for the second time in two days he observed bright red circular object with white and blue lights hovering in place and doing odd maneuvers. 9 February 2014: at about 1 a.m. a Sullivan County resident was out back packing and began hearing a low toned humming sound. He looked up to see three bright diamond shaped objects passing over head. He estimates that the largest of the three was at least 60 yards across while the smaller two were perhaps 20 yards across. The objects were moving northeast then pivoted and moved sharply to the west. He watched them for about five minutes. Additional people in the region also reported this event. 10 February 2014: at about 6:30 p.m. a motorist driving on the Taconic State Parkway North Bound near Beekman noticed lights in the sky. The motorist took the next exit and stopped and attempted to take photos. He observed a large diamond shaped object flying close to the ground. He states the object had two blinking red lights and one steady white one. He reported that the craft was totally silent in its motion. If you have a UFO sighting to report, you can use either one of the two national database services: www.NUFORC.ORG or www.MUFON.COM Both services respect confidentiality. If you have a story to tell, I’d love to hear the when, where and what. Email it to NYSkies@DragonLadyMedia.com. The names of witnesses will be omitted to protect their privacy. Click the photo for more NEW YORK SKIES comments

Former Liverpool and Atletico Madrid star Luis Garcia to play in Indian Super League Luis Garcia: To play in the inaugural Indian Super League Champions League winner Luis Garcia has been unveiled as the marquee player for Atletico de Kolkata ahead of the franchise’s participation in the inaugural Indian Super League. The 36-year-old had two spells with Atletico Madrid – joint owners of the Kolkata franchise – either side of a three-year spell with Liverpool where he won the FA Cup, the UEFA Champions League and the European Super Cup. The former Spain international had announced his retirement from football earlier this year after spending two seasons playing in Mexico, but confirmed his participation in the Super League via his twitter account. “I'm very excited to share with you my new challenge. I've decided to join Atlético de Kolkata,” Garcia tweeted. The Indian Super League, which is set to run for two months beginning in September, will feature eight franchises and is the brainchild of the All India Football Federation and its marketing partner IMG-Reliance. Each franchise is allowed one marquee player and FA Licensed agent Baljit Rihal of Inventive Sports believes Garcia’s arrival is the beginning of an exciting period in India’s football history. “I think it’s a really important step for Indian football and more so because of Garcia’s links with Atletico Madrid,” the Asian Football Awards founder told Sky Sports. “It’s also a really big statement of intent from the organisers because of the he fact he is also an ex- Liverpool player and Liverpool FC are very big in India. “Being a Champions League winner himself makes this move huge because Champions League viewing figures in India run into the tens of millions and Garcia is a name that Indian football fans know. “I think the announcement of further marquee players is imminent and I think there may well be some even higher profile names than Garcia. “Robert Pires, Robbie Fowler, Hernan Crespo and Michael Chopra are the sorts of names that have been floating about. “Garcia wasn’t even in the mix earlier and there is a lot more to come but I wouldn’t be surprised to see some high-profile players come that haven’t even been linked.” Atletico de Kolkata have also confirmed former Bolivia national team boss Jose Antonio Habas will manage the club, which counts former India Test captain Sourav Ganguly as one of its owners. Ganguly added: “Atletico de Kolkata is all set to epitomise core Bengali values and philosophy and provide the platform to nurture the raw talent available all across this state which produced some of the country’s best footballers in the past. "We will strive to showcase the finest quality of football synonymous to an iconic club like Atletico de Madrid.”

Testing PCIe x8 vs. x16 lane arrangements can be done a few ways, including: (1) Tape off the physical pins on the PCIe foot of the GPU, thereby forcing x8 m ode; (2) switch motherboard PCIe generation to Gen2 for half the bandwidth, but potentially introduce variables; (3) use a motherboard with slots which are physically wired for x8 or x16. It’s time to revisit PCIe bandwidth testing. We’re looking at the point at which a GPU can exceed the bandwidth limitations of the PCIe Gen3 slot, particularly when in x8 mode. This comparison includes dual Titan V testing in x8 and x16 configurations, pushing the limits of the 1GB/s/lane limits of the PCIe slots. We also can’t test NVLink, as we don’t have one of the $600 bridges – but our work can be done without a bridge, thanks to explicit multi-GPU in DirectX 12. Fortunately, YouTube channel BitsBeTrippin agreed to loan GamersNexus its Titan V, bringing us up to a total count of two cards. We’ll be able to leverage these for determining bandwidth limitations in supported applications; unfortunately, as expected, most applications (particularly games) do not support 2x Titan Vs. The nature of being a scientific/compute card is that SLI must go away, and instead be replaced with NVLink. We must therefore rely on explicit multi-GPU via DirectX 12. This means that Ashes of the Singularity will support our test, and also left us with a list of games that might support testing: Hitman, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, Total War: Warhammer, Civilization VI, and Rise of the Tomb Raider. None of these games saw both Titan V cards, though, and so we only really have Ashes to go off of. It goes without saying, but that means this test isn’t representative of the whole, naturally, but will give us a good baseline for analysis. Something like GPUPI may further provide a dual-GPU test application. We’ve previously found unexciting differences of <1% gains between x16 vs. x8 PCIe 3.0 arrangements, primarily relying on GTX 1080 Ti GPUs for the testing. There were two things we wanted to overhaul on that test: (1) Increase the count of GPUs to at least two, thereby placing greater strain on the PCIe bus (x16/x16 vs. x8/x8), and (2) use more powerful GPUs. Our test platform includes 2x Titan V cards, the EVGA X299 Dark motherboard, an Intel i9-7980XE, and 32GB 3866MHz GSkill Trident Z Black. We were using the Titan Vs under air for these tests. When overclocked, they were set to a stable OC that was achievable on both cards -- +150 core and HBM2. Ashes is being run at 4K with completely maxed settings. We set them to “Crazy,” then manually increment all options to the highest point, including 8xMSAA. This was required to ensure adequate GPU work, thereby reducing the potential for a CPU bottleneck. PCIe 3.0 was introduced in 2010, brought with it an encoding scheme upgrade that reduced bandwidth overhead from 20% to 2%, and significantly improved transfer rates. We’ve had trouble saturating theoretical maximum PCIe bandwidth recently, with even single 1080 Ti cards not showing much more than a 1% difference – largely within error margins. This test should find the limits. Ashes of the Singularity: Single vs. “SLI” Titan Vs “SLI” in scare-quotes, here. Starting first with our dual versus single Titan V benchmark, we overclocked the cards equivalently in each setup, then tested with 16 PCIe lanes available. The cards tested at 63.3FPS AVG for the dual configuration, with lows at 25 and 22FPS for 1% and 0.1% low frametimes. The single Titan V configuration operated at 37.6FPS AVG, immediately establishing that we are seeing large, noteworthy games. Unfortunately, Ashes is where they stop, as we were unable to get other games to detect both Titan Vs. The stock cards compare at 33FPS AVG versus 57FPS AVG, which is a noteworthy gain of 72%. Either way, we’re already seeing 68.4% gains from adding a second card, which is significant; no, the Titan V is not a “gaming card,” or even a gaming architecture, but it is scaling in games. PCIe 3.0 x8/x8 vs. x16/x16 on Titan Vs Moving on to the PCIe lane bandwidth testing, our charts now focus on x16 and x8 configurations, both overclocked to push the limits of the PCIe clock. We’re measuring 63FPS AVG for two cards with an x16 interface, and measuring 56FPS AVG for two cards with an x8 interface. That’s about 12-13% of performance improvement with PCIe Gen3 x16, and is significant in illustrating that we’re nearing the end of Gen 3’s bandwidth, which is 15.75GB/s for 16 lanes. PCIe Gen 4 will push about 2GB/s per lane, and will resolve any potential issues, but nVidia is also using its $600 NVLink bridge to solve for this. As for single cards, we did not notice any appreciable difference between single Titan V configurations in x8 versus single configurations in x16. It appears that we start encountering the most issues when transacting across two cards. The question becomes whether or not you’d notice this in other applications. Not every application cares about PCIe bandwidth; mining is a great, modern example, where GPU miners use x1 slots for all their work. It’s possible that applications more tailored for the Titan V would not run into this issue, as the two cards may not need to transact between each other as much. If you use these types of devices for their intended, scientific purposes, please let us know and we can do more bandwidth testing – let us know what applications you use, too, as we aren’t experts in that area. Conclusion: Finally Finding the Limits, but -- This isn’t representative of the whole. We’ve tested one game, here, and that’s about the limit of what is even compatible with 2x Titan Vs. Production software, like Blender or Premiere, won’t stress the PCIe interface in the same way – the cards don’t need to talk to each other, in these scenarios, and can operate independently on a tile-by-tile or frame-by-frame basis. Gaming puts more load on the PCIe bus as the cards transact more data to create each frame. These devices, as stated before, aren’t meant for gaming, so that’s largely a non-issue. They also aren’t really compatible in 2-way configurations, so that further eliminates the realism of this test. What we are left with, however, is a somewhat strong case for waning PCIe bandwidth sufficiency as we move toward the next generation – likely named something other than Volta, but built atop it. SLI or HB SLI bridges may still be required on future nVidia designs, as it’s possible that a 1080 Ti successor could encounter this same issue, and would need an additional bridge to transact without limitations. Editorial, Testing: Steve Burke Video: Andrew Coleman

HALF of all Irish drivers admit to breaking the speed limit – and men are the worst offenders, a new survey shows. HALF of all Irish drivers admit to breaking the speed limit – and men are the worst offenders, a new survey shows. Research published today found 64pc of men admitted to speeding compared to 49pc of women. Our top three bad habits are driving too fast, forgetting to dim lights when meeting on-coming cars and driving too close to the car in front. Alarmingly, 10pc of drivers admitted to driving without a seatbelt in the past year, according to the survey carried for Liberty Insurance’s Safe Driver Campaign. Both sexes are guilty of taking their eye off the road with almost one in five admitting to eating, shaving, applying makeup or brushing their hair while driving. Almost half of Irish drivers have also experienced another driver forcing them to pull in to allow an overtake manoeuvre while only 4pc admitted to doing this. Two-thirds of drivers have experienced another driver not using their indicator while overtaking but only 15pc admitted to this. Most worryingly, only 1pc admitted to driving without a seatbelt while children were in the car while almost two in five drivers have said they observed this in the past year. The research, conducted by Millward Brown, also saw men admit to suffering more from frustration on the road. A total of 24pc of men admitted to unnecessarily beeping the horn compared to 16pc of women. And a quarter of women admit to having taken more than three turns when trying to park compared to 17pc of men. The campaign is aimed at encouraging motorists to think more about driver safety by examining their driver behaviour and that of others. The top three bad habits that Irish drivers have admitted to are driving over the speed limit (56pc ), forgetting to dim lights when meeting on-coming cars (31pc ) and driving too close to the car in front (22pc). Liberty Insurance head of marketing Annette Ni Dhathlaoi said: “ Many Irish drivers are guilty of bad habits such as tailgating, driving over the speed limit or taking our eye off the road which can lead to road accidents.” Online Editors

Officially, the central bank holds $8.14 billion (£4.65 billion) of foreign currency, but if forward liabilities are included, the real reserves may be only $3 billion - enough to buy about 30 days of imports like oil and food. Nine months ago, Pakistan had $16 bn in the coffers. The government is engulfed by crises left behind by Pervez Musharraf, the military ruler who resigned the presidency in August. High oil prices have combined with endemic corruption and mismanagement to inflict huge damage on the economy. Given the country's standing as a frontline state in the US-led "war on terrorism", the economic crisis has profound consequences. Pakistan already faces worsening security as the army clashes with militants in the lawless Tribal Areas on the north-west frontier with Afghanistan. The economic crisis has already placed the future of the new government in doubt after the transition to a civilian rule. President Asif Ali Zardari has faced numerous but unproven allegations of corruption dating from the two governments led by his wife, Benazir Bhutto, who was assassinated last December. The Wall Street Journal said that Pakistan's economic travails were "at least in part, a crisis of confidence in him". While Mr Musharraf's prime minister, Shaukat Aziz, frequently likened Pakistan to a "Tiger economy", the former government left an economy on the brink of ruin without any durable base. The Pakistan rupee has lost more than 21 per cent of its value so far this year and inflation now runs at 25 per cent. The rise in world prices has driven up Pakistan's food and oil bill by a third since 2007. Efforts to defer payment for 100,000 barrels of oil supplied every day by Saudi Arabia have not yet yielded results, while the government has also failed to raise loans on favourable terms from "friendly countries". Mr Zardari told the Wall Street Journal that Pakistan needed a bail out worth $100 billion from the international community. "If I can't pay my own oil bill, how am I going to increase my police?" he asked. "The oil companies are asking me to pay $135 [per barrel] of oil and at the same time they want me to keep the world peaceful and Pakistan peaceful." The ratings agency Standard and Poor's has given Pakistan's sovereign debt a grade of CCC +, which stands only a few notches above the default level. The agency gave warning that Pakistan may be unable to cover about $3 billion in upcoming debt payments. Mr Zardari is expected to ask the international community for a rescue package at a meeting in Abu Dhabi next month. This gathering will determine whether the West is willing to bail out Pakistan.

‘To suggest we don’t fight this out to the end would be, I think, a very bad mistake,’ senator said after reports Obama had asked party to back Clinton Bernie Sanders says calls for him to drop out of Democratic race are 'absurd' Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, responding to reports President Barack Obama called on Democrats to rally around Hillary Clinton as the likely nominee, said on Thursday it was “absurd” to suggest he drop out of the race. Sanders concedes defeat to Clinton in Missouri Democratic primary Read more Obama privately told a group of Democratic donors last Friday that Sanders was nearing the point at which his campaign against Clinton would end, and that the party must soon come together to back her, the New York Times reported. Sanders, a Vermont senator and democratic socialist, while saying he did not want to comment directly on Obama’s reported remarks, pushed back on the idea that his campaign had run its course and he should throw in the towel. “The bottom line is that when only half of the American people have participated in the political process … I think it is absurd for anybody to suggest that those people not have a right to cast a vote,” Sanders told MSNBC in an interview. The White House on Thursday said Obama did not indicate which candidate he preferred in his remarks to the donors. Clinton, a former secretary of state in the Obama administration, has a large lead in the race for the Democratic nomination and she won all five states that were contested on Tuesday. Contested convention: what happens if Trump fails to win enough delegates? Read more Sanders said he will do better in upcoming contests in western states, after losing to Clinton in a number of south-eastern states. “To suggest we don’t fight this out to the end would be, I think, a very bad mistake. People want to become engaged in the political process by having vigorous primary and caucus process. I think we open up the possibility of having a large voter turnout in November. That is exactly what we need,” Sanders said. “A low voter turnout, somebody like a Trump can win. High voter turnout, the Democratic candidate will win,” he said, referring to Donald Trump, the front-runner in the race to pick the Republican nominee for the November presidential election.

Following up on Ace’s post here is Biden telling Chris Matthews back in 2007 that he is deadly serious about attempting to impeach Bush if he goes to war in Iran without congressional authorization: Matthews: You said that if the President of the United States had launched an attack on Iran without congressional approval that would have been an impeachable offense. Do you want to review that comment you made? Well how do you stand on that now? Biden:Yes I do. I want to stand by the comment I made. The reason I made the comment was as a warning. I don’t say those things lightly, Chris, you’ve known me for a long time. I was chairman of the judiciary committee for 17 years or its ranking member. I teach separation of powers and constitutional law. This is something I know. So I got together and brought a group of constitutional scholars together to write a piece that I’m going to deliver to the whole United State Senate pointing out the President has no constitutional authority…to take this nation to war against a county of 70 million people unless we’re attacked or unless there is proof we are about to be attacked. And if he does, if he does, I would move to impeach him. The House obviously has to do that but I would lead an effort to impeach him. The reason for my doing that, I don’t say it lightly, I don’t say it lightly. I say it because they should understand that what they were threatening, what they were saying, what it was adding up to be, what it looked like to the rest of the world we were about to do would be the most disastrous thing that could be done in this moment in our history that I could think of.

Evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins — who in 1976 famously coined the term “meme” in his seminal, must-read book The Selfish Gene — is nowadays best-known as the world’s most celebrated atheist. This week, Dawkins brings us his first sort-of-children’s book, The Magic of Reality: How We Know What’s Really True — a scientific primer for the world, its magic, and its origin, an antidote to the creationism mythology teaching young readers how to replace myth with science, and a fine addition to our favorite soft-of-children’s nonfiction. With beautiful illustrations by graphic artist Dave McKean, Dawkins’ volume is as accessible as it is illuminating, covering a remarkable spectrum of subjects and natural phenomena — from who the very first person was to how earthquakes work to what dark matter is — in a way that infuses reality with the kind of fascination and whimsy we’re used to finding in myth and folklore. Each chapter begins with a famous myth from one of the world’s religions or folklore traditions, which Dawkins proceeds to myth-bust by examining the actual scientific processes and phenomena that these stories try to explain. Here’s an introduction from Dawkins himself: The Guardian’s Tim Radford sums it up nicely: I cannot think of a better, or simpler, introduction to science as a good idea: simpler, because the starting point is the world’s palpable, experienced reality rather than say formal subjects such as genetics, wave mechanics or astrophysics; better, because it could hardly be more up-to-date.” BBC has a great short segment, in which Dawkins explores the relationship between comfort and truth, and explains why evolution is the most magical, spellbinding story of all, more poetic than any fable or fairy tale: When you think about it, here we are, we started off on this planet — this fragment of dust spinning around the sun — and in 4 billion years we gradually changed form bacteria into us. That is a spellbinding story.” ~ Richard Dawkins The book comes with a companion immersive iPad app. In an age when we’re still struggling to convince the powers that be of the value of public science and some public schools still perpetuate the mythology of creationism, Dawkins delivers a sober yet wildly absorbing and magical dose of reality in The Magic of Reality — one that brings to mind Jonah Lehrer’s reformulation of the famous Picasso quote: “Every child is a natural scientist. The problem is how to remain a scientist once we grow up.”

A Pennsylvania man was arrested at Trump International Hotel in downtown Washington on gun charges. Police say he brought an assault rifle, hand gun and ammo with him in his vehicle, but it's unclear if he had a plan for the weapons. News4's Mark Segraves reports. (Published Wednesday, May 31, 2017) A man accused of having guns and 90 rounds of ammunition in his car was arrested inside Trump International Hotel early Wednesday after D.C. police and the Secret Service received a tip about him. Bryan Moles, 43, of Edinboro, Pennsylvania, was arrested after police found he had an assault rifle, a handgun and ammunition in his car in a parking garage at the hotel in downtown D.C., authorities said. "The officers and our federal partners, and in particular the tipster coming forward, averted a potential disaster in our nation's capital," said D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham. Moles was arrested inside the hotel shortly after 1 a.m. Wednesday, police said. He is charged with carrying a pistol without a license and possession of unregistered ammunition. Top News Photos: R. Kelly Leaves Jail After Paying Bond D.C. Police and the Secret Service acted on a "report of a potential threat against Secret Service protectees," a statement from the Secret Service said. The agency soon determined that protectees were never at risk. It's not immediately clear what Moles' intentions were. It wasn't immediately known if he has an attorney. Authorities learned Moles was traveling to Washington, D.C. with the weapons and ammunition about 12:30 a.m. Wednesday. D.C. police and the U.S. Secret Service "almost simultaneously" received information from Pennsylvania State Police that a man was traveling to D.C., possibly to Trump International Hotel, armed with weapons, Newsham said at a news conference Wednesday morning. Pennsylvania State Police received the information via a tip and shared it quickly, Newsham said. D.C. police and the Secret Service responded and contacted hotel security, who found the suspect's vehicle in the parking garage. Police found one of the guns in plain view inside the suspect's car; the other was found in the glove compartment, authorities said. Moles had checked himself in to the hotel about 1 a.m., Newsham said. Authorities found Moles inside the hotel and arrested him. The Trump International Hotel issued a statement saying that the guest had been "behaving suspiciously." "This morning, the authorities arrested a guest who was behaving suspiciously. The matter is under investigation, therefore it would be inappropriate for us to provide additional details," the statement said. The hotel did not respond to an inquiry about whether a valet may have seen a weapon in the suspect's car. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser called the incident "disturbing" but said it was resolved "quickly and peacefully." "Today's incident is an important reminder that when you see something, it is important to say something to an official," Bowser said.

The first ever cross-carrier RCS interconnect in North America has been successfully completed between the US carrier Sprint and Canadian carrier Rogers. This announcement was made in a tweet by Nick Fox, Google's vice-president for Communications Products. The completion of cross-carrier RCS interconnect means that the subscribers of both operators may now use the Android Messages app to send not only messages but also images and links to each other. Fox also added that there will be more cross-carrier RCS interconnects to be completed soon, which is needed to fully realize the potential of RCS messaging. Fox also responded to a question regarding RCS support of Project Fi phones. At this point, Project Fi users cannot send messages to each other using the RCS protocol but according to Fox, Google is currently working on how Project Fi could support the said protocol. He promised that there will be future announcements regarding the said matter soon. Rich Communications Services, or more commonly known as RCS messaging, is developed as an evolution of SMS messages. RCS messaging supports additional features like sending images and support for group chats. While there are numerous messaging apps that provide the same features that RCS messaging offers, RCS is a viable option for users who either do not want to be tied to a single messaging service or do not want to install numerous applications just to contact people. The completion of cross-carrier RCS interconnects is just one of Google's efforts to make RCS messaging more ubiquitous. The search giant has worked with carriers around the globe to ensure widespread use of the messaging protocol. In the recent months, more carriers like Orange, Vodafone, and Deutsche Telekom have announced their intention to support RCS messaging on their networks. While carrier support is important for the success of RCS messaging, Google is also working with industry partners that could take full advantage of RCS's features. For example, Google collaborated with Virgin Trains to use RCS messaging to send scannable boarding passes to passengers and access to the station map. In addition, several smartphone manufacturers are also involved in the efforts to make RCS messaging more widespread through incorporating the Android Messages app in their devices.

Houston drivers can't rejoice in much as they plod along crowded streets and highways, but data released Monday suggests congestion improved between 2015 and 2016 just enough for them to cook pizza rolls, maybe even microwave popcorn if they have a long commute. In its latest annual ranking of congestion around the world, TomTom - which operates mapping and traffic software common in car navigation systems - found Houston traffic improved slightly last year from 2015. Of the 25 worst U.S. cities for congestion, Houston was the only one where congestion decreased from 2015 to 2016. Officials with the Houston-Galveston Area Council have cited job losses as one reason traffic along some routes is easing. Losses in the energy sector have also been blamed for deep reductions in commuter bus use, according to Metropolitan Transit Authority officials. Other factors might have also decreased average commute times in the area by affecting the math, said Nick Cohn, senior traffic expert at TomTom. "In 2015, Houston had so many days that were affected by flooding," Cohn said. "I know you had days in 2016 affected as well, but it appears more days were affected by flooding in 2015." Completion of major freeway projects - such as the Grand Parkway - and movement of jobs around the region can also affect the results, Cohn said. After two years of drivers spending 25 percent more time behind the wheel as a result of congestion, last year Houstonians only wasted 24 percent of their travel time, compared to free-flow traffic conditions. That and other changes to travel patterns led to the extra time drivers spend on the road during peak congestion dropping from 34 minutes in 2015 to 32 minutes last year, for an hour of non-peak driving. For example, someone driving from Spring to Houston's central business district could have a 60-minute round trip in no traffic. But that same round-trip drive would typically take 92 minutes each day, the extra 32 minutes caused by congestion. Drivers didn't exactly rejoice at the extra time, noting a few seconds less after years of freeway work wasn't a fair trade. "So what you're telling me is nothing has changed," said Todd Norton, 44, who drives Interstate 10 from Spring Branch to Loop 610 for work five days a week. Reluctantly, Norton acknowledged with so much population growth in the area - the Houston region added nearly 160,000 people from July 2014 to July 2015 - it "beats everything getting worse." The decrease might not be felt by many drivers, but did lead to Houston falling from 11th to 16th among U.S. cities in terms of congestion. Austin, at 15, now has the dubious distinction as having the worst congestion in the state. Worldwide, Houston was 117th, with Los Angeles and San Francisco the two U.S. cities to crack the top 30. Dallas-Fort Worth, meanwhile, does surprisingly well for a large U.S. city, Cohn said. Dallas benefits from a combination of recent road improvements and jobs spread across the region and not just along key corridors as is the case in Austin - where a few bad routes weigh heavily on overall congestion. Some caveats come with the rankings and data. The amount of time TomTom cites and uses to compare congestion and free-flow isn't based on how long it takes to travel in the region, where some commutes are far longer than in other metro areas. The 32 minutes in Houston represent the extra time local drivers waste because of traffic during an hour of driving. In Chicago, tied for 13th among U.S. cities, drivers spend a higher percentage of time in congestion, but waste 29 minutes - three minutes less than in Houston - because of differences in how far people travel. A number of traffic rankings, including the Texas A&M University Transportation Institute's Urban Mobility Report, focus on comparing conditions with and without traffic. Critics say it is a misleading way to compare cities because sprawling ones like Houston mean it is possible to have no congestion and a lengthy commute, and more urban areas can have a lot of congestion, but commutes of a few blocks instead of a few miles. Within the region, routes have experienced changes, even if the average commuting times only moved slightly. "Westheimer has gotten better east of (Loop 610) and worse west of it," Cohn said.

Looking for news you can trust? Subscribe to our free newsletters. Unlike the tea party, the Occupy movement hasn’t involved itself much in elections. But that hasn’t stopped a slew of progressives and political outsiders from capitalizing on the movement’s energy. Here’s a rundown of 10 electable House and Senate hopefuls who, one way or another, have made Occupy part of their campaigns: Hakeem Jeffries (New York): “Income inequality is worse now that it has been since prior to the Great Depression,” the state assemblyman said during a passionate speech at an Occupy rally in Brooklyn this fall. In January, Jeffries announced that he’d run for Congress in New York’s Tenth Congressional District against 15-term incumbent Ed Towns, who’d angered labor unions when he cast the deciding vote in 2005 for the Central American Free Trade Agreement. Since then, Jeffries has picked up endorsements in the Brooklyn district from prominent unions such as the Communications Workers of America. Prospects: Fair. Jeffries’ success could hinge on stopping the Tenth District from being redrawn to exclude his state assembly district, where he’s popular. Lori Saldaña (California): “Lori Saldaña has leapt headlong into the Occupy movement,” writes the San Diego Union-Tribune. While that may be a bit of an overstatement, the Democratic former assemblywoman certainly caters to the cause with her campaign slogan: “Fighting for America’s middle class.” In January, she joined a rally organized by Occupy the Courts in protest of Supreme Court rulings that give corporations the rights of people. Prospects: Good. A recent poll ranks her as the frontrunner in the primary and just six points behind incumbent Republican Rep. Brian Bilbray. But an independent who may enter the fray could strip away some of her supporters. Alan Grayson (Florida): Nobody running for Congress has done more to side with Occupy Wall Street than the outspoken former congressman from Orlando. In October on Real Time with Bill Maher, Grayson destroyed conservative pundit PJ O’Rourke with a fiery defense of the movement. A clip from the segment now features in an Occupy-themed video that automatically plays on the Grayson campaign’s homepage. Beloved by progressives for his voting record and willingness to go on the attack—he likened Dick Cheney a blood-sucking vampire and summed up Republicans’ health care plan as “die quickly”—Grayson lost his reelection bid in 2010 but is attempting a comeback in Florida’s new Democratic-leaning 9th Congressional District. Prospects: Excellent. He’s one of only three candidates whom the DCCC has named “Majority Makers,” meaning that their races are top priorities. Norman Solomon (California): A well-known political author and activist, Solomon is a feisty underdog in a race to fill an open congressional seat that includes ultra-liberal Marin County and parts of Northern California’s pot-friendly Emerald Triangle. He has visited Occupy protests in seven towns across the district, making the movement a central focus of his campaign. “From Manhattan to Marin County and beyond people are anguished, disgusted, angry, and—increasingly—determined,” Solomon wrote on his website after attending an Occupy protest in San Rafael. He pledges not to accept any donations from corporate political action committees, arguing that “corporate money is habit-forming.” Prospects: Fair to Good. Though his campaign has 850 volunteers and has landed support from Democracy for America and celebrities such as Phil Donohue and Sean Penn, October polls put him between 5 and 13 points behind a less liberal Democrat. Eric Griego (New Mexico): One of the most progressive members of the state senate, Griego gave a speech at Occupy Santa Fe this fall denouncing corporate personhood. He’s also one of a handful of elected officials who signed Occupy Santa Fe’s “99 Pledge,” a commitment to vote for rigorous campaign finance reform. Prospects: Good. Griego’s centrist primary challenger for the vacant seat, former Albuquerque Mayor Marty Chavez, is tainted by the arraignment* of his live-in girlfriend on embezzlement charges. But another contender in the race could divide the progressive vote to Chavez’s advantage. Elizabeth Warren (Massachusetts): In an interview this fall with the Daily Beast, the Harvard Law prof took credit for creating “much of the intellectual foundation” for Occupy Wall Street. (Read our profile of Warren here.) She didn’t back down when Republicans tried to tie her to the movement’s extremist factions: “She understands why people are so angry and why they are taking the fight to the street,” her spokesperson told the Washington Post, adding that Warren will “take the fight to the United States Senate.” Prospects: Good. The latest poll shows Republican incumbent Scott Brown breaking away with 49 percent of the vote to Warren’s 41 percent, but she’s still within striking distance in what’s expected to be a close race. Tammy Baldwin (Wisconsin): In 2010, the National Journal called Baldwin the most liberal member of the House. She earned kudos in November from the Occupy crowd for sponsoring a resolution opposing any government deal that grants criminal immunity to banks. “When the conventional tools for expressing yourself…are closed and your voice is cut off,” Baldwin has said of Occupy Wall Street, “what else is left but to use the possibility of standing on a soap box and screaming to anyone who will listen?” Prospects: Excellent. She is the likely Democratic nominee to replace the retiring Sen. Herb Kohl. Wenona Benally Baldenegro (Arizona): Two years after Democratic Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick lost her Arizona congressional seat to tea party Republican Paul Gosar, she’s campaigning to retake it. But she could lose in the primary to Baldenegro, who blames her for alienating supporters with votes against the pro-union Employee Free Choice Act and for job-killing foreign trade bills. A Harvard Law grad who’d be the nation’s first Native American congresswoman if elected, Baldenegro has renounced campaign donations from corporate lobbyists and supports taxing the rich and public financing for elections. In late October, she joined six other progressive House candidates—including Griego, Sheyman, and Saldaña—to hand-deliver House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) 35,000 signatures from people who “stand with the 99 percent.” Prospects: Fair. Though Kirkpatrick sports name recognition and support from the Democratic establishment, Baldenegro has the endorsement of progressive Congressman Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz). More important, the district’s boundaries were redrawn last year to include Navajo strongholds that will back her. Hansen Clarke (Michigan): Sponsoring legislation to forgive student debt has made the Detroit Congressman a hero to thousands of college kids involved with Occupy. During the movement’s March 1 “Occupy Education” protests in Washington, DC, activists relayed a statement from Clarke using the famous people’s mic: “Young people in America should be able to pursue higher education to achieve their dreams without worrying that this decision will devastate their financial futures.” Prospects: Good. Though he’s running against another incumbent Congressman in a consolidated district, Clarke has an early cash advantage and growing list of union endorsements. Ilya Sheyman (Illinois): A 25-year-old former national mobilization director for MoveOn.org, Sheyman has made Occupy’s message of shared prosperity a key theme of his campaign. “Right now, the wealthiest 400 Americans in this country have as much wealth as the bottom 150 million,” he said during a Democratic primary debate this fall. “We are seeing those at the top get wealthier and wealthier while the middle class gets squeezed. So yes, I am a supporter of Occupy Wall Street.” Prospects: Good. Read my companion piece on how his March 20 primary race could be a bellwether for progressives in 2012. UPDATE: Many people have contacted me with the names of other Occupy-friendly candidates. If you have suggestions for other races to check out, leave them in the comments or send them to @JoshHarkinson on Twitter, where I’ve been RTing them. *Correction: An earlier version of this story reported that Chavez’s girlfriend had been convicted on embezzlement charges. She has been arraigned on those charges but not convicted. Mother Jones regrets the error.

0 Warner Bros. has released a large batch of almost 60 new high-resolution images from director Guillermo del Toro’s upcoming film Pacific Rim, and it’s sure to tide fans over until the full film hits theaters next month. For those unaware, the story is kicked off by the emergence of monsters (known as Kaiju) who start a war that devastates humanity. To fight back, humans build giant robots (known as Jaegers) that are controlled by two pilots. The pic looks to be a rollicking good time at the movies, and I absolutely can’t wait to see it on the biggest screen possible. If you missed any of Steve’s set visit coverage, be sure to check out his video blog recap and 20 things to know, plus his interviews with Guillermo del Toro, Charlie Day, Ron Perlman, and executive producer Callum Greene. Hit the jump to check out the images. The film also stars Charlie Hunnam, Rinko Kikuchi, Idris Elba, Clifton Collins Jr., Max Martini, and Rob Kazinsky. Pacific Rim opens in 3D on July 12th. Click on any image for high-resolution. Here’s the official synopsis for Pacific Rim:

Developer Inti Creates have confirmed that they will be announcing two new Nintendo Switch games later this month at Bitsummit 2017. Inti Creates had already said last month they would be announcing two new games at BitSummit – one of the largest independent game events held in Japan. CEO Takuya Aizu has now confirmed the games will be on the Switch during a lecture at Tokyo Sandbox 2017. BitSummit 2017 will take place 20 and 21 May at the Miyako Messe in Kyoto. This will be the fifth iteration of the yearly event, and promises to showcase indie talent from a range of developers. Inti Creates is a Japanese developer that have been going since May, 1996. Comprised of ex-Capcom staff, the company and has made a name of itself with the Mega Man Zero and Mega Man ZX series. More recently they were the force behind the acclaimed reboot Blaster Master Zero on Nintendo Switch, which has recently received some welcome DLC. Although we have no idea what kinds of games the developer will announce, their excellent track record makes me hopeful Switch owners are in for a pleasant surprise. We’ll report more news as it comes in – keep it at Nintendaily for the latest. Source/via

A couple of days ago I stood in line for little over an hour at a national sporting goods outfitter/retailer along with 30 other people (no lie, 30, because I counted them all in front of me) as some of us waited to purchase a firearm while others waited to pick one up. As the line slowly snaked to the counter, with more people adding to the line behind me, I began to look at demographics of the people waiting — predominantly white with about 25% hispanic, predominantly male — I was one of three women, but the other two weren’t buyers, more like the girlfriend/wife — assuming US citizens, all age groups from mid-20’s to 70’s, middle-class/blue collar, and suburban to the outlying collar counties. While most people habitually talk about anything but politics and religion when they’re in groups, whoa! Not this time. They were a chatty bunch with time on their hands. I’ll share with you some snippets of conversation overheard in the gun line: “Ya know, the guy at the counter told me that this store usually sells about 3000 guns a month. Last month, they sold over 7500.” “This is nothing. I got here at noon, and the line was all the way back to the counter by the wall.” “I’m here because of Obama.” “I used to work for an ecology company; we used to clean the pond over at Washington Park there in Chicago. Our equipment always used to get stuck from all the dead bodies the gang bangers through in. That’s Chicago for you.” “Did you know that the helos were ready and waiting to take off and she called ’em back.” “Yeah, my brother-in-law is ex-military. You can’t even mention Benghazi in front of him. You mention that guy we traded the Talibanis for, and you swear his hair’s gonna catch on fire.” “Yeah, I just finished their concealed carry …. like 25 people in the class.” “Dude, they’re jammed everywhere.” “Here in Illinois, the laws stink. Every place people are gettin’ shot, are places you can’t carry, that’s why they’re gettin’ shot.” “If there’s a sign on the door that says no guns, I don’t go in; I’ll take my business elsewhere.” “You just never know anymore. Shopping malls, anywhere, you’re just not safe anymore.” “After what happened in California, my wife told me to get another gun.” “It’s gonna get worse. I’m waiting for Obama’s gun grab.” “Just let ’em try, I’ll be waiting for ’em.” “Damn, right!” “Yep. Me, too.” “Hey, you see the sale on ammo?” “Yeah, picked up 10 boxes. You gotta keep on training. If I gotta shoot somebody someday, I wanna be sure they’re down.” And that’s just the conversations I overheard. They’re actually quite mild compared to what I hear at the gun range. There, “A**hole”, is used interchangeably with “Obama,” and witch with a “b” replaces Hillary. So what was I picking up about the mood of this country from some of these comments and conversations. Here in blue state Illinois that just elected its first Republican governor in 12 years, if the northwest suburbs of Chicago are a microcosm of the larger citizenry of the US, there’s an obvious, apparent sense of anxiety, uncertainty, fear for self and family, anger, and just downright fed up. I’ve watched people’s expressions and listened to voice tone while at the counter in the store. At this particular store where I shop, it’s nothing for the gun counter to be four-people deep, as people clutch onto their tickets waiting for their turn. For some people, this is their first firearm purchase, and you see their look of surprise when the sales associate tells them they need their FOID card first before they can buy a gun or even look at one out of the case. For others purchasing, one of the principal must haves is a high capacity magazine. “Concealed carry” is one of the most oft-heard phrases you hear while waiting. So where does the “The Donald” fit into all of this. He’s certainly tapped into the mood of the people I stood in line with. He’s talking about what used to be the proverbial elephants in the room, immigration and radical Islam, and, that people feel they don’t recognize the America they grew up in anymore. Add in Obamacare havoc, the sluggish economy, the number of people out of the labor force, Obama’s blatant disregard for our nation’s laws, and you have a cauldron waiting to boil over. Whether these same people will pull the lever for Trump next November, if he wins the Republican nomination, has yet to be seen. However, this is not the first time that I’ve heard people voice their willingness to fight if it comes to that to protect their families and their Second Amendment rights. Whether it’s two parts bluster/bravado and one part reality, that reality can become very real, very fast with far-reaching consequences. We’re living in uncharted territory; we’re living in dangerous times, when so many Americans believe that their government won’t do what is necessary to protect them. So, history repeats itself. As the colonists took up arms three centuries ago, we’re doing the same today. Three hundred million guns and counting.

One of North Carolina’s chief advocates for lesbian, gay and transgender youths has purchased a Monroe Road building to be its first permanent home and the eventual site of a shelter for LGBTQ youths kicked out by their families. Time Out Youth, founded 25 years ago, says renovations at 3800 Monroe Road will start this month, with plans for a grand opening on April 9. The 7,400-square-foot building includes a plot of land where the new 10-bed shelter is planned. Construction will start in 2019 and be complete in 2020, creating the city’s first shelter space devoted to homeless LGBTQ youths. The property is already zoned for both current use and future shelter plans, officials said. Time Out Youth Board Chairman Michael Condel said news of the purchase is being combined with the unveiling of a five-year campaign to raise $3.4 million for the land purchase, building renovation and construction of the shelter. The building sits near the intersection of Monroe and Eastway/Wendover. Sign Up and Save Get six months of free digital access to The Charlotte Observer The agency paid $875,000 for the new site at a time when program attendance at its current North Davidson Street center has nearly doubled in just 12 months. That jump is credited in part to publicity surrounding North Carolina’s controversial anti-gay law House Bill 2. The law, passed last year by the state, prevents municipalities from adopting laws that give civil rights protections to LGBT people. An attempt to repeal the law failed in December. “The center is here to stay,” said Condel, in a statement. “We were already outgrowing our North Davidson Street space, and with the attention that HB2 received in the state and national press during the past year, there were increased demands for services from youth, parents, educators and allies.” The capital campaign also intends to raise money for establishing an endowment fund through the Foundation for the Carolinas that will secure the agency’s financial stability, officials said. Time Out Youth exists to offer a safe gathering place for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning youth between the ages of 11 and 20. It has operated a fledgling housing initiative in recent years that places homeless LGBTQ youths with volunteer hosts. However, only 10 youths a year can be housed, due to lack of space. Construction of the shelter will remedy that problem, officials said. Time Out Youth has been located for the past three years at a site on North Davidson, where it will remain through March, officials said. The agency operates on a $550,000 annual budget, with six full-time staff, three part-time staff, more than 100 volunteers. SHARE COPY LINK Members of the touring company of “The Bridges of Madison County” visited Time Out Youth in Charlotte Thursday to mentor LGBT folks.

**Bumped Up From TAMWire. Posted By Alain41** Secret Service wanted to land 12 helicopters On Windsor Castle grounds for Obama’s visit. Queen Elizabeth II said no way, Obama’s helicopters ruined the lawn on his previous visit. Queen limited Obama to 3 helicopters. Britannia rules the grounds! Via Legal Insurrection: The Queen called President Obama’s entourage “over the top,” and refused to yield in her scaled back security demands. According to the Deccan Herald: The Queen called Obama’s bevy of choppers “over the top”, meaning the Secret Service had to rethink their plans to land about six aircraft in the 300-year-old gardens of her main residence. “It was a write-off and the Queen was not amused,” ‘Daily Express’ quoted a royal source as saying. “Her Majesty refused to back down and said, ‘three helicopters only’. The Secret Service had to go away and think about their plan. The President’s officials were told that the Queen regarded Windsor Castle as her family home and the most important of all royal residences,” the report said. “She rarely imposes her will but when she does people listen – it just took the US Secret Service agents a little time to realise that,” the source said. The Queen, whose 90th birthday was celebrated recently, said there was no chance Obama’s extensive security backup would be accompanying him to Windsor Castle. Her insistence came after Obama’s helicopters damaged the grass when half a dozen of them landed during his last visit in 2011….

(CNN) -- Tuesday's elections are projected to be the most expensive midterms in history - costing almost $4 billion, according to Center for Responsive Politics, a non-partisan group that tracks money in politics. Four billion bucks is a boatload of cash. It's 10 times more than the government has committed to fighting Ebola in West Africa and would be enough to build 100 treatment centers and run them for years. That kind of money could also buy 25 F-18 fighter jets, pay for more than 12,000 students' K-12 education and have enough left over to produce a summer blockbuster. Or, maybe it makes more sense to think about elections for what they are - glorified marketing campaigns. It took Apple, the world's most valuable company, the last four years or so to spend four billion advertising dollars. Now, with some sense of the scale for the cash being thrown around, let's take a look at how it's being spent to influence how voters think about this election. The bulk of that money is being spent by parties and candidates on the nuts and bolts of campaigning, things like staff salaries, advertising and get-out-the-vote efforts. But $1 billion of it is being spent by outside groups not formally tied to candidates or parties. But that's not to say they don't have a dog in the fight. "Outside spenders are trying to buy influence. This year the Senate is up for grabs, we see massive spending in these competitive races. These people want to have their guy win, and they want their guy to know that they helped him win," said Ian Vandewalker of the Brennan Center for Justice, which supports campaign finance reform. And much of that money comes from groups that don't disclose all their donors -- known in politics as dark money groups. They've grown in popularity since the Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling loosened campaign finance rules to allow groups to raise unlimited money from secret donors and campaign for or against candidates. Vandewalker looked at nine races that could decide control of the Senate and found that by the end of September more than half of the roughly $160 million spent by outside groups came from dark money groups. In Kentucky, a dark money group working to re-elect Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell has already spent about $7.5 million, making the Kentucky Opportunity Coalition "the biggest-spending, single-candidate dark-money group in the history of Senate elections," Vandewalker wrote in his report on election spending. Because Kentucky Opportunity Coalition can take unlimited contributions to support McConnell, it essentially circumvents federal contribution limits, Vandewalker argues. Donors can give the max contribution of $5,200, which is publicly disclosed, directly to McConnell's campaign and then give unlimited secret money to Kentucky Opportunity Coalition. The problem, Vandewalker said, is "voters really don't know who is trying to influence their votes on Election Day and who is trying to influence the elected officials who are going to take office after Election Day". Curt Devine contributed to this report

Whether you are a company driver (whatever company that may be), or an owner-operator, we are all on the same team, we are a community. Please stop acting like the entire universe revolves around only you. All of these unprofessional behaviors most of us learned by nursery school age. I have heard it time and time again — you want to be treated as a true professional, well guess what, you have to act like a true professional or you will always simply be an amateur!” –Former OTR driver Charles Brady of Spanish Lake, Mo. The “unprofessional behaviors” mentioned above are what former trucker and restaurant manager Charles Brady claims to have witnessed day-in, day-out at the truck stop where he works today as a maintenance man. In a letter to a variety of trucking-media outlets, including Overdrive, this week, Brady laid out something of a diatribe that nonetheless holds some truths I reckon many of you well agree with, including the one above. I won’t include the letter here in total, as its various points have been brought up time and again here, particularly in a variety of entries in my colleague Wendy Parker’s blog dealing with fuel-island etiquette (i.e., the isle is not a parking lot) and things of this nature: The crux of Brady’s argument is that there’s a strong current of unprofessional selfishness rearing its head in a lack of basic courtesy on offer from drivers at his truck stop (which he doesn’t name and which he’s quick to note does not necessarily share his views, which he says are his alone). “Our goal is treat you like a member of our family visiting our home for a holiday meal,” he says. “Whether you are simply refueling and going, taking a 10-hour break or a 34-hour reset, we provide goods and services to make your stay relaxing, safe and comfortable.” There’s lots of diesel and windshield washer fluid, among other truck supplies, in all of that, not to mention but mention anyway cleaning “four restrooms every hour and as many as 200 showers a day,” Brady adds. “We empty 100 trash cans inside and outside four times a day.” Too often, he says, however, the unprofessionals among the true professionals throw a wrench into things and make all of that much harder and, well, sour the experience for all involved. Brady ticked off a litany of 20 and more things that included among other things one day recently picking up 75 empty beer cans in one day from the lot, but the general idea is this: “Anything and everything that is a hindrance” to the driver who tosses something out into the lot “now becomes a hindrance for me — dumped pallets, huge pieces of cardboard, anti-slip mats, old food, mud flaps, etc. “I am asking for the entire team of Professional Drivers’ help.” As Wendy’s written, while shaming individuals or a group into making something better might well be counterproductive in many instances — and as she put it, “there’s not enough time in the day to attempt shaming people into acting right,” and “it also shames the entire industry to propagate these unfortunate incidents” — if you see opportunity to make a personal difference with someone you observe doing something clearly outside the bounds of appropriate respect for a shared space, in a constructive way, by all means take that opportunity. Here’s wishing a safe weekend to everyone out there, particularly those on the Southeast Atlantic coast.

Have you ever had an old grand-uncle that you haven't seen in ages and that you have almost completely forgotten about suddenly show up from out of nowhere? His return quickly reminds you why you originally found him so annoying since he is still obsessed about the same grudges upon which he still continues expounding in an aimless manner. In this case it is former liberal talk show host Phil Donahue who appeared with Brian Stelter on his CNN Reliable Sources show on June 25. Yes, it was the same old by the numbers predictable liberal Phil and, of course, he was obsessed over President Donald Trump. Donahue went into some bizarre places in order to express his hostility towards Trump, starting with his obsession with people taking cell phone pictures at Trump rallies as we shall see in the following clip: BRIAN STELTER: What do you see? You see a lot of bad news out there? PHIL DONAHUE: Well -- STELTER: I mean, Five months into the Trump presidency and you're not known for being a very conservative guy. DONAHUE: No. That's true. I think the press really missed or at least ignored an important story. That is, as Trump walks out at the rallies, you know, all the cell phones above the head that you see from the back? STELTER: Yes. DONAHUE: Who are those people? No mystery. They are people with cell phones who want to record their encounter with President Trump. <<< Please support MRC's NewsBusters team with a tax-deductible contribution today. >>> DONAHUE: The mayor of South Bend, Indiana, Pete Buttigieg, is the one who is saying his constituents are looking at all of this and saying, what about me? I think the mainstream media has -- it's Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump. They haven't drilled down on why is he president? How did this happen? And I think they're going to discover -- well, I think it's already revealed. These are angry people. These are -- as we know now -- white working class people. Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan. These are the people who make things. Or -- and they don't -- maybe they haven't had a raise in eight years. The rumor is that their company is being sold. Their kids can't pay back their college loans. They come back exhausted from their day at the factory. And they read the paper where a guy in a hedge fund made a million dollars on Thursday. You can't do this to people. Sooner or later, they're going to go kaboom. And they did. And the kaboom expressed itself in the election of Donald Trump. Same circumstance for Brexit. David Leonhardt, new... STELTER: "New York Times," yes. Yes, time now for Donahue to flit to another anti-Trump topic to ramble aimlessly about. DONAHUE: A new voice on the op-ed page, and I think a welcome one, had a fascinating piece just this week. He makes the point that the reason -- the people who elected Donald Trump president didn't vote. If... STELTER: You mean because so many people didn't vote. And now Donahue rambles on and on about how Trump got elected because so many people didn't vote. DONAHUE: Yes, right. The victory for -- or at least the people who cause him to lose would be the people who didn't vote who wouldn't have voted for him. It's a little bit of a difficult thing to grasp. STELTER: I made that mistake on air yesterday. I said on CNN, oh, well, 46 percent of the country voted for President Trump. Actually, no, about 19 percent of the country voted for Trump, and then a little bit more for Clinton, and then a lot of people didn't vote. DONAHUE: Hypocrisy is killing us. We're running around America -- America -- and at least half of us don't vote. Only 17 percent of 18-to-24 -- the earliest voters are not voting at all. Older voters have a better record, to be sure. Okay, enough with that shtick, Phil. Could you now bore us with another anti-Trump aimless ramble? DONAHUE: I mean, this is the Republican mantra. The only thing government should do is build things that go boom. And we have people out here whose financial strength is serious in deficit. And now we have got a health care -- Republicans are sleeping with a time bomb and they're not sure what to do. But it's all making the middle class angry. And now to Donahue's strange fixation with the young women behind Trump at his recent rally in Iowa: DONAHUE: And these -- the people are left with television shows that are talking about Trump, Trump, Trump. And I have to say -- and, by the way, he gets on the airplane, a big old airplane, flies anywhere in this country and four cars meet him, all black limousines. And he goes to the nearest, largest venue in that area and sells out. Not an empty seat. Walks in. And now they're producing these -- this is fascinating me. The other night at his rally, there were four or five really cute white girls. There are black people at those rallies, but you got to look for them. And they're behind him. STELTER: You're talking about the rally the other day he had in prime time on TV. DONAHUE: Yes. Well, it's happening more and more. They're being produced. These little girls are taking his picture. He turns around and faces them and they're taking then -- and then they're showing... STELTER: You don't think that was a coincidence, huh? DONAHUE: Oh, come on. This is a brilliant management of a campaign that continues. Donahue finally leaves behind his obsession with "these little girls" but sounds no less unhinged as he rambles on and on with his Trump antipathy until the sad end of the interview.

Remember those choose your own adventure books that you used to read as a kid? As you read through the book, you come to these points where you have to make a decision for the main character, and depending on what you chose, a tailored adventure would divulge itself. It always seemed like death was a common ending no matter what path you chose though. Michael Niggel of Hazard Creative took a look at Journey Under the Sea, and mapped out all possible paths. It turns out that death and unfavorable endings are in fact much more likely than the rest. That somehow seems wrong, no? I liken it to something like… even in your own fantasy, you die or end with an unfavorable outcome. Such is life, I suppose. View the full-size version here [PDF]. [Thanks, Michael]

WHEN I got the tip-off late last week that young men were circulating nude images of women without their consent, I felt disgusted. But when I logged on to the website in question and saw that dozens of Australian high schools were also featured on the site, I immediately realised two things: first, this was a much bigger story than I had originally anticipated. And two, before I did anything else I needed to urgently contact the police and make a child pornography report. I called the NSW Sex Crimes Squad, who I’ve previously had positive dealings with. I was initially advised to hold off publishing until they had a chance to capture all the data, and to prevent the men on the site from deleting any child porn images. As a public advocate for survivors of sexual violence, there was no question I would oblige. I decided to quietly get to work creating a spreadsheet of all the school names mentioned on the site so I could later run the story. Verifying and cross-referencing the school names took some time. You wouldn’t believe how many “St Marys” there are in this country, for example. Some schools were easier to identify than others as users had posted the school logo or the logo was visible on a school uniform. (One image, for example, depicted a high school girl performing oral sex, while wearing her school uniform emblazoned with the logo). Other schools’ names had to be cross-referenced using the names of victims and the geographical location. The more I dug, the deeper the rabbit hole got. In total I identified 74 Australian schools targeted by the site and 2071 images on the Australian image board of both young women and teen girls. The range of photos was sickening. From close up images of vaginas, known as “box-shots”, through to images of girls who appeared to have no idea they were photographed (showering, sleeping etc). One user admitted stealing images from a computer he had been asked to fix. Other images had been obtained through coercive means. There were girls as young as 14 begging to have their images taken down and one particularly heartbreaking series of images of a young looking girl on a doona that looked like it belonged to a child. Once the story went live, the response was immediate. The public was outraged. A small number of men came after me, using my own very public assault against me. But it was the Queensland police reaction that absolutely flabbergasted me. Yesterday, the Queensland Police issued a bizarre statement boasting that based on “an initial investigation” the site “does not appear to contain any child exploitation material”. This is despite the fact that users themselves have described material as “CP” or Child Porn. This is despite the fact that there are hundreds of “box-shots”, or images which feature just a close up of a girl’s genitalia and there is simply no way of knowing whether this constitutes child exploitation material until all the victims are first identified. One comment by a user on the site says “not everyone here is 18+. There are photos on the Perth thread of a girl from when she was groomed by a pedo when she was fourteen”*. Even worse, when one victim from Ballina went to the police last week to report that she had discovered nude images of her 16 year old self on the website, she was laughed out of the place. (Under federal law, a nude sexually explicit image of anyone under the age of 18 is classified as child porn). “The guy I spoke to, an older guy, just laughed pretty much. He said that’s what I get for taking them,” she told Triple J’s Hack program. What’s really disturbing is that this is exactly the sort of attitude that the perpetrators themselves are saying on the website. One comment says “don’t be a slut, darling and you won’t end up here”. Another says “you have no one to blame but yourself.” That’s not all. According to Sharna Bremner, from End Rape on Campus Australia, the statement issued by Queensland Police is “grossly inappropriate” as it puts the onus entirely on victims to protect themselves, while utterly ignoring the responsibility of the men and boys involved. Of the 228-word statement, not a single syllable is spent condemning or even addressing the actions of the perpetrators. Instead girls are put on notice and told to “protect themselves”, adding that any photos that they have placed on social media are “there for the taking”. Never mind that some of these girls have been photographed without their knowledge or consent. Never mind that putting all the onus on girls to forward manage the behaviour of men only erases the responsibility of all those boys and men who have actively hunted and trawled for victims. VICTIM TIAHNA PROSSER: ‘IT WAS LIKE I HAD BEEN SOLD’ The statement also advises parents to caution their children about the “consequences” of posting their own personal information online, but not a whisper on the legal consequences for those who maliciously exploit victims. Apparently the fact that this is a crime doesn’t rate a mention. “To direct parents to warn their daughters, without also directing them to talk to their sons is inappropriate. This stems from the same logic that tells girls not to get drunk or wear short skirts, while failing to spend even one second talking to boys about consent,” said Ms Bremner. “I agree we must be talking to young people about these issues, but we should start by talking to potential perpetrators about the consequences of their choices, rather than always putting it on girls to manage [and prevent] their own exploitation and victimisation,” said Ms Bremner. This isn’t just Bremner’s own opinion. Research consistently shows that when rape and prevention messages are aimed at potential perpetrators rather than potential victims, this actively reduces the rates of sexual assault. In Canada, a brilliant campaign titled “Don’t Be That Guy” targeted potential offenders with slogans like, “Just because you help her home doesn’t mean you get to help yourself,” and, “Just because she is drinking doesn’t mean she wants sex.” Six months after the campaign was released in Vancouver, there was a 10 per cent drop in the number of rapes being committed — the first drop in several years. In fact, prior to the release of the campaign, the numbers had been steadily growing. Not only did the campaign arrest the trend, it reversed it. That’s why it’s so disappointing that Australian police continue to ignore the evidence that shows that telling women and girls to modify their behaviour only confirms for perpetrators that they are entitled to do what they are doing. After all, let’s not kid ourselves that perpetrators aren’t also listening in on the advice that police dispense to women and girls — and what they hear is that this is the girls’ fault. The simple fact is that when we tell women not to get drunk or wear short skirts, all we are really doing is downstreaming the problem to the next girl on the street. We’re saying, “Don’t rape me, rape the other girl, the drunker girl, the girl in the even shorter skirt.” Frankly I don’t want any girls to be raped. And I don’t want them to be exploited online. And the best way to prevent both those things is if we target potential perpetrators. FULL STATEMENT FROM QUEENSLAND POLICE Queensland Police have conducted inquiries regarding a website containing indecent images of young women. “While we have not received any formal complaints, we are working with our interstate colleagues, the AFP and the eSafety Commissioner and have conducted an initial investigation into the origin of the site. “We believe the site is hosted overseas and does not appear to contain any child exploitation material,” Detective Superintendent Cheryl Scanlon of the Child Safety and Sexual Crimes Group said. Material contained on the site are images and information that has been obtained from social media sites and from across the internet. “We cannot stress how important it is for everyone to protect themselves online. Pictures you post on social media sites are unfortunately there for the taking to anyone who is your friend, or even a friend of a friend. “You may post the image now and be happy with it, but unfortunately down the track when you change your mind, they cannot be retrieved. Anyone can access them and once they are gone, they are gone forever,” Detective Superintendent Scanlon said. “We encourage parents to talk with their children openly about these matters and discuss the consequences of posting too much personal information, including your school, your age and your suburb online. Once this information is matched with a photo of you, then the possibilities are concerning,” she said. If you have further information or would like to report concerns contact Crimestoppers on 1800 333 000 or the Child Protection Helpline on 132 111. If you or someone you know has been impacted by sexual assault or exploitation support is available at 1800 RESPECT and Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800. *Quotes from the site have been slightly altered to prevent reverse searching.

In a landmark congression-al hearing Tuesday, former Guantánamo detainee Murat Kurnaz described abuses he said he endured while in US custody – among them electric shock, simulated drowning, and days spent chained by his arms to the ceiling of an airplane hangar. Lawmakers were also provided with recently declassified reports, which show that US and German intelligence agencies had determined as early as 2002 that Mr. Kurnaz had no known links to terrorism. Still, he was held for four more years. Kurnaz's testimony to Congress, via videolink, as well as a report released Wednesday showing that FBI agents were troubled by the harsh interrogations at Guantánamo, are the latest signs of growing concerns in the United States about the prison camp, which has become emblematic of what many around the world see as American excess in the war on terrorism. Nowhere was the disquiet more evident than in lawmakers' responses. Politicians on both sides of the aisle, who had once accepted Pentagon assurances that those held at Guantánamo were the "worst of the worst," reacted with outrage and regret to Kurnaz's statements, which were broadcast from his hometown of Bremen, Germany. Rep. William Delahunt (D) of Massachusetts, who chaired the hearing, said Kurnaz's account – denied by Pentagon officials – was something "every patriotic American should find repugnant." Even Dana Rohrabacher, a stalwart Republican and defender of the Guantánamo prison system, voiced concern, saying, "It could be after seeing those buildings go down and 3,000 of our people were slaughtered, we moved so quickly that some mistakes were made.... The documents seem to indicate mistakes were made in this case." Among the documents given to lawmakers is a May 2003 report from Brittain Mallow, the commanding general at the time of the Criminal Investigation Task Force, a Pentagon intelligence unit that interrogates and collects information on detainees. It notes, "CITF is not aware of evidence that Kurnaz was or is a member of al-Qaida." Another memo, from German intelligence agents who interrogated Kurnaz under CIA supervision in 2002, reads, "USA considers Murat Kurnaz's innocence to be proven." 'Innocent' but not set free The papers are only the latest batch to surface in Kurnaz's case, where the record clearly shows that he was repeatedly designated an enemy combatant despite evidence of his innocence. Much of the testimony given by Kurnaz, the first former Guantánamo detainee to appear before Congress, focused on his treatment at Kandahar Air Base in Afghanistan, where he was taken after being arrested in Pakistan in December 2001. While there, he said was subjected to "water treatment," which involved having his head dunked in a water-filled bucket. "They stick my head in the water and at the same time they punched me in the stomach so I had to inhale the water," he said, using English he picked up in detention. Kurnaz, dressed in a black satin pinstriped suit and seated next to his lawyer, also claimed he was routinely beaten, subjected to extreme temperatures, and chained by his arms to a ceiling, adding that "the pain from this treatment was beyond belief." Having grown up in Germany, which was schooled in the rule of law by the US, he said he "couldn't believe Americans would do these kinds of things." Commander Jeffrey Gordon, a Pentagon spokesman, refused to comment on his treatment, but said in a written statement, "The abuses Mr. Kurnaz alleges are not only unsubstantiated and implausible, they are simply outlandish." The Bush administration has repeatedly insisted that those held at Guantánamo are enemy combatants that pose a threat to the US. Earlier this month, for example, a former detainee from Kuwait was found to have participated in a suicide bombing in Iraq. Why he was kept for four more years Two months into his detention, in February 2002, Kurnaz was moved from Afghanistan to Guantánamo. In September of that year, three German intelligent agents were invited to the island to interrogate him under CIA supervision. According to transcripts of testimony they later gave before Germany's parliament, the US and German intelligence agencies agreed that there was no evidence of links to terrorism and cleared him for release. But German officials, wary of looking soft on terrorism after a Hamburg cell was found to have played a key role in the 9/11 attacks a year earlier, blocked his return. Apparently as a result, Kurnaz stayed at Guantánamo for another four years. The Pentagon summary from his August 2004 tribunal proceedings show that the key charge against him was that he was "a close associate with, and planned to travel to Pakistan with" a man named Selcuk Bilgin, who, the Pentagon claimed, "later engaged in a suicide bombing." These allegations turned out to be untrue: Mr. Bilgin is living in Germany with his wife and children, and has never been charged with any crime, according to German police. It has since come to light that at least three classified documents in Kurnaz's Pentagon file pointed to his innocence, but because detainees do not have access to classified evidence, he had no way of knowing this. Pentagon support for his detention US District Judge Joyce Hens Green, who delivered a 2005 ruling on Kurnaz's claim, and those of 62 other prisoners challenging the legality of the Combatant Status Review Tribunals, found that Kurnaz's case was an illustration of the "fundamental unfairness" of the system, particularly its reliance on "classified information not disclosed to the detainees." (Much of the ruling was itself was classified until recently.) Kurnaz was finally released in August 2006 after Angela Merkel took over as German chancellor and personally pressed his case with President Bush. The Pentagon maintains that it was justified in holding Kurnaz. "We have a significant amount of information, both classified and declassified to support his detention," Commander Gordon said. Noting that many of the documents related to Kurnaz's case are heavily redacted, he added, "It would be misguided to draw a whole picture based on bits and pieces of information." But members of the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee, which hosted Tuesday's hearing, are calling for an investigation. Key exhibit in Supreme Court review While Kurnaz's case has only recently gained wide attention in the US, he has long been a household name in Europe, particularly in Germany, where – as in many other nations – there are deep misgivings about Guantánamo. A 25-country poll by the BBC World Service and GlobeScan found that 69 percent disapprove of the prison and of US treatment of detainees. A growing number of US lawmakers have been calling for the camp to be shut down. Opponents warn that doing so could return terrorists to the battlefield. The outcome of the debate may hinge, in large part, on the findings of the Supreme Court, which is currently weighing a challenge to the legality of the Guantánamo Tribunals – a case in which Kurnaz is emerging as a key exhibit. The former detainee hopes his testimony on Capitol Hill will help tip the scales. "I hope they will take it seriously and close the place down," he told the Monitor.

Caps Flagship Just in time for the regular season opener, CBS RADIO Sports WJFK (106.7 THE FAN)/WASHINGTON, D.C. has inked a deal to air WASHINGTON CAPITALS hockey this season. JOHN WALTON and KEN SABOURIN return to call the action, and the station will air a 15 minute pre-game show and 30 minute post-game show hosted by BEN RABY with every game broadcast. The CAPS moved from THE FAN to HUBBARD News WFED-A (FEDERAL NEWS RADIO) at the last minute last season with streaming at CAPS RADIO 24/7 and added iHEARTMEDIA Active Rock W284CQ-WWDC-HD2/WASHINGTON in mid-season. “We’re thrilled to bring CAPITALS hockey back to DC’s top-rated sports station,” said PD CHRIS KINARD. “CAPS fans don’t want to miss a second of action, and now they’ll hear games and complementary programming throughout WASHINGTON via our full-market FM signal. To round out game broadcasts, 106.7 THE FAN will also offer listeners weekly segments with players JOHN CARLSON and JAY BEAGLE, bi-weekly interviews with head coach BARRY TROTZ, and the weekly call-in show, ‘CRASHING THE NET.'” “106.7 THE FAN is the true leader in sports programming throughout our region and we are excited to renew our partnership with them and provide our fans with great CAPS coverage and original programming all season long,” said MONUMENTAL SPORTS AND ENTERTAINMENT President of Business Operations/Chief Commercial Officer JIM VAN STONE. “Fans can expect 106.7 THE FAN to deliver comprehensive coverage through the partnership, and in addition to airing our games, we look forward to working with them to deliver outstanding CAPS-related programming throughout the season.” « see more Net News

CLOSE Murder suspect Michael Rodgers is removed from his trial due to disruptive behavior. Buy Photo Michael Rodgers sits in the courtroom of Judge Thomas Dannheisser as his trial begins Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2017. Rodgers is on trial for the death of James Gunther. (Photo: Tony Giberson/tgiberson@pnj.com)Buy Photo A man accused of killing a boater and then attempting to steal his identity was twice removed from the courtroom as testimony in his trial began Tuesday. Michael Paul Rodgers, 38, faces a slew of charges in the 2016 death of James Bradley Gunther, 62, whose empty boat was found at Fort McRee 10 days before his body was found partially buried near Pensacola Naval Air Station in early April. Rodgers was arrested in Louisiana after he allegedly used Gunther's credit cards and took his personal documents to a government office to try to gain identification with them. More: Milton man charged with making death threats to judge over custody ruling Attorneys raised concerns from the time Rodgers was arrested up until his trial date about his ability to conduct himself properly in court. Rodgers has been argumentative and disruptive in earlier court hearings, and at one hearing reportedly claimed he had a chip involuntarily implanted into his head. The court found him competent, and jury selection began Monday. Though, within minutes of the court convening Tuesday morning for the first day of testimony, Judge Thomas Dannheisser ordered a break to allow Rodgers a chance to calm down. Rodgers had claimed he was a Muslim prophet, and said his defense counsel, Todd Early, was not doing an adequate job. When Rodgers returned to the courtroom soon after, he mumbled "Allahu akbar," but the trial continued with a warning from Dannheisser that if Rodgers made any further disruptive comments he would be removed. More: Gulf Breeze police identify vehicle in hit-and-run on Pensacola Bay Bridge Prosecutor Bridgette Jensen delivered her opening statements, saying Gunther had been strangled to death, an act that would have taken several minutes of consistent force, which she said outlined premeditation. She said Rodgers stole a number of Gunther's belongings, including his bank cards, and used them across the Panhandle and in Louisiana before he was caught. She said Gunther, a sailing enthusiast, had been at the start of his annual sailing trip from Gulf Shores, Alabama, to Port St. Joe when he was killed. In his opening statement, Early urged the jury to consider the circumstances of the evidence, and he said he doesn't believe the state will be able to prove his client's guilt beyond any reasonable doubt. The jury heard Tuesday from witnesses including Gunther's wife, son and daughter who said the victim was a hard-working man who had been taking that three-week sailing trip for the last decade. Even while on the boat, Gunther would communicate every day with his daughter, Melissa Shambley, who worked as his office assistant. It was when Gunther hadn't contacted Shambley in a couple of days that the family called law enforcement. Gunther's son, James Robert Gunther, found the body buried in sand April 15, 2016, while searching the water around where his father went missing. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Officer Matt Cushing testified that he found Gunther's boat near Fort McRee after he received a call about a missing boater. Nobody was on the boat when he found it. Three witnesses who had also been boating near Fort McRee testified, saying they had seen an older white man on the boat several times in late March. It was during one of the witness' testimonies that Rodgers was removed from the court room once again. Rodgers attempted to object to something the witness said, claiming he wanted more information about the boat she saw, but Dannheisser had him removed immediately. Rodgers' case is scheduled to continue Wednesday. Read or Share this story: http://www.pnj.com/story/news/crime/2017/10/03/murder-suspect-removed-trial-twice-due-behavior-returns-saying-allahu-akbar/728101001/

Its precise structure and ability to bind with other molecules makes DNA an attractive scaffolding material for nanotech researchers. Scientists have already used DNA to construct two-dimensional patterns, three-dimensional objects, and simple shape-changing devices. Now two teams of researchers have separately made complex programmable machines using DNA molecules. DNA assembly line: An atomic force microscope image shows gold nanoparticles on a DNA track. Researchers from Columbia University, Arizona State University, and Caltech have made a device that follows a programmable path on a surface patterned with DNA. Meanwhile, researchers from New York University, led by DNA nanoarchitecture pioneer Ned Seeman, have combined multiple DNA devices to make an assembly line. The nano contraption picks up gold nanoparticles as it tumbles along a DNA-patterned surface. The two machines, described in today’s Nature journal, are a possible step forward in making DNA nanobots that could assemble tiny electrical and mechanical devices. DNA robots could also put together molecules in new ways to make new materials, says Lloyd Smith, a chemistry professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “Robots might have the ability to position one molecule in a particular way so that a reaction happens with another molecule which might not happen if they randomly collide in solution,” he says. In the past, researchers have made simple machines such as tweezers and walkers that have also been fashioned from DNA. Tweezers open and close by adding specific DNA strands to the solution. Walkers are molecules with dangling strands, or legs, that bind and detach from other DNA strands patterned on a surface, in effect moving along the surface. The nano walker made at Columbia University is a protein molecule decorated with three legs–single-stranded DNAzymes, synthetic DNA molecules that act as enzymes and catalyze a reaction. The legs bind to complementary DNA strands on a surface. Then they catalyze a reaction that shortens one of the surface strands, so that its attachment to the leg becomes weaker. That leg lets go and moves on to the next surface strand. The walker follows a track of strands that the researchers pattern on the surface. It can take up to 50 steps–compared to the two or three steps taken by previous walkers. It stops when it encounters a sequence that cannot be shortened. “We show how to program [the walker’s] behavior by programming the landscape,” says Milan Stojanovic, a biomedical engineer at Columbia University who developed the walker. “It enables us to think about adding further complexity: more than one molecule interacting and more complicated commands on the surface. What we hope to do eventually is to be able to [use nanobots to] repair tissues.” Seeman and his colleagues at New York University combine three different DNA components to make an assembly line. They have DNA path, a walker, and a machine that can deliver or hold back a cargo of a molecule of gold. The machine is a DNA structure that can be set up to either put a gold nanoparticle-laden strand in the path of the walker or away from it. The walker has four legs and three single-stranded DNA hands that can bind to the gold. The researchers demonstrated a system in which the walker passes three machines, each carrying a different type of gold particle. Each machine can be set up to either deliver its cargo or keep it, giving a total of eight different ways in which the walker can be loaded, leading to eight different products. The advances represent continuing success in creating nano devices with increasingly complex functions. “[We’re] moving from individual entities that do something interesting to systems of entities working on something with a more complex behavior and function,” Smith says.

Lily Madigan, a transgender teenager formerly known as Liam, has been elected as the women’s officer for the Labour Party branch in Rochester and Strood in Kent. Madigan’s election has caused a stir — something this teen is used to doing. At 18, he hired a solicitor and threatened to sue his mixed Catholic secondary school for not allowing him to use the girls’ changing rooms or dress according to the girls’ uniform code. More recently, Madigan hit the headlines after arguing that Anne Ruzylo, a Labour Party women’s officer in a different constituency, should be sacked for being ‘transphobic’. Ruzylo, a lesbian, feminist and trade unionist, had criticised the sanctification of the trans movement. For this, she was labelled a ‘terf’ (trans exclusionary radical feminist) and was harassed by transgender activists online. Eventually, the executive committee of Ruzylo’s local Labour branch resigned in protest at her mistreatment. So, here we have a trans teen who has previously been part of an effort to undermine a women’s officer’s career now being elected as a women’s officer. Understandably, some are angry about this. How can a teenager who has only recently declared himself to be a woman be eligible as a women’s officer? As Teresa Murray, vice-chairwoman of the executive committee of Rochester and Strood CLP, said: ‘Lily will have to work very hard to convince other people that her very presence there is not going to undermine them.’ The role of a women’s officer is important, feminists argue, because the lived experience a woman is something men cannot understand. Therefore, in order for women to feel politically represented, they must be represented by women. Now, some of us may disagree with this and think that it elevates the narrowness and divisiveness of identity politics over the idea of politics as a universal democratic pursuit. But it is what some people believe, and of course have a right to believe. And yet identity politics and the cult of diversity have now gone so far that women in politics are being pressured to accept a man as their ‘female representative’. Criticising this state of affairs is a risky business. As Ruzylo’s case revealed, even the most right-on individuals can find themselves in hot water if they dare to question trans politics. Or consider what has happened to Dr Heather Brunskell Evans, an academic and a spokesperson for the Women’s Equality Party (WEP). After she gently raised concerns about intervention for trans kids on Radio 4’s Moral Maze last week, the WEP launched an investigation of her and her comments. The WEP said Evans had allegedly ‘promoted prejudice against the transgender community’. A feminist organisation turning against a woman for expressing her opinion — nice. More and more feminists are being demonised or silenced by trans activists and their so-called allies for questioning the idea that a man becomes a woman simply by declaring it and growing his hair long or having some hormonal treatment. Germaine Greer, Jenni Murray, Julie Bindel — I rarely agree with these feminists, but the branding of them as bigoted, exclusionary or discriminatory simply because they criticise aspects of trans thinking is ridiculous. I don’t care if I get called a transphobe: Lily Madigan is not a woman. At 19, he is barely even a man. Of course, Liam should be perfectly free to call himself Lily and wear whatever the hell he wants. Most polite people who come to know him will probably agree to refer to him by his new name and by female pronouns. But should society at large, and political and social institutions, have to do likewise, and even grant people like Madigan access to what have traditionally been women’s public roles?

Security researchers discovered a bug in Facebook Messenger that would allow an attacker to modify or remove text, pictures, links, and other data from chats in the Messenger Android app and in desktop Facebook chat — opening up some of Messenger’s 900 million users to potential fraud. The bug could be used to alter conversations and spread malware, according to researchers at the security company Check Point who discovered the bug. A user could alter the content of her chats in the Android app and on desktop, making it appear as if parties in the conversation had said things they didn’t actually say. The ability to modify links in Messenger also made users vulnerable to malware distribution — an attacker could swap out a normal link for a malicious one and convince the recipient to click on it. Facebook works to prevent malware from spreading in Messenger by blocking users from sending links to known malware and phishing sites. The company also shares threat intelligence with other security researchers on Threat Exchange, its social media platform for developers. But new malware could still slip through. Only parties in the conversation could exploit the bug — so if you trust your Facebook friends, you probably were not at risk. Since the bug only impacted the Messenger app and in-browser chat on Facebook.com, the authentic conversations would be logged on other versions of Messenger, such as Messenger.com. If someone’s chats were manipulated using the bug, he or she would still be able to access the original text in another version of Messenger. “By exploiting this vulnerability, cybercriminals could change a whole chat thread without the victim realizing,” Oded Vanunu, head of products vulnerability research at Check Point, said in a statement. “What’s worse, the hacker could implement automation techniques to continually outsmart security measures for long-term chat alterations. We applaud Facebook for such a rapid response and putting security first for their users.” Facebook’s security team patched the Messenger bug in May after they were alerted to the problem by Check Point. Since the early days of Facebook, the company has run a bug bounty program to encourage security researchers and whitehat hackers to report problems to the company. A Facebook spokesperson told TechCrunch that the program has “proven incredibly valuable.” Facebook explained the bug in a blog post, noting that the changes to a conversation were not permanent. “We also confirmed that the content self-corrected on Android when the application refetched message data from the server, so it wasn’t permanently changed,” Facebook said. This post was updated 6/7 at 1:00 p.m. with additional details about Facebook’s blog post and a demo video of the bug.

Do Godless Morals & Values Exist? Are They Superior to Godly, Religious Values? It’s common for religious theists to claim that their religious morality is far superior to secular, atheistic, and godless morality. Of course, everyone prefers their own religious morality and the commands of their own god, but when push comes to shove the general attitude is that any religious morality based upon the commands of any god is vastly preferable to a secular morality that doesn’t take any gods into account. Godless atheists are treated as the scourge of the earth and their “morality,” if it is even recognized as such, is treated as the cause of all of society’s ills. Rejecting the Presumption of Religious Morality Can there be a godless morality? Can we assert a superiority for a godless morality over traditional, theistic, and religious morality? Yes, I think that this is possible. Unfortunately, few people even acknowledge the existence of godless moral values, much less their significance. When people talk about moral values, they almost always presume that they have to be talking about religious morality and religious values. The very possibility of godless, irreligious morality is ignored. Rejecting the Presumption of Religious Morality... Moral Values Without Gods and Religion A popular claim among religious theists is that atheists have no basis for morality — that religion and gods are needed for moral values. Usually, they mean their religion and god, but sometimes they seem willing to accept any religion and any god. The truth is that neither religions nor gods are necessary for morality, ethics, or values. They can exist in a godless, secular context just fine, as demonstrated by all the godless atheists who lead moral lives every day. Moral Values Without Gods, Religion... Preferring the Intellect Over Faith When people in America talk about “values,” they are usually talking about moral values — and moral values concentrated around controlling people’s sexuality, to boot. Neither moral values nor sexual morality are the only sorts of values that exist, however, and they certainly aren’t the only sort which should be emphasized. There also exist very important intellectual values which are necessary for human society. If religious theists won’t promote them, then irreligious, godless atheists must. Godless Intellectual Values... Modern Science Does Not Need Religions or Gods Calling science a religion should be instantly recognized as an ideological attack rather than a neutral observation of facts. Sadly this is not the case, and it has become far too common for critics of modern, godless science to claim that it’s inherently a religion, thus hoping to discredit scientific research when it contradicts genuine religious ideology. Examining the characteristics which define religions as distinct from other types of belief systems reveals how wrong such claims are. Modern Science Does Not Need Religions or Gods... Godless, Secular Values in Liberal Democracy Politics in a liberal, democratic democracy cannot long proceed or survive simply by inertia; instead they must be constantly fed by people who are engaged in the political process and who share some of the basic values necessary for such a democracy to thrive. None of these values depend in any way upon religion or theism; this means that they necessarily “godless” — that they exist independently of people’s religions and gods. Godless, Secular Values in Liberal Democracy... Flaws in Theistic and Religious Morality

Post with 27 notes It’s been a while since the incident I’ve had. And since there is a site to tell about people’s “experiences,” (usually unpleasant) that relate to the popular game Pokemon, I decided that I should share my experiences as well. I suppose an introduction would be in order, but I don’t like giving names (especially mine) on the internet. Just call me NICK, after the trainer I named in Pokemon White. I haven’t stuck with Pokemon as much as some people have. I’ve played through Generations 1, 2 and 5. I skipped Generations 3 and 4 because I kind of thought the plot and gameplay was getting repetitive. But Pokemon has lasted for so many years and I was curious how the Black and White series would be. I bought Pokemon White at Gamestop, and it was one of the most awesome games I have ever played. I went through the entire game, winning every battle. After beating the game I started working on a “Dream Team” that would be a mix of my original champion Pokemon with some of the newer Pokemon. I had some help from a friend to get some of the Generation 1 Pokemon to trade with me. I also used Mystery Gift using the Nintendo WFC option to get some special Pokemon like Darkrai and Victini. Unfortunately, it is also the cause of the incident that took place. Mystery Gift was the cause of this whole ordeal. Every now and then I check Mystery Gift to see if there are any interesting Pokemon that can be downloaded. And one day the Pokemon, Gardevoir, was available. I had no idea what a Gardevoir was and couldn’t even pronounce the name correctly. There wasn’t even a description for it. It wasn’t until I got it from the deliveryman that I realized what it was. I remember a friend of mine playing Pokemon Colosseum and this Pokemon showed up in it. It’s one of the 3rd Generation Pokemon, so I wasn’t too familiar with what it was. I checked Gardevoir’s Summery and realized what she was (she had the ♀ female symbol), but noticed something different about her. Noramlly, Gardevoir has green hair, green arms, and a white dress but this one had purple hair and purple arms instead. I came to the conclusion that I obtained a Shiny Gardevoir. I was pretty excited considering that I never came across a shiny Pokemon before. As for her stats, she seemed pretty standard for a Level 50. I deposited my current party (except Gardevoir) into the PC and gave Gardevoir a Lucky Egg to increase Exp. I decided to go the Challenger’s Cave to level up Gardevoir to at least Level 60. I normally go to the Challenger’s Cave with one Pokemon as a personal challenge, and since it’s close to the Mall in case I need items. Before I enter, I reopen the Summery page to check the moves Gardevoir had. I forgot to look at it earlier since I was excited about her being Shiny. She knew Scary Face, Attract, Psychic and Hypnosis. Content with the moves she knew, I exit out of the Summery, but not before noticing a weird smile on her face. I entered the Challenger’s Cave but didn’t go too far considering Gardevoir didn’t know Flash. Apparently, I couldn’t teach her Flash either. After walking a bit, a wild Pokemon battle started up. It was a Geodude. I sent out Gardevoir and saw the shiny animation play out. I choose Psychic to lower Geodude’s health, but instead Gardevoir used Scary Face. The regular animation played, but when it was Geodude’s turn, the text box read, “Geodude is too scared to move!” I started laughing; it reminded me of the GHOST from the 1st Generation series that Pokemon couldn’t attack. But I felt bad for the Geodude afterwards so I decided to Run. But then more text came up: Gardevoir: “Why are you trying to run? You thought it was funny too!” Apparently, I couldn’t run and Gardevoir was talking to me. “Oh crap, this is REAL,” I thought to myself. So I tried talking back to Gardevoir. Me: “Well, um, yeah. But you didn’t want to attack Geodude, so I assumed running away would be okay.” Gardevoir: “I don’t need to attack Geodude to knock him out.” She used Scary Face again, but this time Geodude used an actual move. “Geodude used Self-Destruct.” Gardevoir took damage from the explosion and Geodude fainted. “I’ve heard about getting scared to death before, but this is insane!” I thought to myself. The game went back to the overworld view, and I noticed Gardevoir’s sprite standing next to mine looking at me. Another text came up: Gardevoir: “See? Told you.” I start talking again: Me: “That was a good plan considering you didn’t need to attack him, but you ended up getting damaged.” Gardevoir: “What are you saying?” I’m going to play it safe to prevent any aggravation. Me: “I’m saying you need a Hyper Potion.” I open my Bag and give her the Hyper Potion. Gardevoir: “Thank you. And you’ll be happy to know that I saved your game in case you ACCIDENTALY hit the power button.” I always knew when it came to strange situations that it’s best to get as information as possible about it. I set my 3DS down next to my computer and started to look up any similar situations that involved Gardevoir being distributed through Mystery Gift. When I looked back at my 3DS, I saw a first-person close-up view of Gardevoir with a smile on her face, similar to how the player sees N in first person view when he talks sometimes. More text appeared, along with Gardevoir’s mouth moving: Gardevoir: “I’d doubt you’d find anything about.” And she was right. As I checked though Pokemon related blogs, forums, etc, nobody else mentioned getting a shiny, purple Gardevoir and there was no record of a Gardevoir being distributed though Mystery Gift. I also checked a website to see all the current information regarding the Pokemon, Gardevoir, only to discover that a Shiny Gardevoir is blue, not purple. I take another look at my 3DS, it’s still on the first person view of Gardevoir, this time with a more serious expression on her face. More text came up: Gardevoir: “Your not going to try getting rid of me are you?” I hadn’t quite thought about that yet. I was more focused on getting information about her rather than getting rid of her. Still trying to be nice, I talk to her some more: Me: “No, but I’m curious why you would think I’d do that.” Gardevoir: “The other two trainers got rid of me.” Other two trainers? Me: “Wait, you’ve had two pervious trainers? What did you do to make them want to get rid of you?” Gardevoir: “They were ignoring me, so I decided to get their attention.” Me: “What’d you do, use Scary Face on them?” I meant that as a joke, but her expression changed to a wide smile. Gardevoir: “Yes, and their reaction was hilarious.” She was able to use moves on people? Through the game? Gardevoir: “They both ended up releasing me though. Compared to the other two, you talk to me more than they did.” Me: “Maybe the thought of you scaring Pokemon into knock themselves out bothered them?” Gardevoir: “Well, it’s not like attacking them would be any different.” She made a good point. No matter how you battle, the goal was to knock out your opponent. The screen went back to the overworld. I decided to save and call it a night. I told Gardevoir good night and I would she her in the morning. She didn’t have any objections to turning off the power, so I turned the 3DS off. Before I went to bed however, I got on my computer and decided to create a new topic on a Pokemon forum regarding if anyone encountered a purple Gardevoir. If the other two trainers hadn’t bothered creating a topic and were more focused on searching for similar experiences, then I would have a small chance of getting their attention and finding out what their experiences were. Afterwards, I turned my computer off and went to sleep. No nightmares or anything. I woke up about 6:23 in the morning. I ate breakfast and immediately turned on my computer to check if anyone responded to the topic I posted earlier. Most of the responses looked made-up and “troll-ish” except one from someone called PKMNTrainerMark. It read: “Did you get that creep from Mystery Gift? Be careful around her. I didn’t use her much in battle after she scared her opponents into fainting using Scary Face. Last time I checked, Scary Face only lowers an opponent’s Speed. I tried to ignore her, but she ended up taking control of the game and used Attract on me to make me pay attention to her and it made me go through some real nasty emotional shit. Thank god it only lasted for a few minutes. I ended up releasing her and that was the last I saw her.” If this was true, then she lied to me, at least about what move she used. Three things matched to what I knew: Gardevoir was obtained through Mystery Gift, she had the moves Attract and Scary Face, and she scared Pokemon into fainting. Although, Geodude used Self-Destruct and was the only Pokemon I’ve fought so far. But now I’m faced with a decision: Do I confront her about this or not? She hasn’t actually done anything harmful to me or the game. But it’s possible that she will later. Sometime I feel that I’m too nice for my own good. But I decided to keep my mouth shut for a while and test her to see how see would deal with other Pokemon. I close my web browser so Gardevoir wouldn’t see what I’ve been up to. I turned on my 3DS and started up Pokemon White. I loaded the game and was still where I left off, without Gardevoir hanging around though. I check my Pokemon party, but noticed Gardevoir was gone. Her party slot was still there, but no sprite of her appeared in it. Realizing that I had no Pokemon with me, I used a Max Repel to prevent any wild encounters and ran to the Poke Center at Opelucid City. I got out a Lv. 89 Charizard that knew Fly, a Lv. 80 Zoroark in case Gardevoir tried to pull something on me, and a Lv. 78 Blastoise that knew Surf and Waterfall in case I needed to enter bodies of water. I exited the Poke Center and wondered where to go. I went into one of the gate buildings with the information bulletin board and notice something odd about the message on the light board. I stood in front of it and pressed A to look directly at it, it read: “Look at your map, NICK” I opened my map and noticed a new area that was accessible called Syracuse. Okay, that town name seemed to be named after a real city. Obviously, Gardevoir made a new town while I was asleep and she is probably still there. The town appeared to be above the Giant Chasm area. Apparently, I could Fly to the town even though I never visited. I crossed my fingers and flew to Syracuse. I landed in front of a mansion-like building (it is the biggest building in the entire town). Before entering, I explored around a bit to see what she made. There was purple thick grass areas around the mansion, but no wild encounter popped up when walking in it. The entire town was surrounded by trees similar to White Forest. I saw other houses that seemed to resemble a neighborhood area. There was a sign in front of the mansion. It seemed to be an address, a REAL address, I dare not share it due to “unwanted” attention. I entered the mansion and saw Gardevoir. She came up to my character and started talking: Gardevoir: “Hello again! Do you like my home?” Me: “Well, it’s big. And it stands out.” Gardevoir: “Would you like to have a Pokemon Battle?” Me: “Wait, you want me to fight you?” Gardevoir: “No, I have a team of Pokemon of my own.” Me: “Well, I would need to withdraw a few Pokemon first; I’m assuming you have your best team with you. Could I use the PC over there?” Gardevoir: “That’s fine.” I went to the PC at the back of the room and brought out my best team: Samurott Lv. 100, Gyarados Lv. 100, Darkrai Lv. 86, Charizard Lv. 89, Victini Lv. 80, and Raichu Lv. 90. I don’t know why she wanted to battle me. Me: “Okay, I’m ready.” Gardevoir: “I just got one thing I got to do.” “Gardevoir changed her name to Violet.” What the heck? Me: “You changed your name to Violet? Why?” Gardevoir/Violet: “It’s my real name, I used Gardevoir as an alias so people wouldn’t get suspicious of me.” The battle started, with N’s Final Battle Theme. I started getting nervous. Gardevoir, or rather Violet, was on the opposing side of the screen. “Dead PKMN Trainer Violet wants to battle!” Dead PKMN Trainer?!!? My heart is now racing. Violet sent out Darkrai Lv. 100. Oh crap, Darkrai has an insane about of Speed. I sent out Raichu. He had a Quick Claw so I had a chance. I had Raichu use Focus Blast and Quick Claw worked. “A critical hit! It’s super effective! Darkrai fainted!” Violet slid back onto the screen. Violet: “Hmm, no Nightmares for your team I guess.” Violet sent out Mewtwo Lv. 100. Oh god, she probably has all the strong rare ones! Raichu used Thunder and knocked Mewtwo’s health down three-quarters. Mewtwo used Psychic and knocked out Raichu. I brought out Victini and had it use Fusion Bolt, Mewtwo fainted. Violet sent out Froslass Lv. 100. Froslass used Shadow Ball and knocked out Victini. I sent out Darkrai and put Froslass to sleep. Knock it out with Bad Dreams and Nightmare. Violet sent out Machamp Lv 100. Machamp had a Quick Claw and knocked out Darkrai with a Focus Blast. I sent out Samurott and used Waterfall. It hit draining his heath to about half and Machamp flinched. Samurott finished it off with a Hydro Pump. Violet sent out Serperior and knocked out Samurott with Leaf Blade. I sent out Charizard and used Blast Burn. Serperior fainted. Violet sent out a Shiny blue Gardevoir Lv. 100. Violet slid onto the screen again. Violet: “This one never lost once, she’s my favorite.” Charizard had to recharge while Gardevoir used Psychic. Charizard’s health was near gone. I had Charizard use Blast Burn again. Gardevoir’s health was half gone. Gardevoir used Psychic again and knocked Charizard. I sent out Gyarados out and used Hyper Beam. Gardevoir hung on by a thread. Gardevoir used Thunder and Gyarados had a little more than half health left. Gyarados had to recharge while Gardevoir used Thunder again. Gyarados, also near fainting, used Hyper Beam again and knocked out Gardevoir. I won the battle. Violet slid onto the screen once again. Violet: “What?!!? My perfect team ruined by a bunch of under-leveled Pokemon?!!?” Me: “That battle was brutal. I can’t believe my team pulled it off.” The game returns to the Overworld view. Violet/Gardevoir’s sprite was jumping up and down continuously. She finally stopped jumping and started talking: Violet: “How in the world could you have beaten me? I had the best team ever!” Me: “I thought we were matched up pretty evenly. If it makes you feel any better, you’re the toughest trainer I’ve ever fought. Heck, you make Red look like a pushover.” Violet: “Thanks, I guess.” Me: “So um, you’re a ghost? Violet: “Yes, I am.” Me: “That explains the Geodude being scared.” Violet: “Heh heh, yeah.” Then, I asked her about the comment PKMNTrainerMark made. Me: “Um, so about using Scary Face on the other two trainers, did you really use Scary Face or use something else?” Violet: “So you already knew about that huh? Well, I didn’t want you to get rid of me, so I made up a little lie based on the comment you made.” The screen turned to the first-person view of Violet smiling. Violet: “I haven’t used Scary Face on a real person.” She smile got wider. “But now that I think about it…” “Violet used Scary Face!” She made a REALLY scary face and I felt like I got the wind knocked out of me. I passed out, but a few seconds before I could have sworn I saw the text: “Boo!” I waked up a few minutes later. It was 6:51am on my clock. I went to the bathroom mirror to make sure I hadn’t injured myself after fainting, nothing was wrong with me. I went back to my room and took a look at my 3DS. There was a black screen with text: Violet: “Consider the Scary Face as a prize for winning. I’ll see you later, I don’t think I’ll be gone for too long though. Hanging out with you is fun.” After the message, the game went back to Opelucid City’s Poke Center with all my Pokemon fully healed. According to my map, the new town, Syracuse, was also gone. Epilogue: A few hours later, I got onto my computer and looked up the address I saw on the sign earlier in the town Syracuse. It was a real address and the house was pretty big. Apparently, there was a death (Violet’s death) about a month ago involving an accident with an electrical outlet. Violet’s obituary described her to be about 5’10” tall, about my age, and had black hair with purple dye. It also mentioned that she enjoyed playing video games along with playing tricks on people, especially on Halloween. That’s the end of this story. I suppose things could have ended up a lot worse. But if Violet comes back, a sequel will probably show up. God, I hate sequels.

No jail time for Red Line Jammer Dennis Nicholl, dubbed the Red Line Jammer for blocking cellphone signals, will undergo counseling and likely avoid criminal penalties. | Chicago Police photo Dennis Nicholl, the 63-year-old Rogers Park man charged with jamming cellphone signals so he could enjoy relative silence on his Red Line commute, will undergo counseling and likely avoid criminal penalties. Nicholl, dubbed “The Red Line Jammer” by users of the Reddit website, on Thursday agreed to a deferred sentence on misdemeanor charges for using an illegal device to block cellphone signals on the L train. The deal will likely see prosecutors drop the misdemeanor count pending against Nicholl when he next appears in court in June, said his attorney, Charles Lauer. Nicholl walked briskly out of the courthouse with another of his lawyers and did not answer questions from reporters. “He’s scared out of his mind that this happened,” Lauer said outside the courthouse. “He’s turned in that (jamming) device. I don’t think we’re going to hear from Mr. Nicholl about this again.” Photos of Nicholl using a tiny jamming device he’d illegally purchased from a Chinese manufacturer had been circulating on the Internet before CTA officials received a tip about Nicholl. The CTA, Chicago Police and Federal Communications Commission launched a joint sting operation in early March, and Nicholl was arrested after turning on the signal jammer as an undercover officer talked on his cellphone in Nicholl’s car on the Red Line. Nicholl spent a night in jail awaiting a bail hearing after his arrest March 7 on a Red Line train. Nicholl initially faced a felony charge of interfering with a public utility, though that count was amended to the misdemeanor earlier this month. Nicholl had previously been caught jamming signals on the L, Lauer said, though he faced no real penalty and far less media fanfare than during his recent arrest. The mild-mannered accountant, who just wanted some peace and quiet on the L, has since faced difficulties at work, Lauer said. “He just wants to go and hide,” Lauer said. “I think he knew it was illegal, not that it was a serious illegality. Like a traffic ticket.” “Hopefully, he just doesn’t take the L if people bother him.”

BENGALURU: Even as resentment against ban on slaughter of animals and sale of meat on religious occasions pertaining to a section of the society is gathering pace across the country, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), the civic body of the IT city, on Tuesday issued a public notice enforcing the same on Thursday on the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi.The notice issued by the joint director (animal husbandry), BBMP says that slaughter of animals and sale of meat is banned in the jurisdiction of BBMP.Speaking to TOI, Kantharaju L , assistant director (animal husbandry), BBMP said the order was routine resorted to every year on the occasion of the Ganesh festival. “The urban development department issues a set of days when liquor or meat should be banned in the city and the civic body Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) issues the related orders,” he added.Kantharaju further said, “While Gandhi Jayanthi is one main occasion for ban on sale of liquor and meat, Maha Shivaratri, Sarvodaya Day, Sri Rama Navami, Ganesh Chaturthi, Buddha Poornima, Ambedkar Jayanthi, Mahaveer Jayanthi and Krishna Janmashtami are the other occasions when the meat ban will be in place."

Jackie Dunham, CTVNews.ca As Scotland prepares for another vote on independence from the U.K. amid the fog of Brexit, a Canadian author has proposed a radical solution – invite Scotland to join Canada as its official 11th province. Scroll down or click here to vote in our poll of the day Ken McGoogan has argued, in print, that 4.7 million Canadians claim to have Scottish heritage and that country’s cultural influences are already deeply ingrained in Canada. “It makes sense because we’re already so closely linked,” he told CTV’s Your Morning on Wednesday. “We have more of Scotland in us, more of a concentration than any other country.” The author said Scotland’s population of 5.3 million would make it the third largest province by population. McGoogan explained that Scotland would have a greater say in Canada than it does in the U.K., because it would represent 12.6 per cent of the total Canadian population of 41.8 million as opposed to only 8 per cent of the 65 million Brits. “All Canadian provinces have more power, more independence and autonomy than Scotland has right now,” McGoogan said. “We know how to accommodate difference and we could easily accommodate the Scots.” As for any potential concerns some may have about the actual physical distance separating the two countries? McGoogan said it’s not a concern in this day and age with new communication technologies and air travel. He cited the U.S. as an example of why location shouldn’t be an issue by comparing California’s distance from Hawaii (3,977 km) to Newfoundland’s distance to Scotland (3,355 kilometres).

Metro is looking to join other public transportation agencies in the cracking down and fining of "seat hogs" – those passengers who take up an extra seat to make room for their bag. Part of the inspiration for Metro is the policy in place for Bay Area Rapid Transit riders, who could be fined $100 for parking their bag on an empty seat. Agencies in New York, Philadelphia and Seattle have also implemented similar rules. A task force for Metro is being assembled and plans for a new policy began a couple of months ago. The ultimate goal is to make sure every passenger gets one seat and improve the ridership experience, said Alex Wiggins, executive officer for Security and Law Enforcement at Metro. “Folks after a long day at work, if they have a long ride in particular, would like a seat, so we should free up as many as those seats as possible. It’s a great idea and it’s something that we are researching as well,” Wiggins said to KPCC. Seat hogging tends to come up during peak travel times, such as early in the morning when people are commuting to work or school. Metro’s operations division has been making adjustments and adding cars during those periods. Metro hopes to roll out a plan by this year, Wiggins said, but first has to come up with a strategy that weighs all the factors, such as riders with medical conditions or weight issues. Passengers with those situations are exempt from the Bay Area Rapid Transit policy. "But if it's because of baggage, or other material, I think it's fair to say one passenger, one seat," he said. Once this rule is implemented in public, enforcement would be required in order for it to be successful, Wiggins said. "We are researching those options now. Once we have a formal plan, we can get into the details of how we would actually enforce it," he said.

This offseason, we've ranked all the best college football players individually, and we've ranked the best position units. Now that it's August and we're preparing for our overall preseason rankings, it's time to take a look at the best offenses and defenses in college football. First, it's the top 25 offenses, based on a combination of proven talent and coaching and how well we think these units will function as a whole during the 2017 season. (They're not necessarily rankings of who will score the most points or rack up the most yards.) The top 25 defenses can be found here. 1. Oklahoma. On one hand, Oklahoma lost 2,334 combined rushing yards from Samaje Perine and Joe Mixon, and it lost 159 combined catches from Mixon, Perine, Geno Lewis and Heisman finalist Dede Westbrook. On the other hand, quarterback Baker Mayfield returns after his second straight top-four Heisman finish, and left tackle Orlando Brown leads a veteran offensive line that may be the best in the country. Offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley, one of the nation's top play-callers, was elevated to head coach, and while he has substantial production to replace, the foundation is here with Mayfield and a potentially dominant line, and there are plenty of breakout candidates at running back and receiver. The Sooners finished second in offensive SRS, first in Football Outsiders' offensive S&P+ and first among Power Five teams in yards per play. Maybe they won't match the highs of last year, when they went unbeaten in Big 12 play, but they can still be as dangerous as any offense in the country in the final year of the prolific Riley-Mayfield partnership. 2. Penn State. The Nittany Lions vaulted from 78th to 21st in yards per play, growing into an explosive big-play unit under new coordinator Joe Moorhead. Saquon Barkley is the nation's best running back, Trace McSorley averaged 9.3 yards per attempt in his first year starting at quarterback, the receiving corps will be deep even without Chris Godwin and the offensive line will easily be in its best shape since James Franklin arrived, with long-awaited depth. Penn State underwent a stunning transformation over the course of last season after a couple years of frustration, as the Lions emerged as one of the most entertaining teams in football. Most of that offense is back, with a year of familiarity in the system under their belts. Maybe they won't hit as many big plays, but they're going to be more efficient thanks to improved blocking. 3. Oklahoma State. Just about everything is in place for this to be one of the most explosive offenses. Mason Rudolph threw for 4,091 yards last year and is one of the nation's best passers. Justice Hill broke out as a freshman tailback, enlivening the Cowboys' ground game with 1,142 yards. The receiving corps returns All-American James Washington plus Jalen McCleskey and Chris Lacy, and it adds veteran Marcell Ateman, who missed 2016 with an injury, and LSU transfer Tyron Johnson. The line is the weakest unit here, but there's solid experience, and the Cowboys brought in Cal grad transfer Aaron Cochran to fill the void at left tackle. An NFL prospect QB is throwing to the nation's best receiving corps, making this a difficult offense to slow down. 4. USC. The Trojans have to replace three starters on the offensive line, and they have to replace top receivers JuJu Smith-Schuster and Darreus Rogers. There are hurdles for this offense to overcome in Sam Darnold's second season as starting quarterback, but Darnold has rightfully earned a wave of attention as the next big thing at the position. He threw for 3,086 yards and 31 TDs despite not starting the first three games in 2016, and he's shown plenty of great traits -- throwing under pressure, mobility, arm strength -- to make him a top Heisman candidate. He has an explosive running back in Ronald Jones II, and USC has recruited well enough to inspire confidence that the line and receiving corps (where Deontay Burnett is emerging as a star) will turn out just fine. 5. Alabama. There's no doubt that this offense has the talent to be one of the best in the country. It's a matter of expanding the passing game under new coordinator Brian Daboll in QB Jalen Hurts' second year as starter after he won the job -- and was named SEC offensive player of the year -- as a true freshman. A limited passing attack hurt the Tide on third down against good defenses, as we saw in the playoff, but Hurts has plenty of weapons around him. That includes an absurdly deep running back corps led by Bo Scarbrough, and options at receiver led by Calvin Ridley. Throw in one of the nation's top lines, and this offense is in excellent shape, even if there are flaws that need to be fixed. 6. Washington. As a head coach, Chris Petersen's first six offenses at Boise State finished in the top 16 nationally in yards per play. The Broncos' offense fell off his final two years there, and the first two years at Washington continued that trend. Last year, however, Petersen recaptured former magic: Washington finished 10th in yards per play and scored 41.8 points per game, with a spectacularly efficient season from QB Jake Browning until he hurt his shoulder in November. The Huskies lose speedy John Ross, but a healthy Browning paired with a veteran line, a terrific one-two punch at tailback in Myles Gaskin and Lavon Coleman and a receiving corps that's still in good shape, headlined by Dante Pettis, sets up this team for big things again. 7. Louisville. Can Louisville adequately protect Lamar Jackson? He won the Heisman with 5,114 yards of total offense and 51 total TDs despite having subpar blocking in front of him -- a problem that caused the Cardinals to unravel in late-season losses to Houston and LSU. Jackson also loses top tailback Brandon Radcliff and his top three receivers, but despite all the questions, the Cards have a great offensive coach, Bobby Petrino, with a third-year Heisman winner at QB. Improve the line, and an offense with more refined passing from Jackson will continue to put up big numbers overall, although defenses in the ACC will provide many challenges this season. 8. Oregon. The Ducks had problems on the offensive line and switched to a freshman quarterback in the middle of last season, and yet they still ranked 18th in yards per play. Offense wasn't the problem, and offense certainly won't be a problem in Willie Taggart's first season. Left tackle Tyrell Crosby is back from injury to lead a more experienced line. A healthier Royce Freeman leads a deep group of running backs. And Justin Herbert showed lots of positive signs in his first year at QB. Finding weapons on the perimeter is the key after top receiver Darren Carrington was kicked off the team this summer, but there's going to be explosiveness here, led by what can be a dominant rushing attack. 9. Ohio State. The Buckeyes have gone 23-3 without Tom Herman, but his absence has been felt through inconsistent offensive performances the past two years, capped by the shutout loss to Clemson in the playoff. Urban Meyer brought in ex-Indiana head coach Kevin Wilson, whose addition should be immediate dividends as offensive coordinator. The key is finding new weapons in the receiving corps, improving in pass protection in big games and stretching the field. J.T. Barrett has done big things in his Ohio State career, but he averaged only 6.7 yards per attempt last year. The talent is here; the Buckeyes need to find an identity again and develop some explosiveness, especially with Curtis Samuel gone, after finishing 47th in yards per play. 10. Florida State. Pass protection remains a major question mark, especially for a team that has to play against Alabama, Miami, N.C. State, Clemson and Florida. Deondre Francois was hit a lot as a freshman starter, and while he gets some of the blame, there's no doubt that the Florida State offensive line needs improvement. Francois otherwise had a terrific debut, throwing for 3,350 yards and 20 TDs, and despite the loss of Dalvin Cook, the running game should be fine with junior Jacques Patrick and touted true freshman Cam Akers. Francois needs more help from his line, and he needs receivers like Auden Tate and Nyqwan Murray to emerge as go-to playmakers. Despite the question marks, there's plenty of talent for Jimbo Fisher to work with as FSU pursues a playoff bid. 11. Texas Tech. The Red Raiders are going to score a ton of points. We know this; the offense's success is as predictable as the defense's struggles. Replacing Patrick Mahomes at QB won't be easy -- and the transfer of top WR Jonathan Giles hurts -- but new QB Nic Shimonek will undoubtedly put up enormous numbers in Kliff Kingsbury's offense, and Texas Tech will be a safe bet to roll up a lot of points most weeks. Nearly all of Texas Tech's worries reside on the other side of the ball, again. 12. Auburn. Gus Malzahn has been offensive coordinator (2009-11) or head coach (2013-16) of Auburn for seven years. Here's the progression of offensive SRS ratings, via Sports-Reference: sixth, first, 38th, third, seventh, 49th, 78th. The hope is that Baylor transfer QB Jarrett Stidham, emerging young talent at receiver and the addition of new offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey can snap this offense out of its funk and expand the passing game. We know the Tigers will be able to run with a stellar line paving the way for Kamryn Pettway and Kerryon Johnson. If Stidham comes close to living up to increasingly high expectations, there's a high ceiling here for Auburn's offense as a whole. 13. Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish will try to bounce back from a strange 4-8 season with new coordinators, including Chip Long on offense to replace new WKU coach Mike Sanford. Redshirt sophomore QB Brandon Wimbush hasn't played much, but he steps into a promising situation despite all the drama in South Bend over the past year. The left side of the ND line, at least, is as good as any in the country, and Wimbush has a solid group of weapons to throw to, headlined by Equanimeous St. Brown. Junior Josh Adams leads a group of running backs bursting with potential, too. Wimbush is a great breakout candidate, and this offense can become dangerous again in a hurry. 14. Washington State. A limited number of big plays holds the Cougars back a bit -- they were 40th in yards per play -- but this is a Mike Leach Air Raid offense with an experienced, prolific quarterback in Luke Falk, who has over 10,000 career passing yards. The line is in good shape, led by guard Cody O'Connell, and Falk still has proven weapons despite losing Gabe Marks and River Cracraft. This could be Leach's best offense since taking the Washington State job. 15. Clemson. The Tigers have earned the benefit of the doubt on both sides of the ball, given how they've coached and recruited. There's no way to avoid taking a step back on offense this year without Deshaun Watson -- not to mention Wayne Gallman, Mike Williams, Jordan Leggett, Artavis Scott and Jay Guillermo -- but the receiving corps and offensive line still rank among the nation's best and there's potential in the backfield. The potential at quarterback might take a year to unlock -- Hunter Johnson was the nation's No. 2 QB recruit -- but there's enough here now to continue to make this an effective unit, even if a drop-off is inevitable. 16. South Florida. It's not hard to see why USF will be viewed as the consensus favorite for the Group of Five's major bowl spot. The Bulls went 11-2 last year, finishing 19th in the AP poll, and they return a talented playmaker at QB in Quinton Flowers, who had 2,812 passing yards, 1,530 rushing yards and 42 total TDs leading an offense that averaged 43.8 points per game. He should fit in well with new coordinator Sterlin Gilbert under Charlie Strong. The staff change combined with the losses of RB Marlon Mack and WR Rodney Adams could cause the Bulls to take a slight step back on offense, but enough pieces are in place for this to be among the nation's most explosive units, one that will put up huge numbers against a weak schedule. 17. Kansas State. The Wildcats weren't particularly intimidating on offense last year, but they finished strong and return eight starters, including a newly healthy Jesse Ertz at QB. Ertz rushed for over 1,000 yards despite dealing with a shoulder injury that required surgery after the season. He has a rock-solid line in front of him, led by Dalton Risner, and there are some promising weapons, led by Byron Pringle and Alex Barnes. As David Ubben wrote, Bill Snyder often does big things with experience at quarterback, so this could become a dangerously efficient and effective unit. 18. Ole Miss. Offensive line coach Matt Luke takes over as head coach after Hugh Freeze's ouster, and the Rebels also have a new offensive coordinator in Phil Longo, who comes in from San Houston State. Longo takes over a unit with a ton of potential despite the program's overall turmoil. Sophomore QB Shea Patterson was the No. 1 QB recruit in the class of 2016, and he's throwing to a receiving corps loaded with upside thanks to blue-chip recruits A.J. Brown, D.K. Metcalf and Van Jefferson. While the running game is an issue, Patterson could have a big season, statistically, if he develops as hoped. 19. TCU. The Horned Frogs were all over the map last season, stumbling to a 6-7 record that featured inconsistent performances -- like scoring 62 points against Baylor one game, then six points against Oklahoma State the next. While Kenny Hill has yet to become a truly reliable quarterback, he's in a good spot here, with almost everyone back around him. That included a standout tailback in Kyle Hicks, a veteran offensive line and a deep receiving corps led by KaVontae Turpin, Taj Williams and John Diarse. Sonny Cumbie will take over as the lead play-caller with Doug Meacham gone, and the Horned Frogs are built for a bounce back on offense after a frustrating first year without Trevone Boykin. 20. Texas. Tom Herman has proven to be one of college football's finest offensive minds, and despite all the problems that Texas had in recent years, it's not as if the cupboard is bare on offense. Shane Buechele had predictably mixed results as a freshman QB, but if he holds onto the job, he's in a good position to succeed. Connor Williams leads an experienced line, and the receiving corps has rising talent, led by Devin Duvernay. While 2,000-yard rusher D'Onta Foreman will be missed, Chris Warren has flashed potential when healthy. Texas isn't going to be a powerhouse immediately, but a rebuild to respectability and watchability can happen relatively quickly. 21. West Virginia. The Mountaineers may get an upgrade at quarterback in Will Grier, a transfer from Florida, and senior RB Justin Crawford ran for 1,184 yards as a juco transfer last fall. Only five starters return on offense -- center Tyler Orlosky and receivers Shelton Gibson and Daikiel Shorts are among the impact players lost -- but Grier offers hope that Dana Holgorsen's offense can perform at a high level, which is a necessity, given the greater attrition facing the defense. 22. LSU. Stagnant offensive philosophies combined with mediocre quarterback play doomed the Les Miles era, but the Tigers' offensive problems have sometimes been overstated. They recruit so well that there's always talent; it just hasn't always been deployed or developed properly. With the help of fantastic running backs, LSU has ranked in the top 20 in yards per play each of the past two years and was 22nd in Football Outsiders' S&P+ offensive ratings in 2016. Ed Orgeron made a great hire in offensive coordinator Matt Canada, a creative play-caller who quickly made Pitt into one of the nation's top offenses last year. At LSU, Canada inherits star tailback Derrius Guice, a quality offensive line (although the suspension and impending transfer of guard Maea Teuhema hurts) and a serviceable QB in Danny Etling, with a few promising weapons like D.J. Chark. Don't let the results against Alabama completely define how this offense has performed. 23. Memphis. The Tigers lost coach Justin Fuente and first-round QB Paxton Lynch, and yet they still scored 38.8 points per game in an eight-win season that included a 48-44 win over Houston to close the regular season. Head coach Mike Norvell lost offensive coordinator Chip Long to Notre Dame, but he has back most of the rest of the offense, headlined by QB Riley Ferguson, who threw for 3,698 yards and 32 TDs, and standout WR Anthony Miller, who had 95 catches. USF is getting all the attention in the American, but Memphis is going to be a lot of fun, too. 24. Colorado State. The Rams are overshadowed in the Mountain West's Mountain Division by Boise State and Wyoming QB Josh Allen, but they emerged as a dangerous offense in the second half of last season, scoring at least 37 points in each of their final six games. QB Nick Stevens put up big numbers down the stretch, and all of Colorado State's top skill players are back, led by prolific receiver Michael Gallup. The Rams ended up 32nd in offensive SRS and 21st in offensive S&P+, and they're Mountain West contenders. 25. Mississippi State. This spot almost went to Missouri, which returns everybody from a much-improved unit, but Mississippi State has the QB edge. The Bulldogs scored at least 35 points in four of their last five SEC games -- the exception, predictably, being Alabama -- as they found a new standout QB in Nick Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald won't reach the same heights that Dak Prescott did, but he rushed for 1,375 yards and 16 TDs and passed for 2,423 yards and 21 TDs as a sophomore first-year starter. Dan Mullen is a proven quarterbacks coach, and how high this offense rises depends on reloading the offensive line -- although Martinas Rankin is a rising star -- and replacing top receiver Fred Ross. Top 25 defenses * * * Contact Matt at matt.brown5082@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @MattBrownCFB and Facebook.

About Our project will be relaunched on the 3rd of May (2016). Follow our updates here or on Facebook, Twitter, BGG. Facebook Twitter BGG Ave Roma is a strategy board game with a unique and exciting worker ranking-drafting mechanic. During the game, you are competing for wealth in Ancient Rome. Make your strategy work through careful planning of your actions, even a few rounds ahead. Each round consists of three phases. First, you send your workers to various action locations, to collect supplies and gain influence through their labour. In the second phase, you collect new workers, which will also determine the player order for the next round in the third phase.The winner is the player with the most points at the end of the game. A game for 2-5 players ages 12 and up. The playtime is about 30 minutes/player. Note: The components are subject to change in the final product (graphics on cards, layout, icons). The game is played in rounds, consisting of the following phases: Action phase In the action phase, players in turn order place their workers on an available action spot, one by one. Each turn, the active player (beginning with the starting player) can choose to: Place 1 worker : Place a worker on one of the available action spots and carry out the associated action right away. OR : Place a worker on one of the available action spots and carry out the associated action right away. Pass: A player may pass if they cannot or don’t want to use any more of their workers. After passing, they may not carry out any more actions in the current round, even if they have workers left over. All unused workers will stay with him/her for the next round and they are worth 1 point at this stage, which is recorded on the scoring track immediately. Be careful in your planning. Not all workers are equally useful at all action locations. Some spots require you to send a specific numbered worker or one with a higher or lower number. You need to collect and use your workers in a clever way to reap maximum benefit. Refill phase After replenishing the empty card spaces, the players begin drafting workers in reverse player order. Starting with the last player all players select an action location and regain workers according to the following rules: All the workers have to be taken from the selected action location, unless the player would end up with more than 5 workers in their supply. have to be taken from the selected action location, unless the player would end up with more than 5 workers in their supply. If there are more workers on the location than a player can take, the player may choose the workers he/she wants. the workers he/she wants. If some or all of the players have less than 5 workers in their supply after this turn, there is a new turn of worker selection. The refill phase is over, once all players have 5 workers again. If you planned well, now you have workers with numbers on them that are the most useful for you in the coming round. Determining turn order phase Add up the numbers shown on the newly acquired workers. The player with the lowest total will go first next turn, with the others to follow in ascending order. In case of a tie between two or more players, the tied players will swap position on the turn order track. Once a new turn order is set, a new round starts. The game components are language independent, the rulebook will be included in 4 languages: English, French, German and Hungarian, The latest versions are available on BGG or here: Hungarian English French German - Work in progress. Note: The rulebooks are subject to change in the final product. Shipping is a great challenge in all kickstarter projects. The product should arrive on time, in mint condition and without exorbitant shipping costs. We decided to use Happyshops and Ship Naked fulfillment services. As shipping is a substantial amount, we choose not to include its cost into the product price, to make our pricing clear and transparent. The shipping cost will be added automatically to your pledge amount based on your location. Our campaign is EU and US friendly, it is guaranteed that you will not be charged with any additional fees on your pledge amount. We are shipping from within these regions. For other regions in some cases you may expect additional customs charges depending on your local regulations, but we and our experienced fulfillment partners will make sure to keep these fees as low as possible. We set the estimated delivery to September, but this is the worst case scenario. You will probably get your game sooner. AVE ROMA - EXTENDED PACK: With the AVE ROMA - EXTENDED PACK you can buy a pack of 3 games (AVE ROMA - PREMIUM, Dudab and Piñata Party). For a special price (well below the retail prices) we have a certain quantity of our previous games to offer. We didn’t create a separate pledge level for the “ESSEN PICKUP” - EXTENDED PACK due to the limited availability of these games. If you would like to pick up your EXTENDED PACK in Essen, please select Hungary as your shipping location in your pledge. We will send out a survey after the campaign and there you will be able to specify an Essen pick up. AVE ROMA BASIC and PREMIUM PACKS: In order to offer the best possible deal, there is also a 5 game pack avaliable for purchase. Buy 5 and lower your cost per game! Refer to the price table for the exact amounts. FREE Essen pickup: As we will have a booth this year too during the Essen Spiel we offer you to come to our booth and pick up your games personally. We will take care of taking the games to Essen, so you don't have to pay any shipping cost. For the Essen pickups the ordered game quantity is unlimited. Also you get €2 discount for your second and further copies. The summarized shipping prices (UPDATED): This game is the first in our complex game series line. This game has been in the making since 2012, when the very first prototype was built. Since then the game went through many iterations and continuous balancing with hundreds of playtests. We are now ready to present it to you on Kickstarter! Please support us and let's make this dream come true together! :) We release games with great value. This is our first kickstarter, but definetly not our first venture into board game publishing. During the past two years we gathered valuable experience by successfully publishing two of our own games for international release, as well as several localized versions of other games from various publishers. We now understand all the processes and challenges of bringing a game to the market. We started small, released a card game and a bigger box game after that. With Dudab and Piñata Party we had the opportunity to learn all the important aspects of board game publishing. Now we are confident to deliver this beautiful and exciting game to you on time, in amazing quality. This is our first kickstarter, but definetly not our first venture into board game publishing. During the past two years we gathered valuable experience by successfully publishing two of our own games for international release, as well as several localized versions of other games from various publishers. We now understand all the processes and challenges of bringing a game to the market. We started small, released a card game and a bigger box game after that. With Dudab and Piñata Party we had the opportunity to learn all the important aspects of board game publishing. Now we are confident to deliver this beautiful and exciting game to you on time, in amazing quality. With your support we can achieve more. There is nothing missing from the base game. It is a wonderful experience to play with lots of options and multiple paths to victory. With your support we can add even more to this already great game in the form of stretch goals, some of them exclusive to this campaign. There is nothing missing from the base game. It is a wonderful experience to play with lots of options and multiple paths to victory. With your support we can add even more to this already great game in the form of stretch goals, some of them exclusive to this campaign. Some add-ons will be available after the campaign too, but only for an extra charge. The expansion modules will be priced at €5-€10 each after the campaign ends. During the campaign, if you help us unlock them, you get €40 value for only €5. Not to mention the ones that are only available as part of the Kickstarter campaign. Make sure not to miss out on them! Not to mention the ones that are only available as part of the Kickstarter campaign. Make sure not to miss out on them! If you back us here on Kickstarter you will get the game sooner. The international distribution is a complex process so we cannot be sure when and where you will be able to buy the game through retailers. You will surely be able to buy the game during the next Spiel in Essen, but the PREMIUM edition will only be available during this campaign. You can only buy the BASIC version later and maybe buy some add-ons for extra money. The production will start shortly after the end of the campaign, to make sure we can start sending out the games to you in July-August. The international distribution is a complex process so we cannot be sure when and where you will be able to buy the game through retailers. You will surely be able to buy the game during the next Spiel in Essen, but the You can only buy the BASIC version later and maybe buy some add-ons for extra money. The production will start shortly after the end of the campaign, to make sure we can start sending out the games to you in July-August. This game has been thoroughly tested, and the work is going on until the launch of production. We are confident that the gameplay is balanced and smooth. Our core playtesters are hardcore gamers with long years of experience. Last year in Essen we received very good feedback from international testers too, and the game only got better since then. A P&P version is available on BGG* until the end of the campaign. It is different in many details from the current version, but gives you a general feel on the core mechanics of the game. *UPDATE: You can download the P&P files for rules v0.94 through the following link: https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0Bx3smKeGLowTSU1SWTZNV3JLcFU&usp=sharing Here are some short notes from the testers in Essen: Note: These are 100% accurate copies from our surveys, so you may see some incorrect sentences. „At the beginning I was afraid of different rules. Finally, the mechanism are very good. So I will take it. J” – Julien 8/10 „The game has interesting mechanics. I would like to see appropriate set-up for our # of players. Lots of option for players / multiple strategies, so it is definetally my kind of game.” – Lake 8/10 „Novel mechanism which create interesting decisions with smooth play.” – Nikolas 8/10 „I really enjoyed the game. It was very fast as a strategy game and I didn’t notice I have played for more than 2 hours” – Anonymus 8/10 „Even for a „Worker-placement game” there is a big amount of interaction. A point, many other games of this kind don’t fulfill. It has simple rules and a good visual presentation, but a huge amount of tactical procedure.” – Anonymus 9/10 „Interesting innovative placement mechanic. Lots of point scoring methods. Good interactions between different board areas. Nice, simple graphics. Individual turn order sheet would be useful as would a summary of icons.” – Anonymus 8/10 „Easy to learn, lots of options” – Anonymus 9/10 „Excellent game – neat mechanism.” – Anonymus 8/10 „It’s a great game. Totally balanced. I love the theme. Romaus are great J. The game is nice designed.” - Anonymus 9,5/10 Retailers will get the games the same time as any other backers , before the official release. If you're a retailer, please contact us at info@a-games.hu during the campaign for a private conversation. Rahdo Runs Through "Its a keen and clever twist on standard worker placement." "Just the right amount of brainburn." "It was constantly fun, non-stop." Gameplay Extended Gameplay Final Thoughts The NEW Malta: You will understand after this video... :) :) JPlay – Markus Weihrauch "I really enjoyed it... I like games like this... the overall look&feel and the theme is something I really really like a lot!" Dice & Sorcery

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has set the deadline of one year to conclude the trials of criminal cases against MPs or MLAs within one year time period. The deadline has been set for the lower courts to complete the trial within a year of framing charges involving lawmakers. If the trial is not completed within a year, the trial courts will have to provide explanation to the respective Chief Justice regarding the reasons about it. The decision was announced by the bench headed by Justice RM Lodha. The court noted that despite of being charged with heinous offences, the lawmakers continue to enjoy their positions in various government bodies only because the trial is kept pending for years. Keeping this in mind, the court ordered that hearings be conducted on a day-to-day basis so that the trial can be expedited. Several MPs and MLAs continue to be the part of legislative bodies due to delay in the proceedings by court. The decision was made after a PIL was filed by an NGO seeking directions regarding the cases involving lawmakers. With this decision of Supreme Court, many prominent politicians may face disqualification from contesting in the elections next month if they are convicted in the cases against them.

Arm wrestling: How easy is it to break an arm? This explainer should put you off Updated Arm wrestling, considered by some as entertainment, is also recognised as a potentially dangerous form of competition with arm wrestling injuries on the rise. One of the most common injuries is a fracture of the humerus, or upper arm as former NRL player Ben Ross discovered on The Footy Show. His injury was captured for eternity by television cameras and now joins a multitude of online videos demonstrating sickening arm-wrestling fractures. And it is not only men who experience this injury; women who arm wrestle are just as likely to present with a fracture. Ross's injury is the most common seen - a humeral shaft fracture, meaning he has broken the arm bone above the elbow. But how can a person break their arm in something as seemingly harmless as a friendly arm wrestle? Physics has a lot to do with it. Think levers, braces and opposing forces. It is a battle between the arm wrestler's rotating shoulder joint and their bent, static elbow working in opposition, with the upper arm bone taking the pressure. "The main thing is that there is just so much torque going through the humerus," Dr John Arnold, lecturer in exercise science at the University of South Australia said. "Because you have your elbow fixed and then you are trying to push against the other person, you are then twisting your humerus. "That motion, which would normally be taken up at the elbow, is actually getting transferred into the humerus. "So, you are getting a twist in the humerus which usually results in a spiral fracture." The result is usually a spectacular and cringeworthy bone break and a nasty shock for all. "It's pretty sickening, especially the audible crack," Dr Arnold said. Treatment is dependent on the severity of the fracture but usually involves surgical fixation with metal screws and plates followed by a reasonable period of rehabilitation. Perhaps closer scrutiny of an alternative sport is also recommended. Topics: sport, occupational-health-and-safety, health, australia First posted

A foundation set up by an Irish family after the death of their young son has helped save thousands of lives in America. A foundation set up by an Irish family after the death of their young son has helped save thousands of lives in America. Son (12) of Irish couple died from scrape in gym class - but thousands have since been saved Rory Staunton (12) fell while diving for a basketball during a game at his private school in New York in April 2012. Rory Staunton The seemingly innocuous cut was covered up with plasters by a teacher at the time - but four days later, Rory died of severe septic shock. Following his tragic death, Rory's parents Orlaith and Ciaran, who are originally from Co Louth, established the Rory Staunton Foundation. Their aim was to raise awareness about - and encourage the introduction of protocols around - identifying and treating sepsis so that other parents wouldn't suffer as they did. On January 29, 2013, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that all hospitals in New York State would be required to adopt evidence-based protocols, known as Rory's Regulations, for the early diagnosis and treatment of sepsis. Ciaran Staunton and his son Rory Staunton who tragically died in America According to a recent New York State report into how hospital performance has improved since the introduction of the 'Sepsis Care Improvement Initiative', more people with sepsis are being identified and treated earlier - and fewer people are dying. “Despite the early nature of this initiative we can demonstrate encouraging improvements,” the report said. Sepsis mortality figures in New York from the beginning of 2011 through the end of 2015 - the regulations took effect in 2014 - indicated that 4,727 fewer people died from it, according to the report. Ciaran Staunton said that he is satisfied that the need for regulations himself and his wife spoke about following their son's death have been adopted by hospitals in New York - and that their efforts are paying off. "We have met the people that have been saved by these protocols," he told independent.ie. "We are happy that their parents are not joining us in this miserable life. We want that fighting chance extended to every family in America". Orlaith Staunton and Rory Sepsis, which is the leading cause of death in hospitals, is a life-threatening condition triggered when the body's immune system goes into overdrive to fight an infection. The condition is often undiagnosed and untreated because doctors and those affected fail to recognise the symptoms. Mr Staunton said that, while he is happy that awareness around sepsis is gathering momentum, he is determined to have this regulation in all states in the US by 2020. "When our son died, there was no awareness, no sepsis protocols, nothing in the A-Z book on sepsis," he said. "Now we've shown here's what we can do in New York - we want the US Government to have the same level of anxiety and awareness of sepsis as they do Ebola." More than a million Americans are struck with severe sepsis every year, with an estimated 28pc to 50pc of those dying from it, according to the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS). However, Mr Staunton believes that fewer than half of all Americans have ever heard of sepsis. "We're not looking for a cure for sepsis, we're looking for awareness," he said. "Our foundation looks to change that and to reflect how everyone affected in America is being treated". Online Editors

[Follow our blog posts, obsession with data, and original articles on Twitter @RJMetrics] Over the past two years, I have developed a growing fascination with lawn signs. Not the ones advertising politicians or plumbers, but the ones advertising websites. Dating websites. These signs are so prevalent in my area that I decided to launch a private investigation into who was behind them and just how far they stretched. What I found started in my small home town and led me all the way to the secret guerilla marketing infrastructure of a multimillion-dollar company… Background: In the fall of 2007, I was about a year into an Analyst gig at a large web-focused private equity firm. My job description was simple: do whatever it takes to find interesting companies who are making lots of money on the internet. During this time, every radio commercial, billboard, and t-shirt bearing a domain name held a special meaning: it represented an opportunity to find the next big deal. As you can imagine, the same names kept popping up again and again. I was looking for new deals everywhere. One weekend, I trekked down to South Jersey to visit my parents in my hometown of Glassboro. The town sits about 30 minutes southeast of Philadelphia and has a population of less than 20,000. As I drove past my old high school, my deal-hunting subconscious noticed something bizarre. Stuck in the grass by the curb was a white lawn sign about a foot tall with a very simple message in black Times New Roman: “Single? www.GlassboroSingles.ORG“ It looked like something the local contractor would ask to stick in your front yard while he replaced your roof. Except… well, it was plugging a dating website. I had about a million questions, but two immediately simmered to the top: Glassboro is a tiny market of nominal interest to even local advertisers. Who would register a domain, let alone build a website, to target our tiny population? Who in their right mind advertises websites with lawn signs? By the time I pulled into my parents’ driveway, I had convinced myself that the site was the product of some overzealous local entrepreneur. I wrote off the lawn sign as an amateurish stab at guerilla marketing. When I drove out of town the next day, the sign was gone. Fast forward a few weeks. I was back in New York, rushing up 5th Avenue on my way to work in Midtown. As I wedged myself through the usual crowd, something stopped me in my tracks. Eight feet in the air, tied to a lamp post, was a white sign with black Times New Roman: “Single? www.FifthAvenueSingles.COM“ I promptly morphed into one of those sidewalk-obstructing idiots who stares up into the sky and infuriates the people who actually have to be somewhere. Aside from the URL, this sign was identical to the one I had seen in Glassboro. By the time I got to my work, I decided that there were four possibilities: This was a complete coincidence and these were the efforts of two completely separate businesses with identically unorthodox advertising methods (unlikely). The overzealous Glassboro entrepreneur had loaded up his car with lawn signs and decided to extend his guerilla marketing scheme to the Big Apple (less likely). Some NY-based business had done some marketing in the tri-state area and decided Glassboro was a ripe market (even less likely). There was something bigger going on. This struck me as the most likely case, but raised a question that made my head hurt: if whoever is doing this has the ability to target New York City but somehow made their way down to Glassboro, how many of the towns in between have also been hit? Not long after, I stumbled onto another clue. I was in Central New Jersey on my way to give a guest lecture at Princeton University, which is about the geographical midpoint between New York and Glassboro. As my cab rolled through neighboring West Windsor Township, I saw a familiar-looking lawn sign wedged in the grass alongside the road: “Single? www.WindsorSingles.ORG“. That one did it for me. At the absolute least, I was now convinced that this lawn sign business had its tentacles stretched into almost every town in the state of New Jersey. It was worth spending some time to learn more. Industry Research: In talking to a few colleagues about this fascinating business, I learned that most private equity shops shy away from dating sites for a number of reasons: Dating sites are known for tremendously high churn rates (if your product works, your customers never have to come back; if it doesn’t they see no reason to come back). This means dating sites have to keep a steady flow of new customers coming into the top of the funnel in order to survive, let alone grow revenue and profit. High churn rates mean new customers have low, volatile expected lifetime values. This has a negative impact on the equity value of each customer, making it difficult to justify the valuation multiples seen by membership-driven websites in other verticals. The need to keep more and more new customers coming in creates a necessity for massive marketing budgets that often involve aggressive affiliate marketing (i.e. paying third parties to bring you new customers). This further damages the perceived value of the user base to a potential investor or acquirer. Like social networking, “online dating” is a natural monopoly (or, at best, a natural oligopoly). A dating site’s quality is determined by the number and quality of matches it can provide a new user, which is directly tied to the size of its membership base. This makes it extremely difficult to enter the market. However, just because something isn’t a great investment prospect doesn’t mean it’s a bad business. Many, many people have become obscenely wealthy in this industry (both online and offline). The technology required to connect two people is trivial, meaning your only real expense is the cost of customer acquisition. If you are part of the natural oligopoly, your product quality will be high and people will seek you out. This cycle lowers your costs and sends your margins skyrocketing. Furthermore, the online dating industry has made a lot of secondary players wealthy thanks to affiliate marketing. At times, online dating sites have paid as much as $100 per head for new paying customers, and routinely pay out at least a few dollars for new “free trial” users or other prospects. This means anyone with the power to herd single internet users can potentially tap into a strong monetization engine. With this information in-hand, I started to see some beauty in the lawn sign model. Since virtually all dating sites are national, even ones with millions of members can under-serve certain geographic regions. The “YourTownSingles.com” approach leads potential members to believe their area will be extremely well represented in the site’s population. This creates the perception of high-quality matches, even if the total user base is small. I had visited each of the URLs I saw on the lawn signs, and each contained a multi-step form asking for a bunch of personal contact information. This led me to suspect that the business wasn’t running its own site, but was acting as an affiliate marketer. Often times, an affiliate’s commission is tiered based on the level of pre-qualification of their referrals. This means that an affiliate can make a lot more money selling my information to a third-party dating site if they have my name, e-mail, phone number, age and gender than if they simply have my e-mail address. Given the large amount of information these pages required, I became fairly confident that I had figured out what was going on (for the most part). The business makes a small investment ($50-100) in buying a domain name and a few dozen lawn signs for a given town. Then they put up a form landing page at the URL, plant the signs, and see what kind of return they generate by luring the townsfolk to their site and then passing their information on to user-hungry dating websites. If the ROI is positive, they keep at it. If not, they try another town. After reaching these unverified conclusions, the lawn sign business slipped out of my mind for quite some time. When I quit my private equity job to found RJMetrics this past July, however, my interest was reignited. The reason: I still see these signs everywhere. Relapse I seriously can’t take a ten minute drive without passing one of these signs. What fascinates me more, however, is that they never seem to last more than a few days in one spot. In most cases, I’ll see a “Single?” sign somewhere and the next time I drive by it will be gone. I can only assume that these signs are being taken down by whomever maintains the property where they are placed (they are almost always stuck in the lawn of a public park or building). The fact that these signs are still so prevalent today, more than a year after I saw the first, means two amazing things: Despite their short shelf-life (or, lawn-life), sticking these plastic signs into the ground in small towns has proven financially viable (I can’t imagine that a year’s worth of data to the contrary would result in the business continuing to print and plant these signs). Someone must be monitoring and replacing these signs as they are taken down. When you consider the number of towns likely involved in this system, it’s clear that this is far from a one-man show. Then, just this past Friday, I saw the most amazing sign yet. A town not far from my house is called Haddon Heights, NJ. It is a miniscule town that occupies just 1.6 square miles of land and has a population of barely 7,000 people. Furthermore, 56% of the population is married and 25% is under the age of 18 (thanks Wikipedia!). Not exactly a ripe market for a dating business. Nonetheless, as I drove through the town, I saw (no exaggeration) twenty signs that read “Single? www.HaddonHeightsDating.COM“ Since the town seemed to have such a surplus, I decided to pull over and pick up a souvenir: My new souvenir on the RJMetrics couch Stealing a lawn sign brought me to a realization: these signs are driving me insane and I have to figure out who is behind them, how big this system is, and whether they are actually making any money by doing this. It was time to do some real digging. How Big Is It? First stop: Google. Dozens and dozens of crafted queries designed to find the slightest mention of one of these yard signs anywhere on the internet turned up dry. Absolutely no one out there seemed to be aware of these things (and those that were didn’t seem to care). Maybe this was a smaller operation than I thought. To answer that question, I set out to discover just how many of these websites were actually out there. Since these sites are all just basic lead-gen landing pages, I speculated that the infrastructure of this system was a lot like a domain parking business, where a single web application feeds different content to a large number of domains based on which domain is accessed. If this was the case, all of the domains would likely correspond to the same IP address. I pinged each of the four websites I could recall to see what IP addresses were serving them. Here are the results: GlassboroSingles.com: 200.46.241.132 HaddonHeightsDating.com: 66.252.239.220 FifthAvenueSingles.com: 69.41.228.6 WindsorSingles.org: 66.252.239.220 Four domains and three different IPs. It appeared I might be wrong about the parking servers, but the fact that one of them showed up twice gave me some hope. It was still possible that these domains were parked in massive batches on various servers. However, they weren’t all in the exact same place. To get a sense of where the servers are actually sitting, I used an IP lookup and traceroute tool. As it turns out, here is where these servers reside: 69.41.228.6 is in Dallas, Texas 66.252.239.220 is in Miami, Florida 200.46.241.132 is in Panama Why the scattered infrastructure? Is it possible these identical road signs that all appeared within 100 miles of each other are actually operated by different companies? Regardless, I had the data I needed to size up the operation. With the IPs in hand, I turned to the “Reverse IP” tool at domaintools.com. The tool is simple: you provide an IP address and they tell you how many websites reside there. If you want, you can buy a complete list for a few bucks. The results: 66.252.239.220 hosts about 5,100 domains 200.46.241.132 hosts about 3,800 domains 69.41.228.6 hosts about 500 domains Wow-is it really possible this lawn sign network includes so many domain names? I whipped out my credit card and purchased the answer. I stared in disbelief at an Excel file containing every domain name hosted across these three servers: 8,870 of them. They all fit the formula: a town name and a dating keyword. I wrote some Macros in Excel to pull out each domain’s TLD (i.e. .com, .net, .org), name scheme, and the name of the town it represented. Here are the results: Unique Domains: 8,870 Unique Town Names: 5,902 Top Level Domains: .COM: 65.7% .ORG: 29.6% .NET: 4.4% .US: 0.3% .INFO: <0.1% Sign Text Patterns (____ is the name of a town or city): ____SINGLES: 78.0% ____DATING: 12.2% ____MATCH: 3.0% ____DATES: 2.0% ____PERSONALS: 1.8% SINGLEIN____: 1.0% ____SINGLE: 0.5% ____CHRISTIANSINGLES: 0.5% ____GREATEXPECTATIONS: 0.4% DATING____: 0.2% SINGLES____: 0.2% ____PERSONAL: <0.1% ____ASIANS: <0.1% It’s important to note that this massive list is almost certainly not the list in full. I remembered four signs I had seen and they turned up three servers full of domains. It’s extremely likely that more signs might yield more servers. I remembered originally thinking that this business was something homegrown to South Jersey- clearly I was wrong. However, now I had the information I needed to determine just how far these yard signs stretched. I loaded a master list of every city in the country and wrote an algorithm to link each domain to a specific state. Naturally, there are some town names that appear in multiple states (which are a jackpot to these guys, since one landing page can serve multiple markets), so in those cases I assigned the domain’s state as “multiple.” Also some domains contained city nicknames or abbreviations, making it tricky to classify them in a quick batch process. Despite these issues, I was able to classify over 80% of the domains. As it turns out, there were domains corresponding to all 50 states and Puerto Rico. Additionally, the names were distributed surprisingly evenly across the states. No single state represented more than 8.4% of the domain population, and the top 20% of states only represented 54% of the domains (I would have guessed an 80/20 distribution or worse). The top ten most referenced states are listed below: Texas : 8.4% : 8.4% Wisconsin : 7.8% : 7.8% West Virginia : 5.7% : 5.7% Pennsylvania : 5.7% : 5.7% California : 5.6% : 5.6% New Jersey : 5.0% : 5.0% Virginia : 4.7% : 4.7% New York : 4.7% : 4.7% Washington : 3.3% : 3.3% Tennessee: 3.2% Clearly, this effort isn’t isolated to my tri-state area (in fact it appears to be even more prevalent in states like Texas and Wisconsin). Let’s take a moment to consider the potential scale of this operation. Given the number of domains registered and the frequency with which signs appear to be replaced, I don’t think it’s unreasonable to speculate that whoever is responsible may have placed literally hundreds of thousands of signs into American soil over the past two years. Who Is Behind It? As I mentioned before, I was intrigued by the fact that these domains live on three separate web servers from separate hosting providers in separate geographic locations (Florida, Texas, and Panama). In order to find out who is behind this operation, I first needed to confirm that these domains and servers were in fact managed by the same company. I visited several of the landing pages across the separate servers searching for clues that could tie back to an owner. I found nothing by way of contact information, but I did see enough to conclude that all three servers are related. While the designs vary slightly from domain to domain, all of the sites end up asking you the same exact questions about yourself and offering the same exact drop-down lists of answer choices. Since I couldn’t find contact information on the webpages themselves, I decided to go find it on my own. My first stop: WHOIS. The WHOIS database is designed to serve as a master directory of all domain name owners, although in my experience there are no controls enforcing the submission of valid information. Moreover, most domain name registrars now allow registrants to register anonymously by serving as a proxy for the registrant. Despite these shortcomings, it’s always a good place to start. I looked up a random domain from my list and was disappointed to see it registered to “Domains by Proxy, Inc”-which is basically GoDaddy’s anonymous domain name registration service. Disappointed, I decided to try a few more just in case. Most were by Proxy, but eventually found some variations. Many of the domains on the Panama server turned out to be registered to NuStar Solutions, S.A. of Panama City. On the other servers, those that weren’t registered by proxy were registered to IMAT Group of Vadodara, India. The records didn’t provide domain names for these companies (their e-mail addresses were Yahoo or Gmail). However, Google was able to come to the rescue and turn up their sites: www.imatgroup.com and www.nustarsolutions.com. The sites revealed that both companies are offshore development shops. Both are centered around web design services, but offer additional services as well. NuStar mentions “Sign/Banner Advertising,” while IMAT mentions a more exhaustive list that includes “Guerilla Marketing Services,” “Sign/Banner Marketing,” “Localized Campaigns,” and “Direct Response Lead Generation.” Sound familiar? At this point, I came to the realization that every question I answered seemed to introduce two more. In this case, they were “did someone hire these firms or are they acting on their own?” and, more confusingly, “how did a web design firm in Panama or India get a lawn sign physically planted in the front lawn of my high school in South Jersey?” To find the answer, I decided that I wasn’t done with my WHOIS search. Back when I was cracking into companies in New York, I discovered a tried and true trick for getting a CEO’s cell phone number: historical WHOIS records. Often, the original registrant of a company’s domain name is its founder. As such, it’s common for the founder’s personal contact information to exist at some point in the WHOIS database. As the company grows, they change the record, but by that time (often unbeknownst to them) companies like domaintools have already saved the old information in their archive. I went back to the list of domains and did an exhaustive search of WHOIS records looking for domains with WHOIS record changes. I quickly noticed that all of the Panama domains were registered in 2006, whereas the India names were registered from about the Summer of 2007 onward. This might explain the different servers; if a company hired these firms to register the names and administer the websites, perhaps they switched providers in 2007, leaving their infrastructure split in half. Pretty soon, I hit the jackpot. CLINTONDATING.ORG, which sits on the Panama server, was not registered to NuStar Solutions or by proxy-instead, it was registered to Terry Fitzpatrick at a company called “The Right One” in Norwell, Massachusetts. At long last, I had a company name. A closer look revealed another little present: Terry’s email contained a company website: therightone.com. I visited the site and began to find some answers. “The Right One” is a matchmaking service. You provide them with basic information about yourself and they use it to match you up with a prospective mate. Clicking the “Get Started” link on their website leads you to a familiar sight: a web form asking you the same exact questions that appear on the domain landing pages. These were definitely our guys. With one more click, I learn that The Right One has franchise offices across the country. Check out this map from the “Locations” page on their website: Look familiar? If you need a hint, scroll up and look at the top 10 domains by state that I listed above. It’s a perfect match. Even more telling to my personal story are these particular franchise locations: Cherry Hill , NJ: Neighbors Haddon Heights, NJ and is a 20 minute drive from Glassboro, NJ Neighbors Haddon Heights, NJ and is a 20 minute drive from Glassboro, NJ Lawrenceville , NJ: Neighbors West Windsor Township in Central NJ Neighbors West Windsor Township in Central NJ New York, NY (420 Lexington): Midtown Manhattan, two blocks from my subway stop Some quick research on the company itself yields a pretty complex business structure. The Right One is owned by a company called PAFCO International, which is itself a subsidiary of Together Management Group, Inc, which goes by the aliases TD Management Group and Together Dating Services. The combined company employs over 500 people in over 80 offices across the United States. If you assume the headquarters has at least a few dozen employees, that implies that any given satellite office is just a handful of people. A January Inc. article mentions Together Dating as a client of Texas-based Instinct Marketing, a response-based marketing company that specializes in “vertically-focused websites.” Texas, as you may recall, is the home of one of the company’s three web servers. However, while Instinct Marketing may be Together Dating’s partner on the technology side, I find it hard to believe they’re the ones putting the signs in the ground. The geographic correlation between sign spottings and franchise offices is simply too strong. Does Yard Sign Marketing Work? Remember when I said that certain dating businesses can print money? This is one of them. A 2006 reveals that the company was then bringing in about $45 Million of revenue a year. I also found an entry from a disgruntled ex-employee on ripoffreport.com that claims the company charges their customers from $3,000 to over $15,000 for their matchmaking services. At those prices, the economics of the yard sign strategy start to make sense. Yard signs like those cost about $1 apiece to print and if franchise office has a slow day they can send out their extra “relationships experts” to plant lawn signs within a 50-mile radius. One successful new lead can bankroll thousands of new signs. Some Closure (and a Shameless Plug) In the end, I consider this mystery solved. My years-long fascination with these bizarre signs that seemed to follow me up and down the east coast is over. As a bonus, I discovered an interesting company with an even more interesting marketing strategy. Regardless of how you feel about Together Dating’s industry or its methods, you have to appreciate their tremendous, low-profile marketing machine and the data-driven technological infrastructure that supports it. This company brings in 8 solid figures of revenue every year using nothing but yard signs, some parked domains, and a firm grasp of the data that drives their growth. CEO Paul Falzone explained the importance of such data in a recent interview. Even in this offbeat corner of the business world, success is a function of intelligence, strategy, and analytical decision-making. The online business intelligence tools we provide here at RJMetrics are designed to empower all online businesses with these strengths. Our tools provide new echelons of accessibility to your existing data, allowing your business to measure, manage, and monetize better. If you’re interested in learning more, contact us for a free discussion about how we can drive growth in your online business (no lawn signs required).

Islamic State Poised To Capture Syrian Border Town, Turkey Warns Enlarge this image toggle caption Umit Bektas/Reuters /Landov Umit Bektas/Reuters /Landov Updated at 11:35 a.m. ET Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is warning that the Syrian border town of Kobani is on the verge of being captured by the self-declared Islamic State. "Kobani is about to fall," he told Syrian refugees in the Turkish town of Gaziantep, near the border. Islamic State fighters using tanks and heavy weapons captured from Iraqi and Syrian forces have pounded the city for days. Meanwhile, Turkish tanks have deployed near the border close to the fighting but have not intervened. According to Reuters, France's Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Tuesday that it was vital to act in order to stop the extremist group from capturing the town. "A lot is at stake in Kobani and everything must be done so that the Daesh terrorists are stopped and pushed back," Fabius told the French Parliament, according to Reuters. "A tragedy is unfolding, and we must all react." The warnings from Turkey and France come as U.S.-led airstrikes pound ISIS positions in and around the town. On Monday, Islamic State militants reportedly captured a part of eastern Kobani, where they raised the group's black flag. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says airstrikes have pushed the fighters out of the area Tuesday. The militants have been trying for weeks to capture Kobani, which has been fiercely defended by Kurdish forces. The Washington Post says: "Capturing [Kobani] would give the Islamic State control over a longer stretch of the Turkish-Syrian border and open potential new smuggling lines for fighters and supplies. "NATO member Turkey has authorized its military to cross the border to confront the militant group, but Turkish commanders have held back their tanks and troops from aiding Syrian Kurdish forces trying to hold [Kobani]." Meanwhile, The Associated Press reports that Kurdish activists "have forced their way into the European Parliament and clashed with police in Turkey. The protests are part of Europe-wide demonstrations against the Islamic State group's advance. Turkish police used water cannons and tear gas today against the demonstrators."

Until this point, Battlefield 3 has been running an almost flawless marketing campaign. Great trailer after great trailer had people eating out of the palm of its hand, so much so you voted it your game of E3 2011. Even the fastest hype train can be derailed by a single hiccup, though, and Battlefield 3 just hit its first hiccup. Over the weekend, the "Physical Warfare" pack was revealed by publishers EA (so far it's only been shown off for the UK market), in which customers pre-ordering the game receive weapons, equipment and ammo that places them at an advantage over customers who don't put down money early. Sounds harmless, but this being an online, multiplayer shooter with a passionately loyal (and long-standing) fanbase, people are understandably upset. Advertisement This Reddit thread seems to be the tallest lightning rod up at the moment, though in general the internet in its entirety seems unhappy at this. As they should be! EA and DICE tried this once a few years back and were forced to fall on their swords, so it's interesting seeing them try almost the exact same thing three years later. Perhaps in the hope that everyone would simply...forget how shitty a deal it was. Advertisement [Battlefield 3]

LEXIE CANNES STATE OF TRANS — UPDATE 2 — Dec. 22, 2014: Murderer of trans woman Ashley Sinclair gets 30 years. From the Orlando Sentinel: [Kentz Vernes] Louis, convicted of manslaughter with a firearm in [Ashley] Sinclair’s death at trial, was sentenced to 30 years in prison Thursday. Ruled a prison-releasee reoffender, he will serve every day of that sentence, minus time already served in county jail. Prosecutors said Louis fatally shot Sinclair, whose body was found early April 4, 2013, in a wooded area off Nimrod Lane [in Orange county, Florida]. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/breaking-news/os-ashley-sinclair-kentz-louis-murder-20141218-story.html ——- UPDATE 1 – Dec. 11, 2013: Suspect arrested. From the Orlando Sentinel: “After about eight months of investigating, an arrest has been made in the slaying of a 30-year-old transgender woman who was shot to death in woods off Nimrod Lane in Orange County in April. Deputies arrested 22-year-old Kentz Louis on first-degree murder charges in the death of Ashley Sinclair. Deputies were called to the scene after witnesses heard gun shots in the area.” http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/os-arrest-death-transgender-woman-20131210,0,5675040.story —– Original article: Orange County (Florida) Sheriff spokesperson Jeff Williamson says deputies found the body of trans woman Ashley Sinclair following reports of gunshots. One witness said shots were fired from a car directly at the victim. Police are still trying to identify the shooter and have asked that anyone with information to call CrimeLine at 1-800-423-8477.

ES Football Newsletter Enter your email address Please enter an email address Email address is invalid Fill out this field Email address is invalid You already have an account. Please log in or register with your social account Steven Gerrard has said he was disappointed Liverpool didn't sign Tottenham youngster Dele Alli. The Reds were linked with Alli during the summer of 2014, but a transfer didn't materialise and Spurs struck a £5million deal for the youngster the following January. Alli penned a five-and-a-half-year deal with the north Londoners before returning to MK Dons for the remainder of the 2014/15 season. The 19-year-old eventually joined up with the Tottenham squad during the summer and has since forced his way into first-team reckoning at White Hart Lane, scoring twice in nine starts. Alli earned his first England call-up last month and retained his place in the squad for November's international friendlies. He was then handed a first start by Roy Hodgson for the visit of France, scoring past club team-mate Hugo Lloris with a rasping strike to put the hosts on course for victory. Qarabag vs Tottenham - player ratings 12 show all Qarabag vs Tottenham - player ratings 1/12 Hugo Lloris: 6 The Frenchman was a spectator for most of the first-half but provided a safe pair of hands on the occasions he was called into action. Scott Heavey/Getty Images 2/12 Kieran Trippier: 5 The full back rolled his ankle early on but recovered to produce a solid performance. However, his display was not devoid of errors and he will need to do more to put Walker under pressure. Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images 3/12 Toby Alderweireld: 6 The Belgian's passing was superb. He was rarely troubled by the Qarabag attack but Chelsea will provide a much sterner test of his abilities. 4/12 Jan Vertonghen: 6 The central defender was given both freedom and space on the ball, which he gladly took. Operating almost as a midfielder at times, he stroked the ball around well. Clive Rose/Getty Images 5/12 Ben Davies: 5 Not the Welshman's best night. With the onus on him to attack he didn't produce a display that will have been worthy of dislodging Danny Rose. Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images 6/12 Eric Dier: 6 The midfielder's work was not the most eye-catching but it was valuable nonetheless. His presence in the centre of the park ensured the hosts could not control the midfield battle. Endless energy. 7/12 Ryan Mason: 5 Unloaded a couple of dangerous shots from long range but was well below his best. The midfielder will not win his place back in Tottenham's side on a regular basis if he produces performances like this. 8/12 Dele Alli: 7 A bright spark on an uninspiring night, the 19-year-old thrived in the number 10 role and proved to be a constant menace for the Qarabag defence. His presence will be missed against Chelsea. Richard Heathcote/Getty Images 9/12 Christian Eriksen: 6 The Dane had a mound of bodies to break down but eventually did so with a typically excellent delivery from a set piece. 10/12 Heung-min Son: 6 The South Korean drifted between the lines and asked plenty of questions of the Azerbaijani backline. He was unlucky to see his effort cannon back off the bar and provided a fine flick in the build-up to Kane's goal. Bryn Lennon/Getty Images 11/12 Harry Kane: 7 It was a difficult night for the striker, who worked his socks off, but he finally got his reward late on. The 22-year-old's header was the simplest of finishes but it was no coincidence that he popped up with a pivotal contribution. Bryn Lennon/Getty Images 12/12 Tom Carroll: 5 Introduced for Mason but missed a chance to edge ahead of his compatriot in the pecking order ahead of the Chelsea game. 1/12 Hugo Lloris: 6 The Frenchman was a spectator for most of the first-half but provided a safe pair of hands on the occasions he was called into action. Scott Heavey/Getty Images 2/12 Kieran Trippier: 5 The full back rolled his ankle early on but recovered to produce a solid performance. However, his display was not devoid of errors and he will need to do more to put Walker under pressure. Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images 3/12 Toby Alderweireld: 6 The Belgian's passing was superb. He was rarely troubled by the Qarabag attack but Chelsea will provide a much sterner test of his abilities. 4/12 Jan Vertonghen: 6 The central defender was given both freedom and space on the ball, which he gladly took. Operating almost as a midfielder at times, he stroked the ball around well. Clive Rose/Getty Images 5/12 Ben Davies: 5 Not the Welshman's best night. With the onus on him to attack he didn't produce a display that will have been worthy of dislodging Danny Rose. Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images 6/12 Eric Dier: 6 The midfielder's work was not the most eye-catching but it was valuable nonetheless. His presence in the centre of the park ensured the hosts could not control the midfield battle. Endless energy. 7/12 Ryan Mason: 5 Unloaded a couple of dangerous shots from long range but was well below his best. The midfielder will not win his place back in Tottenham's side on a regular basis if he produces performances like this. 8/12 Dele Alli: 7 A bright spark on an uninspiring night, the 19-year-old thrived in the number 10 role and proved to be a constant menace for the Qarabag defence. His presence will be missed against Chelsea. Richard Heathcote/Getty Images 9/12 Christian Eriksen: 6 The Dane had a mound of bodies to break down but eventually did so with a typically excellent delivery from a set piece. 10/12 Heung-min Son: 6 The South Korean drifted between the lines and asked plenty of questions of the Azerbaijani backline. He was unlucky to see his effort cannon back off the bar and provided a fine flick in the build-up to Kane's goal. Bryn Lennon/Getty Images 11/12 Harry Kane: 7 It was a difficult night for the striker, who worked his socks off, but he finally got his reward late on. The 22-year-old's header was the simplest of finishes but it was no coincidence that he popped up with a pivotal contribution. Bryn Lennon/Getty Images 12/12 Tom Carroll: 5 Introduced for Mason but missed a chance to edge ahead of his compatriot in the pecking order ahead of the Chelsea game. And Gerrard believes Alli is further ahead in his progression than he was at 19. "He looks ahead of me as far as England games and appearances are concerned. He's got more experience because he came through at MK Dons which has helped him progress and make the impact he has done at Tottenham," Gerrard told BT Sport. He's a very exciting player; We'll have to see how his career works out but he's got all the tools to become a top player domestically, but also in EUrope as well. "I was acutally disappointed Liverpool didn't sign him. "I thought he was certainly a player Liverpool might've tried to go for, especially with me coming to the end. He's certainly a player that could play for Liverpool for 15 years, he's got that ability." BT Sport is the new home of European football, with all UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League matches exclusively live. Visit btsport.com/Europe.

18 April 2005 | MovieMan1975 10 | One of top 100 greatest films of all time! and it's based on a play! I cannot believe this film is rated below an 8 What else can be written about James Foley's adaptation of David Mamet's Pulitzer prize winning play other than devastatingly scorching. Jack Lemmon, Al Pacino, Ed Harris, Alec Baldwin, Kevin Spacey, Alan Arkin, and Jonathan Pryce: perhaps the greatest acting ensemble ever put before a camera, collectively portray employees of a real estate agency- the sales department. Some of the greatest characters written in the 20th century cinema. Lemmon, 'the machine' Levene, is the old hero, now on a steady and sharp decline. Revered by others. Pacino,Ricky Roma the hot shot. He keeps an arm's length from everyone. Alan Arkin, George, is simply the loser. Never was hot, never will be - totally hopeless. Ed Harris is Dave Moss, a fighter, kinda like DeNiro in Raging Bull. Not hot, willing to do anything to reach the top. Like a rabid pitbull. Frustrated and at the boiling point. Kevin Spacey, Williamson, is the manager. A puppet of the owners, a real pencil pusher. But at least he doesn't live off of door-to-door sales. Alec Baldwin, in his greatest performance of his career, only taking up a mere 10 mins of screen time, tears the screen to shreds and burns the film up with one of the most incendiary, provocative, foul-mouthed, scene-chomping speeches ever. I was 17 when I saw this in the theatre and Alec Baldwin blew my mind with that scene. In college we used to watch this film over and over and rewind the speech 10 times over. We knew every line, every gesture. Jack Lemmon's face when Baldwin yells "Put that coffee down! Coffee's for closers". Or "You see this watch? this watch costs more than your car".We would kill ourselves laughing, that's how much we loved it. Mamet's character driven screenplay delves into the place in our souls and in our psyches, where desperation exits. The men live off of selling near useless Florida real estate, and their tool is the cold call - the hard sell. Lemmon, Pacino,and Bladwin are true masters. Gold belt senseis of the cold call. The bullcrap that they can unload is remarkable. Stream of consciousness. Lie upon lie. Smug and greasy. Pacino's monologue to the hapless gimmel Pryce, leads to tangents about pedophilia, and the stench of urine in subways. He wields a cheezy brochure of the properties like it's Shakespeare, with a picture of a fabergé egg on it. Lemmon meanwhile desperately stands in rain drenched phone booths, creating illusions to the listener like a verbal ballet. When he worms his way into one of the lead's house, he plants himself on the couch and grabs a stuffed animal he sees there. That little thing he does there, that gesture; in those 3 seconds, his character's conflict is symbolized. Though the guru to all younger than him, his decline is turning into an avalanche, ready to bury him. He is so desperate he resorts to the cheesiest, phoniest, approaches. It is heartbreaking to watch. Drama not unlike that of the great Greek tragedies of Aeschylus and Euripides. Classic human fare. Alan Arkin is slightly type-cast as the bumbling, mumbling, passive, loser. He has done it so many times. But this has to be the apex of that characterization for him. Ed Harris is so full rage, spitting venom (and literally spitting on Al Pacino during his farewell speech, his "farewell to the troops"). It is literally one of the most expletive laden tirades ever projected in mainstream cinemas. You are just waiting for his ears to smoke and his head to explode. Gut wrenching. Williamson, is subject to, by Roma and Levene, the harshest tongue whippings ever. Ferocious, nasty, derogatory. Spacey is literally humiliated by these masters of bulls**t. He most certainly gets his comeuppance; and later, a pretty nasty little service return of his own. Much is written in these reviews about the swearing in the film. Swearing, in Mamet's works, is part of the syntax of those worlds. It is almost like the curse words become subtext. It is like the plié in his abusive ballet of words. But nonetheless, umbrage can be made about this matter. It is after all, foul swearing, carpet-bombed from a writer who uses it as his key verbal motif. You simply have to accept as Mamet's artistic license and move on. It is one of those things that you simply cannot let ruin the experience for you. Mamet is widely considered one of the greatest living playwright and screenwriter in the English language. Just consider the swearing as part of the stylization of the cold-caller salesman language. The narrative of Glengarry Glen Ross takes place in one evening and the next morning, and is mostly in a dingy office and a Chinese restaurant. Superbly light, and with an awesome jazz score, it has great camera moves that highlight, accent, punctuate, and round out the actors' performances. My favourite motif is the subway that rattles by - at crucial moments of crucial dialogues. It is interesting to note, that the director, James Foley, who superbly crafted this ensemble piece, never really became an A-list director. All the elements are there, perfectly and purposely assembled - the sound, the image, the performances. Perhaps, Mamet did more directing than the writer normally would? Or did the real cinema pros - the cast - just take the ball and run, literally directing the film themselves, so used to playing those roles on stage, with the exception of Pacino and Baldwin. Another note of interest, is that I have seen this film numerous times, with a variety of people, and have yet to meet a female who liked it. This seems to categorize Glengarry Glen Ross as perhaps one the more masculine, testosterone soaked, man-only films ever. Like wild male animals fighting it out in the jungles. Despite that, I say this is definitely a must see for guy and gal cinema lovers all over.

Update: The USOC announced on Jan. 8 it had selected Boston as its nominee for the 2024 Olympics. At a closed-door meeting to be held this week, the 15 board members of the United States Olympic Committee — mostly former athletes and business executives associated with Olympic sponsors, none of whom are democratically elected — will hold a vote that will dramatically impact the future of either Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., or Boston. The US Olympic Committee has pledged to select one of those cities to be the sole US bid for consideration by the International Olympic Committee to host the 2024 Olympic Games. Backers of Boston2024, the private entity that submitted the bid to the USOC but has refused to release it for public review, believe they are the frontrunners — estimating the chances of Boston being selected as the US bid at 75 percent. The costs of hosting a summer Games are immense — the average expenditure is $19.2 billion — and in even the largest cities, preparations for the games overwhelm and consume the attention of elected leaders. Even bidding on the Games extracts a high price from potential hosts — Chicago spent an estimated $100 million in its failed effort to host the 2016 Games. Advertisement Should the USOC choose Boston2024’s bid, Greater Boston’s civic conversation for the next two years will be dominated by the boosters’ quest for Olympic gold. National Olympic sponsors, which would see enhanced profits from holding the Games in the United States, will likely ratchet up the pressure for Boston to submit a bid that can win, no matter the cost to taxpayers. In private meetings, Boston’s boosters will likely promise more expensive and elaborate arrangements to IOC officials, only to emerge from behind those closed doors to describe the multi-billion-dollar bidding package as “responsible” and “frugal.” This same vocabulary was used by Olympic boosters in host cities such as London, where the Games eventually went more than three times over their initial budget, and Vancouver, where a key developer walked away from its promises to build the Olympic Village without public funds, leaving taxpayers on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars. Get Today in Opinion in your inbox: Globe Opinion's must-reads, delivered to you every Sunday-Friday. Sign Up Thank you for signing up! Sign up for more newsletters here Should Boston’s bid advance, it will do so without any established guidelines for a public process. Boston2024 did not hold a single public meeting before submitting its bid to the USOC, despite initial promises to do so. It has refused to share the bid documents even with public officials in communities that would be impacted by the Games, though all 15 USOC members have been able to peruse the detailed bid package for more than one month. What the public has learned, mostly through carefully orchestrated leaks to the media, is not encouraging. Rather than use existing facilities, the bid relies on building the four most expensive Olympic facilities from scratch. Boosters would use eminent domain powers to seize land for a “temporary” 60,000-person stadium which would be bulldozed after just six weeks of Olympic use. Boston2024’s promises not to use public funds for the games are belied by the group’s recent inquiry into the potential use of Massachusetts State Lottery revenues, funds that would otherwise be used to support local services in cities and towns. It is no wonder that boosters have decided to keep the bid secret: A Boston Globe poll found that the more Massachusetts voters learned about Boston’s Olympic bid, the less they liked the idea. But this cynical approach has undermined Boston2024’s public credibility. Its approach has been inconsistent with our values as a Commonwealth. Boston2024 had the opportunity to conduct an open, honest process. Instead, it has offered to hold public meetings only after the USOC has determined Boston’s fate. Massachusetts faces enormous challenges in the next decade, among them building more affordable housing, closing the education achievement gap, and fixing our transportation infrastructure. Boston2024’s bid threatens to divert resources and attention away from these challenges — all for a chance to host a flashy six-week event that, according to independent economic research, does not leave local economies better off. Bostonians should cross their fingers and hope that the USOC sends the US bid elsewhere. Chris Dempsey and Liam Kerr are co-chairmen of No Boston Olympics.

With prompting from the media, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has decided to make public its secret lists that include repeat corporate polluters. Following the publication of a story by the Center for Public Integrity’s iWatch News and NPR on the confidential Clean Air Act “watch list,” the EPA published the internal report on its website. Those listed are suspected serious or chronic air pollution law violators that have escaped EPA punishment to date. The EPA keeps tabs on 1,600 suspected “high priority violators” of the Clean Air Act, but until iWatch News and NPR filed a Freedom of Information request the information was only circulated internally. The agency also began to publish names on its watch lists for suspected violators of the Clean Water Act and other federal environmental statutes. The EPA has not revealed, however, any details that explain what each alleged polluter did to get on the lists. It simply lists the facility name and address. The agency also includes a long disclaimer that being on the list doesn’t mean a facility necessarily violated the law, “only that an evaluation or investigation by EPA or a state or local environmental agency has led those organizations to allege that an unproven violation has in fact occurred.”

What Does the Microsoft-Motorola Mobility Patent Case Mean for BlackBerry? Microsoft and Google’s Motorola Mobility division will square off in court today in a legal battle over standards-essential patents and their royalty rates. There’s a lot at stake in the case — not just for Microsoft and Google, but for the broader industry and a few other key players, one in particular: BlackBerry. At issue in the case is Microsoft’s allegation that Google/Motorola Mobility refused to license some of its standards-essential patents on FRAND (fair, reasonable and nondiscriminatory) terms in breach of its obligation to do so. Earlier this year, a federal court in Seattle ruled that Motorola — which had been demanding in excess of $4 billion from Microsoft for its use of a portfolio of patents related to the H.264 video standard and the 802.11 wireless standard — ruled that it was instead entitled to just $1.8 million a year. Now a jury will determine whether Google and its Motorola Mobility division violated their FRAND obligations by seeking unreasonable royalties from Microsoft and threatening to seek an injunction if they weren’t paid. And if it should find against them, determining that Google and Motorola did indeed breach their contract, it could order them to pay Microsoft damages. Obviously, were that to happen, it would be good news for Microsoft. But it’s also potentially good news for BlackBerry, or any other company that signed an SEP licensing deal with Google/Motorola Mobility under duress and threat of litigation. In 2008, Motorola sued BlackBerry, then called Research In Motion, alleging that it violated seven of Motorola’s patents. BlackBerry countersued, claiming infringement of nine patents and, crucially, that Motorola was wrongfully demanding excessive royalties for its standards-essential patents. “[Motorola] has refused to extend FRAND … licensing terms to RIM for any of Motorola’s purportedly essential patents … and has instead demanded of RIM terms that are unfair, unreasonable, and, on information and belief, discriminatory,” BlackBerry said in its complaint. Motorola disputed that assertion in court, filing a motion to have BlackBerry’s claims that it was abusing its SEPs dismissed. But the presiding judge denied it. “At this stage of the case, the court takes [BlackBerry’s] pleadings as true,” Senior U.S. District Judge A. Joe Fish wrote. [BlackBerry] has adequately pled that Motorola did not honor its promise to license on FRAND terms. Motorola’s contention otherwise is entitled to no weight.” A small victory for BlackBerry, but one that would ultimately get it nowhere. Motorola subsequently filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission alleging patent infringement and seeking a ban on imports of BlackBerry phones into the U.S. And a few months later, the two companies settled the case, with BlackBerry agreeing to make a one-time payment to Motorola and pay ongoing royalties for its IP. So BlackBerry may be watching closely as arguments get under way in Microsoft versus Motorola Mobility. Because if Motorola Mobility is found to be in breach of its FRAND commitments as a result of the trial, BlackBerry might conceivably be able to argue that it suffered similar transgressions. It might even be able to make the case for paying a lower royalty rate going forward — or a rebate on fees already paid. Taking such a tack wouldn’t be easy, though. “It would be hard for them to go back on that deal unless they can show that they were coerced by Motorola into signing it,” Jorge L. Contreras, associate professor of law at American University, told AllThingsD. “But they could possibly bring some kind of antitrust claim arguing that Moto should refund some royalties.” Question is, would going that route be worth it for BlackBerry, which is currently exploring its strategic options following a so-far unsuccessful turnaround attempt? Said Contreras, “Frankly, I think that BlackBerry might very well bring such a suit. All they would have to lose are some legal expenses. But I think they would have a hard time winning such a suit, if it went to trial — though Motorola might consider settling with them at a lower rate.” BlackBerry declined comment on the case. Google’s Motorola Mobility division did not respond to a request for comment.

Image caption Testing the deployment of the membrane lens on a microgravity aeroplane flight A space-based telescope that uses a thin plastic membrane as a lens is being developed by the United States Air Force. Called a photon sieve, it works by bending light through billions of tiny holes in the "cling film" style optic. Unlike in existing traditional mirror-based telescopes, the new lens can be folded to fit into a tiny space. A test device is due to be launched in 2015 on a small satellite, or cubesat, to capture images of the Sun. Conventional telescopes work by using mirrors to focus light. But in a photon sieve, each tiny hole in the plastic lens causes light to diffract. While the size of telescope we will deploy is 20cm, we're doing that from a small volume, perhaps the size of a cup of coffee Dr Geoff McHarg, US Air Force Academy The holes are arranged in such a way as to create an image from the light source. Size is everything The idea has been developed by the US Air Force Academy, and it hopes to launch a 20cm diameter telescope inside a tiny satellite called FalconSAT-7 in 2015. Dr Geoff McHarg is a professor of physics at the academy and has been working on the project for several years. He told BBC News that the big advantage of the new telescope was its size. "To date, all space-based telescopes are limited by the physical size of the spacecraft they fit in. The Hubble is the size it is because it had to fit in the space shuttle," he explained. "While the size of telescope we will deploy is 20cm, we're doing that from a small volume - perhaps the size of a cup of coffee." Image caption A magnified view of a photon sieve showing concentric rings of holes The ability to crunch up the lens inside a small satellite would mean a huge saving in costs. Dr Geoff Andersen works on developing the optics for the new telescope at the academy's centre in Colorado Springs. "To put a can of cola in space in terms of mass costs about $25,000. If we're looking at something that's almost three orders of magnitude lighter than existing technology, then it's about 1% of the costs right there in mass alone. That's a huge saving you can make." Even though the images of the Sun produced by a 20cm telescope will not bring any great scientific insight, the US space agency (Nasa) is working with the Air Force on the project because it is keen on the potential. "They are hoping that if we can show that this works, that you could in fact fly a larger telescope made out of cling film that you could basically roll up and put into a small spacecraft and then deploy it," says Dr McHarg. "That would save enough money so you could afford to fly the mission." Image caption The photon sieve is pushed out from the cubesat, unwrapped and pulled taut While the technology has many advantages terms of size and cost, it does have some limitations, too. It is harder to image dim objects because less light reaches the focal point, says Dr Andersen. "It's not a free lunch," he adds. "What you also lose is the ability to look at all colours at once. We're not going to be able to take a nice three-colour image. What you are essentially going to get is a nice image in black and white." The research team has carried out a test in zero gravity to demonstrate that the telescope can be deployed from a cubesat that measures 10cm by 10cm by 30cm, about the size of a milk carton. The team will soon be carrying out so-called "shake and bake" testing - subjecting the assembled device to vibration and vacuum stresses. If it survives, the researchers at the academy say that getting into orbit in 2015 is a realistic target. If it happens it will be the first flight in space for an optical membrane telescope. While nothing has been put in writing, Dr McHarg is confident that the new telescope will be able to hitch a ride on an existing mission. "Because all of that is containerised, it's a lot less hard to get us a ride than it might be otherwise; that's why we're fairly hopeful that this ride in 2015 will come about," he said. "The big payloads go off and then a door opens and we're pushed out into space like a can of peas. We're sorta chucked overboard; we're the very last guys out of the ship."

The Monday 2nd April is World Autism Awareness Day. In Melbourne, Australia a large number of Adult Fans of Lego (AFOLs), parents and children with autism are coming together on the Sunday before to celebrate and raise awareness about Autism and Aspergers Syndrome using Lego. The ASD Aid organisation, which is committed to supporting the autism community through Lego, has organized the event which is being held at beautiful surrounds of the artistic community at the Abbottsford Convent. Together all participants will build a giant Lego version of the autism awareness ribbon (see below). You can get all the details over at the GeekDad Community Site. If you are in Melbourne, it will be a great way to spend a Sunday with your kids. And if you like, bring along your red, yellow and blue bricks to donate to the build and make the biggest Lego ribbon ever.

The tables started turning on Syria's tyrant Bashar al-Assad last year when his troops lost Wadi al-Daif and al-Hamediya in the Idlib countryside, the regime's largest military camp in the north, to opposition forces. And the snowball effect continues. Fighting under the banner of "Jaish al-Fateh" (the Army of Conquest), some 12,000 fighters captured Idlib and Jisr al-Shugur without considerable losses. Undoubtedly, Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz's initiated Operation Decisive Storm in Yemen and the rapprochement between Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Turkey consolidated political and material support for the Syrian fighters. The heroics of the Syrian people aside, the real decisive factor appears to reside outside the country's borders rather than within - at least for now. The defeat in Idlib province coincided with the fighters successfully shattering the siege around Aleppo, which had been imposed by Iranian General Qasim Soleimani with heavy participation from Afghan mercenary militias. The Hazara fighters from Shia regions of Afghanistan haven't achieved much for their Iranian master on the plains of Syria. In Aleppo and Busra Harir, hundreds of Afghans lost their lives after failing to retreat in time. Strategic gains Recently, the Jaish al-Fateh made strategic gains in al-Mastouma camp and Jabal al-Arbaeen, posing serious threats to the Alawite stronghold. The advance towards the region poses the most significant survival struggle for Assad, his ally Hezbollah and mentor Iran. With his loyalist troops imploding due to fatigue, demoralisation and attrition, Hezbollah is set to face greater battlefield pressure. The extremist militia is already suffering heavily in Qalamoun along the Lebanese border. On top of all this comes the humiliating defeat in Palmyra at the hands of ISIL. The regime's troops are now in their worst ever defensive position. While Assad faces disgracing strategic debacles, there is hardly any good news on the political front. The Syrian delegation, visiting Iran recently, begged for more help in exchange for state property. The world may have never heard of such a humiliating deal by a tyrant who wants to fund a losing war. Iran has tried to assert its presence with the help of Hezbollah, which has been holding on to the Qalamoun heights, which offer a link to the Mediterranean shore. Interestingly, US Secretary of State John Kerry flew to Moscow in a bid to find a political solution amid Syrian fighters' advance. The top US diplomat made the move after a meeting with Khalid Khoja, the leader of the Syrian opposition. He had categorically stated then Assad has no role in any future political settlement. Hala Qadamani wrote an interesting reportage for French newspaper Liberation with quotes from the people of Damascus. She writes that no one is questioning whether or not the regime will fall; rather it's about when and how it will fall. The biggest loss Assad has suffered is the support from the intelligentsia. Public approval of Assad has fallen drastically in every sphere, from military to political, from public to diplomatic. Honour and property While Assad's fractured spying system struggles to remain functional, the people are forming their own committees for the protection of their honour and property. A clip of a conversation posted on YouTube between Colonel Suhail al-Hasan alias "al-Nimer" with his commanding officer after the defeat in Jisr al-Shugur sums up the inner workings of the junta. The colonel is seen begging for munitions for his 800 fleeing soldiers. On the economic front, the Syrian lira has hit the lowest mark in its history. In the open market, one gets 330 liras for one US dollar. Moreover, the regime has been unable to pay public servants' salaries for the last four months. In neighbourhoods like al-Maliki, the residents are packing their bags to leave for Europe or the Gulf region. A Lebanese newspaper quoted a minister recently saying that Beirut is preparing to host Assad loyalists. The non-stop advance of Syrian fighters calls for a high-level conference of stakeholders in Riyadh to chalk out a future strategy ahead of the regime's collapse. Assad wants to remain in denial mode, as has historically been the nature of totalitarian regimes. The Alawite regime is likely to be no different until the Iranians decide to pull out the carpet from beneath their feet. To save Syria from descending into an all-out civil war like Afghanistan, now is the time to manage the transition process. Ahmad Zaidan is Al Jazeera's Islamabad bureau chief. He is a Syrian journalist who has covered the war in Syria since 2011. The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial policy.

The Black Death was one of the deadliest pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. It is widely thought to have been an outbreak of bubonic plague caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, an argument supported by recent forensic research, although this view has been challenged by a number of scholars. Thought to have started in China, it travelled along the Silk Road and had reached the Crimea by 1346. From there, probably carried by Oriental rat fleas residing on the black rats that were regular passengers on merchant ships, it spread throughout the Mediterranean and Europe. The Black Death is estimated to have killed 30% – 60% of Europe's population, reducing the world's population from an estimated 450 million to between 350 and 375 million in 1400. This has been seen as having created a series of religious, social and economic upheavals which had profound effects on the course of European history. It took 150 years for Europe's population to recover. The plague returned at various times, killing more people, until it left Europe in the 19th century. Contents Overview The Plague of Justinian in the 6th and 7th centuries is the first known attack on record, and marks the first firmly recorded pattern of bubonic plague.[1] From historical descriptions, as much as 40% of the population of Constantinople died from the plague. Modern estimates suggest half of Europe's population was wiped out before the plague disappeared in the 700s.[2] After 750, major epidemic diseases did not appear again in Europe until the Black Death of the 14th century.[3] The Black Death originated in China and spread by way of the Silk Road.[1] It may have reduced the world's population from an estimated 450 million to between 350 and 375 million in 1400.[4] Full article ▸

Twenty-one high-profile Hollywood actors, producers and film and television industry leaders are taking part in a delegation to Israel organized by The Creative Coalition (TCC), a New York-based arts and education non-profit, in conjunction with the American Israel Education Foundation (AIEF), which is affiliated with AIPAC, the US’ most powerful pro-Israel lobby group. In a press release dated 13 November, TCC announced that the delegates will travel “through Israel to meet with Israeli and Palestinian policy leaders, members of the arts, culture and business communities, and representatives of non-governmental organizations (NGOs).” The delegates include Emmy Award-winner Patricia Arquette (“Medium,” Holes); Emmy Award-winner Alfre Woodard (“Memphis Beat,” “Desperate Housewives,” Miss Evers’ Boys); Rachael Leigh Cook (“Perception,” She’s All That); Emmy Award-winner Joe Pantoliano (“The Sopranos,” The Matrix); Tichina Arnold (“Happily Divorced,” “Raising Hope,” “Martin,” “Everybody Hates Chris”); Stephen Baldwin (The Usual Suspects, Born on the Fourth of July); and Giancarlo Esposito (“Once Upon a Time,” “Breaking Bad”), among many others. The trip, which began on 13 November, is to last one week and meetings are scheduled with Israeli President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The delegation, according to TCC’s press release, will focus on “arts, culture and policy.” Nowhere in the press release does it say which of the Palestinian “policy leaders” the delegates will meet, nor does it imply that the delegation itself will cross into the occupied West Bank or Gaza Strip where, away from the neo-liberalist, sanitized bubble of Salam Fayyad and Mahmoud Abbas’ Ramallah, Palestinians face daily disposession, home demolition, land confiscation, imprisonment, torture and death by Israeli soldiers. Naturally, if AIPAC — a highly-influential, extreme-right pro-Israeli policy propaganda organization — is leading the trip, the delegation will most likely be subjected to a barrage of anti-boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) messages as Israel’s hasbara machine kicks into high gear. AIEF and AIPAC working with Israeli government to assault BDS AIEF, created as a supporting “educational wing” of AIPAC, helps finance public relations campaigns about the US-Israel relationship in public and private sectors, including on college campuses, and organizes and bankrolls trips to Israel by US political figures. A recent trip by 80 US Congressmembers in August was backed and organized by AIEF/AIPAC. On that August delegation, the members of Congress met with Netanyahu and Peres, and also with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Michael Grimm, a Republican congressman from New York, told the New York Times after he returned: “It’s my responsibility to be able to advocate on pro-Israel issues … Coming here and being able to feel it and touch it to fully understand how daily life is for an Israeli is important.” These types of delegations — especially those headlines under an innocuous pretense of a “focus on arts, culture and policy” — are precisely timed to combat the growing, global BDS movements. The organizations behind these trips are not only heavily-funded, but are directly targeting the academic and cultural boycott initiatives that are succeeding in marginalizing and isolating Israel the more that the Israeli government shoves apartheid policies down the throats of occupied and beseiged Palestinians. Recently, the US-based Creative Community for Peace (CCFP) — a group of US entertainment industry leaders — was formed with the explicit intent to crush the BDS movement as it pertains to the cultural boycott against Israel. In an October article, the Jerusalem Post reported that: Creative Community For Peace (CCFP) pledges to use a wide range of measures to bolster the resolve of artists who sign contracts to perform in or travel to Israel and then face calls from various “boycott groups” to cancel their trips, according one of its founders, Steve Schnur. Schnur is a worldwide executive of music and marketing for Electronic Arts and president of Artwerk Music Group, and is responsible for licensing music for some of the most popular computer video games. “We felt that if we could create a place where artists can get information from other artists and from people they know who understand what Israel is really about – the freedom, the democracy and equal rights – and not rely on the disinformation they’re given about ‘apartheid’ Israel, then maybe we could change things,” Schnur said in a phone call this week from Los Angeles. “Our aim isn’t to applaud the fact that artists have come to Israel, but to enable others to continue to go there.” The boycott issue has always been present with regard to international artists and Israel, but in the past few years, pro-Palestinian organizations abroad have stepped up efforts to bombard scheduled acts with e-mails, letters and Facebook campaigns urging them to cancel. Earlier this month, as The Electronic Intifada reported, a coalition of artists — Artists Against Apartheid — called for a comprehensive boycott against CCFP, which they categorized as a “complicit propaganda institution seeking to normalize Israeli apartheid and strongarm entertainers into its service.” CCFP is also closely linked to StandWithUs (SWU), a US-based pro-Israel and anti-boycott organization devoted to expanding Israeli propaganda on US college campuses and crushing Palestine solidarity activism in local communities. As The Electronic Intifada reported, SWU has tight ties with the Israeli government to combat BDS. Indeed, the boycott movement is gaining momentum and popularity, and more and more artists and performers are continuing to refuse to perform in Israel. PACBI, the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel, says that in the last few years, Bono, Snoop Dogg, Jean Luc Godard, Elvis Costello, Gil Scott Heron, Carlos Santana, Devendra Banhart, Faithless, the Pixies and many other artists have cancelled their performances in Israel over its human rights record. BDS holds Israel accountable By meeting with Israeli officials and lobby organizations who advocate for ethnic cleansing, apartheid, occupation, economic subjugation, settler-colonialism and repression of civil and human rights — and a client Palestinian leadership who acquiesce to and collude with their Israeli occupiers — this delegation of the entertainment industry’s elite will be used to further the Israeli propaganda war under a cynical, false banner of “advocating” arts and culture. As much money and effort that Israeli lobby groups are pouring into these propaganda ventures to battle the expanding BDS movement, it is a clear indication that they’re feeling the heat. With groups such as CCFP, AIEF, the Jewish Federations of North America and their public relations wing, the Jewish Community Relations Council, pouring millions of dollars into desperate attempts to stifle and censor Palestinian voices and the BDS movement, the BDS activism community will continue to hold Israel and its enablers accountable, from Tel Aviv to Hollywood.

"Mr. Potato" redirects here. For the potato chip brand, see Mamee Double-Decker Mr. Potato Head Original 1952 Mr. Potato Head Funny Face Kit Inventor(s) George Lerner Company Hasbro/Playskool/PPW Toys Country United States Availability 1952–present Materials plastic felt (formerly) Mr. Potato Head is an American toy consisting of a plastic model of a potato which can be decorated with a variety of plastic parts that can attach to the main body. These parts usually include ears, eyes, shoes, a hat, a nose, and a mouth. The toy was invented and developed by George Lerner in 1949, and first manufactured and distributed by Hasbro in 1952.[1] Mr. Potato Head was the first toy advertised on television[2][3] and has remained in production since its debut. The toy was originally produced as separate plastic parts with pushpins that could be stuck into a real potato or other vegetable. However, due to complaints regarding rotting vegetables and new government safety regulations, Hasbro began including a plastic potato body within the toy set in 1964.[4] Over the years, the original toy was joined by Mrs. Potato Head and supplemented with accessories such as a car and a boat trailer. Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head may be best known for their appearances in the Toy Story franchise. Additionally, in 1998 The Mr. Potato Head Show aired but was short-lived, with only one season being produced.[5] As one of the prominent marks of Hasbro, a Mr. Potato Head balloon has also joined others in the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.[6] Today, Mr. Potato Head can still be seen adorning hats, shirts, and ties. Toy Story Midway Mania!, in Disney California Adventure at the Disneyland Resort, also features a large talking Mr. Potato Head.[7] History [ edit ] In the early 1940s, Brooklyn-born toy inventor George Lerner came up with the idea of inserting small, pronged body and face parts into fruits and vegetables to create a "funny face man". Some speculate he got the idea from his wife's nephew Aaron Bradley, who was seen placing sticks inside of potatoes in the family garden.[2] Lerner would often take potatoes from his mother's garden and, using various other fruits and vegetables as facial features, he would make dolls with which his younger sisters could play. The grape-eyed, carrot-nosed, potato-headed dolls became the principal idea behind the plastic toy which would later be manufactured. In the beginning, Lerner's toy proved controversial. With World War II and food rationing a recent memory for most Americans, the use of fruits and vegetables to make toys was considered irresponsible and wasteful. Toy companies rejected Lerner's creation.[2] After several years of trying to sell the toy, Lerner finally convinced a food company to distribute the plastic parts as premiums in breakfast cereal boxes. He sold the idea for $5,000. But in 1951, Lerner showed the idea to Henry and Merrill Hassenfeld, who conducted a small school supply and toy business called Hassenfeld Brothers (later changed to Hasbro). Realizing the toy was quite unlike anything in their line, they paid the cereal company $2,000 to stop production and bought the rights for $5,000. Lerner was offered an advance of $500 and a 5% royalty on every kit sold. The toy was dubbed Mr. Potato Head and went into production.[2] Mr. Potato Head was "born" on May 1, 1952. The original toy cost $0.98, and contained hands, feet, ears, two mouths, two pairs of eyes, four noses, three hats, eyeglasses, a pipe, and eight felt pieces resembling facial hair. The original Mr. Potato Head kit did not come with a potato "body", so parents had to provide their own potato into which children could stick the various pieces. Shortly after the toy's initial release, an order form for 50 additional pieces was enclosed in every kit.[2] On April 30, 1952, Mr. Potato Head became the first toy advertised on television. The campaign was also the first to be aimed directly at children; before this, commercials were only targeted at adults, so toy adverts had always been pitched to parents.[8] This commercial revolutionized marketing, and caused an industrial boom. Over one million kits were sold in the first year.[2] In 1953, Mrs. Potato Head was added, and soon after, Brother Spud and Sister Yam completed the Potato Head family with accessories reflecting the affluence of the fifties that included a car, a boat trailer,[9] a kitchen set, a stroller, and pets called Spud-ettes. Although originally produced as separate plastic parts to be stuck into a real potato or other vegetable, a plastic potato was added to the kit in 1964.[1] In the 1960s, government regulations forced the Potato Head parts to be less sharp, leaving them unable to puncture vegetables easily. By 1964, the company was therefore forced to include a plastic potato "body" in its kit. Small children were also choking on the small pieces and cutting themselves with the sharp pieces.[10] About this time, Hasbro introduced Oscar the Orange and Pete the Pepper, a plastic orange and green pepper with attachable face parts similar to Mr. Potato Head's. Each came with Mr. Potato Head in a separate kit. Female characters Katie the Carrot and Cooky the Cucumber also made an appearance. Hasbro also made a fast food based line called Mr. Potato Head's Picnic Pals. Some characters were Mr. Soda Pop Head and Frankie Frank. The friends and pals were later discontinued, but Funko revived Oscar and Pete as bobbleheads (along with a Mr. Potato Head bobblehead) in 2002. In 1975, the main potato part of the toy doubled in size and the dimensions of its accessories were similarly increased. This was done mainly because of new toy child safety regulations that were introduced by the U.S. government. This change in size also increased the market to younger children, enabling them to play and attach the facial pieces easily. Hasbro also replaced the holes with flat slats, which made it impossible for users to put the face pieces and other body parts the wrong way around. In the 1980s, Hasbro reduced the range of accessories for Mr. Potato Head to one set of parts. The company did, however, reintroduce round holes in the main potato body, and once again parts were able to go onto the toy in the wrong locations. In 1985, Mr. Potato Head received four postal votes in the run for mayor of Boise, Idaho in the "most votes for Mr. Potato Head in a political campaign" as verified by Guinness World Records.[citation needed] In 1987, Mr. Potato Head became "Spokespud" for the annual Great American Smokeout and surrendered his pipe to Surgeon General C. Everett Koop in Washington, D.C.[1] In 1995, Mr. Potato Head made his debut in Hollywood with a leading role in the Disney/Pixar animated feature Toy Story,[1] with the voice provided by comedian Don Rickles. In 2000, Mr. Potato Head was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame at The Strong in Rochester, NY. In 2006, Hasbro also began selling sets of pieces without bodies for customers to add to their collections. Some of these themed sets included Chef, Construction Worker, Firefighter, Halloween, King, Mermaid, Police Officer, Pirate, Princess, Rockstar, and Santa Claus. In the same year, Hasbro introduced a line called "Sports Spuds"[11] with a generic plastic potato (smaller than the standard size) customized to a wide variety of professional and collegiate teams. Versions [ edit ] In recent years, Hasbro has produced Potato Head sets based on media properties that Hasbro produces toys for under license. These include the Star Wars-themed "Darth Tater",[12] "Spud Trooper" and "R2-POTATOO",[1][12] a 2007 Transformers film-themed "Optimash Prime"[12][13] (the look is based on the original Optimus Prime from the original television series), a pair of Spider-Man-themed "Spider-Spud/Peter Tater" (both red suit and black suit, to tie in with Spider-Man 3), an Indiana Jones-themed "Taters of the Lost Ark"[12][14] set (which, despite the title, was released as a tie-in to 2008's Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull), an Iron Man 2-themed "Tony Starch",[12] and a "Trick or Tater" version for Halloween in October 2008. An additional five Star Wars-themed potato heads were sold exclusively through Disney theme parks: "Luke Frywalker," "Yam Solo,"[12] "Spuda Fett," "Princess Tater," and "Darth Mash." In 2009, "Bumble Spud" was produced based on the movie Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. A Kiss version of Mr. Potato Head was produced recently. Disney, in cooperation with Hasbro, also released "Chipbacca", "Mashter Yoda",[12] and "C-3PotatO"[12] in October 2009 at Disney Parks. To celebrate Toy Story 3, five new Mr. Potato Heads were unveiled including Woody, Buzz Lightyear,[12] Jessie, Mrs. Potato Head, and the classic Mr. Potato Head.[15] To promote The Looney Tunes Show, Hasbro unveiled Bugs Bunny-, Daffy Duck- and Tasmanian Devil-themed Mr. Potato Head dolls. In 2011, it was announced at the New York Toy Fair that a second Elvis Mr. Potato Head (based on his 1968 TV special) would be released,[12] as well as sets for The Wizard of Oz (Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin Man and the Lion), the Three Stooges, and Star Trek (Kirk and Kor). These were all released through PPW toys. From Hasbro, there will be a SpongeBob SquarePants release as well. Since 2011, new models of the Mr. Potato Head toys, commonly referred to as Jason, have been produced. The Mrs. Potato Head version of the toy was also brought out in early 2012, commonly known as Rachel, and has a baked bean-like head. In 2012, Hasbro and PPW Toys released Mr. Potato Head in Batman form for the movie The Dark Knight Rises. The model, known as "The Dark Spud", features Mr. Potato Head dressed up as the Caped Crusader. Before the release, the model was unveiled at the 2012 New York Toy Fair. In 2014, to celebrate The Simpsons 25th anniversary, there will be a Homer Simpson Mr. Potato Head. In popular culture [ edit ] Mr. Potato Head Celebrates a Birthday in Lima, Peru Mr. Potato Head's popularity has led to some appearances in films and television. In 1985, Mr. Potato Head played a supporting role in Potato Head Kids, his first dramatic television appearance. In 1998–1999, he had his own short-lived Fox Kids series, The Mr. Potato Head Show. In addition to film and television, the character has been the subject of a comic strip created by Jim Davis. Cartoonist Gary Larson included the character in several of his The Far Side cartoons. In commercial for Bridgestone tires during Super Bowl XLIII in 2009, Mr. Potato Head is driving a car and Mrs. Potato Head is nagging him. Mr. Potato Head has also acted as spokesman for several causes. In 1987, Mr. Potato Head surrendered his pipe to become the spokesperson for the American Cancer Society's annual "Great American Smokeout" campaign. He performed the role for several years. In 1992, he received a special award from the President's Council for Physical Fitness. In 1996, Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head joined the League of Women Voters and their "Get Out to Vote" campaign. Mr. Potato Head is also the inspiration/main character of an upcoming fan film, Potato Headed. Larger-than-life versions of Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head are "guests" in the 1980s section of Pop Century Resort at Walt Disney World in Florida. Mr. and Mrs Potato Head also star in commercials for other brands starting in the 2000s. An example is an ad for Lay's Potato Chips where Mr. Potato Head comes home to see Mrs. Potato Head eating them despite being a potato herself. At the end Mr. Potato Head joins in and tells her to keep it their "little secret". A spoof, Mr. Zucchini Head, appears as a proposed new toy in the Family Guy episode "The King Is Dead". Another spoof, Mr. Carrot Head, appears in The Simpsons episode "Angry Dad: The Movie". Pop singer Melanie Martinez released a song called "Mrs. Potato Head" on her debut album Cry Baby. Toy Story series [ edit ] Mr. Potato Head is also in the Disney/Pixar Toy Story films, voiced by Don Rickles. He is one of Andy's toys. In the first film, Toy Story (1995), Mr. Potato Head is shown to be very moody towards Andy's other toys, although he is good friends with Hamm the piggy bank (John Ratzenberger). When Sheriff Woody (Tom Hanks) accidentally pushes Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) out of a window, Potato Head accuses Woody of doing it on purpose. At the end of the movie, he is overjoyed to hear Andy's sister Molly getting a Mrs. Potato Head on Christmas. In the second film, Toy Story 2 (1999), Mr. Potato Head goes with Andy's other toys to rescue Woody after he is stolen by Al McWhiggin (Wayne Knight). After Mr. Potato Head saves three Alien toys (Jeff Pidgeon) from falling out of a Pizza Planet truck, his wife, Mrs. Potato Head (Estelle Harris) adopts them, making her husband upset. In the third film, Toy Story 3 (2010), Mr. Potato Head is one of Andy's remaining toys, alongside his wife, the Aliens, and others. The toys are donated to a daycare center and are later almost killed in a landfill incinerator. When the Aliens rescue the toys with a giant crane, Mr. Potato Head finally accepts them as his sons. Eventually, Mr. Potato Head and his friends are donated to a new owner named Bonnie (Emily Hahn). Mr. Potato Head has appeared in all three Toy Story Toons shorts: Hawaiian Vacation (2011), Small Fry (2011), and Partysaurus Rex (2012), with Rickles reprising the role in the first and third shorts. Mr. Potato Head also appeared in the Halloween special Toy Story of Terror! (2013), where he disappears and Bonnie's other toys must find him. Mr. Potato Head appeared in the Christmas special, Toy Story That Time Forgot (2014), which was also Rickles' final performance as the character.[16] Mr. Potato Head will appear in Toy Story 4 (2019).[17] However, Rickles died in 2017, and did not record any lines for the film.[18] Games [ edit ] In 1997, a computer game called "Mr. Potato Head's Activity Pack" was released by Hasbro Interactive, aimed at young children. Mr. Potato Head has also appeared as the host in all installments of the popular video game series Hasbro Family Game Night. He has also appeared in several Toy Story-based video games along with Toy Story Activity Center. See also [ edit ]

If there was a chance you’d die while in line for Space Mountain, I’m thinking you might. People are wondering on Twitter how long it’ll be before the VA introduces a Fastpass+ program for vets. Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald on Monday compared the length of time veterans wait to receive health care at the VA to the length of time people wait for rides at Disneyland, and said his agency shouldn’t use wait times as a measure of success because Disney doesn’t either. “When you got to Disney, do they measure the number of hours you wait in line? Or what’s important? What’s important is, what’s your satisfaction with the experience?” McDonald said Monday during a Christian Science Monitor breakfast with reporters. “And what I would like to move to, eventually, is that kind of measure.”… The VA secretary said most veterans report being satisfied with their care and argued that the average wait time for a veteran seeking VA treatment is only a matter of days. Days, huh? That depends on how much you trust the VA’s record-keeping. A GAO report released last month found that three of the six VA centers they inspected claimed shorter wait times than vets had actually experienced in 25 percent of cases surveyed. The audit concluded that was due to inconsistent record-keeping, not deliberate manipulation, but the fact remains that the average wait was much longer than reported — not the four- to 28-day range that the VA claimed but 11-48 days. That’s not “days.” It’s weeks. Repeat: Weeks. Well, this is hitting close to home. My vet brother spent the last few weeks puking, has lost 20 pounds. VA can get him in 5 weeks from now — PoliMath (@politicalmath) May 23, 2016 Meanwhile, USA Today reported last month after reviewing dozens of investigation reports into VA practices that some facilities are deliberately manipulating their data on wait times to make it seem as though vets are being seen more quickly than they are. That sort of book-cooking was supposed to have ended after the VA scandal first broke in 2014. It hasn’t: Employees at 40 VA medical facilities in 19 states and Puerto Rico regularly “zeroed out” veteran wait times, the analysis shows. In some cases, investigators found manipulation had been going on for as long as a decade. In others, it had been just a few years. In many cases, facility leaders told investigators they clamped down the scheduling improprieties after the Phoenix scandal, but in others, investigators found they had continued unabated.The manipulation masked growing demand as new waves of veterans returned from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and as Vietnam veterans aged and needed more health care… The newly released findings of those probes show that supervisors instructed schedulers to manipulate wait times in Arkansas, California, Delaware, Illinois, New York, Texas and Vermont, giving the false impression facilities there were meeting VA performance measures for shorter wait times. The Disneyland comment is the logical end point of VA futility in trying to reduce bureaucracy and admit veterans more quickly. If you can’t get wait times down after a decade of trying and a hellacious scandal in which vets died while awaiting treatment, what’s left except to start downplaying wait times entirely? Don’t focus on how long you waited. Focus on … how much fun you had in the CAT scan room, I guess? Exit question: How do you separate wait times from “satisfaction with the experience” in the context of medical treatment?

Sikhs Regain Right To Wear Turbans In U.S. Army Enlarge this image toggle caption Darren Abate/AP Darren Abate/AP U.S. Army Capt. Tejdeep Singh Rattan is making history. This week, Rattan, who is an American Sikh, completed his nine-week basic officer training course at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio — making him the first American Sikh officer in the U.S. Army in more than 25 years. While Sikhs used to serve in the Army while observing their religion's requirements for wearing turbans and not shaving their hair and beards, the Army eliminated the exemption in 1984. Until now. After much advocacy from the Sikh community, the Army relented for Rattan and for a fellow Sikh who will be trained as a medic this summer. "It was definitely a very humbling experience," Rattan tells NPR's Robert Siegel. "I have a lot of responsibilities on my shoulder. Not even as a soldier, but as a Sikh." Rattan wears a fatigue-colored turban, and when he needs to wear a helmet, he puts on a mini-turban underneath it. He says he's gotten a positive response from other officers in training. "They've been obviously very curious because they have not seen any Sikhs serving in the military," he says. "A lot of questions have been asked, and I definitely have a good opportunity to explain myself — to educate my fellow soldiers. They're more than willing to listen to me, and they're very supportive. ... So, I'm very proud." Rattan was born in India, came to New York as a teenager and studied engineering and then dentistry. He says it has always been his dream to be in the military. "The reason I wanted to do it was I was educated here, I made friends here, I have my life here," Rattan says. "You can always pay back a little bit. The way you can pay is to serve." For Rattan, it was more than simply getting the recognition for being a Sikh. "It gave me the opportunity to be who I was: a saint-soldier," he says. "I'm an American soldier now."

Former Orlando Pirates goalkeeper, Deshi Bhaktawer, has accepted the role of goalkeeper coach at Atletico Madrid’s Indian Super League side, Atletico de Kolkata. Bhaktawer, who spent many years as a player before becoming a coach and a TV analyst, will soon be jetting out to India t prepare things in Kolkata before leaving for Spain where his new side will be undergoing their preseason. He will then fly back to India when the league begins in September. Former Wits and Sundowns head coach, Antonio Lopez Habas, and his assistant, Miguel Martinez, have been appointed as the men to take the reigns at the club, and it was he personally who asked Bhaktawer to get involved. Paul Mitchell, the managing director of Siyavuma Sports Group, has voiced his excitement at the news, telling the Siya crew, “It’s great news that Antonio has asked Deshi to be his assistant coach in Kolkata following his good work at SuperSport with Gavin Hunt. It’s brilliant for South Africa that there will be a South African working under the umbrella of Atletico Madrid.” Mitchell also confirmed that Ofentse Nato and Fikru Lemessa would also be making the trip alongside Bhaktawer and will be turning out for Kolkata during their campaign. Champions League winning attacker, Luis Garcia, formerly of Liverpool, is the marquee signing for Kolkata ahead of the eight-week league that works in a similar fashion to the Indian Premier League in cricket. Join Fan Park, Click Here! If you are a fan of this club, make sure you show your support by joining the Fan Park on Soccer Laduma. Discuss hot topics with fellow supporters 24/7.

There’s a photo that’s gone viral of a young boy hugging a police offer at a Ferguson protest in Portland. The Oregonian dubbed it “The Hug Heard Round the World”. Others, including myself, are not so impressed. Exploring the context behind the picture, its not as sweet as some would like to believe. The 11 year old boy, Devonte Hart, was attending a protest and held up a “Free Hugs“ sign. The police sergeant approached him and asked for a hug. (I wonder what kind of pressure the boy was under to consent to the hug in front of a crowd.) Its also worth noting that credible information is circling that the hug was staged, and that Hart has been used by his white parents to further a “color-blind” agenda. Its also surfaced that the police sergeant, Bret Barnum, is a supporter of Darren Wilson. Not very heart-warming. The picture shows the officer hugging the boy as he bursts into tears. I don’t think that its cause for celebration that, at best, an 11 year old was so burdened with the horrors of police brutality that he sought comfort from a police officer, who essentially is the embodiment of the oppressive system that spurred these protests in the first place. I think that that in itself is tragic. I also don’t think that the office should be applauded for showing a small kindness to a child. He has sworn to serve and protect, after all. The protest in Portland, like many that have broken out throughout the country, is happening because a teenager, Mike Brown, was shot and killed by then-police offer in Ferguson, Missouri. He was left dead in the street for hours. Three months later, after a painful-to-watch grandstanding from an obviously biased prosecutor, it was announced that the grand jury did not opt to indict Darren Wilson for killing Mike Brown. It’s a cry to end the patterns of police brutality, and unprotected killing of black bodies that have plagued this country for hundreds of years. In recent days, many people on social media have posted, tweeted, and remarked on the picture. After being bombarded with this image repeatedly for days, and looking at the ensuing commentary, I want to scream “That’s not how it works. That’s not how any of this works!” When I think of the police, I don’t see that picture. I see Mike Brown lying dead in the street for hours. Tamir Rice, a child who died after he was refused medical assistance after he was shot within seconds. Aiyana Stanley-Jones, a child who was fatally shot while she slept in her bed. The manslaughter charge against the officer who killed her was dropped. Eric Garner, choked to death because he was selling loose cigarettes. Anyone victim of police brutality listed on this website. (https://www.facebook.com/KilledByPolice). A black American is killed by the police or vigilantes every 28 hours. I was a teenager when Amadou Diallo was brutally murdered by the NYPD. They, of course, were acquitted. I still think of how he suffered when I see the police, 15 years later. I cannot think of the police without thinking of these victims of police violence. Those images never go away. To think that those images will be erased by a picture of a policeman hugging a boy is insulting and reductive. When someone insists on sharing that picture, its telling me “I know that you’re caught up in this whole Ferguson thing, but it makes me uncomfortable to think about, so here’s a picture of a cop hugging a black kid”. Am I saying that all cops are bad? No. Do I think that all cops voluntarily work in an oppressive system that results in unnecessary abuse and/or killings? Yes. And because of that I will always be wary of the police. It speaks volumes that of all the iconic photos that have come from the Ferguson protests that this is the one that so many insist on circulating. People who have for the most part kept silent. By bringing up the “notallcops” argument when people are expressing their righteous grief, fear, and anger over this is derailment and downright abusive. Its going to take a lot more than a hug to make us forget this.

Connectivity analyses based on both resting-state (rs-)fMRI and diffusion weighted imaging studies suggest that the human brain contains regions that act as hubs for the entire brain, and that elements of the Default Mode Network (DMN) play a pivotal role in this network. In the present study, the detailed functional and structural connectivity of the DMN was investigated. Resting state fMRI (35 minute duration) and Diffusion Weighted Imaging (DWI) data (256 directions) were acquired from forty-seven healthy subjects at 3 T. Tractography was performed on the DWI data. The resting state data were analysed using a combination of Independent Component Analysis, partial correlation analysis and graph theory. This forms a data driven approach for examining the connectivity of the DMN. ICA defined regions of interest were used as a basis for a partial correlation analysis. The resulting partial correlation coefficients were used to compute graph theoretical measures. This was performed on a single subject basis, and combined to compute group results depicting the spatial distribution of betweenness centrality within the DMN. Hubs with high betweenness centrality were frequently found in association areas of the brain. This approach makes it possible to distinguish the hubs in the DMN as belonging to different anatomical association systems. The start and end points of the fibre tracts coincide with hubs found using the resting state analysis.

Miami Marlins right fielder Giancarlo Stanton was hoping to return within six weeks of having surgery on his fractured left wrist, but slow progress through his recovery has thrust that timetable into doubt. Stanton, who suffered a left hamate fracture on a swing June 26 and underwent surgery two days later, said his rehab is going slower than expected. "Definitely slower," Stanton said. "That's the generation of your whole swing is that turnover [with] your hand and your wrist. I know what a sore wrist feels like, and now with a broken hand and the sore wrist, it takes a little longer." There is no timetable for his return, after the original diagnosis of four to six weeks. Stanton, who missed the All-Star Game while moving through his rehab, has 27 home runs and 67 RBIs this season, to go with a .265 batting average. Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

Cagle Cagle I promise this is not going to be the same post-Brickyard 400 column I wrote last year — but it’s going to be close. To the two people who read it last year, I profusely apologize. “Hey, NASCAR, this whole Brickyard thing just isn’t working out.” — NASCAR fans. Speaking on behalf of fans everywhere, if I could be so bold, I am not going to sugarcoat this: it’s not us, it’s you. Sure, we had some good times. How can we forget Ricky Rudd’s victory in the 1997 running driving for himself? Or Dale Jarrett kissing the bricks? Or Bill Elliott turning back time to win in 2003? We will always have those memories, but it’s over. This year’s racing wasn’t that bad. It had moments when it was pretty good. The Xfinity race was a very good race. But, I will say this again: this generation of stock car — and the one before it — does not race well on Indianapolis’s flat sweeping turns. NASCAR played with the aero package for the Xfinity cars, which improved the racing, but as they inevitably change the cars, we will be starting over. This relationship has been deteriorating since the 2008 tire debacle that led to a disastrous race that saw NASCAR throwing the caution every 10-12 laps due to excessive tire wear with the “Car of Tomorrow.” Attendance at the event has been dropping precipitously since then to an estimated low of 35,000 people for this year’s event. For a little perspective, the inaugural event drew an estimated 250,000 people and this year’s Indianapolis 500 drew 350,000 people. The shine is off the apple for fans and NASCAR at Indy. 2017 is much different than 1994. The run up to that initial running was monumental: two years of testing and 83 cars showing up for the race with 70 attempting to make the 43-car field. The race featured the largest crowd in NASCAR history, and a then-record purse of $3.2 million. In 2017, the aforementioned 35,000 people showed up. Only 40 cars attempted to make the 40-car field. The race was called the Brantley Gilbert Big Machine Brickyard 400 for God’s sake. That’s way too much bro country to add to my racing. The bigger problem with all of this is the 2017 running isn’t going to do anything to help NASCAR’s Indianapolis position. While I have been listening and watching all the NASCAR radio and TV folks extol the sanctioning body’s handling of the end of the race, I still can’t get over the blatant making-it-up-as-they-go-ness of the whole thing. If you watch NASCAR, you know there is this “overtime line.” This arbitrary line on the backstretch is the point at which, when the leader reaches it during “NASCAR overtime,” you have an official restart and any caution past that moment ends the race. The problem at Indy was this: there was a fairly large crash during overtime that occurred as leader Kasey Kahne was well short of the overtime line. No caution, no caution and as soon as Kahne hit the overtime line, the caution flew. It was a solid four seconds. NASCAR’s response was they treat the end of the race differently than other times during the race. This is crap. NASCAR was not going to have another restart. They were chasing daylight after extensive rain delays. It was too dark to restart again. NASCAR should have thrown the caution then called the race for darkness (Indianapolis doesn’t have lights). The outcome wouldn’t have changed, Kahne would have still won, but your rules wouldn’t look so flipping arbitrary and NASCAR could have salvaged a bit of credibility. One more nail in the coffin for fans and NASCAR and Indy. Let’s be real, we gave it a good try. It was great at the beginning, but in the end, it just wasn’t meant to be. I think it’s time for everyone to move on and find a better fit. Andy Cagle, a former spokesman for Rockingham Speedway and motorsports public relations consultant, writes about NASCAR in a weekly column. Cagle https://www.yourdailyjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/web1_web1_cagle2.jpg Cagle

The Department of Environment recently expanded the Australian Government’s Carbon Neutral Program to buildings, precincts and cities. This is a much-needed move as the construction industry is not yet clearly set on a path to a low carbon future. While the technology for low or zero carbon buildings is clearly available, the existing building stock is far from achieving this goal. Together with avant-garde projects like Barangaroo and cities like Adelaide and Melbourne setting ambitious carbon neutral targets, the government’s initiative has the potential to establish the concept of carbon neutrality in the whole built environment and initiate significant emissions savings in the near future. At the current stage, the carbon neutrality initiatives address carbon emissions from major operational processes, such as heating, cooling and transport. But in order to stay in line with Australia’s Intended Nationally Determined Contribution to the Paris Agreement – an economy-wide reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 26 to 28 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030 – a more holistic approach needs to be pursued by including indirect emissions in targets and strategies. In the built environment, these are mostly the carbon emissions embodied in construction materials from their production all the way to their disposal or recycling. After all, embodied carbon emissions in the construction sector account for nearly 20 per cent of all carbon emissions in Australia. Therefore, detailed analysis and reliable quantification of embodied emissions of buildings, precincts and infrastructure are a vital part of designing a low carbon built environment and achieving deep emissions reductions. It is impossible to assess the carbon neutrality of a project without knowing the exact extent of both operational and embodied emissions. Including embodied carbon emissions opens up a variety of additional solutions, from finding less carbon-intense building materials or design structures to planning precincts with a view to smart layout of infrastructure, short distances and efficient transport. The poor availability of embodied carbon data still constitutes a significant barrier to analyse and pursue such low carbon options. To assist planners and architects in the quantification, software tools are being developed, but the inclusion of embodied emissions in such tools is scant and still an emerging field. Based on a recent scoping study under the CRC for Low Carbon Living, we examined tools available for the Australian market to evaluate and assess how they can help shape a low carbon future. On the one hand there are tools like SimaPro and GaBi for comprehensive life cycle assessments of any product. Built environment projects can be modelled in these programs in as much detail as required, but not many predefined construction elements are available. The Footprint LCA Software or eTool on the other hand are targeted towards buildings and can be extended to precincts or infrastructure projects. Their databases are streamlined for these applications and the material selection is structured by construction elements for easy navigation. The third category, the integration of embodied carbon in Building Information Models (BIM), goes one step further and ties the carbon calculations directly into the design process. Tally is an example. The fourth category of tools are Excel-based infrastructure carbon calculators like the Carbon Estimate and Reporting Tool from Transport for NSW and the Infrastructure Sustainability Materials Calculator from the Infrastructure Sustainability Council of Australia. So what would the features of an ideal tool be? This depends on the specific target of analysis. The level of detail needed for carbon calculations should guide the depth of the software model. For a quick overview, high-level estimates with predefined default values are sufficient. In contrast, a detailed comparison of design variations require accurate figures. Here, the underlying database plays an important part. Australia-specific carbon data are not as abundant as data for the US or Europe, but country-specific data are crucial for precise results. Furthermore, few tools allow for a comparison between embodied and operational carbon emissions or for complete life cycle assessments including additional environmental impacts such as resource use, air pollution or toxicity. Considering that the software-based assessment of embodied carbon emissions is still an emerging field, it is not surprising that there is potential for optimisation. Two aspects stand out. First, more tools should account for both embodied and operational emissions at the same time. This would facilitate designing buildings and precincts in the sweet spot between energy efficiency – by integrating high-grade insulation and using low carbon materials. Second, the underlying data sources and algorithms should be fully transparent. In most cases, the databases included in these tools are based on a variety of sources, have been calculated with different methods or come with a varying degree of quality and description. Data might be independently reviewed by third parties or might just be provided by one single company without further review. Obviously, the more transparency there is with respect to the underlying information, the more value the respective tool will provide. The previously mentioned scoping study revealed that these aspects are also major concerns of construction industry professionals. The current research project Integrated Carbon Metrics (ICM) from the CRC for Low Carbon Living focuses on embodied carbon emissions in the built environment on several levels. Most prominently, Australia-specific data for embodied carbon emissions of built-environment products and services are being developed as well as tools that quantify embodied and operational carbon emissions. One focal scope is the precinct level to enable planners to use the information in Precinct Information Models (PIM) tying the carbon calculations directly into the design process of precinct planning, thus allowing to better explore and assess low carbon options throughout the design stage. Additionally, information will be provided on where the emissions related to the built environment originate. ICM data and tools will be delivered under an open source licence for transparency, flexibility and availability. Scenario models will give an insight into how close to a low carbon society we can get with the planning of low carbon precincts. Including embodied carbon emissions in project assessments is a holistic concept and it may need some getting used to before stakeholders consistently think along these lines, but they will help to finally bring Australia’s built environment into the 21st century. Judith Schinabeck, Thomas Wiedmann and Sven Lundie are part of the Sustainability Assessment Program in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering at UNSW.

Charles Ginsburg led the research team at Ampex Corporation in developing one of the first practical videotape recorders or VTRs in 1951. It captured live images from television cameras by converting the information into electrical impulses and saving the information on magnetic tape. By 1956, VTR technology was perfected and in common use by the television industry. But Ginsburg wasn’t done yet. He led the Ampex research team in developing a new machine that could run the tape at a much slower rate because the recording heads rotated at high speed. This allowed the necessary high-frequency response. He became known as the "father of the video cassette recorder.” Ampex sold the first VTR for $50,000 in 1956, and the first VCassetteRs -- or VCRs -- were sold by Sony in 1971. The Early Days of Video Recording Film was initially the only medium available for recording television programs -- magnetic tape was considered, and it was already being used for sound, but the greater quantity of information carried by the television signal demanded new studies. A number of American companies began investigating this problem during the 1950s. Tape Recording Technology Audio and video magnetic recording have had a greater impact on broadcasting than any other development since the invention of radio/TV transmission itself. Videotape in a large cassette format was introduced by both JVC and Panasonic around 1976. This was the most popular format for home use and for video store rentals for many years until it was replaced by CDs and DVDs. VHS stands for Video Home System. The First Television Cameras American engineer, scientist and inventor Philo Taylor Farnsworth devised the television camera in the 1920s, although he would later declare that "there's nothing on it worthwhile." It was an “image dissector” that converted a captured imagine into an electrical signal. Farnsworth was born in 1906 on Indian Creek in Beaver County, Utah. His parents expected him to become a concert violinist but his interests drew him to experiments with electricity. He built an electric motor and produced the first electric washing machine his family ever owned at the age of 12. He then went on to attend Brigham Young University where he researched television picture transmission. Farnsworth had already conceived of his idea for television while in high school, and he cofounded Crocker Research Laboratories in 1926 which he later renamed Farnsworth Television, Inc. He then changed the name again to Farnsworth Radio and Television Corporation in 1938. Farnsworth was the first inventor to transmit a television image comprised of 60 horizontal lines in 1927. He was only 21 years old. The image was a dollar sign. One of the keys to his success was the development of the dissector tube that essentially translated images into electrons that could be transmitted to a TV. He filed for his first television patent in 1927. He had already won an earlier patent for his image dissection tube, but he lost later patent battles to RCA, which owned the rights to many of inventor Vladimir Zworkyin’s TV patents. Farnsworth went on to invent over 165 different devices. He held over 300 patents by the end of his career, including a number of significant television patents -- although he was not a fan of what his discoveries had wrought. His final years were spent battling depression and alcohol. He died on March 11, 1971, in Salt Lake City, Utah. Digital Photography and Video Stills Digital camera technology is directly related to and evolved from the same technology that once recorded television images. Both television/video cameras and digital cameras use a CCD or charged coupled device to sense light color and intensity. A still video or digital camera called the Sony Mavica single-lens reflex was first demonstrated in 1981. It used a fast-rotating magnetic disc that was two inches in diameter and could record up to 50 images formed in a solid-state device inside the camera. The images were played back through a television receiver or monitor, or they could be printed out. Advancements in Digital Technology NASA converted from using analog to digital signals with their space probes to map the surface of the moon in the 1960s, sending digital images back to earth. Computer technology was also advancing at this time and NASA used computers to enhance the images that the space probes were sending. Digital imaging had another government use at the time – in spy satellites. Government use of digital technology helped advance the science of digital imaging, and the private sector also made significant contributions. Texas Instruments patented a filmless electronic camera in 1972, the first to do so. Sony released the Sony Mavica electronic still camera in August 1981, the first commercial electronic camera. Images were recorded onto a mini disc and placed into a video reader that was connected to a television monitor or color printer. The early Mavica cannot be considered a true digital camera, however, even though it started the digital camera revolution. It was a video camera that took video freeze-frames. The First Digital Cameras Since the mid-1970s, Kodak has invented several solid-state image sensors that "convert light to digital pictures" for professional and home consumer use. Kodak scientists invented the world's first megapixel sensor in 1986, capable of recording 1.4 million pixels that could produce a 5 x 7-inch digital photo-quality print. Kodak released seven products for recording, storing, manipulating, transmitting and printing electronic still video images in 1987, and in 1990, the company developed the Photo CD system and proposed "the first worldwide standard for defining color in the digital environment of computers and computer peripherals." Kodak released the first professional digital camera system (DCS), aimed at photojournalists in 1991, a Nikon F-3 camera equipped with a 1.3-megapixel sensor. The first digital cameras for the consumer market that would work with a home computer via a serial cable were the Apple QuickTake camera in 1994, the Kodak DC40 camera in 1995, the Casio QV-11 also in 1995, and Sony's Cyber-Shot Digital Still Camera in 1996. Kodak entered into an aggressive co-marketing campaign to promote its DC40 and to help introduce the idea of digital photography to the public. Kinko's and Microsoft both collaborated with Kodak to create digital image-making software workstations and kiosks which allowed customers to produce photo CD discs and add digital images to documents. IBM collaborated with Kodak in making an Internet-based network image exchange.

Story highlights Many young evangelicals are abandoning their churches, says Laura Sessions Stepp These young dropouts are tired of being told how they should live their lives, Stepp says Because of social issues, former evangelicals may very well vote Democratic, she says Stepp: In a very tight presidential race, millennials' votes might make the difference Republican conservatives should be worried. Evangelical churches that frequently support conservative candidates are finally admitting something the rest of us have known for some time: Their young adult members are abandoning church in significant numbers and taking their voting power with them. David Kinnaman, the 38-year-old president of the Barna Group, an evangelical research firm, is the latest to sound the alarm. In his new book, "You Lost Me: Why Young Christians Are Leaving Church and Rethinking Faith," he says that 18- to 29-year-olds have fallen down a "black hole" of church attendance. There is a 43% drop in Christian church attendance between the teen and early adult years, he says. I'm not surprised. These young dropouts value the sense of community their churches provide but are tired of being told how they should live their lives. They don't appreciate being condemned for living with a partner, straight or gay, outside of marriage or opting for abortion to terminate an unplanned pregnancy. This doesn't mean that they necessarily will vote for President Obama in 2012. Jobs and higher wages are their priority just as they are for everyone else; the nominee who convinces the millennials that they'll be better off financially will get their vote. But if neither party is persuasive, the former evangelicals may vote Democratic because of that party's more moderate stance on social issues. Or they could simply sit out the election. Brittany, a 24-year-old veterinary technician, is an example of the newly disaffected. In high school, she attended a conservative Episcopal church in northern Virginia. She enrolled in college thinking of herself as a conservative and not wanting to have sex until she was married. Her views changed when she met her boyfriend. She began to question the theology of her home church on a number of social issues. Laura Stepp "I know I'm a Christian and believe in God, but the church hasn't helped me in my struggles," she says. "It really doesn't affect anything in life right now." The result? "I don't go to any church." And how does she feel about next year's election? "There are many times I think I'd rather not vote at all." In lifestyle and beliefs, she is far from an outlier. Consider the following facts about millennials in general: • Seven in 10 millennials say sex between an unmarried man and woman is morally acceptable (PDF). (According to Kinnaman, young Christians are as sexually active as non-Christians.) • Most women in their early 20s who give birth are unmarried • More than six in 10 millennials (including 49% of Republican millennials) support same-sex marriages • Six in 10 millennials say abortion should be legal (PDF), a higher proportion than found in the general population. A higher percentage say abortion services should be available in local communities. Millennials also part ways with conservative orthodoxy on wealth distribution and caring for the environment. According to a report in The Christian Science Monitor, three out of four say that wealthy corporations and financiers have too much power and that taxes should be raised on the very wealthy, and two out of three say financial institutions should be regulated more closely. In addition, most say that creationists' view on evolution is outdated Sounds a lot like Democratic ideology to me. Of course, every generation rethinks its beliefs and values during young adulthood. Even the most liberal tend to moderate their views once they marry, have children and start paying a mortgage. Some of them return to church, if only for the structured support of a congregation and the moral instruction their sons and daughters can receive. But here's the thing: This particular generation is marrying later than prior generations, if they marry at all. They're having children -- and assuming a mortgage -- later. The longer they stay away from church, the less likely they are to come back. "What used to be two or three years of dropping out is a decade or more," author Kinnaman said. In 2008, then-presidential contender Obama received a healthy 33% of the young white evangelical vote. If he and his team offer millennials concrete ideas for improving their dismal job situation, he could repeat or even improve upon that in 2012. So far, however, Obama and mainstream Democrats have done little to reach out to younger voters other than ease the burden of paying off college loans, a not-insignificant move. Perhaps they hold to the theory that presidential elections are the domain of the 40-plus crowd, an assumption increasingly outdated by the speed and breadth with which millennials communicate over the Internet. In a very tight race, votes cast by this generation -- which has grown in number by 4 million since the last election -- might make the difference. Their votes will be significant for sure by the end of this decade because by then, millennials will make up a third of the U.S. adult population.

Support JeepForum - Equipment Drive 1. Upgrade to Premium Member. 2. Upgrade someone else to Premium Member. Directions on How-To 3. Donate directly by using the PayPal button below. Please also spread the word about this as most people overlook Announcements and Stickies. Last week JeepForum came under attack by a DDoS SYN Flood attack. Thursday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday morning we struggled to keep JF online as many of you noticed.This amount of downtime is not acceptable and we do not want to have a repeat ever again.So on the 13th we will be moving all the JeepForum servers to a new data center in Austin that can better serve our needs. The entire site will be down that whole night as we physically move the servers across town and reconfigure them. There might be additional downtime into Sunday as DNS propagates as our IP address will change.In addition we must immediately purchase some new equipment, the most expensive being a new Cisco firewall as our current one is maxed out. Our other server equipment should have been able to handle the attack but our firewall could just not handle it and became the bottleneck during the attack.We have money saved for new equipment but not enough to cover all the expenses. We have to pay setup, 1st and last month rent at the new data center, pay out the last months on our current data center contract plus the new equipment. Just to give you an idea of our data center bill, bandwidth alone is $1400 per month. That doesn't cover power, server cabinet rental or taxes.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, left, and Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy listen as President Barack Obama speaks at the International Association of Chiefs of Police at the 122nd Annual IACP Conference and Exposition in Chicago, Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2015. A Cook County judge on Thursday ordered the city release video of the Oct. 20, 2014 shooting death of Laquan McDonald, a black teenager who was shot 16 times by Chicago police officer. (Photo: AP) CHICAGO — A judge on Thursday ordered the Chicago Police Department to release a video taken from a squad car dashcam that is said to show a police officer shooting a Chicago teen 16 times. Cook County Judge Franklin Valderrama ruled that the police department must release the video by Wednesday. It documents the Oct. 20, 2014 killing of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, who police said was holding a small knife when he was fatally shot by a police officer. For months, city officials had declined to release the video, citing an ongoing federal grand jury probe of the incident. Police say that McDonald, who had PCP in his system at the time of his death and refused to drop the knife, had been acting erratically before the police officer opened fire. Police had started their pursuit of McDonald after receiving a 911 call from someone who said that a knife-wielding man had threatened him and appeared to be trying to break into cars. A union official suggested to reporters soon after the incident that the officer was acting in self-defense. McDonald's family attorneys and some witness, however, said that the teen was walking away from the police officer when he was shot. Five other police officers at the scene did not fire their weapons. Mayor Rahm Emanuel said the city would not file an appeal of Valderrama's ruling and would release the video by Wednesday. He said that he hoped prosecutors would wrap up their investigation by then, noting "it appears an officer violated" the public trust. "The city's Independent Police Review Authority promptly sent this case and the evidence to state and federal prosecutors who have been investigating it for almost a year," Emanuel said in a statement. "In accordance with the judge's ruling the city will release the video by November 25, which we hope will provide prosecutors time to expeditiously bring their investigation to a conclusion so Chicago can begin to heal." We won a victory for transparency today against the City of Chicago. #ReleaseTheTapespic.twitter.com/u8pZHLhva7 — Brandon Smith (@muckrakery) November 19, 2015 The incident happened about two months after the shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., by a white police officer ignited nationwide protests. McDonald's family has said through their attorneys that they worry that release of the potentially inflammatory video could unleash unrest in Chicago. McDonald is black and the police officer who shot him is white. "What's important is that the community be told the truth about what happened, about how he was shot," said Michael Robbins, an attorney for the McDonald family. "There was a narrative put out there by the Chicago police, by the union initially, that a police officer had to shoot him in self defense...that he lunged at a police officer with a knife. It's not true. He was shot while he was walking away." Chicago's city council voted in April to pay McDonald's family $5 million. As part of the settlement, a judge barred attorneys from releasing the video footage. Thursday's decision was triggered by a lawsuit brought by Brandon Smith, an independent journalist, who had a Freedom of Information Act request for the video denied in May. No charges have been filed against the police officer. Earlier this month, the office of the Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan delivered an opinion that the Chicago Police Department violated the state Freedom of Information law, when it denied a separate open records request made by a Wall Street Journal reporter for the dashcam video. "We expected this ruling, we're glad for this ruling," said Matt Topic, an attorney for the journalist Smith, after the judge issued his ruling. "The Illinois Attorney General has ruled on this, the court has now ruled on this. It's time for the city to release this video and not continue this fight." Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/1ja5sgW

While in Russia, Stephen Colbert sent a tweet to President Donald Trump and announced he was considering a White House run. “I am here to announce that I am considering a run for President in 2020, and I thought it would be better to cut out the middle man and just tell the Russians myself,” Colbert said on the Russian late-night show Evening Urgant on Friday. The Brief Newsletter Sign up to receive the top stories you need to know right now. View Sample Sign Up Now As the American TV host continued poking fun at allegations that President Trump’s campaign may have colluded with Russia, Colbert added, “If anyone would like to work on my campaign, in an unofficial capacity, please just let me know.” Russian host Ivan Urgant joined in on the fun saying, “It’s a pleasure to drink with the future U.S. President. To you, Stephen. I wish you luck. We will do everything we can so you become President.” Colbert tweeted a picture of himself in Russia to the President Thursday with the caption, “Don’t worry, Mr. President. I’m in Russia. If the ‘tapes’ exist, I’ll bring you back a copy!” Contact us at editors@time.com.

Home automation sounds fantastic, but in practice it has some struggles. With the advent of HomeKit, there's a good chance Apple can bring home automation to the masses, with a one-two punch of iOS 8 and Apple TV. Apple TV + HomeKit = Crazy Delicious Right now the setup process for individual items is pretty straightforward, but if you want anything to work together you need a central way for those separate devices to communicate.That home automation "hub" needs to be easy to set up and use, and right now it's not the greatest experience in either category. Last year when we moved into our new house, we found a few opportunities for home automation, and discovered very quickly the need for a "hub" of some sort to manage all of the communication. We did some research and found the Vera we could hook all sorts of things to for monitoring and automating purposes. Vera is a box about the size of an Apple TV that communicates with outlets/switches, security systems, and climate control (among other things) and allows you to create "scenes." For example, I built scenes where my porch light and backyard lights come on when the sun goes down, but the backyard lights turn off after a couple of hours while the porch light stays on until sunrise. And Vera has a network connection so it can check the time for sunrise and sunset each day instead of relying on a sensor outside. As soon as we started setting things up we ran into hurdles really quickly. Documentation is sparse and written by non-English speakers, so usually it takes thorough forum searching to find any sort of solution. Sorting out errors is a dark art that is equal parts luck and search-fu. It works pretty well if you can get set up, but that setup can be a long painful process of trial and error. We finally got most of it working, but it certainly wasn't an experience I would recommend to others, particularly those who don't think troubleshooting is a fabulous way to spend an evening. Since then, I've watched the home automation/Internet of Things movement with interest. I wanted something better, and since the bar was set so low I figured it wouldn't take long. So hearing about HomeKit during the WWDC keynote this year was music to my ears. For a second. Then I realized all this software and hardware that utilizes HomeKit will still need a central hub; my iPhone might be where the command starts but not where it's processed. Image made with help from Shutterstock. Next: That's Where Apple TV Comes In That's Where Apple TV Comes In It makes sense to have the Apple TV be the hub. Something needs to be, since there's communication and monitoring that needs to happen even if my iPhone isn't on the network. If I am gone when the sun goes down, my lights still need to turn on. There have been rumors of Apple working on HomeKit products. Since HomeKit is an iOS-centric product and Apple TV runs its own version of iOS, I hope this means a nice Apple TV update is on the way. Start with the physical: Apple TV is a small black box. It's unobtrusive and inexpensive, and easy to set up. It hangs out quietly on a network, not generating a lot of traffic, and controlling it via an iPhone app or the hardware remote is pretty straightforward. Also, Apple TVs tend to be stationary, they don't generally leave the house in someone's pocket or purse. Now let's consider the history of the device. According to the MacRumors Buying Guide, the last update to the hardware was March 2012, well over two years ago. Since it's a lower-priced device than, say, an iMac or even an iPad, it not as big a deal if you buy one now and an update comes out soon after. Looking at the specs for the Apple TV compared to other boxes, it certainly looks as though Apple's hardware is lagging. As I said in that piece, having used most of the other hardware I get the snappiest responses from Apple TV. So for current Apple TV use it's completely fine, but if I wanted to add some home automation to the mix, there's a good chance storage and memory will need to get bumped up. And I Mean Ideal To review: Apple has created an environment in iOS 8 where home automation is integrated systemwide thanks to HomeKit APIs, allowing developers to do things like add widgets to Notification center for controlling devices. And one of the devices that runs iOS is the Apple TV, a box ripe for updating with a known history of associating with other iOS devices. It also tends to hang around the house most of the time. This means the Apple TV can sit around waiting to kick off scenes whether based on a set of conditions or a remote command from a user. Plus, when you tell Siri it's time for bed (as shown in the WWDC Keynote), those commands for adjusting the lights and the thermostat have to be parsed somewhere and handed out to the individual devices separately. Since something has to be handling those requests, why not make it the box I already control with my iPhone? It's a piece of cake for me to set up my parents with an Apple TV now. Imagine the new model: set it up and have my parents tell Siri it's time to wake up so the lights and the coffeemaker come on, or it's time for bed so the fans and thermostat adjust automatically. It's like getting a universal remote control; it's a lot easier to add A/V equipment when you control everything from a single device. This could make Apple a huge name in home automation, and make home automation far more common than it is now. Everybody wins! I'm pretty sure it's winning, because I always feel like I lost a bet when I have to troubleshoot mysterious errors on the system I have now. I know that even with the new trend toward transparency, Apple isn't tipping its hand on Apple TV updates, and even if it were to try, likely nobody would notice amongst the iPhone 6 cases and totally accurate* reports of ribbon cables. A lot of people are looking forward to September 9th for the new wearable tech from Apple, but I'm holding out for an Apple TV update. And now you know why. * Not even a little bit accurate.

Former Attorney General Eric Holder is moving away from a behind-the-scenes role and is considering running for president in 2020, according to a Tuesday report from Yahoo News. “Up to now, I have been more behind-the-scenes. But that’s about to change. I have a certain status as the former attorney general. A certain familiarity as the first African-American attorney general,” Holder told Yahoo News. “There’s a justified perception that I’m close to President Obama. So I want to use whatever skills I have, whatever notoriety I have, to be effective in opposing things that are, at the end of the day, just bad for the country.” The former attorney general has been working against Trump administration initiatives ranging from crackdowns on illegal immigration to increased prosecutions of drug dealers. Holder further explained that Hillary Clinton’s loss inspired him to step into the spotlight. “I thought, frankly, along with everybody else, that after the election, with Hillary Clinton as president, I could walk off the field,” the former attorney general elaborated. “So when she didn’t win, I thought, ‘We’ll have to see how this plays out.’ But it became clear relatively soon — and certainly sooner than I expected — that I had to get back on the field and be in effective opposition.” Holder spoke Monday in the lobby of the Ronald Reagan State Building in Los Angeles in favor of a California Senate bill that would prohibit local and state police from assisting in federal immigration enforcement. He said that the “federal government does not have the ability to force states to do things that are inherently federal in nature.” A Republican-backed bill in the House of Representatives with White House support would allow state and local jurisdictions to create their own immigration law consistent with federal statutes. The former attorney general who is from Washington is seeking to use California as a launching pad for his political ambitions. he said, “California is in so many ways a trendsetter, whether it is in pop culture or in politics.”

(CNN) -- Republican vice presidential nominee Gov. Sarah Palin spoke Tuesday to CNN's Drew Griffin. It was her first interview with the network. Here are excerpts: Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin speaks with CNN's Drew Griffin Tuesday. CNN: You seemed to be very much on your game. You get huge crowds. Even bigger crowds than [Republican presidential candidate Sen.] John McCain. Why is that? Sarah Palin: I think it's what I'm representing and what the message is and that is true reform of government that is so needed, and having a representative of someone who has a track record of showing that, yeah, you can, you can do this, you can reform, you can put government back on the side of the people, you can fight corruption. You can actually take steps towards helping our nation become energy-independent and all those things that we're talking about. I think that more and more Americans are realizing that, well, good, we have a candidate who has actually done some of those things and it's not just, talkin' the talk, she's gonna tell us how she's done this. CNN: Let's talk about some of that, because, I mean, two months ago, it was all about who you were, where you were from and Wasilla, Alaska. I think, now it's just the economy. And you are the only person in this race with executive experience, who's taken over governments as mayor and governor. What will you do, day one, to tell the American people, things are changing for the better? Watch the entire interview » Palin: You know, that's a good point about that experience and we don't like to toot our own horn so we don't, I don't talk about my experience that much in terms of years in office or in positions that have been executive experience but, I have, I do have more experience than [Democratic presidential candidate Sen.] Barack Obama does. You know, he had served for his 300 days before he became a presidential candidate and that wasn't in executive office, of course, but, as an executive, working with John McCain, we will take on the special interests and we will clean up Wall Street and some of the abuse of the power in Washington, D.C., also to first and foremost get government back on the side of the people, and, we do this economically speaking here, by cutting taxes, not increasing them, allowing our small businesses and our families to keep more of what they earn, and produce so that they can reinvest according to their priorities. Not politicians' priorities and special interests' priorities. Our small businesses, keeping more of what they earn, that allows them to create more jobs, they're gonna be hiring more people, that gets our economy going. That's what has happened in the opportunities that I've had in executive positions as mayor, manager, and as governor. It works. Reining in government growth, recognizing government certainly plays appropriate roles in building infrastructure, providing tools for our families, for our businesses, but then government kinda getting outta the way as you have great oversight making sure that there isn't the corruption and the abuse, but government, I think get outta the way and let the private sector do what it does best. CNN: Yeah, but, I mean we're in a crisis right now. Palin: We are. CNN: And the plans that you mention take time, you have to go through Congress. If you guys win, you'll both most likely be working with a Democratic Congress. It's gonna be a slow process. What I'm trying to find out from you -- from John McCain as well, day one, people want a difference, to make a difference in the economy, as we're seeing daily, swings in the stock market, houses going foreclosed on -- Palin: Mm-hmm. Well, day one, you bring in everyone around that table, too, you bring in the congressional leadership, and, assuming that there will be, certainly, Democrats, at that table, that's good, too, these are gonna be bipartisan approaches that must be taken, I have that executive experience also having formed a cabinet up there in Alaska that, you know, we've got independents and Democrats and Republicans whom I have appointed to our administrative positions to that, we have the best of ideas coming together in order to best serve the people. John McCain, too, he's been known as the maverick to take on his own party when need be, to reach over the aisle and work with the other party also. Now, Barack Obama has not been able to do that, he's gone with, what is it, 96 percent of the time with Democrat leadership. Not having that, I think, ability or willingness to work with the other side. So as an executive, we need to create that team that is full of good ideas and not let obsessive partisanship get in the way, as we start taking the measures to shore up our economy, which already Congress is working on with the rescue package, with some of the bailout packages, the provisions in there that can work, too, but it's gonna take everybody working together. CNN: Will you and John McCain appoint Democrats to cabinet positions? Palin: I don't know why you wouldn't, if they, if these Democrats are best suited to serve, and if they will not let obsessive partisanship get in the way of just doing what's right with a team effort, and support of the president to get this economy moving, and to win these wars, to meet these great challenges, I wouldn't have as my litmus test a party affiliation. CNN: Yeah. Uh, Joe the plumber? Palin: Yeah. CNN: Socialism, it's come up on the campaign trail now. Palin: Sure. CNN: Governor, is Barack Obama a socialist? Palin: I'm not gonna call him a socialist, but, as Joe the plumber had suggested, in fact he came right out and said it sounds like socialism to him and he speaks for so many Americans who are quite concerned now, after hearing finally what Barack Obama's true intentions are with his tax and economic plan, and that is, to take more from small businesses, more from our families, and then redistribute that according to his priorities. That is, that is not good for the entrepreneurial spirit that has built this great country. That is not good for our economy, certainly it's not good for the opportunities that our small businesses should have, to keep more of what they produce, in order to hire more people, create more jobs. That's what gets the economy going. So, finally Joe the plumber and as we talked about today in the speech, too, he's representing, you know, Jane the engineer and Molly the dental hygienist and Chuck the teacher and, and all these good, hard-working Americans who are, finally, were able to hear in very plain talk the other night, what Barack Obama's intentions were to redistribute wealth. CNN: Do you think his intention though, if not a socialist, is to move away from capitalism, true capitalism? Palin: Well, anyone who would want to increase taxes at a time like this, especially with economic woes that are adversely affecting all of us, anybody who would want to do that to take more from businesses and our families, and then dole those dollars out according to their priorities, that, that is not a principal of capitalism. CNN: Some are saying we're already moving towards socialism with the bailout, the banking industry investment that this government has made, that John McCain and Barack Obama have signed on for. What is your views on that and yet another possible supplement to the income of Americans. Palin: We cannot start moving closer and closer to socialism. That will destroy the entrepreneurial spirit in America. That will punish hard work and productivity, and that work ethic that we try to instill in our children so that they will know that they can be rewarded for their productivity, for their hard work. We cannot move in that direction, that it should be so concerning for any American voter to consider that perhaps there are some who would like us to go there. Now, as for the economic bailout provisions and the measures that have already been taken, it is a time of crisis and government did have to step in playing an appropriate role to shore up the housing market to make sure that we're thawing out some of the potentially frozen credit lines and credit markets, government did have to step in there. But now that we're hearing that the Democrats want an additional stimulus package or bailout package for what, hundreds of billions of dollars more, this is not a time to use the economic crisis as an excuse for reckless spending and for greater, bigger government and to move the private sector to the back burner and let government be assumed to be the be-all, end-all solution to the economic challenges that we have. That's what's scaring me now about hearing that the Democrats have an even greater economic bailout package, but we don't know all the details of it yet and we'll certainly pay close attention to it. CNN: On its face are you against that? Palin: On its face, I want to make sure that this is not being used by the Democrats as a time for bigger government, more dollars being taken from taxpayers to bail out anybody, any entity that's been engaged in corruption, in self-dealing, in greed, there on Wall Street or in D.C. that has adversely affected Main Street, so, on its face, I, what we're gonna need to know more about what the Democrats have in mind for this additional bailout. CNN: You know, as, you're a fiscal conservative. Palin: Yes. CNN: As a fiscal conservative, I'm looking at the McCain proposals. And all of them seem to involve heavy amounts of government money, or government involvement, whether it be home mortgages or propping up the banking industry. I mean, are you square with that? Palin: I beg to differ with that, because what McCain has talked about with shoring up the home mortgage market also to make sure that we, we're gonna have a level playing field here. He's not asking for an additional hundreds of billions of dollars, he's saying, OK, with the $700 billion that his colleagues and he there in Congress have already approved, let's make sure that the priority is, we're gonna help the homeowners who had been kinda sucked into the wrong mortgage, and that was via predatory lenders taking advantage unfortunately and exploiting too many Americans. He's saying let's take the dollars that are already there and let's best use them. Let's, he's not saying, more, more, more government intervention and more dollars. He's saying, let's best use the dollars that have already been approved. CNN: What is your role going to be as vice president? Palin: Well, we've talked a lot about that, John McCain and I have, about the missions that I'll get to embark on if we are so blessed to be hired by the American people to work for them. It's gonna be government reform, because that is what I've been able to do as a mayor and as a governor. You take on the special interests and the self-dealings. Yep, you ruffle feathers and you have the scars to prove it afterwards, but you have to take that on to give the American people that faith back in their own government. This is their government and we gotta put it back on their side. So, government reform and energy independence, can't wait to work on that. That's been my forte as the governor of an energy-producing state and as a former chair of the energy regulator entity up there in Alaska. So, look forward to that and that's a matter of national security and our economic prosperity opportunities. That though, too, the other mission that John and I are anxious for me to lead on is helping our families who have children with special needs, ushering in that spirit to Washington, D.C., where we saw, we're gonna give every child a chance and a good educational opportunity will be provided. That's gonna be a matter, too, of prioritizing the federal dollars that are already there and making sure that every child is given opportunity. CNN: Governor, our time is very short and I must ask you just two questions, one is on [Palin's former brother-in-law, Alaska State Trooper Mike] Wooten, if there's one thing that's followed you negatively -- Palin: Tasergate, right, right, CNN: You call it Tasergate, Palin: We sure do. CNN: Troopergate, whatever. The Branchflower Report said you were perfectly in your right, to fire [Alaska Public Safety Commissioner Walt] Monegan. Palin: Right. CNN: But also found out that you violated the ethics. Was it a mistake to allow your husband to use your office to try to pressure the troopers to fire Mr. Wooten. Palin: Not at all because A, that, the trooper who had tasered his kid and had, you know, made death threats against my family and said he was gonna bring the governor down and all that. My husband did exactly, I think, what any sensible, reasonable father, husband would do who was concerned about their family's safety. CNN: But was it a mistake to allow him to use the governor's office to that extent? Palin: Not when you look at other governors' track records when they had their spouse as for instance [former Alaska Gov. Frank Murkowski] had his spouse as his top adviser, and she was in meetings, she was in the office so, you know, kinda, of a double standard here. But what Todd was what any reasonable husband and father would do. He followed the instruction of the Department of Public Safety's own personal security detail that is our personal protection. They asked Todd, you have a problem with this state trooper, he is a threat, you need to take that to the commissioner of the Department of Public Safety. Todd did exactly that and then of course, he got clobbered for it, now in the media because there's a misunderstanding of what he's done. Our Department of Law in Alaska has right there on its Web site -- it said, if you have a problem with an Alaska state trooper, the paragraph says, you go to the Commissioner of Department of Public Safety and you share that concern with him. That's what Todd did. So no, I don't think that it was an abuse of power of my office at all. And I was very thankful that that report cleared me of any illegal dealings or anything else. I replaced the commissioner because he was not doing the job that I expect of my cabinet members. That is, you serve the Alaskan population up there. Of course he's a cabinet member who was assigned to do that, to the best of our team's ability and you have a lotta energy, you fulfill the vision that we have laid out for you, and he wasn't doing that and that's why he was replaced. CNN: Governor, if in two weeks you're not elected, do you come back at the top of the ticket in 2012? Palin: I'm concerned about and focused on just the next two weeks, Drew, and again getting that message out there to the American public. Thankfully, too, the American public is seeing clearer and clearer what the choices are in these tickets. I think, some revelation just occurred, not just with Joe the plumber but revelation occurred with [Democratic vice presidential candidate] Joe Biden's comment the other night that, he telling his Democratic financial donors saying that, he said mark my word, there's gonna be economic, and, or international crisis he said, if Barack Obama is elected, because he will be tested and he said there are four or five scenarios that will result in an international crisis with an untested presidential candidate in Barack Obama and -- first I think we need to thank Joe for the warning there. But, Joe's words there I think, can shed some light, too, in terms of the contrast you have in the tickets. John McCain is a tested leader. He has gone through great adversity. He has the scars to prove it. He has shown his true leadership. It hasn't just been all talk, and Joe Biden's comments there about an untested, as he had said in the primary, unprepared candidate to be president, I think was very telling. CNN: Have you guys been briefed on any scenario like this? Palin: On the four or five scenarios, that, well, who knows what Joe Biden was talking about, you know? It, all you have to do, though, is look back at Obama's foreign policy agenda and you can assume what some of those scenarios may be. As he considers sitting down and talking to [Iranian President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad or [former Cuban President] Fidel Castro or [North Korean President] Kim Jong Il, some of these dictators, without preconditions being met, essentially validating some of what those dictators have been engaged in, that could be one of the scenarios that Joe Biden is talking about is, as a result of that, that proclamation that he would meet without preconditions being met first. That could be a scenario that results in a testing of our country, and, the four or five other scenarios that he's talking about, I don't know, I hope that Joe Biden will explain it. CNN: I guess we have to wrap it up. Palin: Yes. CNN: I mean I could go on with you forever. Palin: So could I, on that one especially. CNN: [LAUGHS] I mean, did Joe Biden get a pass? Palin: Drew, you need to ask your colleagues and I guess your bosses or whoever is in charge of all this, why does Joe Biden get a pass on such a thing? Can you imagine if I would've said such a thing? No, I think that, you know, we would be hounded and held accountable for, what in the world did you mean by that, VP presidential candidate? Why would you say that, mark my words, this nation will undergo international crisis if you elect Barack Obama? If I would've said that you guys'd clobbered me. CNN: You're right. [LAUGHTER] You're right. Can I ask one more question? Palin: Sure, good. CNN: You've talked about America. And certain parts of America, that are maybe more American than other parts of American, Are there? Palin: Ehhh, I don't want that misunderstood. No, I do not want that misunderstood. You know, when I go to these rallies and we see the patriotism just shining through these people's faces and the Vietnam veterans wearing their hats so proudly and they have tears in their eyes as we sing our national anthem and it is so inspiring and I say that this is true America, you get it, you understand how important it is that in the next four years we have a leader who will fight for you. I certainly don't want that interpreted as one area being more patriotic or more American than another. If that's the way it's come across, I apologize. All About Sarah Palin • John McCain • U.S. Presidential Election

US orders 7,700 children deported without court hearings By Patrick Martin 7 March 2015 More than 7,700 immigrant children have been ordered deported over the past 18 months without ever appearing in court, according to statistics released by the federal government recently and reported by the Los Angeles Times Friday. The Times account was based on data supplied by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University, which processes data from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal agencies. Legal proceedings had been brought against 62,363 children over the past 18 months. In at least 7,706 cases, the children were ordered deported after they failed to make a court appearance. No figures were available on how many of these children were even aware of their hearings—they range in ages from toddlers to adolescents. But 94 percent of those ordered deported had no attorney to represent them. Attorneys and advocates for the undocumented children said that many of these hearings are held without any notice given to those facing deportation. This problem has been exacerbated by an Obama order that immigration judges fast track such hearings, holding them within 21 days of ICE seeking a deportation order. With children scattered across the country, in detention facilities, foster care or staying with relatives, the fast-track hearing process makes timely notice extremely difficult. ICE has not reported the total number of children deported in its efforts to combat the “surge” of refugees from Central America that began in late 2013. The agency reported that 1,901 unaccompanied children were deported during fiscal year 2014 (October 1, 2013 through September 30, 2014), but some of these may have been detained earlier. ICE has not released figures on child deportations over the past five months. The fact that deportations of unaccompanied children take place at all is outrageous. That the numbers are in the thousands, if not higher, demonstrates the brutality of the crackdown on Central American migrants conducted by the US government, in direct contradiction to the public pretense of sympathy adopted by President Obama. The Obama administration has carried on a two-faced policy on immigration ever since taking office in January 2009. Obama claimed to advocate a more tolerant approach to undocumented immigrants and to support measures for their legalization and citizenship. But his government has deported more immigrants than any previous administration, more than two million men, women and children. Deportations are being carried out at nine times the rate of 20 years ago. Immigration and Customs Enforcement began the latest crackdown at the end of 2013, when Central American women and children began arriving at the US southern border in much larger numbers than previously. The numbers swelled during the summer of 2014, leading to the detention of tens of thousands of unaccompanied children, mainly from Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. The vast majority of the women and children were fleeing gang violence and military death squads in their home countries, as well as desperate poverty, conditions that are byproducts of a long history of oppression by American imperialism and its local henchmen in the wealthy oligarchies that rule Central America. At the high point of the crisis, Jeh Johnson, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, declared that the mass jailing of mothers and children was intended as a deterrent against the continued flight of refugees. In other words, he effectively conceded that the administration policy was deliberately punitive, and in violation of due process norms. Last month a federal judge in Washington DC ordered the administration to stop the jailing of children, whether accompanying their parents or alone. The Department of Homeland Security is considering whether to appeal. In another federal courtroom, in Seattle, Washington, the American Civil Liberties Union has brought suit seeking the appointment of defense counsel for all children facing immigration or deportation hearings. The plaintiffs in this lawsuit, J.E.F.M. v. Holder, are all unnamed, in view of their ages, but their descriptions in the court filing suggest the dimensions of the social crisis in Central America from which they have fled. As detailed in the court documents, the plaintiffs include: * A three-year-old boy conceived when his mother was raped when she was only 15 years old. After she faced continuing threats from her rapist, his mother fled El Salvador and left her son in the care of his aunt. However, because his family continued to fear for his safety in El Salvador, he was brought to the border in Texas, taken into custody by the government, and put into deportation proceedings. * A 10-year-old boy, his 13-year-old brother, and 15-year-old sister from El Salvador, whose father was murdered in front of their eyes. The father was targeted because he and the mother ran a rehabilitation center for people trying to leave gangs. * A 14-year-old girl who had been living with her grandparents, but was forced to flee El Salvador after being threatened and then attacked by gang members. * A 15-year-old boy who was abandoned and abused in Guatemala, and came to the United States without any family or friends. * A 16-year-old boy born in Mexico who has lived here since he was a year old, and has had lawful status since June 2010. * A 16-year-old boy with limited communication skills and special education issues who escaped brutal violence exacted on his family in Honduras, and who has lived in Southern California since he was eight years old. * A 17-year-old boy who fled gang violence and recruitment in Guatemala and now lives with his lawful permanent resident father in Los Angeles. The lawsuit charges numerous agencies of the federal government with violating the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the US Constitution, as well as provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act requiring a “full and fair hearing” before an immigration judge. Such a fair hearing is impossible for a child deprived of both parental support and legal counsel. This is the brutal reality of US immigration policy, behind the play-acting and stage-managed conflicts in Washington. President Obama and congressional Republicans engaged in such a mock battle over the past two weeks over funding of the Department of Homeland Security, which the Republicans had delayed in an effort to force the White House to abandon the executive order issued by Obama last November, providing limited work authorization for about four million undocumented immigrants. The fight ended, as the WSWS predicted, with full funding for the DHS, one of the key agencies of the emerging American police state, and with Obama’s immigration order unchanged. With only a few exceptions, corporate America supports the Obama policy, which makes available a supply of cheap labor for agribusiness, construction and other industries, while maintaining the overall framework of brutal police repression of undocumented workers. The author also recommends: Conflict over DHS funding masks bipartisan attack on immigrants in US [25 February 2015] Obama’s “reform” and the criminalization of immigrants [22 November 2014] Defend the rights of immigrant workers! Unite the working class of North, Central and South America [14 August 2014] Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.

President Donald Trump’s nominee for the Supreme Court Judge Neil Gorsuch, looks on as Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, speaks to reporters following their meeting in the Capitol on Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2017. (Photo By Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call) Senate Judiciary Chairman Charles E. Grassley is laying out his plan to get Judge Neil Gorsuch on the Supreme Court before the Easter recess. The Republican from Iowa has a roughly six week timeline for getting Gorsuch, the 10th Circuit appellate judge from Colorado who was named Tuesday night by President Donald Trump, as his choice to replace the late Antonin Scalia on the highest court. “I’m not saying absolutely six weeks because you always try to be accommodating to the minority as long as they are reasonable, and so we have to work things out, but it kind of works out to be about six weeks,” Grassley said in an interview with Roll Call. He anticipates only one day of the senators questioning Gorsuch in full view of the klieg lights and television cameras, with three days of hearings overall. “We will try to have the hearing in one day, but before that one day that you ask him questions, there’s going to be one day of speeches by members of the committee, and the candidate’s going to have to sit there, and listen to that,” Grassley said. “That could be a short day if we’ve got one round. Or if we’ve got two rounds or three rounds, it could get to be a long day, but ... my intention is to get it done that one day.” The third day would be for outside witnesses. Grassley said that the six week timeline for Gorsuch should be viewed in the context of how much both the nominee and the committee staff need to do to get ready for Supreme Court confirmation hearings. He said additional lawyers would be detailed to the Democratic and Republican committee staff to support the process of reviewing Gorsuch’s lengthy judicial record. “The candidate himself has to go around and see every member of the Judiciary Committee, and he ought to go around and see another 50 members, if he’s smart, and he is smart...” Grassley said. “Then you’ve got about 700 cases to go through.” Gorsuch has been running around the Capitol complex making courtesy visits to senators, particularly Judiciary Committee members. He is scheduled to meet with ranking Democrat Dianne Feinstein of California at 4 p.m. on Monday, according to a person familiar with the judge’s calendar. Grassley said in the interview that he had a “very excellent” relationship with Feinstein, who replaced Sen. Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont as ranking member this Congress with the Vermonter moving over to lead the minority on Appropriations. “Every conversation that I’ve had with her now that she’s ranking member has been not only friendly, but has been productive, and these little heads-to-heads that you see us having when the committee’s actually functioning, work things out right then,” Grassley said. “I hope she would tell you that I have accommodated her.” Grassley and Feinstein have long worked together, particularly as the leaders of the bipartisan caucus on international narcotics control, but the increasingly toxic and divided atmosphere around the Senate might make any bipartisanship difficult for Trump’s Supreme Court nominee. “There may be partisan votes on the person, but this needs to be something that at least the process ought to be very bipartisan,” Grassley insisted. Many Democrats are still fuming over the decision by Republicans, including Grassley, to not hold hearings on former President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court pick Merrick G. Garland, leaving the Supreme Court seat vacant. Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer of New York has already set forth that Gorsuch should need 60 votes to be confirmed. “Requiring 60 votes has always been the right thing to do on Supreme Court nominations, especially in these polarized times, but now — in this new era of the Court, in this new Administration — there is an even heavier weight on this tradition,” Schumer said on the Senate floor. Past the hearing, Grassley anticipated one week for Gorsuch to respond to written questions for the record, with the nomination going on the committee agenda after that. Under the panel’s longstanding rules, any senator can request the nomination be held over for an additional week. All told, that comes out to about six weeks. “Then we vote him out, and then you’ve got to ask McConnell when he’s going to bring him up,” he said. Grassley also reiterated his belief that the Senate would be ill-advised to keep it’s current April recess schedule for Easter in the event Gorsuch has yet to win confirmation. “We’re going two weeks, and I think that two weeks of Congress not being in session isn’t a very good excuse for the Supreme Court seat not being filled, as long as we’re doing what I said I was going to do during the election, before I was elected even,” Grassley said of his pledge to process the nominee of the person elected president in 2016, whether that was Trump or Hillary Clinton. Get breaking news alerts and more from Roll Call on your iPhone or your Android.

Maine governor Paul LePage continued to advocate changing labor laws to allow children to work at the 73rd Maine Agricultural Trades Show Tuesday, saying the economy would benefit from bringing kids into the workplace. “We don’t allow children to work until they’re 16, but two years later, when they’re 18, they can go to war and fight for us,” the Republican governor said at the event. “That’s causing damage to our economy. I started working far earlier than that, and it didn’t hurt me at all. There is nothing wrong with being a paperboy at 12 years old, or at a store sorting bottles at 12 years old.” “I’m all for not allowing a 12-year-old to work 40 hours,” LePage said in a November interview with Downeast magazine. “But a 12-year-old working eight to 10 hours a week or a 14-year-old working 12 to 15 hours a week is not bad.” ADVERTISEMENT Thanks for watching! Visit Website Lepage, who was on the board of a Maine homeless shelter, advocates letting communities pick up the slack to prevent homelessness in youth. Allowing children to work, he says, is part of that prevention. “I used to shovel snow, mow lawns, shine shoes,” LePage said of his own childhood, part of which was spent homeless. “I mean, man, I did more things — I made shoes, I worked in a shoe shop. I was sixteen. Nowadays they’d arrest the owner and probably lock me up.” ADVERTISEMENT Thanks for watching! Visit Website ADVERTISEMENT Thanks for watching! Visit Website LePage has long advocated changing labor laws to allow children to work before the age of 16, proposing bills to create a “training” wage of $5.25 an hour for children and to alter the work permit application process. Those efforts have so far been unsuccessful. According to the Bangor Daily News, current law requires children under 16 to apply for a work permit before applying for a job, even a summer job or work for their parents. They must be offered a job before applying and have permission from their parents and their district’s school superintendent. Most jobs in movie theaters, bakeries, hotels, garages, dry cleaners, and other venues have a legal limit of 16. The whole process can take three weeks. LePage proposes streamlining the process with a new law that would allow teenagers to apply directly to the Department of Labor without asking their superintendent for summer jobs, and would open up work for minors in bowling alleys in movie theaters, which is allowed in most other states. Sources: Portland Press-Herald, Downeast, Bangor Daily News undefined

by Shan Wang Besieged by rising seas and ever more violent storms, many East Coast communities now slow the erosion of their beaches by reinforcing them with massive amounts of sand. The grains, often paid for or subsidized by the federal government, can come from inland sand pits or the ocean floor. But what happens to waterfront homes if the federal government no longer foots the bill for sand? The value of many oceanfront homes on the East Coast would suffer a massive drop, tantamount to the bursting of an economic bubble, say researchers from three universities in a new study published in the journal PLOS One. In areas of North Carolina and New Jersey, where the current rate of beach erosion can be four times the historical average, property values could drop 17 percent for towns with high property values and as much as 34 percent for towns with low property values. “For coastal properties, a significant chunk of the property value comes from nourishment cost — the federal government subsidizes so much of it,” said Dylan E. McNamara, associate professor of physics and physical oceanography at the University of North Carolina Wilmington and lead author of the study. “Where the sand goes is not just a physical problem, it’s also an economic issue.” In New England, much of the sand brought in to widen eroding beaches is privately purchased or is a byproduct of dredging to clear navigational channels. But as erosion hits hard areas of Plum Island, the South Shore and Cape Cod, some residents have called on the government to provide more sand to shield their own homes, as well as the communities and infrastructure behind them. The researchers used a model based on North Carolina data to estimate impact of the sudden removal of federal nourishment subsidies. However, they said their findings are applicable to most communities up and down the East Coast (with the exception of urban areas like Atlantic City or towns located along rockier shorelines). Their model also incorporates a number of complex factors including sea level rise and increased storminess, factors very closely tied to the value of beachfront homes. If federal subsidies disappeared suddenly 10 to 15 years from now, at a time with even higher sea levels, the drop in property values “could be even more dramatic,” according to the researchers. “The vulnerability of these coastal properties is increasing, demand for resources required is definitely increasing…and holding the coastline in place requires more and more human intervention,” McNamara said. “It’s a daunting future, to be sure.” Recent data on subsidies is difficult to come by but according to numbers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the federal government has historically footed about 66 percent of the cost of beach nourishment projects, spending around $787 million on nourishment between 1995 and 2002. Costs are increasing with the rising seas, and members of Congress has floated the idea of eliminating nourishment subsidies. The sand used to fortify beaches has also become something of a precious commodity, shockingly expensive and difficult to mine and move. Disputes over who gets sand and who will pay for it are so contentious that experts have dubbed them “the sand wars.” In 2013, the New England Center for Investigative Reporting calculated that over a ten-year span, more than $40 million in federal, state, and local funds have been spent to fortify Massachusetts’ public beaches. The public Winthrop Beach, for instance, is currently in the middle of a restoration project that will cost state taxpayers more than $25 million. McNamara and his co-authors are still hesitant to make any pointed policy recommendations based on their predictions but say that should federal subsidies for beach nourishment prove unsustainable, gradually winding them down, rather than removing them in “one fell swoop,” is a healthier tactic.

Unity has a "Files & Folder" lens (place) to search for recently used files or folders but it can't be used to search for files or folders you've never accessed. But there's a brand new Unity lens developed by David Briscoe called "Unity Place Filesearch" that you can use to search any files or folders on your system. Unity Place Filesearch can also be configured: you can set what folders to be included in the search (by default it's only your home folder) as well as what to ignore. Personally, I find this a lot more flexible and useful then the default Unity Files & Folders (if you do too, you can even remove the default Unity Files & Folder lens ). Install Unity Place Filesearch sudo add-apt-repository ppa:pydave/unity-lenses sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install unity-place-filesearch setsid unity You can also configure which folders are used for the search results or blacklist some folders. For this you need to edit the ~/.filesearch.cfg file (it's a hidden file in your home folder) - to edit it, open a terminal and run the following command: gedit ~/.filesearch.cfg Configuring this file is pretty obvious: add comma separated list of folders to search on line 3 and folders to ignore under "[ignore]". Once you configure everything, run the following commands: killall unity-filesearch-daemon setsid unity If for some reason the new folders are not picked up by Unity Place Filesearch, restart your computer. To install Unity Place Filesearch, open a terminal and copy/paste the following commands:Then you need to run the following command for the new lens to show up:Report any bugs you may find @ Unity Place Filesearch Launchpad page

istockphoto (CBS News) Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) kills about 2,500 infants younger than 1 each year, and is a leading cause of death among that age group. PICTURES: SIDS: 14 ways parents raise their risk In 1994, the Back-to-Sleep campaign was launched to combat SIDS rates by telling parents that newborn infants should sleep on their back or side instead of their stomachs, citing scientific evidence. In the years that followed, the U.S. rate declined more than 50 percent but has since plateaued. A new study adds points to other emerging risk factors for SIDS, including "bed-sharing," - smoking, and having other objects in the crib. "It's not that there are new risk factors; it's that now not all babies are sleeping on their tummies, so other things can be uncovered," study co-author Felicia Trachtenberg, a senior research scientist at New England Research Institutes, in Watertown, Mass, told HealthDay. Bed-sharing is when infants share a bed with parents or another family member, often common when a child is nursing. Other risk factors tied to SIDS include being male, being exposed to alcohol or cigarettes in the womb or smoking after birth, or overheating caused by thick pajamas or blankets. For the new study, published in the March 26 issue of Pediatrics, researchers wanted to examine whether the predominant risk factors involved in SIDS deaths have changed since the 1994 campaign kicked off. The researchers looked at SIDS deaths that occurred in San Diego between 1991 and 2008. During that time period, the researchers found the percentage of infants who died of SIDS after being placed to sleep on their stomachs decreased from 85.4 percent to 30.1 percent. However, the percentage of SIDS infants bed-sharing at the time of death increased from 19.2 percent to 37.9 percent over the 17-year span, especially among infants younger than 2 months, and the percentage found in an adult bed increased from 23.4 percent to 45.4 percent. Ninety-nine percent of SIDS infants had at least one intrinsic risk factor - such as being a boy or exposure to cigarettes while in the womb - or one extrinsic risk factor, such as sleeping on their stomach (prone sleeping) or with soft bedding. Seventy-five percent had at least one of each type of risk factor, while the majority (57 percent) had at least two extrinsic and one intrinsic risk factor. "Most babies had two or more risk factors," study author Dr. Henry Krous, director of the San Diego SIDS Research Project at Rady Children's Hospital in Calif., told TIME Healthland. "What that says to us is that Back to Sleep should emphasize multiple risk factors. We still have a lot of work to do." The researchers also found prone sleep remains the most significant risk factor contributing to SIDS, but sleeping on adult mattresses and bed-sharing have emerged as prominent risks. What should nursing moms do? Krous told WebMD, "The impetus for bed sharing is usually to make nighttime nursing easier, but there are cribs available that are placed right next to the bed to allow proximity without the risk." WebMD has more on SIDS.

President Trump's initial failure to condemn white supremacy on Saturday was too much for Kenneth Frazier. Early Monday morning, the head of the pharma giant Merck (MRK) -- and one of America's most prominent black CEOs -- abruptly quit Trump's manufacturing council. Frazier's message was clear: "America's leaders must honor our fundamental values by clearly rejecting expressions of hatred, bigotry and group supremacy." Trump quickly responded by bashing Frazier. He tweeted that the Merck CEO "will have more time to LOWER RIPOFF DRUG PRICES!" Hours later, Trump denounced the KKK, neo-Nazis and white supremacists as "repugnant." Related: Intel CEO is the latest to leave Trump's manufacturing council Throughout the day, other CEOs on the manufacturing council condemned racism after the weekend's white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. By Monday night, two others had joined Frazier in leaving. Under Armour's (UA) Kevin Plank had earlier tweeted a strong rejection of racism. Then, just after 8 p.m. ET, his company released a statement saying that he would step down. "Under Armour engages in innovation and sports, not politics," Plank said. Later Monday evening, Intel (INTC) CEO Brian Krzanich said in a blog post that he, too, was resigning "to call attention to the serious harm our divided political climate is causing to critical issues." CNNMoney asked the approximately two dozen executives on the council whether they would stay. Several of them denounced hate and bigotry, others declined to comment, and some did not respond at all. Related: CEOs condemn racism after Charlottesville But at least seven companies or executives said that they would remain with the council, which was formed in January to advise Trump on manufacturing growth -- a key focus of the president's campaign. General Electric (GE) said the company has "no tolerance for hate, bigotry or racism." But it added that chairman Jeff Immelt would stay on the council because it was important for GE to "participate in the discussion on how to drive growth and productivity in the U.S." Representatives for at least five other companies -- Dow Chemical (DOW), Whirlpool (WHR), Campbell Soup (CPB), International Paper (IP) and Nucor (NUE) -- echoed similar sentiments. They all released statements that condemned racism or welcomed tolerance. But they also said they'd stay on the council so they could advise the government on ways to strengthen manufacturing. Dell said there was "no change" in how it is "engaging with the Trump administration" on policy issues that affect the company. Frazier, Plank and Krzanich are not the first CEOs to drop out of a Trump advisory role. At first, Tesla (TSLA) and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk defended his roles on Trump's manufacturing and economic advisory councils. While Musk publicly and repeatedly rebuked several Trump policies, including the travel ban, he said he believed having a seat at the table was "doing good." The clean energy advocate spoke publicly about wanting to advise Trump on climate issues, even though the president downplayed the problem. Related: From racism to climate change, CEOs keep turning on Trump Musk eventually gave up. After Trump pulled out of the Paris climate agreement in June, he left both councils. "Leaving Paris is not good for America or the world," Musk tweeted at the time. He had earlier said that he had "done all I can to advise directly to POTUS, through others in WH & via councils." Disney's (DIS) Bob Iger, another member of the economic advisory council, also quit after the Paris decision. And at least one more departure from the manufacturing group may be in the works. The AFL-CIO, which has two members on the council, said Monday that it denounces "bigoted domestic terrorists" and called on Trump to follow. Its president, Richard Trumka, made similar comments online Sunday. By Monday afternoon the AFL-CIO said it was "assessing" its role in the manufacturing group -- which it said "has yet to hold any real meeting." "While the AFL-CIO will remain a powerful voice for the freedoms of working people, there are real questions about the effectiveness of this council to deliver real policy that lifts working families," the organization said. In other words: Maybe this just isn't worth it. --CNNMoney's Ahiza Garcia, Olivia Chang, Shen Lu and Jordan Valinsky contributed to this story.

Service Decomposition, Cohesion & Coupling Sunday, 16 March 2014 Service Oriented Architecture is about making IT look like your organisation — your business. In many companies IT systems are broken down in to lumps that aren’t the same lumps that the business understands. You may have systems with mysterious names like Pluto or Genie or worse still impenetrable 3-letter acronyms (Steve Jones speaks to this in his book Enterprise SOA Adoption Strategies — chapter 12). How do the business and 3rd parties make sense of these meaningless and cryptic monikers? Usually they don’t. They only serve to isolate IT. With this in mind, IT and the rest of the business have a daunting task of breaking down the organisation, its data and functions into services. One plan of approach to this is to look for things that are highly cohesive, that is, things that naturally belong together because of their very nature. However deciding what belongs together can be like the proverbial pulling of a thread from a sweater, you pick one thread to pull it out and the rest comes along with it. You end up with long chain dependencies; everything directly or transitively refers to everything else. It’s a similar problem that ORM toolkits have, but this isn’t just about data. Every data entity, every small bit of function or process in your organisation is related to another somehow, either directly or transitively. It’s 6 degrees of separation applied to your software estate and there’s no getting away from that fact. The extremely hard question is where does one service stop and another begin, where do I draw the lines between services. I used the term “cohesion” earlier, its counterpart, its nemesis is coupling. Coupling is where something has been put together or joined with something it doesn’t strongly belong with. To using a banking example you don’t expect your staff payroll system to need modification when you change the way deposits to customer accounts work. In short good dependencies represent high cohesion and bad dependencies represent tight coupling. The opposites of these are low cohesions (which is bad, boo) and loose coupling (which is good, yay). The question remains, though, why is cohesion good and coupling bad. The advantages of cohesion are as follows: Your brain groups naturally cohesive concepts, things that are like each other follow naturally. Cognitively working on related concepts at the same time makes sense. Changes to one service are less likely to require modifications or have side effects on other services. Services need to interact with each other much less, because for the majority of cases the functionality or behaviour of the services belongs in the service. This means that invocations can and data access can occur within the process space of the service, not need for network calls and data marshalling. It makes it easier to reason about where functionality or data might exist in your services. For example if I need to change how salaries are calculated, that’ll be in the payroll service, it becomes obvious. The disadvantages of coupling, somewhat the corollary of the above, are: The service is harder to understand because you have to hold more concepts than necessary in your head when reasoning about the service. Unexpected consequences, you change one piece of functionality and an unrelated one breaks. Can lead to fragmentation of cohesive functions and therefore higher communication overhead. You have to make changes to more code than necessary when adding functionality. Types of Cohesion and Coupling There is much written on this and so I’ll try not to rehash it too much, unfortunately I haven’t found anything that unifies well cohesion and coupling. What I’m going to do is referred to good types as cohesion and bad types a coupling. Data cohesion (good) Where data is often used together. Example: a dating website would put a customer name and email address together because they are used together often. However they would not put suitable partners together will their credit card details Functional cohesion (good) Where functions are related and act upon the same data Example: registering for a website and modifying your username might be two functions on the same service, whereas paying an employee’s salary wouldn’t belong there because functionally it makes no sense. Categorisation Coupling (bad) Things are put in the same service because they belong to a certain category of data or function. Example: Used cars have a location and so do used car sales men so I’ll create a location service for them bothered. Process Coupling (bad) This is where services are created around long chain business processes. The problem with this is that business processes tend to go across many concepts within an organisation and so pull a lot of stuff with them — forcing you toward a monolith. Example: A company has a process for the selection, purchase and installation of equipment. This process includes requirements for the equipment, knowing how to contact suppliers, how to receive invoices, how to make payments, engage with legal, specification of their property portfolio and so forth, before you know it you’ve got a monolith. Arbitrary Coupling (bad) This is where unrelated concepts exist in the same service. Who knows why, perhaps the systems designers had two projects and couldn’t be bothered to have two separate modules in their IDE. Example: most enterprise off-the-self business software, although things are slowly getting better. Data Type Coupling (bad) This is where services use the same definition of a type and when one needs to modify that definition it breaks the other. Example: A company has a single definition of its customer type, the properties of that type are defined (think global XSD for customer data). Each service that deals with customer has to be capable of understanding this customer type. One day marketing decide they want to add twitter username as a new field. This means that all services now need to be updated to include this field when talking to the marketing service as it’s now fully expecting it. Temporal Coupling (bad) When two concepts happen at the same time but otherwise they are unrelated. This is similar to process coupling and is often a symptom of that. Example: Every month accounting complete their books and makes sure they balance, they also run payroll, the account service is created to do both these things. — Andy Hedges Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. Disqus

Poisonous plant from tropical North and South America The manchineel tree (Hippomane mancinella) is a species of flowering plant in the spurge family (Euphorbiaceae). It is native to tropical southern North America and northern South America. The name "manchineel" (sometimes written "manchioneel") as well as the specific epithet mancinella is from Spanish manzanilla ("little apple"), from the superficial resemblance of its fruit and leaves to those of an apple tree. A present-day Spanish name is manzanilla de la muerte, "little apple of death". This refers to the fact that manchineel is one of the most dangerous trees in the world. Manchineel is also known as the beach apple.[2] Distribution [ edit ] Manchineel is native to the Caribbean, the U.S. state of Florida, The Bahamas, Mexico, Central America, and northern South America.[3] The manchineel tree can be found on coastal beaches and in brackish swamps where it grows among mangroves. It provides excellent natural windbreaks and its roots stabilize the sand, thus helping to prevent beach erosion. Description [ edit ] Hippomane mancinella, the evergreen manchineel tree, grows up to 15 metres (49 ft) tall. It has reddish-greyish bark, small greenish-yellow flowers, and shiny green leaves. The leaves are simple, alternate, very finely serrated or toothed, and 5–10 cm (2–4 in) long. Spikes of small greenish flowers are followed by fruits, which are similar in appearance to an apple, are green or greenish-yellow when ripe. The fruit is poisonous, as is every other part of the tree. Toxicity [ edit ] All parts of the tree contain strong toxins, some unidentified.[4] Its milky white sap contains phorbol and other skin irritants, producing strong allergic contact dermatitis.[5] Standing beneath the tree during rain will cause blistering of the skin from mere contact with this liquid (even a small drop of rain with the milky substance in it will cause the skin to blister). The sap has also been known to damage the paint on cars.[6] Burning the tree may cause ocular injuries if the smoke reaches the eyes.[7] Contact with its milky sap (latex) produces bullous dermatitis, acute keratoconjunctivitis and possibly large corneal epithelial defects.[8] The fruit is possibly fatal if eaten; however, "fatalities from ingestion are not reported in the modern literature"[9] and "ingestion may produce severe gastroenteritis with bleeding, shock, bacterial superinfection, and the potential for airway compromise due to edema. Patients with a history of ingestion and either oropharyngeal burns or gastrointestinal symptoms should be evaluated for admission into hospital. Care is supportive."[10] When ingested, the fruit is reportedly "pleasantly sweet" at first, with a subsequent "strange peppery feeling ..., gradually progress[ing] to a burning, tearing sensation and tightness of the throat". Symptoms continue to worsen until the patient can "barely swallow solid food because of the excruciating pain and the feeling of a huge obstructing pharyngeal lump".[2] In some parts of its range, many trees carry a warning sign (for example on Curaçao), while others are marked with a red "X" on the trunk to indicate danger. In the French Antilles the trees are often marked with a painted red band a few feet above the ground. On Bonaire, however, trees are unmarked.[citation needed] Although the plant is toxic to many birds and other animals, the black-spined iguana (Ctenosaura similis) is known to eat the fruit and even live among the limbs of the tree.[4] The tree contains 12-deoxy-5-hydroxyphorbol-6-gamma-7-alpha-oxide, hippomanins, mancinellin, and sapogenin, phloracetophenone-2,4-dimethylether is present in the leaves, while the fruits possess physostigmine.[11] A poultice of arrowroot (Maranta arundinacea) was used by the Arawak and Taíno as an antidote against such poisons.[12] The Caribs were also known to poison the water supply of their enemies with the leaves.[7] Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León died shortly after an injury incurred in battle with the Calusa in Florida—being struck by an arrow that had been poisoned with manchineel sap.[13] Usage [ edit ] Despite the inherent dangers associated with handling it, the tree has been used as a source of timber by Caribbean carpenters for centuries. It must be cut and left to dry in the sun to remove the sap. A gum can be produced from the bark which reportedly treats edema, while the dried fruits have been used as a diuretic.[6] Conservation [ edit ] The manchineel tree is listed as an endangered species in Florida.[14] Literary and artistic references [ edit ] William Ellis, ship's surgeon for James Cook on his third and final voyage, wrote: "On the fourth, a party of men were sent to cut wood, as the island apparently afforded plenty of that article; amongst other trees they unluckily cut down several of the manchineel, the juice of which getting into their eyes, rendered them blind for several days."[15] Alexandre Exquemelin, author of the book The Buccaneers of America wrote of his experience with the "tree called mancanilla, or dwarf-apple-tree" when in Hispaniola (modern day Haiti/Dominican Republic): "One day being hugely tormented with mosquitoes or gnats, and as yet unacquainted with the nature of this tree, I cut a branch thereof, to serve me instead of a fan, but all my face swelled the next day and filled with blisters, as if it were burnt to such a degree that I was blind for three days."[16] The young first-person narrator in Sid Fleischman's famous pirate-ship tale "The Ghost in the Noonday Sun" also encounters this tree in like fashion, breaking a branch from the tree to swish biting insects, and soon suffering similar devastating consequences that last for several days. Nicholas Cresswell, in his journal entry for Friday, September 16, 1774, mentions: "The Mangeneel Apple has the smell and appearance of an English Apple, but small, grows on large trees, generally along the Seashore. They are rank poison. I am told that one apple is sufficient to kill 20 people. This poison is of such a malignant nature that a single drop of rain or dew that falls from the tree upon your skin will immediately raise a blister. Neither Fruit or Wood is of any use, that I can learn."[17] Rodolphe, a character in Gustave Flaubert's Madame Bovary (1857, Part 2, Chapter XIII), refers to the "poisonous shade of the fatal manchineel tree" in a letter to Emma Bovary: "Nor had I reflected upon this at first, and I rested in the shade of that ideal happiness as beneath that of the manchineel tree, without foreseeing the consequences." [translation] In Giacomo Meyerbeer's opera L'Africaine (1865), the heroine Sélika dies by inhaling the perfume of the poisonous blossoms of the manchineel tree.[18] In the story "The Beckoning Hand" (in the 1887 collection of that name) by Grant Allen, manchineel is used in a cigarette to poison the smoke.[19] In the 1958 film Wind Across the Everglades, a notorious poacher named Cottonmouth (played by Burl Ives) ties a victim to the trunk of a manchineel tree.[20]:173 The tree is recorded as the world's most dangerous tree by the Guinness World Records.[21] See also [ edit ]

It’s not just a political battle anymore. It’s spiritual warfare now. Exorcists, witches and occultists “in a number of magical groups” are announcing plans for a ritual designed to “bind Donald Trump and all who abet him.” It’s to happen Friday at midnight at a variety of locations across the nation, and again every month until Donald Trump is no longer in office. The rite, requiring a stub of a candle, a pin, salt, matches, a tarot card, a feather and other odds and ends, calls on spirits to ensure President Trump will “fail utterly.” It also includes burning a picture of the commander in chief, visualizing him “blowing apart into dust or ash.” Participants apparently have the option of using a baby carrot instead of an orange candle. Among the various spirits invoked are the “demons of the infernal realms.” There is even a Facebook page networking those who want to participate in the ritual. Some media outlets are also looking to film whatever happens. It’s not the first time anti-Trump occultists have tried to use black magic against the president. What do YOU think? Sound off on witches casting a mass spell on President Trump The far-left feminist blog Jezebel, named after the biblical queen who mandated the worship of Baal and Asherah instead of God, published a gushing story in September 2015 about “Brooklyn Witches” of immigrant descent cursing Trump because they “wholeheartedly believe that Trump and the rest of the GOP are garbage.” Trump evidently overcame the curse, along with everything else in his way, to win the presidency a year later. Still, Christian leaders believe these kinds of spiritual threats should be taken seriously, condemned and countered. Jan Markell of Olive Tree Ministries said the left’s open embrace of demonic imagery is revealing. “It shows that the level of hatred against Donald Trump is generated by Satan himself,” she said. “Donald Trump is not a perfect man. But he is trying to stop the runaway freight train of evil that has existed for eight years emanating out of Washington and the Democratic Party. “The left is mesmerized by issues that tear down and that grieve the heart of God. Donald Trump doesn’t have the power to neutralize these people and their agenda, but he is trying to make significant inroads to stop the tremendous slide to the dark side in America. He has some solid Bible-believing Christians at his side. Together they can make a huge difference and repair some of the damage done by evildoers.” An incredible story about finding God’s light in a time of darkness. Don’t miss this testimony about faith in the midst of the Holocaust. “Trapped In Hitler’s Hell,” now is available as a book or documentary in the WND Superstore. Markell, featured in the WND Film “Trapped in Hitler’s Hell,” argues occultism is being normalized in an increasingly degenerate nation. “The Bible says that in the last days evil will wax worse and worse,” she said. “A part of that is that the paranormal is being normalized. “I have done two-dozen radio programs on this topic as it is so alarming. Children as young as 4 and 5 are being desensitized to the occult. After-school ‘Satan clubs’ have been launched in public schools to offset the good that the ‘Good News Clubs’ have been doing for decades. If parents don’t wake up and rise up, we are going to have a society steeped in occult practices in a few years, much worse than the situation is today.” Pastor Mark Biltz of El Shaddai Ministries, author of “God’s Day Timer,” cited Deuteronomy 18:10-12 to argue those who use occult practices are an “abomination” in God’s sight, according to the Scriptures. He agreed with Markell that such practices are becoming increasingly common. “We are living at the time of the coming of the Messiah,” he warned. “The world will be getting worse until Messiah’s return. We are to always pray for those who are our leaders. Not only should Christians pray, but they should get actively involved.” Some Christians are doing just that. One group announced a “Day of Prayer” to counter the occult effort. Pastors such as Carl Gallups, author of “When the Lion Roars,” urge Christians to join the effort. “America’s born again believers should cover President Trump in prayer,” Gallups said. “It’s obvious that the demonic realm is stirred by his presence. It’s also obvious that the antichrist agenda of the globalist community is going berserk over a Trump presidency. These are simply signs to those of us who know God’s word that President Trump is being used by the Lord in these prophetic times. Pray for him. Pray for our nation. And, then, get on with the work of the Kingdom.” The Bible story is more miraculous and astounding than you could have imagined. See the incredible proof of the unchanging nature of God – and the exciting clues to what awaits at the end of days in “God’s Day Timer” by Mark Biltz, available as a book or documentary now in the WND Superstore. Gallups recalled he was once the target of spiritual warfare by a group of supposed witches. And he argued faith in Jesus Christ is an effective counter to any form of spiritual attack. “I have been a senior pastor of a church in one location for 30 years,” he said. “Very early on in my ministry there, I too became the directed target of witchcraft through an organized witch coven. We even had a couple from the coven who were sent/paid to disrupt one of our worship services. All kinds of promises of ‘evil’ were made that would befall me. I gave no credence to it whatsoever. They went to jail, and I went on with my life and my work for the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, simply claiming the promise of God’s protection along the way. “Twenty-five years later I am still at that church, the church is powerful in the Lord and reaching the world for Jesus, and the Lord continues to bless my life and ministry beyond anything I ever imagined,” he said. “I am certain that the demonic activities against me and my ministry have never let up; it’s just that I purposely pay them no mind. My trust is in Jesus; I have no fear of magic ‘spells’ and the silly incantations of Christ deniers who are burning candles and looking for signs in a deck of cards.” Karl Payne, the former chaplain of the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks and an expert in exorcism who penned “Spiritual Warfare” as a guide for Christians dealing with unseen forces, denounced those behind the spiritual attack on Trump as “so ideologically driven, they do not see straight.” But he also warned occult forces are being increasingly normalized in popular culture through an anti-Christian media. “It is not possible to watch major television stations, cable stations or movies without being inundated with shows and movies on the paranormal,” he said. “To think that the constant exposure to these types of shows will not have an impact on those watching them is as naïve as it is to believe people can watch and play hours of video games glorifying murder and mayhem and it not make an indelible impact on their minds. “Garbage in, garbage out. In the computer world, this used to be voiced as a truism. Now walking and talking with the dead, casting spells, witches, warlocks, zombies, blood, guts and horror are promoted as innocent entertainment and people’s minds and lives are being destroyed as a result in some cases. “Those denying this are typically those with private agendas hoping to see occultism normalized, and those who profit financially from it with no care or concern for the destructive collateral damage incurred as a result.” Extraordinary events predicted centuries in advance are unfolding now. Here is your guide to the incredible prophecies being fulfilled before our very eyes. Don’t miss the bestselling sensation from one of America’s most prolific authors and beloved pastors. “When the Lion Roars: Understanding the Implications of Ancient Prophecies for Our Time” by Carl Gallups, available now in the WND Superstore. Payne said that “too many Christians and churches are more concerned about making friends and straddling an ever eroding moral, ethical and cultural divide in hopes of appearing politically correct rather than being biblically correct.” He urged Christians to pray for President Trump, but he also said Christians are commanded to pray for everyone in authority over them, even those who are hostile to the Christian faith. “Christians should not ‘begin’ praying for President Trump; they should already have been praying for him and his administration, just like they should have been doing for Presidents Bush, Clinton and Obama when they were president, whether they were one’s first choice, second choice or no choice,” he said. However, Payne also said this is a critical time of choosing for American Christians, too many of whom, he claimed, are not standing up for their faith. “It is time for Christians to view themselves as victors in Christ because of His selfless sacrifice on the cross, rather than apologize for their faith, hiding in fear and volunteering to ride in the back of the bus in hopes of not offending someone or being dragged into the scrum,” he said. “I personally prefer truth to pretense and posturing, and I refuse to apologize for the One who loved me enough to die for me. Occultists, witches and political hacks should remember the One who lives in Christians is greater than the ones who oppose Christians, natural or supernatural. “Maybe it is time for Christians to be motivated by courage and faith rather than compromise and fear,” he continued. “Maybe it is time for Christians to step out of the closet too; seems everyone else already has. Christians in this country supposedly represent a 50 million strong voting bloc. Maybe it is time they began to think like a guard dog rather than a posturing, prancing poodle. Jesus did not hide, the apostles did not hide, the early church did not hide, so why should we hide? “Maybe Christians should view blending into culture rather than shining through it as the compromise that it really represents rather than an art form to be perfected. Jesus was perfect, and the Romans and Jewish leadership still teamed up to crucify Him. Why should we think that if we make friends with everyone, and try not to offend anyone, we will be treated any better than Jesus in this country or around the world?” As spiritual warfare moves into the headlines, Markell argues it is time for believers to wake up to what is truly at stake. “Christians need to get educated about the paranormal and just what the agenda is,” she told WND. “It is all evil. The topic may be dark and unpleasant, but learning that loved ones have been snared by the occult is worse. The occult is bold today and growing bolder each day.” However, Markell also said Christians should remember victory in spiritual warfare is assured if they take up the battle. “Christians can also unite in individual or corporate prayer on behalf of President Trump, Vice President Pence and all in this new administration,” she said. “We need to push back against the darkness that has consumed Washington, D.C., in recent years. “The secular world knows nothing of spiritual warfare. This should get Christians galvanized to restore decency and righteousness in America’s highest leaders.” Arm yourself for the most crucial battle of all. “Spiritual Warfare,” available now in the WND Superstore.

On her 12 p.m. ET hour MSNBC show on Monday, anchor Andrea Mitchell and USA Today’s Susan Page were positively giddy about the prospect of Senator Elizabeth Warren running for president in 2020. Promoting an interview she just conducted with the Democrat, Page excitedly recalled: “I asked if she was going to promise Massachusetts voters that she would serve all six years of her second Senate term. And she said, ‘Well, that's certainly the plan.’ That is not exactly a denial of interest in the 2020 presidential race.” Mitchell enthusiastically chimed in: “At all. And she’s 67 years old. She is plenty young enough compared to Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton to run four years from now.” Page gushed: “Yeah, she is. And she's got, of course, a huge base of support among liberals in the Democratic Party who feel like if only she or Bernie Sanders had been nominated last time around, they believe they would have had a better chance of defeating the kind of campaign that Donald Trump ran.” James Pindell of The Boston Globe tried to temper their expectations: ...she, you know, pulls her punches on the Democratic Party and never explains exactly why she feels Hillary Clinton lost. She just says that they lost. She doesn't give any prescription as to where tactically Democrats need to go, more centrist or more progressive....what's going to happen, exactly in Massachusetts next year in 2018 if she has all of these national super PACS pummeling her – obviously not with the goal of maybe winning, she would probably still win here anyway – but making the experience so bad and so vicious that it potentially knocks her out from even running for president in the first place. Mitchell promptly ignored his analysis and continued to fantasize about the left-wing bomb thrower making a White House run: “But Susan, she is a prodigious fundraiser. She out-raised most other Senate candidates.” Page proclaimed: “She's already raised more than $9 million for this Senate re-election race, for a contest that we don’t actually think is going to be competitive in the state of Massachusetts.” <<< Please support MRC's NewsBusters team with a tax-deductible contribution today. >>> She then revealed: “But she told me the more serious reason she chose not to run last time was because she didn't feel like she had enough experience in government and politics and policy to be President of the United States.” “And you know, if she's a second-term senator, maybe she’ll – she’d feel like she had enough of that kind of experience,” Page hoped. Mitchell urged: “Although it certainly didn’t hold back Barack Obama when he was a first-term senator.” Page followed: “Or Donald Trump.” In her USA Today piece, Page described Warren in heroic terms: “Warren casts herself as a fearless champion of progressive causes against the charging bull that is President Trump. In This Fight Is Our Fight: The Battle to Save America’s Middle Class...she argues the federal government needs to do much more to reverse decades of decline among the nation’s working families, from raising the minimum wage to expanding aid to education.” The journalist claimed that Trump’s “unexpected victory” gave Warren’s new book “a more apocalyptic edge” and served as “a rallying cry against the economic and social proposals” of the new Republican administration. Page concluded that it “has opened a world of political possibility for the senior senator from Massachusetts...” Here is a transcript of Mitchell’s April 17 exchange with Page:

WALTHAM, Mass. -- The plan was to sneak home for some family time. After a whirlwind first week as head coach of the Boston Celtics, Brad Stevens flew from Orlando to Indianapolis last Thursday with hopes of a few quiet moments with his wife and two young children. Maybe even a little shut-eye. It didn't happen, of course. His first day back home saw him trek two hours south to Louisville for a 75-minute confab with point guard Rajon Rondo, one of the pressing items on his lengthy new-job to-do list. Even when he returned to Indianapolis, Stevens' phone never quite stopped buzzing. Brad Stevens got a firsthand look at some of his players with Danny Ainge at the Orlando Summer League. Fernando Medina/NBAE/Getty Images Stevens was back in Boston on Sunday and, a day later, he helped introduce three of the newest faces on the Celtics' roster at a news conference for the players acquired from the Brooklyn Nets. With hints of bags under his eyes as he spoke to a small group of reporters after the news conference, Stevens was asked if he had found any time to rest over two nonstop weeks of activity. "No, there won't be much of that," he admitted. "I went back to the Midwest for a couple days to hunker down and spend time with my family, even then the phone's ringing off the hook and you're just trying to move on to what's next. Once I have my life organized better, it'll be good. It'll be really good." Right now, it's total chaos. And that's not bad. But even before Brad took the Celtics' job, the Stevens family was looking for its next home near Indianapolis and was living with Stevens' mother, Jan, including when the Boston brass came to visit. Now their real estate search has shifted from Indiana to Massachusetts, with no guarantee of how quickly they'll find the perfect spot to start a new life. But Stevens can't wait for that moment, a little bit of normalcy amid this sharknado of change. While former Celtics coach Doc Rivers kept his family back home in Orlando after joining the Celtics, Stevens says he needs his young family nearby. "I've got a 4- and a 7-year-old and I'm going to be with them every chance I get," Stevens said of his daughter, Kinsley, and son, Brady. "No question about that, they will be here. And we're looking forward to being a part of the community. That's something that's always been really important to us. And we did a bunch of things in Indianapolis that we'll continue to do in Indianapolis, but we want to be active here." Lately, he's been active in a lot of communities. Since being hired, Stevens has pingponged from Indy to Boston (introduced on July 5) to Indy (parade commitment on July 6) to Orlando (summer league from July 7-10) to Indy (trip home on July 11) to Louisville (day trip for Rondo on July 11) and back to Boston. His family understands the responsibilities and demands that come with inking a six-year, $22 million contract to lead one of the most storied franchises in NBA history. So like any good father, Stevens made sure to keep the cartoons rolling when he'd sneak out to field a phone call (or three) during his visit home. "You keep Dora the Explorer going," Stevens quipped. "That allows you to take the call." Stevens has stressed he's process-oriented and has been using the past two weeks to acclimate himself as much as possible to the NBA game. He said he wasn't much fun in Orlando, absorbing all he could while watching summer league games and sitting next to Boston's front-office staff, including president of basketball operations Danny Ainge. Beyond that, getting to know his team presents a challenge. Watching film won't help much as the Celtics are a team in transition and still don't know exactly how their roster will look when training camp opens in September. Stevens has stressed that he wants to know each player's strengths and weaknesses before that first practice in Newport, R.I., hoping his summer preparation allows him to hit the ground running when it's time to focus on the on-court product. Through his travels, Stevens has been able to introduce himself to nearly all of Boston's returning players, including much of the young core (Avery Bradley was in Boston for his introductory news conference; Jeff Green, Jared Sullinger, Brandon Bass and Courtney Lee were among those in Orlando). Stevens has stressed the importance of building immediate relationships with his players and his efforts over his first eight days on the job made a major impact.

A revamped proposal for the once-controversial plan to convert Casa Mia into a seniors care facility won unanimous support at a public hearing at city hall earlier this week. Council’s Nov. 14 decision to approve the rezoning application comes five years after the Care Group first pitched a proposal for the sprawling property. The approved application will see the mansion retained and an addition built to create a 90-bed facility — Vancouver Coastal Health will fund 58 of the beds, while the remaining 32 will be private-pay. article continues below The Care Group, which owns and operates seven facilities, including Point Grey Private Hospital, bought the Casa Mia property at 1920 Southwest Marine Drive in 2011. Designed by architect Ross Anthony Lort, the Spanish Revival-style house was built in 1932 for George Reifel, a liquor magnate and rumrunner during the Prohibition era. The 20,700-square-foot mansion includes a ballroom where Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington and Count Basie performed. But the Care Group’s plan to turn it into a seniors care facility initially attracted opposition. Over the years, critics raised myriad concerns about the redevelopment project, including that it was too dense, that it would attract too much traffic to an already busy street, that it wasn’t close enough to transit and that it conflicted with the existing community plan. A shot of the interior of Casa Mia. Photo courtesy Vancouver Hertiage Foundation An early concept envisioned a 92-bed facility, but that was scaled back to 62 beds in a rezoning application that was expected to go to public hearing in March of 2014. The Southlands Community Association filed an application in B.C. Supreme Court for an injunction to force the City of Vancouver to delay the public hearing for the rezoning. However, an agreement on heritage conservation was never completed, and the city unexpectedly cancelled the public hearing the evening before it was scheduled to take place. That rezoning application was later withdrawn. Then, last April, a revised rezoning application was submitted for a 90-bed facility, with more than 60 per cent of the beds being subsidized through Vancouver Coastal Health. Feedback at a subsequent open house was generally positive, with supporters citing the need for seniors care facilities in South Vancouver, the importance of the majority of the beds being publicly funded and the fact an important heritage building in the city would be preserved. A rendering of the Casa Mia seniors home. John Chapman, a rezoning planner for Vancouver South division, outlined the project at Tuesday's public hearing before the vote was held. Chapman said the project presented an opportunity to gain 90 new beds for seniors, who require 24-hour nursing care, in an area of the city underserved by seniors facilities, as well as ensuring a class A heritage building was preserved. Interior details being retained include: the large central staircase extensive cast plaster work period bathroom fixtures children’s nursery painted by Walt Disney company illustrators, including a scene of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. However, due to privacy and safety concerns, the general public — other than family, friends and staff, won’t have access to the building to see these features. (A Care Group representative later noted that more people will have access to the building than if it remained in private hands.) Paintings by Walt Disney company illustrators appear inside Casa Mia. Photo Courtesy Vancouver Heritage Foundation A significant amount of the historic exterior and massing will also be retained, while the rear landscape and the rear yard will be entirely preserved, according to Chapman. He noted concerns had been raised about increased traffic, pedestrian safety, transit, the stability of the escarpment at the back of the house during construction, as well as the community plan. Chapman said there is bus stop for the No. 16 bus nearby, while improvements have been made to Southwest Marine Drive, for cyclists and pedestrians, over the past two years. City staff expect only a minor increase in traffic related to the facility. The new wing, Chapman added, is being built in the front yard, away from the escarpment, so adverse effects are not anticipated. The Urban Design Panel, the city's Seniors’ Advisory Committee and the Vancouver Heritage Commission endorsed the project. A bathroom fixture in Casa Mia. Photo courtesy Vancouver Heritage Foundation Several speakers spoke during the hearing, most in favour. “People in long-term care deserve to age in their community, in a residential setting. And, if it happens to be in a gorgeous heritage home, well, even better. They deserve that too,” said Gavin McIntosh, a spokesman for the Care Group. Colleen McGuinness, chair of the Seniors’ Advisory Committee, endorsed the project and said the proposal had been much improved since first imagined in 2012. “Councillor [Tim] Stevenson, I can report to you that the seniors are happy,” she said. That said, McGuinness cited a few remaining issues, including the fact that the nearby bus stop is still far for some less-mobile people and that there’s not enough parking for the disabled. A critic said, while there is a need for more seniors’ beds in southwest Vancouver, the proposed facility is not in the right location. He pointed out there will only be 24 parking spots for the 92-bed home. He contrasted that to the St. Vincent’s Langara complex care facility, which has 197 residents and more than 110 parking spots, as well as plenty of off-street parking. “People will have to park off site,” he said, which he maintains will create safety issues. Speaking on behalf of B.C. Care Providers Association, Mike Klassen (who also writes a column for the Courier) called the project “imaginative and innovative.” “Given that our population is aging rapidly, and the seniors’ population is expected to double to over 20 per cent of the overall population by 2036, it places even more emphasis on making new housing available that supports our seniors,” he said. Before the vote, councillor Heather Deal and Mayor Gregor Robertson remarked on the project’s long road to public hearing. “As we all know, in 2013, this was looking very, very controversial and the changes that were made in response to that controversy have been significant and meaningful and have been hard,” Deal said. “I’m extremely pleased to be able to support this tonight and hopefully see this magnificent home retained and used for a really important use in our city.” Robertson echoed those points. “It’s come a long way from challenging circumstances some years ago. Even at that time, we could all agree that we desperately need more housing and facilities to support seniors in Vancouver, and that challenge is only going to grow as the city ages,” he said. “…I appreciate the concerns raised by speakers and staff, with respect to the transportation and traffic issues. There’s obviously more work to do on that front to improve the situation there. But I think a ton of work has been done. We’ve got something that will really serve the city and, most importantly, the families and the seniors who so desperately need this support.” noconnor@vancourier.com @naoibh

A pair of socks embedded with miniaturized microbial fuel cells (MFCs) and fueled with urine pumped by the wearer's footsteps has powered a wireless transmitter to send a signal to a PC. This is the first self-sufficient system powered by a wearable energy generator based on microbial fuel cell technology. The scientific paper, 'Self-sufficient Wireless Transmitter Powered by Foot-pumped Urine Operating Wearable MFC' is published in Bioinspiration and Biomimetics. The paper describes a lab-based experiment led by Ioannis Ieropoulos, of the Bristol BioEnergy Center at the University of the West of England (UWE Bristol). Soft MFCs embedded within a pair of socks was supplied with fresh urine, circulated by the human operator walking. Normally, continuous-flow MFCs would rely on a mains powered pump to circulate the urine over the microbial fuel cells, but this experiment relied solely on human activity. The manual pump was based on a simple fish circulatory system and the action of walking caused the urine to pass over the MFCs and generate energy. Soft tubes, placed under the heels, ensured frequent fluid push–pull by walking. The wearable MFC system successfully ran a wireless transmission board, which was able to send a message every two minutes to the PC-controlled receiver module. “Having already powered a mobile phone with MFCs using urine as fuel, we wanted to see if we could replicate this success in wearable technology. We also wanted the system to be entirely self-sufficient, running only on human power – using urine as fuel and the action of the foot as the pump,” says Ieropoulos. “This work opens up possibilities of using waste for powering portable and wearable electronics. For example, recent research shows it should be possible to develop a system based on wearable MFC technology to transmit a person's coordinates in an emergency situation. At the same time this would indicate proof of life since the device will only work if the operator's urine fuels the MFCs.” Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) use bacteria to generate electricity from waste fluids. They tap into the biochemical energy used for microbial growth and convert it directly into electricity. This technology can use any form of organic waste and turn it into useful energy without relying on fossil fuels, making this a valuable green technology. The Center has recently launched a prototype urinal in partnership with Oxfam that uses pee-power technology to light cubicles in refugee camps.

Pin +1 0 Shares Bald may or may not be beautiful, but it definitely is manly according to recent research.1 Participants were asked to rate photographs of men who either had a full head of hair or a shaven head (the hair was digitally edited away). The bald versions of men were consistently rated as more dominant than the men with full locks. The men with shaved scalps were also perceived as taller, older, and stronger, but less attractive, than their full-haired counterparts. Consistent with prior findings, participants rated men with thinning hair least favorably on all attributes. The “bald-is-dominant” effect may be a product of higher perceived confidence and masculinity in bald men, who are clearly bold enough to shave their heads—so what’s to say they really aren’t more manly? Alternatively, the association between baldness and perceived manliness may reflect the fact that stereotypically tough, masculine professions (e.g., the military, law enforcement, and sports) are populated by men with clean-shaven hairstyles. These findings offer some comforting advice for men experiencing hair loss: shave it off and relish in the benefits of baldness! 1Mannes, A.E. (2012). Shorn scalps and perceptions of male dominance. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 2, 198-205. doi: 10.1177/1948550612449490 Dr. Jana Rosewarne – Articles Jana’s research interests include close relationships and positive emotions. She is most interested in the impact of individual-level variables and interpersonal behavior on personal well-being and optimal relationship functioning.

11 charged in multiyear, $1.3 million suburban credit card scheme hello Eleven people are facing federal bank fraud charges stemming from a multiyear credit card scheme that prosecutors believe netted more than $1.3 million. Prosecutors said the seven men and four women from Cook and DuPage counties worked together beginning in April 2010 to receive credit cards after applying online using false employment and income information. Once the cards were delivered, the suspects "quickly" maxed out the cards by obtaining cash from the financial institutions that issued the cards. According to court records, some of the defendants filed for bankruptcy to discharge the debts they had charged on the credit cards. Some of the defendants also created dummy corporations and charged fake purchases so the companies would receive reimbursements from the card issuers. The scheme ran through October 2015, authorities said. Those charged are Jaroslaw Wysocki, 48, and Jolanta Wysocka, 50, both of Schaumburg; Bartosz Pozniak, 42, of Mount Prospect; Monika Szczurek, 36, of Lombard; Marcin Cychowski, 41, of Addison; Daniel Noga, 41, of Des Plaines; Arthur Radolinski, 32, of Lisle; and Elzbieta Buczek, 37, of Bensenville. Chicago residents Gabriel Cwynar, 37, and Izabela Kapusciak, 39, were also charged, along with Franciszek Bystron, 37, of Park Ridge. All 11 pleaded not guilty Thursday, according to court records.

Dragon Age 2 expansion canceled for 'other opportunities' Dragon Age 2 executive producer Mark Darrah has revealed that an expansion for the game was canceled in favor of "other DA opportunities." Although it's been about a year since the release of Dragon Age 2, BioWare's RPG sequel was apparently set to receive an expansion, entitled "Exalted March." However, executive producer Mark Darrah says it has now been canceled. Darrah revealed on Twitter that the expansion was abandoned in favor of "other DA opportunities." A sequel seems likely, given BioWare's vague hints. He further elaborated on the BioWare forums. "You've most certainly heard the rumors floating around, and unfortunately I can't really comment on them," he wrote. "However, what I can say is that we've been thinking a lot about Dragon Age - what it means, and where it could go. This past year, we’ve spent a lot of time both going back to the 'BioWare vault' of games and re-examining them, and looking at some new possibilities that today's industry allows. While the company prepares for the announcement of whatever comes next for the series, it's inviting feedback on what fans would like to see from the series. Given the outcry over Dragon Age 2, the obvious answer would seem to be "not that."

A A WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court on Monday threw out the conviction of a Pennsylvania man convicted of making threats on Facebook, but dodged the free speech issues that had made the case intriguing to First Amendment advocates. Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for seven justices, said it was not enough for prosecutors to show that the comments of Anthony Elonis would make a reasonable person feel threatened. But the court did not specify to lower courts exactly what the standard of proof should be. Elonis was prosecuted under a law banning illegal threats after he posted Facebook rants in the form of rap lyrics about killing his estranged wife, harming law enforcement officials and shooting up a school. Elonis claimed the government had no right to prosecute him if he didn't actually intend his comments to be threatening to others. He argued that his musings were protected by the First Amendment. But the Obama administration said the test is whether the comments would strike fear in a reasonable person. The high court said it was not necessary to reach First Amendment issues in reversing Elonis' conviction. Roberts said the reasonable person standard is "inconsistent with the conventional requirement for criminal conduct - awareness of some wrongdoing." Elonis said he didn't intend to threaten anyone. He claimed his posts under the pseudonym "Tone Dougie" were a form of therapy that allowed him to cope with the breakup of his marriage and being fired from his job at an amusement park. His lawyers said the comments were heavily influenced by rap star Eminem, who has also fantasized in songs about killing his ex-wife. But Elonis' wife testified that the comments made her fear for her life and she persuaded a judge to issue a protective order. The government argued that it didn't matter whether Elonis actually intended to threaten anyone. If the comments provoked enough fear and anxiety to make people feel threatened, that was enough to prosecute it as a crime. One post about his wife said, "There's one way to love you but a thousand ways to kill you. I'm not going to rest until your body is a mess, soaked in blood and dying from all the little cuts." After his wife obtained the protective order, Elonis wrote: "Is it thick enough to stop a bullet?" Those and other comments led to his arrest. A jury found Elonis guilty under a law barring interstate communications that contain "any threat to injure the person of another." He was sentenced to nearly four years in federal prison and was released last year. Elonis was arrested again in April for allegedly throwing a pot that hit his girlfriend's mother in the head. Police charged him with simple assault and harassment.

Prominent white nationalist Richard Spencer said on Tuesday that Rep. Steve King (R-IA) — who recently came under fire for saying that “civilization” cannot be restored “with somebody else’s babies” — “cares about his people” and has Spencer’s support. “Steve King isn’t perfect,” Spencer tweeted. “But he speaks truthfully and cares about his people and civilization.” Steve King isn’t perfect… but he speaks truthfully and cares about his people and civilization. I support him.https://t.co/zqglMoTOBy — Richard 🥛 Spencer (@RichardBSpencer) March 14, 2017 Apparently King’s “people and civilization” does not include “somebody else’s babies,” according to a tweet the congressman posted on Sunday. “We can’t restore our civilization with somebody else’s babies,” King tweeted, along with praise for Geert Wilders, an anti-Muslim Dutch politician with whom King has previously associated himself. Former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke expressed fervent support for King’s sentiment. “GOD BLESS STEVE KING!!!” he tweeted. “Sanity reigns supreme in Iowa’s 4th congressional district.” King doubled down on his comments on Monday, saying that he “meant exactly what I said” in the post. Asked on WHO radio’s “The Jan Mickelson Show” in Des Moines if he would change anything about the tweets, King said: “Not at all.” In the same interview with Mickelson, King said that “Hispanics and the blacks will be fighting each other” before outnumbering the population of white people in the United States. Spencer included a link to a CNN report on those comments in his tweet. “I support him,” Spencer tweeted. Spencer’s own rise to prominence has come with its share of controversy and backlash. In January, Spencer was punched on two separate occasions by two different people in the middle of an inauguration protest in Washington, D.C., and his white nationalist nonprofit, the National Policy Institute, recently lost its tax-exempt status for failing to file federal tax returns.

Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings. Nov. 27, 2017, 1:58 AM GMT / Updated Nov. 27, 2017, 7:48 PM GMT By Tim Stelloh Dozens of people have accused massage therapists of sexual misconduct at the largest massage franchise in the United States, according to a BuzzFeed report published Sunday. Citing lawsuits, police reports and other official documents, the news site said the company, Massage Envy, and its franchisees had mishandled or ignored many of more than 180 cases. NBC News has not confirmed all of the allegations. At a franchise outside Philadelphia, a former therapist in his 60s, James Deiter, pleaded guilty last year to three counts of aggravated indecent assault and six counts of incident assault against nine women, according to court documents obtained by NBC News. One victim, Susan Ingram, who is suing Massage Envy, said she had seen Deiter several times before he assaulted her. Ingram said Deiter placed his erect penis in her hand during the massage and ran it over her body. "I remember thinking at the time, that this turned so evil so fast," Ingram said. After leaving the facility, Ingram called the Massage Envy location and begged a manager to intervene, but said she couldn't get the manager to take her seriously. That's when Ingram reported the attack to police. Deiter was arrested and sentenced in May 2016. James Deiter in 2015. Chester County DA's Office In a statement Sunday, Massage Envy — which has more than 1,100 franchises in 49 states, according to the company's website — said the incidents described in the report were "heartbreaking for us and for the franchisees that operate Massage Envy locations." "Even one incident is too many," the statement said. "That's why we will never stop reinforcing to our franchisees the importance of a safe environment. It's why we are constantly listening, learning and looking at how we can do more, including how we support franchised locations with best practices in handling these incidents and supporting their clients." "I remember thinking at the time, that this turned so evil so fast" Adam Horowitz, a lawyer who has worked on two dozen cases against Massage Envy, said the actual number of assaults is likely considerably higher. "Most women never report sexual misconduct," he said. Horowitz said that in the cases he's handled, there is no typical perpetrator or a victim: The therapists are both experienced and new to the job, while the customers include everyone from 20-year-olds to grandmothers, he said. "It would be hard to think of a more vulnerable position than being in a darkened room while laying face down draped in just a towel," he said. The abuse often begins, Horowitz said, with a male therapist placing his hand on a woman's vagina. The women he's represented have always reported the incidents to the police or the company or to both, he said. "In some cases, they suspend the therapist," Horowitz said. "Sometimes they end up at other franchises with a clean slate. In almost no instances does Massage Envy call the police when they get the report." The company's policy manual, he added, doesn't instruct employees to do so. At a Massage Envy franchise in Maryland, after a 24-year-old therapist touched a woman inappropriately, the customer told the franchise manager about it, NBC Washington reported. The masseur, Habtamu Gebreslassie, kept his job, the station reported, and about two weeks later, on Sept. 17, allegedly sexually assaulted Tara Woodley, who originally filed a lawsuit against Massage Envy as "Jane Doe." "In the wake of all the Harvey Weinstein cases and politicians, I just was getting fed up. There's so many women who are being so brave and so strong, and I think I can be one of those too," Woodley said of her decision to come forward. A third customer from a different Maryland franchise told the station that Gebreslassie touched her inappropriately on June 20 and that when she reported the incident to the company — and asked to cancel her membership — the company offered her a free spa day and said Gebreslassie was being transferred to a different location. Gebreslassie was later fired and charged with attempted sexual abuse in connection with the August incident and with sexual abuse in connection with the alleged September assault, according to NBC Washington. He is scheduled for a status conference in D.C. Superior Court on Dec. 11, according to court records. Gebreslassie told a judge he'd done nothing wrong, the station reported, and hasn't been charged in the June incident. His lawyer, Sweta Patel, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In a statement to the station, Massage Envy declined to discuss "confidential employment matters," but it added that the company has a "zero tolerance policy" for "inappropriate conduct and requires its franchisees to conduct fair, thorough and objective investigations with respect to any allegation of inappropriate conduct." The statement added: "We are evaluating any additional information we receive to verify that requirement was met in this instance."

There's a new duo moving into ABC Family's Ravenswood. L.A. Complex's Brett Dier and model Elizabeth Whitson have boarded the cable network's Pretty Little Liars spinoff series, The Hollywood Reporter has learned exclusively. Ravenswood centers on a town not far from Rosewood, Pa., that has suffered for generations under a deadly curse. Five strangers find themselves connected by the fatal curse and are charged with investigating the town's mysterious and terrible history before it's too late for everyone. STORY: 'Pretty Little Liars' Spinoff Series Announced, Will Debut in October Pretty Little Liars star Tyler Blackburn, who plays Hanna's (Ashley Benson) significant other Caleb, will leave Rosewood and topline the new series as a regular. Blackburn will be seen traveling to the new town in the Halloween hour. Blackburn -- a Pretty Little Liars regular since 2011 -- still will be an integral part of the mothership's upcoming summer season before switching gears in October. How Blackburn's character enters into the Ravenswood equation and the future of the Caleb-Hanna relationship remains to be seen. EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: 'Pretty Little Liars' Debuts First Season 4 Footage Dier will play Abel, a lone wolf and old soul with a brooding intensity. There's something dangerous lurking inside him -- or he could be wounded and covering. His trust is hard won, but once you're in his inner circle, he'll never let you down. Whitson, meanwhile, will play Olivia, Abel's twin sister and a former prom queen who has fallen from grace. She's learning who her real friends are after most everyone in her inner circle turns their backs on her. Recent events have left the once carefree and effortlessly happy Olivia questioning what's important. They will both be introduced in Pretty Little Liars' Halloween episode. STORY: 'Pretty Little Liars' Star Tyler Blackburn Heads to 'Ravenswood' Spinoff Marlene King, Oliver Goldstick, Joseph Dougherty and Leslie Morgenstein are on board to executive produce Ravenswood, which like Pretty Little Liars hails from Alloy Entertainment and Warner Horizon Television. Dier, whose credits also include Bomb Girls, V and Emily Owens M.D., is repped by Gersh and Red Management. Whitson is with Sweeney Entertainment. Email: Lesley.Goldberg@thr.com, Philiana.Ng@thr.com; Twitter: @Snoodit, @InsideTheTube

GIGABYTE has introduced its new family of desktop replacement gaming notebooks with Intel’s Skylake microprocessors. The new laptops not only feature new CPUs, but also add support for technologies like USB 3.1, M.2, HDMI 2.0 with HDCP 2.2 and some other improvements. The GIGABYTE P57 laptops are powered by the Intel Core i7-6700HQ (four cores with Hyper-Threading technology, 2.60 GHz default frequency, 3.50 GHz turbo frequency, 6 MB LLC cache, 45 W TDP, dual-channel DDR4/DDR3L memory controller) as well as Intel’s mobile HM170 platform controller hub (PCH). The laptop can be equipped with up to 32 GB of dual-channel DDR4-2133 memory, which should be sufficient for a gaming laptop. GIGABYTE’s P57 notebooks feature 17.3-inch IPS display with matte anti-glare coating and 1920x1080 resolution. Graphics sub-system is the key piece of technology for any gaming PC. The GIGABYTE P57K is equipped with NVIDIA’s GeForce GTX 965M GPU (1024 stream processors, 64 texture units, 32 raster operations pipelines) with 2 GB GDDR5 onboard. The more powerful GIGABYTE P57W comes with NVIDIA’s GeForce GTX 970M GPU (1280 SPs, 80 TUs, 48 ROPs) and 3 GB of GDDR5 onboard. Both graphics adapters should deliver sufficient performance in games in 1920x1080 resolution. However, it is not completely clear why GIGABYTE decided to cut-down the amount of onboard GPU memory. The P37W DTR notebook from the company features the GeForce GTX 970M with 6 GB of GDDR5, whereas the P37K sports the GeForce GTX 965M with 4 GB of RAM. Storage sub-system of the GIGABYTE P57 is similar to that of its predecessors: the laptop features a 512 GB integrated M.2 type 2280 SSD (with PCIe 3.0 x4 interface) and comes with a Blu-ray RW/DVD RW ODD that can be swapped with a 2.5” HDD or SSD. GIGABYTE does not reveal which SSD it installs by default, but claims that it has read speed of about 2000 MB/s, which points to a rather powerful model. The new DTR notebooks also come with a new keyboard that features anti-ghosting with 30-keys rollover support as well as backlighting. Unfortunately, this keyboard does not have programmable keys, which may upset some gamers. Since GIGABYTE’s P57 are desktop replacement gaming machines, they feature the whole set of wired and wireless communication technologies, including a Gigabit Ethernet port (with traffic management software) as well as Wi-Fi 802.11 ac/b/g/n and Bluetooth 4.1 controllers. The input/output functionality of GIGABYTE’s P57 is in line with modern laptops. The system features one USB 3.1 type-C port (I am not sure which controller is used, but if it is Intel’s Alpine Ridge, which GIGABYTE uses on the majority of its Intel-based platforms, then it will be just a matter of time before the port gets Thunderbolt 3 certification), three USB 3.0 type-A connectors, an HDMI output with HDCP 2.2 for playback of Ultra HD Blu-ray discs and output video to a compatible TV or display, a mini DisplayPort and even a D-Sub output. In addition, the notebooks are equipped with a HD webcam, a SD card reader, a microphone, two 1.5W speakers and even a SPDIF output. The more advanced GIGABYTE P57W comes with a 75.81 Wh battery, whereas the P57K sport a 60.8 Wh battery. The notebooks can weigh from 2.7 to 2.9 kilograms, depending on exact configuration. The GIGABYTE P57W is already available at Newegg starting at $1499.

From turning waste into energy to charging consumers for the food they throw in the bin, here’s how our attitudes to rubbish are set to change The future of waste: five things to look for by 2025 The European Commission recently backtracked on an ambitious set of legislative promises on waste and recycling, including the phasing out of using landfill for recyclable rubbish and a commitment to cut food waste by 30% by 2025. Nation states and businesses had cried foul, claiming the targets were too exacting. Such lacklustre foot-dragging is sadly typical. So what disruptive measures might shake up the waste industry and trash the pessimism of those who fail to reform? Circular rethink If there’s one thing on which all waste experts will agree it’s that the linear make-use-dispose model on which we built our society needs ditching for good. It’s all about going “circular” these days. But weaving our economic systems into one harmonious, never-ending bundle of recycling and reuse is no easy task. For starters, it means a massive overhaul in how waste is conceived. Even the word is loaded: “waste” isn’t actually wasted material, says Marcus Gover, director at the UK advocacy group WRAP, it’s a valuable commodity. And the first companies that need to recognise that are the waste (or should that be value?) management companies. We could end up with 'as much plastic in our oceans as fish' Read more By 2025, waste disposers “won’t be burying or burning people’s rubbish as they do today”, states Gover. These companies will merge into what he terms the “reprocessing industry”, where their central role is not to dump stuff but to return “valuable resources to manufacturers”. A similar rethink is required of designers and manufacturers too. The goods of today, Gover says, need to be seen as the raw materials of tomorrow. When that happens, products will begin to be made with a view to lasting longer and to being easier to repair and ultimately dismantle. Phillips’ easy-to-disassemble lightbulb provides an illustrative case in point. Turning waste into energy Even if they do undergo this transformation, waste companies will still need business models that can turn a profit. One solution is turning waste into energy. According to market analyst Grand View Research, the global market for turning rubbish into power is expected to reach $37.64bn by 2020. While most of the growth to date has been in thermal technologies, biological technologies could provide a major breakthrough. One advocate of the latter is Justin Keeble, managing director for sustainability services at Accenture, who points to a new generation of firms using 100% biodegradable feedstock and advanced biotechnologies. Keeble’s list includes LanzaTech, an Illinois-based biotech firm that uses patented microbes to convert carbon-rich waste into biofuel via a gas fermentation technology. Another is Novozymes, a Danish biotech firm recently that launched Eversa, an enzyme-based solution that converts used cooking oil or other lower grade oils into biodiesel. Ratchet up recyclability Another hurdle for manufacturers is the recyclability of materials. Reusing a basic metal such as copper is easy enough (its dexterity is behind the spike in metal thefts). Recycling sophisticated plastics or other complex materials is a different ballgame. Six ways graphene could make the world a greener place Read more Steve Lee, chief executive of the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management, gives the example of carbon fibre. On the one hand, it’s at the “cutting edge” of transport innovation, with the likes of McLaren and Airbus excited about its advantages in terms of strength, weight and energy efficiency. But little serious thought has gone into its re-use or recycling. Closing these “resource loops” is essential, he adds. “We will also need more clever technology to separate materials quickly and efficiently for recycling.” Automating the selection of plastic from paper is one requirement, for example. Identifying one plastic polymer from another is critical too. In terms of the latter, near-infrared spectroscopy (PDF) could present an answer. Based on diffuse reflection, the technique enables unique polymer compositions to be distinguished based on their spectral differences. Convincing consumers It’s not just business that needs to change. Between now and 2025, public attitudes to waste require a radical overall too. Half of the food produced around the world ends up in the bin (PDF), according to the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. Step forward smart cards. The institution’s head of environment and energy, Tim Fox, argues that smart measuring technology which charges consumers for the food waste they produce could change public attitudes sharpish. Pilots of the approach have already been successfully trialled in the South Korean capital of Seoul. “Residents are given cards which include a chip holding the name and address of the cardholder. Residents scan their identification card, then dispose of their rubbish in a smart bin with a built-in weighing scale, and are simply billed for the corresponding waste”, he explains. What will artificial intelligence mean for the world of work? Read more Retailer responsibility Responsibility for consumer-related recycling shouldn’t fall entirely on consumer shoulders. Retailers that sell unrecyclable packaging should also make a change, argues Conrad MacKerron, director of the corporate social responsibility programme at the As You Sow Foundation. “Businesses responsible for those sales need to step up and take a strong measure of responsibility for financing collection and recycling of post-consumer packaging”, MacKerron states, noting that less than 14% of plastic packaging is currently recycled in the US. He points to the Carton Council as a notable exception. The US industry association is providing grants for sorting-facility upgrades to make collecting aseptic and gable top cartons easier. The scheme also sees it provide technical assistance to material recovery facilities, as well as help to develop assured markets for aseptic fibre. “The fast food, beverage, and consumer packaged goods sectors … must become actively involved in developing consensus on new, state-level producer responsibility mandates or equivalent policies”, he adds. “If brands fail to act then new producer responsibility mandates must be enacted.” The business futures hub is funded by The Crystal. All content is editorially independent except for pieces labelled “brought to you by”. Find out more here. This content is brought to you by Guardian Professional. Become a GSB member to get more stories like this direct to your inbox.

Florida State rallied and nearly pulled off what it was unable to do all season long in completely erasing a sizable halftime deficit to pull out a victory away from the Donald L. Tucker Center. Although it’s easy to dwell on the negatives after a disheartening loss like this one, there are also many positives, particularly about that second half, which must be addressed. Notre Dame’s ridiculous three-point percentage in the win was a major factor, as it was in each of FSU’s three games against the Irish this year. Notre Dame finished their three-game series vs. FSU this year hitting 50% of their threes (35-70) while averaging 38% from outside the arc on the year. In spite of all of this perimeter success, Florida State could very well have come away with a win on Saturday. The Seminoles, who were thoroughly outrebounded in the February matchup in South Bend, flipped the rebounding script in the semifinal matchup, holding a massive 41-23 advantage on the boards by game’s end. A large part of this can be attributed to Jonathan Isaac. The freshman, who had a minimal scoring impact with five points on 2-7 shooting, racked up 15 boards, a new career high. In the end, FSU, which looked like the better team for long stretches of the second half, was done in by a poor finish to the first half which saw Notre Dame end the half on a 27-10 run. This can be attributed to Florida State committing 10 first-half turnovers while going 0-7 from outside the arc. Dwayne Bacon, Terance Mann, and Isaac were the consistent offenders in FSU’s ball security woes, combining to commit 11 of FSU’s 18 turnovers. Meanwhile, Xavier Rathan-Mayes had five assists to one turnover, continuing to distribute the ball well within FSU’s system. For as much as Florida State’s turnovers were an issue, the Seminoles’ inability to force turnovers also proved troublesome. In FSU’s sole win over Notre Dame this season, the Irish, one of the least turnover-prone teams in the country, was forced into 18 turnovers. In ND’s two wins, it committed a combined 18 turnovers, with nine coming in each game. Even with all of this counting against FSU, the ’Noles definitely still had a chance to swipe a win. The same Florida State team which was held to .722 points per possession in the opening half put up 1.27 points per possession over the final twenty minutes. If not for some bad breaks down the stretch in the form of Jamie Luckie questionable officiating and poor free throw shooting from the normally solid Isaac, Florida State could have very well come out victorious after trailing by 16 at the half. Yes, a near-win still appears in the loss column, but the resiliency to make a comeback attempt against a team as good as Notre Dame playing as well as it was says a lot about the ceiling of this FSU team entering the NCAA Tournament. Now, on the NCAA Tournament, it becomes a hurry up and wait situation for the Seminoles. For the first time in five years, they will not be on the bubble and are solidly in the field. They will officially learn their fate on Sunday before waiting around for a first-round matchup on either Thursday or Friday. In my opinion, FSU is solidly a three seed in the tourney regardless of what happened on Friday or Saturday of the ACC Tournament. Whether this becomes true, though, is still unknown. Luckily for FSU, the truth of the situation is less than 36 hours away.

"Should Northern California Secede and Become the State of Jefferson?" Produced by Alex Manning and additional camera by Tracy Oppenheimer. About 5:30 minutes. Original release date June 9, 2014 and original writeup is below. Activists in Northern California, near the border with Oregon, are pushing to secede from the Golden State. They say they're fed up with taxes, regulation, and lack of representation. If they get their way, the country's 51st entrant would be called the State of Jefferson. "The three major urban areas dictate politics for the entire state," says Mark Baird of the Jefferson Declaration Committee. "Our children are leaving, our economy is crashing, we are taxed, every breath we take is regulated, and we feel that a free state will cure that." To date, five county governments have signed on the plan and more may be joining up. "We can't afford to run a California style beauracracy, that is true," says Baird. "But as a small rural state, we don't want to. " The idea of secession in California isn't new. During the Great Depression, folks started pushing a similar plan in the same part of the state but threw in the towel after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in 1941. Both California's state legislature and the U.S. Congress would have to approve the plan to make Jefferson more than a pipe dream. That's not going to happen any time soon, but Northern California's separatist movement is worth exploring as a way of pushing back against a distant and unresponsive government. Produced by Alex Manning. Additional camera Tracy Oppenheimer. About 5:30 minutes.

We learned yesterday that an estimated 641,000 people immigrated to Britain in 2014 – the highest ever annual figure. Earlier, a few people were hauled off in handcuffs by the border force for their alleged involvement in illegal immigration, with the TV cameras present. The television correspondents were shrewd enough to make the point that the pictures the Home Office laid on to illustrate their news packages on the migration statistics actually had no bearing on those figures, though they used the pictures anyway. The same was true of much of the briefing ahead of the prime minister’s big immigration speech. That focused on the new government’s plans for yet more stringent crackdowns on illegal work, a tougher approach to deportation and further curbs on migrants’ access to benefits. In the speech itself, however, a substantial section was devoted to the real reason why immigration is booming – and has been for many years – the fact that this country continues to need and therefore to attract high levels of workers and foreign students. Figures show immigration surge as Cameron unveils illegal working bill Read more In all, 284,000 people immigrated for work in 2014, a rise of 70,000 on 2013. Given free movement within the EU, and Britain’s economic strength compared with many other European countries, it is not so surprising that the number of EU workers arriving continues to increase. But after much tightening of immigration rules by both the coalition and the Blair/Brown governments, it is quite difficult to obtain a work visa if you are from a non-EU country. Only the well-off, the highly skilled or those with shortage skills can apply, yet it seems that our economy still requires such people in substantial numbers – up to 68,000 last year, from 44,000 the year before – and so, sensibly, we allow them to come. The last government also did much to curb abuse of the student visa system. While the number of foreign students is not back to its peak of around a quarter of a million in 2010 and 2011, the latest figures show numbers creeping close to 200,000 again. The big fall in recent years has been in overseas students coming to study in the non-university sector (particularly FE colleges and language schools). Numbers studying at universities have not dropped, showing how vital it is for the higher education sector’s finances that it recruits high-paying foreign students and that those students continue to regard studying here as prestigious and good for their career prospects. But David Cameron and Theresa May seem determined to stop this tide of skilled and intelligent people coming to the UK, whatever its benefits. Indeed, the prime minister made “reducing the demand for skilled workers” one of the key planks of his future strategy – which was at least a recognition of what’s largely driving high immigration, even if it’s not obviously a sensible policy decision. David Cameron and Theresa May seem determined to stop this tide of skilled and intelligent people coming to the UK However, how exactly he is going to achieve it remains unclear. The prime minister highlighted increased apprenticeships to increase skills in the British-born workforce and, even more vaguely, getting the Migration Advisory Committee to “advise” on how the UK labour market can become less migrant dependent. It is, of course, a good thing if we can fill more jobs in this country with people born in this country, but the issue is a longstanding structural one and it is highly doubtful that whatever measures the government implements will have much impact within the lifetime of this parliament. All of which means that Cameron would have been better advised to listen to the chorus of organisations – including thinktanks on the centre right and centre left, business bodies such as the Institute of Directors, and commentators in sympathetic newspapers – which are urging policies that focus on learning to live (and thrive) with the “steady state” of modern-day high-level migration, rather than chasing after the chimera of 1990s immigration levels. It would be a bold move, a move away from the political orthodoxy of the past decade and seemingly at odds with strong public sentiment. Yet as recent polling has shown, even Conservative supporters draw sharp distinctions between low-skilled, welfare-dependent, irregular immigrants – whom they want to keep out – and high-skilled, contributing, rule-following immigrants – whom they would welcome. What politicians, left and right, need to do, therefore, is to step up efforts to inform the public that it is exactly that second category which predominates among immigrant numbers to the UK. That would not mean denying that numbers are high by historical standards, but it would mean admitting to the public that a liberal country such as this one, which wants to remain open to the world, will find it difficult to reduce migration substantially if, as we should all hope, the economy remains relatively strong. There is always a place for sensible reforms to the immigration system, both to tackle abuse and to avoid an over-dependency on migrants. But to suggest that migration is “uncontrolled”, as Cameron repeatedly did in his speech, is misleading and counterproductive, and to imply that we can’t manage current numbers is not borne out by the evidence. More help is certainly needed to help some communities and services negatively effected by migration spikes, but the way to do that is through such ideas as the new fund set up by the government, a welcome development which ministers should trumpet more.

Knowing that their field would be ruined by a hockey rink for two outdoor games played in the winter, the Toledo Mud Hens have dreamed up an idea to destroy the field ahead of time in the name of fun: build a mini golf course. The Toledo Mud Hens turned their field into a mini golf course. Tee times booked up so quickly that the course was made into 36 holes. Courtesy Toledo Mud Hens "The team gave me full rein to do what I wanted, and I've always wanted to do this," said Jake Tyler, the team's sports turf manager. Once the green light was given and target dates of play were set (Sept. 25-28), Tyler got to work. He built doglegs and a 17th hole that ends up on the pitcher's mound, and will easily be able to make sand traps because there's a sand layer beneath the field sod. The sales team sold a sponsorship to a framing shop and an IT consulting firm and implored fans to book their tee times at $15 a person. "We had originally thought we'd use the whole field to do 18 holes, but tee times were booked up so quickly that I've had to divide the field and make 36 holes," Tyler said. Fans will get a special scorecard for The Links at Fifth Third Field, and the top scores over the four days will be displayed on the stadium scoreboard. Tyler said proceeds will be donated to charity, including the Boys and Girls Club and the Susan G. Komen fund.

Does Newt Gingrich believe in a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? Democratic and Republican administrations have adopted that framework, but Mr. Gingrich raised the possibility he might break with it, calling Palestinians an “invented” people and the current stalled peace process “delusional.” His comments were made this week in an interview with the Jewish Channel, a cable service. Discussing the origin of the State of Israel in the 1940s, Mr. Gingrich said, according to a transcript: “Remember there was no Palestine as a state. It was part of the Ottoman Empire. And I think that we’ve had an invented Palestinian people, who are in fact Arabs, and were historically part of the Arab community. And they had a chance to go many places.” Denying that Palestinians are a people or nation is an argument sometimes used by the far right in Israel, but it is not the mainstream view. “What he’s saying is far to the right of the democratically elected Likud leadership of the State of Israel, not to mention established U.S. policy for decades,” said David Harris, chief executive of the National Jewish Democratic Council, an American Jewish group. “This is as clear a demonstration as one needs that he’s not ready for prime time.” Mr. Gingrich was applauded this week by a coalition of Jewish Republicans for criticizing the Obama administration’s policies in the Middle East as bending too far in favor of Palestinians. In the interview, Mr. Gingrich said the administration’s efforts to deal evenhandedly with Israel and the Palestinians are actually “favoring the terrorists.” “I see a much more tougher-minded and much more honest approach to the Middle East in a Gingrich administration,” he said. He also described Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority, as denying Israel’s right to exist and seeking — along with Hamas, which the United States considers a terrorist group — to destroy Israel. “You have Abbas who says in the United Nations, ‘We do not necessarily concede Israel’s right to exist,’” Mr. Gingrich said. “You’ve had four P.L.A. ambassadors around the world say flatly, ‘Israel does not have a right to exist.’” “So you have to start with this question ‘Who are you making peace with?’” he added. Mr. Abbas, who unsuccessfully sought to have a Palestinian state admitted as a member of the United Nations in September, said in his speech at the time that he favored peace talks. In a statement read on his behalf last month at the United Nations, he said, “We do not want and we do not seek to delegitimize Israel by applying for membership in the United Nations, but to delegitimize its settlement activities and the seizure of our occupied lands.”

Using Go To Communicate More Effectively 9 minute read Note: I gave a talk about this topic in the Go 1.8 Release Party in Amsterdam. You can listen to the recording of the presentation (courtesy of my wife), get the slides, or just keep reading this article. As you might already know, I’m completely blind, and I do back-end programming for a living. And, I’ve seen some pretty bad code in my life. Probably, so have you. We all know that the majority of our time is spent reading other people’s code. As much as we like to churn out our own code, most of us have learned that reality is not as forgiving as our dreams. But without us pushing to read other people’s code, open-source would not be so successful. Everyone would still be sitting alone in their own little corner, churning out their own copy of a library that ten thousand other people would have already done. Granted, stuff like that still happens, but it’s not as bad as it could be. But why is it? Why do we hate reading other people’s code? It can’t be the act of reading itself; lots of us read a lot of books. We also subscribe to a lot of courses and a lot of conferences. Just looking within yourself or search the Internet; you’ll realize most developers love to learn. So, if you hate “reading code”, and you really like “reading”, what do you hate? That’s true. Code. More specifically, other people’s code. Here is the game I did with the audience. I recommend you listen to it – their reaction is interesting. However, I will include it here if you don’t feel like listening to a long MP3 file. Technically, I could ask a friend to search for a generic image on Google and put it here [on the slide] for me, but I wanna do is to bring you into my world [in which you cannot see anything] What I want you to do is to close your eyes. i can’t test to see if everyone has closed their eyes, so please do so. So, close your eyes, and look back in the past, to that moment where your CPO, CTO, CEO, PO, PM–whatever these guys are called–asked you to maintain this horrible, horrible code. Did you remember it? That moment where you were staring at your screen and thinking, “what the hell is this code doing?” And then, imagine if I could tell you: “hey, this person who wrote this code? I know where he lives.” And then, since I’m an Iranian and the whole world thinks we’re terrorists, I have access to all these weapons. i can give you knives, grenade launchers, flame throwers and all that stuff, so you can do whatever you want to this guy. So, imagine what you’d do to this guy. Turn that into an image. Insert that in this slide. Whose fault is it, really? It’s very easy to do a git blame , hunt down someone, point to them and say, “you are responsible for my misery!” But in reality, it doesn’t work like that most of the time. When choosing our tools, when hiring people, and when writing code every day, we don’t care about code readability and maintainability. When did you start learning a new programming language just because it helps you write more readable code? When did you, or your company, hire someone because of their ability to write readable code? When did you start focusing on making every single line you write be as readable as you possibly can? Just like the countless number of people who want to go to the gym, have a healthier diet, or improve their relationship, writing more readable code is something we’ve always wanted to do, but we’ve never gotten around to it. And, of course, there are always valid reasons, just as there are valid reasons for not exercising, meditating, eating healthier, and pretty much everything else. What are those reasons? Usually, as with everything else, time ranks first, followed by the indifference of management, followed by the fact that the code is already too ugly to clean up. In other words, the circumstances are not perfect. This leads us to procrastination through perfectionism. Tell me if any of these dialogs are familiar to you: I’ll leave this function with fifty lines in here, and I know this function is not doing onlny one thing – it’s doing three. But it’s okay – i don’t have time to fix it now. maybe later. When I re-read this code that I wrote myself, it doesn’t make sense to me. Well, maybe I’ll come back and clean it up one day. I’ll even leave a comment here saying TODO: clean this up! Oh, this is the old way of doing things. We’re not doing it this way anymore. But when I run it, it still works. Meh. I’ll just leave it here. I really need to get own to fixing this horrible code right now! I’m sick and tired of this mess! So I’ll copy this here, and move that there… wait, these pieces of code are so mixed up together i can’t refactor it anymore! The scariest one, and the one that I hear too many times for comfort, is the last item, and it’s scary because we all know it: once you say that, you are doomed. It’s all downhill from here. So, who is responsible? Us. All of us. Every single one of us. Where should we get to? I believe that the time has come for us programmers to evolve into the next stage of programming. Imagine if programming languages would not be just for communicating with computers. Imagine if we could use programming languages to also communicate with other programmers. Imagine a world in which reading someone else’s code doesn’t feel like a chore. The style is the same, as if you’ve done it. If you are looking for something, it’s easy for you to find where it is. The blocks of code are small enough to easily understand without pushing your brain into overdrive. Of course, the original author of this code doesn’t think exactly the same way you do, but the language and the tools you have would still help you figure out what’s happening in a fraction of the time it would take now. Wouldn’t it be a perfect world? How can we get there? First of all, awareness. We need to be aware of readability. While writing every single line of code, we should think about this question: is it readable? Can it be easily understood? If we are aware of each line as we type it out, technical debt won’t pile up, and hence, it won’t take much time to fix it. The second thing is to use tools that help us communicate more effectively, and that is where I think Go could help. What does Go have to do with communication? Go has some interesting properties that I think make it very appealing for this stage of programmer evolution. I think it’s a tool that not only makes it easy to talk to computers, but also to talk to other humans. Why? Go discourages one-liners. That means less stuff to process per line, which means more granularity, which means it takes less time to understand. Go encourages explicit error handling. That means you don’t have to guess about what will happen if an error occurs in a legacy codebase. Go provides information that you can use to create tools that monitor your codebase. That means you can write your own tools to keep the code quality at an acceptable level. All of these serve to make the code more readable. Of course, it’s not perfect, but it’s a good first step. Go has some really neat tools that can help with maintainability and keeping the code readable: Go doc provides an easy way to document your code. This means other programmers don’t need to get into the guts of your code and understand every single detail before they can use it. Gometalinter helps you watch the code quality. This means you don’t always have to write your own tools. In most cases, you can just configure this tool and let it do its thing. Consider it a CMS of linters. Gorename and eg allow you to improve code readability by making it easier to swap out old, smelly code. Hopefully, using these two tools will help you have less of those “we don’t do things this way any more.” moments. Conclusion It is awesome to use the latest and greatest tools. It is wonderful to build the world’s next biggest thing. It’s fulfilling to solve new challenges every day. But no words will describe the feeling of connection with another human. No challenge, product or technology can bring us the same feeling. It’s pure. It’s euphoric. And for some of us, it’s new and unexplored. Remember that guy we found together in the beginning of this article, and killed over and over in all sorts of painful ways? What if you could go to that guy and instead say, “Dude, you write the best code ever.” It would certainly lower murder rates, right? So I ask you today: tomorrow, when you place your fingertips on your keyboard, do your best to reach out to your fellow humans through the code you write. As I mentioned in the beginning of this article, you can listen to the audio recording of the presentation, or get the PDF version.

Pelosi: Bachmann is imagining things House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi dismissed Rep. Michele Bachmann on Thursday for saying that health care reform includes $105 billion in hidden spending, saying that the claim is completely “imaginary.” Last week, Bachmann accused Democrats of “legislative fraud of the highest order” for including $105 billion in mandatory spending in the legislation without explaining the funds to other lawmakers. She said they “deceitfully” hid the funds, and pointed to a Congressional Research Service report released in October to bolster her comments. The comments have been deemed mysterious by various observers, including the Washington Post's "Fact Checker," which called her claim "bordering on ridiculous." Pelosi said Bachmann’s just imagining things. “I love numbers. Real numbers, not imaginary numbers,” Pelosi said Thursday after a press conference celebrating the upcoming one-year anniversary of reform’s passage. “I’m not even going to address that.” The legislation does actually include at least $100 billion in mandated spending. But it was posted online for 72 hours before being voted on, available to both members of Congress and the general public. Even Republican leaders are skeptical of Bachmann’s claim. “I don't quite know where the 105 number comes from,” Majority Leader Eric Cantor said when asked about the figure on Tuesday.