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Thabo Mbeki, South Africa’s former president, has arrived in Ivory Coast's commercial capital of Abidjan to mediate a dispute over who won the Nov. 28 election. Both the former President Laurent Gbagbo and his main challenger, Alassane Ouattara, claim victory and have had themselves sworn in.
These elections were supposed to bring peace to Ivory Coast after a bloody year-long civil war began in 2002. Back then, a rebellion of soldiers from the mostly Muslim north, calling themselves the New Forces, carved their own area of control as a result of a long-felt sense of discrimination by the political elite of the Christian-majority south.
But the Nov. 28 election results were tight, and government institutions have split sharply over who won. Electoral commission officials gave the election to Mr. Ouattara, the New-Forces-supported candidate, with a 54 percent victory. A high court judge, however, threw out hundreds of thousands of votes based on allegations of voter intimidation in the north and gave the victory to Gbagbo.
Now, with two men claiming victory, the country seems perched on the edge of new conflict, and Mr. Mbeki and fellow African Union mediator Dijibril Bassole, have arrived in Abidjan to see if a peaceful solution can be found.
The strongest leverage to encourage Gbagbo to abide by the official election results is ostracism by the US, the European Union, and the west African community of nations called ECOWAS, all of which have congratulated Ouattara on his victory and have called on Gbagbo to step aside. Yet as elections in Zimbabwe and other African nations show, when a leader loses elections but retains military backing, there is precious little that outsiders can do to push him out, unless they plan to intervene with military force of their own.
RELATED: How ethnicity colors the Ivory Coast election
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147326806JD027_Hard_Rock_Ca Photo: Getty Images, Warner Bros, FOX
For most consumers of pop culture, fandom is a lower-case concern. They are “fans” in the sense that they may like a particular movie, TV show, band, or personality but don’t think much about it when not experiencing it firsthand. Capital-F Fandom is something else altogether. It goes beyond “like” or even “love” and straight to “devoted.” Their Fandom is all-consuming, a jumping-off point for a deep dive into fan fiction, convention-attending, recap-writing, role-playing, costume-making, language-learning, and more. There is a passion to this kind of Fandom that binds enthusiasts in the manner of people who share a secret — this secret just happens to be shared with millions of others.
Vulture has scanned the great plains of pop culture, weighing passion versus mere popularity to decide the 25 Most Devoted Fans of entertainment, which kicks off our weeklong exploration of all things Fandom. (Get a badge for each fandom here to use as your Twitter or Facebook profile pic, or for your phone wallpaper.) It’s important to underscore that this list is not about mere numbers — it’s about fervency. The Transformers movies have made billions worldwide, but if Paramount announced they weren’t going to make another one, nary a pen would be put to paper in protest. Meanwhile, Community’s audience has never tipped over 5 million, but nearly every viewer is a true Fan who is poised to storm the NBC gates if the network decides never to air the limbo’d fourth season. The followers of the franchises, musicians, TV shows, authors, and directors on this list made it because of their supercharged, multipronged dedication, whether they be legion or a small guerilla troop. (Also: We limited it to fans of active pop-culture phenomena, so no Beatles. Though the Harry Potter saga is technically over, it still remains organic through its theme park, upcoming Blu-ray releases, and general obsession with author J.K. Rowling, as evidenced by the recent furor over the non-Potter-ness of her novel The Casual Vacancy.)
Before you jump in to see if your passion clique made it, an important Fan alert: Next week, Vulture will be following up this countdown with our list of the Most Devoted Individual Fans. Think you belong on it? Then tell us a story below in the comments about the most extreme thing you’ve ever done in the name of your love for your favorite entertainment. They can be hilarious, emotional, or superhuman — we’ll select and highlight the best ones for next week’s feature. Help make sure your Fandom is represented!
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PMI rose to 58.4 in November, with new orders at a near-20 year high and thousands of new staff taken on last month
Manufacturers enjoyed a jump in demand that pushed growth to its fastest rate for more than two years and saw the sector take on thousands of new staff last month.
New orders were the strongest for almost 20 years and job creation accelerated, according to the Markit/CIPS UK Manufacturing PMI survey. Encouragingly for the government's push to rebalance the economy, export orders also picked up.
The closely watched report comes as a timely boost to Chancellor George Osborne as he prepares to present his autumn statement plans for growth, spending and taxes on Thursday.
The headline activity index rose to 58.4 in November from an upwardly revised 56.5 in October. That was its eighth month above the 50-mark that separates expansion from contraction and was well ahead of the consensus forecast for 56 in a Reuters poll of economists.
The news sent the pound to a five-year high against a basket of other major currencies as traders bet an accelerating UK recovery would see interest rates rising sooner than the central bank has been suggesting.
Rob Dobson, senior economist at survey compilers Markit commented: "UK manufacturing continued to hit the high notes in November. The Manufacturing PMI struck a fresh two-and-a-half year peak as production and new orders rose at, or close to, 19-year record rates. The sector is on course to beat the 0.9% increase in output seen in the third quarter.
"Sustaining the recovery remains the key and the news here is also positive. The manufacturing expansion remains broad-based by sector, demand from the domestic market continues to surge higher and new export orders are rising at a clip close to October's 32-month high."
As activity and orders picked up, firms took on new staff at the fastest pace for more than two years.
Markit said manufacturers were creating around 5,000 jobs a month across all parts of the sector and all sizes of firms.
James Knightley, economist at ING Financial Markets said the job creation pointed to unemployment falling faster than the Bank of England is predicting. That could see interest rates rising sooner than the central bank has suggested, he said. Policymakers are waiting for unemployment to drop to 7% before they will consider raising borrowing costs from their current record low.
Kinghtley said the job creation suggested in manufacturing report "supports our view that the unemployment rate will drop below 7% late 2014/early 2015". He also highlighted a robust production reading and strong orders from the eurozone.
"Taking it all together it implies that the UK economy is looking in good shape with interest rate rises looking increasingly probable from early 2015," he added.
The survey follows forecasts from manufacturers' organisation EEF that the sector will grow faster than the wider economy next year. The group thinks the sector probably contracted by 0.1% this year but will grow 2.7% next year while UK GDP rises 2.4%. The EEF's latest survey suggested firms are more confident about investing and hiring staff over the next year but they feel the export outlook is still uncertain thanks to problems in some emerging markets and sluggish growth in the key market, the eurozone.
Economists said the manufacturing report marked a strong start to the monthly trio of PMI surveys from the three main sectors. Tuesday sees the release of the construction report while the closely watched survey from Britain's dominant services sector on Wednesday is expected to show that strong growth continued in November.
"If [the manufacturing PMI] is followed by robust construction and, especially services, surveys, it will look very likely that GDP growth in the fourth quarter could at least match the 0.8% quarter-on-quarter expansion seen in the third quarter," said Howard Archer, at IHS Global Insight.
"Much will depend on how well consumer spending performs in the fourth quarter, as there have been some signs that consumers have taken a breather after spending at a robust pace in the third quarter."
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Kim Kardashian has publicly been on Kim Kardashian has publicly been on Team Hillary since last summer , but it turns out she may not have completely made up her mind about who she plans to vote for on Nov. 8.
“At first I thought, ‘Oh my God, I’m so Hillary [Clinton]’, but I had a long political call with Caitlyn last night about why she’s voting Trump. I’m on the fence,” Kardashian said in a Editor’s note : The quotes appear via The Evening Standard and are not in the online version of the story, however, The Huffington Post has confirmed their validity.) “At first I thought, ‘Oh my God, I’m so Hillary [Clinton]’, but I had a long political call with Caitlyn last night about why she’s voting Trump. I’m on the fence,” Kardashian said in a cover story for Wonderland magazine . (Editor’s note: The quotes appear viaThe Evening Standard and are not in theonline version of the story, however, The Huffington Post has confirmed their validity.)
And while Jenner is clearly a strong influence in Kardashian’s life, the reality star’s sudden consideration of Trump is disappointing but not entirely out of character. She told GQ that while she now votes as a Democrat, at one time she identified as a “liberal Republican.” She also has a professional relationship with Trump, And while Jenner is clearly a strong influence in Kardashian’s life, the reality star’s sudden consideration of Trump is disappointing but not entirely out of character. She told GQ that while she now votes as a Democrat, at one time she identified as a “liberal Republican.” She also has a professional relationship with Trump, having appeared on “The Apprentice” in 2010 , and can count herself among the few people the Republican nominee hasn’t badmouthed.
“Well, look, she was so nice to me,” he said. “I mean every time I see her she’s just — I’m just going to say she was always nice to me.”
Meanwhile, when it comes to husband Meanwhile, when it comes to husband Kanye West’s presidential aspirations for 2020, Kardashian is also having second thoughts.
“Look at all the awful things they’re doing to Melania [Trump], putting up the naked photos [of her]…” she told Wonderland. “I’ll say to Kanye: ‘Babe, you know the kind of photos they’d put up of me!’... I don’t want to put words in his mouth, but I’m pretty sure [he would run for] the Democrats. Maybe independent? I don’t know how serious he is about it. We’ll see.”
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Forgot Sign In? - Contact us Our Creed
The World Harrier Organization is dedicated to harriers and harrier groups around the world who usually practice the traditional sport of hare and hounds, where:
⋄ A well laid trail is at least as important as any social activity.
⋄ The traditional practice is the hounds (runners) chasing a hare or hares (runner or runners) laying a live trail, though a few groups may at times pre-lay trail taking the sport out of it, but making up for it with social activity along the trail.
⋄ Members are friendly to all and remember that it is all about fun!
⋄ Members do not judge others by anything more than their sense of humor.
⋄ Members make older members feel like they are young again.
⋄ Members do not seriously humiliate nor demand the drinking of alcohol, which traditionally is simply a refreshment, not the purpose of the sport itself.
⋄ Member groups accept and welcome members from other harrier groups and honor harrier names awarded them in the past.
⋄ Member groups do not intentionally permit acts that reflect badly on the World Harrier Organization or violate this creed.
Boring Details
Copyright&
Trademark World Harrier Organization trademark and this website content copyright 1993 - 2015 by the World Harrier Organization, a not for profit association managed by Larry McDowell dba Global Publications and Software, formerly Global Trash, a not for profit publishing company. Content, to include the World Harrier Organization logo with trademark, may be used in part, but not the whole, by member clubs of the World Harrier Organization listed in our directory for informational or entertainment purposes in their newsletters or flyers. It may not be copied in whole or part, screenshots or any other fashion, to any media, including websites, printed materials, blogs, forums, etc., without the express and written permission of Larry McDowell by any other party other than registered World Harrier Organization groups for their internal use only. See the Contact Us page to request an address to make a formal request for use and any costs external to World Harrier Organization member groups.
Welcome to the World Harrier Organization
The World Harrier Organization is a loose association of friendly groups or clubs who practice the sport of hare and hounds. In this sport, there are hare(s) (a runner or runners) who lay a trail (usually cross-country) with various trail marking materials (like flour, chalk, or the toilet paper used in the second WHO gathering in Orlando picture below). The hares are then followed by the pack of hounds (other runners) a few minutes after the hares are off. The eventual goal of the hounds is to catch a hare before the trail is completed. It is quite fun, with the side effect that you may accidentally get into shape doing the sport. Some participants may run fast, others just jog and most groups nowadays permit walkers to negotiate the trail. They are loosely kept together in ability packs through the use of false trails and ingenious trail design (hopefully). A few groups may occasionally pre-lay trails, kind of taking the sport out of it, but they try to make up for it with social activity along the trail. Most groups in the world chase a live hare setting the trail ahead of them. Groups usually finish their runs with some social activity, song, refreshment and snacks, and sometimes a meal. But, for a better description how we at W.H.O. expects the groups of our loose association to conduct themselves, read the W.H.O. Creed on the left.
As Stray Dog, our founder wrote many years ago (now updated for W.H.O.), "The World Harrier Organization is a state of mind - a friendship of kindred spirits joined together for a bit of hounds and hares sport, reliving their childhood or youth, releasing the tensions of everyday life, and generally acting a fool amongst others who will not judge you or measure you by anything more than your sense of humor."
How to Join?
All you need to do is click on the Members page. If you are not logged in, you will automatically find the membership application form there. Fill out the form and submit it. Your email address will be verified by sending your temporary password to you. Sign in and change your password, then your membership is complete. If you were a member of gthhh.com, worldhhh.com, hhhweb.com, or worldhashspace.com in the past, you are already a member. Just use those credentials to sign in. If you forgot your User ID and/or password, send a message using the address on the contact us page requesting your sign in details, giving your real name, harrier name (if you have one), harrier group at registration, and original User ID if you remember it. It will save time if you can send it from the original email address from that account if you remember it and still have it. We will help you get back on site once again after verifying your identity. Apologies for any delay, it is all done manually. If you haven't heard from us in a few days, please resend.
Our Direction
If you are an experienced harrier, this is a more universal treatment of the sport than is usually expressed in other associations of hare and hounds, such the Hash House Harriers (HHH). We encourage all types of groups in our association as long as they are generally comfortable with our creed (read it in the left column). We do not, like the HHH, require any social liturgy (i.e. a Down Down) nor do we frown on hare and hounds groups who have a competitive nature. Traditionally, the sport was a competitive one. We accept friendly Hash House Harrier groups that have no problem with our creed (most of the hundreds of groups I have run with on four continents around the world). Most importantly, we accept almost all the other hare and hounds groups around the world who would not fit into the HHH social model – groups who are competitive and/or also hold races, religious groups, teetotaler groups, family and children’s groups, etc. It is not either or with WHO – if you participate in the hare and hounds sport as a significant part of your activity, your organization is a fit with us.
Our Roots
The roots of the World Harrier Organization began from the first Global Trash Hash. This effort was born from Global Trash publishing efforts that began as a magazine in 1993, reference books in 1994 listing groups, then a global annual event in 1995 (Global Trash Hash) that attracted international participation. That same year, we supported a website and on-line directory where hare and hounds groups registered themselves with us - thus began the registry of hare and hounds groups under one banner that you see here. In later years we assumed publication of the InterHASHional News and began offering more and more website and social media features to members and groups registered with us. After a few name changes, we finally become the World Harrier Organization. Therefore, through a continuous ancestry, we claim a founded date of 1995 as an internationally accepted gathering of hare and hounds members and groups who registered on our website, with some participating in our annual event.
Our Website
The publisher’s previous efforts covering the HHH and cross country running will be forwarded here (gthhh.com, worldhhh.com, worldhhh.org, InterHASHionalNews.com, XRunning.com, et. al.) Those efforts emphasized the Hash House Harriers or only cross country running, leaving out a large number of hare and hounds groups who practice the sport in a more traditional manner. The World Harrier Organization is a more inclusive organization and this website will reflect a wider view of the sport. Like the old gthhh.com and later worldhhh.com, we will provide a reference for hare and hounds (once called the Hash Bible), that will now be rewritten to become the World Harrier Organization Manual. Email lists have been created and forums soon created to provide a social media side of our website for our members. As from the early days of Global Trash, we now include a directory of members and groups belonging to the World Harrier Organization. There is a calendar of W.H.O. and member group special events. Within the next year, we will provide free websites, harelines, photo albums and email services to member groups and much more, as we did in the past.
So come on back and we will give you a great site where harriers all around the world can find information, list their groups, exchange ideas in our social harrier media and more or less find a more friendly media and wider viewpoint for the sport of hare and hounds than ever before expressed on-line or hardcopy.
Cheers and On On!
Stray Dog
Harrier
and oh yeah, Grand Master of W.H.O.
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The Church of the Holy Sepulchre. (Photo: Jorge Láscar/Creative Commons)
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem is a holy pilgrimage spot for Christians because it is regarded as the crucifixion and burial site of Jesus Christ. The church is also home to an object that’s been inciting tension and hostility since the 18th century: a ladder.
The contentious ladder, a simple wooden one with five rungs, sits on a ledge beneath an arched window on the church’s facade. It has been in that same spot since at least the mid-19th century. At that time, Jerusalem was under Turkish rule, and competing Christian denominations were squabbling over the right to control its holy sites. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre was a particularly disputed spot, with the Greek Orthodox, Armenian Apostolic, Roman Catholic, Coptic, Ethiopian Orthodox, and Syriac Orthodox churches in constant conflict over access and management of the site. A 1757 Ottoman decree established a “status quo” arrangement at the church, dividing it up into sections and determining access and usage among the denominations. But still the sects argued over schedules, territory, and rightful ownership.
In 1852, Ottoman ruler Sultan Abdülmecid I was so fed up with the fighting that he issued an edict freezing all of the religious arrangements that were then in place at the Holy Land’s sacred sites, including, according to the Times of Israel, “rights of possession, lighting, decorations and hours of worship.”
This meant that everything had to stay in place—including the five-rung ladder propped up on the church’s edifice.
A stealthy pigeon (denomination unknown) stands sentinel over the contentious ladder. (Photo: Wilson44691/Creative Commons)
Since no one can say who has the right to take it down, any attempts to move it would be regarded as an incursion by the denomination in question, and therefore a violation of the status quo. The ladder, which has come to be known as the “immovable ladder,” or the “status quo ladder,” has remained in place since the issuing of the edict.
The notion that distinguished clergymen are perpetuating a centuries-old feud over a few planks of wood may strike some as petty, but ”ladders are a popular symbol of control at the Holy Sepulcher,” says the Times of Israel. ”Like a flag, the ladder stands there to assert sovereignty.”
In addition to their protracted stand-offs over maintenance equipment, the Christian sects managing the Holy Sepulchre often run into practical problems related to its upkeep. In one case, a fight broke out over who would have the honor of paying for restorations and cleaning. In 2014, according to the Times, “the Israeli government stepped in and paid to replace a bumpy chapel floor because Syrian and Armenian Orthodox clergy both claimed rights to the floor and both refused to let the other pay.” This was a few years after “it took seven weeks of negotiations for the church’s denominations to agree on new toilets.”
The facade of the church, with the ladder at left. (Photo: Deror avi/Creative Commons)
Some clerics have even resorted to fisticuffs. The Times of Israel claims “scuffles erupt about twice a year when monks overstep their bounds.” According to PRI, the “last major brawl was in 2008, between Armenian and Greek Orthodox clergy during a processional, when Armenians said a Greek monk was interfering.”
Fire safety is also a big issue at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Every year at Easter, thousands of worshippers pack the church, each holding a lit candle. The church has just one door, but no fire exits have been added because, according to an Associated Press report in 2011, “safety concerns have been outweighed by a reluctance to upset a brittle balance of power among the six Christian sects.”
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Interview with Irshad Manji
The liberal feminist Muslim and bestselling author Irshad Manji calls for a reconciliation between faith and freedom. Christoph Dreyer spoke with her about civil courage, the dangers of moderation and her new book Allah, Liberty and Love
How would you describe your role? Do you see yourself as a critic of Islam or rather as an Islamic reformer?
Irshad Manji: If I criticize anything, it is the behaviour and not the ideals for which Islam stands. The behaviour of Muslims does not do justice to the generous, compassionate and benevolent spirit of the Koran. My message is that Allah and love are indeed compatible and that we as Muslims must express this in our actions. It is up to us to prove that we are capable of allowing spiritual diversity within our ranks.
In your new book, you write that moderate Muslims are part of the problem and not the solution. Why is this?
Manji: Because as Martin Luther King made clear during the US civil rights movement of the 1960s, moderation in times of moral crises can only consolidate the status quo. Ultimately, moderation simply does not question the existing imbalance of power.
"Allah, Liberty and Love: The courage to reconcile faith and freedom", Irshad Manji's second book, was recently published in English
King said to moderate Christians: you call yourselves moderate, but are so timid when it comes to opening your mouths against racial segregation taking place in the name of your and my God. The word "moderate" should not be taken as an excuse for saying nothing. In the same spirit, I say to my fellow Muslims: when you claim "Islam is peace, simply believe us," then your moderation is useless.
You openly acknowledge your homosexuality, champion interreligious marriages and criticize Muslims for problems such as their attitude towards Jews. These positions clearly affront many people. Could all this provocation be counterproductive?
Manji: Almighty God has created us all with unique qualities. By expressing this creativity, we pay respect to the creative power of God. If that is being provocative, then I am provocative! Yet I truly believe that there is something deeply religious in this. By encouraging young people to accept themselves with all their individual traits, we intensify our relationship with our Creator.
Nonetheless, these positions have earned you a fair degree of hate and many threats – even death threats. Could this have a deterrent effect on some people, who would otherwise share your ideas?
Manji: The young Muslims whom I have met around the globe are not telling me that it is fear of violence that is keeping them silent. Rather they fear the social exclusion, scorn and mockery that they would face if they posed uncomfortable but necessary questions. Nothing is more painful than being rejected by your own people. This is why I show how one develops what Robert F. Kennedy termed civil courage – the willingness to say the truth to those powerful in one's own group for the sake of a higher good.
You have been compared to Ayan Hirsi Ali, among others. What do you think of her ideas?
Manji: I told her straight out that I think she is mistaken. I consider it wrong to say that violence is intrinsic to Islam and that Muslims are incapable of reform.
Although the two women are often compared with each other, Irshad Manji strongly disagrees with some of Ayan Hirsi Ali's viewpoints and has told her so without reserve
She has turned her back on Islam, while I, for better or worse, cling to my faith. I believe in my fellow Muslims and know we are capable of being better than our mullahs and imams – and even the media – think we can be. I don't see that Ayan believes in this capacity.
One of the ideas that you promote is a general spirit of "ijtihad," in other words making decisions in questions of Islamic faith in a way that breaks more with tradition than is currently the case. Isn't this risky? After all, if you open "ijtihad" to all and not just for traditional authorities, aren't you doing the same thing as the fundamentalists? Then anyone can come along and claim that Islam demands this or that.
Manji: Of course fundamentalists can twist anything to suit their beliefs. But regardless of whether we open the gate to "ijtihad" or not, they are going to do so all the same because they are arrogant enough to believe that they alone possess the holy truth. Why shouldn't we provide a new generation of Muslims with the necessary tools to pose the relevant questions to the fundamentalists. Then they can say, "We aren't afraid of you! You can't force your interpretation on us."
You are quite radical in your questioning of traditional tenets of faith. Would you go so far as to say that on certain issues one should simply break with the Koran?
Manji: I don't see the necessity of breaking with the Koran. The ingenious thing about the Koran is that it contains mechanisms to remind us to question our human interpretations. In Surah 3, Verse 7 it is written that some verses of this text – the Koran – are clear and indisputable, whereas others are ambiguous. Only those with a lack of faith in their heart will emphasize the ambiguous verses above all in order to dictate the right interpretations themselves.
Furthermore, it states that only God, the Lord, knows the complete and final meaning of all the verses. The message, therefore, is to be humble! Don't intimidate others and force them to accept your viewpoints. I believe that this is the right recipe for a pluralism that allows us to practice a diverse and peaceful faith.
Interview conducted by Christoph Dreyer
© Qantara.de 2011
The Canadian journalist Irshad Manji was born in Uganda in 1968 to Indian and Egyptian parents. She achieved international recognition in 2004 with her book The Trouble with Islam Today, in which she argues for a pluralistic, progressive Islam. Her new book, Allah, Liberty and Love was published in 2011.
Translated from the German by John Bergeron
Editor: Aingeal Flanagan/Qantara.de
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Urban archaeology is a process that allows us to imagine the past in a very concrete way. And that imagining, even based on the smallest of artifacts, offers opportunities to visualize and understand a built environment once considered lost.
Sometimes, as has been frequently the case in Toronto, artifacts such as old foundation walls, piers or drains (such as under the North Market of the St. Lawrence Market) have turned up on construction sites. The task of saving and incorporating these discoveries in new buildings can pose significant technical, financial, and political challenges.
But what if we develop new approaches for surfacing archaeological objects that are known to lie beneath existing public spaces?
Take the case of the local St. James Park. Through the late 1960s and the 1970s, the City of Toronto bought up buildings on parcels of land directly east of St. James Cathedral, bounded by King Street East, Jarvis Street and Adelaide. As they were acquired, the buildings were gradually demolished to make way for the creation of St James Park, a much-needed amenity then, and even more so today. But the rationale for the demolitions wasn’t just about creating a new public space: the antiquated buildings were seen as havens for the evils of urban blight.
Only one hold-out resisted the demolitions.
Sophie Simkin was known as a real downtowner. Her parents had bought the building at 140-142 King E. for their printing business. But when her father died in 1948, Sophie moved in and converted it into a small apartment building. It’s still there, directly across from St Lawrence Hall. The fact that Sophie’s building didn’t get demolished served to protect the only other remaining building on that same block from demolition— the bank on the north-west corner of King and Jarvis.
“Just because a few councillors shake their heads to the north or the south, aye or nay, doesn’t mean they know what’s good for the city,” Sophie told Toronto Life Magazine in 1971. “Everybody likes to come down here now that the neighbourhood is improving. But who started it?… I’m the one who started to make it over. I’m the one who wouldn’t rent my place to an ordinary restaurant, because it wouldn’t lend dignity to the neighbourhood. I told them I’ve made my home here and I don’t go until I’m carried out.” Sophie fought the demolitions but the buildings that made up the rest of her neighbourhood gradually disappeared.
The early years of the neighbourhood
Let’s try to imagine that neighbourhood. With the founding of the city, these blocks had originally been set aside as a clergy reserve and only small sections were sold off for development. The original wooden church was oriented east-west, by liturgical tradition, but the later cathedral was built along a north-south axis (it was rumoured that this configuration provided for more profitable development of the reserve). By the 1830s, residences for labourers, blacksmiths, and carpenters quickly occupied the parcel, with a small establishment in the back lane called the Anchor Inn. All these structures were destroyed in the Great Fire of 1848 that ravaged the core of Toronto.
Sophie’s own building had been constructed in 1850, just two years after the fire. Several streets, now gone, traversed the park (see the map above). Francis Street, a north-south street roughly aligned with Market, ran from King to Adelaide. An even smaller east-west lane, called Commercial Street, ran west from Jarvis, dead-ending beside St James. If you walked King East in the 1850s, this stretch bustled with enterprises — clothiers, drapers, bootmakers, harness makers, gas fitters, and grocers. On Adelaide, one would have found the rectory for St. James, while at the corner of Jarvis and Adelaide was the business of John Nasmith, baker. A Scottish immigrant, Nasmith founded a bread and biscuit bakery that stayed in this location well into the 20th century. In the steeply banked terrain that ran north and east of St James was the crowded cemetery that still remains intact under the church property.
Many of the buildings were noteworthy. Eric Arthur, writing in the 1960s, included an illustration of the doorway of 124 King Street East in his book “No Mean City” (a new anniversary edition of the book is available at the Spacing Store). Arthur wrote that the building, built for an ironmonger in 1849, was designed by John Howard, one of Toronto’s early celebrated architects. He comments on the doorway’s fine Greek revival detailing. That iron-monger’s building, demolished in 1969, would have sat on King roughly midway between St James and Jarvis. At 132 King East was the Golden Griffin (see photo below), a large enterprise with millenary, tailoring and carpet departments. Its owners proudly displayed a dramatic golden griffin sculpture mounted on the second floor as well as an early illuminated glass sign on the roof.
All of this block’s history is not lost. Its remnants, in the form of foundations, road patterns, and artifacts, remain buried beneath St James Park.
Urban archaeology is a tool that could be used to reveal this history. Indeed, consider the possibility of re-conceptualizing this park so that it exposes some of the area’s 19th century mercantile history — an archaeological park, or a kind of Pompeii in downtown Toronto, where the artifacts would be made visible to residents and visitors alike. This approach to public space is not new, as there are many precedents internationally.
The point is that urban archaeology doesn’t need to foster conflict between competing uses. Sometimes, if we think creatively about all of our archaeological assets, it’s possible to find other ways to use them to celebrate and acknowledge the buried history of the city.
We can do this. Sophie Simkin would be proud.
Michael McClelland is a founding principal of ERA Architects and co-editor of The Ward Uncovered: The Archeology of Everyday Life (forthcoming from Coach House Books, spring 2018). Follow him at @mcclellandTO
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Genetically engineered food brings no benefit to Serbia, which shouldn't compromise on its GMO law to enter the WTO, Professor of Agriculture Miodrag Dimitrijevic told Sputnik.
Earlier this month, Serbian Trade Minister Rasim Ljajic said that Serbia's entry to the World Trade Organization (WTO) is hampered by its laws against genetically modified organisms (GMO), which not only ban GMO cultivation in Serbia, but GMO food imports too.
"The WTO believes that no country should have an explicit ban on the trade of any product. When we meet this requirement, then we can talk about entry," Ljajic said, adding that he is not optimistic about Serbia's short-term prospects for WTO membership.
"In the short-term I'm not very optimistic because there is a lot of pressure and public resistance to change. After all, 163 countries are WTO members, Russia joined a few years ago, and 25 (countries) are in the process of joining. So, it's a great shame that we are not joining the WTO," he continued.
Miladin Sevarlic, a Professor of Agriculture at Belgrade University, told Sputnik Srbija that since 2013, every one of Serbia's 135 towns and municipalities have adopted the ban on GMO. Sevarlic disputes the claim made by GMO supporters that genetically modified food is the solution to feeding the world's growing population.
"The issue of hunger is solved by investment in agricultural production, and the world has enough resources without GMO to feed far more inhabitants than there are now on the planet. It is important to know that GMO is not about selection methods, that is the intersection of two related plants of the same species, but the intersection of animal genes or bacteria genes with plant genes. These are completely atypical types and there can be no talk about any kind of natural harmony."
Sevarlic identified three ways in which he believed the GMO industry was exploitative.
"Agricultural producers are being exploited through the sale of GMO seeds, the price of which is increasing much more than the price of conventional seeds. There is also the related sale of herbicide based on the carcinogenic glyphosate, which has a very harmful effect on plants, animals, soil, and the whole ecosystem. Finally, the use of GM food is harmful for consumers," Sevarlic said.
© AP Photo / Fabrice Coffrini Kiev May Withdraw WTO Complaint Against Russia If Moscow Lifts Transit Sanctions
Geneticist Miodrag Dimitrijevic, Professor of Agriculture at the University of Novi Sad, told Sputnik that there is a political dimension to the pressure on Serbia to accept genetically modified food.
"GMO is a paradigm of the global organization of society, because food production is taken out of the national framework and enters the domain of activity of a small number of multinational companies. Whoever is independent in their food production is also politically independent. This is an important aspect of personal and national freedom and the freedom of people, because in this way a dozen multinational companies control the world so that they are the only ones producing seeds."
Dimitrijevic maintains that Serbia can meet its agricultural needs without GMO food, which brings more problems than it solves.
"GMO in agriculture does not solve anything for us, it only opens up new problems. We need to talk about many other issues in agriculture, (for example) cooperatives, the strengthening of small producers, not dealing with GMO food. Genetically modified organisms can pay off for Argentina, Brazil and the United States, which produce on large [tracts of farmland]. Farms in Serbia are small, averaging about four hectares, and here it is completely unprofitable. Why should we destroy our own production of traditional seeds, which are globally recognized, so that we can use someone else's dubious product?" Dimitrijevic concluded.
Russia, which joined the WTO in 2012, banned the cultivation of GMO food in July 2016, except for scientific research. Importers of GMO products must comply with a strict registration procedure.
Under EU law, individual countries are allowed to restrict or ban the cultivation of GM crops within their borders. Countries including Italy, Austria, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary and Luxembourg have banned the introduction of GMO crops.
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The city of Fishers has earned a Certified Technology Park designation from the state for the Nickel Plate District and North East Commerce Park. The city says the designation, which includes Launch Fishers, frees up funding for investment in the area. There are more than two dozen locations in the state that have received the certification.
The area in Fishers is the first in Hamilton County. State Senator Luke Kenley (R-20), who helped shepherd the area through the state designation process, says "this designation will be a huge step forward for the City of Fishers. CTPs allow communities to harness the innovation, drive and entrepreneurship of their citizens and invest in economic growth. The funds coming from the CTP program will help Fishers continue to develop the Nickel Plate District as a high-technology, entrepreneurial epicenter and expand the space, providing more opportunity for growth."
The city's proposal was approved Monday by the State Budget Committee. The CTP program is run by the Indiana Economic Development Corp. and it will allow local governments to recapture some state and local tax revenue to invest in the park.
Kenley says the city will make infrastructure improvements to help in efforts to attract more high-tech businesses. Key spaces included in the CTP include Launch Fishers and a Ball State University entrepreneurial technology learning and mentoring center.
In a statement, Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness says:
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Chipmaking giant Intel has sued (PDF) a small San Francisco digital marketing company, claiming that by calling itself "Vital Intel," the company has infringed and diluted Intel's trademarks.
In a complaint filed on Thursday, Intel says that for the past year it has "attempted tirelessly to amicably resolve this matter" to no avail. "Defendant has refused to take this matter seriously and engage in a substantive dialogue with Intel," the chipmaker's lawyers write.
"We don't really have a choice but to challenge trademark infringement of our rights," said Intel spokesperson Tom Waldrop. "We have an obligation to our shareholders to protect the investment in our brand."
The lawsuit says that everything from the coloring of Vital Intel's logo to the way it separates the words "Vital" and "Intel" contribute to the trademark confusion. "The VITAL INTEL trade name and the VITAL INTEL trademark wholly incorporate and emphasize the INTEL trademark, adding only 'VITAL,' a laudatory term."
Intel lawyers state that the Vital Intel name has confused customers, and it causes Intel's "valuable reputation and goodwill" to be put at risk. It points out several Intel trademarks—not just the ones Intel has used in integrated circuits and semiconductors, granted in 1972. The company also has a 1992 trademark on Intel as used in "sports bags, gym bags, carry-on bags, towels, and clothing" and a 2006 trademark on the use of Intel "for use in connection with telecommunications consulting services."
Intel RCM is a product that helps with optimizing advertising and reaching proper target audiences, tasks that could be seen as close to what Vital Intel does. Vital Intel's website says it helps with "demographic targeting and behavioral targeting" by building "lead generation websites."
The case was filed in the Northern District of California where both companies are based. Vital Intel did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Over the years, Intel has regularly filed trademark lawsuits against companies that have "intel" as part of their name. In 2008, the company filed at least 15 such lawsuits, including one against a travel agency and another against an electrician operating as "Intellectric." That pace has greatly slowed down, and federal court records show Vital Intel as the only defendant sued by Intel over trademark issues in 2015.
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Guelph Mercury
by Joanne Shuttleworth
GUELPH — When people think of bees, they think of honey and of how bees sting.
But bees and other pollinators are critical to agriculture and as such they contribute to the economy. With their numbers in alarming decline, scientists around the world are working on the problem.
Four of them were at the University of Guelph Wednesday evening for a panel discussion on the research they are doing and the implications for beekeepers and farmers. And the common result of their separate research is that the practice of treating seeds with neonicotinoids to make them pest-resistant is killing the bee population.
The session was part of the annual beekeeping conference organized by the U of G, the Ontario Beekeepers’ Association and the Eastern Apicultural Society.
The panel included: Ernesto Guzman, director of the Honey Bee Research Centre at U of G; Nigel Raine, the Rebanks Family Chair in Pollinator Conservation at U of G; Franco Mutinelli, professor at Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie, Italy; and Christian Krupke, professor of entomology at Purdue University.
Kelly McAslan, with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs’ animal health division, gave a brief overview of the state of the bee industry in Ontario. She said honey and honey products are a $30-million business in Ontario and pollination is a $395-million industry. And Ontario pollinators contribute $993 million to the national economy.
She said Ontario is tightening its regulations around neonicotinoids and is seeking feedback.
There are lots of stressors that threaten bee populations including habitat loss and the loss in diversity of bee food sources. There are also viruses, widespread use of insecticides in agriculture and climate change.
“The evidence is clear that pollinators are in decline. So think how we can preserve existing habitats and reduce those environmental stressors,” Raine said.
Mutinelli said Italy instituted a partial ban on neonicotinoids in 2008 and it has been extended each year since. No active substances are allowed in seed coatings and the use of neonicotinoids is restricted to specific cases.
It’s been effective, he said.
“After the ban there has been strong improvement,” Mutinelli said. “The effect of the ban was immediate.”
He said corn producers were worried about losing crop yield to disease, “but that didn’t happen,” he said. “The ban has been now seven years and crop yield is within the expected range.”
Krupke’s research indicates that the benefit of neonicotinoid treatment to corn seeds only lasts two weeks. Then it washes away with the water and seeps into the soil.
Further, he said the pests the neonicotinoids are supposed to fend off are not present in the majority of farms. But they are really toxic to honey bees, he said.
“The benefit of the seed treatments is hard to justify,” he said. “We know the status quo just doesn’t work.”
One woman in the audience said she gets frustrated when scientists do good research and find good information, but wind up saying nothing can be done.
“It really bothers me when these talks end by saying we can’t do much about it. I think we could do cross-country bans and I think we should. The evidence is taking us there,” she said.
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French on the Bench is a new series of posts that will take a closer look at the theory, fundamentals, and scheme of Tech's offense and defense. It kicks off by detailing the inner workings of the Bud Foster Gap Defense that has baffled most of the ACC over the last 8 years. My most recent columns can now be found on the right sidebar. -- French
The Hokie Gap defense rose from the ashes of the famed "Hokie Attack" 8 man front of the 1990's. When Foster developed the concept for the Gap Defense, he looked to solve two problems. First, how do they maintain the aggressive variability of the Wide Tackle Six, but second, he wanted to stop the growing use of one back multiple receiver offenses from the West Coast to the Spread. Foster used a simple solution. He retained the terminology and many of the blitz schemes of the Attack Defense, and then moved the rover position back to that of a traditional strong safety. To the uneducated eye, the defense features two ends, two tackles, three linebackers, two safeties, and two corners just like a traditional NFL style 4-3, but Foster turns the 4-3 concept on its ear.
The Gap Defense is grounded in a simple concept. Every defensive player in the front seven has a "gap" responsibility in every defense that is called. A "gap" is an area of space on the field that the defensive player is responsible to "control." Often, in interviews with Bud Foster and other defensive coaches, you hear the term "gap fit" thrown around. Gap fit means when the defensive player hits the assigned gap, he must hold that gap maintaining the proper leverage in order to get off a block and make a tackle. The diagram below uses numbers to identify each gap. (Please note, the Hokies may use letters or other terminology to identify each gap.)
In a traditional one gap 4-3 defense, each player in the front seven has the gap in front of them with few exceptions, with examples being a variety of stunts and run blitzes that are run in small proportion to the base calls. Virginia Tech uses both their base look (which features each lineman and linebacker having gap responsibility for the gap in front of them) or a more radical stunting approach based on the talent Foster has available. On this play against UVA, the Hokies are playing a base front.
The Mike is over the center. The nose tackle is a 1 technique, the tackle is a 3 technique. The stud end is outside eye of the tackle strong side, and the end is outside eye of the tackle on the weakside. Each defender essentially has the gap in front of him. The mike linebacker has no pass coverage responsibility in most of the Hokie defenses. The defensive linemen get into the neutral zone, engage their blocker, secures their gap, and sheds the blocking using a "violent hand motion" (rip, swim, push-pull, or 45 technique). At the snap, Jack Tyler reads a key that sends him flying through the one gap. While he misses the tackle, he allows enough time for the other players to secure their gap and then pursue to tackle the UVA tailback for a marginal gain. Based on the film that I have watched, either Bud Foster calls more middle linebacker run blitzes than any coach in the country, or the mike backer has almost zero pass responsibility. Tyler is almost always coming forward at the snap except when a key has him pursuing playside. Anytime you see the mike backer dropping back, it is change up defense hoping the QB throws to a spot without seeing the mike.
Behind the defense, the Hokies secondary plays a basic robber coverage on this play. Smart Football did an excellent write up on the Hokies robber and 4-4G. In basic terms, normal defenses feature corners playing man with safeties deep to help. In a robber coverage, the safeties actually come forward at the snap while the corners bail out to a deep third. Quarterbacks, seeing the odd space develop, are often easily baited into throwing seam routes against this coverage. We will look at the Hokies pass defense in more detail in a later post.
In the above play, Jayron Hosley backpedals to his deep third at the snap. When the WR's sets up to run block (the WR's total lack of effort is a complete "UVA move"), he immediately comes up in run support. Antone Exum is moving forward at the snap, and both Exum and Hosley end up making the tackle along with Luther Maddy.
Even more bedeviling to teams that use pro-style running games, Foster uses a huge variety of stunts, hard slants, and linebacker blitzes to "funnel" the ball carrier right into an unblocked defensive player. Yet, unlike most stunts and blitzes where the defensive player is trying to shake loose to make a play, the Foster gap defense still requires the players who were stunting to maintain responsibility for their assigned gap. Hokie defensive linemen are required to have a unique ability to sometimes cover gaps that are far from where they line up, while maintaining leverage in order to prevent being knocked backwards by an offensive lineman.
The below diagram lays out a typical Hokie run blitz utilized to stop the zone run to the strong side out of an I formation. The zone run requires each offensive lineman to block the gap to the playside, moving along the line of scrimmage and maintaining contact for as long as possible with the first defender that crosses their face. The running back is supposed to take two strides playside, plant his playside leg (in this case the right leg) and select a weak spot where the defender has overrun the play. Often, a zone play to the right (which on a Madden diagram looks like it would go to the 6 gap) will actually cut back almost over the center.
Each assignment:
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Over the past two days, the picture on the right went viral across the Internet, especially on social networks such as Facebook and Twitter. The image claims that on 3rd December, 2012, Mercury, Venus and Saturn will be aligned in the night sky, with each of the three planets showing exactly above the tip of one of the three pyramids of Giza. I kept getting several messages from friends asking if this is true or just another hoax image.
A little research online gives a straight answer. While the image itself is very cool, it is not entirely true. The image was created and published online by Charles Marcello on World Mysteries Blog. Marcello used the free software Stellarium to create the image, and claims that this event is very rare and happens every 2,737 years. The blog post hints at a possible spiritual significance to this phenomenon, and, with the year 2012 being the end of the Mayan calender, there is much interest in these events.
However, Phil Plait over at the Bad Astronomy blog on Discover Magazine points out the many problems with this picture and why it is more or less a hoax.
There will be an event on 3rd December, 2012 and it will probably be quite special. However, according to Plait, the photoshopped image here has more than a few problems. To start with, the angle the photo is taken from is wrong. The picture is taken from the southwest facing the pyramids. However, in order to see the planet alignment, you must be northwest of the pyramids. From the angle the picture is taken from, the planets would be behind the viewer.
Meanwhile, the three planets will not align in such a straight line. The line will be a bit skewed, according to a simulation that Plait using the SkySafari planetarium programme. They also won’t appear in a nearly horizontal line as in the image, but at a much steeper angle apparently.
Croman / Illinois Sky Watch
The Illinois Sky Watch has produced another image, again using Stellarium, that shows what the planets might realistically look like on the 3rd December when they align. The image can be see on the right.
Finally, an important question to ask is: will the alignment of the planets be visible to sky-gazers? On a normal day in Cairo, it is very tricky to see too many planets and/or stars due to the pollution. While the pollution is not so bad out in the desert, the pyramids are too close to some of the city’s busy centres with air and light pollution.
Being based in Cairo, I will probably head to the pyramids before dawn on 3rd December and I don’t think I want to miss this event. I’m excited to get the chance to witness this so close to home. However, I’m not getting my hopes up too much that it will look like that first amazing image. Either way, I am sure it will be something special to watch – if the smog over the city permits that is.
Is anyone planning to go look for the planetary alignment above the pyramids on 3rd December?
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At this time of year, two opposing interests start to operate in earnest: Teams eyeballing bowl positions and teams considering giving their coach the boot.
ESPN.com's Bruce Feldman today reviewed the latter and ranked the 10 coaches on the hottest seats. Two Pac-10 coaches made the list, and a third may say goodbye before his program becomes part of the Pac-12 in 2011.
No. 1 on the list is Colorado's Dan Hawkins. He's in the fifth year of a disappointing tenure and the general feeling is he would have been fired last year if the school could have afforded it.
Might sound stupid now: When Colorado hired Hawkins away from Boise State, I thought it was a great hire. So what do I know?
Feldman also ranks Washington State's Paul Wulff fourth and Arizona State's Dennis Erickson sixth on the list. It's notable that they play each other Saturday in Tempe, and that Wulff played for Erickson at Washington State.
Of Wulff, Feldman writes: "The Cougars are improving, but it may be too little, too late."
Wulff needs a Pac-10 win. There are plenty of people around the program who see improvement and support Wulff. But there also are plenty of frustrated folks who want change. My feeling is AD Bill Moos is looking for reasons to retain Wulff.
As for Erickson, Feldman writes: "...the Sun Devils seem to be backsliding. After winning his first eight games, Erickson is 14-22. The Sun Devils have talent but have been plagued by discipline issues and sloppiness for the past couple of seasons, ranking 112th in penalties committed this season."
I think Erickson will be completely safe at 6-6, but that would require the Sun Devils to win as a favorite against Washington State and UCLA and then upset either USC, Stanford or Arizona.
He also is probably safe in any event, other than a complete collapse or some off-field disaster. His contract runs through the 2012 season -- he signed an extension in the spring of 2008 -- and the cash-strapped school probably won't be eager to pay him off.
Further, if you look over the Sun Devils' depth chart, there's a lot of promise for 2011. Only three seniors start, and all of their best players are underclassmen. You'd also expect quarterback Steven Threet to make major improvements with a year of experience in a spread system.
You could say the same for the Cougars, by the way, though the Cougars start more seniors (seven).
If Pac-10 ADs want an example of how patience pays, look south to Tucson. They wanted to run Mike Stoops out of town after the Wildcats went 5-7 in 2007, his fourth season. But Stoops, who has always been respected by other coaches, found his rhythm and has the Wildcats on the cusp of becoming a top-25 program.
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More than a year ago, Ryan Kirkman and Thomas Davis approached us about a project they were working on. Dubbed CDNJS, the project had a noble goal: make the world's Javascript resources load as fast as possible. They had been hosting the service on Amazon's CloudFront CDN, but as it got more popular the costs started to be significant. They approached us about whether we'd mind them using CloudFlare. We thought it was a great idea and we've been working together ever since. Today they just sent us data that shows CDNJS is the fastest Javascript repository on the Internet. More on that in a second, but first a bit about why CDNJS is so cool.
Why Do You Need a CDN for Javascript
The there are a core set of Javascript resources that are used across the web. Packages such as jQuery, Bootstrap, Backbone.js, and YUI underpin many of the web's pages. In order for these pages to load, the Javascript resources need to be downloaded. As a result, it makes sense for the resources to be on the fastest connections possible. However, that's only half the story.
The other benefit involves browser caching. If two sites use jQuery, ideally your browser only needs to download it once and then use the same code across both sites. In order to take advantage of this browser caching, both sites need to reference the same code via the same URL. As a result, it not only makes sense to reference a CDN for your Javascript code, but for you to use the same CDN as other sites are also using.
The Big Boys
Google and Microsoft have understood the benefits of having a central repository of Javascript resources and both provide their own public repositories. The challenge is that they only have a limited number of the most popular resources. Moreover, since running the repos isn't their primary job, they are slow to update as new versions of code comes out.
Everything so far is what Ryan and Thomas from CDNJS explained to us. They wanted to build a central repository for Javascript that was fast and reliable. They wanted to make sure it contained a wide range of the web's Javascript resources. They wanted to ensure that the latest versions would always be available. And they wanted to provide it to the web for free. We thought that sounded great, so we took over the job of serving the CDNJS resources from CloudFlare's global network.
Fast Wins
Today Ryan and Thomas sent us the latest data on the performance of CDNJS versus the Google and Microsoft Javascript CDNs. The results are terrific. Graphs are at the top of this post, but the here's the data: on average, CDNJS is 50% faster than the Google's Javascript CDN (100ms vs. 157ms), and more than four times as fast as Microsoft's CDN (100ms vs. 432ms). That's based on data gathered using Pingdom to download the same Javascript resource (jQuery 1.8.3 minified) from the three CDNs from multiple points around the globe over the last week.
CDNJS is also expanding beyond just Javascript. They've recently added CSS and Images for popular packages like Bootstrap. In other words, you can load the entire Bootstrap package directly from CDNJS, saving you bandwidth and ensuring it is delivered as quickly as possible. What's also great is that since CloudFlare's network supports SSL, SPDY, and IPv6 by default, these benefits also extend to CDNJS. In other words, if you're using any Javascript resources on your websites it's a no-brainer that you should be loading them from the CDNJS network.
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By guest blogger Dan Carney
Our autobiographical memory is fundamental to the development of our sense of self. However, according to past research, it may be compromised in autism, together with other skills that are also vital for self understanding, such as introspection and the ability to attribute mental states to others (known as mentalising).
For example, experiments involving autistic children have highlighted retrieval difficulties, “impoverished narratives”, and a greater need for prompting, while also suggesting that semantic recall (facts from the past) may be impaired in younger individuals.
Now a UK research team, led by Sally Robinson from London’s St. Thomas’ Hospital, has published the first attempt to assess the nature of – and relationships between – autobiographical memory, mentalising and introspection in autism. Reporting their findings in Autism journal, the group hope their results will shed more light on the way that autistic children and teens develop a sense of self.
The researchers compared the performance of 24 autistic participants (age range: 11-18; 4 girls) and 24 age- and gender-matched neurotypical participants on three tasks. The first, designed to tap semantic and episodic aspects of autobiographical memory, required them to recall what kind of personality they showed in different contexts (at school, with the family, when happy etc) and to describe specific episodes from their lives in which they’d behaved as that kind of person.
A second, interview task measured introspection and mentalising: participants rated both their own ability, and that of a nominated comparison individual (such as a friend or relative), to recognise both their own and the other person’s internal/external traits, such as tiredness (internal trait) or smartness of dress (external). For example, in relation to tiredness, participants rated “How well do you know when you feel tired?”; “How well does X know when you are tired?”; “How well do you know when X feels tired?”; and “How well does X know when he/she feels tired?”.
The final task was the widely used mentalising measure, the Reading The Mind In The Eyes Task for children, which involved participants looking at pictures showing only the eye region of person’s face and inferring their mental state.
Overall, the results demonstrated impaired and preserved abilities in the autistic group, while suggesting atypical relationships between skills. In terms of autobiographical memory, the autistic children and teens: a) produced fewer self-descriptive personality traits than the neurotypical group, b) required more prompting to generate specific episodic memories, c) provided fewer memories containing either emotional or sensory detail, but d) did not differ in terms of the number or type of episodic memories recalled.
That the autistic group recalled a typical number of episodic memories, albeit with greater prompting and atypicality of content, is broadly in line with previous work. The recall of fewer own personality traits, however, is a new finding, and is worth investigating further. This may suggest that autistic individuals’ self-concept is different in some way from non-au.
Meanwhile, on the introspection and mentalising interview, the autistic children and teens (a) rated themselves poorer at knowing about another’s mental state than did the neurotypical group, and b) more surprisingly, they rated others as having more knowledge about their own external/behavioural traits than they did themselves. The researchers suggested that this last finding may betray a lack of confidence in making objective/comparative behavioural judgments – as opposed to subjective internal ones – about the self in relation to others.
Related to this, among the autistic children and teens only, if they rated themselves as having a high level of self-knowledge, they were also more likely to rate others as having a higher knowledge of them. The researchers pointed out that this may highlight the use of introspection as a compensatory strategy in autism, when attributing mental states to others, and that this may play a role in autistic individuals’ documented tendency to over-attribute their own beliefs and knowledge to others.
As expected, the autistic children and teens were poorer than controls on the Eyes Task, another indication of compromised mentalising skills.
There was also a group difference in how the various skills related to each other. In the neurotypical group, performance correlated across the tasks: semantic/episodic autobiographical memory, introspecting and mentalising, which indicates how, in typical development, autobiographical memory has a reciprocal relationship with other aspects of the self-concept. In the autistic children and teens, these correlations were absent, suggesting that this reciprocity between mental processes may be impaired.
Although this study is exploratory and more work is needed, it provides a finer-grained glimpse at how skills associated with self-understanding may interact in autism, and how this may differ from the equivalent processes in typical development.
The new findings may also have implications for autistic children undertaking Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), an approach where the recall of autobiographical events is important. CBT is commonly used with autistic people to address anxiety and social skill development. In the new research, the autistic group generated as many episodic memories as controls, after having first described their own personality traits. This may suggest that in CBT with autism, accurate episodic retrieval could be supported by first encouraging individuals to reflect on their own personalities in a more general sense.
—Personality traits, autobiographical memory and knowledge of self and others: A comparative study in young people with autism spectrum disorder
Post written for BPS Research Digest by Dr. Dan Carney. Dan is a UK researcher specialising in developmental disorders. He undertook his post-doctoral research fellowship at London South Bank University, finishing in 2013. His published work to date has examined cognition, memory, and inner speech processes in Williams syndrome and Down syndrome, as well as savant skills in autism.
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The Ottawa Senators’ last game against the New Jersey Devils marked as career milestones for forwards Curtis Lazar and Alex Chiasson. Chiasson, acquired by the Senators when they moved long time centre Jason Spezza to Dallas, was playing in his 200th career NHL game on Wednesday Night. Lazar, the always-smiling fan favorite, played in his 100th career game.
Both Chiasson and Lazar are in the middle of their second full season with Ottawa and for the majority of their time with the team, both have been struggling.
Chiasson’s Woes
Coming to Ottawa along with a pair of prospects and a 2nd round pick, Chiasson was the only immediate effect that Ottawa got to see when trading away their former captain. So far, it hasn’t been pretty. In his first season with the Dallas Stars, Chaisson had 35 points in 79 games. He seemed to have a promising start to his career when he scored nine goals in his first 10 NHL games, but that glory was short lived. In 114 games in a Senators’ uniform, Chiasson has totaled just 31 points.
After his first year in Ottawa, Chaisson had 11 goals and 15 assists. In the 2014 off-season, his contract went to arbitration where, after asking for $2.475 million, he was awarded much less. He resigned with Ottawa on a one-year contract worth $1.2 million.
Though his hopes were to be a better player for the Senators’ this season, Chiasson has fallen short. His struggles have seemed to hit their peak. In 38 games this year, he has just two goals, three assists, and a 3.8 shooting percentage, which is the team low for active forwards. Chiasson hasn’t had a point in 8 games, his last one coming December 12th against Montreal.
Lazar and His Struggles
Lazar was no doubt a fan favorite when he emerged from junior after winning the Memorial Cup with the Edmonton Oil Kings. When he first came to Ottawa in the 2014-2015 season, Lazar was given the chance to enter into the NHL right away. Having yet to play a game in the minors, Lazar has struggled to produce since joining the Senators.
A similar issue presented itself last year, and it was in the Senators’ efforts to get Lazar’s offense going again when they allowed him to play with Team Canada in the World Juniors.
This season, the problem has escalated and it has had many speculate whether or not a stint in the minors would be good for Lazar. Having been used in a variety of different ways this season, Lazar has often been referred to as the Senators’ “Utility Guy”, but his offense has continued to suffer. He has admitted that he has felt out of place. Through 33 games, Lazar has just 8 points.
In the New Year
Along with their struggles to produce offensively this season, Chiasson and Lazar have both had their fair share of issues when it comes to finishing plays. Entering into the New Year, they both need to improve their play to help shape Ottawa’s secondary lines to become more reliable and consistent on the score-sheet.
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"The mismatch between the realities on the ground and the nature of the president’s pronouncements reveals a president who is out of touch with reality."
President Obama doesn’t seem to know what hit him in Ukraine the past week. He has been thoroughly outmaneuvered by Russian president Vladimir Putin. And yet the U.S. president expresses himself as if he still has something of consequence to say on the matter. The mismatch between the realities on the ground and the nature of the president’s pronouncements reveals a president who is out of touch with reality.
On Wednesday of last week, Putin unveiled a cease-fire concept for the Ukrainian government and pro-Russian separatist insurgents in eastern Ukraine. Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko promptly embraced the concept as a basis for a cessation in the fighting. The next day, the parties announced they would begin observing a cease-fire that likely would include provisions put forth by Putin: offensive operations halted, including airstrikes; Ukrainian artillery withdrawn from proximity of separatist-controlled cities; prisoners exchanged; “safe corridors” established for the delivery of aid and reconstruction materials to war-torn areas; international observers deployed to monitor the truce and the Ukrainian-Russian border.
In terms of the ongoing diplomatic drama involving Ukraine, Russia and the West, this was a huge development. The New York Times on Friday quoted Timothy Ash, a London-based expert on the region at Standard Bank , as saying the agreement probably signifies that the Ukrainian-Russian conflict now will be congealed into a kind of diplomatic standoff like those involving other Russian-dominated, quasi-independent “gray zones,” such as Transnistria in Moldova, or Abkhazia and South Ossetia in Georgia.
A day earlier, the Wall Street Journal suggested such a development “ could scuttle Kiev’s plans to move closer to Europe ” as a means of reviving its economy. The paper said Putin wants to create “a boundary defining the rebel-held territory in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions,” with Ukraine enjoined from sending troops into those regions. “Disputed borders,” added the Journal, “would make NATO membership for Ukraine all but impossible.”
Just so. That’s precisely what Putin has wanted all along—to thwart any prospect that Ukraine could join NATO and that Western nations could thus move troops to the Russian border. The Journal piece, written by Paul Sonne and Gregory L. White, offered a rare bit of analytical perspective in describing the Russian viewpoint:
“The move toward a compromise drives home the reality that Russia, with centuries-long cultural, linguistic and economic ties to Ukraine, time and again has proved willing to put more on the line than the West to exert influence over Kiev. Russia views preventing Ukraine from entering the North Atlantic Treaty Organization as vital to its own national defense.”
That’s the reality that President Poroshenko bowed to in accepting the Putin deal. Clearly, neither the EU, nor the United States is prepared to get involved militarily in the dispute. And, although Russia has steadfastly denied involving its own military in the Ukrainian civil war, recent events have demonstrated that Putin will initiate any stealthy actions necessary to ensure that pro-Russian elements in eastern Ukraine will not be overrun by Kiev.
As Standard Bank’s Timothy Ash notes, Kiev faced a danger of losing crucial strategic territory. “Any delay would probably have seen the loss of Mariupol,” he said, “and then a land corridor secured by Russia to Crimea.” This, he added, likely would have been “terminal” for the Ukrainian economy.
What we see here is the force of an unrelenting power differential. In the realm of international relations, power comes in many forms—in the potency of military hardware and technology and the ability to use it; in population and national wealth; in the intensity of national feeling related to particular conflicts; in geopolitical advantage and imperative; in the willingness to expend national treasure and blood on behalf of national goals. When all of these elements of power are added up and assessed, it becomes clear that Russia has the power to exert influence over Ukraine pretty much as it wants to.
And what is Obama’s reaction to this lesson in foreign-policy realism? Responding to the Putin proposal and Poroshenko’s apparent embrace of it, he expressed himself as if he considers words to be a substitute for power. “ No realistic political settlement can be achieved ,” he declared, “if effectively Russia says we are going to continue to send tanks and troops and arms and advisers under the guise of separatists, who are not homegrown, and the only possible settlement is if Ukraine cedes its territory or its sovereignty.”
Expressed in the context of what just had happened in Ukraine, these are not the words of a serious man. In point of fact, realistic political settlements can only be achieved when the parties involved understand the fundamental power differentials that exist, as Poroshenko apparently does and Obama apparently doesn’t.
This has been one of the underlying themes of those who have argued from the beginning of this drama that the West doesn’t have a stake in Ukraine’s fate to even approach the stake of Russia, which has included Ukraine within its sphere of influence for the past three and a half centuries and has viewed that relationship as crucial to its sense of national security.
This raises a question: If we don’t have a serious stake in the matter, and we’re very clear with ourselves and the world that we won’t fight over it, and the preponderance of power flows from other directions, why are we even involving ourselves in the controversy?
To fight with words at the precise moment when power has overwhelmed your policy not only renders an appearance of weakness, it makes the president look bewildered, like he doesn’t really understand what’s going on. That’s not the image that great nations should project.
Robert W. Merry is political editor of The National Interest and the author of books on American history and foreign policy. His most recent book is Where They Stand: The American Presidents in the Eyes of Voters and Historians .
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Be careful what you wish for. In the last few decades purveyors of dubious medical treatments and products have been trying to go mainstream, and they have had some unfortunate success. They asked for serious scientific investigation into their claims – and they got it. They asked to be treated like real medicine (but not really, they only want the trappings of legitimacy, not the substance), and when they actually are treated with the standards similar to science-based medicine, they cry foul.
The response of the fake-medicine lobby is not to alter their claims to fit the evidence, or to carry out better studies, or to clean up their act when problems are brought to their attention – but to attack their critics.
Homeopathy is perhaps the best example of this behavior. Homeopathy’s biggest marketing advantage is that most people don’t know what it really is. They think it’s “natural” medicine or herbs. That is why, during homeopathy awareness week, I was happy enough to oblige. I want people to know exactly what homeopathy is – sugar pills. They are placebos on which the equivalent of a magical ritual has been cast. Active ingredients, which themselves are as fanciful as fairy dust, are diluted into non-existence.
Not surprisingly, when tested in well-designed double blind placebo controlled trials, homeopathic placebos are indistinguishable from regular placebos. Homeopathy, put simply, doesn’t work.
Edzard Ernst, until recently a professor of complementary medicine at Exeter University, published a systematic review of systematic reviews of homeopathic products. He honestly asked a very important question – Homeopathy: what does the “best” evidence tell us? The answer he found:
The findings of currently available Cochrane reviews of studies of homeopathy do not show that homeopathic medicines have effects beyond placebo.
He is not the only one to have looked at the evidence and come to this conclusion (remember – his review was of other reviews). For example, a recent systematic review of homeopathic treatments for dermatological conditions concluded:
Reviewed trials of homoeopathic treatments for cutaneous diseases were highly variable in methods and quality. We did not find sufficient evidence from these studies that homoeopathy is clearly efficacious for any single dermatological condition.
In fact, the evidence does not support the conclusion that homeopathy is effective for anything.
Ernst began his career in a homeopathic hospital and is highly familiar with the practice of homeopathy. He set out to see what the evidence for CAM modalities actually showed. For his trouble he has become a pariah of the CAM world, who have attacked him personally for simply reporting the evidence. It has recently come to light, in fact, that a consortium of German homeopathic companies have been paying a blogger to attack Ernst, and other critics of homeopathy.
Journalist Jens Lubbadeh published his findings in the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, but agreed to publish an English translation on the website Quackometer. He reports:
(Claus) Fritzsche himselfs openly admits the “sponsorship” of his CAM -Media.Watch-blog (www.cam-media-watch.de) by the manufacturers. In august 2011 he wrote for the sake of “transparency”: “The companies Deutsche Homöopathie-Union (DHU) [the biggest German pill manufacturer] and Biologische Heilmittel Heel (www.heel.de) support CAM Media.Watch financially”. Other sponsors include: Staufen Pharma (www.staufen-pharma.de), WALA Heilmittel (www.wala.de/english/), Weleda (www.weleda.com), Hevert (www.hevert.de/_#/). In total, Fritzsche receives 43.000 Euro annually from these six manufacturers of homeopathic products.
The irony in this is profound. Defenders of dubious medical claims are quick to accuse promoters of science-based medicine of being “pharma shills” (what David Gorksi calls the “pharma-shill gambit”). I am the target of this accusation on a regular basis. It seems that within the CAM community it is just assumed that any critics of pseudoscience in medicine are being paid off by “Big Pharma.” This is simply not true. SBM is not sponsored by any company and we have no ties to the pharmaceutical industry. The site is completely paid for by The New England Skeptical Society, which is a non-profit educational organization (meaning the bandwidth is covered by the NESS, authors and editors are unpaid volunteers). We are also sponsored by the James Randi Educational Foundation, also a non-profit educational organization which shares our views.
This is not to say that pharmaceutical companies are not guilty of shenanigans. There have been many high profile judgments and fines against pharmaceutical companies, and we are quick to criticize them for trying to distort science and the communication of science in their favor. As far as I know, however, they don’t directly pay journalists to attack their critics. These homeopathic companies, however, admit that they do pay a journalist who happens to viciously attack critics of homeopathy. Strangely, the usual internet CAM proponents have been silent on this issue.
Perhaps the proponents of homeopathy are getting desperate. Homeopathy is like a mushroom, it thrives in the dark. It is withering a bit in the light of the attention that it has drawn upon itself. In 2010 the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee (STC) released a report, Evidence Check 2: Homeopathy, in which they recommend that the NHS stop funding homeopathy. They concluded that homeopathy can’t work, doesn’t work, and is essentially witchcraft.
Homeopaths tried to counter with a Swiss report on homeopathy – trumped up by homeopaths – but that reports has been exposed as flawed and biased.
Now homeopathic products are coming under fire in the Eurozone. It seems that many homeopathic products are illegal – they are in violation of existing regulations because they are making unsupported claims. The Guardian reports:
Faced with an MHRA crackdown on unlicensed medicines, one of Britain’s leading manufacturers of homeopathic remedies has indicated it would be prepared to relabel its products ‘confectionery’ to circumvent regulation.
So they will start selling sugar pills as sugar, rather than medicine, as long as they can keep them on the market.
Homeopathic products have an easier time in the US, where they are automatically approved as drugs and regulated by the FDA. This is a scandal that needs to be reversed, but meanwhile the FDA still can regulate the quality of homeopathic manufacturing. The result is a bit surreal – the FDA ensuring that fairy dust is properly handled, but the results can still be illuminating. For example, when examining the manufacturing process at a large UK homeopathic manufacturer, A Nelson & Co., Ltd., they found a number of violations.
They discovered that glass was finding its way into the product. The company was not sufficiently clearing broken glass from the assembly line. They also found that their instruments were not being calibrated as sufficient intervals. These are generic quality assurances that have nothing to do with whether or not homeopathy actually works. It is important to keep glass shards out of pills, but it’s hard to think of anything less important than the calibration of a gas chromatograph in a homeopathic factory. That’s like saying the design problem with the Titanic was that the deck was not varnished properly.
More interesting is that the FDA inspectors found:
“b. The investigator also observed for Batch #36659 that one out of every six bottles did not receive the dose of active homeopathic drug solution due to the wobbling and vibration of the bottle assembly during filling of the active ingredient. The active ingredient was instead seen dripping down the outside of the vial assembly. Your firm lacked controls to ensure that the active ingredient is delivered to every bottle.”
One in six bottles didn’t get their dose of nothing, I mean “active ingredient.” Homeopaths did not seem to notice this manufacturing defect.
Conclusion
I may sound like a broken record, but it needs to be said often – homeopathy is pure pseudoscience. There is nothing in homeopathic products and they are completely ineffective as medicine. In my opinion the conclusion is ineluctable – homeopathy is a fraud being perpetrated on the public worldwide. Governments and regulatory agencies that are supposed to protect the public from medical fraud have failed to do so. Those, like Edzard Ernst, who are pointing out this blatant reality – that sugar pills are not effective medicine – are being attacked for their troubles.
All we want is what homeopathy proponents say they want, and honest look at the science and the evidence and letting that dictate practice and regulation. At the very least the public needs to have proper informed consent about what homeopathy is and what the best evidence shows.
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A while ago I bought a Willie Nelson album because Willie is excellent. People who say “I don’t like country music” haven’t listened to Willie Nelson.
Even though I can get the album without paying for it, I paid because I want to tell Willie Nelson that I appreciate him. But my purchase was also a dollar vote (a five dollar vote, really) telling would-be musicians to be more like Willie Nelson.* For undertaking the expense of making that vote, I even got access to the album through Amazon. That’s good if I want to load it onto my phone for a road trip, but most of the time it’s actually easier for me to listen to that album on Grooveshark. In any case, I got to express myself, listen to Willie Nelson in a barely easier fashion under some circumstances, and it only cost my $4.99.
Now let’s do some lazy economics. My cost of expressing my preferences was approximately $5. If I’m rational we can infer that my benefit was at least as great. I got access to the album (that’s worth about 2 cents to me), I got to express my appreciation of Willie, and I got to make an infinitesimally small impact on the artistic landscape.
I think it’s fair to say that people who vote are doing so to express their views (as I did). But I think they usually vote for the wrong person. If I decide candidate Bob is less terrible than candidate Andy, that doesn’t mean I should vote Bob. I think candidate Carol actually reflects my views fairly well, and I’m sure she won’t win the election. But I also know that if either Andy or Bob wins, it will be by 300 or more votes**; so if I vote for Carol I won’t change the outcome and thus won’t be “wasting” my vote. In fact, if I vote for Bob I’m wasting my vote because I’m sending the message that we need less of the stuff Carol calls for and more of the stuff Bob does.
But in any case, we all pretty much understand that while your vote matters on average, it doesn’t matter on the margin. Put simply, the costs of voting are significantly higher than the benefits you would get if your vote magically actually did change the outcome multiplied by the probability that such a miracle occurs. So probably people vote to express themselves, and as long as their doing that, voting for the Republicans (Democrats) is like buying a popular album you hate because there’s another popular album you hate more. Don’t do that!
* Being more like Willie Nelson doesn’t mean impersonating Willie, it means being excellent.
** In an election with fewer than 5000 voters you might actually have a reasonable chance of affecting the outcome, but if you aren’t voting in a small town election you can safely assume that your vote won’t determine the winner.
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Carl Hagen, former chairman of Norway's populist right-wing Progress Party, and Siv Jensen, the party's current leader and Norway's finance minister. Photo: Fremskrittpartiet
Across Europe, the hold of traditional centrist parties—whether social democratic, liberal, or conservative—seems to be slipping away. In the wake of popular discontent with widening socioeconomic inequalities, financial austerity, and mass youth unemployment, the post-World War II political settlement is, if not in ruins, certainly shattered. There is a real sense of crisis of political and democratic legitimacy. Polarization and marginalization have increased the appeal of extremism, whether in the form of Salafi jihadism among disaffected Muslim youth or right-wing extremism among non-Muslim youth. Notwithstanding the recent successes of Syriza in Greece and Podemos in Spain, in many countries it has been the far and populist right which has gained the most traction, from Marine Le Pen’s Front National in France to Nigel Farage’s United Kingdom Independence Party in Britain, Pegida in Germany, Geert Wilders’s Party for Freedom in the Netherlands, the Swedish Democrats, and the True Finns.
As the political scientist Cas Mudde has noted, these developments are highly uneven across the continent. In many southern European countries with authoritarian Cold War legacies, far- and populist right parties hold little electoral appeal, despite the fact that some of these countries have been among the greatest victims of the ongoing financial crisis. But the return of far- and populist right mass mobilizations a mere twenty-five years after the unfounded liberal optimism of 1989 raises profound and troubling questions for European societies. The rise of the populist right in Norway, in particular, suggests that technocratic elitism and increasing inequality are as much a challenge for parties loudly proclaiming to represent the interests of ordinary people as they are for established centrist parties.
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We know quite a lot about the factors associated with far- and populist right political formations. In general, such voters are more likely to be white, working- or service-class, older, male, and poorly educated than the voters of established mainstream parties. And at a time in which international humanitarian organizations have declared that the world faces its worst refugee crisis since World War II, and thousands drown in the Mediterranean every year in desperate attempts to reach European shores, it is immigration above all that has exercised the minds of European far and populist right voters. This is not surprising, given that far- and populist right political actors across Western Europe have been remarkably successful in propounding over the last three decades what the political scientist Mahmood Mamdani has referred to as a “culturalization of politics”: societal problems have come to be understood in cultural and religious, rather than economic, terms. It is the culture or religion of immigrants, rather than labor market discrimination or socioeconomic deprivation, that is supposed to explain their failure to “integrate.”
Norway's government now openly celebrates a declining number of asylum seekers.
It is notable that the populist far-right in Western Europe has learned the language of liberal values and exploited it to reach a wider demographic. The Danish sociologist Sune Laegaard has referred to this as a “nationalisation of liberal values.” It has become commonplace for far- and populist right politicians to declare themselves champions of gay and lesbian rights—as well as women’s rights, which have long served as an exceptionally useful and blunt instrument to be wielded against patriarchal minorities. But we know more about what these parties look like in opposition than in power. A central question for any far- or populist right party which wants to achieve power is how to “turn rebelliousness into policy.”
This is why the experience of small and peripheral Norway, with a population of only 5 million, is significant. In the parliamentary elections of September 2013, the populist right-wing Progress Party (Fremskrittspartiet, FrP) came to power as a junior partner in a coalition government with the Conservative Party (CP). The FrP’s precursor was established by the libertarian maverick, populist right newspaper man, and apartheid supporter Anders Lange as an anti-taxation and anti-bureaucratic party in 1973. It discovered the electoral appeal of anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim sentiment in 1987, when chairman Carl I. Hagen read out a fabricated letter purportedly penned by a Norwegian Muslim threatening a future Muslim “takeover” in the course of that year’s county election campaign. The letter was an early instance of far-right and Islamophobic fears about “Eurabia,” which would later influence the Norwegian right-wing extremist Anders B. Breivik, who killed seventy-nine people in the worst terrorist attack in Norwegian history on July 22, 2011. Four years later, Norwegians risk both censure in the media and threats from far-right sympathizers for pointing out that Breivik was actively involved with the Progress Party for ten years from 1997 to 2006, when he withdrew from society and, as John Bowen has written, “drenched himself in the writings of far-right, anti-Islam activists from the United States and Europe.”
Mainstream political parties in Norway long maintained a cordon sanitaire against the FrP. The idea of a political alliance between the FrP and the CP was first mooted by CP politicians on the City Council of Oslo in 1990, when the two parties collaborated closely in order to secure right-wing dominance of the council from that year onward. By 2009, CP strategists had concluded that their party’s electoral future lay in a political partnership with the FrP. It was by all means an alliance of strange political bedfellows. The CP’s voters have the highest levels of education and income compared to voters of any other party; the FrP’s voters are among the least educated and most likely to receive social benefits. But on some policy areas—especially immigration—their electorates’ views converged.
The result has been that the country of Fridtjof Nansen has become one in which the government now openly celebrates a declining number of asylum seekers. “These are very positive figures,” declared FrP spokesperson Mazyar Keshvari in commenting on statistics indicating that the number of asylum claimants in Norway in the first quarter of 2015 had dropped by 22 percent from the previous year. “The reason why the figures are dropping is that the Progress Party is in power,” Keshvari added. Since coming to power, the government has also deported a significant number of underage children of asylum seekers to countries to which the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) cautions against returning people. There are an estimated 9 million Syrian refugees and internally displaced persons; Lebanon has accepted 1.5 million of them, but in 2014 the Norwegian government shut its doors on 123 Syrian refugees, who had already been accepted by the UNHCR, on the grounds that they were too mentally and physically ill from having lived through the hell of civil war. In February 2015, the government of Afghanistan resigned from an agreement with the government of Norway to accept repatriation of Afghan asylum seekers whose applications had been turned down by Norwegian authorities, on the grounds that 84 Afghan minors had been forcibly deported from to Afghanistan in 2014 despite warnings from both the UNHCR and the Afghan government about an increasingly unsafe and unstable Afghanistan. In the run-up to the party’s annual congress, FrP members of parliament declared that they wanted to abolish the right to seek asylum in Norway altogether and would work to alter the UN’s Refugee Convention from 1951. Representatives of the Norwegian government have recently begun negotiations with Eritrea to forcibly deport thousands of refugees who have already been granted the right to stay in Norway.
These arguments and measures appeal to the extreme right-wingers who have long been part of the FrP’s constituency. A 2009 national representative survey conducted by the Institute for Social Research in Oslo found that 16 percent of those who expressed electoral preferences for the FrP self-identified as belonging to the “extreme right,” and as I have documented in Anders Breivik and The Rise of Islamophobia (2014), the FrP’s political discourse on Islam, Muslims, and immigration in the years 1987 to 2011 drew on ideas and arguments to a large extent borrowed from the extreme right in Europe at large. Mirroring what sociologist Christopher Bail has called the “fringe effect” of anti-Muslim discourse in the wake of 9/11, anti-Islam and anti-immigration arguments that were previously the preserve of the far-right fringe have become part of Norway’s political mainstream.
The opposition Labour Party, the social liberal party Venstre, and the Christian Democratic Party (Kristelig Folkeparti, KrF) have all committed to increasing the current government’s current UN quota refugee cap from 1,500 to 5,000 per year. By contrast, during its party congress in May, FrP parliament members insisted that Norway should accept no quota refugees. Academics who have studied the rise of the FrP argue that the party’s stance on immigration and integration is the most central element of its electoral appeal. It also happens to be the policy area in which the FrP has wielded the greatest influence on other political parties: since the 1990s, both the social democratic Labour Party and the Conservative Party have shifted their discourse in attempts to shore up support. But as pointed out in a recent doctoral dissertation on the Progress Party by University of Oslo political scientist Anders Ravik Jupskås, there appears to be a growing disconnect between FrP grassroots members, who are chiefly concerned with immigration, and the FrP’s leaders in government, who are more interested in matters relating to taxation and the economy.
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Like many other right-wing populist parties across Europe, the FrP has also benefited from popular perceptions that established and mainstream political parties have become increasingly technocratic, aloof from and indifferent to the concerns of the average citizen. Indeed, FrP discourse often refers to folk flest, Norwegian for ordinary people. It is true that Norway has seen an increasing professionalization of politics, regardless of political party affiliation. Norwegian political parties and the Norwegian Parliament have since the 2000s been dominated by people who have made a career out of politics from quite an early age, who have little or no experience with the realities of the working conditions and lives of ordinary Norwegians, and who as members of parliament have afforded themselves salaries, fringe benefits, and pension rights that ordinary citizens can only dream of. For cases in point, one need look no further than Norway’s previous prime minister, Jens Stoltenberg of the Labour Party, or the present prime minister, Erna Solberg of the Conservative Party, both of whom can look back on lives which hardly involved more than a few months of ordinary work.
Anti-elite popular sentiment drove working-class-turned-service class voters from the social democratic Labour Party to the Progress Party in the 2000s. By the parliamentary elections of 2009, when the FrP secured its best results ever with 22.9 percent of the vote, the party had actually overtaken the Labour Party in electoral support among this particular group of voters. This monumental shift—part and parcel of the fracturing of class-based politics many European societies have witnessed with the rising influence of neoliberalism—would not have been feasible were it not for the FrP’s increasing endorsement of the welfare state in Norway in the 1990s and 2000s, and its electoral pledges to outspend other parties in the public sector. The welfare state remains enormously popular across the political board in Norway.
Concerns about technocracy and elitism are challenges not just for mainstream parties. Already in 2006, the political scientist David Art found that all eighteen of the FrP’s own full-time political advisers had university degrees. Never before in Norwegian history had so many ministerial political appointees been recruited directly from the expanding sector of Norwegian corporate lobby firms as when the CP-FrP coalition government was appointed in October 2013. FrP chair Siv Jensen has occupied the post of Minister of Finance since 2013, but significant control over economic policy appears to be wielded by her secretary, a CP nominee with a background as a corporate investment banker. By and large, FrP cabinet ministers have been drawn from the very technocratic elite the party has long decried in its rhetoric, leaving the party’s main populists of working-class background to shout disapproval at their own FrP cabinet ministers’ policies from the sidelines. A case in point came in April 2015, when the FrP minister of agriculture increased import quotas for ritually slaughtered halalmeat, the sale of which FrP Vice Chairman Per Sandberg some weeks earlier had described as a sure sign of the ongoing “Islamization” of Norway.
The coalition government has ensured that funders and backers among the corporate business elite have gotten more than they bargained for. In the 2014 state budget for egalitarian Norway, the richest 1 percent of the population got 35 percent of the tax rebates; the richest 5 percent got 49 percent. An overwhelming majority of leading Norwegian economists, along with Thomas Piketty, condemned the budget; in response, Norwegian voters—overwhelmingly in favor of the welfare state and willing to pay higher taxes in order to sustain it—have begun abandoning the new government in significant numbers. With some opinion polls now placing the social democratic Labour Party at a higher level of support than it has enjoyed since the 1990s, the rise of the populist right in Norway may paradoxically turn out to be the rescue of social democracy in the long run.
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Earlier today, news came out that Taeyang and Min Hyo Rin are getting married next year.
YG Entertainment swiftly confirmed the reports saying “Taeyang and Min Hyo Rin are planning to get married next year in February before Taeyang’s enlistment. They are currently quietly preparing for the wedding. We’ll tell you more once we have the exact details.”
A representative from Min Hyo Rin’s agency Plum Entertainment also verified the news saying “I’ve checked directly and it’s true. They are planning to get married in February, but the exact date hasn’t been decided.”
Both agencies also stated that it is not a shotgun wedding (i.e. Min Hyo Rin is not pregnant). A source also disclosed that the two have been planning the wedding since last month and rather than a fancy ceremony, they are gearing towards a simple one.
Taeyang was recently invited to perform at a wedding ceremony in Bali and there are reports that Min Hyo Rin went with him.
Sources: Xsports News, Kyeongin News, TV Report, Sports News
Translated by: bigbangupdates
Taeyang’s Instagram Update:
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Star Trek fan-film from 1971
This video was a final exam in a TV production class that I took at Ohio State back in the spring of 1971. Even as a lad of 21, I always had to have everything preserved!! I had this taped on 1" open-reel videotape, then transferred it to U-Matic and then to Beta. (I got an A-.)
Betamax obsessive Ray Glasser produced this Star Trek fan-film in 1971 for a class at Ohio State; it's a nice, corny piece of work. I really like the scenery-chewing acting, and as John at Neatorama pointed out, the sideburns and mustache for Spock are damned stylish.
Make: a 3D printed replica of the shrine from Deities and Demigods, sized for D&D minis Deities and Demigods is a storied resource book from the first edition of Advanced Dungeons and Dragons: between being copyright trolled by false claims of infringement on the Lovecraft estate (and a more valid copyright claim over the use of Elric of Melnibon mythos), and the general uselessness of gods and demigods to the vast […] READ THE REST
Black Batman: an origin story for an alternate superhero Jamelle Bouie (previously), has proposed an alternate Black Batman, with an accompanying background story that goes beyond race-switching Bruce Wayne and instead looks at the cultural and racial politics of America and finds exactly the right niche where a Black vigilante in a mask would fit. READ THE REST
Make: an adorable crocheted AT-AT Walker You can make your own perfectly adorable chibi crocheted AT-AT Walker with this $5.90 pattern from Polish textile artist Kamila Krawczyk, AKA Krawka. (via The Stars My Destination) READ THE REST
Get certified online in machine learning and data science As big companies wrangle an ever-increasing amount of data, the applications for deep learning grow – and so do the job opportunities. If you’ve got a working knowledge of Python, all you need are the tools to start making data work for you. Get up to speed on the science and code behind the field […] READ THE REST
Listen to vinyl anywhere with this extremely portable record player Anyone who really listens to vinyl knows the medium is far from dead. But convincing others of its appeal can be an uphill battle. For one thing, there’s the gear: A quality record player takes up a lot more space than, say, a smartphone packed with thousands of streaming songs at the ready. But here’s […] READ THE REST
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Characteristics of a Real Man
The Alpha Male, the real man, a man’s man, a warrior, a stand-up guy. It doesn’t matter what you call him, he’s a leader, the guy others look to for motivation, inspiration, and often with a hint of jealousy. He’s the man women want, without inention the center of attention.
He’s the guy, the man.
Here’s 25 characteristics that make a man the alpha. Leave your additions (or subtractions) in the comments section.
1. The alpha male is persistent. There’s no quit in this man. He’s the tortose not the hare. He’s the last man standing.
2. The alpha male can defend himself and his family. He can handle himself with his fists, to put it another way.
3. The alpha male is in peak physical shape. He’s strong and athletic as well as aesthetically pleasing to the opposite sex.
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4. The alpha male is courageous. He doesn’t lack fear, rather, he accepts that it exists and faces it at every opportunity.
5. The alpha male can entertain. He has a sense of humor and can have a group of people hanging on his every word – he’s a good story teller.
6. The alpha male has stories to tell. He’s lived – and is living – a unique life. He’s made mistakes, but he’s able to find humor in them. He’s had adventures that everyone wants to hear about.
7. The alpha male can laugh at himself. This is an over-looked characteristic of an alpha male, but a ne
cessary one. You can’t make fun of the alpha male because he’ll join in, no one can make fun of him better than he can.
8. The alpha male is humble. Some of this comes from his ability to laugh at himself. No matter what he accomplishes, his head will never balloon, and if it does, he has the ware-with-all to come back down to earth before it gets out of hand.
9. The alpha male is learned, educated. A degree isn’t a prerequisite, but a thirst for knowledge is. He wants to learn, and he does. This helps him relate to people from every social and economic standing. He can converse intelligently with the business man and the preacher. The history buff and the sports nut.
10. The alpha male is a man’s man. He’s a hard guy not to like or want to have a beer with. He’s tough, often quiet, composed, but can joke and shoot the shit with anyone.
11. The alpha male knows the value of every word, he doesn’t talk simply to hear the sound of his own voice. His words are chosen carefully. He respects their power. Whether he’s writing or speaking, he doesn’t speak to be hear, he speaks when he has something of value to say. He’s never the loudest one in the room.
12. The alpha male has a purpose. This may be his most defining trait. Where many wander through life trying to find their Self, the alpha male is too busy creating his Self. Every day he does something to bring himself closer to his goal. He isn’t a wanderer, he’s going places; it’s so obvious that everyone around him can see it.
13. The alpha male is a hard worker. He knows that nothing great is accomplished without hard work and a definite purpose.
14. The alpha male is a warrior not a worrier. He understands that cetain things aren’t under his control. He does everything he can to control what hecan, but doesn’t worry about what he can’t. He’s not worried about tomorrow, he’s too busy working for today.
15. The alpha male doesn’t pick a fight, but he ends it if he’s in one. He isn’t a bully. He isn’t an emotional wreck that looks for a fight at every corner. But, if the logical thing to do is to fight because the situation calls for it, he will. He’ll also never hit a man when he’s down. He isn’t fighting to destroy, but to defend.
16. The alpha male has style. He takes pride in how he looks and people respect him for that. He also knows how to dress like a man. You’d never call the alpha male a metrosexual.
17. The alpha male knows who he is, his values govern his life. He doesn’t stray from these values, in fact he stands up for them. Even when he stands alone in what he believes is right, he digs his heels in and fights.
18. The alpha male knows how to treat a lady. He respects women, often because he’s had some great one’s in his life. He’s chivalrous.
He helps his lady at every chance. He helps her reach her dreams, all-the-while moving closer to attaining his own.
19. The alpha male isn’t a sucker. He isn’t a clinger. He doesn’t go out of his way to please everyone because that’s a futile endeavor. He won’t let a woman run his life. He’s his own man. Though he worships the ground his lady walks on, he knows how to pick ’em. He won’t be with a control-freak or a jealous woman. He has the social intelligence to see that storm before it peeks it’s nasty little head.
20. The alpha male is a man of value. “Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value.” Einstein knew that success is reached if you’re valuable to others. The alpha male is a man of value and values. He makes the lives of others better by being a part of them.
21. The alpha male helps others, he’s generous. He has his purpose, but he knows that life isn’t merely about accomplishments, but about leaving a legacy. That legacy is how he made others feel, and how he helps others accomplish their dreams.
22. The alpha male is a leader who leads by example. He doesn’t tell people how to live, but lives in the manner he sees as best to live.
23. Alpha males throughout history, Achilles, William Wallace, and Napoleon, saw opportunity where others saw failure. The alpha male will fail, but he won’t see failure as the end. He’s sees it as a necessary part of the experience, a stepping-stone. Knowing this allows him to try things others won’t, and to work harder when others usually quit.
24. The alpha male is stubborn. When he starts something he’s passionate about, no one can stop him or pull back on the reigns. He’s in it until the end. He’s also open-minded and willing to listen to other points of view. He knows he’s flawed and stubborn, so he gives way and learns from people who are better than him.
25. The alpha male doesn’t try to be an alpha male. That’s where so many fail. He is interested in life, in living. He’s fascinated by the world around him, in becoming the best man he can possibly become. He genuinely cares about people. He passionately works hard. He’s excited by life, by the opportunity that each day presents. He’s genuine in every facet of who he is. Each of the characteristics are possessed by him naturally, or will be as he grows as a man. Bred from curiosity, a genuine kindness, and a warrior’s heart, he is who he is, and all others follow him wherever he will lead them.
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Marc Skoda of Capital League 2 side Pine Rivers wrote his own headlines in Brisbane with a winner in time added on to break Narangba United hearts in Australia's first Westfield FFA Cup preliminary tie of 2017 last night.
With extra time looming, the Predators from Pine Rivers overcame their lower division opponents from the Capital League 3.
Skoda's header off a corner ensuring progression with a 2-1 win at Narangba Sporting Complex in Brisbane on Thursday night.
Team line-ups
Narangba Utd: 1. Daniel Skinner. 3. Shamus Crowley. 4. Ethan Wilson 6. Brigham Hikaiti 7. Aaron Warburton. 10. Kieron Greene. 11. Joshua Wilson. 13. William Holland. 14. Andrew Di Michele 15. Mitchell O Keefe. 16. Toto Hompa
Subs 5. Jake Turner. 8. Callum Bailey 9. Shannen Waldock 12. Chris Gararotto.
Pine Rivers Utd: 1. Byron Hope. 2. Tom Emes. 3. Joel Turner. 4. Nick Stucky. 5. Bronson Fenech. 6. Mitchell Rowse. 7. Mark Skoda. 8. Kieran Radnedge. 9. Jarrod Burton. 11. Samuel Deck 18. Samuel Middleton.
Subs. 12 Matthew Broadhurst. 13. Jorden Cumberbatch. 14. Robert Randle. 15. Nick Hurst. 16. Carl Morandy
For more on the game:
http://www.footballbrisbane.com.au/single-post/2017/02/10/Predators-first-to-progress-to-next-round-of-Westfield-FFA-Cup
Images courtesy of Yvonne Packbier - MMM Photography.
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Before we move on to the MongoDb injections, we must understand what MongoDb exactly is and why we prefer it over other databases. As MongoDb does not use SQL people assumed it is not vulnerable to any kind of injection attacks. But believe me, no one is born with inbuilt security aspects. We have to implement some logic in order to prevent attacks.
What is MongoDb?
In short MongoDb is an open-source database developed by MongoDb Inc., which stores data in JSON-like documents that can vary in structure. Here related information is stored together for fast query access through the MongoDb query language.
Why to use MongoDb?
Just because everyone wants quick results of the queries,MongoDb is most popular. It gives very high performance (1000 millionsquries/sec). Another reason why MongoDb is more popular is because it excels in many use cases where relational databases aren’t a good fit.For example,applications with unstructured, semi-structured and polymorphic data, as well as applications with large scalability requirements or multi-data center deployments.
Stop! Before go further, If you run any open source application. We are providing a free PenTest for open source projects. Submit your application for evaluation here.
Let’s walk through the injections
In the first case we have a PHP script which shows the username and password corresponding to a particular id.
In the above script you can see the name of the database is security, and the name of collection is users. We ontain the u_id parameter from the GET method, and then pass it to an array which gives us the associated results.Sounds good? Let’s try to put some comparison operators with the array.
Oops..!! It dumped the entire database for us. Can you figure out what went wrong with it? This happened because the input http://localhost/mongo/show.php?u_id[$ne]=2
created the following MongoDb query.
$qry= array(“id” => array(“$ne” => 2))
So accordingly it displays all the results except id=2 which we see in snapshot 1.
Let’s consider another case where the script does the same work as earlier, but in this case we’ll create MongoDb query with findOne method.
We’ll first have a quick look at the working of the findOne method. This method has the following syntax:
db.collection.findOne(query, projection)
This returns the document that satisfies the specified query criteria. For example if we need to find the result associated with id=2, we will fire the following command:
Now let’s have a look at the source code:
Here the key point is to somehow break the query and then fix it again. Can you guess what will happen if we typed the following query?
http://localhost/mongo/inject.php?u_name=dummy’});return{something:1,something:2}}//&u_pass=dummy
This will break the query and return the desired parameter. Let’s check the output:
Did you notice it gave us two errors, just because we wanted to access two parameters which really don’t exist? Indirectly this error shows that username and password are the parameters in database, and that’s what we want.
As soon as we type the correct parameter instead of something, the error is removed.
Now let’s say we want to find the name of database. In MongoDb,db.getName() method is used to find the name of the database. So the query will be:
In order to dump the database,we first need to find the name of the collections.The db.getCollectionNames()method is used to find the name of collections in MongoDb.
So, till now we have obtained the name of database and collections. What remains is to find the data inside the users collections which can be done as follows:
Similarly we can have other username and password by changing the parameter inside the function db.users.find()[2],like
Now that you’re familiar with MongoDb injections, probably you would want to know about the prevention of this kind of injection.
Let’s consider the first case where we pass the parameter to an array. To prevent this injection, we somehow need to stop the execution of comparison operators in the array.So, one of its solution is to use implode() function in the following way:
The implode()function returns a string from the elements of an array. Hence we get only one result corresponding to that particular id instead of all the results.
In the second case we can use addslashes() method so that the query cannot be broken by the attacker. However using regular expression to replace special symbols would be a great idea. You can use the following Regex:
$u_name =preg_replace(‘/[^a-z0-9]/i’, ‘\’, $_GET[‘u_name’]);
Now if we try to break the query, it won’t prompt us with an error.
References:
http://php.net/manual/en/mongocollection.find.php
https://media.blackhat.com/bh-us-11/Sullivan/BH_US_11_Sullivan_Server_Side_WP.pdf
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The island of Cuba was inhabited by various Mesoamerican cultures prior to the arrival of the Spanish in 1492. After the arrival, Spain conquered Cuba and appointed Spanish governors to rule in Havana. In 1762, Havana was briefly occupied by Great Britain, before being returned to Spain in exchange for Florida. A series of rebellions during the 19th century failed to end the Spanish rule. However, the Spanish–American War resulted in a Spanish withdrawal from the island in 1898, and following three-and-a-half years of subsequent US military rule,[1] Cuba gained formal independence in 1902.[2]
In the years following its independence, the Cuban republic saw significant economic development, but also political corruption and a succession of despotic leaders, culminating in the overthrow of the dictator Fulgencio Batista by the 26th of July Movement, led by Fidel and Raúl Castro Ruz, during the 1953–59 Cuban Revolution.[3] Cuba has since been governed as a socialist state by the Communist Party under the leadership of the Castro brothers.[4] The country has been politically and economically isolated by the United States since the Revolution, but has gradually gained access to foreign commerce and travel as efforts to normalise diplomatic relations have progressed.[5][6][7][8][9] Domestic economic reforms are also beginning to modernize Cuba's socialist economy.[10]
Pre-Columbian history [ edit ]
Cuba's earliest known human inhabitants colonized the island in the 4th millennium BC.[11] The oldest known Cuban archeological site, Levisa, dates from approximately 3100 BC.[12] A wider distribution of sites date from after 2000 BC, most notably represented by the Cayo Redondo and Guayabo Blanco cultures of western Cuba. These neolithic cultures utilised ground stone and shell tools and ornaments, including the dagger-like gladiolitos, which are believed to have had a ceremonial role.[13] The Cayo Redondo and Guayabo Blanco cultures lived a subsistence lifestyle based on fishing, hunting and collecting wild plants.[13]
Prior to Columbus' arrival, the indigenous Guanajatabey, who had inhabited Cuba for centuries, were driven to the far west of the island by the arrival of subsequent waves of migrants, including the Taíno and Ciboney. These people had migrated north along the Caribbean island chain.
The Taíno and Siboney were part of a cultural group commonly called the Arawak, who inhabited parts of northeastern South America prior to the arrival of Europeans. Initially, they settled at the eastern end of Cuba, before expanding westward across the island. The Spanish Dominican clergyman and writer Bartolomé de las Casas estimated that the Taíno population of Cuba had reached 350,000 by the end of the 15th century. The Taíno cultivated the yuca root, harvested it and baked it to produce cassava bread. They also grew cotton and tobacco, and ate maize and sweet potatoes. According to History of the Indians, they had "everything they needed for living; they had many crops, well arranged".[14]
Spanish conquest and early colonization [ edit ]
Christopher Columbus, on his first Spanish-sponsored voyage to the Americas in 1492, sailed south from what is now the Bahamas to explore the northeast coast of Cuba and the northern coast of Hispaniola. Columbus, who was searching for a route to India, believed the island to be a peninsula of the Asian mainland.[15][16] The first sighting of a Spanish ship approaching the island was on 28 October 1492, probably at Bariay, Holguín Province, on the eastern point of the island.[17]
During a second voyage in 1494, Columbus passed along the south coast of the island, landing at various inlets including what was to become Guantánamo Bay. With the Papal Bull of 1493, Pope Alexander VI commanded Spain to conquer, colonize and convert the pagans of the New World to Catholicism.[18] On arrival, Columbus observed the Taíno dwellings, describing them as "looking like tents in a camp. All were of palm branches, beautifully constructed".[19]
The Spanish began to create permanent settlements on the island of Hispaniola, east of Cuba, soon after Columbus' arrival in the Caribbean, but the coast of Cuba was not fully mapped by Europeans until 1509, when Sebastián de Ocampo completed this task.[20] In 1511, Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar set out from Hispaniola to form the first Spanish settlement in Cuba, with orders from Spain to conquer the island. The settlement was at Baracoa, but the new settlers were greeted with stiff resistance from the local Taíno population. The Taínos were initially organized by cacique (chieftain) Hatuey, who had himself relocated from Hispaniola to escape the brutalities of Spanish rule on that island. After a prolonged guerrilla campaign, Hatuey and successive chieftains were captured and burnt alive, and within three years the Spanish had gained control of the island. In 1514, a settlement was founded in what was to become Havana.
Clergyman Bartolomé de las Casas observed a number of massacres initiated by the invaders as the Spanish swept over the island, notably the massacre near Camagüey of the inhabitants of Caonao. According to his account, some three thousand villagers had traveled to Manzanillo to greet the Spanish with loaves, fishes and other foodstuffs, and were "without provocation, butchered".[21] The surviving indigenous groups fled to the mountains or the small surrounding islands before being captured and forced into reservations. One such reservation was Guanabacoa, which is today a suburb of Havana.[22]
A monument to the Taíno chieftain Hatuey in Baracoa , Cuba
In 1513, Ferdinand II of Aragon issued a decree establishing the encomienda land settlement system that was to be incorporated throughout the Spanish Americas. Velázquez, who had become Governor of Cuba relocating from Baracoa to Santiago de Cuba, was given the task of apportioning both the land and the indigenous peoples to groups throughout the new colony. The scheme was not a success, however, as the natives either succumbed to diseases brought from Spain such as measles and smallpox, or simply refused to work, preferring to slip away into the mountains.[17] Desperate for labor to toil the new agricultural settlements, the Conquistadors sought slaves from surrounding islands and the continental mainland. However, these new arrivals followed the indigenous peoples by also dispersing into the wilderness or dying of disease.[17]
Despite the difficult relations between the natives and the new Europeans, some cooperation was in evidence. The Spanish were shown by the natives how to nurture tobacco and consume it in the form of cigars. There were also many unions between the largely male Spanish colonists and indigenous women. Modern-day studies have revealed traces of DNA that renders physical traits similar to Amazonian tribes in individuals throughout Cuba,[23] although the native population was largely destroyed as a culture and civilization after 1550. Under the Spanish New Laws of 1552, indigenous Cuban were freed from encomienda, and seven towns for indigenous peoples were set up. There are indigenous descendant Cuban (Taíno) families in several places, mostly in eastern Cuba. The indigenous community at Caridad de los Indios, Guantánamo, is one such nucleus. An association of indigenous families in Jiguani, near Santiago, is also active. The local indigenous population also left their mark on the language, with some 400 Taíno terms and place-names surviving to the present day. The name of Cuba itself, Havana, Camagüey, and many others were derived from Classic Taíno, and indigenous words such as tobacco, hurricane and canoe were transferred to English and are used today.[22]
Arrival of African slaves [ edit ]
A 1736 colonial map by Herman Moll of the West Indies and Mexico, together comprising " New Spain ", with Cuba visible in the center.
The Spanish established sugar and tobacco as Cuba's primary products, and the island soon supplanted Hispaniola as the prime Spanish base in the Caribbean.[24] Further field labor was required. African slaves were then imported to work the plantations as field labor. However, restrictive Spanish trade laws made it difficult for Cubans to keep up with the 17th and 18th century advances in processing sugar cane pioneered in British Barbados and French Saint-Domingue (Haiti). Spain also restricted Cuba's access to the slave trade, which was dominated by the British, French, and Dutch. One important turning point came in the Seven Years' War, when the British conquered the port of Havana and introduced thousands of slaves in a ten-month period. Another key event was the Haitian Revolution in nearby Saint-Domingue, from 1791 to 1804. Thousands of French refugees, fleeing the slave rebellion in Saint Domingue, brought slaves and expertise in sugar refining and coffee growing into eastern Cuba in the 1790s and early 19th century.
In the 19th century, Cuban sugar plantations became the most important world producer of sugar, thanks to the expansion of slavery and a relentless focus on improving the island's sugar technology. Use of modern refining techniques was especially important because the British Slave Trade Act 1807 abolished the slave trade in the British Empire (but slavery itself remained legal until the Slavery Abolition Act 1833). Cubans were torn between desire for the profits generated by sugar and a repugnance for slavery, which they saw as morally, politically, and racially dangerous to their society. By the end of the 19th century, slavery was abolished.
However, prior to the abolition of slavery, Cuba gained great prosperity from its sugar trade. Originally, the Spanish had ordered regulations on trade with Cuba, which kept the island from becoming a dominant sugar producer. The Spanish were interested in keeping their trade routes and slave trade routes protected. Nevertheless, Cuba's vast size and abundance of natural resources made it an ideal place for becoming a booming sugar producer. When Spain opened the Cuban trade ports, it quickly became a popular place. New technology allowed a much more effective and efficient means of producing sugar. They began to use water mills, enclosed furnaces, and steam engines to produce higher-quality sugar at a much more efficient pace than elsewhere in the Caribbean.
The boom in Cuba's sugar industry in the 19th century made it necessary for the country to improve its transportation infrastructure. Planters needed safe and efficient ways to transport the sugar from the plantations to the ports, in order to maximize their returns. Many new roads were built, and old roads were quickly repaired. Railroads were built relatively early, easing the collection and transportation of perishable sugar cane. It was now possible for plantations all over this large island to have their sugar shipped quickly and easily.
Sugar plantations [ edit ]
Cuba failed to prosper before the 1760s, due to Spanish trade regulations. Spain had set up a trade monopoly in the Caribbean, and their primary objective was to protect this, which they did by barring the islands from trading with any foreign ships. The resultant stagnation of economic growth was particularly pronounced in Cuba because of its great strategic importance in the Caribbean, and the stranglehold that Spain kept on it as a result.
As soon as Spain opened Cuba's ports up to foreign ships, a great sugar boom began that lasted until the 1880s. The island was perfect for growing sugar, being dominated by rolling plains, with rich soil and adequate rainfall. By 1860, Cuba was devoted to growing sugar, having to import all other necessary goods. Cuba was particularly dependent on the United States, which bought 82 percent of its sugar. In 1820, Spain abolished the slave trade, hurting the Cuban economy even more and forcing planters to buy more expensive, illegal, and troublesome slaves (as demonstrated by the slave rebellion on the Spanish ship Amistad in 1839).[25]
The 16th–18th centuries: Cuba under attack [ edit ]
The fortress of El Morro in Havana, built in 1589
The British Fleet Entering Havana, 21 August 1762, a 1775 painting by , a 1775 painting by Dominic Serres
Colonial Cuba was a frequent target of buccaneers, pirates and French corsairs seeking Spain's New World riches. In response to repeated raids, defences were bolstered throughout the island during the 16th century. In Havana, the fortress of Castillo de los Tres Reyes Magos del Morro was built to deter potential invaders, which included the English privateer Francis Drake, who sailed within sight of Havana harbour but did not disembark on the island.[26] Havana's inability to resist invaders was dramatically exposed in 1628, when a Dutch fleet led by Piet Heyn plundered the Spanish ships in the city's harbor.[27] In 1662, English admiral and pirate Christopher Myngs captured and briefly occupied Santiago de Cuba on the eastern part of the island, in an effort to open up Cuba's protected trade with neighbouring Jamaica.[27]
Nearly a century later, the English were to invade in earnest, taking Guantánamo Bay in 1741 during the War of Jenkins' Ear with Spain. Edward Vernon, the British admiral who devised the scheme, saw his 4,000 occupying troops capitulate to local guerrilla resistance, and more critically, an epidemic, forcing him to withdraw his fleet to British-owned Jamaica.[28] In the War of the Austrian Succession, the British carried out unsuccessful attacks against Santiago de Cuba in 1741 and again in 1748. Additionally, a skirmish between British and Spanish naval squadrons occurred near Havana in 1748.[28]
The Seven Years' War, which erupted in 1754 across three continents, eventually arrived in the Spanish Caribbean. Spain's alliance with the French pitched them into direct conflict with the British, and in 1762 a British expedition of five warships and 4,000 troops set out from Portsmouth to capture Cuba. The British arrived on 6 June, and by August had Havana under siege.[29] When Havana surrendered, the admiral of the British fleet, George Keppel, the 3rd Earl of Albemarle, entered the city as a conquering new governor and took control of the whole western part of the island. The arrival of the British immediately opened up trade with their North American and Caribbean colonies, causing a rapid transformation of Cuban society. Food, horses and other goods flooded into the city, and thousands of slaves from West Africa were transported to the island to work on the undermanned sugar plantations.[29]
Though Havana, which had become the third-largest city in the Americas, was to enter an era of sustained development and closening ties with North America during this period, the British occupation of the city proved short-lived. Pressure from London sugar merchants fearing a decline in sugar prices forced a series of negotiations with the Spanish over colonial territories. Less than a year after Havana was seized, the Peace of Paris was signed by the three warring powers, ending the Seven Years' War. The treaty gave Britain Florida in exchange for Cuba on France's recommendation to Spain, The French advised that declining the offer could result in Spain losing Mexico and much of the South American mainland to the British.[29] This led to disappointment in Britain, as many believed that Florida was a poor return for Cuba and Britain's other gains in the war.
The 19th century: Years of Upheaval [ edit ]
In the early 19th century, three major political currents took shape in Cuba: reformism, annexation and independence. In addition, there were spontaneous and isolated actions carried out from time to time, adding a current of abolitionism. The Declaration of Independence by the 13 British colonies of North America, and the victory of the French Revolution of 1789, influenced early Cuban liberation movements, as did the successful revolt of black slaves in Haiti in 1791. One of the first, headed by a free black, Nicolás Morales, was aimed at gaining equality between "mulatto and whites" and the abolition of sales taxes and other fiscal burdens. Morales' plot was discovered in 1795 in Bayamo, and the conspirators were jailed.
Reform, autonomy and separatist movements [ edit ]
As a result of the political upheavals caused by the Iberian Peninsular War and the removal of Ferdinand VII from the Spanish throne, a western separatist rebellion emerged among the Cuban Creole aristocracy in 1809 and 1810. One of its leaders, Joaquín Infante, drafted Cuba's first constitution, declaring the island a sovereign state, presuming the rule of the country's wealthy, maintaining slavery as long as it was necessary for agriculture, establishing a social classification based on skin color and declaring Catholicism the official religion. This conspiracy also failed and the main leaders were sentenced to prison and deported to Spain.[30] In 1812, a mixed-race abolitionist conspiracy arose, organized by José Antonio Aponte, a free black carpenter in Havana. He and others were executed.
The main reason for the lack of support for these efforts was that the vast majority of Creoles, especially the plantation owners, rejected any kind of separatism, considering Spain's power essential to the maintenance of slavery. The Spanish Constitution of 1812, and the legislation passed by the Cádiz Cortes after it was set up in 1808, created a number of liberal political and commercial policies, which were welcomed in Cuba but also curtailed a number of older liberties. Between 1810 and 1814, the island elected six representatives to the Cortes, in addition to forming a locally elected Provincial Deputation.[31] Nevertheless, the liberal regime and the Constitution proved to be ephemeral: they were suppressed by Ferdinand VII when he returned to the throne in 1814. Therefore, by the end of the decade, some Cubans were inspired by the successes of Simón Bolívar in South America, despite the fact that the Spanish Constitution was restored in 1820. Numerous secret societies emerged, of which the most important was the so-called "Soles y Rayos de Bolívar", founded in 1821 and led by José Francisco Lemus. Its aim was to establish the free Republic of Cubanacán, and it had branches in five districts of the island. In 1823, the society's leaders were arrested and condemned to exile. In the same year, Ferdinand VII, with French help and the approval of the Quintuple Alliance, managed to abolish constitutional rule in Spain yet again and re-establish absolutism. As a result, the national militia of Cuba, established by the Constitution and a potential instrument for liberal agitation, was dissolved, a permanent executive military commission under the orders of the governor was created, newspapers were closed, elected provincial representatives were removed and other liberties suppressed.
This suppression, and the success of independence movements in the former Spanish colonies on the North American mainland, led to a notable rise of Cuban nationalism. A number of independence conspiracies took place during the 1820s and 1830s, but all failed. Among these were the "Expedición de los Trece" (Expedition of the 13) in 1826, the "Gran Legión del Aguila Negra" (Great Legion of the Black Eagle) in 1829, the "Cadena Triangular" (Triangular Chain) and the "Soles de la Libertad" (Suns of Liberty) in 1837. Leading national figures in these years included Félix Varela and Cuba's first revolutionary poet, José María Heredia.[32]
Antislavery and independence movements [ edit ]
In 1826, the first armed uprising for independence took place in Puerto Príncipe (Camagüey Province), led by Francisco de Agüero and Andrés Manuel Sánchez. Agüero, a white man, and Sánchez, a mulatto, were both executed, becoming the first popular martyrs of the Cuban independence movement.[33]
The 1830s also saw a surge of activity from the reformist movement, whose main leader was José Antonio Saco, standing out for his criticism of Spanish despotism and the slave trade. Nevertheless, this surge bore no fruit; Cubans remained deprived of the right to send representatives to the Spanish parliament, and Madrid stepped up repression.
Nonetheless, Spain had long been under pressure to end the slave trade. In 1817, it signed a first treaty, to which it did not adhere. With the abolition of slavery altogether in their colonies, the British forced Spain to sign another treaty in 1835. In this context, black revolts in Cuba increased, and were put down with mass executions. One of the most significant was the Conspiración de La Escalera (Ladder Conspiracy), which started in March 1843 and continued until 1844. The conspiracy took its name from a torture method, in which blacks were tied to a ladder and whipped until they confessed or died. The Ladder Conspiracy involved free blacks and slaves, as well as white intellectuals and professionals. It is estimated that 300 blacks and mulattos died from torture, 78 were executed, over 600 were imprisoned and over 400 expelled from the island.[34][35] (See comments in new translation of Villaverde's "Cecilia Valdés".) Among the executed was the leading poet Gabriel de la Concepción Valdés, now commonly known as "Placido".[36] José Antonio Saco, one of Cuba's most prominent thinkers, was expelled from Cuba.[37]
Following the 1868–1878 rebellion of the Ten Years' War, all slavery was abolished by 1886, making Cuba the second-to-last country in the Western Hemisphere to abolish slavery, with Brazil being the last. Instead of blacks, slave traders looked for others sources of cheap labour, such as Chinese colonists and Indians from Yucatán. Another feature of the population was the number of Spanish-born colonists, known as peninsulares, who were mostly adult males; they constituted between ten and twenty per cent of the population between the middle of the 19th century and the great depression of the 1930s.
The possibility of annexation [ edit ]
Black unrest and British pressure to abolish slavery motivated many Creoles to advocate Cuba's annexation by the United States, where slavery was still legal. Other Cubans supported the idea due to their desire for American-style economic development and democratic freedom. The annexation of Cuba was repeatedly proposed by government officials in the United States. In 1805, President Thomas Jefferson considered annexing Cuba for strategic reasons, sending secret agents to the island to negotiate with Captain General Someruelos.
In April 1823, U.S. Secretary of State John Quincy Adams discussed the rules of political gravitation, in a theory often referred to as the "ripe fruit theory". Adams wrote, "There are laws of political as well as physical gravitation; and if an apple severed by its native tree cannot choose but fall to the ground, Cuba, forcibly disjoined from its own unnatural connection with Spain, and incapable of self-support, can gravitate only towards the North American Union which by the same law of nature, cannot cast her off its bosom".[38] He furthermore warned that "the transfer of Cuba to Great Britain would be an event unpropitious to the interest of this Union".[39] Adams voiced concern that a country outside of North America would attempt to occupy Cuba upon its separation from Spain. He wrote, "The question both of our right and our power to prevent it, if necessary, by force, already obtrudes itself upon our councils, and the administration is called upon, in the performance of its duties to the nation, at least to use all the means with the competency to guard against and forfend it".[40]
On 2 December 1823, U.S. President James Monroe specifically addressed Cuba and other European colonies in his proclamation of the Monroe Doctrine. Cuba, located just 94 miles (151 km) from Key West, Florida, was of interest to the doctrine's founders, as they warned European forces to leave "America for the Americans".[41]
The most outstanding attempts in support of annexation were made by the Venezuelan filibuster General Narciso López, who prepared four expeditions to Cuba in the US. The first two, in 1848 and 1849, failed before departure due to U.S. opposition. The third, made up of some 600 men, managed to land in Cuba and take the central city of Cárdenas, but failed eventually due to a lack of popular support. López's fourth expedition landed in Pinar del Río province with around 400 men in August 1851; the invaders were defeated by Spanish troops and López was executed.
Resumption of independence struggle [ edit ]
In the 1860s, Cuba had two more liberal-minded governors, Serrano and Dulce, who encouraged the creation of a Reformist Party, despite the fact that political parties were forbidden. But they were followed by a reactionary governor, Francisco Lersundi, who suppressed all liberties granted by the previous governors and maintained a pro-slavery regime.[42] On 10 October 1868, the landowner Carlos Manuel de Céspedes declared Cuban independence and freedom for his slaves. This began the Ten Years' War, which lasted from 1868 to 1878, and eventually contributed to the abolition of slavery in 1886.
1895–98: War of Independence [ edit ]
Build-up to the war [ edit ]
Social, political, and economic change [ edit ]
During the time of the so-called "Rewarding Truce", which encompassed the 17 years from the end of the Ten Years' War in 1878, fundamental changes took place in Cuban society. With the abolition of slavery in October 1886, former slaves joined the ranks of farmers and urban working class. Most wealthy Cubans lost their rural properties, and many of them joined the urban middle class. The number of sugar mills dropped and efficiency increased, with only companies and the most powerful plantation owners owning them. The numbers of campesinos and tenant farmers rose considerably. Furthermore, American capital began flowing into Cuba, mostly into the sugar and tobacco businesses and mining. By 1895, these investments totalled $50 million. Although Cuba remained Spanish politically, economically it became increasingly dependent on the United States.[43]
These changes also entailed the rise of labour movements. The first Cuban labour organization, the Cigar Makers Guild, was created in 1878, followed by the Central Board of Artisans in 1879, and many more across the island.[44] Abroad, a new trend of aggressive American influence emerged, evident in Secretary of State James G. Blaine's expressed belief that all of Central and South America would some day fall to the US. Blaine placed particular importance on the control of Cuba. "That rich island", he wrote on 1 December 1881, "the key to the Gulf of Mexico, is, though in the hands of Spain, a part of the American commercial system…If ever ceasing to be Spanish, Cuba must necessarily become American and not fall under any other European domination".[45] Blaine's vision did not allow the existence of an independent Cuba.[46]
Martí's insurrection and the start of the war [ edit ]
After his second deportation to Spain in 1878, the pro-independence Cuban activist José Martí moved to the United States in 1881, where he began mobilizing the support of the Cuban exile community in Florida, especially in Ybor City in Tampa and Key West.[47] He sought a revolution and Cuban independence from Spain, but also lobbied to oppose U.S. annexation of Cuba, which some American and Cuban politicians desired. Propaganda efforts continued for years and intensified starting in 1895.[48][49]
After deliberations with patriotic clubs across the United States, the Antilles and Latin America, the Partido Revolucionario Cubano (Cuban Revolutionary Party) was officially proclaimed on 10 April 1892, with the purpose of gaining independence for both Cuba and Puerto Rico. Martí was elected delegate, the highest party position. By the end of 1894, the basic conditions for launching the revolution were set.[50] In Foner's words, "Martí's impatience to start the revolution for independence was affected by his growing fear that the United States would succeed in annexing Cuba before the revolution could liberate the island from Spain".[46]
On 25 December 1894, three ships, the Lagonda, the Almadis and the Baracoa, set sail for Cuba from Fernandina Beach, Florida, loaded with armed men and supplies. Two of the ships were seized by U.S. authorities in early January, who also alerted the Spanish government, but the proceedings went ahead. The insurrection began on 24 February 1895, with uprisings all across the island. In Oriente the most important ones took place in Santiago, Guantánamo, Jiguaní, San Luis, El Cobre, El Caney, Alto Songo, Bayate and Baire. The uprisings in the central part of the island, such as Ibarra, Jagüey Grande and Aguada, suffered from poor co-ordination and failed; the leaders were captured, some of them deported and some executed. In the province of Havana the insurrection was discovered before it got off and the leaders detained. Thus, the insurgents further west in Pinar del Río were ordered to wait.
Martí, on his way to Cuba, gave the Proclamation of Montecristi in Santo Domingo, outlining the policy for Cuba's war of independence: the war was to be waged by blacks and whites alike; participation of all blacks was crucial for victory; Spaniards who did not object to the war effort should be spared, private rural properties should not be damaged; and the revolution should bring new economic life to Cuba.[45][51]
On 1 and 11 April 1895, the main rebel leaders landed on two expeditions in Oriente: Major Antonio Maceo and 22 members near Baracoa and Martí, Máximo Gomez and four other members in Playitas. Around that time, Spanish forces in Cuba numbered about 80,000, of which 20,000 were regular troops, and 60,000 were Spanish and Cuban volunteers. The latter were a locally enlisted force that took care of most of the guard and police duties on the island. Wealthy landowners would volunteer a number of their slaves to serve in this force, which was under local control and not under official military command. By December, 98,412 regular troops had been sent to the island and the number of volunteers had increased to 63,000 men. By the end of 1897, there were 240,000 regulars and 60,000 irregulars on the island. The revolutionaries were far outnumbered.[45]
The rebels came to be nicknamed "Mambis" after a black Spanish officer, Juan Ethninius Mamby, who joined the Dominicans in the fight for independence in 1846. The Spanish soldiers referred to the Dominican insurgents as "the men of Mamby" and "Mambis". When the Ten Years' War broke out in 1868, some of the same soldiers were assigned to Cuba, importing what had by then become a derogatory Spanish slur. The Cubans adopted the name with pride.
After the Ten Years' War, possession of weapons by private individuals was prohibited in Cuba. Thus, one of the most serious and persistent problems for the rebels was a shortage of suitable weapons. This lack of arms forced them to utilise guerrilla tactics, using the environment, the element of surprise, fast horses and simple weapons such as machetes. Most of their firearms were acquired in raids on the Spaniards. Between 11 June 1895 and 30 November 1897, 60 attempts were made to bring weapons and supplies to the rebels from outside Cuba, but only one succeeded, largely due to British naval protection. 28 of these resupply attempts were halted within U.S. territory, five were intercepted by the U.S. Navy, four by the Spanish Navy, two were wrecked, one was driven back to port by a storm, and the fate of another is unknown.[45]
Escalation of the war [ edit ]
Rebel leaders engaged in extensive propaganda to get the U.S. to intervene, as shown in this cartoon in an American magazine. Columbia (the American people) reaches out to help oppressed Cuba in 1897 while Uncle Sam (the U.S. government) is blind to the crisis and will not use its powerful guns to help. Judge magazine , February 6, 1897.
Martí was killed shortly after his landing at Dos Rios on 19 May 1895, but Máximo Gomez and Antonio Maceo fought on, taking the war to all parts of Oriente. By the end of June all of Camagüey was at war. Continuing west, Gomez and Maceo joined up with veterans of the 1868 war, Polish internationalists, General Carlos Roloff and Serafín Sánchez in Las Villas, swelling their ranks and boosting their arsenal. In mid-September, representatives of the five Liberation Army Corps assembled in Jimaguayú, Camagüey, to approve the Jimaguayú Constitution. This constitution established a central government, which grouped the executive and legislative powers into one entity, the Government Council, which was headed by Salvador Cisneros and Bartolomé Masó.
After a period of consolidation in the three eastern provinces, the liberation armies headed for Camagüey and then for Matanzas, outmanoeuvring and deceiving the Spanish Army several times. The revolutionaries defeated the Spanish general Arsenio Martínez Campos, himself the victor of the Ten Years' War, and killed his most trusted general at Peralejo. Campos tried the same strategy he had employed in the Ten Years' War, constructing a broad defensive belt across the island, about 80 kilometres (50 mi) long and 200 metres (660 ft) wide. This line, called the trocha, was intended to limit rebel activities to the eastern provinces, and consisted of a railroad, from Jucaro in the south to Moron in the north, on which armored railcars could travel. At various points along this railroad there were fortifications, at intervals of 12 metres (39 ft) there were posts and at intervals of 400 metres (1,300 ft) there was barbed wire. In addition, booby traps were placed at the locations most likely to be attacked.
For the rebels, it was essential to bring the war to the western provinces of Matanzas, Havana and Pinar del Río, where the island's government and wealth was located. The Ten Years' War failed because it had not managed to proceed beyond the eastern provinces.[45] In a successful cavalry campaign, overcoming the trochas, the rebels invaded every province. Surrounding all the larger cities and well-fortified towns, they arrived at the westernmost tip of the island on 22 January 1896, exactly three months after the invasion near Baraguá.[52][53]
Campos was replaced by Gen. Valeriano Weyler y Nicolau (nicknamed The Butcher), who reacted to these rebel successes by introducing terror methods: periodic executions, mass exiles, and the destruction of farms and crops. These methods reached their height on 21 October 1896, when he ordered all countryside residents and their livestock to gather in various fortified areas and towns occupied by his troops within eight days. Hundreds of thousands of people had to leave their homes, creating appalling conditions of overcrowding in the towns and cities. This was the first recorded and recognized use of Concentration Camps where non-combatants were removed from their land to deprive the enemy of succor and then the internees were subjected to appalling conditions. Spain carried out similar action is the Philippines shortly after, again resulting in massive non combatant fatalities. It is estimated that this measure caused the death of at least one-third of Cuba's rural population.[54] The forced relocation policy was maintained until March 1898.[45]
Since the early 1880s, Spain had also been suppressing an independence movement in the Philippines, which was intensifying; Spain was thus now fighting two wars, which placed a heavy burden on its economy. In secret negotiations in 1896, Spain turned down the United States' offers to buy Cuba.
Maceo was killed on 7 December 1896, in Havana province, while returning from the west.[56] As the war continued, the major obstacle to Cuban success was weapons supply. Although weapons and funding came from within the United States, the supply operation violated American laws, which were enforced by the U.S. Coast Guard; of 71 resupply missions, only 27 got through, with 5 being stopped by the Spanish and 33 by the U.S. Coast Guard.[57]
In 1897, the liberation army maintained a privileged position in Camagüey and Oriente, where the Spanish only controlled a few cities. Spanish liberal leader Praxedes Sagasta admitted in May 1897: "After having sent 200,000 men and shed so much blood, we don't own more land on the island than what our soldiers are stepping on".[58] The rebel force of 3,000 defeated the Spanish in various encounters, such as the battle of La Reforma and the surrender of Las Tunas on 30 August, and the Spaniards were kept on the defensive. Las Tunas had been guarded by over 1,000 well-armed and well-supplied men.
As stipulated at the Jimaguayú Assembly two years earlier, a second Constituent Assembly met in La Yaya, Camagüey, on 10 October 1897. The newly adopted constitution decreed that a military command be subordinated to civilian rule. The government was confirmed, naming Bartolomé Masó as president and Domingo Méndez Capote as vice president. Thereafter, Madrid decided to change its policy toward Cuba, replacing Weyler, drawing up a colonial constitution for Cuba and Puerto Rico, and installing a new government in Havana. But with half the country out of its control, and the other half in arms, the new government was powerless and rejected by the rebels.
The Maine incident [ edit ]
The wreckage of the USS Maine , photographed in 1898
The Cuban struggle for independence had captured the North American imagination for years and newspapers had been agitating for intervention with sensational stories of Spanish atrocities against the native Cuban population. Americans came to believe that Cuba's battle with Spain resembled United States's Revolutionary War. This continued even after Spain replaced Weyler and said it changed its policies, and the North American public opinion was very much in favour of intervening in favor of the Cubans.[59]
In January 1898, a riot by Cuban-Spanish loyalists against the new autonomous government broke out in Havana, leading to the destruction of the printing presses of four local newspapers which published articles critical of the Spanish Army. The U.S. Consul-General cabled Washington, fearing for the lives of Americans living in Havana. In response, the battleship USS Maine was sent to Havana in the last week of January. On 15 February 1898, the Maine was destroyed by an explosion, killing 268 crewmembers. The cause of the explosion has not been clearly established to this day, but the incident focused American attention on Cuba, and President William McKinley and his supporters could not stop Congress from declaring war to "liberate" Cuba.
In an attempt to appease the United States, the colonial government took two steps that had been demanded by President McKinley: it ended the forced relocation policy and offered negotiations with the independence fighters. However, the truce was rejected by the rebels and the concessions proved too late and too ineffective. Madrid asked other European powers for help; they refused and said Spain should back down.
On 11 April 1898, McKinley asked Congress for authority to send U.S. troops to Cuba for the purpose of ending the civil war there. On 19 April, Congress passed joint resolutions (by a vote of 311 to 6 in the House and 42 to 35 in the Senate) supporting Cuban independence and disclaiming any intention to annex Cuba, demanding Spanish withdrawal, and authorizing the president to use as much military force as he thought necessary to help Cuban patriots gain independence from Spain. This was adopted by resolution of Congress and included from Senator Henry Teller the Teller Amendment, which passed unanimously, stipulating that "the island of Cuba is, and by right should be, free and independent".[60] The amendment disclaimed any intention on the part of the United States to exercise jurisdiction or control over Cuba for other than pacification reasons, and confirmed that the armed forces would be removed once the war is over. Senate and Congress passed the amendment on 19 April, McKinley signed the joint resolution on 20 April and the ultimatum was forwarded to Spain. War was declared on 20/21 April 1898.
"It's been suggested that a major reason for the U.S. war against Spain was the fierce competition emerging between Joseph Pulitzer's New York World and William Randolph Hearst's New York Journal", Joseph E. Wisan wrote in an essay titled "The Cuban Crisis As Reflected In The New York Press", published in American Imperialism in 1898. He stated that "In the opinion of the writer, the Spanish–American War would not have occurred had not the appearance of Hearst in New York journalism precipitated a bitter battle for newspaper circulation." It has also been argued that the main reason the United States entered the war was the failed secret attempt, in 1896, to purchase Cuba from a weaker, war-depleted Spain.[45]
The Cuban theatre of the Spanish–American War [ edit ]
Hostilities started hours after the declaration of war when a U.S. contingent under Admiral William T. Sampson blockaded several Cuban ports. The Americans decided to invade Cuba and to start in Oriente where the Cubans had almost absolute control and were able to co-operate, for example, by establishing a beachhead and protecting the U.S. landing in Daiquiri. The first U.S. objective was to capture the city of Santiago de Cuba in order to destroy Linares' army and Cervera's fleet. To reach Santiago they had to pass through concentrated Spanish defences in the San Juan Hills and a small town in El Caney. Between 22 and 24 June 1898 the Americans landed under General William R. Shafter at Daiquirí and Siboney, east of Santiago, and established a base. The port of Santiago became the main target of U.S. naval operations, and the American fleet attacking Santiago needed shelter from the summer hurricane season. Nearby Guantánamo Bay, with its excellent harbour, was chosen for this purpose and attacked on 6 June. The Battle of Santiago de Cuba, on 3 July 1898, was the largest naval engagement during the Spanish–American War, and resulted in the destruction of the Spanish Caribbean Squadron.
Resistance in Santiago consolidated around Fort Canosa,[61] while major battles between Spaniards and Americans took place at Las Guasimas on 24 June, and at El Caney and San Juan Hill on 1 July,[62] after which the American advance ground to a halt. Spanish troops successfully defended Fort Canosa, allowing them to stabilize their line and bar the entry to Santiago. The Americans and Cubans began a brutal siege of the city,[63] which surrendered on 16 July after the defeat of the Spanish Caribbean Squadron. Thus, Oriente fell under the control of Americans and the Cubans, but U.S. General Nelson A. Miles would not allow Cuban troops to enter Santiago, claiming that he wanted to prevent clashes between Cubans and Spaniards. Thus, Cuban General Calixto García, head of the mambi forces in the Eastern department, ordered his troops to hold their respective areas and resigned, writing a letter of protest to General Shafter.[60]
After losing the Philippines and Puerto Rico, which had also been invaded by the United States, and with no hope of holding on to Cuba, Spain sued for peace on 17 July 1898.[64] On 12 August, the U.S. and Spain signed a protocol of peace, in which Spain agreed to relinquish all claim of sovereignty over and title of Cuba.[65] On 10 December 1898, the U.S. and Spain signed the formal Treaty of Paris, recognizing continuing U. S. military occupation.[66] Although the Cubans had participated in the liberation efforts, the United States prevented Cuba from sending representatives to the Paris peace talks or signing the treaty, which set no time limit for U.S. occupation and excluded the Isle of Pines from Cuba.[67] Although the U.S. President had no objection to Cuba's eventual independence, U.S. General William R. Shafter refused to allow Cuban General Calixto García and his rebel forces to participate in the surrender ceremonies in Santiago de Cuba.
First U.S. occupation and the Platt amendment [ edit ]
After the last Spanish troops left the island in December 1898, the government of Cuba was temporarily handed over to the United States on 1 January 1899. The first governor was General John R. Brooke. Unlike Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines, the United States did not annex Cuba because of the restrictions imposed in the Teller Amendment.[68]
Political changes [ edit ]
The U.S. administration was undecided on Cuba's future status. Once it had been pried away from the Spaniards it was to be assured that it moved and remained in the U.S. sphere. How this was to be achieved was a matter of intense discussion and annexation was an option, not only on the mainland but also in Cuba. McKinley spoke about the links that should exist between the two nations.[69]
Brooke set up a civilian government, placed U.S. governors in seven newly created departments, and named civilian governors for the provinces as well as mayors and representatives for the municipalities. Many Spanish colonial government officials were kept in their posts. The population were ordered to disarm and, ignoring the Mambi Army, Brooke created the Rural Guard and municipal police corps at the service of the occupation forces. Cuba's judicial powers and courts remained legally based on the codes of the Spanish government. Tomás Estrada Palma, Martí's successor as delegate of the Cuban Revolutionary Party, dissolved the party a few days after the signing of the Paris Treaty in December 1898, claiming that the objectives of the party had been met. The revolutionary Assembly of Representatives was also dissolved. Thus, the three representative institutions of the national liberation movement disappeared.[70]
Economic changes [ edit ]
Before the United States officially took over the government, it had already begun cutting tariffs on American goods entering Cuba, without granting the same rights to Cuban goods going to the United States.[71] Government payments had to be made in U.S. dollars.[72] In spite of the Foraker Amendment, which prohibited the U.S. occupation government from granting privileges and concessions to American investors, the Cuban economy was soon dominated by American capital.[71] The growth of American sugar estates was so quick that in 1905 nearly 10% of Cuba's total land area belonged to American citizens. By 1902, American companies controlled 80% of Cuba's ore exports and owned most of the sugar and cigarette factories.[73]
Immediately after the war, there were several serious barriers for foreign businesses attempting to operate in Cuba. Three separate pieces of legislation—the Joint Resolution of 1898, the Teller Amendment, and the Foraker Amendment—threatened foreign investment. The Joint Resolution of 1898 stated that the Cuban people are by right free and independent, while the Teller Amendment further declared that the United States could not annex Cuba. These two pieces of legislation were crucial in appeasing anti-imperialists as the United States intervened in the war in Cuba. Similarly, the Foraker Amendment, which prohibited the U.S. military government from granting concessions to American companies, was passed to appease anti-imperialists during the occupational period. Although these three statutes enabled the United States to gain a foothold in Cuba, they presented obstacles for American businesses to acquire land and permits. Eventually, Cornelius Van Horne of the Cuba Company, an early railroad company in Cuba, found a loophole in "revocable permits" justified by preexisting Spanish legislation that effectively allowed railroads to be built in Cuba. General Leonard Wood, the governor of Cuba and a noted annexationist, used this loophole to grant hundreds of franchises, permits, and other concessions to American businesses.[74]
Once the legal barriers were overcome, American investments transformed the Cuban economy. Within two years of entering Cuba, the Cuba Company built a 350-mile railroad connecting the eastern port of Santiago to the existing railways in central Cuba. The company was the largest single foreign investment in Cuba for the first two decades of the twentieth century. By the 1910s it was the largest company in the country.[75] The improved infrastructure allowed the sugar cane industry to spread to the previously underdeveloped eastern part of the country. As many small Cuban sugar cane producers were crippled with debt and damages from the war, American companies were able to quickly and cheaply take over the sugar cane industry. At the same time, new productive units called centrales could grind up to 2,000 tons of cane a day making large-scale operations most profitable.[76] The large fixed cost of these centrales made them almost exclusively accessible to American companies with large capital stocks. Furthermore, the centrales required a large, steady flow of cane to remain profitable, which led to further consolidation in the industry. Cuban cane farmers who had formerly been landowners became tenants on company land, funneling raw cane to the centrales. By 1902, 40% of the country’s sugar production was controlled by North Americans.[77]
With American corporate interests firmly rooted in Cuba, the U.S. tariff system was adjusted accordingly to strengthen trade between the nations. The Reciprocity Treaty of 1903 lowered the U.S. tariff on Cuban sugar by 20%. This gave Cuban sugar a competitive edge in the American marketplace. At the same time, it granted equal or greater concessions on most items imported from the United States. Cuban imports of American goods went from $17 million in the five years before the war, to $38 million in 1905, and eventually to over $200 million in 1918. Likewise, Cuban exports to the United States reached $86 million in 1905 and rose to nearly $300 million in 1918.[78]
Elections and independence [ edit ]
Popular demands for a Constituent Assembly soon emerged.[67] In December 1899, the U.S. War Secretary assured the Cuban populace that the occupation was temporary, that municipal and general elections would be held, that a Constituent Assembly would be set up, and that sovereignty would be handed to Cubans. Brooke was replaced by General Leonard Wood to oversee the transition. Parties were created, including the Cuban National Party, the Federal Republican Party of Las Villas, the Republican Party of Havana and the Democratic Union Party.
The first elections for mayors, treasurers and attorneys of the country's 110 municipalities for a one-year-term took place on 16 June 1900, but balloting was limited to literate Cubans older than 21 and with properties worth more than $250. Only members of the dissolved Liberation Army were exempt from these conditions. Thus, the number of about 418,000 male citizens over 21 was reduced to about 151,000. 360,000 women were totally excluded. The same elections were held one year later, again for a one-year-term.
Elections for 31 delegates to a Constituent Assembly were held on 15 September 1900 with the same balloting restrictions. In all three elections, pro-independence candidates, including a large number of mambi delegates, won overwhelming majorities.[79] The Constitution was drawn up from November 1900 to February 1901 and then passed by the Assembly. It established a republican form of government, proclaimed internationally recognized individual rights and liberties, freedom of religion, separation between church and state, and described the composition, structure and functions of state powers.
On 2 March 1901, the U.S. Congress passed the Army Appropriations Act, stipulating the conditions for the withdrawal of United States troops remaining in Cuba following the Spanish–American War. As a rider, this act included the Platt Amendment, which defined the terms of Cuban-U.S. relations until 1934. It replaced the earlier Teller Amendment. The amendment provided for a number of rules heavily infringing on Cuba's sovereignty:
That the government of Cuba shall never enter into any treaty with any foreign power which will impair the independence of Cuba, nor in any manner permit any foreign power to obtain control over any portion of the island.
That Cuba would contract no foreign debt without guarantees that the interest could be served from ordinary revenues.
That Cuba consent that the United States may intervene for the preservation of Cuban independence, to protect life, property, and individual liberty, and to discharging the obligations imposed by the treaty of Paris.
That the Cuban claim to the Isle of Pines (now called Isla de la Juventud) was not acknowledged and to be determined by treaty.
That Cuba commit to providing the United States "lands necessary for coaling or naval stations at certain specified points to be agreed upon".
As a precondition to Cuba's independence, the United States demanded that this amendment be approved fully and without changes by the Constituent Assembly as an appendix to the new constitution. Faced with this alternative, the appendix was approved, after heated debate, by a margin of four votes. Governor Wood admitted: "Little or no independence had been left to Cuba with the Platt Amendment and the only thing appropriate was to seek annexation".[79]
In the presidential elections of 31 December 1901, Tomás Estrada Palma, a U.S. citizen still living in the United States, was the only candidate. His adversary, General Bartolomé Masó, withdrew his candidacy in protest against U.S. favoritism and the manipulation of the political machine by Palma's followers. Palma was elected to be the Republic's first President, although he only returned to Cuba four months after the election. The U.S. occupation officially ended when Palma took office on 20 May 1902.[80]
Cuba in the early 20th century [ edit ]
In 1902, the United States handed over control to a Cuban government. As a condition of the transfer, the Cuban state had included in its constitution provisions implementing the requirements of the Platt Amendment, which among other things gave the United States the right to intervene militarily in Cuba. Havana and Varadero soon became popular tourist resorts. Though some efforts were made to ease Cuba's ethnic tensions through government policies, racism and informal discrimination towards blacks and mestizos remained widespread during this era.[81]
President Tomás Estrada Palma was elected in 1902, and Cuba was declared independent, though Guantanamo Bay was leased to the United States as part of the Platt Amendment. The status of the Isle of Pines as Cuban territory was left undefined until 1925, when the United States finally recognized Cuban sovereignty over the island. Estrada Palma, a frugal man, governed successfully for his four-year term; yet when he tried to extend his time in office, a revolt ensued.
The Second Occupation of Cuba, also known as the Cuban Pacification, was a major US military operation that began in September 1906. After the collapse of President Palma's regime, US President Roosevelt ordered an invasion and established an occupation that would continue for nearly four years. The goal of the operation was to prevent fighting between the Cubans, to protect North American economic interests, and to hold free elections. In 1906, the United States representative William Howard Taft, notably with the personal diplomacy of Frederick Funston, negotiated an end of the successful revolt led by the young general Enrique Loynaz del Castillo,[82] who had served under Antonio Maceo in the final war of independence. Estrada Palma resigned, and the United States Governor Charles Magoon assumed temporary control until 1909.[83] In this period, Agustín Martín Veloz and Francisco (Paquito) Rosales founded the embryonic Cuban Communist Party in the area of Manzanillo.[84] Following the election of José Miguel Gómez in November 1908, Cuba was deemed stable enough to allow a withdrawal of American troops, which was completed in February 1909.
For three decades, the country was led by former War of Independence leaders, who after being elected did not serve more than two constitutional terms. The Cuban presidential succession was as follows: José Miguel Gómez (1908–1912); Mario García Menocal (1913–1920); Alfredo Zayas (1921–25) and Gerardo Machado (1925–1933).[85]
Under the Liberal Gómez the participation of Afro-Cubans in the political process was curtailed when the Partido Independiente de Color was outlawed and bloodily suppressed in 1912, as American troops reentered the country to protect the sugar plantations.[86] Gómez’s successor, Mario Menocal of the Conservative Party, was a former manager for the Cuban American Sugar Corporation. During his presidency income from sugar rose steeply.[87] Menocal’s reelection in 1916 was met with armed revolt by Gómez and other Liberals (the so-called "Chambelona War"), prompting the United States to send in Marines, again to safeguard American interests. Gómez was defeated and captured and the rebellion was snuffed out.[88]
In World War I, Cuba declared war on Imperial Germany on 7 April 1917, one day after the United States entered the war. Despite being unable to send troops to fight in Europe, Cuba played a significant role as a base to protect the West Indies from German U-boat attacks. A draft law was instituted, and 25,000 Cuban troops raised, but the war ended before they could be sent into action.
Alfredo Zayas, who had taken part in the Liberal rebellion of 1916-17, was elected President in 1920 and took office in 1921. When the Cuban financial system collapsed after a drop in sugar prices, Zayas secured a loan from the United States in 1922. Despite the country’s nominal independence, one historian has concluded that the continued U.S. military intervention and economic dominance had once again made Cuba "a colony in all but name."[89]
After World War I [ edit ]
President Gerardo Machado was elected by popular vote in 1925, but he was constitutionally barred from reelection. Machado, determined to modernize Cuba, set in motion several massive civil works projects such as the Central Highway, but at the end of his constitutional term he held on to power. The United States, despite the Platt Amendment, decided not to interfere militarily. The Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) did very little to resist Machado in his dictator phase; however, numerous other groups did. In the late 1920s and early 1930s a number of Cuban action groups, including some Mambí, staged a series of uprisings that either failed or did not affect the capital.
The Sergeants' Revolt undermined the institutions and coercive structures of the oligarchic state. The young and relatively inexperienced revolutionaries found themselves pushed into the halls of state power by worker and peasant mobilisations. Between September 1933 and January 1934 a loose coalition of radical activists, students, middle-class intellectuals, and disgruntled lower-rank soldiers formed a Provisional Revolutionary Government. This coalition was directed by a popular university professor, Dr Ramón Grau San Martín. The Grau government promised a 'new Cuba' with social justice for all classes, and the abrogation of the Platt Amendment. While the revolutionary leaders certainly wanted diplomatic recognition by Washington, they believed their legitimacy stemmed from the popular rebellion which brought them to power, and not from the approval of the United States' Department of State.
To this end, throughout the autumn of 1933, the government decreed a dramatic series of reforms. The Platt Amendment was unilaterally abrogated, and all the political parties of the Machadato were dissolved. The Provisional Government granted autonomy to the University of Havana, women obtained the right to vote, the eight-hour day was decreed, a minimum wage was established for cane-cutters, and compulsory arbitration was promoted. The government created a Ministry of Labour, and a law was passed establishing that 50 per cent of all workers in agriculture, commerce and industry had to be Cuban citizens. The Grau regime set agrarian reform as a priority, promising peasants legal title to their lands. For the first time in Cuban history the country was governed by people who did not negotiate the terms of political power with Spain (before 1898), or with the United States (after 1898). The Provisional Government survived until January 1934, when it was overthrown by an equally loose anti-government coalition of right-wing civilian and military elements. Led by a young mulatto sergeant, Fulgencio Batista y Zaldivar, this movement was supported by the United States.[90]
The 1940 constitution and the Batista era [ edit ]
Rise of Batista [ edit ]
In 1940, Cuba conducted free and fair national elections.[91][92] Fulgencio Batista, endorsed by Communists,[93] won the election. Communists attacked the anti-Batista opposition, branding Ramón Grau San Martín and other candidates as "fascists", "reactionaries", and "Trotskyists".[93] The relatively progressivist 1940 Constitution was adopted by the Batista administration.[91][92] The constitution denied Batista the possibility of running consecutively in the 1944 election.
Rather than endorsing Batista's hand-picked successor Carlos Zayas, the Cuban people elected Ramón Grau San Martín in 1944. A populist physician, who had briefly held the presidency in the 1933 revolutionary process, Grau made a deal with labor unions to continue Batista's pro-labor policies.[93] Grau's administration coincided with the end of World War II, and he presided over an economic boom as sugar production expanded and prices rose. He instituted programs of public works and school construction, increasing social security benefits and encouraging economic development and agricultural production. However, increased prosperity brought increased corruption, with nepotism and favoritism flourishing in the political establishment, and urban violence, a legacy of the early 1930s, reappearing on a large scale.[93][94] The country was also steadily gaining a reputation as a base for organized crime, with the Havana Conference of 1946 seeing leading Mafia mobsters descend upon the city.[95]
Grau's presidency was followed by that of Carlos Prío Socarrás, also elected democratically, but whose government was tainted by increasing corruption and violent incidents among political factions. Around the same time, Fidel Castro became a public figure at the University of Havana. Eduardo Chibás – the leader of the Partido Ortodoxo (Orthodox Party), a liberal democratic group – was widely expected to win in 1952 on an anticorruption platform. However, Chibás committed suicide before he could run for the presidency, and the opposition was left without a unifying leader.[citation needed]
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Batista, who was expected to win only a small minority of the 1952 presidential vote, seized power in an almost bloodless coup three months before the election was to take place. President Prío did nothing to stop the coup, and was forced to leave the island. Due to the corruption of the previous two administrations, the general public reaction to the coup was somewhat accepting at first. However, Batista soon encountered stiff opposition when he temporarily suspended the balloting and the 1940 constitution, and attempted to rule by decree. Nonetheless, elections were held in 1954 and Batista was re-elected. Opposition parties mounted a blistering campaign, and continued to do so, using the Cuban free press throughout Batista's tenure in office.[citation needed]
Economic expansion [ edit ]
Although corruption was rife under Batista, Cuba did flourish economically during his regime. Wages rose significantly;[96] according to the International Labour Organization, the average industrial salary in Cuba was the world's eighth-highest in 1958, and the average agricultural wage was higher than in developed nations such as Denmark, West Germany, Belgium, and France.[96][97] Although a third of the population still lived in poverty, Cuba was one of the five most developed countries in Latin America by the end of the Batista era,[98] with 56% of the population living in cities.[99]
In the 1950s, Cuba's gross domestic product (GDP) per capita was roughly equal to that of contemporary Italy, and significantly higher than that of countries such as Japan, although Cuba's GDP per capita was still only a sixth as large as that of the United States.[96][100] According to the United Nations at the time, "one feature of the Cuban social structure [was] a large middle class".[100] Labour rights were also favourable – an eight-hour day had been established in 1933, long before most other countries, and Cuban workers were entitled to a months's paid holiday, nine days' sick leave with pay, and six weeks' holiday before and after childbirth.[101]
Cuba also had Latin America's highest per capita consumption rates of meat, vegetables, cereals, automobiles, telephones and radios during this period.[97][101][102]:186 Cuba had the fifth-highest number of televisions per capita in the world, and the world's eighth-highest number of radio stations (160). According to the United Nations, 58 different daily newspapers operated in Cuba during the late 1950s, more than any Latin American country save Brazil, Argentina and Mexico.[103] Havana was the world's fourth-most-expensive city at the time,[91] and had more cinemas than New York.[98] Cuba furthermore had the highest level of telephone penetration in Latin America, although many telephone users were still unconnected to switchboards.[99]
Moreover, Cuba's health service was remarkably developed. By the late 1950s, it had one of the highest numbers of doctors per capita – more than in the United Kingdom at that time – and the third-lowest adult mortality rate in the world. According to the World Health Organization, the island had the lowest infant mortality rate in Latin America, and the 13th-lowest in the world – better than in contemporary France, Belgium, West Germany, Israel, Japan, Austria, Italy, Spain, and Portugal.[97][104][105] Additionally, Cuba's education spending in the 1950s was the highest in Latin America, relative to GDP.[97] Cuba had the fourth-highest literacy rate in the region, at almost 80% according to the United Nations – higher than that of Spain at the time.[103][104][105]
Stagnation and dissatisfaction [ edit ]
However, the United States, rather than Latin America, was the frame of reference for educated Cubans.[91][99] Cubans travelled to the United States, read American newspapers, listened to American radio, watched American television, and were attracted to American culture.[99] Middle-class Cubans grew frustrated at the economic gap between Cuba and the US.[91] The middle class became increasingly dissatisfied with the administration, while labour unions supported Batista until the very end.[91][93]
Large income disparities arose due to the extensive privileges enjoyed by Cuba's unionized workers.[106] Cuban labour unions had established limitations on mechanization and even banned dismissals in some factories.[101] The labour unions' privileges were obtained in large measure "at the cost of the unemployed and the peasants".[106]
Cuba's labour regulations ultimately caused economic stagnation. Hugh Thomas asserts that "militant unions succeeded in maintaining the position of unionized workers and, consequently, made it difficult for capital to improve efficiency."[107] Between 1933 and 1958, Cuba increased economic regulation enormously.[93] The regulation led to declining investment.[93] The World Bank also complained that the Batista administration raised the tax burden without assessing its impact. Unemployment was high; many university graduates could not find jobs.[93] After its earlier meteoric rise, the Cuban gross domestic product grew at only 1% annually on average between 1950 and 1958.[99]
1953–59: the Cuban Revolution [ edit ]
The Moncada Barracks , scene of the opening battle of the Cuban Revolution, on the 60th anniversary of the battle in 2013
In 1952, Fidel Castro, a young lawyer running for a seat in the Chamber of Representatives for the Partido Ortodoxo, circulated a petition to depose Batista's government on the grounds that it had illegitimately suspended the electoral process. However, the courts did not act on the petition and ignored Castro's legal challenges. Castro thus resolved to use armed force to overthrow Batista; he and his brother Raúl gathered supporters, and on 26 July 1953 led an attack on the Moncada Barracks near Santiago de Cuba. The attack ended in failure – the authorities killed several of the insurgents, captured Castro himself, tried him and sentenced him to 15 years in prison. However, the Batista government released him in 1955, when amnesty was given to many political prisoners, including the ones that assaulted the Moncada barracks. Castro and his brother subsequently went into exile in Mexico, where they met the Argentine revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara. While in Mexico, Guevara and the Castros organized the 26th of July Movement with the goal of overthrowing Batista. In December 1956, Fidel Castro led a group of 82 fighters to Cuba aboard the yacht Granma, landing in the eastern part of the island. Despite a pre-landing rising in Santiago by Frank País Pesqueira and his followers among the urban pro-Castro movement, Batista's forces promptly killed, dispersed or captured most of Castro's men.[citation needed]
Castro managed to escape into the Sierra Maestra mountains with as few as 12 fighters, aided by the urban and rural opposition, including Celia Sanchez and the bandits of Cresencio Perez's family. Castro and Guevara then began a guerrilla campaign against the Batista régime, with their main forces supported by numerous poorly armed escopeteros and the well-armed fighters of Frank País' urban organization. Growing anti-Batista resistance, including a bloodily crushed rising by Cuban Navy personnel in Cienfuegos, soon led to chaos in the country. At the same time, rival guerrilla groups in the Escambray Mountains also grew more effective. Castro attempted to arrange a general strike in 1958, but could not win support among Communists or labor unions.[102] Multiple attempts by Batista's forces to crush the rebels ended in failure.[108][109]
The United States imposed trade restrictions on the Batista administration and sent an envoy who attempted to persuade Batista to leave the country voluntarily.[91] With the military situation becoming untenable, Batista fled on 1 January 1959, and Castro took over. Within months of taking control, Castro moved to consolidate his power by brutally marginalizing other resistance groups and figures and imprisoning and executing opponents and dissident former supporters.[110] As the revolution became more radical and continued its persecution of those who did not agree with its direction, hundreds of thousands of Cubans fled the island, eventually forming a large exile community in the United States.[111] Cuban Americans today constitute a large percentage of the population of the U.S. state of Florida, and constitute a significant voting bloc.
Castro's Cuba [ edit ]
Politics [ edit ]
The new government of Cuba soon encountered opposition from militant groups and from the United States, which had supported Batista politically and economically.[112] Fidel Castro quickly purged political opponents from the administration. Loyalty to Castro and the revolution became the primary criterion for all appointments.[113] Mass organisations such as labor unions that opposed the revolutionary government were made[by whom?] illegal.[102][page needed] By the end of 1960, all opposition newspapers had been closed down and all radio and television stations had come under state control.[102]:189 Teachers and professors found to have involvement with counter-revolution were purged.[102]:189 Fidel's brother Raúl Castro became the commander of the Revolutionary Armed Forces.[102] :189 In September 1960, a system of neighborhood watch networks, known as Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDR), was created.[102]:189
Militant anti-Castro groups, funded by exiles, by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and by Rafael Trujillo's Dominican government, carried out armed attacks and set up guerrilla bases in Cuba's mountainous regions. This led to the six-year Escambray Rebellion (1959–1965), which lasted longer and involved more soldiers than the Cuban Revolution. Castro's government ultimately defeated the rebels with its superior numbers and firepower, and executed those who surrendered.
In July 1961, two years after the 1959 Revolution, the Integrated Revolutionary Organizations (IRO) was formed, merging Fidel Castro's 26th of July Movement with Blas Roca's Popular Socialist Party and Faure Chomón's Revolutionary Directory 13 March. On 26 March 1962, the IRO became the United Party of the Cuban Socialist Revolution (PURSC), which, in turn, became the Communist Party on 3 October 1965, with Castro as First Secretary. In 1976 a national referendum ratified a new constitution, with 97.7% in favour.[114] The constitution secured the Communist Party's central role in governing Cuba, but kept party affiliation out of the election process.[115] Other smaller parties exist but have little influence and are not permitted to campaign against the program of the Communist Party.
Break with the United States [ edit ]
Castro's resentment of American influence [ edit ]
The United States recognized the Castro government on 7 January 1959, six days after Batista fled Cuba. President Eisenhower sent a new ambassador, Philip Bonsal, to replace Earl E. T. Smith, who had been close to Batista. The Eisenhower administration, in agreement with the American media[citation needed] and Congress, did this with the assumption that "Cuba [would] remain in the U.S. sphere of influence". Foreign-policy professor Piero Gleijeses argued that if Castro had accepted these parameters, he would be allowed to stay in power. Otherwise he would be overthrown.[116][need quotation to verify]
Among the opponents of Batista, many wanted to accommodate the United States. However, Castro belonged to a faction which opposed U.S. influence. Castro did not forgive the U.S. supply of arms to Batista during the revolution. On 5 June 1958, at the height of the revolution, he had written: "The Americans are going to pay dearly for what they are doing. When the war is over, I'll start a much longer and bigger war of my own: the war I’m going to fight against them. That will be my true destiny".[117] (The United States had stopped supplies to Batista in March 1958, but left its Military Advisory Group in Cuba).[118] Thus, Castro had no intention to bow to the United States. "Even though he did not have a clear blueprint of the Cuba he wanted to create, Castro dreamed of a sweeping revolution that would uproot his country's oppressive socioeconomic structure and of a Cuba that would be free of the United States".[119]
Breakdown of relations [ edit ]
Only six months after Castro seized power, the Eisenhower administration began to plot his ouster. The United Kingdom was persuaded[by whom?] to cancel a sale of Hawker Hunter fighter aircraft to Cuba. The US National Security Council (NSC) met in March 1959 to consider means to institute a régime-change and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) began arming guerillas inside Cuba in May.[112]
In January 1960 Roy R. Rubottom, Jr., Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs, summarized the evolution of Cuba–United States relations since January 1959:
"The period from January to March might be characterized as the honeymoon period of the Castro government. In April a downward trend in US–Cuban relations had been evident… In June we had reached the decision that it was not possible to achieve our objectives with Castro in power and had agreed to undertake the program referred to by Undersecretary of State Livingston T. Merchant. On 31 October in agreement with the Central Intelligence Agency, the Department had recommended to the President approval of a program along the lines referred to by Mr. Merchant. The approved program authorized us to support elements in Cuba opposed to the Castro government while making Castro's downfall seem to be the result of his own mistakes."[120][121][122]
In February 1960 the French ship La Coubre blew up in Havana Harbor as it unloaded munitions, killing dozens. The CIA blamed the explosion on the Cuban government.
Relations between the United States and Cuba deteriorated rapidly as the Cuban government, in reaction to the refusal of Royal Dutch Shell, Standard Oil and Texaco to refine petroleum from the Soviet Union in Cuban refineries under their control, took control of those refineries in July 1960. The Eisenhower administration promoted a boycott of Cuba by oil companies, to which Cuba responded by nationalizing the refineries in August 1960. Both sides continued to escalate the dispute. Cuba expropriated more US-owned properties, notably those belonging to the International Telephone and Telegraph Company (ITT) and to the United Fruit Company. In the Castro government's first agrarian reform law, on 17 May 1959, the state sought to limit the size of land holdings, and to distribute that land to small farmers in "Vital Minimum" tracts. This law served as a pretext for seizing lands held by foreigners and for redistributing them to Cuban citizens.
Formal disconnection [ edit ]
The United States severed diplomatic relations with Cuba on 3 January 1961, and imposed a trade embargo on 3 February 1962. The Organization of American States, under pressure from the United States, suspended Cuba's membership in the body on 22 January 1962, and the U.S. government banned all U.S.–Cuban trade on 7 February. The Kennedy administration extended this ban on 8 February 1963, forbidding U.S. citizens to travel to Cuba or conduct financial or commercial transactions with the country.[123] At first, the embargo did not extend to other countries, and Cuba traded with most European, Asian and Latin American countries and especially Canada. However, the United States later pressured other nations and American companies with foreign subsidiaries to restrict trade with Cuba. Also, the Helms–Burton Act of 1996 makes it very difficult for foreign companies doing business with Cuba to also do business in the United States, forcing them to choose between the two.
Bay of Pigs invasion [ edit ]
The Bay of Pigs Memorial in Miami , Florida
In April 1961, less than four months into the Kennedy administration, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) executed a plan that had been developed under the Eisenhower administration. This military campaign to topple Cuba's revolutionary government is now known as the Bay of Pigs Invasion (or La Batalla de Girón in Cuba).[112][124] The aim of the invasion was to empower existing opposition militant groups to "overthrow the Communist regime" and establish "a new government with which the United States can live in peace."[124] The invasion was carried out by a CIA-sponsored paramilitary group of over 1,400 Cuban exiles called Brigade 2506. Arriving in Cuba by boat from Guatemala on 15 April, the brigade landed on the beach Playa Girón and initially overwhelmed Cuba's counter-offensive. But by 20 April, the brigade surrendered and was publicly interrogated before being sent back to the US. Recently inaugurated president John F. Kennedy assumed full responsibility for the operation, even though he had vetoed the reinforcements requested during the battle. The invasion helped further build popular support for the new Cuban government.[125] The Kennedy administration thereafter began Operation Mongoose, a covert CIA campaign of sabotage against Cuba, including the arming of militant groups, sabotage of Cuban infrastructure, and plots to assassinate Castro.[126][127] All this reinforced Castro's distrust of the US, and set the stage for the Cuban missile crisis.
The Cuban Missile Crisis [ edit ]
Tensions between the two governments peaked again during the October 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. The United States had a much larger arsenal of long-range nuclear weapons than the Soviet Union, as well as medium-range ballistic missiles (MRBMs) in Turkey, whereas the Soviet Union had a large stockpile of medium-range nuclear weapons which were primarily located in Europe. Cuba agreed to let the Soviets secretly place SS-4 Sandal and SS-5 Skean MRBMs on their territory. Reports from inside Cuba to exile sources questioned the need for large amounts of ice going to rural areas, which led to the discovery of the missiles, confirmed by Lockheed U-2 reconnaissance photos. The United States responded by establishing a cordon in international waters to stop Soviet ships from bringing in more missiles (designated a quarantine rather than a blockade to avoid issues with international law). At the same time, Castro was getting a little too extreme for the liking of Moscow, so at the last moment the Soviets called back their ships. In addition, they agreed to remove the missiles already there in exchange for an agreement that the United States would not invade Cuba. Only after the fall of the Soviet Union was it revealed that another part of the agreement was the removal of U.S. missiles from Turkey. It also turned out that some submarines that the U.S. Navy blocked were carrying nuclear missiles and that communication with Moscow was tenuous, effectively leaving the decision of firing the missiles at the discretion of the captains of those submarines. In addition, following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Russian government revealed that nuclear-armed FROGs (Free Rocket Over Ground) and Ilyushin Il-28 Beagle bombers had also been deployed in Cuba.
Military build-up [ edit ]
In the 1961 New Year's Day parade, the Communist administration exhibited Soviet tanks and other weapons.[113] By 1982, Cuba possessed the second largest armed forces in Latin America, second only to Brazil, though it was thought not to have the ability to invade another nation (apart from perhaps small Caribbean nations).[128]
Suppression of dissent [ edit ]
Military Units to Aid Production or UMAPs (Unidades Militares para la Ayuda de Producción) – in effect, forced labor concentration camps – were established in 1965 as a way to eliminate alleged "bourgeois" and "counter-revolutionary" values in the Cuban population. In July 1968, the name "UMAP" was erased and paperwork associated with the UMAP was destroyed. The camps continued as "Military Units".[129]
By the 1970s, the standard of living in Cuba was "extremely spartan" and discontent was rife.[130] Castro changed economic policies in the first half of the 1970s.[130] In the 1970s unemployment reappeared as problem. The solution was to criminalize unemployment with 1971 Anti-Loafing Law; the unemployed would be put into jail.[102]:194 One alternative was to go fight Soviet-supported wars in Africa.[102]:194
In any given year, there were about 20,000 dissidents held and tortured under inhuman prison conditions.[102]:194 Homosexuals were imprisoned in internment camps in the 1960s, where they were subject to medical-political "reeducation".[131] The Black Book of Communism estimates that 15,000–17,000 people were executed.[132] The anti-Castro Archivo Cuba estimates that 4,000 people were executed.[133]
Emigration [ edit ]
The establishment of a socialist system in Cuba led to the fleeing of many hundreds of thousands of upper- and middle-class Cubans to the United States and other countries since Castro's rise to power. By 1961, thousands of Cubans had fled Cuba for the United States. On 22 March of that year, an exile council was formed.[91] The council planned to defeat the Communist regime and form a provisional government with José Miró Cardona, a noted leader in the civil opposition against Batista, to serve as temporary president until elections could be held.
Between 1959 and 1993, some 1.2 million Cubans left the island for the United States,[134] often by sea in small boats and fragile rafts. Between 30,000 and 80,000 Cubans are estimated to have died trying flee Cuba during this period.[135] In the early years a number of those who could claim dual Spanish-Cuban citizenship left for Spain. Over the course of several decades, a number of Cuban Jews were allowed to emigrate to Israel after quiet negotiations; the majority of the 10,000 or so Jews who were in Cuba in 1959 eventually left the country. By the time of the collapse of the Soviet Union, Cubans were living in many different countries, some in member countries of the European Union. Spain, Italy, Mexico, and Canada have particularly large Cuban communities.
On 6 November 1965, Cuba and the United States agreed to an airlift for Cubans who wanted to emigrate to the United States. The first of these so-called Freedom Flights left Cuba on 1 December 1965, and by 1971 over 250,000 Cubans had flown to the United States. In 1980 another 125,000 came to United States during a six-month period in the Mariel boatlift, including some criminals and people with psychiatric diagnoses. It was discovered that the Cuban government was using the event to rid Cuba of the unwanted segments of its society. In 2012, Cuba abolished its requirement for exit permits, allowing Cuban citizens to travel to other countries more easily.[6]
Involvement in Third World conflicts [ edit ]
From its inception, the Cuban Revolution defined itself as internationalist, seeking to spread its revolutionary ideals abroad and gain a variety of foreign allies. Although still a developing country itself, Cuba supported African, Central and South American and Asian countries in the fields of military development, health and education. These "overseas adventures" not only irritated the United States but were also quite often a source of dispute with Cuba's ostensible allies in the Kremlin.[136]
The Sandinista insurgency in Nicaragua, which led to the demise of the Somoza dictatorship in 1979, was openly supported by Cuba. However, it was on the African continent where Cuba was most active, supporting a total of 17 liberation movements or leftist governments, in countries including Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Guinea-Bissau, and Mozambique. Its Angolan involvement was particularly intense and noteworthy with heavy assistance given to the Marxist–Leninist MPLA in the Angolan Civil War.
Angola [ edit ]
Cuba's involvement in the Angolan Civil War began in the 1960s, when relations were established with the leftist Movement for the Popular Liberation of Angola (MPLA). The MPLA was one of three organisations struggling to gain Angola's independence from Portugal, the other two being UNITA and the National Liberation Front of Angola (FNLA). In August and October 1975, the South African Defence Force (SADF) intervened in Angola in support of the UNITA and FNLA. On 5 November 1975, without consulting the USSR, the Cuban government opted for a direct intervention with combat troops (Operation Carlota) in support of the MPLA.[137][138] In 1987–88, South Africa again sent military forces to Angola to stop an advance of MPLA forces (FAPLA) against UNITA, leading to the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale, where Cuban troops fought alongside the FAPLA. Cuba also directly participated in the negotiations between Angola and South Africa, again without consulting the USSR. At the height of its operation, Cuba had as many as 50,000 soldiers stationed in Angola.[137]
On 22 December 1988, Angola, Cuba, and South Africa signed the Tripartite Accord in New York, arranging for the retreat of South African and Cuban troops within 30 months, and the implementation of the 10-year-old UN Security Council Resolution 435 for the independence of Namibia. The Cuban intervention, for a short time, turned Cuba into a "global player" in the midst of the Cold War. Their presence helped the MPLA retain control over large parts of Angola, and their military actions are also credited with helping secure Namibia's independence. The withdrawal of the Cubans ended 13 years of foreign military presence in Angola. At the same time, Cuba removed its troops from the Republic of the Congo and Ethiopia.[138][139]
North Africa [ edit ]
As early as 1961, Cuba supported the National Liberation Front in Algeria against France.[137] In October 1963, shortly after Algeria gained its independence, Morocco started a border dispute in which Cuba sent troops to help Algeria. A memorandum issued on 20 October 1963 by Raúl Castro mandated a high standard of behavior for the troops, with strict instructions being given on their proper conduct during foreign interventions.[140]
Congo [ edit ]
In 1964, Cuba supported the Simba Rebellion of adherents of Patrice Lumumba in Congo-Leopoldville (present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo).[137] Among the insurgents was Laurent-Désiré Kabila, who would overthrow long-time dictator Mobutu 30 years later. However, the 1964 rebellion ended in failure.[141] In the Mozambican Civil War and in Congo-Brazzaville (today the Republic of the Congo), Cubans acted as military advisors. Congo-Brazzaville furthermore acted as a supply base for the Angola mission.[137]
Ethiopia [ edit ]
Fidel Castro was a supporter of the Marxist–Leninist dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam, whose regime killed hundreds of thousands during the Ethiopian Red Terror of the late 1970s, and who was later convicted of genocide and crimes against humanity. Cuba provided substantial military support to Mariam during the latter's conflict with the Somalian dictator Siad Barre in the 1977–8 Ogaden War, stationing around 24,000 troops in Ethiopia.[137][142][143] Castro explained this to Erich Honecker, communist dictator of East Germany, by saying that Siad Barre was "above all a chauvinist".[142]
Intelligence cooperation between Cuba and the Soviets [ edit ]
As early as September 1959, Valdim Kotchergin, a KGB agent, was seen in Cuba.[144][145] Jorge Luis Vasquez, a Cuban who was imprisoned in East Germany, states that the East German Stasi trained the personnel of the Cuban Interior Ministry (MINIT).[146] The relationship between the KGB and the Cuban Intelligence Directorate (DI) was complex and marked by both times of close cooperation and times of extreme competition. The Soviet Union saw the new revolutionary government in Cuba as an excellent proxy agent in areas of the world where Soviet involvement was not popular on a local level. Nikolai Leonov, the KGB chief in Mexico City, was one of the first Soviet officials to recognize Fidel Castro's potential as a revolutionary, and urged the Soviet Union to strengthen ties with the new Cuban leader. The USSR saw Cuba as having far more appeal with new revolutionary movements, western intellectuals, and members of the New Left, given Cuba's perceived David and Goliath struggle against U.S. "imperialism". In 1963, shortly after the Cuban missile crisis, 1,500 DI agents, including Che Guevara, were invited to the USSR for intensive training in intelligence operations.
Modern era [ edit ]
Special Period [ edit ]
Starting from the mid-1980s,[147] Cuba experienced a crisis referred to as the "Special Period". When the Soviet Union, the country's primary source of trade, was dissolved in late 1991, a major supporter of Cuba's economy was lost, leaving it essentially paralyzed because of the economy's narrow basis, focused on just a few products with just a few buyers. National oil supplies, which were mostly imported, were severely reduced. Over 80% of Cuba's trade was lost and living conditions declined. A "Special Period in Peacetime" was declared, which included cutbacks on transport and electricity and even food rationing. In response, the United States tightened up its trade embargo, hoping it would lead to Castro's downfall. But the government tapped into a pre-revolutionary source of income and opened the country to tourism, entering into several joint ventures with foreign companies for hotel, agricultural and industrial projects. As a result, the use of U.S. dollars was legalized in 1994, with special stores being opened which only sold in dollars. There were two separate economies, dollar-economy and the peso-economy, creating a social split in the island because those in the dollar-economy made much more money (as in the tourist-industry). However, in October 2004, the Cuban government announced an end to this policy: from November U.S. dollars would no longer be legal tender in Cuba, but would instead be exchanged for convertible pesos (since April 2005 at the exchange rate of $1.08) with a 10% tax payable to the state on the exchange of U.S. dollars cash – though not on other forms of exchange.
A Canadian Medical Association Journal paper states that "The famine in Cuba during the Special Period was caused by political and economic factors similar to the ones that caused a famine in North Korea in the mid-1990s. Both countries were run by authoritarian regimes that denied ordinary people the food to which they were entitled when the public food distribution collapsed; priority was given to the elite classes and the military."[148] The government did not accept American donations of food, medicines and money until 1993,[148] forcing many Cubans to eat anything they could find. In the Havana zoo, the peacocks, the buffalo and even the rhea were reported to have disappeared during this period.[149] Even domestic cats were reportedly eaten.[149]
Extreme food shortages and electrical blackouts led to a brief period of unrest, including numerous anti-government protests and widespread increases in urban crime. In response, the Cuban Communist Party formed hundreds of "rapid-action brigades" to confront protesters. The Communist Party's daily publication, Granma, stated that "delinquents and anti-social elements who try to create disorder and an atmosphere of mistrust and impunity in our society will receive a crushing reply from the people". In July 1994, 41 Cubans drowned attempting to flee the country aboard a tugboat; the Cuban government was later accused of sinking the vessel deliberately.[150]
Thousands of Cubans protested in Havana during the Maleconazo uprising on 5 August 1994. However, the regime's security forces swiftly dispersed them.[151] A paper published in the Journal of Democracy states this was the closest that the Cuban opposition could come to asserting itself decisively.[151]
Continued isolation and regional engagement [ edit ]
Although contacts between Cubans and foreign visitors were made legal in 1997,[152][153] extensive censorship had isolated it from the rest of the world. In 1997, a group led by Vladimiro Roca, a decorated veteran of the Angolan war and the son of the founder of the Cuban Communist Party, sent a petition, entitled La Patria es de Todos ("the homeland belongs to all") to the Cuban general assembly, requesting democratic and human rights reforms. As a result, Roca and his three associates were sentenced to imprisonment, from which they were eventually released.[154] In 2001, a group of Cuban activists collected thousands of signatures for the Varela Project, a petition requesting a referendum on the island's political process, which was openly supported by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter during his 2002 visit to Cuba. The petition gathered sufficient signatures to be considered by the Cuban government, but was rejected on an alleged technicality. Instead, a plebiscite was held in which it was formally proclaimed that Castro's brand of socialism would be perpetual.
In 2003, Castro cracked down on independent journalists and other dissidents in an episode which became known as the "Black Spring".[155][156][157][158] The government imprisoned 75 dissident thinkers, including 29 journalists,[155] librarians, human rights activists, and democracy activists, on the basis that they were acting as agents of the United States by accepting aid from the U.S. government.
Though it was largely diplomatically isolated from the West at this time, Cuba nonetheless cultivated regional allies. After the rise to power of Hugo Chávez in Venezuela in 1999, Cuba and Venezuela formed an increasingly close relationship based on their shared leftist ideologies, trade links and mutual opposition to U.S. influence in Latin America.[159] Additionally, Cuba continued its post-revolution practice of dispatching doctors to assist poorer countries in Africa and Latin America, with over 30,000 health workers deployed overseas by 2007.[160]
End of Fidel Castro's presidency [ edit ]
In 2006, Fidel Castro fell ill and withdrew from public life. The following year, Raúl Castro became Acting President, replacing his brother as the de facto leader of the country. In a letter dated 18 February 2008, Fidel Castro announced his formal resignation at the 2008 National Assembly meetings, saying "I will not aspire nor accept—I repeat I will not aspire or accept—the post of President of the Council of State and Commander in Chief."[161] In the autumn of 2008, Cuba was struck by three separate hurricanes, in the most destructive hurricane season in the country's history; over 200,000 were left homeless, and over US$5 billion of property damage was caused.[162][163] In March 2012, the retired Fidel Castro met Pope Benedict XVI during the latter's visit to Cuba; the two men discussed the role of the Catholic Church in Cuba, which has a large Catholic community.[164]
Economic reforms [ edit ]
As of 2015, Cuba remains one of the few officially socialist states in the world. Though it remains diplomatically isolated and afflicted by economic inefficiency, major currency reforms were begun in the 2010s, and efforts to free up domestic private enterprise are now underway.[10] Living standards in the country have improved significantly since the turmoil of the Special Period, with GDP per capita in terms of purchasing power parity rising from less than US$2,000 in 1999 to nearly $10,000 in 2010.[165] Tourism has furthermore become a significant source of prosperity for Cuba.[166]
Improving foreign relations [ edit ]
In July 2012, Cuba received its first American goods shipment in over 50 years, following the partial relaxation of the U.S. embargo to permit humanitarian shipments.[5] In October 2012, Cuba announced the abolition of its much-disliked exit permit system, allowing its citizens more freedom to travel abroad.[6] In February 2013, after his reelection as President, Raúl Castro stated that he would retire from government in 2018 as part of a broader leadership transition.[167][168] In July 2013, Cuba became embroiled in a diplomatic scandal after Chong Chon Gang, a North Korean ship, illegally carrying Cuban weapons was impounded by Panama.[169]
Cuba and Venezuela maintained their alliance after Hugo Chávez's death in March 2013, but the severe economic strife suffered by Venezuela in the mid-2010s lessened its ability to support Cuba, and may ultimately have contributed to the thawing of Cuban-American relations.[170] In December 2014, after a highly publicized exchange of political prisoners between the United States and Cuba, U.S. President Barack Obama announced
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Galantamine, a novel Alzheimer's drug, is known to inhibit acetylcholinesterase activity and potentiate nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) in the brain. We previously reported that galantamine potentiates the NMDA-induced currents in primary cultured rat cortical neurons. We now studied the effects of galantamine on long-term potentiation (LTP) in the rat hippocampal CA1 regions. The field excitatory postsynaptic potentials (fEPSPs) were induced by stimulation of the Schaffer collateral/commissural pathways in the hippocampal CA1 region. Treatment with 0.01-10 microM galantamine did not affect the slope of fEPSPs in the CA1 region. Galantamine treatment increased calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) and protein kinase Calpha (PKCalpha) activities with a bell-shaped dose-response curve peaked at 1 microM, thereby increasing the phosphorylation of AMPA receptor, myristoylated alanine-rich protein kinase C, and NMDA receptor as downstream substrates of CaMKII and/or PKCalpha. By contrast, galatamine treatment did not affect protein kinase A activity. Consistent with the bell-shaped CaMKII and PKCalpha activation, galantamine treatment enhanced LTP in the hippocampal CA1 regions with the same bell-shaped dose-response curve. Furthermore, LTP potentiation induced by galantamine treatment at 1 microM was closely associated with both CaMKII and PKC activation with concomitant increase in phosphorylation of their downstream substrates except for synapsin I. In addition, the enhancement of LTP by galantamine was accompanied with alpha7-type nAChR activation. These results suggest that galantamine potentiates NMDA receptor-dependent LTP through alpha7-type nAChR activation, by which the postsynaptic CaMKII and PKC are activated.
(c) 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
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In a recent debate, President Mohammed Morsi of the Muslim brotherhood party, listens to his advisors – chairmen of the prominent political parties in Egypt – debate Egypt’s options concerning plans by Ethiopia to place a dam on the Nile river.
Surprising and shocking statements emerge concerning the extent of anti-American sentiments – even in a debate ostensibly about water and Ethiopia. As Morsi listens – and fails to object — Magdi Ahmad Hussein, chairman of the Islamic Labor Party, voices his opinion, unaware that the meeting is being broadcast on live TV.
“I am very fond of battles. With the enemies, of course – with America and Israel,” says Hussein. “but this battle [concerning the dam] must be made with maximum judiciousness and calm. … our war is with America and Israel, not with Ethiopia … imagine what this people would do if its water were turned off, what all 80 million of us would do to America and Israel if our water was turned off …”
Younes Makloun, chariman of the Al Nour party, says to Morsi, “We in the Al-Nour party, believe that the Egyptian agreement to the building of this dam would be a dangerous strategic mistake because the Ethiopians – and the Israelis and the US – are behind it and would use as a lethal bargaining chip to pressure Egypt.”
It is unclear from the video whether or not Makloun realized his remarks were being broadcast on live TV.
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The letter is ostensibly about extending an exemption to transparency rules for small internet and wireless providers. The net neutrality order exempted providers with 100,000 or fewer customers until December 15th of this year, but Pai and O'Rielly pushed for a compromise measure that would keep the exemption going for networks with 250,000 or fewer users.
This doesn't mean that net neutrality will die as soon as Trump is sworn in. As Ars Technica observes, a proposed rule change like this would require months of procedure and public comment before it can take effect. However, it's safe to say that net neutrality will eventually lose a lot of its thunder under the new administration, assuming it survives at all. At the least, it's doubtful that the FCC will grill telecoms over zero-rating and other policies that effectively dodge neutrality regulations.
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I had a post on Flattr revenues in May, complete with some quotes summarizing early reactions by German bloggers. Since the post got quite some appreciation, here’s another one, this time with revenues of a whole month (June). Again I’m using Rivva’s “Leitmedien” index as a means of measuring medias’ importance within the German-speaking blogosphere.
Carta editors: “Flattr revenues in June: Thank you!”
201,22 € for group blog Carta (#6 on Rivva)
Flattr seems to be on its way to become a convincing business model for blogs.
Carta also has a post up with German Flattr charts for June, listing the most-flattred articles over the last month, saying:
Among the most-flattred topics in June were among others: Flattr, football, media critique, related rights [“Leistungsschutzrecht”]. Comparing the amount of flattr clicks with the previous month one can barely see a difference. The amount of clicks on top articles has only slightly increased. This means the growth of Flattr has decreased in June. The first Flattr hype seems over.
Markus Beckedahl: Flattr revenues in June
576,53 € for group blog netzpolitik.org (#7)
That’s more than I expected. We will see if it continues like this and if more Flattr users will lead to higher revenues. I am still not convinced that Flattr could refinance a blog like this in the medium term. That will need a mix of revenues, combining parameters like Flattr, advertising, donations and other stuff like giving talks.
Sebastian Heiser: Flattr earns us 998,50 Euros in June
998,50 € for newspaper taz (#15)
My personal impression from our Flattr balance in June is that readers don’t reward the most expensive investigation the most, not the best coverage and not the articles with the best background information from our specialized editors. The most rewards go to articles which aim at the favorite enemies of our readers: Neo-Nazis, high nobility, the newspaper “Bild”, the liberal-conservative federal government.
Jens Matheuszik: What Flattr earned Pottblog & Co. in June
14,48 € for blog Pottblog (#38)
There’s one thing that irks me about Flattr: I have written […] an article which I think is very helpful for a certain audience […]. This article, which also contained a Flattr button, also got linked to, among others by a blog with a Flattr button. Interestingly, this other blog, which actually just paraphrased my post and linked to me, got more Flattr clicks than the actual post. That’s somehow as if on pay-TV I would pay more for the preview of a good movie than for the actual movie.
Stefan Niggemeier: Now I’m flatt
352,89 for blog Stefan Niggemeier (#14)
That’s more than I expected […]. 100 Euros for an article like my commentary on the “She said ‘Reichsparteitag’” hysteria is a better royalty than many newspapers would have paid for an article.
Some other major blogs have reported their revenues as well:
law blog (#27): 247,68 €
iPhoneBlog.de (#232): 202,10 €
Blogwerk (publisher of several blogs): 201,17 €
I myself made 7,42 € in revenues from Flattr this month through six articles on i like patterns. A post reporting revenues and reactions of German bloggers like this one got most clicks (16) – probably because it was used by Flattr as credentials. But these 16 clicks only meant 2,76 € in revenues – while two clicks for my article on the campaign against the 2011 census already earned me 2,36 €. All in all, I made 0,26 € per flattr – an average reported by others as well.
From the first full month of Flattr experience we can already draw some trends. Of course, one important question is whether Flattr continues to expand. While Carta sees the service’s grow already in a decline, I would draw a more cautious and complex conclusion by looking at the revenues reported by two of the biggest earners, netzpolitik.org and taz. Netzpolitik is read mostly by an extremely ‘Net-savvy audience, while taz.de, online version of a leftist newspaper, probably has a less specialized readership.
Netzpolitik.org reports about 577 € for June, compared to 39 € on the last two days of May, i.e. revenues stayed at about 20 Euros per day. Taz.de on the other hand made nearly 1000 € in June, whereas they had reported only 143,55 € for the previous month’s twelve final days, i.e. taz.de about tripled their revenues in June. I would argue that what we see is Flattr growing not at the core (‘Net-savvy early adopters), but on the edges (less avant-garde readership). That’s not to say that we already see a mainstreamization of Flattr, but a diversification among its users.
The other big issue is whether Flattr revenues are just. Or, to use a less moralizing phrasing: Which articles (and which topics) get flattred? The quotes above already give some answers to this question: Readers flattr opinionated commentary rather than well-researched articles. Posts dealing with flattr get a lot of reward, but this trend seems to decline. Hot topics, especially those popular with the ‘Net-savvy media avant-garde, are leading the charts.
The statistics of the articles I wrote for Spreeblick only partially mirror this image:
49 – Activists plan constitutional complaint against 2011 census (31.05.)
20 – Governors sign media protection of minors treaty (11.06.)
14 – Campaign against 2011 census launched (10.06.)
12 – On the App Store or not on the App Store, that’s the question (09.06.)
11 – An alternative to Facebook (18.05.)
9 – The digital future of Europe (19.05.)
9 – EFF design basic rights for users of Facebook and co. (20.05.)
9 – Does Burma work on nuclear weapons? (04.06.)
8 – Those writing about environmental protection live in danger (24.06.)
7 – Gallo report: A victorious battle for copyright dogmatism (02.06.)
7 – Video interview with Eleanor Saitta: Before the surveillance camera, some people are more equal (08.06.)
Another five articles got flattred six or less times, but none of the posts I wrote for Spreeblick since the introduction of Flattr did not receive any reward.
My most-flattred article deals with the upcoming 2011 census (here’s an updated English version). It required relatively much research, but was kind of scoop – I was the first to report on the planned constitutional complaint. On spots #2 and #3 follow news articles on current political affairs, two opinion pieces on Apple’s App Store and Facebook rank 4th and 5th. There is no clear pattern visible in this ranking (which is not based on sufficient data of course).
My own articles aside, opinion pieces seem to fare well with Flattr users. Many seem to use the button as kind of a way of saying thank you to authors who expressed what they were already thinking. I, personally, try to reward writers for articles which offer me an unusual perspective, new insights – or an enjoyable phrasing. How do you use the Flattr button?
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Posted on 01 March 2011 by Joe
There’s a little seen Youtube clip from 2009 of Destroyer’s Dan Bejar performing a then new song called ‘Chinatown’ during an acoustic set in Dallas.
It’s a beautiful song, one of his best. But what the audience and the clip’s small Youtube viewer numbers cannot have guessed was how it, along with eight other tracks that made it onto Kaputt, would be transformed within 18 months into Bejar’s best album to date.
Since trailing this track live Bejar hit on the idea of incorporating more than a little 1980s production style. It was a masterstroke as the era’s sax and trumpet sounds interweave perfectly with the New Order style bass lines and Prefab Sprout-esque harmonies.
All the time Bejar’s unmistakable throaty vocals, like an aged rock star looking back at his 80s heyday, delivers his trademark clever lyrics. It’s of course just an act, as he was barely into his teens at the height of New Order and Prefab Sprout’s fame, but it’s a role he performs admirably.
Time and again in reviews of this album the same message rings out loud and clear “this album has such a great feel to it” and this review wholeheartedly backs that view.
Not only does Kaputt feature some of Bejar’s best songs, like ‘Chinatown,’ but the production is stunning. The horn section drifts over the music beautifully creating from start to finish a remarkable album, leaving the listener desperate for more, and that is even after the 11 minute plus final track ‘Bay of Pigs (Detail)’.
There’s a nice progression on the album as well, like an 80s stream of consciousness. For example when New Order gets a mention on ‘Blue Eyes’ the next track ‘Savage Night at the Opera’ becomes a full blown homage to the band, with its unmistakable Peter Hook bass line and Bernard Sumner guitar riff.
This 1980s love-in was achieved with similar success by Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti on last year’s Before Today. Those that enjoyed that album, or Steve McQueen by Prefab Sprout, or indeed Roxy Music’s work of the early 1980s, will adore Kaputt.
Despite enjoying his previous albums as Destroyer and work with The New Pornographers, I’ve always had criticisms. Sometimes Bejar’s lyrics and melodies were too meandering. Those faults have been eradicated here, with Kaputt using his meandering style to full effect to create one of 2011’s first contenders for album of the year.
9/10
by Joe Lepper
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Daily Beast editor John Avlon said if pro-Trump protestors caused the scene and did the damage that anti-Trump demonstrators did in Albuquerque the media reaction would be "totally different."
"As an independent, we have to use equal standards on both sides," Avlon said on CNN this morning. "The protests last night, that is a bad move for the Democratic party and Trump opponents. Because if they degenerate into violence, imagine what would have happened if the folks on the right had danced on police cars. There would be a totally different tone today."
Trump responded to Tuesday night's antics and tweeted, 'The protesters in New Mexico were thugs who were flying the Mexican flag. The rally inside was big and beautiful, but outside, criminals!'
The protesters in New Mexico were thugs who were flying the Mexican flag. The rally inside was big and beautiful, but outside, criminals! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 25, 2016
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Editor’s note: This article first published at 2:15 p.m. Eastern. It was updated after the close of trading following the rally in Plug shares.
Fuel cell systems supplier Plug Power Inc. /quotes/zigman/5142101/delayed /quotes/nls/plug PLUG plans to announce a new major deal with a large automaker in the next two to three weeks.
“We signed an additional order in North America with a global automaker,” Chief Executive Andy Marsh told MarketWatch in a telephone interview on Tuesday.
However, he declined to elaborate further on the specifics of the deal.
Plug Power also expects another GenKey deal similar to the one with Wal-Mart Stores Inc. /quotes/zigman/245476/delayed /quotes/nls/wmt WMT within this year.
Shares of Plug Power have whiplashed dramatically since it announced a contract to supply fuel cell units to Wal-Mart in late February. After an initial rally following the “milestone” deal, shares tanked when short-seller Andrew Left of Citron Research described Plug Power as a “casino” stock and said its fair value is 50 cents.
PLUG Your browser does not support iframes.
“I don’t know how to respond to that,” said Marsh when asked about Left’s analysis. But the chief executive also pointed out that there are analysts who are just as bullish on the company as Left is bearish.
Plug Power shares, which were up 8.6% in early afternoon trading, spiked to a 49% daily gain following the publication of Marsh’s comments. Year to date, the stock is up more than 400% to $8.48, following gains of 210% in 2013.
Plug Power’s surge sparked a rally in other fuel cell stocks with FuelCell Energy Inc. /quotes/zigman/67190/delayed /quotes/nls/fcel FCEL gaining 20% to $2.91 and Ballard Power Systems Inc. /quotes/zigman/42587/delayed /quotes/nls/bldp BLDP soaring 32% to $5.40.
Follow Sue Chang on Twitter @SueChangMW.
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Burning garbage to make energy--on its face, anyhow--seems like a win-win proposition, but the chemical arithmetic has never really added up to a winning proposition. Nonetheless, a major energy supplier and a big time trash hauler are both finding value in Montreal-based Enerkem. Today the company announced that oil refiner Valero and sanitation giant Waste Management are pumping a combined $60 million into the company, whose technology turns old utility poles and household garbage into ethanol.
Like many energy start-ups, Enerkem isn't exactly established just yet--the company is just getting underway at a plant near Sherbrooke, Quebec, that the company claims will produce 1.3 million gallons of ethanol annually. The infusion of cash should help the company scale up to even bigger refineries--if the technology proves feasible, that is.
The fact that two major companies are willing to gamble big dollars on it bodes well. Enerkem's CEO is confident that its process works in a cost effective manner, mainly because while many other companies are trying to make ethanol from waste products, they are paying for their feedstocks. Enerkem is paid to dispose of the garbage it burns, making its raw materials "cost negative."
The technology itself is fairly straightforward: a plant receives municipal solid waste, which entails pretty much anything that goes out with the household garbage. Recyclables are separated out, the waste is shredded and heated to about 750 degrees. Hydrogen and carbon monoxide are trapped as they escape the incinerating rubbish and impurities like carbon dioxide are filtered out. The pure gases are then run over a catalyst, which converts them to methanol. A further refining step turns the methanol to ethanol or other feedstocks.
By consuming garbage, no potential food resources are sacrificed to make fuel. The trash doesn't end up in a landfill, where it would slowly decompose and give off methane, a greenhouse gas. And, you know, it's trash. If we were using it for anything else, it wouldn't be there.
Enerkem is currently building a second refinery in Edmonton, Alberta, that could produce up to 10 million gallons of ethanol per year, and a twin plant is slated to open in Tupelo, Miss., thanks to a $50 million DOE grant. Each would devour 100,000 tons of garbage annually. If it can get the model off the ground and working cost-effectively, it could be a paradigm-shifter for both energy production and waste management. Four-dollar gasoline and a $60 million cash infusion won't hurt.
NYT Green
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Pensioner Jim Hughes has left neighbours opened-mouthed after turning a 14ft cock in his front garden into a festive display.
The 77-year-old sculpted an old cherry tree into a cockerel while his wife Moira was on holiday earlier this year.
He got up his ladder, trimmed the ivy-covered tree to make it look like the 14ft bird and then stuck pieces of red plastic on its head for its beak and a comb.
The transformation took grandad Jim just 30 minutes with a pair of shears and secateurs and created a local tourist attraction.
But Jim has now decorated the massive cockerel, named Jock, with festive lights in time for Christmas for neighbours and visitors to enjoy.
He said: “People are coming from far away to come and see it and they are taking pictures beside it. It’s turned into a bit of an attraction.
“I keep trimming it and keep it in shape. I’ve put Christmas lights on it and people are enjoying it. It’s not for me to judge, but I think it looks alright.
“It will be there as long as I’m here.”
Jim’s wife Moira, 73, was left stunned when she returned from holiday and spotted the massive cockerel in their front garden this summer.
And the pensioner says it has become a bit of an attraction with people stopping to take photos of it outside his home in East Wemyss, Fife.
He added: “Originally, it was an old cherry blossom tree. It got that big that I was worried it would be blown over and hit a car.
“The main trunk is from the cherry tree and ivy has grown up it. I cut it down and shaped it.”
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Professors may scoff at the idea, but students are increasingly citing tweets in academic papers. Although they don’t exactly count as peer-reviewed, tweets do provide interesting insight into pop culture, breaking news and a number of social issues. After all, the Library of Congress is indexing tweets for historical reference.
As a result, it’s important that style guides address the issue, and that students understand how to properly cite their sources.
How do you cite a tweet in an academic paper? Here's how.http://t.co/hWyeiKVX6J Pls don't cite too often. #HigherEd pic.twitter.com/p3k2NyuXNY — Adil Najam (@AdilNajam) February 13, 2014
The tweet above, from Boston University professor Adil Najam, alerted us to this apparently controversial topic. Charlie Osborne explains on ZDNet:
Its academic value is debatable, and although it probably will not take the place of a journal or full research publication in terms of academic value, a tweet can offer value in a number of other ways. Sometimes, especially if received from volatile, politically unstable places, tweets can pack quite a punch out of a mere 160 characters. As a means of conducting academic research, Twitter can be a rich platform for both academics and businesses to explore public opinion on topics, gain news 'from the ground', and check for updates on a situation more quickly than traditional media outlets can publish.
For students who plan to cite tweets on a regular basis or need to cite many at once, developer Ben Hedlund built the site Tweet2Cite. Users paste in the URL of the tweet they need to cite, and then the tool generates citations in MLA and APA style.
Professors: Have you seen tweets cited yet? Let us know in the Comments.
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BERLIN - Klaus Meier lists three reasons for generating his own electricity in his family hotel in Germany's southern city of Freiburg -- "cost savings, energy efficiency, climate protection."
Like a growing number of German small businesses, home-owners, schools, hospitals and industrial plants, Meier has opted for energy self-sufficiency.
Of the about 600 terawatt hours Germany consumes each year, 50 TWh are self-produced -- about 8%of the total -- in a trend that has seen solar panels installed on home roofs and gas plants set up in factories.
In industry, the share is about 20%, according to business and energy consumers groups. Their main goal: cost savings.
Home-made power in Germany, which has among Europe's highest electricity bills, is not taxed, unlike conventional electricity where one third of the customer's bill goes into the public coffers.
And neither are the do-it-yourselfers subject to the duties used to subsidize the country's wider "energy transition" away from fossil fuels and nuclear power and toward clean energy.
Ten years ago Meier fitted his four-star hotel, the 45-room Park Hotel Post, set in a 19th century building, with a gas-fuelled power-and-heat cogeneration unit.
It cost him nearly 50,000 euros (US $68,000), but Meier said "the investment paid for itself even faster than I had expected."
Big Business
It's a trend adopted long ago by German big business, who value both the self-sufficiency and the lower cost.
"If the power we produce ourselves in Ludwigshafen was taxed, it would cost half a million euros," said Kurt Bock, head of chemical giant BASF, which runs three gas power plants on its site in southwestern Germany.
The automaker Daimler has invested more than 40 million euros in a new gas turbine for its plant in Sindelfingen, its largest production site. The investment will allow it to increase its power output there 44%.
"This reduces our dependence on external suppliers and allows us to increase security of supply and predictability of our costs," plant manager Willi Reiss said last year.
According to a survey of some 2,400 companies conducted last year by the German Chamber of Commerce, nearly half have either made, initiated or are planning measures to provide themselves with electricity.
Besides the financial argument, security of supply is an oft-cited reason.
Renewables such as wind and solar represent an ever increasing share of German electricity production, but the output is fickle, depending on weather conditions.
Although the lights haven't gone out yet in Germany despite the most dire warnings, the grid is becoming less stable.
'Decentralization'
The "self-producers" are helping decentralize power production -- a key aspect of Germany's ambitious energy transition, which was accelerated with a decision to shutter nuclear plants after Japan's 2011 Fukushima disaster.
On a much smaller scale, many families have placed solar panels on their roofs, especially in the country's more sun-blessed south.
The share of self-generated electricity in households more than doubled between 2011 and 2012, although it still makes up for only half a percent of total domestic consumption.
For the traditional power companies, they represent new competition but also offer them an opportunity "to become a service provider" by passing on advice and technical solutions, said Thomas Kusterer, chief financial officer of Germany's third biggest energy company, EnBW.
Not everyone likes the trend of power-users going off the grid.
"I understand those who do it, as long as the laws are as they are," said Hildegard Mueller of BDEW, the German Association of Energy and Water Industries, which represents producers' interests and calls for fewer incentives for self-production.
But she said that self-producers "are detached from the community, leaving it to others to bear the costs of the energy transition."
Mathilde Richter, AFP
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2014
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Steve Lyons, whose 15-year broadcasting career is dotted with numerous insensitive remarks—one of them enough to get him fired—is taking a seat in a more controlled environment: MLB 13 The Show.
As reported by Operation Sports, Lyons said via Twitter at the end of last month that he was recording "lots of VoiceOver work for MLB The Show 2013, and when asked by a follower if he was replacing the third-chair analyst Eric Karros, he replied, "no ... [Dave] Campbell."
Lyons (pictured above at center) had a run on Fox Sports' baseball coverage that included disparaging stereotypes about Jews, Italians and Hispanics, and even a comment making fun of a fan who was nearly blind and wearing complex headgear to help him see. His remarks about Hispanics, in the 2006 National League Championship Series, ultimately got him fired. He caught on with the Los Angeles Dodgers, who required that he attend diversity training. Lyons has gone incident-free since.
Not that this poses much of a risk to The Show, whose vocabulary is scripted and editable. In my opinion, Lyons should have replaced Karros, a decent guy who still falls into the trap of trying to impersonate himself, as lesser sports video game commentators do.
Campbell read his lines well. If he was wearing out—and his work was getting repetitive, year over year—it's on Sony San Diego to provide him with new dialogue, unless he just wanted out of the game, of course. I've always thought highly of Matt Vasgersian but he, too, needs a lot of new material in this game. In the end, bringing in Lyons by itself won't change much in the realm of chemistry unless this team is recording its lines together, like Madden's Jim Nantz and Phil Simms, and NBA 2K13's outstanding Kevin Harlan, Clark Kellogg and Steve Kerr.
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(Top photo | Associated Press)
Steve Lyons Replacing Dave Campbell in MLB 13 The Show [Operation Sports]
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White college student arrested for bullying ‘Jamaican Barbie’ roommate in shockingly gross ways
All racism takes active, conscious, deliberative thought, but this is a category unto itself. Lest anyone think this took place somewhere in the South: University of Hartford.
Brianna Rae Brochu, 18, was arrested and charged with third-degree criminal mischief and second-degree breach of peace on Saturday for bullying her university roommate, Chennel “Jazzy” Rowe. Rowe was not aware of the harassment until she discovered a post by Brochu on Instagram, where her roommate bragged about spitting in her coconut oil, putting moldy clam dip in her lotions and rubbing used tampons on her backpack for more than a month.
Worse, Brianna took Chennel’s toothbrush, stuck it in her anus, and then placed it back for Chennel to use. What kind of person even thinks to do these things?
I thought it was painful enough having my son go through a roommate situation his freshman year when the mother of his roommate was a homophobic religious nightmare. The roommate was a delight. He was mortified by his mother’s actions that included demanding the Dean act to remove my son from the room. But I digress.
Chennel moved out ( I don’t blame her but the roommate should have gone). If her racist ass was that unhappy with her housing, she could have pursued sane options. But this? Again. Who thinks of these kinds of things?
While the University did eventually act, in Chennel’s opinion ( and based on what I’ve read I’d have to concur) not nearly fast enough or harshly enough.
Rowe said university officials did not act quickly enough and warned her not to speak out about her situation or she would not be allowed to live on campus.
Right. The victim shouldn’t speak out. WTF? And threatening her with not being allowed to live on campus if she did but Miss Ann could stay? She claims she was trying to be funny. Joke’s on her though because this is not just a she said she said. Braintrust Brianna posted about her activities on Instagram which was discovered by none other than the victim herself. Strategery.
And look at the charges. Third degree criminal “mischief”? This girl stuck her roommate’s toothbrush in her skanky ass and then let Chennel put that in her mouth. She rubbed used tampons on Chennel’s backpack because that’s something that readily comes to someone’s mind. Anyone think the charges would be this light if the situation was reversed? If you do, I have some Trump steaks to sell you.
Chennel agrees:
“The fact that I’m black and my old roommate was white if the roles was switched I want to know if it would be handled the same way,” she said.
A question almost every black person in America would ask and knows the answer.
Sexual assaults on college campuses are not the only assaults colleges need to address. There has been an increase in the number of racist assaults in the Trump era. Chennel is lucky she discovered what was happening and wasn’t made sicker or worse. Why isn’t Brianna charged with 1st degree assault or worse? Inquiring minds want to know. I’m sure Sec Ed Betsy will get right on it.
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Chris Weidman Asks Anderson Silva’s Camp Why Don’t They Want the No. 1 Contender?
There’s probably no quicker way to illicit a response from a fighter than to call them ‘amateur’ or ‘a joke’, especially when those words are coming from a manager and not another competitor.
The strong statement came from Jorge Guimaraes, who is a co-manager of UFC middleweight king Anderson Silva, when speaking to Tatame.com about the prospects hoping to next face his fighter in the Octagon.
“That’s a big joke,” Guimaraes said about Chris Weidman and his fellow middleweight contenders. “Anderson has the biggest paycheck in the UFC and you can’t promote and event with these amateur kids that are coming up now.”
Needless to say Weidman didn’t take too kindly to Guimaraes’ words about him or the other top ten middleweights vying to face Silva in the cage.
“I read them and it’s kind of crazy. The managers they have no right to start putting down professional athletes. He put me, and (Alan) Belcher, and (Tim) Boetsch down and he’s trying to draw attention away from the fact that I’m the No. 1 contender, and then called us amateurs, and we’re all top ten fighters,” Weidman told MMAWeekly.com when reached for comment.
“This is what we do for a living and then you have some manager in Brazil who’s calling us amateur fighters and calls me a joke, it’s definitely a little crazy and I know I wouldn’t want my manager speaking about other fighters like that.”
As a matter of fact, Weidman’s manager David Martin declined to comment on the story all together and simply left the talking up to his fighter who is the one competing in the Octagon.
Weidman believes there is a bigger conspiracy going on because the names that Silva’s managers continue to mention include UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre, Strikeforce champion Luke Rockhold, and after Friday night they even found interest in a potential bout against UFC bad boy Nick Diaz.
“It’s like they’re trying to avoid my name being mentioned at all for the title shot. They’re trying to deflect with other guy’s names so people can start thinking about them as possibilities, but even guys they’re choosing to call out like GSP or (Nick) Diaz, they’re both welterweights,” Weidman stated.
The fact is right now St-Pierre, Diaz and Rockhold are unrealistic in terms of fights for Silva to take at least in the next 8 to 10 months. Weidman is quick to point out he has nothing but the utmost respect for all three fighters, but right now none of them fit into the immediate picture for a bout with Anderson Silva.
“I mean GSP, let’s start with him. The guy is coming off ACL surgery, we don’t even know for sure when he’s fighting, and when he does fight he’s fighting Carlos Condit for the welterweight title. You never know what’s going to happen and best-case scenario he could fight again around May. So if anything, fight me next, if you beat me then you get your shot with GSP. You’re just calling out a 170lber coming off ACL surgery,” Weidman fired back.
“Then Nick Diaz, he’s another guy he’d have a size advantage over, he’s another good name but the guy’s not going to be cleared till February. That’s just crazy. Nothing to say about me, who has proven to be the No. 1 contender. I beat two top five guys in the division in a row, and no one’s come close to doing that, especially in the fashion I did in my last fight against Mark Munoz.”
The third name mentioned by Silva’s camp, Luke Rockhold, is a legitimate middleweight and currently the Strikeforce champion at 185lbs, but he cannot move to the UFC for at least the next 18 months while the company is under contract with Showtime.
Silva’s representatives have also stated that he’s not looking to fight at a higher weight class than 185lbs again, so it’s either middleweight or bust for the longest reigning champion in UFC history.
“The guy’s a champion of 185, he should be fighting the contenders. You don’t call out guys that aren’t going to be able to fight forever and guys that are lighter than you. Why don’t you call out Jon Jones? That makes sense, I’m sure a lot of people would watch, I’d love to watch too. If you’re not going to fight him, fight me, I’m ready to go,” Weidman stated.
The other concern raised by Silva’s camp was the ability to promote a fight between their client and a fighter like Weidman, who isn’t as widely known or outspoken as say his last opponent Chael Sonnen.
Weidman puts his faith in UFC President Dana White and knows that the UFC can promote a fight with him and Silva just fine, and he’s ready to step up to the challenge.
“Dana White’s the best promoter in the world and I have full confidence that he’d be able to promote the fight just fine,” said Weidman. “I’m undefeated, every time I’ve had a full camp I’ve finished my opponent. You’ve got Anderson Silva, the No. 1 guy in the UFC right now, and just him alone is fine, and it just makes no sense what he’s saying. The manager’s not showing enough faith in the UFC and Dana White in the way they can promote the fight.”
The one person who has yet to make a statement about this entire situation is the UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva. While his managers have talked about what fights make the most sense, the reigning and defending king of the 185lb division hasn’t said much in terms of what interests him or if he’s opposed to facing Weidman in the Octagon.
“I have nothing but respect for Anderson Silva, and I would expect him to want to fight the best guy and the guy who’s going to give him the toughest challenge. If it was up to him, I think he would want to fight me because I am the toughest challenge. But his managers I feel like they are trying to keep me away from it and try to make me irrelevant enough in the title picture with Anderson Silva,” Weidman said.
“When you talk to Ed Soares and the other guy, it’s as though I’m not in the picture at all.”
There’s no doubt that Weidman is fired up about the entire situation, but he makes one thing very clear when discussing anything to do with the UFC middleweight title picture. While his dream is to fight for the title, Weidman is a company man and will do whatever the UFC asks him to do.
If that’s face Anderson Silva later this year, Weidman will gladly sign the dotted line. If it’s another fight, Weidman will gladly participate in that endeavor as well.
“If the UFC tells me tomorrow that I’m fighting someone else, I have no problem. I fight for the UFC, whatever they tell me to do, I’m going to do. My goal is to be the champion and I feel like I’m in a position where I have the chance to become the champion, it’s me trying to chase my goal,” said Weidman.
“If the UFC tells me 20 minutes from now that the Anderson Silva fight isn’t going to happen, and I need to fight someone else, I might be upset for a couple of minutes, but I’ll move on. I just feel like I’m the No. 1 contender right now and I feel like the champion should fight the No. 1 contender.”
And that’s the bottom line that Weidman wants everyone from Anderson Silva to his managers to the fans to the UFC executives to understand. He has proven in the cage that he’s the toughest challenge still standing in the UFC middleweight division, and Weidman is ready to show Anderson Silva as well.
“I feel like I’ve made it blatantly obvious with this last fight that I’m ahead of the pack,” said Weidman. “The champ should want to fight that guy.”
Follow @DamonMartin on Twitter or e-mail Damon Martin.
For more UFC News and UFC Rumors, follow MMAWeekly.com on Twitter and Facebook.
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CLOSE U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, candidate for president, speaks to Des Moines Register editors and reporters on Thursday, Sept. 3, 2015.
Buy Photo Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders answers questions from The Des Moines Register editorial board Thursday, Sept. 3, 2015 in downtown Des Moines. (Photo: Michael Zamora/The Register)Buy Photo
Before the Register staff began asking questions in his editorial board visit this month, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders was given a few minutes to say why he wants to be president of the United States. He plunged right in and reeled off a litany of evidence that this nation is seriously out of whack.
This country’s wealth is concentrated in the hands of a tiny group of billionaires. Democracy has become oligarchy as the billionaire class and corporations are allowed by the U.S. Supreme Court to spend limitless amounts of money to affect the outcome of elections. We are the wealthiest nation in the world, yet two in 10 children live in poverty and a third of our youth are unemployed. We hand out criminal records for marijuana convictions but not for Wall Street criminals.
This was a quick recitation of Sanders’ standard stump speech, and the message resonates with many disaffected voters who see the United States becoming a nation where the 1 percent own most everything, including Washington, while the poverty increases and the middle class disappears. Sanders held forth like this for 90 minutes, covering a broad range of issues.
Sanders is intense and on message with rapid-fire facts, figures and occasionally rising anger. He looks a bit like a disheveled professor, with a shock of windblown white hair and a clipped Brooklyn accent. He gives the impression he’s gotten most of our questions before.
An exception was about his personal management style, prompted by a story in a Vermont alternative weekly that quoted anonymous sources who said he could be tough, bordering on abusive, with his staff.
“Where did you get that information?” Sanders snapped. “You got it from one article from one person who quoted four anonymous people.” While he said he was offended by the accusations, he does not deny being a demanding boss. “Yes, I do work hard. Yes, I do demand a lot of the people who work with me. Yes, some people have left who were not happy. But I would say that by and large in my Senate office, in my House office, in my campaign, the vast majority of the people who have worked with me consider that to be a very, very good experience and a learning experience and have gone on to some great things.”
Another topic Sanders has talked little about in this campaign is foreign policy. He has strong opinions, of course, such as a very high bar for going to war. In general, he says “war is the last resort of a great nation,” and though he supported the U.S. bombing missions in Kosovo and the war in Afghanistan, he opposed both wars in Iraq.
Sanders really wants to talk about economic inequality, however, which he sees as eating away at the very core of this nation. What would he do about those things, though, and how would he get his solutions through Congress?
Sanders, who calls himself a democratic socialist, is not shy about prescribing solutions considered heresy by conservatives.
His Supreme Court justices would strip unlimited campaign spending by corporations and billionaires and replace that with taxpayer-funded campaigns. He would make tuition free at public universities. The Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) would be replaced with a single-payer government health insurance program similar to Canada’s or Medicare. Tax breaks would end for billionaires and a new tax would be imposed on Wall Street speculation.
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In short, the Sanders agenda would require a political revolution at the grass roots, a total overhaul of Congress, new personnel on the U.S. Supreme Court and a Constitutional amendment or two for good measure. All that seems far-fetched, but who knows? At the rate Sanders is gaining momentum, he is at least off to a good start.
The Bernie Sanders File
Personal biography: Born Sept. 8, 1941 in Brooklyn, N.Y. Lives now in Burlington, Vt., with wife, Jane, and has four children and seven grandchildren.
Education: Attended Brooklyn College and graduated from the University of Chicago.
Political career: Elected mayor of Burlington in 1981. Then, in 1990, he was elected to represent Vermont in Congress. He was first elected to the Senate in 2006 and re-elected to a second term in 2012. Though elected to Congress as an independent, Sanders is running for president as a Democrat.
First Impressions
About this series: The Des Moines Register has invited all declared candidates for president to meet with the editorial board. After each meeting, we will publish editorials giving our impressions of the candidates.
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In relation to this article responding to Climate Council CEO Amanda McKenzie’s claim that heatwaves are “worsening” and “hot days” have doubled in Australia in the last 50 years, a spokesperson for the Climate Council gave the following responses. Questions from The Conversation are in bold.
Could you please provide a source, or sources, to support Ms McKenzie’s statement that heatwaves are “worsening” and hot days have doubled in the last 50 years?
What did Ms McKenzie mean by the terms “heatwaves” and “hot days”?
Hot days – the number of hot days, defined as days with maximum temperatures greater than 35°C. Heatwaves – three days or more of high maximum and minimum temperatures that is unusual for that location. Furthermore, heatwaves have several significant characteristics. These include (i) frequency characteristics, such as the number of heatwave days and the annual number of summer heatwave events; (ii) duration characteristics, such as the length of the longest heatwave in a season; (iii) intensity characteristics, such as the average excess temperature expected during a heatwave and the hottest day of a heatwave; and (iv) timing characteristics, including the occurrence of the first heatwave event in a season.
Is there any other comment you would like us to include in the article?
Climate change – driven largely by rising atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations from the burning of coal, oil and gas – is increasing temperatures and cranking up the intensity of extreme weather events globally and in Australia. The accumulating energy in the atmosphere is affecting all extreme weather events. Climate change is driving global warming at a rate 170 times faster than the baseline rate over the past 7,000 years. Temperature records tumbled yet again during Australia’s ‘Angry Summer’ of 2016/17. In just 90 days, more than 205 records were broken around Australia. Heatwaves and hot days scorched the major population centres of Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne and Sydney, as well as the rural and regional heartlands of eastern Australia. The most severe heatwave of this Angry Summer began around January 31 and continued until February 12, with the highest temperatures recorded from February 9-12. This heatwave was made twice as likely to occur because of climate change, while the extreme heat in New South Wales over the entire summer season was at least 50 times as likely to occur because of climate change. The severe heatwave of February 2017 that spread across much of Australia’s south, east and interior caused issues for the South Australian and New South Wales energy systems. In New South Wales around 3,000MW of coal and gas capacity was not available when needed in the heatwave (roughly the equivalent of two Hazelwood Power Stations). In South Australia, 40,000 people were left without power for about half an hour in the early evening while temperatures were over 40°C. This heatwave highlights the vulnerability of our energy systems to extreme weather.
Read the article here.
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The Daily Nexus sat with Santa Barbara County 3rd District Supervisor Doreen Farr to discuss the County’s reaction to last weekend’s Deltopia riots. During the interview Farr revealed that the surveillance cameras on Del Playa Drive are planned to be removed by the beginning of next week. Farr also discussed the repercussions of last weekend’s riots, the origin of the cameras that were suddenly placed around Isla Vista and the County’s plans to prevent an incident like Deltopia from happening again.
DN: What has the County’s reaction been to the riots that have occurred this past weekend during Deltopia?
DF: I think we were shocked. We were kind of angry, and very sad. This is a wonderful community in so many ways filled with people who care about the community and who are bright and passionate and involved in so many different issues. To see this kind of behavior — particularly the anti-law enforcement behavior — was very disappointing. And I know that a fair amount of it was probably fueled by people outside the area, but clearly there were people living here that threw bottles or threw rocks, and that makes me very sad.
DN: What is your response to claims about tensions between students and law enforcement prior to Deltopia due to the spontaneous appearance of surveillance cameras around Isla Vista?
DF: The issue of whether we should have surveillance cameras in Isla Vista has been discussed for a couple of years now. At some point in time the university put some on their property here in Isla Vista, at the I.V. Theatre and Embarcadero Hall. So then in particular after the stabbing and the very brutal rape we had a month or so ago, the discussion about the use of surveillance cameras came back again. And it was my understanding that law enforcement was going to see if they could find money or write a grant and if they were successful then we would [know] how much money that was for and where in the community might be the best places to find them, similar to what the university has already done here. But then the university because then the monitoring on the Deltopia page, there seemed to be so many people that were planning to come, it really concerned everybody in terms of trying to protect the community. So then the university administration found some money, had a discussion with the Sheriff’s Department and said, “If we can find some money for you to purchase cameras, would you be interested in doing that? And it would be really great if we could get them up in time for Deltopia.” So that’s what happened.
DN: Did the County fund the cameras in Isla Vista or have any say in them getting put up?
DF: When they put the cameras up was when I found out this had occurred and that they were going to be there through Deltopia. They were going to take them down earlier in the week but then discovered another Facebook posting — someone trying to organize another event this weekend — and so they decided they would keep them up one more week to get through this coming weekend to see whether they might be necessary. But it is my understanding they’ll be taking them down. The ones that are on the pole there in Del Playa will be taken down at the beginning of next week. And then I’m sure they’d bring them out again if they felt it was necessary for another unsponsored event.
DN: Do you think we should have these cameras set up in I.V.? Are they a good thing?
DF: I think that we’ll see how well they work and how useful they work during Deltopia. Clearly law enforcement needs as many tools as it can have to try to locate and prosecute the perpetrators of the crime, and we have some very serious crime in Isla Vista. I think they will probably be reassessing that need, it’s important to remember that the Sheriff is the dually-elected law enforcement officer for the county and has powers in that capacity to protect public safety. So in regard to the cameras, I know they were considering it, but I did not know that they were going to come up in time for Deltopia. It was not something that came to the Board of Supervisors. That was the Sheriff Department’s and UCSB’s decision to partner in that effort. What did come to the Board, which comes to the Board every year, is the possibility to close off the streets in case we think it’s necessary. And this would be done just outside the street in front of the I.V. Foot Patrol office so they could station vehicles and equipment.
DN: What are some things the County is thinking of having in place next year and in the future in order to prevent incidents like this happening again?
DF: I think it’s going to be a partnership of everyone who’s concerned about this issue, as well as the people who live here. For the people who live here — it’s your community. People who live here are going to have to model what they want to happen. The administration of the University and City College, they are going to need to get involved … giving a clear understanding of what the rules are and what are the consequences are — what can happen to you if you’re involved in an incident like this, if you are arrested or convicted. And of course the county has a role … we will be looking closely at the ordinances that govern Isla Vista and seeing whether there’s room for improvement there and ways that we can better protect the community.
DN: What have the expenses been for the damages of this past Deltopia?
DF: That’s still being added up, and it will be expensive. You can’t put a price on pain and suffering. A lot of people starting with law enforcement officers and maybe bystanders who were hurt, they paid a heavy price. But the cost for all of the extra law enforcement, for medical costs, for all the other emergency responders that came in from all over the place, the damage to the streets, to the sidewalks, to the stop signs, to the private property, all those people’s cars that were damaged and windows smashed and danced on … different people will bear different parts of those costs, but for the county alone it will be very expensive. And this is not something that has its own separate amount of money. The Sheriff’s Department budget comes out of the general fund budget, and that money we use to fund people that need mental health care, foster children, homeless people, public health clinic, all the things that county government does which are funded at least in part by the general fund. So the more the county has to spend money on protecting people during these unsponsored events is less money for all of these really important things we need to do.
DN: What role do you think social media had in inviting the hoards of people that came here this weekend?
DF: Huge — it was huge. On one hand, we know that if you put something out on the Internet it has an international audience, on the other hand, I think people somehow think they can keep it only local, and that if they put it on social media it will somehow only be seen by people they want to have come. That’s clearly not the case. A majority of the people that were cited were out of the area, and not just that but had little to no connection with anyone here in the community. So they came and they didn’t know anybody, so a lot of them didn’t have any place to stay. They didn’t know the area, they didn’t respect the community, or the residents, and they didn’t know or respect our law enforcement people. Halloween has been going on a long time before social media and people from other places came here and all that, but at least those people had a place to stay or some kind of connection. Now with social media it goes out to a worldwide audience.
DN: Why do you think a potential sponsored event in place of Deltopia would be beneficial to the community?
DF: When somebody is willing — or an organization is willing — to step up as a sponsor then they’re willing to say, “I take responsibility. We’re going to post the bounds that are necessary for potential damage of liability, we’re willing to pay for the extra law enforcement, willing to pay for porter potties, willing get other sponsors from the community,” like they do at other festivals, to help us offset the cost.
This story is a Daily Nexus online exclusive.
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The Chiefs have a couple of safeties on the injured list right now, which may have helped them decide to add some depth at the position.
Agent David Canter announced on Thursday that his client Steve Gregory has signed with the Chiefs for the coming season.
Gregory was released by the Patriots in February after playing 26 games with the team over the last two seasons. Gregory started 23 of those games, recording 116 tackles, four interceptions and two forced fumbles.
Eric Berry left Chiefs practice early on Thursday with an ankle injury, although coach Andy Reid and others have downplayed the severity of the injury since Berry was removed from the field. Sanders Commings had ankle surgery on Thursday, however, and that absence could stretch a bit longer.
Even with everyone healthy, Gregory would be a viable competitor with Husain Abdullah for the starting spot next to Berry. He’ll get the chance to win that job over the next month or so.
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More than 900,000 people have signed a petition demandingDonald Trump's state visit to the UK be cancelled in the wake of his Muslim travel ban.
The enormous response easily passed the 100,000 target needed for MPs to consider holding a debate on the motion in the House of Commons this morning, with more and more people flocking to sign it.
It is currently rising at an average of more than 1,000 signatures per minute and is already the third most popular petition in Parliament's history.
Plans for a state visit for President Trump were only announced 48 hours ago when Theresa May revealed he had accepted an invitation from the Queen.
But the call for action is still a long way off the largest Parliamentary petition in history when more than 4million people demanded a second referendum over EU membership.
Hundreds of thousands of people have signed a petition today demanding President Trump's state visit to the UK is cancelled
Within hours of being set up it attracted the necessary 100,000 for the motion to be considered for debate in the Commons
The high-profile visit was scheduled for later this year and was set to feature the usual full pomp and ceremony.
But it had already hit a snag after it emerged the US President wants to avoid Prince Charles because of their dispute over global warming.
Today's online petition, backed by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and Lib Dem leader Tim Farron, says the US President should no longer be invited to avoid embarrassing the Queen.
The motion states: 'Donald Trump should be allowed to enter the UK in his capacity as head of the US Government, but he should not be invited to make an official State Visit because it would cause embarrassment to Her Majesty the Queen.
A heat map shows that most people who are signing the petition to cancel Mr Trump's state visit are in London or student towns. The darker the colour, the more people have signed it
The US President's shock executive order prevents anyone entering the US from seven Muslim majority countries for 90 days
Speaking alongside President Trump at the White House on Friday, Prime Minister Theresa May revealed that he and the First Lady had accepted an invitation from the Queen to make a state visit to the UK later this year with full pomp and ceremony
'Donald Trump's well documented misogyny and vulgarity disqualifies him from being received by Her Majesty the Queen or the Prince of Wales.
'Therefore during the term of his presidency Donald Trump should not be invited to the United Kingdom for an official State Visit.'
Mr Corbyn said he is 'not happy with him coming here until that ban is lifted,' while Mr Farron said his visit would be 'placing the Queen in an impossible position of welcoming a man who is banning British citizens purely on grounds of their faith'.
Within hours of being set up it attracted the necessary 100,000 for the motion to be considered for debate in the Commons.
And it is on course to beat the record one million signatures in support of Jeremy Clarkson returning as Top Gear presenter.
Most people signing the petition are in London or student towns, according to a heat map.
TRUMP'S MUSLIM BAN TRIGGERS TRAVEL CHAOS FOR BRITONS Hamaseh Tayari, pictured, a UK resident with an Iranian passport, was stranded in Costa Rica after being denied boarding a flight home to Glasgow because her flight was due to stop-over in New York British Airways and Virgin Atlantic are offering refunds for travellers affected by Donald Trump's Muslim ban. His executive order preventing anyone entering the US from seven Muslim majority countries for 90 days has triggered chaos at airports across the world as travellers were caught out in transit. Customers who have bought flights to the US will be given the choice of a refund or the chance to re-book. One woman affected was Hamaseh Tayari, a UK resident with an Iranian passport, who is stranded in Costa Rica after being denied boarding a flight home to Glasgow because her return flight was due to stop-over in New York. Ms Tayari was due to fly home to Glasgow via New York after holidaying in Costa Rica but her US transit visa was revoked as Mr Trump's immigration crackdown took effect immediately. She is now trying to work out an alternative route home but she said it is likely to cost her a month's salary to get home. 'This has really shocked me. We just discovered [what Trump did] at the airport when we went to check-in, Ms Tayari told the Guardian. 'I want people to know that this is not just happening to refugees. I am a graduate and I have a Phd. It has happened to a person who is working and who pays tax.'
Any petition that receives more than 100,000 signatures within six months must be considered for debate by MPs in Parliament.
Petitions that attract more than 10,000 in the time period requires a response from the Government.
Yesterday's petition eclipsed the target within a few hours and by 3pm it had surpassed 280,000 signatures.
It will now be up to the Commons Petition's Committee to decide whether a parliamentary debate on the matter would be appropriate, but its popularity is likely to lead to a debate in the Commons, which could be highly embarrassing for the US President.
David Cameron introduced the e-petition initiative when he entered Downing Street in 2010 in a bid to boost democracy and transparency.
London's Muslim Mayor Sadiq Khan also said President Trump should only be invited for a state visit once he lifts his 'shameful' travel ban.
Former Ukip leader Nigel Farage was alone in defending the immigration crackdown and even suggested Britain should follow the President's lead and introduce 'extreme vetting' of incomers.
Mr Javid, the Business Secretary, responded directly at Mr Farage, tweeting: 'Farage is wrong to try and defend US immigration ban. These are not British values.'
Announcing on Friday that the Queen had invited President Trump to make an official state visit to the UK, Mrs May said: 'In a further sign of the importance of that [special] relationship I have today been able to convey Her Majesty the Queen's hope that President Trump and the First Lady would pay a state visit to the United Kingdom later this year and I'm delighted that the President has accepted that invitation.'
Meanwhile, thousands of demonstrators are planning to protest against the ban outside Downing Street and across the country on Monday from 6pm.
Protests are listed to take place in London, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Manchester, Newcastle, Leeds, Cambridge and Birmingham.
A march organised by a coalition of groups, including Stand Up to Racism and the Muslim Council of Britain, is due to begin at the US embassy next Saturday, ending at Downing Street.
Graham Guest, who started the petition in November, told the Press Association he feared Mr Trump would use the state visit and the accompanying photo opportunities with the Queen to bolster his image.
He said: 'A state visit legitimises his presidency and he will use the photo opportunities and being seen with the Queen to get re-elected.
'The wording in the petition is quite precise as I actually say that he should come here as the head of government to do government to government business.
'At the end of the day he is still the President and we've just got to live with that. But there's no reason why he should get all the pomp and publicity of a state visit.'
Asked why he had launched the petition, Mr Guest, from Leeds, said: 'Anything to make his life more uncomfortable.
'I think a debate in Parliament to ban a state visit would be great as people will have had the chance to air their views on him.
'The petition is really just to make as much noise as possible and put the spotlight on him and what an awful person he is.'
A No 10 spokesman said: 'An invitation was extended and has been accepted.'
The storm over Donald Trump's Muslim travel ban comes just two days after he and Theresa May were spotted holding hands at one point as they walked around the White House grounds
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Taken nearby a church at Queens, Prince Edward Island (Photo via Flickr user Arnaud Abadie)
The Maritimes are desperate to attract new immigrants: understandable, given recent hand-wringing over the region's alleged death spiral and imminent economic ruin. Growth is such a priority for these amazing, shrinking provinces that former New Brunswick premier Frank McKenna recently suggested all new immigrants to Canada be forced—yes, forced—to start off in the Maritimes. "Critics will question why we should bring people to areas of high unemployment," writes McKenna, who himself moved years ago from New Brunswick to Toronto. "But that is precisely where immigrants are needed. We need their entrepreneurship, their worldliness, their drive, their consumption, and even their desperation."
If it's desperation the region needs, the 25,000 Syrian refugees Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pledged to identify and resettle in Canada in 2015 definitely fit the bill. They are some of the world's most marginalized people, in many cases having lived through a brutal trifecta of civil unrest, violence, and abuse. And, since the start of winter 2015, thousands are being routed to Nova Scotia, PEI, and New Brunswick. This sort of mass arrival is highly unusual for the area, to say the least. Apart from the far North, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and PEI have the lowest proportion of foreign-born residents in Canada. Only about five percent of people living in Atlantic Canada were born in another country. The Canadian average is 22 percent. In Toronto it's nearly 50 percent.
Gerry Mills is the director of ISANS, the largest immigrant-serving agency in Atlantic Canada. In 27 years, she says she hasn't seen anything like the recent influx of Syrians since Operation PARASOL assisted with the refugee crisis in the Balkans in the 1990s. This effort is still "a very different process," she says, with immigrants sent first to Toronto and Montreal, then rerouted to the East Coast. Most are families with several kids under 13. Until they're connected with suitable permanent housing, they stay in hotels, sometimes under temporarily cramped conditions.
"It's a massive, massive operation," says Mills. "It's in the winter, which has its challenges. We have these nor'easters here, and the weather affects travel plans and moving people in. In January, we were supposed to be moving 110 people out [of the hotel] and we had a snowstorm, and roads weren't cleared and delivery trucks couldn't get in. But we're coping and managing really well."
"At the beginning of January, it was overwhelming," says Craig Mackie, Executive Director of the PEI Association for Newcomers to Canada, the only association that exists to assist new Islanders. In the first week of February, the intake was in a lull—but 25 to 40 more Syrians are expected to arrive before the end of the month. "Normally, we would be serving over 1,000 immigrants every year, but when they're all coming in at once, and still we have our regular intake of non-Syrian refugees—well, it's busy." When Syrians first started arriving, agencies often received little notice as to when, or how many, families were arriving, leaving volunteers and organizers scrambling to meet their needs.
The eerily picturesque Maritimes town of Saint John, New Brunswick (Photo via Flickr user Jamie McCaffrey)
While the process has become more streamlined, connecting newcomers with English classes—a crucial first step toward getting jobs and settling in—can also present challenges.
"We were already at capacity for English language programs, with 150 students a day before the Syrians arrived," says Saint John YMCA Executive Director Shilo Boucher. "Now we have 237 new people who need classes and childcare."
"We don't think it's going to slow down. Maybe we won't get as many as in the past two months, but we're expecting 250 more to arrive in 2016."
Despite the crazy logistics, the overwhelming feeling among newly-minted Maritimers appears to be one of amazement and relief to be here. Rozam Abazed, 24, arrived in Saint John in late January with her husband, three-year-old son, and ten-month-old twins. She and her sister Rehem, 28, were forced to flee Syria for Jordan during the Siege of Daraa in March 2015.
"It is very, very difficult time that I had," said Rozam, speaking through an Arabic interpreter. "There was no milk for the babies: they had to drink only sugar water. There were no diapers. No one helped, no one offered us anything. My husband was not permitted to work. My sister and I were separated in different cities."
"Here, the diapers, the milk—everything is offered. Everything is easy and good."
Rehem, who arrived in Saint John a week after her sister, is immensely grateful for everything her family has received. "The people here are different than in Jordan," she says "They are welcoming."
"In Jordan, we were in a camp with only one mattress, for my kids: I slept on the ground," says Rozam. "My son's dream is to be a firefighter or a surgeon, because he saw fires, and some people without their hands and legs. He dreams that he will fix them."
"Here, they take care of everything: furniture, anything we want. Anything is available."
The sisters were reunited in Saint John. Recently, they moved into apartments on the same street. But Rozam starts to cry when she thinks about her family still in Jordan. "We are happy to live here," says says. "We wish our parents and brothers were here." Asked where they see themselves 5 years from now, both enthusiastically say they want to stay in Saint John. They also hope they, and their husbands, will find work in their fields—a wish which could prove surprisingly tricky to fulfill.
The hardest parts of life in Canada—learning English, finding jobs, getting kids adjusted to school, gaining permanent resident status—may come later for many recent Syrian immigrants. For now, organizations like the Saint John YMCA urgently need local volunteers on their welcome teams, helping with the immediate needs of housing, groceries, and furniture. It's an intense six-week commitment, according to Saint John volunteer Holly McKay.
"We probably spend almost every night with them," she says. "Other people in our group are there every day to help them get to classes and appointments. There's a lot to do."
But, McKay says, "they have a whole team looking out for them. They're happy. They see us coming consistently, and they're excited to see us."
"It's a once-in-a-lifetime experience to be there for someone like that," says volunteer Trisha Wright-Belanger. "You think that one person can't make a difference, but you can."
But despite these expressions of small-town friendliness and hospitality, not everyone's feeling the love. The white-bread conservatism of the aging population runs deep: it's a common complaint that influxes of new immigrants steal jobs away from born-and-raised Maritimers.
If only it were that easy. In close-knit communities where who you know (or are related to) regularly trumps both education and experience even if you aren't a CFA, it's hard to imagine the disadvantage at which many of the newest arrivals find themselves with zero connections and limited English or French. It's not hard to see why more than 70 percent of recent immigrants to Canada choose to live in Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver, but make up just 3.7 percent of the total population in Atlantic Canada.
Whatever the answer to the Maritimes' population issue, it's probably not a regionally-restricted visa program à la Frank McKenna. "As a Nova Scotian, as a Canadian, I don't want to be part of that," says Gerry Mills. "I would never want to capitalize on anyone's desperation. It's up to provincial governments, communities, and employers to make the conditions good enough that people want to come, and want to stay."
She points to the growing Bhutanese community in Nova Scotia as an example of the region successfully retaining newcomers without forcing anyone's hand.
"We received 250 Bhutanese in the past few years: almost none have left. We ask, 'Why did they stay?' And the answer is that they came in a big group. Before this influx, we had a small Syrian community in Nova Scotia—a couple of hundred, maybe. Now, we've something like 2,000, including privately-sponsored refugees. So this is an opportunity for us to help build another community."
"We need to help [Maritimers] understand the culture [the refugees] are coming from so that the people here feel comfortable interacting with them," says Shilo Boucher. "Everybody has this fear that they're not doing the right thing, or that they're insulting them. But you need to learn how to interact, not just ignore them."
"The more people talk about it, the less scary it gets. It doesn't matter where any of us are from. We all have the same fears, hopes, and dreams."
"When you're from here," says Boucher, "it's different than when you're not from here. We're known as this great, nice place—but we need to actually show that."
Follow Julia Wright on Twitter.
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Getting Started
Complete Big Smoke.
76.2%
Common 90.11%
Common
Represent
Purchase a Grove St Tattoo.
19.8%
Rare 53.83%
Common
The End of the Line
Complete End of the Line.
6.2%
Very Rare 34.03%
Uncommon
Hustle Some
Win a game of pool.
6.4%
Very Rare 38.25%
Uncommon
A Legitimate Business
Export all three car lists.
2.2%
Ultra Rare 27.72%
Uncommon
The American Dream
Purchase any house.
16.4%
Rare 48.32%
Uncommon
Get a Pump
Do a dumbbell curl or benchpress at any gym.
48.2%
Rare 72.26%
Common
Pay 'n' Spray
Use a Pay 'n' Spray with wanted level.
35.6%
Rare 64.77%
Common
Bike or Biker
Complete BMX or NRG challenge.
3.8%
Ultra Rare 32.17%
Uncommon
Beat the Cock
Win the Beat the Cock marathon.
1.8%
Ultra Rare 27.51%
Uncommon
Metrosexual
Spend $6,969 on clothes, hair, and tattoos.
4.8%
Ultra Rare 34.47%
Uncommon
School's Out
Complete a vehicle school.
12.4%
Very Rare 42.63%
Uncommon
Serial Offender
Get arrested 50 times.
1.9%
Ultra Rare 29.24%
Uncommon
Freight Date
Take the train between cities.
12.3%
Very Rare 38.77%
Uncommon
What the City Needs
Complete 12 levels of Vigilante.
2.6%
Ultra Rare 29.54%
Uncommon
Savior
Complete 12 levels of Paramedic.
3.4%
Ultra Rare 33.32%
Uncommon
Rescue a Kitten Too?
Complete 12 levels of Firefighter.
3.6%
Ultra Rare 31.99%
Uncommon
Yes I Speak English
Reach 50 fares in Taxi Mode.
2.7%
Ultra Rare 31.54%
Uncommon
Time to Kill
Watch Credits to the end.
3.3%
Ultra Rare 32.00%
Uncommon
Home Run
Achieve 'sex' with any of the girlfriends.
10.2%
Very Rare 39.33%
Uncommon
What are the Odds
Win a race in Inside Track Betting.
6.3%
Very Rare 35.16%
Uncommon
Double or Nothin'
Put the maximum bet on red or black and win.
3.0%
Ultra Rare 30.77%
Uncommon
Assassin
Complete a stealth kill.
21.5%
Rare 53.88%
Common
Original Gangster
Reach maximum respect.
7.4%
Very Rare 35.13%
Uncommon
The Los Santos Slayer
Reach a total kill count of 4,000.
3.1%
Ultra Rare 28.32%
Uncommon
Public Enemy No. 1
Reach 6 wanted stars.
4.9%
Ultra Rare 32.51%
Uncommon
Chick Magnet
Achieve maximum sex appeal.
2.5%
Ultra Rare 29.84%
Uncommon
|
With the number of people wanting to work fewer hours at its highest level in a decade, Green Party leader Jonathan Bartley says we need to revive the idea of a four day week.
In April, when I floated the idea of a shorter working week, there was no shortage of critics lining up to state it simply wasn’t possible.
But a week ago I visited a business that implements a 4.5 day working week – and it’s been in place for more than 30 years. Ormiston Wire Ltd, a factory in west London, is a family business that’s been going for six generations.
The employees finish at 1pm every Friday, an initiative started by the father of the current managing director Mark Ormiston. The idea wasn’t borne out of a progressive vision for the future of the world of work, but simple common sense. At the time, workers were paid in cash at Friday lunchtime, and almost always spent up large at the pub before trying to return to work several pints later.
It was a simple change in the interests of the business and its employees. Indeed the effect on workers is testament to everything we’ve been saying since we first raised the concept earlier this year. Productivity is up and morale is high.
When I met the employees, they were eager to tell me how the shift away from a traditional working week benefits them as well as the company. One had a long commute and an early Friday finish gives him the opportunity to beat rush hour, while another uses the free time to go shopping.
The positivity is unanimous and overwhelming – flexible working patterns are one of the key attractions of working at Ormiston Wire and helps with employee retention. Who wouldn’t want a long weekend?
The evolution of the traditional working week is a natural progression. About 90 years ago Henry Ford moved from a six day to five day working week and now, with the emerging challenges of automation and the gig economy, it’s time for another rethink.
Modern life cries out for more flexibility. If everyone commutes at the same time on the same days then of course it’s going to be a nightmare to get to work. We should embrace the changes and bold new ideas that will make our work, and our work-life balance, better.
Businesses can learn from Ormiston Wire in other ways too. The company is proof that embedding sustainability in the heart of your work is both common sense and good business sense.
The factory is proud of its green credentials which have been recognised in the awards it has won. It has solar panels and a wind turbine on the roof. The packaging that raw materials arrive at the factory in is repurposed to send out the finished product. It’s a cost-saving and waste-saving measure that pays off – the company only empties its skip twice a year.
This is a resilient business that began in 1793, has survived multiple recessions and is now one the few manufacturing companies left in London. There’s plenty the naysayers can learn from Ormiston Wire about adapting to the challenges of a changing world.
Whether it’s becoming environmentally sustainable or introducing a shorter and flexible working week, it’s not just about weathering the inevitable economic storms but being able to thrive when they hit.
It’s about being efficient, smart and doing more with less. This is the kind of future we are all needing to inhabit, and right now. The only question left is how soon we can make the necessary changes.
Jonathan Bartley is co-leader of the Green Party of England & Wales
URGENT APPEAL: We need to raise £10,000 in the next few weeks to keep holding the right to account. Help us build a better media and back the crowdfunder to keep Left Foot Forward's progressive journalism alive.
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MILAN (Reuters) - The main measure of Italy’s borrowing costs broke above 6 percent for the first time in 14 years before easing back on Tuesday as the euro zone’s third-largest economy was sucked into the bloc’s debt crisis.
Italian 10-year yields at one stage soared more than 30 basis points on the day to leap above 6 percent — the highest since 1997 — getting closer to the 7 percent level most market players see as being unsustainable for Italy’s borrowing costs given its huge debt pile.
The cost of insuring Italian debt against default also rose as prolonged efforts to agree a second bailout for Greece, where the crisis began, eroded investor confidence in policymakers’ ability to hold the bloc together.
Analysts said confusion over the Italian government’s deficit-cutting 40 billion euro ($57 billion) austerity package and fears it may be watered down by parliament are adding to investors’ concerns and making the country an easy target for those looking to hedge against the sustainability of the euro.
“Basically we believe Italy is being used as a liquid proxy on a euro-break up view,” Credit Suisse First Boston analysts said in a research note.
The 10-year yield later eased to 5.6 percent, lower than its level of 5.7 percent at Monday’s close but still 60 basis points higher than where it stood a week ago.
The premium investors demand to hold Italian debt instead of German paper hit a euro lifetime high of 353 basis points before falling back to just below the 300 threshold.
The 10-year bond yield began to fall back after the Treasury managed to sell 6.75 billion euros of 12-month bills, although risk-averse investors demanded a high price to pick up the paper.
At 3.67 percent, the auction’s gross yield was the highest since September 2008, when benchmark interest rates were much higher than they are now.
“Italy is by far the country with the greatest sensitivity to rising debt servicing costs and particularly in terms of rolling over debt. This is not a situation it can afford to have going on for any sustained period of time,” said Marc Ostwald, strategist at Monument Securities in London.
Italy has one of the world’s highest levels of public debt. At around 120 percent of gross domestic product, it is second only to Greece in the euro zone. A total of 176 billion euros in Italian government paper will come due by the end of the year.
Still, markets breathed a sigh of relief that Rome was able to place the full amount of short term bills on Tuesday. A more challenging test of Italy’s ability to fund itself will be on Thursday when it offers between 3 billion euros and 5 billion euros of long-term BTP bonds.
BANK SHARES VOLATILE
UniCredit (CRDI.MI) and other Italian banking shares, which have born the brunt of a three-day market sell-off because of their vast government debt holdings, reversed early losses in very volatile trading, pushing the blue-chip index into positive territory.
“The positive outcome of the auction has given some relief to markets and spreads are narrowing,” a Milan-based trader said.
UniCredit shares - which have fallen 26 percent over the past six sessions — were up 5.2 percent at 1425 GMT after being suspended for excessive losses. The blue chip index gained 0.75 percent after dropping nearly 4 percent shortly after the open.
Traders also cited talk that the European Central Bank was buying Italian and Spanish paper to stem the losses although bond traders who usually see those transactions said they had not spotted such trades.
Another factor supporting the market was news that Economy Minister Giulio Tremonti was rushing back to Rome to wrap up the austerity budget.
Despite its high debt and anemic economic growth, Italy had long seemed exempt from the turmoil sweeping euro zone peers like Greece, Ireland and Portugal.
But with problems mounting for Athens, markets have started to question the longstanding assumption that Italy’s relatively modest budget deficit, its conservative banking system and its high level of private savings would keep it out of trouble.
“There’s a confidence problem. What is happening is a collateral effect of the Greek crisis, but there’s also a problem of confidence toward the Italian government,” said Armand de Coussergues, fund manager at investment management firm Financiere de l’Echiquier in Paris.
“For the current confidence crisis to ease, you would need two things: first, that the Greek crisis gets resolved, that will have an immediate effect on Italian spreads. But we also need more confidence vis-a-vis the Italian executive.”
Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, weakened by corruption and sex scandals, called on the government and opposition to unite to pass the tough debt-cutting measures.
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The sixth annual Speleo Photo of the Year photoraphy contest has once again been kicked off by the Lithuanian caving club Aenigma.
The contest, which began accepting photos on Monday, is open to any photographer who has taken a beautiful or interesting cave related photo during the course of 2011.
Photos can be submitted by emailing [email protected], and will be accepted until December 31st, 2011.
Beginning on January 1st, the photos will be displayed in an online gallery and folks will be able to go and vote on their favorites. On Feruary 7th, the votes will be tallied and used to help guide the final jury of five professional cave photographers in choosing the winners.
Prizes for the winners include Petzl lights and a cave pack.
For more information on the rules and regulations of the contest, or to just check out some of the previous years amazing entries visit The Speleo Photo of the Year contest site.
The Speleo Photo of the Year contest [speleo.lt via CaverInfo]
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An Egyptian policeman shot three people, killing one of them, on a Cairo street after an argument, official state media said on Tuesday.
Witnesses and videos circulated on social media and also local press claimed that the argument was over the price of a cup of tea.
“This because of a cup of tea that costs one pound!” shouted one man, crouched over a large bloody spot belonging to the victim on the ground. “He was shot in the back and the chest. I swear to God this is oppression!”
A security official said the officer involved was arrested after dozens of bystanders protested at the scene of the shooting in an eastern suburb of the capital, chanting: "The police are thugs."
The interior ministry posted a statement on its Facebook page about the shootings, identifying the policeman who fired the shots as Zeinhem Abdel Razzaq.
"During a police patrol a dispute broke out between the officer and the seller over the price," the ministry said in a statement.
"The policeman opened fire, killing the vendor and wounding two passers-by."
The incident occured in the Rehab City, an eastern district of New Cairo city. An angry crowd later smashed the police vehicle that Abdel Razzaq drove, with only his partner inside the car. Abdel Razzaq was later arrested.
The general prosecution has said that the policeman was accompanied by two of his peers and that warrants for their arrests had been issued.
البراد ومكان بائع الشاي اللى قتله أمين الشرطة pic.twitter.com/hVK0OvRPoI — عاطف (@Atef) April 19, 2016
Translation: The teapot and the tea vendor's place, who was shot by a policeman
Egypt's police have been on the defensive after rights groups denounced alleged widespread torture and deaths in detention, as well as arbitrary arrests and the forced disappearances of government opponents.
The alleged abuses are reminiscent for many Egyptians of those perpetrated by police under the rule of longtime president Hosni Mubarak, who was toppled in 2011 partly as a result of public outrage over impunity for security services.
Earlier this month, an Egyptian court sentenced a policeman to life in prison for shooting dead a taxi driver over a fare dispute.
Mohamed Ali Sayed Ismail was shot dead by the policeman over a fare dispute on 18 February in Cairo, leading to disturbances and calls for action against police abuses.
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said he would ask parliament to amend the law to toughen sanctions for police abuses after the February killing.
Thousands of doctors held a protest earlier this year against the police after officers allegedly assaulted two doctors in a hospital.
Several policemen have been detained for violence against prisoners and some have been sentenced to jail in the past year.
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According to Business Insider magazine, Utah ranks fourth in the nation for having the largest pay gap between men and women working full-time.
The magazine reports:
This map, based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2012 American Community Survey, shows the gap between the 2012 median earnings for a year-round full-time male worker and a similar female worker, as a percentage of the median female’s earnings.
Utah ranks 46th out of 50 states.
How responsible is Mormonism, the religion of 62% of Utah’s people, for this gender discrepancy?
Before we explore that question let’s take a quick look at what the census study says about women in Utah — and what it doesn’t. I particularly want to point out that this data is not chronicling a divergence in “equal pay for equal work.”
In other words, no one is claiming from this data that women in Utah who are, say, high school history teachers with 22 years of experience are making 42.5% less than male high school history teachers who also have 22 years of experience in the same school system.
But the findings are troubling nonetheless. Women in Utah make 42.5% less income than men. In Wyoming, the nation’s worst offender, the chasm is 56.6%.
What accounts for the persistent gap between women and men, which is clearly worse in some places than in others? Economists point to several reasons:
1) The most significant factor accounting for the wage gap is women’s greater tendency to leave full-time work for years at a time to care for children at home. The long-term effect on American families may be positive, but the long-term effect on women’s earnings is disastrous. One key thing to note in all the discussion this week about equal pay is that the average may be that women earn “77 cents on the dollar” nationwide. However, “single, childless women earn 95 cents for every dollar a single, childless man makes, which is hardly the stuff of campaign slogans.” In other words, American women who never leave the workplace for any length of time have almost achieved wage parity with men.
2) Another cause — one that is less significant in the beginning but can add up over time — is women’s failure to negotiate and renegotiate their salary. Some studies have shown that even when women work longer hours and make fewer errors at work than men, they are less likely to ask for a raise or promotion. And when they do ask, they’re likely to settle for less money than a male employee would. In 2012, the Freakonomics podcast reported that the male advantage disappears when employers make it clear that women are expected to negotiate. The New York Times also reports that it disappears when companies provide employees with hard data on what others are making.
3) Finally, women cluster in careers that pay less than those embraced by men. As The Economist noted this week, men in the United States “are 87% of engineers but only 16% of teachers.” Social work, early childhood education, and visual arts — all fields dominated by women — simply do not pay as well as the STEM fields still dominated by men.
Those three factors help explain the persistence of the wage gap in the United States despite many advances made by women. But having said all that, why are women’s earnings in Utah so much worse than, say, in Vermont?
Because Utah has a higher percentage of stay-at-home mothers. In fact, it’s the highest in the nation, according to one 2007 study.
Utah mothers are also more likely to have larger families, resulting in more years out of the work force: Utah leads the nation in the number of births per woman (2.5 on average), whereas Vermont is the very lowest, with a fertility rate of 1.6.
What is the culpability of Mormonism in creating the wage gap in Utah? Of course it is a significant factor. When nearly two-thirds of the people in a state are members of a religion that has repeatedly and explicitly encouraged mothers to stay out of the work force, it can’t help but have a deleterious effect on women’s earnings.
Less clear from a quantitative standpoint is whether or how Mormonism might play a role in the other two factors. For example, does Mormon culture encourage a meekness in women that might make them reluctant to ask for a raise or a promotion? And does it steer them toward lower-paying careers in “helping” professions such as teaching and nursing?
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EARTH CITY, Mo. -- If the St. Louis Rams projected starting offensive line can stay healthy, it has the talent and experience to be among the league's best.
The only problem is that the size of that "if" isn't done much justice in this font size. This is the next verse, same as the first when it comes to the Rams' offensive line. From left to right, the line has established Pro Bowlers and potential future Pro Bowlers. It also has an injury history that makes betting big on that group to stay together for 16 games a risky proposition.
Jake Long is on track in his recovery from offseason surgery to repair a torn ACL and MCL to start the season. AP Photo/Jeff Roberson
About a week and a half into this training camp, the Rams are starting to get the projected pieces in place. Left tackle Jake Long and center Scott Wells returned to team drills last week as they recover from offseason knee surgery and an illness, respectively. Long and Wells form the experienced heartbeat of the line, the two most experience players upfront and two of the team's most veteran leaders in general.
Long is still slowly working his way into getting more reps but appears on track to play in some preseason games and be ready to start the season. Wells' return has been more accelerated as he's getting plenty of work in team drills.
Having Long and Wells back is a welcome sight for quarterback Sam Bradford and an added help to rookie left guard Greg Robinson.
"When Jake and Scotty are in the huddle, they just provide a ton of that veteran leadership on that line, especially with Greg in there," Bradford said. "I think having those two guys around him just helps him as far as communication goes so it’s really important for those guys to start jelling too. So the more we can get them on the field together, I think the better we're going to be."
Of course, no sooner did the Rams get Long and Wells back in the mix than right guard Rodger Saffold suffered an apparent stinger that has kept him out the past couple of practices. Such is the way things seem to go for this group.
The good news is that Saffold's latest issue doesn't seem serious and he should be back soon enough. The bad news is that Saffold having injury issues is nothing new. The same can be said of Wells and Long. That trio has combined to miss a total of 37 games over the past three seasons because of various ailments.
The Rams committed serious draft capital and dollars to the line in the offseason. They spent the No. 2 overall pick on Robinson, signed Saffold to a lucrative long-term deal and added veteran guard Davin Joseph on a one-year deal. Robinson and Saffold provide strong insurance in case anything happens to Long or right tackle Joe Barksdale.
Before Long returned and even now as he's working his way back into the mix, the Rams have taken the opportunity to get Robinson and Saffold some work at left tackle with Joseph filling in at guard.
“Well, that’s the big thing," offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer said. "We’re going to move guys around. Again, we’re trying to create competition, putting Greg in different spots, Rodger in different spots .... They’ve been working hard. The communication now is so much easier for them. We make adjustments, they make adjustments, make calls. That just comes from playing together."
Which brings us back to the original question of just how much that group will play together. Aside from Joseph, only backup center Tim Barnes has any sort of meaningful game experience and even that is limited to four starts last season. Offensive line coach Paul Boudreau is adept at getting a lot from a little but if the Rams' line breaks out in another rash of injuries, it could easily derail their hopes of a breakthrough season.
"I think we’re coming together real well," Long said. "Especially in practice against this defensive line it makes us better every single day. Getting Davin, a veteran who has been to the Pro Bowl and is a great player, he’s doing a great job out there. We have been working hard and just pushing each other and it’s coming along good."
For this group, coming together isn't the issue. Staying together is.
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Researchers are sifting through an avalanche of data produced by one of the largest cosmological simulations ever performed, led by scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory.
The simulation, run on the Titan supercomputer at DOE's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, modeled the evolution of the universe from just 50 million years after the Big Bang to the present day -- from its earliest infancy to its current adulthood. Over the course of 13.8 billion years, the matter in the universe clumped together to form galaxies, stars and planets; but we're not sure precisely how.
These kinds of simulations help scientists understand dark energy, a form of energy that affects the expansion rate of the universe, including the distribution of galaxies, composed of ordinary matter, as well as dark matter, a mysterious kind of matter that no instrument has directly measured so far.
Intensive sky surveys with powerful telescopes, like the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and the new, more detailed Dark Energy Survey, show scientists where galaxies and stars were when their light was first emitted. And surveys of the Cosmic Microwave Background, light remaining from when the universe was only 300,000 years old, show us how the universe began -- "very uniform, with matter clumping together over time," said Katrin Heitmann, an Argonne physicist who led the simulation.
The simulation fills in the temporal gap to show how the universe might have evolved in between: "Gravity acts on the dark matter, which begins to clump more and more, and in the clumps, galaxies form," said Heitmann.
Called the Q Continuum, the simulation involved half a trillion particles -- dividing the universe up into cubes with sides 100,000 kilometers long. This makes it one of the largest cosmology simulations at such high resolution. It ran using more than 90 percent of the supercomputer. For perspective, typically less than one percent of jobs use 90 percent of the Mira supercomputer at Argonne, said officials at the Argonne Leadership Computing Facility, a DOE Office of Science User Facility . Staff at both the Argonne and Oak Ridge computing facilities helped adapt the code for its run on Titan.
"This is a very rich simulation," Heitmann said. "We can use this data to look at why galaxies clump this way, as well as the fundamental physics of structure formation itself."
Analysis has already begun on the two and a half petabytes of data that were generated, and will continue for several years, she said. Scientists can pull information on such astrophysical phenomena as strong lensing, weak lensing shear, cluster lensing and galaxy-galaxy lensing.
The code to run the simulation is called Hardware/Hybrid Accelerated Cosmology Code (HACC), which was first written in 2008, around the time scientific supercomputers broke the petaflop barrier (a quadrillion operations per second). HACC is designed with an inherent flexibility that enables it to run on supercomputers with different architectures.
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As if the massive influx of users was not enough to deal with, cryptocurrency exchanges have to deal with the constant threat of DDoS attacks.
The Bitcoin price continues to climb, reaching a new high of $ 12,000, people are clamoring to get their hands on the lucrative virtual currency that weighs heavily on trade and their servers.
While they do their best to meet the needs of an ever-growing customer base, exchanges are also doing their best to combat hackers seeking to cripple their services and find vulnerabilities in an effort to steal Bitcoin
platforms is a DDoS attack.
In simple terms, a DDoS attack is defined as a distributed denial of service attack. It's a cyber attack from a service provider who is looking to disrupt his service, usually flooding the server with too many requests.
Using multiple sources to attack a server, DDoS attacks can be difficult to shut down because they are not started by one source.
The timing could not be worse
The bitcoin mega race saw the strongest demand for virtual currencies in trade around the world
Like the various suppliers of Services did their best to improve the traffic generated by the rampant traffic and news users, while Bitcoin approached the $ 11,000 mark two weeks ago.
Bitfinex planned the server maintenance and was hit by a DDOS attack at the same time.
Bitfinex is under DDoS attack. The DDoS attack started during the previous maintenance and has been going on ever since. – Bitfinex (@bitfinex) November 26, 2017
Meanwhile, Bittrex also detected a DDOS attack on its system.
A DDOS attack has been detected and has been mitigated at this time. – Bittrex (@BittrexExchange) November 24, 2017
These attacks are an integral part of online life – banking systems, online shopping platforms and other service providers being usual targets of DDoS attacks.
They often happen too – and almost always at the most inopportune moment.
In late October, the third division of Bitcoin's original Blockchain, Bitcoin Gold, was hit by massive DDoS. attack. Its launch has been disrupted by more than 10 million requests per minute, making its site inaccessible.
In May, the exchange of Poloniex was canceled – the users being indignant at not being able to exchange their virtual currency. Fortunately, no trump has been stolen during the attack – but the ensuing panic is not a matter of fun.
Ironically, Blockchain technology could be the answer to stopping DDoS attacks
a Blockchain, these attacks can be mitigated by increasing the ability to handle the Website traffic.
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With four episodes left to let fly in Season 4, The CW’s Arrow already is setting out to fortify its quiver for the fall.
Earlier this spring, the superhero series promoted Echo Kellum, who plays Palmer Tech whiz Curtis Holt, to series regular status for Season 5. Now TVLine has learned that Arrow is also adding the series regular role of “James,” an “irrepressibly charming” contemporary of Oliver’s who is described as “a man on a mission” — out as he is to avenge a tragic, violent loss from his own, years-ago past.
The casting call seeks an actor of any ethnicity, in his late-20s to 30s and who comes across as a physical threat. The character is said to “just as easily shake your hand as your best friend or break your neck as your worst enemy — and you never know which one is coming. Either way, he’s more than capable of having a good time as he does it.”
This is where you put on your armchair casting director’s hat and suggest the perfect actor for Arrow to target.
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Two years ago I started reading Ori Hofmekler’s work. I was late to the game since he’d been writing for more than a decade, but as the saying goes: better late than never. I was not only fascinated by Ori’s knowledge of biology and human physiology, but his recommendations were also in-line with some of the more progressive research I was seeking out on gut health and hormones. Especially during the period after exercise when we need to maximize post-workout nutrition.
Since the spring of 2010 I’ve been implementing Ori’s unique principles and supplements with myself and my clients. The results were so impressive that it was time I met the man in person to talk shop. Listening to Ori speak about nutrition must be what it feels like to sit in a room with Bill Gates and hear him discuss computer technology.
Yep, I was blown away by the meeting. And since we all try to maximize post-workout nutrition, I wanted to share what Ori Hofmekler had to say.
I’m honored to have Ori here in this exclusive interview.
CW: Ori, throughout the majority of my career I’ve recommended fast-acting carbs with protein powder in the post-workout meal in order to get an insulin spike and shuttle amino acids into the muscles for growth and repair. But after consulting with you I’ve realized that I might have been wrong with this approach.
Can you explain the problems with ingesting simple carbs such as raisins or cherry juice immediately after training?
Ori Hofmekler: First off, after training your muscle becomes temporarily insulin resistant. That’s due to tissue micro-injuries which impair the mechanism that utilizes glucose in your muscle. Putting a high glycemic fuel in your muscle right after exercise will jeopardize energy utilization and disrupt your insulin sensitivity. High glycemic fuel includes all kinds of sugars, dried fruits and refined flour.
One of the biggest misconceptions is the idea that an insulin spike is necessary for boosting protein synthesis in the muscle. The truth is quite different. The real factor is not insulin spike but rather insulin sensitivity.
It has been proven that as long as insulin sensitivity is high, even low (fasting) insulin levels along with amino acids will be sufficient to trigger mTOR/AKT – the cellular pathway that deposits protein in the muscle towards repair and growth.
Overly spiking insulin with simple carbs immediately after exercise impairs insulin sensitivity and diminishes your capacity to sustain a healthy metabolism and a lean, strong physique.
CW: We all know that the few hours after training are important to maximize for muscle growth and fat loss. What’s the best approach to post-workout nutrition when a person is trying to add muscle without inhibiting fat loss?
Ori: The post-exercise period isn’t just your window of opportunity to build muscle, it’s also your ideal opportunity to burn fat.
What many people fail to understand is that exercise only initiates the first phase of fat breakdown; it does not grant the completion of the fat-burning process.
After exercise there’s a substantial increase in the level of circulating free fatting acids coming from adipose tissue, and unless these are mobilized to the liver and muscle for final utilization, most of them will be re-esterfied into triglycerides and re-deposited back in the fat tissues.
Yes, all your hard work to burn fat will be wasted!
In order to grant an effective completion of the fat-burning process you must manipulate your muscle to suck in the circulating free fatty acids that were released by exercise. And the way to do that is to wait for 30-60 minutes after exercise before having your recovery meal.
CW: So much for the notion that post-workout nutrition must begin as soon as the workout is finished.
Ori: Yes, by waiting 30-60 minutes it will give your body the time needed to remove circulating fatty acids for utilization and thus prevent re-deposit and build-up of fat in your adipose tissue.
CW: So why is the post-exercise period a person’s ideal window of opportunity to burn fat?
Ori: It’s because of empty glycogen reserves. Glycogen is your body’s most immediate and preferred fuel for survival activities, such as the fight or flight response. Hence, your body regards glycogen replenishment as a top survival priority. And that’s what happens after intense training: your body is forced to swiftly convert fatty acids into glucose, via gluconeogenesis, which are then used for glycogen replenishment in your muscle.
What this means is that fat breakdown and utilization reaches a peak, not during exercise, but right after exercise. Importantly, this process can only reach its peak in a fasting state. It will be utterly inhibited by carbohydrate feeding.
CW: Fascinating. I can’t tell you how many times I recommended carbs during and immediately after training to clients who wanted to burn off excess fat. Eliminating carbs during this period has drastically increased my client’s rate of fat loss.
Ori: You’re right, Chad. I was glad when you told me that you removed carbs from Ronda Rousey’s first post-workout protein feeding as you prepared her for her title fight against Miesha Tate.
CW: Yes, that was a key component for leaning Ronda out so she could drop a weight class. So when is the best time to eat carbs in general?
Ori: The right time for eating carbohydrates is at night when the muscle is no longer insulin resistant like it is directly after training. For effective glycogen loading, eat slow-releasing complex carbs from whole plants the night before training or competition. Ideal sources are corn, quinoa and oatmeal.
With all that said, you still need to feed your muscle to grant repair and growth in the post-exercise period. And you need to do that without inhibiting the fat-burning process.
Therefore, you should use quality whey protein with no sugar added. This is your best bet. Quality whey protein not only nourishes your muscle with essential amino acids and bioactive immune-boosting nutrients, but it also promotes insulin sensitivity via peptides such as CCK and GLP-1. Importantly, insulin sensitivity is necessary for both muscle growth and fat burning.
CW: So what’s the best approach to post-workout nutrition?
Ori: If your goal is to burn fat and build muscle, you must take advantage of the post-exercise window of opportunity. Avoid feeding for 30-60 minutes after training, and then have 40-60 grams of whey protein with no sugar added for recovery. Three scoops of grass-fed whey is ideal at this time. To further enhance muscle build up, have a second recovery meal – same amount of whey protein – about 60 minutes later.
CW: What if a guy isn’t interested in burning fat? Can he have carbs in the post-workout window?
Ori: Yes, but carbs should only come in the second post-workout feeding. And this is only applicable when you’ve trained hard for more than two hours, such as long, intense sparring session or other very high endurance activities. The first feeding should be immediately after exercise from 40-60 grams of quality whey. This is for people who aren’t worried about burning fat – they need to feed their muscle with fast assimilating proteins to stop the catabolic process and promote recovery.
The second feeding should come 30 minutes later and it should include another 40-60 grams of whey. At this time you could have a handful of organic raisins or a bowl of berries. Fruits are densely packed with antioxidants and yield an alkalizing balance effect on your body, which is typically over-acidic after intense, prolonged training.
CW: Terrific information, Ori. Thanks for your time and incredible insight.
Ori: Thank you, Chad.
Ori’s Warrior Whey is the best protein powder I’ve ever used. Through research and development he has created what I consider not only the most effective protein powder for supporting muscle growth and fat loss, but it also tastes incredible. It’s the only whey protein I currently use.
For only $24, you can try Ori’s Warrior Whey. I bet you’ll never use another whey again. You can find out more about grass-fed whey at this link.
Ori’s Post-Workout Protocol for Fat Loss and Muscle Growth
30-60 minutes after exercise: 3 scoops of whey in water.
60 minutes later (for maximize muscle growth): 3 scoops of whey in water.
Ori’s Post-Workout Protocol for Extreme Endurance Athletes
Immediately after exercise: 3 scoops of whey in water.
30 minutes later: 3 scoops of whey in water with a handful of organic raisins or a bowl of berries.
Stay Focused,
CW
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By Alex Dobuzinskis
(Reuters) – The U.S. Coast Guard is working to track down a prankster who called in fake distress calls in Washington state that led agency officials to launch two rescue efforts that cost over $200,000, an official said on Thursday.
The suspect made his first call over VHF radio on May 31, reporting he was on a burning fishing vessel in Puget Sound and that he and four other people were grabbing life jackets and jumping off, the Coast Guard said in a statement.
Two Coast Guard MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crews, the team of a 45-foot Coast Guard rescue boat and the crew of a local Sheriff’s Office vessel searched for the fishing boat said to be on fire, but found nothing.
On June 1, the man made a similar call reporting that he and another adult and a child were abandoning a vessel taking on water, the Coast Guard said. The caller initially called his ship the Bristol Maid, the same name he used the night before, but then changed that to the Aleutian Beauty.
Despite that clue the call might be a hoax, the Coast Guard launched a similar rescue operation for the ship, and again did not succeed in finding any vessel in distress, said U.S. Coast Guard spokesman Petty Officer First Class David Mosley.
“Not knowing if someone is in need, we need to take everything seriously,” Mosley said.
The same suspected hoax caller on June 2 reported seeing a dead body on the shore, but the Coast Guard did not dispatch a search team to respond, Mosley said. Seeking to identify the hoax caller, the Coast Guard on Wednesday released recordings of his three bogus transmissions.
Nationally, the U.S. Coast Guard says it dealt with 19 confirmed hoax calls in 2012, the most recent year statistics were available. The same year, the Coast Guard received 156 suspected hoax reports.
If found, the Washington state hoax caller could be charged with making a fake distress call, which carries a term of up to 10 years in prison, Mosley said. He also could be forced to compensate the agency for the two search operations, which cost over $200,000 including maintenance on the helicopters and vessels used, he said.
(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles; Editing by Peter Cooney)
[Coast Guard show on Shutterstock]
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Kittens found alive at Hume recycling facility after being dumped in kerbside bin
Updated
Two kittens have been found alive and healthy at a Hume recycling facility, having survived a journey inside a garbage truck after being dumped in a kerbside recycling bin.
The cats, which are estimated to be about three weeks old, were found in a box as it was being recycled on Tuesday afternoon.
They had endured a trip in the back of a recycling truck, where materials are compressed, after they were dumped in a recycling bin.
The kittens are now in the care of Shannan Langford Salisbury, an ACTNOWaste education officer who studied animal science at university, and was conducting a tour through the recycling facility when the kittens were discovered.
"They are extremely, extremely, lucky to have made it through the process," she said.
Ms Langford Salisbury is now caring for them in her home until they are old enough to go to new homes.
"They're underweight but they'll be fine. We got them vet checked. We've just got to feed them [from] a bottle for a few weeks and then feed them up and then at eight weeks they'll be ready to be adopted," she said.
"They obviously have to have special names for being able to survive something so horrific."
Territory and Municipal Services (TAMS) said it was clear the kittens had been deliberately put in the bin, and would have endured a journey in the back of a garbage truck
"It is hard to believe that the two kittens have survived the journey from a kerbside recycling bin all the way to the facility in Hume as all garbage and recycling materials are compressed inside the collection vehicles," TAMS Minister Shane Rattenbury said.
There's an easy way to fix this issue, by owners getting their pets desexed. Tammy Ven Dange, RSPCA ACT chief executive
RSPCA ACT chief executive Tammy Ven Dange said the dumping of kittens was a serious problem, and some Canberrans still failed to get their pets desexed.
"There's an easy way to fix this issue, by owners getting their pets desexed," she said.
"Not only will this reduce the number of unwanted animals in our community, it also decreases the risk of future health issues and can help with behavioural problems with their pets too.
Topics: animals, human-interest, recycling-and-waste-management, hume-2620, canberra-2600, act, australia
First posted
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Yosemite Cracks Down On Campsite Scalpers
Hide caption During the summer months, visitors can expect to see a sign that reads "full" on all of the Yosemite Valley campgrounds. Previous Next All photos by Brandon Rittiman/KUNR/KUNR
Hide caption Bridalveil Fall as seen from the floor of Yosemite Valley. The park's waterfalls are running strong this year, thanks to heavy snowfall over the winter. Previous Next Brandon Rittiman/KUNR
Hide caption Visitors wait outside the campground office in Yosemite Valley, hoping to get a campsite off of a waiting list. Previous Next Brandon Rittiman/KUNR
Hide caption A view of Half Dome from Olmsted Point, from Yosemite's east entry. Previous Next Brandon Rittiman/KUNR
Hide caption The Milky Way shines brightly above Tuolumne Meadows. Previous Next Brandon Rittiman/KUNR
Hide caption The last splash of sunlight fades away from the face of Half Dome, as seen from the Pines Campgrounds in Yosemite Valley. Previous Next Brandon Rittiman/KUNR
Hide caption Heavy snowpack melts, flooding Tuolumne Meadows. Previous Next Brandon Rittiman/KUNR 1 of 7 i View slideshow
As people hit the road for summer vacation, there's a problem at one major destination: Yosemite National Park. Scalpers started snatching up cheap campsite reservations online and selling them for as much as six times their face value. Now, the National Park Service is cracking down.
If you show up to Yosemite to camp without a reservation, your first stop should be the campground office. You probably won't get a campsite on the spot, but you will get wait-listed. And in the afternoon, park ranger Kirk Robinson hands out any sites that come open.
For those who don't get to camp in the park, Robinson hands out lists of nearby campsites. He says the closest campgrounds are about an hour from Yosemite.
Nearly two million people will visit the park this summer, but Yosemite Valley has fewer than 500 campsites. Only a handful are saved for walk-ins. The rest sell out for the summer on the day reservations open.
One man who did get a spot had an easier time than the rest. He bought the $20 reservation for $60 from a scalper. The park is still trying to determine whether what he did was illegal. Regardless, scalping is against the rules and because of that, the man asked us not to use his name.
He says rangers let him stay at his campsite, but they're starting to check campers' ID's at the gate to make sure they match the names on the reservations. This camper only decided to make the trip two weeks ago.
"And it was easy, and not ungodly expensive, and I didn't have to plan my vacation six months in advance," he says.
The park is cracking down on the problem, because every time a scalper snags a campsite, someone else gets robbed of their chance at a cheap night's stay. Rangers say sites this year sold for up to $120 a night on Craigslist. That's enough to get a hotel room in most cities.
For people who did follow the rules, getting a spot started back on a February morning at 7:00 sharp. Mark Seed and his brother-in-law both started clicking at the same instant.
"But within a minute, everything was booked for the entire month," Seed says. "It was instantaneous, like you just kind of had to take what was there."
They only got one campsite, but it's enough space to bring the kids and roast some marshmallows.
Seed says when he did this four years ago, it took 20 minutes for the campsites to fill up, as if real people were online picking and choosing. But this time, he says, there was "something unnatural" happening.
Like most campers, he believes scalpers used a computer program this year to book campsites faster than humanly possible. The Park Service is investigating that theory and how to make the reservation website more secure. There's already self-policing going on as well. Since the problem came to light, most of the scalpers' posts on Craigslist are flagged as prohibited and removed in a hurry.
Back at the campground office, ranger Kirk Robinson helps three road-tripping young men from Colorado plan the rest of their day.
"Whatever way you're going out, stop at one of the giant sequoias going out," he tells them.
The crackdown on scalping comes too late to do them any good. But the generosity of another camper who did get a campsite salvaged their plans. He offered to split his space with them.
And the park doesn't have any rules against sharing your good fortune.
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ST. PETERSBURG — Mayor Bill Foster has reached the reluctant conclusion that keeping the Tampa Bay Rays in the region means he has to let them cross the bay to explore a new stadium.
Three years ago, Foster adamantly refused a team request to look at stadium sites in Hillsborough County — citing a contract that binds the Rays to Tropicana Field through 2027.
But tepid attendance over the last few years has changed his thinking, Foster said in a remarkably candid interview Monday with the Tampa Bay Times editorial board.
"If your goal is keeping the Tampa Bay Rays in Tampa Bay until 2050, you have to let them look in Tampa," Foster said.
Attendance might not improve markedly at a Hillsborough site, Foster said. "I think there is a big question mark as to whether or not Tampa Bay is a major league region.''
But letting the Rays explore all options now will enhance chances that the team stays for the long haul, he said.
Michael Kalt, the Rays senior vice president of development and business affairs, declined to comment.
Foster and the Rays have quietly negotiated for months on a legal framework that would let the team explore possible Hillsborough sites. On Monday, Foster publicly explained his thinking for the first time.
The team is averaging 18,476 fans a game — second worst in baseball — despite big crowds last weekend for the World Series champion San Francisco Giants.
The recession is winding down, and "you've got the hottest team in baseball, you're in a fight in the AL East, and you're not breaking 20,000. That sends a message to a lot of people,'' Foster said.
"It's a flag to the entire community. Are we a major league community? Are we a major league region? I think people need to decide what we are. We're either going to be major league and support this team, or we risk losing them.''
Foster said he wants to commit the Rays to Tampa Bay for another generation — not just through 2027. He also wants to protect the economic and legal interests of St. Petersburg, which has spent about $150 million on stadium construction and operating costs.
In the past, Foster has questioned whether the Rays were marketing the team aggressively. But ticket discounts, a summer concert series and other efforts show the team is making a good-faith effort to draw fans, he said.
"I didn't always believe that, but I do now," he said.
Foster took a swipe at his Hillsborough counterparts, who have indicated they would help the Rays build a stadium there but are shy on financing details.
Based on the Miami Marlins' new venue, a retractable roof stadium could easily cost $600 million to $700 million. In similar markets, major league teams have put up roughly a third of construction costs, with public financing making up the difference.
"It's somewhat humorous to watch (Hillsborough County Commission Chairman Ken) Hagan and (Tampa Mayor Bob) Buckhorn kind of backpedaling a little bit because they were all wearing their finest trying to court the Rays to look over there,'' Foster said. "Now that it might actually happen, you got Ken Hagan saying he's not going to commit any taxpayer money to it, which is naive.
"And you have the mayor of Tampa saying he could come up with $100 million. But the private sector and the Rays have to come up with the lion's share. That's extremely naive."
Buckhorn was vacationing in North Carolina and could not be reached.
Hagan said, "I am extremely pleased that the mayor has started to realize that the status quo is a failed business model.''
But Hagan, who once said he was willing to cause the divorce between St. Petersburg and the Rays, denied any backpedaling on financing.
"Since 2010, I've been very consistent in stating that the Rays organization and the private sector will have to fund the construction of a new stadium irrespective of the area,'' Hagan said.
"There will never be another Raymond James sweetheart deal," added Hagan, referring to the stadium constructed for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with taxpayer dollars.
Private investment could include naming rights, development rights and deals on parking garages, he said.
St. Petersburg City Council member Steve Kornell said it doesn't help the situation when Hagan and Buckhorn make "cute, little remarks" about recruiting the team to Tampa.
With the availability of money from the county's hotel bed tax, Pinellas is a better option than Hillsborough, he said.
"I think we're a major league market. They certainly want our television money,'' Kornell said. "I think we can offer them a better deal. We should all be working together, not against each other."
Council member Leslie Curran, who has butted heads with Foster on stadium issues, said the region can support a team because a new generation of fans is growing up and will eventually become ticket buyers.
But Curran also said she doubts that voters will agree to devote taxes to a new stadium.This story has been changed to reflect the following correction: St. Petersburg City Council member Steve Kornell said Pinellas County is a better location for a new baseball stadium because of funding available from a hotel bed tax. A story Tuesday incorrectly identified that funding source.
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There are many ways to die. Cancer. Infection. Mental. External. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention classifies the ways into 113 causes, which are grouped into 20 categories of disease and external causes. The CDC’s Underlying Cause of Death database provides estimates for the number of people who die due to each of the causes.
As you’d expect, some causes of death are more common than others. For example, about a third of people die from diseases of the respiratory system (like the flu), but less than three percent die from infectious or parasitic diseases (like Tuberculosis).
Then take age into account. It’s much more likely for older people to get cancer than it is for younger people.
Finally, look at cause across different groups of people and you see different distributions.
The chart below shows how cause of death varies across sex and race, based on mortality data from 2005 through 2014. Select a group to see the changes. Select causes to see them individually.
The height of any strip in the chart represents the percentage of people who died of a cause out of those who died at that age. For example, of the females who died at age 60, about 40 percent of them died from cancer.
When you select races, you might notice that the smaller groups, American Indian and Asian, appear to be more jagged, whereas cause of death for the larger groups, black and white, appear to be smoother. This is likely due to population size more than anything else. It’s a smaller sample, and there’s higher variance.
So focus on the overall trends and how they change by group.
For example, compare cause of death for female versus male, and you see a big difference for external causes. For females, it accounts for about 5 percent of deaths. It’s twice as common for males, and mostly at a young age pre-40s.
Keep in mind that this shows percentages and not absolute counts. So while the percentage for cancer decreases with age, it doesn’t necessarily mean that people grow impervious. It’s much more likely that with age comes higher susceptibility to other diseases.
How You Will Die
That’s how people die at various ages. Now here’s a simulation to see how this applies to you.
Nerd Notes
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Starcraft (Brood War) on Android with full touch controls.
Great, now that I have your undivided attention, let me explain. So, you, like most reasonable human beings, think playing Starcraft on a tablet would be pretty awesome. It's been tried before, but usually the result is a messy, laggy ROM on an N64 emulator that requires you to control a cursor with a digital joystick. And as we all know, that's basically like poking yourself in the eye with a hot fork. It sucks.
Enter Winulator. Right now, Winulator is still a pretty young app with a lot of potential, but what it does is really quite fascinating. Winulator is not an emulator. Not really, anyways. Winulator utilizes a few select Windows APIs, but otherwise runs ARM-friendly code straight from your device's onboard storage. But how in the heck can you make Starcraft - an x86 Windows game - ARM/Android-friendly?
This is where the magic happens. The developer of Winulator has developed a tool called WCH, the Windows Converter Helper. This tool takes your Windows/x86-ready EXE and DLL files from a particular program and converts the underlying machine code into an ARM-readable format. If you're like me (eg, not a programmer), this basically sounds like witchcraft. But it's witchcraft that works. Take a look at the video below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=3_enV3Mc6NM#!
He is controlling the entire game by touch - running at full speed. Holy crap. As I said previously, other attempts to port Starcraft have usually relied on messy cursor implementations and other convoluted nonsense. Not this one. You can even configure on-screen widgets that map to virtual keyboard keys or mouse actions, because what's Starcraft without hotkeys?
Now, the bad news: Winulator isn't compatible with Starcraft: Brood War yet. It's a work in progress (each game requires specialized tweaking in order to work). But right now it's compatible with Caesar III, one of my personal favorites, so you can get your 90's strategy fix on that way. Winulator comes in both a free and paid version (there is no practical difference between the two, the paid is really just a donate version for now), and they're on the Play Store.
If you want to play Caesar III (available DRM-free through legitimate channels), you'll need to check out the instructions (it's not a one-click process, but it's worth the result).
Winulator Blog
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The Fox News Channel’s temporary replacement for Glenn Beck will be a talk show featuring a rotating panel of opinionated people.
The channel announced the new show, called “The Five,” just two hours before Mr. Beck’s final broadcast. Since April, when Mr. Beck and Fox reached an agreement to end his 5 p.m. political talk show, there has been speculation that the channel would schedule an interim news or talk program in its place.
Fox News said “The Five” would feature a “roundtable ensemble of five rotating FOX personalities who will discuss, debate and at times debunk the hot news stories, controversies and issues of the day.”
By bringing on a rotating group of people, Fox avoids any direct ratings comparisons between Mr. Beck and any single replacement host.
Mr. Beck often attracted more than two million viewers to the channel’s 5 p.m. time slot, a rating that no cable news channel had ever regularly seen at that hour before.
Among the people involved in “The Five:” Greg Gutfeld, who is host of an overnight talk show for Fox; Juan Williams, who is a regular on Fox’s “The O’Reilly Factor;” Dana Perino, a former spokeswoman for the Bush White House; and Andrew Napolitano, the host of a libertarian talk show on the Fox Business Network.
The others named by Fox in a news release were Geraldo Rivera, Andrea Tantaros, Eric Bolling, Monica Crowley, Bob Beckel and Kimberly Guilfoyle.
“The Five” will start on July 11. For the week of July 4, Fox will repeat some of Mr. Beck’s old shows.
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Hillary Clinton defeated Bernie Sanders by a wide margin in California’s presidential primary on Tuesday, hours after declaring victory in her party’s national nominating contest.
With 94 percent of precincts reporting, Clinton was leading Sanders 56 percent to 43 percent, disheartening Sanders supporters.
At a New York victory party steeped in history of the women’s rights movement, Clinton, the first woman to top the ticket of a major U.S. party, urged Democrats to look beyond the primary to the general election “battle that awaits.”
Clinton’s speech came shortly before California polls closed and one day after The Associated Press, surveying pledged delegates and superdelegates, declared the former secretary of state had enough delegates to become the nominee. Speaking in Brooklyn, Clinton ripped into Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, calling him “temperamentally unfit” to be president.
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“He’s not just trying to build a wall between America and Mexico,” she said. “He’s trying to wall off Americans from each other. When he says, ‘Let’s make America great again,’ that is code for, ‘Let’s take America backwards.’ ”
Trump, who added to his delegate haul in California, said Tuesday that he will lay out a comprehensive case against Clinton in a “major speech,” likely Monday.
“The last thing we need is Hillary Clinton in the White House,” he said.
SHARE COPY LINK At energetic election night rally in Santa Monica, Democratic presidential challenger Bernie Sanders vowed to fight on past the California primary on June 7, 2016.
For Sanders, the one remaining, unlikely hope was to persuade a mass of superdelegates to shift their support away from Clinton ahead of the Democratic National Convention in July. The Vermont senator has faced increasing appeals from high-ranking Democrats to abandon that effort and end his insurgent campaign.
But Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver said on MSNBC that Sanders will “intensify” his effort after Tuesday.
“Once we get past the part of this process where people are done voting in California and other states,” Weaver said, “then we’ll intensify the outreach to the superdelegates.
Sanders supporters awaiting their candidate in Santa Monica chanted “Bull----!” when CNN showed early California results, then “Turn it off!”
The vote-counting in California concluded a furious month of campaigning in a state that Clinton was once expected to carry easily. The diversity of the electorate appeared to favor Clinton, whose advantage among Latino and black voters helped to defeat Sanders in early voting states.
Clinton, a former U.S. senator and secretary of state, carried California in her failed presidential bid in 2008, and she maintained an extensive political and donor network that she cultivated since her husband, Bill Clinton, first ran for president in 1992.
But Sanders mounted a surprisingly strong challenge. As the national contest appeared to slip further from Sanders’ grasp, he shifted his efforts west, focusing almost exclusively on California. Chasing a largely symbolic victory in the state, he sought to seize momentum for his more liberal message – if not his presidential aspirations – heading into the party’s nominating convention.
Well, here we are in early June. Bernie Sanders
Sanders whirled across the state, hosting dozens of rallies in the final weeks of the campaign. In a TV ad, he urged Californians to send Washington politicians “a message they can’t ignore.”
By last week, three separate polls put the contest at a virtual tie. As in other states, Sanders rallied support from a crush of young Democrats and independent voters. His disadvantage among Latino voters in California, a significant voting group here, was only 4 percentage points, according to a Field Poll last week.
Clinton was forced to cut campaigning short in New Jersey last week and to add events in California. Seeking to avoid an embarrassing loss here, she courted ethnic voters in heavily Latino areas of the state and moderate Democrats in the Inland Empire and the Central Valley.
Yet for all of her campaigning in California, she kept her focus almost squarely on Trump.
“The stakes in this election are high, and the choice is clear,” Clinton said. “Donald Trump is temperamentally unfit to be president and commander in chief.”
Before speaking, Clinton’s campaign put a new photograph of the candidate on Twitter, with the declaration, “History made.” Her speech came eight years after Clinton ended her primary campaign against then-Sen. Barack Obama.
Despite the intensity of the Democratic primary, California was once again relegated to a less-than-decisive role. The last time California’s June election proved decisive in a presidential primary was 1972, when the state went for George McGovern as the Democratic nominee.
I am determined that I am going to expose Donald Trump’s lack of qualifications to be the president of the United States and the commander in chief. Hillary Clinton
Hopes for relevance were briefly raised on the Republican side this year. For much of April, it appeared that U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Ohio Gov. John Kasich might mount a final stand against Trump in the state, with the prospect of forcing a contested convention. But after preparing to challenge Trump in a district-by-district skirmish here, the New York businessman walloped his rivals in Indiana in May. Cruz and Kasich dropped out, and Trump stood as the presumptive nominee.
Following the Tuesday election, California was poised to fall back out of view. Trump, campaigning in the state in recent weeks, has pledged to make a “big, big play for California” in November.
But for most candidates – Republican and Democrat – the relevance of California in the fall is the money to be raised in what is a major donor state.
As for the November election, California has become so heavily Democratic that no Republican presidential candidate has won here in more than 25 years.
SHARE COPY LINK Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump spoke to supporters at a hangar at Sacramento International Jet Center on June 1, 2016.
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When I first made my keto tortillas I found the dough hard to roll as it kept tearing apart. I don't give up and I kept adjusting the recipe. Using whole psyllium husks and ground chia seeds and leaving the dough to rest for at least half an hour helped making it very flexible. You can roll the dough out until paper thin without it tearing apart.
This dough is versatile: you can make tortillas, tortilla bowls, taco shells and nachos - all from the same dough! The only difference is the cooking style - some are made in the oven, some on a pan. You can cook them until lightly browned but still flexible (tortillas) or until crispy (nachos).
Here are the meals you can create using the same dough:
Tortillas: I always have some of my keto tortillas at hand. They are great when you're busy and have little time to cook. Simply add any filling you like and wrap it up. Try smoked salmon & cream cheese, pulled pork with avocado, shredded chicken, tuna & home-made mayo with freshly cut vegetables. With tortillas you can also make burritos, enchiladas or quesadillas. Those of you who have my iPad or iPhone apps: Make sure you try Best Keto Enchiladas using my Essential Keto Crepes! or these keto tortillas.
Tortilla Bowls: Great with Guacamole (easy avocado salad, recipe is in the KetoDiet apps) or any of your favourite salads.
Taco Shells: Great when filled with meat, avocado & freshly chopped vegetables and topped with soured cream or grated cheddar cheese (recipe coming soon!). If you can do dairy, check out these amazingly simple and delicious Cheddar Taco Shells from DJ Foodie!
Tortilla chips / Nachos: Nachos are perfect snacks for the upcoming Super Bowl! I like them with Guacamole, soured cream dip (soured cream, finely chopped chives or spring onion), cheese & jalapeño dip (cream cheese, grated Manchego cheese, finely chopped jalapeño peppers and hot sauce) or green salsa.
I wanted to show you how easy it is to make my tortillas so I created this quick video - I hope you like it :-)
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0 hours, 40 minutes
Hands-on 20 minutes Overall 1 hour
Nutritional values (per tortilla)
1.5 grams 5.7 grams 5.1 grams 14 grams 3.1 grams 165 calories
Total Carbs 7.3 grams Fiber 5.7 grams Net Carbs 1.5 grams Protein 5.1 grams Fat 14 grams of which Saturated 3.1 grams Calories 165 kcal Magnesium 74 mg (19%) Potassium 194 mg (10%)
Macronutrient ratio: Calories from carbs (4%), protein (13.3%), fat (82.7%)
Ingredients (makes 10 tortillas)
Dry ingredients:
Wet ingredients:
1 cup water, lukewarm (240 ml / 8 fl oz) + 2-4 tbsp if the dough is too dry
2 tbsp lard or extra virgin coconut oil or ghee (you can make your own) (30 g / 1.1 oz) - for greasing the pan
Optional seasonings:
1 tsp paprika + 1 / 4 tsp chili powder (+ 0.1 g net carbs per serving) OR
tsp chili powder (+ 0.1 g net carbs per serving) OR 1 / 2 tsp onion powder + 1 / 2 tsp garlic powder (+ 0.2 g net carbs per serving, my favourite!!!) OR
tsp onion powder + tsp garlic powder (+ 0.2 g net carbs per serving, my favourite!!!) OR 1 / 2 tsp curry powder + 1 / 4 tsp ground cumin + 1 / 4 tsp turmeric powder (+ 0.1 g net carbs) OR
tsp curry powder + tsp ground cumin + tsp turmeric powder (+ 0.1 g net carbs) OR 1 / 2 tsp dried oregano + 1 / 2 tsp dried basil + 1 / 2 tsp dried thyme + 1 / 4 tsp dried lemon zest or 1 tsp fresh lemon zest (+ 0.1 g net carbs per serving) OR
tsp dried oregano + tsp dried basil + tsp dried thyme + tsp dried lemon zest or 1 tsp fresh lemon zest (+ 0.1 g net carbs per serving) OR 1/ 4 cup pesto (only use 3/ 4 cup water). You can try my Red Pesto (+ 0.3 g net carbs per serving) or green Paleo Avocado Pesto (+ 0.6 g net carbs per serving)
Make sure you use a kitchen scale for measuring all the dry ingredients. Using just cups may not be enough to achieve best results, especially in baked goods. Weights per cups and tablespoons may vary depending on the product/ brand or if you make you own ingredients (like flaxmeal from flaxseeds). You can make 10 regular tortillas (8 inch / 20 cm), or 5 large tortillas (12 inch / 30 cm). If you roll them out really thin, you can make up to 12 regular tortillas.
A fun way to learn about healthy low-carb eating! Take the Keto Diet Quiz
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Instructions
Place the flaxmeal, coconut flour, almond flour and psyllium husks into a bowl.
For best results make sure you use whole psyllium husks. Using whole husks makes the tortillas more compact and flexible. This is different from my Ultimate Keto Buns where you need to use psyllium husk powder. Add any of your favourite seasonings. Add the ground chia seeds. To grind them, use a blender and pulse until powdered. I prefer using my Bamix immersion blender with the dry mill because it's easy to clean. Pour in the water and mix until well combined using your hands. If needed, add a few more tablespoons of water. Be careful not to use too much, or the dough will get too sticky and difficult to roll. Let the dough rest in the fridge or on the kitchen counter for up to an hour. Remove from the fridge and cut the dough into 6 equal pieces. Place a piece of the dough between two pieces of baking paper and roll out until the dough is very thin. Alternatively, use a nonstick silicon covered roller and a silicon mat like I did. Use a 20 cm / 8 inch lid or bowl to cut out the tortillas. Repeat with the remaining dough and the cut-offs until you get 10 tortillas. If you have any dough left, use it for making nachos.
To make Tortillas:
Preheat a heavy-bottom pan greased with just 1 teaspoon of ghee or lard. Place the tortillas, one at a time, on top of the hot pan and cook over a medium heat on one side for 1-2 minutes until lightly browned. Turn on the other side and cook for 30-60 more seconds. Don't overcook or the tortillas will become too crispy and will lose their flexibility. Grease more when needed and repeat for the rest of the tortillas.
To make Tortilla Bowls:
Preheat the oven to 200 °C/ 400 °F. Place the raw tortillas over a small heat-resistant bowl lined with baking paper and fold the edges round it to create a bowl shape. Lining the bowl is very important to prevent the dough from sticking. Place in the oven and bake for about 10 minutes until the top is lightly browned.
To make Taco Shells:
Cut small pieces of baking paper and place the tortillas on top. Place over a grid in the oven and turn the oven on. Make sure you make them wide enough so you can later fit the filling. Cook until the oven reaches 200 °C/ 400 °F and then cook for further 5-8 minutes or until crispy.
First time I made them, they were quite narrow (see below) so I now use one more grid to fit more filling in without breaking the shell. Once you have your taco shells done, you can use them in this recipe: Best Keto & Paleo Tacos
To make Tortilla chips / Nachos:
Roll out the dough and use a knife to cut triangular shaped nachos. Place on a pan greased with ghee or lard and cook on a medium heat for ~ 3 minutes on each side or until golden. Unlike tortillas, you should make the nachos crispy. You can also follow this recipe if you prefer to make them in the oven. When done, leave them to cool down. To prevent the tortillas from getting too dry, place in an airtight container. Store at room temperature for 2-3 days, in the fridge for up to a week, or you freezer for up to 3 months.
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Martina Slajerova Creator of KetoDietApp.com I changed the way I ate in 2011, when I was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s, an autoimmune disease that affects the thyroid. I had no energy, and I found it more and more difficult to maintain a healthy weight. That’s when I decided to quit sugar, grains, and processed foods, and to start following a whole-foods-based ketogenic approach to food. More posts by Martina Slajerova
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The giant hole in the ozone layer is shrinking -- and will be effectively extinct by the end of the century.
Nasa reports in a new study that the ozone holes, which were once arguably the highest profile environmental issue around, will be smaller than 8 million square miles within the next three decades. The evidence now suggests that the hole -- currently 12 million square miles -- will be fully recovered by the end of the 21st century.
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Latterly in the Earth's history the hole has formed over the southern pole in winter months, caused by collected streams of damaging chemicals. But since the Montreal Protocol agreement in 1987, the emissions of these chemicals have been in decline, as ozone-friendly alternative chemicals have come into common usage.
Exactly what impact this regulation had on the size of the hole was not clear until now, largely because it also fluctuates as a result of temperature and other variables. But Nasa used new data gained via its AURA satellite to gather more detail about long-term trends, and now believes the end is in sight. The Goddard Space Flight Centre said in its new report that the holes are consistently shrinking, and should be essentially solved as a major concern by 2040.
. "But really the main point about its discovery was that it shows how incredibly rapidly we can produce major changes to our atmosphere and how long it takes for nature to recover from them."
To this point, many other very large-scale climate change issues still remain unsolved -- and so far there are no signs that a single summit or protocol can do anything major to reverse them.
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A memorial to Subhas Chandra Bose in the compound of the Renkōji Temple Tokyo . Bose's ashes are stored in the temple in a golden pagoda. Bose died on 18 August 1945. His ashes arrived in Japan in early September 1945; after a memorial service, they were accepted by the temple on 18 September 1945.
The death of Indian nationalist leader Subhas Chandra Bose occurred from third-degree burns on 18 August 1945 after his overloaded Japanese plane crashed in Japanese-occupied Formosa (now Taiwan).[a][b] However, many among his supporters, especially in Bengal, refused at the time, and have refused since, to believe either the fact or the circumstances of his death.[c][d][e] Conspiracy theories appeared within hours of his death and have persisted since then,[f] keeping alive various martial myths about Bose.[g]
Death [ edit ]
Last months with the Indian National Army [ edit ]
Map of Central Burma showing the route taken by Subhas Chandra Bose and his Indian National Army (INA) group of 500 from Rangoon to Moulmein . The group traveled in a Japanese military convoy until they reached the river Sittang . After crossing the river, they walked the remaining 80 miles. At Moulmein, Bose, his party, and another INA group of 500, boarded Japanese trains on the Death Railway (which had been constructed earlier by British, Australian, and Dutch prisoners of war) to arrive in Bangkok in the first week of May 1945.
During the last week of April 1945, Subhas Chandra Bose along with his senior Indian National Army (INA) officers, several hundred enlisted INA men, and nearly hundred women from the INA's Rani of Jhansi Regiment left Rangoon by road for Moulmein in Burma. Accompanied by Lieutenant General Saburo Isoda, the head of the Japanese-INA liaison organization Hikari Kikan, their Japanese military convoy was able to reach the right bank of the Sittang river, albeit slowly. (See map 1.) However, very few vehicles were able to cross the river because of American strafing runs. Bose and his party walked the remaining 80 miles (130 km) to Moulmein over the next week. Moulmein then was the terminus of the Death Railway, constructed earlier by British, Australian, and Dutch prisoners of war, linking Burma to Siam (now Thailand). At Moulmein, Bose's group was also joined by 500 men from the X-regiment, INA's first guerrilla regiment, who arrived from a different location in Lower Burma.
A year and a half earlier, 16,000 INA men and 100 women had entered Burma from Malaya. Now, less than one tenth that number left the country, arriving in Bangkok during the first week of May. The remaining nine tenths were either killed in action, died from malnutrition or injuries after the battles of Imphal and Kohima. Others were captured by the British, turned themselves in, or simply disappeared. Bose stayed in Bangkok for a month, where soon after his arrival he heard the news of Germany's surrender on May 8. Bose spent the next two months between June and July 1945 in Singapore, and in both places attempted to raise funds for billeting his soldiers or rehabilitating them if they chose to return to civilian life, which most of the women did. In his nightly radio broadcasts, Bose spoke with increasing virulence against Gandhi, who had been released from jail in 1944, and was engaged in talks with British administrators, envoys and Muslim League leaders. Some senior INA officers began to feel frustrated or disillusioned with Bose and to prepare quietly for the arrival of the British and its consequences.
During the first two weeks of August 1945, events began to unfold rapidly. With the British threatening to invade Malaya and with daily American aerial bombings, Bose's presence in Singapore became riskier by the day. His chief of staff J. R. Bhonsle suggested that he prepare to leave Singapore. On 3 August 1945, Bose received a cable from General Isoda advising him to urgently evacuate to Saigon in Japanese-controlled French Indochina (now Vietnam). On 10 August, Bose learnt that the Soviet Union had entered the war and invaded Manchuria. At the same time he heard about the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Finally, on 16 August, after being informed of the unconditional surrender of Japan, Bose decided to leave for Saigon along with a handful of his aides.
Last days and journeys [ edit ]
The last airplane journeys of Subhas Chandra Bose. Paths of completed flights are shown in blue. On 16 August 1945, he left Singapore for Bangkok Siam (now Thailand). On either the 16th itself or on the 17th morning, he flew from Bangkok to Saigon , now Ho Chi Minh City. On the 17 August afternoon, he flew from Saigon to Tourane French Indo-China , now Da Nang, Vietnam. Early next morning at 5 AM, he left Tourane for Taihoku Formosa , now Taipei, Taiwan. At 2:30 PM on 18 August, he left for Dairen Manchukuo , now Dalian, China, but his plane crashed shortly after take off, and Bose died within a few hours in a Japanese military hospital. Had the crash not occurred the plane would have dropped off Bose at Dairen and proceeded to Tokyo along a flight path shown in red.
Reliable strands of historical narrative about Bose's last days are united up to this point. However, they separate briefly for the period between 16 August, when Bose received news of Japan's surrender in Singapore, and shortly after noon on 17 August, when Bose and his party arrived at Saigon airport from Saigon city to board a plane. (See map 2.)
In one version, Bose flew out from Singapore to Saigon, stopping briefly in Bangkok, on the 16th. Soon after arriving in Saigon, he visited Field Marshal Hisaichi Terauchi, head of the Japanese forces in Southeast Asia, and requested him to arrange a flight to Soviet Russia. Although until the day before, Russia had been a belligerent of Japan, it was also seen, at least by Bose, as increasingly anti-British, and, consequently, a possible base of his future operations against the British Raj. Terauchi, in turn, cabled Japan's Imperial General Headquarters (IGHQ) in Tokyo for permission, which was quickly denied. In the words of historian Joyce Chapman Lebra, the IGHQ felt that it "would be unfair of Bose to write off Japan and go over to Russia after receiving so much help from Japan. Terauchi added in talking with Bose that it would be unreasonable for him to take a step which was opposed by the Japanese." Privately, however, Terauchi still felt sympathy for Bose—one that had been formed during their two-year-long association. He somehow managed to arrange room for Bose on a flight leaving Saigon on the morning of 17 August 1945 bound for Tokyo, but stopping en route in Dairen, Manchuria—which was still Japanese-occupied, but toward which the Soviet army was fast approaching—where Bose was to have disembarked and to have awaited his fate at the hand of the Russians.
In another version, Bose left Singapore with his party on the 16th and stopped en route in Bangkok, surprising INA officer in-charge there, J. R. Bhonsle, who quickly made arrangements for Bose's overnight stay. Word of Bose's arrival, however, got out, and soon local members of the Indian Independence League (IIL), the INA, and the Thai Indian business community turned up at the hotel. According to historian Peter Ward Fay, Bose "sat up half the night holding court—and in the morning flew on to Saigon, this time accompanied by General Isoda ..." Arriving in Saigon, late in the morning, there was little time to visit Field Marshal Terauchi, who was in Dalat in the Central Highlands of French Indo-China, an hour away by plane. Consequently, Isoda himself, without consulting with higher ups, arranged room for Bose on a flight leaving around noon.
In the third sketchier version, Bose left Singapore on the 17th. According to historian Christopher Bayly and Tim Harper, "On 17 August he issued a final order of the day, dissolving the INA with the words, 'The roads to Delhi are many and Delhi still remains our goal.' He then flew out to China via French Indo-China. If all else failed he wanted to become a prisoner of the Soviets: 'They are the only ones who will resist the British. My fate is with them'."
The Mitsubishi Ki-21 twin-engine heavy bomber ( Allies code name Sally ) that Subhas Chandra Bose and Habibur Rahman boarded at Saigon airport around 2 PM on 17 August 1945.
Around noon on 17 August, the strands again reunite. At Saigon airport, a Mitsubishi Ki-21 heavy bomber, of the type code named Sally by the Allies, was waiting for Bose and his party. In addition to Bose, the INA group comprised Colonel Habibur Rahman, his secretary; S. A. Ayer, a member of his cabinet; Major Abid Hasan, his old associate who had made the hazardous submarine journey from Germany to Sumatra in 1943; and three others. To their dismay, they learned upon arrival that there was room for only one INA passenger. Bose complained, and the beleaguered General Isoda gave in and hurriedly arranged for a second seat. Bose chose Habibur Rahman to accompany him. It was understood that the others in the INA party would follow him on later flights. There was further delay at Saigon airport. According to historian Joyce Chapman Lebra, "a gift of treasure contributed by local Indians was presented to Bose as he was about to board the plane. The two heavy strong-boxes added overweight to the plane's full load." Sometime between noon and 2 PM, the twin-engine plane took off with 12 or 13 people aboard: a crew of three or four, a group of Japanese army and air force officers, including Lieutenant-General Tsunamasa Shidei, the Vice Chief of Staff of the Japanese Kwantung Army, which although fast retreating in Manchuria still held the Manchurian peninsula, and Bose and Rahman. Bose was sitting a little to the rear of the portside wing; the bomber, under normal circumstances, carried a crew of five.
That these flights were possible a few days after Japan's surrender was the result of a lack of clarity about what had occurred. Although Japan had unconditionally surrendered, when Emperor Hirohito had made his announcement over the radio, he had used formal Japanese, not entirely intelligible to ordinary people and, instead of using the word "surrender" (in Japanese), had mentioned only "abiding by the terms of the Potsdam Declaration." Consequently, many people, especially in Japanese-occupied territories, were unsure if anything had significantly changed, allowing a window of a few days for the Japanese air force to continue flying. Although the Japanese and Bose were tight lipped about the destination of the bomber, it was widely assumed by Bose's staff left behind on the tarmac in Saigon that the plane was bound for Dairen on the Manchurian peninsula, which, as stated above, was still under Japanese control. Bose had been talking for over a year about the importance of making contact with the communists, both Russian and Chinese. In 1944, he had asked a minister in his cabinet, Anand Mohan Sahay to travel to Tokyo for the purposes of making contact with the Soviet ambassador, Jacob Malik. However, after consulting the Japanese foreign minister Mamoru Shigemitsu, Sahay decided against it. In May 1945, Sahay had again written to Shigemitsu requesting him to contact Soviet authorities on behalf of Bose; again the reply had been in the negative. Bose had been continually querying General Isoda for over a year about the Japanese army's readiness in Manchuria. After the war, the Japanese confirmed to the British investigators and later Indian commissions of inquiry, that plane was indeed bound for Dairen, and that fellow passenger General Shidea of the Kwantung Army, was to have disembarked with Bose in Dairen and to have served as the main liaison and negotiator for Bose's transfer into Soviet controlled territory in Manchuria.
The plane had flown north. By the time it was near the northern coast of French Indo-China, darkness had begun to close in, and the pilot decided to make an unscheduled stop in Tourane (now Da Nang, Vietnam). The passengers stayed overnight at a hotel, and the crew, worried that the plane was overloaded, shed some 500 pounds of equipment and luggage, and also refueled the plane. Before dawn the next morning, the group flew out again, this time east to Taihoku, Formosa (now Taipei, Taiwan), which was a scheduled stop, arriving there around noon on 18 August 1945. During the two-hour stop in Taihoku, the plane was again refueled, while the passengers ate lunch. The chief pilot and the ground engineer, and Major Kono, seemed concerned about the portside engine, and, once all the passengers were on board, the engine was tested by repeatedly throttling up and down. The concerns allayed, the plane finally took off, in different accounts, as early as 2 PM, and as late as 2:30 PM, watched by ground engineers.
Death in plane crash [ edit ]
Clipping from Japanese newspaper, published on 23 August 1945, reporting the death of Bose and General Tsunamasa Shidei of the Japanese Kwantung Army in Japanese-occupied Manchuria.
Just as the bomber was leaving the standard path taken by aircraft during take-off, the passengers inside heard a loud sound, similar to an engine backfiring. The mechanics on the tarmac saw something fall out of the plane. It was the portside engine, or a part of it, and the propeller. The plane swung wildly to the right and plummeted, crashing, breaking into two, and exploding into flames. Inside, the chief pilot, copilot and General Shidea were instantly killed. Rahman was stunned, passing out briefly, and Bose, although conscious and not fatally hurt, was soaked in gasoline. When Rahman came to, he and Bose attempted to leave by the rear door but found it blocked by the luggage. They then decided to run through the flames and exit from the front. The ground staff, now approaching the plane, saw two people staggering towards them, one of whom had become a human torch. The human torch turned out to be Bose, whose gasoline-soaked clothes had instantly ignited. Rahman and a few others managed to smother the flames, but also noticed that Bose's face and head appeared badly burned. According to Joyce Chapman Lebra, "A truck which served as ambulance rushed Bose and the other passengers to the Nanmon Military Hospital south of Taihoku." The airport personnel called Dr. Taneyoshi Yoshimi, the surgeon-in-charge at the hospital at around 3 PM. Bose was conscious and mostly coherent when they reached the hospital, and for some time thereafter. Bose was naked, except for a blanket wrapped around him, and Dr. Yoshimi immediately saw evidence of third-degree burns on many parts of the body, especially on his chest, doubting very much that he would live. Dr. Yoshimi promptly began to treat Bose and was assisted by Dr. Tsuruta. According to historian Leonard A. Gordon, who interviewed all the hospital personnel later,:
"A disinfectant, Rivamol, was put over most of his body and then a white ointment was applied and he was bandaged over most of his body. Dr. Yoshimi gave Bose four injections of Vita Camphor and two of Digitamine for his weakened heart. These were given about every 30 minutes. Since his body had lost fluids quickly upon being burnt, he was given Ringer solution intravenously. A third doctor, Dr. Ishii gave him a blood transfusion. An orderly, Kazuo Mitsui, an army private, was in the room and several nurses were assisting. Bose still had a clear head which Dr. Yoshimi found remarkable for someone with such severe injuries.
Soon, in spite of the treatment, Bose went into a coma. He died a few hours later, between 9 and 10 PM.
Bose's body was cremated in the main Taihoku crematorium two days later, 20 August 1945. On 23 August 1945, the Japanese news agency Domei announced the death of Bose and Shidea. On 7 September a Japanese officer, Lieutenant Tatsuo Hayashida, carried Bose's ashes to Tokyo, and the following morning they were handed to the president of the Tokyo Indian Independence League, Rama Murti. On 14 September a memorial service was held for Bose in Tokyo and a few days later the ashes were turned over to the priest of the Renkōji Temple of Nichiren Buddhism in Tokyo. There they have remained ever since.
Among the INA personnel, there was widespread disbelief, shock, and trauma. Most affected were the young Tamil Indians from Malaya and Singapore, men and women, who comprised the bulk of the civilians who had enlisted in the INA. The professional soldiers in the INA, most of whom were Punjabis, faced an uncertain future, with many fatalistically expecting reprisals from the British. In India the Indian National Congress's official line was succinctly expressed in a letter Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi wrote to Rajkumari Amrit Kaur. Said Gandhi, "Subhas Bose has died well. He was undoubtedly a patriot, though misguided." Many congressmen had not forgiven Bose for quarreling with Gandhi and for collaborating with what they considered was Japanese fascism. The Indian soldiers in the British Indian army, some two and a half million of whom had fought during the Second World War, were conflicted about the INA. Some saw the INA as traitors and wanted them punished; others felt more sympathetic. The British Raj, though never seriously threatened by the INA, was to try 300 INA officers for treason in the INA trials, but was to eventually backtrack in the face of its own end.
Legends of Bose's survival [ edit ]
Immediate post-war legends [ edit ]
Subhas Chandra Bose's exploits had become legendary long before his physical death in August 1945.[h] From the time he had escaped house arrest in Calcutta in 1940, rumours had been rife in India about whether or not he was alive, and if the latter, where he was and what he was doing. His appearance in faraway Germany in 1941 created a sense of mystery about his activities. With Congress leaders in jail in the wake of the Quit India Resolution in August 1942 and the Indian public starved for political news, Bose's radio broadcasts from Berlin charting radical plans for India's liberation during a time when the star of Germany was still rising and that of Britain was at its lowest, made him an object of adulation among many in India and southeast Asia. During his two years in Germany, according to historian Romain Hayes, "If Bose gradually obtained respect in Berlin, in Tokyo he earned fervent admiration and was seen very much as an 'Indian samurai'." Thus it was that when Bose appeared in Southeast Asia in July 1943, brought mysteriously on German and Japanese submarines, he was already a figure of mythical size and reach.
After Bose's death, Bose's other lieutenants, who were to have accompanied him to Manchuria, but were left behind on the tarmac in Saigon, never saw a body. There were no photographs taken of the injured or deceased Bose, neither was a death certificate issued. According to historian Leonard A. Gordon,
The war was ending; all was chaotic in East Asia, and there were no official reports released by the Governments of India or Britain. These governments did nothing to prevent the confusion. Even members of India's Interim Government in 1946 waffled on the matter. Bose had disappeared several times earlier in his life; so rumours began again in 1945 and a powerful myth grew."
For these two reasons, when news of Bose's death was reported, many in the INA refused to believe it and were able to transmit their disbelief to a wider public. The source of the widespread skepticism in the INA might have been Bose's senior officer J. R. Bhonsle. Bhonsle, unlike some other senior officers, had been kept in the dark about Bose's final plans, in part because he had also become an agent for the British. When a Japanese delegation, which included General Isoda, visited Bhonsle on 19 August 1945 to break the news and offer condolences, he responded by telling Isoda that Bose had not died, rather his disappearance has been covered up. Even Mohandas Gandhi swiftly said that he was skeptical about the air crash, but changed his mind after meeting the Indian survivor Habibur Rahman. As in 1940, before long, in 1945, rumours were rife about what had happened to Bose, whether he was in Soviet-held Manchuria, a prisoner of the Soviet army, or whether he had gone into hiding with the cooperation of the Soviet army. Lakshmi Swaminathan, of the all-female Rani of Jhansi regiment of the INA, later Lakshmi Sahgal, said in spring 1946 that she thought Bose was in China. Many rumours spoke of Bose preparing for his final march on Delhi. This was the time when Bose began to be sighted by people, one sighter claiming "he had met Bose in a third-class compartment of the Bombay express on a Thursday."
Enduring legends [ edit ]
In the 1950s, stories appeared in which Bose had become a sadhu, or Hindu renunciant. The best-known and most intricate of the renunciant tales of Subhas Bose, and one which, according to historian Leonard A. Gordon, may "properly be called a myth," was told in the early 1960s. Some associates of Bose, from two decades before, had formed an organization, the "Subhasbadi Janata", to promote this story in which Bose was now the chief sadhu of an ashram (or hermitage) in Shaulmari (also Shoulmari) in North Bengal. The Janata brought out published material, including several newspapers and magazines. Of these, some were long lived and some short, but all, by their number, attempted to create the illusion of the story's newsworthiness. The chief sadhu himself vigorously denied being Bose. Several intimates of Bose, including some politicians, who met with the sadhu, supported the denials. Even so, the Subhasbadi Janata was able to create an elaborate chronology of Bose's post-war activities.
According to this chronology, after his return to India, Bose returned to the vocation of his youth: he became a Hindu renunciant. He attended unseen Gandhi's cremation in Delhi in early February 1948; walked across and around India several times; became a yogi at a Shiva temple in Bareilly in north central India from 1956 to 1959; became a practitioner of herbal medicine and effected several cures, including one of tuberculosis; and established the Shaulmari Ashram in 1959, taking the religious name Srimat Saradanandaji.[nb 1] Bose, moreover, was engaged in tapasya, or meditation, to free the world, his goals having been broadened, after his first goal—freeing India—was achieved. His attempt to do so, however, and to assume his true identity, was being thwarted jointly by political parties, newspapers, the Indian government, even foreign governments.
Others stories appeared, spun by the Janata and by others. Bose was still in the Soviet Union or the People's Republic of China; attended the Indian prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru's cremation in 1964, but, this time, neglecting to disallow a Janata-published newspaper to photograph him; and gave notice to the Janta of his return to Calcutta, for which several much publicized rallies were organized. Bose did not appear. The Janata eventually broke up, its reputation marred by successive non-appearances of its protagonist. The real sadhu of Shaulmari, who continued to deny he was Bose, died in 1977. It was also claimed that Nikita Khrushchev had reportedly told an interpreter during his New Delhi visit that Bose can be produced within 45 days if Nehru wishes.
Still other stories or hoaxes—elucidated with conspiracies and accompanied with fake photographs—of the now-aging Bose being in the Soviet Union or China had traction well into the early 80s. Bose was seen in a photograph taken in Beijing, inexplicably parading with the Chinese Red Army. Bose was said to be in a Soviet Gulag. The Soviet leadership was said to be blackmailing Nehru, and later, Indira Gandhi, with the threat of releasing Bose. An Indian member of parliament, Samar Guha, released in 1979 what he claimed was a contemporaneous photograph of Bose. This turned out to have been doctored, comprising one-half Bose and one-half his elder brother Sarat Chandra Bose. Guha also charged Nehru with having had knowledge of Bose's incarceration in the Soviet Union even in the 1950s, a charge Guha recanted after he was sued.
For the remainder of the century and into the next, the renunciant legends continued to appear. Most prominently, a retired judge, who had been appointed by the Indian Government in 1999 to undertake an enquiry into Bose's death, brought public notice to another sannyasi or renunciant, "Gumnami Baba,"[nb 2] also known by his religious name, "Bhagwanji,"[nb 3] who was said to have lived in the town of Faizabad in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. According to historian Sugata Bose,
In October 2002, he (the judge) sent letters to members of the Bose family asking them to donate one milliliter of blood for a DNA match with "one Gumnami Baba," who "some persons" had claimed was "none other than Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. The evidence naturally did not support this bizarre theory."
Earlier, in 1977, summing up the extant Bose legends, historian Joyce Chapman Lebra had written,
"Stories persist that Netaji has become a sannyasi (holy man) and has been seen in the Naga hill country of Assam; that he was a member of a Mongolian trade delegation in Peking; that he lives in Russia; that he is in the Chinese Army. ... Pictures have been produced to prove that Netaji is still alive. Bose's family have announced at times that he is in hiding and will return to India when the time is right. In February 1966, Suresh Chandra Bose announced in the press that his brother would return in March. To date, however, Bose has not reappeared to contradict the evidence that he died in the crash on Taiwan. But the myth lives on."
Perspectives on durability of legends [ edit ]
According to historians Christopher Bayly and Tim Harper:
The legend of 'Netaji' Bose's survival helped bind together the defeated INA. In Bengal it became an assurance of the province's supreme importance in the liberation of the motherland. It sustained the morale of many across India and Southeast Asia who deplored the return of British power or felt alienated from the political settlement finally achieved by Gandhi and Nehru.
Amid all this, Joyce Chapman Lebra, wrote in 2008:
" The Japanese have always wished to return the ashes to Bengal, as they believe that a soul will not rest in peace until the ashes are brought home. The prospect of having Netaji's ashes in Bengal, however, has been known to incite rioting, as happened one year at the annual 23 January convention at the Netaji Research Bureau in Calcutta. Hot-headed young Bengali radicals broke into the convention hall where Fujiwara, the founder of the INA, was to address the assemblage and shouted abuse at him. Apparently some newspaper had published a rumour that Fujiwara had brought Netaji's ashes back."
Enquiries [ edit ]
Figgess Report 1946 [ edit ]
Confronted with rumours about Bose, which had begun to spread within days of his death, the Supreme Allied Command, South-east Asia, under Mountbatten, tasked Colonel (later Sir) John Figgess, an intelligence officer, with investigating Bose's death. Figgess's report, submitted on 25 July 1946, however, was confidential, being work done in Indian Political Intelligence (IPI), a partially secret branch of the Government of India. Figgess was interviewed in the 1980s by historian Leonard A. Gordon and confirmed writing the report. In 1997, the British Government made most of the IPI files available for public viewing in the India Office Records of the British Library. However, the Figgess report was not among them. A photocopy of the Figess report was soon anonymously donated for public viewing to the British Library in the European manuscripts collection, as Eur. MSS. c 785. Good candidates for the donor, according to historian Leonard Gordon, are Figgess himself, who had died in 1997, or more likely another British intelligence officer in wartime India, Hugh Toye, the author of the book, Toye, Hugh (1959), The Springing Tiger: A Study of the Indian National Army and of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Bombay: Allied Publishers, ISBN 978-81-8424-392-5 .
The crucial paragraph in the Figgess report (by Colonel John Figgess, Indian Political Intelligence, 25 July 1946,) is:
"As a result of a series of interrogations of individuals named in the following paragraphs it is confirmed as certain that S.C. Bose died in a Taihoku Military Hospital (Nammon Ward) sometime between 1700 hours and 2000 hours local time on the August 18, 1945. The cause of death was heart failure resulting from multiple burns and shock. All the persons named below were interrogated at different times but the several accounts of the event agree both in substance and detail at all points where the knowledge of the subjects could have been deemed to be based on common experience. The possibility of a pre-arranged fabrication must be excluded since most of the individuals concerned had no opportunity of contact with one another prior to interrogation."
The remaining four pages of the Figgess report contain interviews with two survivors of the plane crash, Lt. Cols. Nonogaki and Sakai, with Dr. Yoshimi, who treated Bose in the hospital and with others involved in post-death arrangements. In 1979, Leonard Gordon himself interviewed "Lt. Cols. Nonogaki and Sakai, and, (in addition, plane-crash survivor) Major Kono; Dr. Yoshimi ...; the Japanese orderly who sat in the room through these treatments; and the Japanese officer, Lt. Hayashita, who carried Bose's ashes from the crematorium in Taipei to Japan."
The Figgess report and Leonard Gordon's investigations confirm four facts:
The crash near Taihoku airport on 18 August 1945 of a plane on which Subhas Chandra Bose was a passenger;
Bose's death in the nearby military hospital on the same day;
Bose's cremation in Taihoku; and
transfer of Bose's ashes to Tokyo.
Shah Nawaz Committee 1956 [ edit ]
With the goal of quelling the rumours about what happened to Subhas Chandra Bose after mid-August 1945, the Government of India in 1956 appointed a three-man committee headed by Shah Nawaz Khan. Khan was at the time a Member of Parliament as well as a former Lieutenant Colonel in the Indian National Army and the best-known defendant in the INA Trials of a decade before. The other members of the committee were S. N. Maitra, ICS, who was nominated by the Government of West Bengal, and Suresh Chandra Bose, an elder brother of Bose. The committee is referred to as the "Shah Nawaj Committee" or the "Netaji Inquiry Committee."
From April to July 1956, the committee interviewed 67 witnesses in India, Japan, Thailand, and Vietnam. In particular, the committee interviewed all the survivors of the plane crash, some of whom had scars on their bodies from burns. The committee interviewed Dr. Yoshimi, the surgeon at the Taihoku Military Hospital who treated Bose in his last hours. It also interviewed Bose's Indian companion on the flight, Habib ur Rahman, who, after the partition, had moved to Pakistan and had burn scars from the plane crash. Although there were minor discrepancies here and there in the evidence, the first two members of the committee, Khan and Maitra, concluded that Bose had died in the plane crash in Taihoku on 18 August 1945.
Bose's brother, Suresh Chandra Bose, however, after having signed off on the initial conclusions, declined to sign the final report. He, moreover, wrote a dissenting note in which he claimed that the other members and staff of the Shah Nawaz Committee had deliberately withheld some crucial evidence from him, that the committee had been directed by Jawaharlal Nehru to infer death by plane crash, and that the other committee members, along with Bengal's chief minister B. C. Roy, had pressured him bluntly to sign the conclusions of their final report.
According to historian Leonard A. Gordon,
"Out of the 181-page repetitious document that constitutes Suresh Bose's report, one main principle for dealing with the evidence emerges: if two or more stories by witnesses have any discrepancies between them, then the whole testimony of the witnesses involved is thereby discredited and assumed to be false. Using this principle, Bose is able to ... find that there was no crash and that his brother lives. There also appears to be one other half-stated assumption: Subhas Bose could not die before India achieved her freedom. Therefore he did not die in the plane crash said to have taken place on August 18, 1945."
Khosla Commission 1970 [ edit ]
In 1977, two decades after the Shah Nawaz committee had reported its findings, historian Joyce Chapman Lebra wrote about Suresh Chandra Bose's dissenting note: "Whatever Mr Bose's motives in issuing his minority report, he has helped to perpetuate until the present the faith that Subhas Chandra Bose still lives." In fact, during the early 1960s, the rumours about Subhas Bose's extant forms only increased.
In 1970, the Government of India appointed a new commission to enquire into the "disappearance" of Bose. With a view to heading off more minority reports, this time it was a "one-man commission." The single investigator was G. D. Khosla, a retired chief justice of the Punjab High Court. As Justice Khosla had other duties, he submitted his report only in 1974.
Justice Khosla, who brought his legal background to bear on the issue in a methodical fashion, not only concurred with the earlier reports of Figess and the Shah Nawaz Committee on the main facts of Bose's death, but also evaluated the alternative explanations of Bose's disappearance and the motives of those promoting stories of Netaji sightings. Historian Leonard A. Gordon writes:
"Justice Khosla suggests the motives of many of the story-purveyors are less than altruistic. Some, he says, have clearly been driven by political goals or simply wanted to call attention to themselves. His patience in listening to some tales is surely remarkable. What could he, or anyone, have thought as he listened to the testimony of P. M. Karapurkar, agent of the Central Bank of India at Sholapur, who '... claimed that he receives direct messages from Bose by tuning his body like a radio receiving apparatus.
Mukherjee Commission 2005 [ edit ]
In 1999, following a court order, the Indian government appointed retired Supreme Court judge Manoj Kumar Mukherjee to probe the death of Bose. The commission perused hundreds of files on Bose's death drawn from several countries and visited Japan, Russia and Taiwan. Although oral accounts were in favour of the plane crash, the commission concluded that those accounts could not be relied upon and that there was a secret plan to ensure Bose's safe passage to the USSR with the knowledge of Japanese authorities and Habibur Rahman. The commission observed that the ashes kept at the Renkoji temple, reported to be Bose's, were of Ichiro Okura, a Japanese soldier who died of cardiac arrest.
The Mukherjee Commission submitted its report to on November 8, 2005. The report was tabled in the Indian Parliament on May 17, 2006. The Indian Government rejected the findings of the commission
Japanese government report 1956, declassified September 2016 [ edit ]
An investigative report by Japanese government titled "Investigation on the cause of death and other matters of the late Subhas Chandra Bose" was declassified on 1 September 2016. It concluded that Bose died in a plane crash in Taiwan on 18 August 1945. The report was completed in January 1956 and was handed over to the Indian embassy in Tokyo, but was not made public for more than 60 years as it was classified. According to the report, just after takeoff a propellor blade on the airplane in which Bose was traveling broke off and the engine fell off the plane, which then crashed and burst into flames. When Bose exited it his clothes caught fire and he was severely burned. He was admitted to hospital, and although he was conscious and able to carry on a conversation for some time he died several hours later.
References [ edit ]
Explanatory notes [ edit ]
Quotes [ edit ]
^ "If all else failed (Bose) wanted to become a prisoner of the Soviets: 'They are the only ones who will resist the British. My fate is with them. But as the Japanese plane took off from Taipei airport its engines faltered and then failed. Bose was badly burned in the crash. According to several witnesses, he died on 18 August in a Japanese military hospital, talking to the very last of India's freedom." ^ "The retreat was even more devastating, finally ending the dream of liberating India through military campaign. But Bose still remained optimistic, thought of regrouping after the Japanese surrender, contemplated seeking help from Soviet Russia. The Japanese agreed to provide him transport up to Manchuria from where he could travel to Russia. But on his way, on 18 August 1945 at Taihoku airport in Taiwan, he died in an air crash, which many Indians still believe never happened." ^ "British and Indian commissions later established convincingly that Bose had died in Taiwan. These were legendary and apocalyptic times, however. Having witnessed the first Indian leader to fight against the British since the great mutiny of 1857, many in both Southeast Asia and India refused to accept the loss of their hero." ^ "There are still some in India today who believe that Bose remained alive and in Soviet custody, a once and future king of Indian independence. The legend of 'Netaii' Bose's survival helped bind together the defeated INA. In Bengal it became an assurance of the province's supreme importance in the liberation of the motherland. It sustained the morale of many across India and Southeast Asia who deplored the return of British power or felt alienated from the political settlement finally achieved by Gandhi and Nehru. ^ "On March 21, 1944, Subhas Bose and advanced units of the INA crossed the borders of India, entering Manipur, and by May they had advanced to the outskirts of that state's capital, Imphal. That was the closest Bose came to Bengal, where millions of his devoted followers awaited his army's "liberation." The British garrison at Imphal and its air arm withstood Bose's much larger force long enough for the monsoon rains to defer all possibility of warfare in that jungle region for the three months the British so desperately needed to strengthen their eastern wing. Bose had promised his men freedom in exchange for their blood, but the tide of battle turned against them after the 1944 rains, and in May 1945 the INA surrendered in Rangoon. Bose escaped on the last Japanese plane to leave Saigon, but he died in Formosa after a crash landing there in August. By that time, however, his death had been falsely reported so many times that a myth soon emerged in Bengal that Netaji Subhas Chandra was alive—raising another army in China or Tibet or the Soviet Union—and would return with it to "liberate" India. ^ "Rumours that Bose had survived and was waiting to come out of hiding and begin the final struggle for independence were rampant by the end of 1945." ^ "Marginalized within Congress and a target for British surveillance, Bose chose to embrace the fascist powers as allies against the British and fled India, first to Hitler's Germany, then, on a German submarine, to a Japanese-occupied Singapore. The force that he put together ... known as the Indian National Army (INA) and thus claiming to represent free India, saw action against the British in Burma but accomplished little toward the goal of a march on Delhi. ... Bose himself died in an airplane crash trying to reach Japanese-occupied territory in the last months of the war. His romantic saga, coupled with his defiant nationalism, has made Bose a near-mythic figure, not only in his native Bengal, but across India. It is this heroic, martial myth that is today remembered, rather than Bose's wartime vision of a free India under the authoritarian rule of someone like himself." ^ "THE MYTH: But Bose had become a myth in his own lifetime, dating from the time he eluded house arrest and escaped from India to Afghanistan and Europe. Thousands of Indians refused to believe he was dead. Man is very mortal but myths die hard."
Citations [ edit ]
Sources [ edit ]
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Israel has warned Lebanon based terror group Hezbollah not to approach the border or attack its interests abroad, in a message conveyed through Moscow, Israel’s NRG News reported on Monday, citing Labanon’s As-Safir newspaper.
According to the newspaper, the message, delivered through Russian intermediaries, was that “Israel is not interested in the deterioration of security and escalation on the northern border, but will not allow the presence of terrorists near the border.”
Israel’s Defense Minister Moshe (Bogie) Ya’alon said during a recent visit to the area that, “we will respond strongly to any attempt to harm us.”
The London-based Al-Hayat newspaper reported that Israel would respond harshly to any attack against Israeli targets in the country or abroad in response to its strike on a Hezbollah convoy near Quneitra in the central Golan Heights on January 18th, which killed some 10 militants and an Iranian general.
Sources told the paper that a number of ambassadors made it clear to Lebanese officials that Israel would hold Hezbollah responsible for any attack on Israeli institutions abroad.
Israel has charged Iranian-backed Hezbollah with a series of terror attacks against Israeli citizens and its diplomats abroad, including a bombing of a tour bus in Burgas, Bulgaria in the summer of 2012, which killed five Israelis and their Bulgarian driver.
The commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) threatened after the Golan airstrike that Israel should expect “ruinous thunderbolts” in response to the attack, which killed Gen. Mohammed Ali Allah Dadi, along with noted Hezbollah operative, Jihad Mughniyeh, and some 10 others.
Meanwhile, Syrian President Bashar Assad on Sunday directly addressed the incident for the first time, and accused Israel of assisting al Qaeda.
“How can you say that al Qaeda has no air force?” Assad asked rhetorically. “In practice, we see that they have an air force and it is the Israeli Air Force,” Assad alleged.
IDF Chief of Staff, Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz on Friday and Saturday toured the tense border zone, along which Israeli residents have been instructed to take shelter repeatedly over fears of terrorist infiltrations.
There is a heavy presence of tanks and other military armored vehicles along stretches of the upper Galilee border vicinity, troops have been posted in and around several border villages, some roads in the vicinity have been closed, and hundreds of tall concrete barriers have been deployed to thwart sniper attacks on both IDF forces and civilians.
“IDF forces are closely monitoring events throughout the area and are very alert, ready and prepared for any action necessary,” Gantz said.
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Baltimore County School Superintendent Dallas Dance is slowing down the rollout of his signature technology initiative next school year, but the program would continue to grow under a $1.5 billion budget plan he presented to the school board Tuesday night.
Under the budget plan, which must go to the County Council for approval, Dance proposes to expand foreign language instruction in elementary schools and add teachers for special education and students learning English as a second language.
In total, spending next school year would increase by $59.5 million, or 4.3 percent. About $34 million is designated for increased pay and benefits for employees, though the county has not completed negotiations with employee unions. Dance said he has discussed the budget with County Executive Kevin Kamenetz and his staff. While they have not given Dance any assurances, he said, the county "appears to recognize it is a reasonable request."
The superintendent is asking for a 2 percent increase in funding above what is required under state law.
Dance, now in his fourth year as superintendent, is requesting $14.5 million to expand the four-year, $270 million program designed to give laptops to every student in the school system. All elementary students in grades one through five are to get the laptops next year, but the program will not expand as quickly in middle schools.
This year, sixth-graders in half a dozen middle schools got the devices, and next year, those schools are to get them for students in sixth and seventh grades. While the original plan called for a wide expansion in the middle grades next year, only sixth-graders will be getting the devices at the remaining middle schools.
Dance made the decision based on feedback that the rollout in the pilot middle schools was not as smooth as it had been in the elementary schools.
"It is a radical change, and I have only seen six months" of the program in the middle schools, he said. "I would prefer we adjust a little."
Dance said he believes middle school teachers needed more training on how to teach with the devices and use the accompanying curriculum. He has said he is trying to change the teaching model to place more emphasis on students working in groups.
The initiative will also move more slowly into high schools. Three high schools will be chosen to get the devices next year in what would be a two-year pilot.
"It allows me to free up money to do the things we want to do for academic growth," he said, including money to hire Spanish teachers for a number of elementary schools.
The budget increase would pay for an additional 76 teachers to handle 1,225 new students expected next fall, largely in elementary schools. County schools have been growing by about 1,000 students a year for several years. Enrollment is now more than 110,000 students, making Baltimore County's one of the 25 largest school systems in the nation.
Dance said he also wants to provide 30 more teachers for special education students, particularly because there has been a growing percentage of those who are developmentally delayed or have autism. Parents of special education students have expressed concerns about the lack of support for their students, and Dance said he has been working with a citizen advisory group to alleviate those concerns.
The percentage of immigrant students and those whose first language is not English has increased by 22 percent in the past four years. Dance said he will add 16 more specialized teachers to deal with that population, on top of the 10 added this year.
The English as a Second Language teacher to student ratio in county elementary schools is 1 to 71, and in secondary schools is 1 to 33 — a ratio far higher than in Baltimore City and the state as a whole. Although Baltimore County has more immigrants who are learning English than the city, the county spends $6.8 million yearly compared to the city's $16.8 million on such programs.
Dance's budget also provides for a slight increase in pay for bus drivers, who are being paid less than drivers in surrounding counties. The school system is having difficulty attracting drivers willing to work for far less an hour than they can earn working for the large bus companies.
[email protected]
Dance budget proposals
• $14.5 million for student laptops
•$34 million for employee pay raises
•$9.3 million to hire more teachers
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USA Network has made decisions on the fate of its freshman drama series, opting to renew Satisfaction, from Universal Cable Prods., and cancel Rush, from Fox 21. Additionally I hear the network is close to giving a third-season order to the Jeff Eastin’s drama Graceland, produced by Fox TV Studios. There is no decision on USA’s first-year comedy Playing House.
Created by Sean Jablonski, Satisfaction has received a 10-episod order. It stars Matt Passmore and Stephanie Szostak as a couple with an unconventional marriage. “Satisfaction sparked a cultural conversation about modern love and marriage in today’s world,” said USA Network President Chris McCumber.
Satisfaction and Rush got off to a soft start, both opening to 1.7 million total viewers in Live+Same Day as well as a 0.5 adults 18-49 rating (Satisfaction) and 0.4 (Rush) in July. In L+SD, the series, which wrapped their freshman-season runs a couple of weeks ago, have performed similarly, with a slight edge for Rush — Satisfaction averaged 1.4 million viewers and 0.4 in 18-49 and Rush 1.7 million viewers and a 0.4.
Factoring in USA’s decision to renew Satisfaction was the size of the show’s L7 lifts: +74% adults 18-49, and +58% in total viewers. It’s penultimate episode hit L7 series highs with 2.43 million total viewers and 1.1 million adults 18-49, though Rush too hit series highs in both measures with its penultimate episode in L+SD. (While Rush, starring Tom Ellis as a hard-partying concierge doctor, had the edge in L+sd for that episode, Satisfaction came up on top in l7 with 1.094 million 18-49 viewers vs. 953,000.) On average, Satisfaction‘s DVR gains have been bigger, with USA seeing growth potential in a show it also owns, leading to its renewal decision. Marriage is a culturally relevant theme at the moment, with Satisfaction about to be joined by Showtime’s The Affair. HBO also explored the arena with its provocative pilot Open.
Satisfaction also stars Michelle DeShon, Katherine LaNasa, Blair Redford and Deanna Russo. Jablonski executive produces with Russ Krasnoff.
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All the hottest video games of the holiday season will be on display when Nintendo visits 16 malls around the country from Nov. 23 to Dec. 20. Holiday shoppers who want to make a fun pit stop can try the Japanese sensation YO-KAI WATCH game, which just hit U.S. shores on Nov. 6, the New Nintendo 3DS XL system, amiibo and more.
And the Nintendo fun doesn’t end there! In addition to YO-KAI WATCH, other Nintendo 3DS games available to play include The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes, Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon, Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer, Chibi-Robo! Zip Lash, Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DSand Mario Kart 7.
For Wii U, the scheduled lineup includes Super Mario Maker, Splatoon, Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash, Yoshi’s Woolly World, Skylanders SuperChargersfrom Activision and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.
Visitors can also check out the latest amiibo figures and visit Nintendo’s colorful interactive space to receive free giveaways and Nintendo Holiday Gift Guides, while supplies last. Nintendo holiday “gurus” will be on-site as well to assist gift givers with questions, and provide recommendations to those looking for the perfect gift from Nintendo. While supplies last, visitors can also receive a coupon for use on Nintendo products at Toys R Us locations this holiday season.
Celebrate the holiday season with Nintendo at the following locations:
South Shore Plaza in Braintree, Massachusetts
Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg, Illinois
Stonebriar Centre in Frisco, Texas
Cherry Creek Shopping Center in Denver, Colorado
Memorial City Mall in Houston, Texas
The Oaks in Thousand Oaks, California
Dolphin Mall in Miami, Florida
Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota
Perimeter Mall in Atlanta, Georgia
Queens Center Mall in Elmhurst, New York
King of Prussia Mall in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania
Scottsdale Fashion Square in Scottsdale, Arizona
Washington Square in Portland, Oregon
Westfield Valley Fair in Santa Clara, California
Westfield Southcenter in Seattle, Washington
Tysons Corner Center in McLean, Virginia
Fans unable to make it to one of these locations can visit http://happyholidays.nintendo.com, where all members of the family can customize their own Nintendo holiday wish lists and then print, email or share it with friends and family.
Source: PR
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Yes indeed, it is finally here in my hands: Nokia’s long awaited first (and hopefully not the last) Meego Smartphone, the Nokia N9! I got my test device for the upcoming weeks this Friday, thanks to Nokia Austria, enduring a rainy trip to Vienna just to get it as soon as possible! I did not waste much time and proudly present to you now, the unboxing of the georgeous 3,9″ Touchscreen device – a true pleasure for me, as i hope it is for you! Enjoy, and if you have any questions, leave them in the comments and I’ll answer them as soon as possible!! Watch the video after the break!
Author: Michael Hell Michael Hell, certified geek, mobile jedi, amateur photographer, music addict. Down to earth and always up for new challenges. Also blogging on www.michaelxhell.com, which is my private blog for things like Photography and personal things :) Feel free to add me on http://twitter.com/michaelxhell or http://www.facebook.com/michaelxhell View all posts by Michael Hell
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http://www.care2.com/causes/slaughterhouse-work-is-so-horrible-canada-cant-find-anyone-to-do-it.html
If a job is so incredibly distasteful that no one wants to do it, what do you do? In Canada, sadly, the answer might be to offer those terrible jobs to incoming Syrian refugees.
Such is the dilemma faced by Canada’s slaughterhouses. According to the Canadian Meat Council (CMC), the nation is short about 1,000 meat packing plant workers. The jobs the plants can’t fill are the worst ones, of course.
Canadian slaughterhouses need strong, healthy labor to man the kill floors and cut the carcasses. Money is tight, jobs are hard to find, and the jobs are critical to the industry. Even so, few Canadians step forward to volunteer to kill and dissect animals for food. Of those who do, many just can’t take it.
“We have people who walk away after a couple of hours,” Werner Siegrist, of Canadian Premium Meats, told Global News.
It’s no wonder, is it? You’d have to be numb to suffering or desperate for work to survive in a slaughterhouse for long.
The Psychological Toll of Slaughterhouse Work
Love This? Never Miss Another Story.
The Canadian meat industry employs over 64,500 nationwide. Despite good benefits and steady work, there’s been an “industry threatening scarcity of Canadian butchers, meat cutters and laborers who are willing to accept job offers… in smaller, more distant and rural locations,” according to the CMC.
The reason why isn’t hard to discern. For most people, it’s horrific work that leaves them reeling.
Slaughterhouse workers often experience a form of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) known as Perpetration-Induced Traumatic Stress (PITS). PITS results from situations in which the sufferer was a “causal participant” in a traumatic event. Symptoms include depression, dissociation, paranoia, anxiety, panic, drug and alcohol abuse, and dreams of violence.
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FEAR of being accused of child sex crimes and higher pay in non-government schools are being blamed for a 4 per cent fall in the number of men teaching in NSW public schools.
While the number of male teachers in private schools has risen 20 per cent, government schools are suffering a lack of men.The "alarming" figures contained in a Social Trends report released yesterday by the Australian Bureau of Statistics were damned by the NSW Federation of Parents and Citizens Associations.
The report found that since 2000, the number of men teaching in government schools had fallen from about 50,000 to less than 48,000. Non-government schools, including independent and Catholic schools, enjoyed a rise from less than 24,000 to more than 29,000.
"The lack of male teachers tends to be in the primary sector, and our concern is that it's not an accurate reflection of society," federation president Helen Walton said.
"We have a primarily female system introduced to children at early age, and for many students their first contact with male teachers is at high schools."
Ms Walton said that attracting men to primary teaching was very difficult. She cited a fear among would-be teachers of being branded a child sex offender as one of the main hurdles.
"There have been concerns about allegations made against male teachers which have made them wary of having anything to do with young primary children," Ms Walton said.
"Our other concern is that in single-parent families, the parent in the home tends to be the mother so some boys miss out on that vital male contact.
"It's good to have male role models in schools."
Association of Independent Schools executive director Geoff Newcombe said private schools were able to attract men with higher salaries.
"An obvious explanation is that there are many boys' schools in the independent sector, and male teachers are often more comfortable in this environment.
"There also may be an attraction to higher salaries in the independent schools which is particularly important if a male teacher is the sole income-earner in a household," Dr Newcombe said.
Originally published as Male teacher numbers falling
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Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) visited President Trump at the White House late Wednesday, bringing along musicians Ted Nugent and Kid Rock.
The 2008 GOP vice presidential candidate has been an outspoken supporter of Trump since his campaign and was invited to be one of his guests during an October debate last year.
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On Wednesday night, Palin, Kid Rock and Nugent were pictured in the Oval Office with the president. Nugent's wife, Shemane Deziel, and Audrey Berry, Kid Rock's fiancee, were also at the White House and are in one of the photos.
Further details of the visit were not immediately made known though it appeared that the group also visited other parts of the White House outside the Oval Office.
.@POTUS invited @SarahPalinUSA to dinner and told her to bring some friends pic.twitter.com/Okk6wVWpha — Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) April 20, 2017
The three posed mockingly in front of a portrait of former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham ClintonREAD: Cohen testimony alleges Trump knew Stone talked with WikiLeaks about DNC emails County GOP in Minnesota shares image comparing Sanders to Hitler Holder: 'Time to make the Electoral College a vestige of the past' MORE.
A great night at the White House. Thank you to President Trump for the invite! — Sarah Palin (@SarahPalinUSA) April 20, 2017
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It’s a great day! I found out today (3 months later- hello Spanish efficiency) that I passed the DELE Spanish certification exam I took right before moving home. I have that excited, happy feeling in my chest I get when I think about Spain and how grateful I am for the six years of my life I spent there. It’s the same feeling I get when I am blessed with having a dream in Spanish, which is happening much less often nowadays. Or when I hear people having a conversation in Spanish and weirdly get a sense of being home. I have to say that one of the best parts of moving back to Boston has been people’s excitement over sharing their European memories with me. Many people have taken me for a stroll down their memory lanes as they reminisce about their own European travels. Some people I’ve spoken to have visited recently and we’ve compared notes on different bars, restaurants or neighbourhoods we visited in different cities. But some of the most interesting conversations have been with people telling me about their trips at a time when many of the places I’m familiar with were very different. A college professor I randomly struck up a conversation with in a Dunkin Donuts (don’t judge me- I’m unemployed and a little lonely) was telling me about two seperate trips to Rome, one of his favourite European cities. He first went in the early 1970s before the Sistine Chapel had been restored and then visited again in the early 2000s after the restoration. He said it was incredible how much more vibrant all the colours were, but felt very lucky to have been able to have two distinct experiences with one of the world’s most breathtaking works of art.
One of my mother’s coworkers, Marie Antoinette from Québec, was kind enough to share her photo album from her 1954 trip to Europe. It had been sitting on a shelf for years and it was so exciting to be able to turn through the crisp, browning pages and look at the black and white photos. Marie travelled around France, Belgium, Monaco, and Spain, but the photos of Barcelona were unsurprisingly the most captivating for me. There were photos of many of the plazas and streets that I had walked through during the time that I called Barcelona home.
Barcelona is a city full of history and some of the changes that took place in modern times are incredibly intriguing. Barcelona had what you could call a renaissance in 1992, when the city was revitalized for the summer Olympic games. Catalans speak of 1992 as if it were the birth of Christ, with events happening either before or after one of the most important years in recent Barcelona history. It’s always incredible to imagine that many of the beaches from Port Olympico on did not exist and that that part of the coast used to be inhabited by gypsies. The photos from Marie’s album takes us back even further. Enjoy!
(click on photos to enlarge)
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The center of the city and the top of the main tourist street La Rambla, Plaça Catlunaya has been the spot for many a Barça football celebration, occupied by protesters months before anyone thought to occupy wall street (with protestors making themselves at home by making tree houses and vegetable gardens in the square), and always overrun by tourists, many of whom strangely put birdseed on their children’s outstretched arms so that they are covered in pigeons for one of the strangest photo opps I’ve ever seen.
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Catalan Antoni Gaudí’s architectural masterpiece has been under construction since 1882, Gaudí coming onto the project a year later. He combines Gothic and Art Nouveau styles to create this melting sandcastle rising up above the buildings of Barcelona. My friends and I have made a pact to have a Barcelona reunion when the Sagrada Familia is finally finished, though it’s unclear if that will even happen during our lifetime.
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At the foot of Montjuic, Plaça Espanya brings together some of Barcelona’s most major streets. It’s the spot of the Magic Fountains and finishes out one of my favourite festivals, La Mercé, with one of the most incredible firework shows I have ever seen. This will be my first year missing the show so my Barcelona friends better put up lots of photos!
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Parc Ciutadella is the biggest and most popular park in Barcelona. Full of lots of green space, the zoo, musicians, circus performers (picture people walking on stilts, juggling, etc.), and people doing capoeira, Parc Ciutadella is the perfect place to welcome Spring and lie around on lazy summer evenings.
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My old neighbourhood! I lived off of Plaça Universitat my second year in Barcelona with my two friends Annie and Angela for one of my best years in Spain. Close to the center, it gets its name from the Universitat de Barcelona whose main campus is at the plaza. The starting point for many a student protest and one of the most popular locations for skateboarders, Plaça Universitat is always lively.
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Mount Tibidabo has some great hiking, the oldest amusement park in Barcelona, and a church topped with a grandiose statue of Jesus overlooking the city with outstretched arms.
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The triumphal arch of Barcelona, Arc de Triomf was built in 1888 for the Exposición Universal de Barcelona. It’s interesting to see a tram driving past in the older photo, since there aren’t any tram tracks there today.
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The Christopher Columbus statue (Catalan: Colom, Spanish: Colón) is located at the end of La Rambla and the site where Columbus returned to Spain after his first voyage to the Americas. It is supposed to depict Columbus pointing toward the new world, but he’s actually pointing South-Southeast toward Algeria. Oops. There is a small elevator that takes tourists to the top, but be careful- right before I left Barcelona a group of tourists got stuck at the top and had to be rescued by a crane. Fun times.
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With starkly different opinions from Spaniards of many other areas of Spain, many Catalans are morally opposed to bullfighting. It was recently banned in Catalunya. I have to say, I never made it to a bullfight, based mainly on many people’s reports that seeing the way the bulls were treated made them sick to their stomachs. I do understand the history and cultural significance of the tradition, however, and the beauty of these postcards from 1954 is undeniable.
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Thank you Marie for sharing your photo memories.
Bonus Check out this video of Barcelona taken from a tram in 1908.
YouTube: Barcelona Tram Ride 1908
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Nearly a year after ordering it to series, Disney Channel has set a late June launch for the "Boy Meets World" follow-up, which will debut after original movie "Zapped!"
Disney Channel's Girl Meets World finally has a launch date.
The anticipated Boy Meets World follow-up will premiere Friday, June 27, at 9:45 p.m. following the launch of original TV movie Zapped! starring Zendaya at 8 p.m., The Hollywood Reporter has learned.
After taking a week off, Girl Meets World will then debut in its regular time slot on Friday, July 11, at 8:30 p.m., with castmembers hosting the evening.
STORY: Disney Channel's 'Girl Meets World' Debuts First Official Poster
An extended trailer for Girl Meets World also debuted, previewing the school versus home dynamic in the Matthews household. Guest stars and Boy Meets World alumni -- many of them previously announced -- include William Daniels (Mr. Feeny), Rider Strong (Shawn), William Russ (Alan), Betsy Randle (Amy), Lee Norris (Minkus), Danny McNulty (Harley), Cloris Leachman, Jane Lynch, Jackee Harry, Willie Garson, Charlotte Rae and Herbie Hancock.
For viewers who can't wait, a free download of the preview episode will be made available two weeks before its TV launch via iTunes on Friday, June 13, and on the WATCH Disney Channel video player beginning Wednesday, May 21. To prep for the Girl Meets World launch, Disney Channel slotted a four-hour Boy Meets World marathon, appropriately for Father's Day on Sunday, June 15.
An original and remix version of the Girl Meets World theme song "Take on the World," sung by stars Rowan Blanchard and Sabrina Carpenter, will premiere Tuesday, May 20.
STORY: Ben Savage Making Directorial Debut on 'Girl Meets World'
The official premiere announcement comes nearly a year after Disney Channel gave Girl Meets World a formal series order. Over the past few weeks, the cable network had been rolling out teasers and posters. THR recently revealed that Ben Savage would be making his directorial debut.
Girl Meets World follows Riley (Blanchard) and her best friend Maya (Carpenter) as they navigate through John Quincy Adams Middle School in New York City. Their plans for a carefree year will be adjusted under the watch of Riley's parents Cory (Savage), who works as a history teacher at the school, and Topanga (Danielle Fishel). In the premiere episode, the typically studious Riley joins a homework rebellion in an attempt to be more like Maya, which quickly leads to a rift between father and daughter. August Maturo is Cory and Topanga's young son, Auggie; Peyton Meyer plays Riley's crush Lucas Friar; and Corey Fogelmanis is Farkle, a fellow classmate.
Girl Meets World is co-created by Boy Meets World's Michael Jacobs and April Kelly, with Jacobs executive producing. It hails from It's a Laugh Productions and Michael Jacobs Productions.
Zapped! centers on Zoey, a girl whose well-ordered life is up-ended when her mother remarries and she finds herself part of a family composed of rambunctious, chaotic boys -- and a male dog, to boot. She finds salvation in the unlikeliest of places when she unwittingly comes into possession of a smartphone app that magically controls boys.
Go here for THR's complete coverage of Girl Meets World.
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @insidethetube
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Machete-wielding jihadists in Bangladesh yesterday hacked to death American secularist author and blogger Dr. Avijit Roy for . . . you guessed it: insulting Islam. The jihadists also hacked Roy’s wife, Rafida Ahmed Bonna, severely injuring her and cutting off one of her fingers. She remains hospitalized. Our hearts and thoughts go out to Ms. Bonna and to the couple’s friends and family.
In a 2013 op-ed titled “Freethought Under Attack in Bangladesh” in Free Inquiry, Dr. Roy and his daughter, Trisha Ahmed, wrote:
Twenty-first-century Americans like to believe that human civilization is forward-moving—that it does not seek to limit thinkers or artists or leaders. But in an age where all ideals are still not open to scrutiny, criticism, or discussion, we realize that we still have far to go before we can achieve a truly progressive society. . . . [Nonbelievers] constitute a large fraction of the world’s intellectual and academic community. Whether it is a courageous sixteen-year-old from Rhode Island or a group of individualistic bloggers on the other side of the world, we should never belittle the endeavors of bold human beings to create rational, secular, and freethinking communities.
Amen. And let us never belittle or forget this bold, individualistic intellectual who was murdered in his prime by self-demoted sub-animals who have faith in the existence of an omnipotent madman in the sky who commands them to murder in his name.
I urge you to read Dr. Roy’s final article for Free Inquiry, “The Virus of Faith.” It will give you an indication of the remarkable thoughtfulness and character of this man who was just slaughtered for “Allah.” I hope it will also inspire you to join, or redouble your efforts to expand, the vital minority of Westerners who are committed to openly contesting the absurdity that faith is a means of knowledge—and to advocating the principle that man’s only means of knowledge is reason.
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What are you most grateful for in this moment? Right here, right now. Seriously, stop and ask yourself. If you're having a tough day and aren't able to come up with anything off the top of your head, that's all the more reason to ask the question. The New York Times recently referenced a scientific study that found that even if you aren't able to think of anything to be grateful for, simply asking the question is powerful enough to change your brain chemistry. But the reality is there is ALWAYS something to be grateful for.
So take a moment right now, and think of five things that you have going for you. It doesn't have to be huge; try "I have clean air to breathe," "I have legs to walk on," "I have people who love me," or "I have a place to sleep tonight."
Reasons to Give Thanks
Wondering why this exercise is important? Take it from Oprah, who says that starting a gratitude journal and writing down five things a day for which she's grateful has been the single most powerful decision she's ever made. If you're not an Oprah fan, here is a bit more science to get you on the gratitude train.
Gratitude can be a natural antidepressant. When we take the time to ask what we are grateful for, certain neural circuits are activated. Production of dopamine and serotonin increases, and these neurotransmitters then travel neural pathways to the "bliss" center of the brain -- similar to the mechanisms of many antidepressants. Practicing gratitude, therefore, can be a way to naturally create the same effects of medications and create feelings of contentment.
Neurons That Fire Together Wire Together
It gets better: The more you stimulate these neural pathways through practicing gratitude, the stronger and more automatic they become. On a scientific level, this is an example of Hebb's Law, which states "neurons that fire together wire together." But it's also something you can see plainly in everyday life: If you're forging a new path through the woods, the first trip is the most challenging and you have to be deliberate. But the more times the path is traveled, the more defined it becomes and the easier it is to follow it. Your brain works the same way: The more times a certain neural pathway is activated (neurons firing together), the less effort it takes to stimulate the pathway the next time (neurons wiring together).
Because of this, what we put our attention on grows. If we're constantly looking at the negative and searching for problems, the neural pathways for negative thinking become stronger. But practicing gratitude can shift our attention to look for what is going right instead of looking for problems to solve. Over time, this encourages our brains to more consistently search for the constructive themes in our life instead of the destructive ones, helping us water the flowers instead of watering the weeds.
If deliberately practicing gratitude isn't familiar to you, here's how to start:
1. Write it down
Start with the simple exercise from the beginning of the post: Write down the top 5 things you are most grateful for. Really think about it, making a conscious effort to find the things that bring you joy (or even just peace of mind). Notice that there is ALWAYS something to be grateful for in any given situation.
2. Get into a routine
Challenge yourself to commit to this practice every day for the next 10 days. There are lots of ways you can do this. You can keep a journal by your bed and each night take a minute to scan your day for everything that brought a smile to your face. Or you can keep a list on your phone to write the things down as they happen. This can be a nice pick-me-up to read when you're feeling blue. Another option is to get an accountability partner and do a five-minute check-in each week and read your lists to each other.
3. Meditate
I know I'm biased being a meditation teacher, but there is a reason why meditators are stereotyped as bliss bunnies. Meditation is a tool to help us "take out the mental trash." When we meditate, we make room in our headspace by getting rid of old stress. This makes it that much easier to feel gratitude in our everyday lives -- and to rewire our brains so that finding the bliss becomes more instinctual. If you already have a meditation practice, you can use the few minutes after your practice as a time for gratitude.
4. Repeat
Gratitude is like going to the mental gym; strength training for your neural pathways, if you will. The more you practice feeling grateful, the stronger that muscle gets. And over time, the workouts that at first seemed so challenging become easier and easier to do. You just have to keep showing up.
If this all feels like too much, try easing into a gratitude practice with this daily exercise: Every time your feet hit the ground when you get out of bed, simply say "thank you." Nature likes to be paid attention to as much as the rest of us, and it helps our lives bloom in response to the way we acknowledge it. As the saying goes, "Your mind is a garden, your thoughts are the seeds. You can grow flowers, or you can grow weeds."
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By Laura Riggs
Many students used to ask me, “What does it mean to be an RYT or E-RYT?”
The PC answer: “According to Yoga Alliance, the reported ‘professional’ organization for yoga instructors, these labels mean ‘Registered Yoga Teacher’ or ‘Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher,’ and if you have any interest in earning either of these two labels, then you have undoubtedly done some research into attending a training with a RYS: ‘Registered Yoga School,’”
However, I am now a former E-RYT who led many of these 200-hour TTs for RYTs at a RYS, and I can attest to the reality that this is all just a bunch of marketing BS by YA to get your GWs so that you can add one of these ambiguous labels to the end of your name.
Labeling is an easy way to provide students with a false sense of security that a particular teacher or school has a certain level of education or experience that other teachers/schools may not. This, to me, is sort of like believing that the TSA has bolstered our level of security for air travel. I read a post recently from a concerned yogi about teachers who are not registered with YA falsifying their accreditation by adding the label RYT to the end of their name. Rather than focusing on whether or not a few teachers are on the “cool kids” list, I would ask why these teachers opted out of the registry in the first place. Now, it could be that they have opted to donate their funds to a more worthwhile cause instead — like rescuing whales, helping starving children in Africa or earthquake victims in Turkey, or assisting with the massive EU bailout.
Since yoga instructors make next to nil when it comes to teaching yoga classes, I think the ones who have opted to not throw away $55-75/year on a meaningless, commercialized label are brilliant.
I have worked with many wonderful teachers who have opted to stay as far away from YA as possible and they are, in most cases, more qualified to guide a yoga class (or lead a teacher training) than many of the teachers currently listed in the YA registry. Reason being: YA lacks sufficient internal structure to monitor and hold the registered teachers and schools accountable in order to uphold the standards they have allegedly established. Furthermore, these so-called standards do not give any weight or bearing toward the qualifications actually needed to guide a yoga class in a knowledgeable, empowering, safe and ethical manner.
Yoga Alliance spends too much time fighting local governments to actually focus on reigning in yoga schools so that they abide by a set of standards that could actually give the profession some foundation of credibility. Granted, yoga is a spiritual system, which makes it difficult for me to resolve the philosophical conflict between having government get involved with the conduct of yoga teachers/ schools versus being repeatedly and severely injured by so-called teachers who have absolutely no business assisting students. There currently are NO legal requirements that yoga teachers actually be good teachers before they step into a classroom and start jacking with people’s effed up bodies.
The ability to effectively assist a student requires a great deal of knowledge about physical anatomy and the understanding of how to modify a practice for various injuries — similar to that of a massage therapist or chiropractor. So many of us start practicing yoga because we are too injured to continue with whatever other sport brought us to our doctor to begin with, at which point, said doctor advised us to “go to yoga; it will be good for you.” But while other healing professions require rigorous study, followed by a series of tests, in order to gain legal license to safely practice skills on the general public, yoga teachers are not legally bound to obtain any sort of education, seek out certification, or carry any type of licensing whatsoever. Your hairstylist has more accreditation than your “guide to obtaining spiritual enlightenment” and increased health and wellness.
I realize that we are an externally focused society, but are you f***king kidding me?
At minimum, a licensed massage therapist needs 600 hours of training on the physical anatomy alone. Current YA standards only ask teachers to have 20 hours (less than one full day), which includes how to assist students safely. So where do the remaining 180 hours of a 200-hour training go?
Good question, because the guidelines outlined by YA are fairly obscure: for example, 100 hours of class time must be logged. But many schools, the one I unfortunately worked for included, cheat their students out of official YA Standard hours. As defined by YA, an “hour” counts only if the class was conducted for trainees only, and not for the general public, by an E-RYT — not a studio manager or any other “unqualified” teacher. So, if you got corralled into the 5 o’clock class with your mat overlapping that of 85 of your closest friends, taught by the latest and greatest hot young thing, it technically did NOT count toward your 200- or 500-hour certification. Nor do your hours count if the session was to be led by promised master instructor Shiva Squat, but instead was taught by Mr. 1,001 Handstands-and-Call-it-a-Yoga-Practice.
Schools often do not adhere to these standards for two reasons:
It does not make financial sense to cancel classes on the schedule just because 40-50 (or sometimes 100) students paid thousands of dollars to participate in a legitimate training, when the studio has the opportunity to earn an additional $500/class minimum by allowing the public to participate, and Yoga Alliance will not monitor the quality of the programs delivered by said “registered schools.” I highlight here the “will not.” instead of “do not.” I made a few calls to YA some time ago to question the ethics of this practice by many RYS TT programs. I learned that YA “does not get involved with disputes between teachers/trainees and schools, you must speak to the head of the program directly about this.”
Uh… I am (or at least was) the head of the program, so now what? Talk to the owner of the studio? Yep, done that, and got this response: “All YA cares about is that you think someone is ready to teach; it really doesn’t matter if they complete the 200-hour training.” Of course, my reply was that none of the trainees were ready to teach. They had been shorted an education they invested in and desperately needed.
As you can imagine, this was not exactly in alignment with the financial plans the studio had. Especially when the ultimate goal of the TT program was to upsell current trainees on investing in subsequent and equally mediocre programs.
My concerns over the lack of responsibility on behalf of the school went completely ignored by the YA staff. That is, of course, until it was time for me to renew my E-RYT registration. After numerous mailers and phone calls from some lovely sales interns over at YA, I gently but adamantly refused to renew my registration because no reply had been given yet to these issues that I had raised over the integrity (or lack thereof) in our “profession” – a term I use loosely these days. Six months later, YA still hasn’t called me back… but they still send me renewal notices in the mail.
I commend the teachers who are not registered with YA.
It is a waste of time, effort and money. The instructors who add integrity to the profession of teaching yoga don’t tout that they are card-carrying members of the YA. They simply show up, act professional, seek out meaningful education on a continual basis, and serve their students. As a student, how do you find this type of teacher? Ask questions and pay attention. If the teacher is unable or unwilling to help you, this is a good indication that they might be an RYT, and therefore possibly not qualified to guide you on your spiritual growth, as they have yet to face the truth in their own life — that yoga isn’t always sunshine and unicorns — and sometimes it takes honesty to see things as they really are, say that they are broken, and be willing to do the thankless work of trying to correct them.
About Laura Riggs
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The Quinnipiac poll giveth; the Quinnipiac poll taketh away.
One month ago, when a batch of Q polls found Hillary Clinton struggling to beat Republicans in three states won by President Obama, I dismissed the calls for Vice President Biden to save the Democrats. "The vice president polls substantially worse against Republicans than Clinton does," I wrote.
And at the time, it was true. For most of his time in the Naval Observatory, Joe Biden has polled behind the president and his assumed successor for the Democratic nomination, weakened by — respectively — slightly lower support from black voters and slightly lower support from women.
Other reporters have had to settle for getting Donald Trump wrong. I've decided to zig where they zagged: I'm going to blow it on Biden.
Thursday's Q poll resets the narrative, with Biden polling slightly better against Republican candidates than Clinton in Pennsylvania, Florida and Ohio. More importantly, he's got narrowly positive favorable numbers in each state. In each state, Clinton is deeply underwater, her unfavorables settled in above 50 percent.
Peter Brown, assistant director of the Q poll, who is clearly happy when it makes news, says that Biden "gets the love" and "is becoming a more important player in the 2016 presidential race, with a solid grip on the 'from the gut' support of Pennsylvanians."
Joshua Alcorn, a senior adviser to the Draft Biden campaign — whose head gamely answered my annoying questions last month — was even happier. "The Vice President’s strength in these polls shows there is a desire to have him on the stage for the Democratic debate in October," Alcorn said in a statement. "Americans trust him to offer an alternative vision for our country."
How strong is Biden? Strong enough for me to choke down crow, but still not strong enough to "save" the party. "Saving" the party conjures up the image of a Colin Powell saving the Republicans in 1996, Godzilla-ing all over a weak field. According to the Q poll, Hillary Clinton is celebrating the fifth month of her e-mail scandal by trailing Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) in Pennsylvania, Florida and Ohio. She leads Jeb Bush only in Ohio; she leads Donald Trump only in Ohio and Pennsylvania. (All three Republicans have homes in South Florida. It is the primary residence for the first two.)
Biden does ... only marginally better. Clinton loses Florida to Bush, Rubio and Trump by nine, 12, and 2 points, respectively. Biden loses it by 13 points to Bush and six points to Rubio; he edges out Trump by three points. Clinton beats Bush and Trump in Ohio; Biden does the same, and also polls slightly better than Rubio. Clinton beats Trump in Pennsylvania, but polls behind Bush and Rubio. The same is true of Biden. So you could say that Biden is strong where Clinton isn't and be largely correct, at least according to these three polls. You could say that both struggle in megastates won by President Obama, and be even more correct.
The ad hoc committee to get Biden into the race is looking at a half-full glass here. "Some of the head-to-head numbers with Republicans reflect that they're taking this idea seriously," said Steve Schale, a well-regarded Florida Democratic strategist who helped the president win the state twice. "Joe Biden’s generally well-regarded. I’d chalk the Clinton numbers up to the fact that she had a real bad August, but she’s not the only candidate who’s ever had a bad August."
Meanwhile, Biden remains in the mid-teens in the Q poll's Democratic primary test. "I suspect that if he decides to get into the race that you'll see some of that change and bounce up," Schale said. "When you poll someone who’s not in the race, I’m not surprised to see a low number."
The enthusiastic read on this is that an excitable Biden vote is out there, waiting for the decision to run. The less-enthusiastic read is that Democrats already have a candidate whose personal favorable ratings grew before announcing a run for president, as people called for a stateswoman to step in and save the party. That candidate was Hillary Clinton.
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U.S. companies maintained their steady pace of hiring in September, helping the economy add 156,000 new jobs, new government data showed Friday.
The unemployment rate ticked up from 4.9 percent to 5 percent, largely because the labor force swelled with scores of new would-be workers — a sign that Americans are growing confident enough to come in from the sidelines.
The Labor Department also revised its estimates for job creation in July and August, with the combined total falling by 7,000. The nation has added 178,000 new jobs in the typical month this year, roughly double the pace necessary to keep up with population growth.
U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez speaks with Wonkblog's Chico Harlan about the latest jobs report. (The Washington Post)
[International Monetary Fund slashes prospect for U.S. growth]
With a prolonged period of reliable hiring, the labor market has helped push the U.S. economy through an otherwise lackluster stretch. Layoffs are at a four-decade low, wages are rising, and consumers are steadily pumping their newly earned money back into the economy. But the country still faces significant challenges, including surprisingly paltry business investment, and the International Monetary Fund this week said it expected the nation’s economy to grow just 1.6 percent this year, the lowest mark in five years.
That’s left Americans, one month before the presidential election, with mixed signals about the health of their economy. More people in the United States are working than at any previous time during the seven-year recovery from the financial crisis. But the U.S. economy is expanding no faster than other advanced economies, and eye-catching gains in the labor market are becoming less frequent as the nation approaches full employment.
“The broader trend is slow and steady, which is fine for the purpose of wishing for a sustainable recovery,” said Mark Hamrick, a senior economic analyst at Bankrate.com.
[Mortgage rates settle in ahead of employment report]
Markets opened flat on the labor report Friday morning. The three major indices were slightly down at closing bell.
The pace of job creation in September was slightly below market expectations, but some economists said Friday morning that the data does little to change the Federal Reserve’s calculus about a potential interest rate hike in December.
The data also highlighted one encouraging aspect about the labor force: More people are being enticed to join it. The pool of Americans working or looking for work grew in September by 444,000 people, the largest gain since February, and the labor force participation rate rose to 62.9 percent.
That gauge of worker engagement is at low ebb not seen since the 1970s — a result of retiring baby boomers and middle-aged workers disenfranchised after the recession. But the participation rate, after hitting a low point last September, has started to gradually rebound.
“The strong labor market is attracting people from outside the labor force back into employment,” Fed chair Janet Yellen said last month.
[Fed holds off on raising interest rates]
In September, the most notable gains came in the professional and business services sector — a category that includes accountants, engineers and architects, and where the average hourly wage is $30.93. Those positions accounted for more than one-third of America’s job growth. Hiring in the health care and food services fields combined for another large portion. The mining sector — hammered amid two years of low oil prices — held steady in September, ending a 23-month streak of job hemorrhaging.
For all workers, the average hourly wage rose by 6 cents in September, and paychecks have grown 2.6 percent from a year ago. That is slightly above the annual pace of around 2 percent maintained during earlier years of the recovery.
Over the last year, several states and large corporations have enacted minimum-wage increases. Wages are also being driven up by the tighter labor market — conditions where workers are in greater demand and have more leverage to ask for pay raises.
[U.S. services companies report fastest growth in nearly year]
As the United States nears full employment, the pace of hiring has slowed slightly this year. In 2015, the nation averaged 229,000 new jobs per month, and the unemployment rate fell from 5.7 percent to 5 percent. So far this year, the economy is adding roughly 182,000 new jobs per month; the unemployment rate began the year at 4.9 percent and has barely wavered since.
“The 5 percent unemployment rate still makes the U.S. the best house in a poor global neighborhood,” said Martin Jarzebowski, a senior investment analyst at Federated Investors. “We have to expect that employment rate will begin to moderate.”
The major presidential candidates, Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump, have interpreted the economy in vastly different ways. Clinton has called for conventional tweaks — major infrastructure spending, a minimum-wage hike — and has said tax increases for the highest earners can create more equity.
Trump, meanwhile, says the U.S. government’s unemployment numbers are manipulated and artificially rosy. He says he will renegotiate or withdraw from major trade deals, slap import fees on imported products, lower taxes on businesses, keep more jobs at home, and improve U.S. gross domestic product growth to 3.5 percent.
"Today’s jobs report shows that the economy continues to create jobs and that wages continue to grow — but more work needs to be done,” Jacob Leibenluft, a senior policy adviser with the Clinton campaign, said in a statement.
The Trump campaign sent a fundraising e-mail on Friday morning saying that "Obama-Clinton" economic policies are “killing the American middle class.”
“The White House and the Clinton campaign will spin the numbers, pat themselves on the back for all the ‘success’ they’ve had on the economy, but Americans like you aren’t buying it anymore,” the e-mail said.
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An outbreak of E. coli food poisoning linked to Chipotle restaurants continues to grow in Washington, with 29 cases. In Oregon, the count dropped to 10, after laboratory results were confirmed.
The number of E. coli food-poisoning cases linked to Chipotle restaurants in the Northwest continues to rise, with 29 cases in Washington. The count dropped from 12 to 10, in Oregon, however, for a total of 39 confirmed in the outbreak, health officials reported Wednesday.
Fourteen people have been hospitalized; no deaths have been reported.
Forty-three restaurants operated by the Mexican fast-food chain remain closed in the two states as regional health officials scramble to identify the genetic fingerprint of specific cases and federal officials designate outbreak-response teams to help.
So far, many of the cases appear to be caused by E. coli O26, a strain that produces Shiga toxins that can cause serious illness.
Tests from eight ill people — five from Washington and three from Oregon — indicate they all were infected by Shiga toxin-producing E. coli O26 width the same DNA fingerprint, according to a report posted late Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). More samples will be tested.
Health officials suspect fresh produce is the culprit, but test results of food from the restaurant sites — and the supply chain — are pending.
“It is possible that we will get some preliminary food-testing results by the end of the week,” Danielle Kenneweg, a spokeswoman for the Washington State Department of Health, said in an email. “We don’t know yet if that information will be complete enough and ready for sharing.”
In Washington, cases include 12 in Clark County, six in King County, five in Skagit County, three in Cowlitz County, two in Island County and one in Whatcom County. Victims range in age from 1 to 67.
In Oregon, new lab results excluded three people originally thought to be part of the outbreak and confirmed one suspected case, for a total drop of two. Cases there range in age from 11 to 61.
More cases could be reported, with a time frame that now dates to Oct. 1. Health officials advise anyone with intestinal symptoms who ate at a Chipotle in Washington or Oregon to see a health-care provider.
The federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has assigned a response team to assist with the probe from agency headquarters, in Washington, D.C., officials said. Investigators with the CDC are also helping from Atlanta.
“This team will coordinate FDA’s efforts with state and federal partners,” FDA spokeswoman Lauren Kotwicki said in an email. “The team will also analyze supply records to try to identify the food that is responsible for making people sick.”
Chipotle will conduct deep-cleaning and environmental testing in its restaurants and distribution centers, along with testing ingredients before resupplying, the firm said in a news release. It wasn’t clear whether the company would release those test results.
In addition, Chipotle has hired food-safety consulting firms to help identify and halt the outbreak, including IEH Laboratories and Consulting Group in Seattle, widely regarded as a top firm.
“The safety of our customers and integrity of our food supply has always been our highest priority,” Chipotle Mexican Grill chairman and co-chief executive Steve Ellis said in a statement.
Chipotle sites with confirmed illnesses
People who fell ill in Washington state ate at five Chipotle sites, health officials said:
1404 Broadway Ave., Seattle
4229 University Way N.E., Seattle
512 Ramsey Way, No. 101, Kent
7715 N.E. Fifth Ave., Suite 109, Vancouver, Wash.
1753 S. Burlington Blvd., Burlington, Skagit County
Washington State Department of Health
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Outlast Launches For Xbox One, Proves Parity Clause Isn't Impenetrable By William Usher Random Article Blend Outlast kind of proves that point.
Outlast, which originally released on PC and then followed up with a PlayStation 4 outing, is now available on the Xbox One.
The scattered release schedule for the title caused many gamers to question the pertinence of Microsoft's parity clause for their system, but it had been revealed before that Microsoft would review some games with impartial launch windows for platforms on a
Sony, alternatively, has been taking in any and every high-quality indie title they can get their hands on. It's really worked against Microsoft, especially when a handful of highly anticipated indie titles will show
Previously, several indie developers commented how the management over the Xbox brand (before Phil Spencer took charge) was a
It at least looks like Chris Charla and Phil Spencer are working hand-over-foot to try to get the Xbox One back into the running after some unfortunate decisions were made by those previously in charge. Having Outlast appear on the console right out of the blue isn't a bad way to go about it.
The team even managed to get an Xbox-centric trailer for the game to help churn up some hype for the release. Check it out below.
The game itself is pretty much what the video trailer depicts: you're in a scary, gonads-to-the-wall mental asylum where you assume the role of journalist Miles Upshur, as he uncovers some ghastly deeds taking place in the gore-filled, horror-themed hospital. It's the typical scenario where you end up in a situation where you don't get all the high-end, high-tech weapons you usually have at your disposal in games like F.E.A.R. or Doom, and instead you have to use your wits and your reflexes to avoid ending up on the cutting-room table.
However, one of the more important features hasn't been revealed: there's no mention of the game's resolution and frame-rate, even though it's currently running at
Also, there's no mention of the game's Microsoft had mentioned before that the parity clause for the Xbox One (via the [email protected] program) wasn't the be-all, end-all for releasing independent titles on the Xbox One. Red Barrels'kind of proves that point. Major Nelson announced on his blog that the horror-survival game, which originally released on PC and then followed up with a PlayStation 4 outing, is now available on the Xbox One.The scattered release schedule for the title caused many gamers to question the pertinence of Microsoft's parity clause for their system, but it had been revealed before that Microsoft would review some games with impartial launch windows for platforms on a case-by-case scenario . This was made known back in December of 2013, when some indie titles were denied release on the Xbox One due to not being able to meet the parity clause. The upside was that the controversial measure received enough public feedback to cause Microsoft to offer some form of leniency when it comes to individually spaced platform releases.Sony, alternatively, has been taking in any and every high-quality indie title they can get their hands on. It's really worked against Microsoft, especially when a handful of highly anticipated indie titles will show console partisanship toward Sony's PS4 due to the parity clause Previously, several indie developers commented how the management over the Xbox brand (before Phil Spencer took charge) was a “disaster”. It at least looks like Chris Charla and Phil Spencer are working hand-over-foot to try to get the Xbox One back into the running after some unfortunate decisions were made by those previously in charge. Havingappear on the console right out of the blue isn't a bad way to go about it.The team even managed to get an Xbox-centric trailer for the game to help churn up some hype for the release. Check it out below.The game itself is pretty much what the video trailer depicts: you're in a scary, gonads-to-the-wall mental asylum where you assume the role of journalist Miles Upshur, as he uncovers some ghastly deeds taking place in the gore-filled, horror-themed hospital. It's the typical scenario where you end up in a situation where you don't get all the high-end, high-tech weapons you usually have at your disposal in games likeor, and instead you have to use your wits and your reflexes to avoid ending up on the cutting-room table.However, one of the more important features hasn't been revealed: there's no mention of the game's resolution and frame-rate, even though it's currently running at 1080p and 60fps on the PS4 Also, there's no mention of the game's Whistleblower DLC on the main store page for the Xbox One, but it's likely to arrive soon. You can purchase the game now for $19.99 over on the Xbox One's store page Blended From Around The Web Facebook
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Story highlights Jack Schlossberg: Young voters invested energy and hope in the 2008 Obama campaign
He says some aren't as enthusiastic after realizing political struggle is difficult
Schlossberg: President Obama has delivered on health care, student loans, climate issues
He says part of growing up is realizing that change doesn't come without sustained effort
It's just another coming of age story -- one we've all heard before -- but now it's about us.
Just as Holden Caulfield awoke to the excitement of the adult world around him and wanted to escape the phonies, youth voters brought a novel and intense energy to the world of politics during the 2008 election in an effort to escape the phonies we'd been listening to our whole lives.
Our debut into the world of politics was significant: The candidate with overwhelming youth support, Barack Obama, came out on top. I was too young to vote in that election, but after volunteering for the Obama campaign, I felt what many first-time voters and volunteers felt after the last election: proud, accomplished and significant.
Four years later, what was once to us the novel and exciting adult world of politics now seems bitter and partisan. We're a little bit older, less bright-eyed and a little more cynical.
Jack Schlossberg, next to a photo of John F. Kennedy
It is not surprising that a generation not tempered by past disappointments, that had hoped its representatives would work in good faith to fix America's problems, might be less enthusiastic this time around. The percentage of youth voters who plan on voting fell from 78% in 2008 to just 58% this summer. We're the least likely of any age group to vote in November.
But what a mistake it would be for us to throw in the towel now. Just because our politics and government can disappoint us sometimes doesn't mean we should forget how far we've come.
President Obama understands what our generation contributed in 2008. He knows where we stand on issues and he agrees with us -- he's been our biggest ally in Washington since the start of his presidency.
The president's signature legislative achievement, the Affordable Care Act, allows us to stay on our parents' health plan until we are 26. That means we'll have health insurance when we graduate from college, which more and more of us will be able to do thanks to the president's push to double funding for Pell Grants and his insistence on keeping interest rates low for the 7.4 million students taking out student loans. Because of Obama's repeal of "don't ask, don't tell," anyone can join the military, regardless of sexual orientation, an issue important to our generation.
JUST WATCHED Sandra Fluke campaigns for Obama Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Sandra Fluke campaigns for Obama 04:48
JUST WATCHED Students speak out on 'Obamacare' Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Students speak out on 'Obamacare' 02:04
JUST WATCHED Writer on Obama-Clinton relationship Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Writer on Obama-Clinton relationship 04:18
When Congress refused to pass the DREAM Act, Obama changed policy administratively, enabling immigrants who came to the country as children to avoid deportation.
Our president showed both political courage and moral responsibility when he stood up for women across America under attack from extreme Republican rhetoric and aggressive legislation curtailing women's rights and threatening women's health. Obama's swift, bold action to fix the broken American economy bequeathed to him by President George W. Bush has preserved homes and jobs for our parents and has preserved the possibility for home ownership and jobs for us.
Obama has acted aggressively on the issue most important to my generation: climate change. Our generation believes in healing the Earth. Between 2010 and 2011, the United States cut its foreign oil imports by 10%, or 1 million barrels a day. Domestic natural gas production has increased during each year of the Obama presidency, providing jobs and a cleaner source of energy.
After saving the American auto industry, the president then set out to strengthen it by demanding that car companies stay competitive in a global market and meet a 54.5 miles per gallon standard by 2025. Finally, in addition to investments in clean energy projects and jobs, Obama agrees with the 97% of scientists who recognize humans as the cause of climate change, while Mitt Romney "isn't sure."
To be sure, none of this has come easily or without opposition. Part of growing up is realizing the frustrating, heartbreaking truth that intense and sustained long-term effort is needed to effect change.
The difficulty of the obstacles that must be overcome and the scope of the fight that must be won make our accomplishments all the more impressive. Electing the first African-American president was a tremendous accomplishment, but it hasn't erased racism. Electing the first Catholic president, my grandfather, in 1960, did not mean that religious intolerance disappeared from our land. Whether it was the American Revolution, the Civil War or the civil rights movement, change has never come easy, and Americans have always had to fight for change we believe in.
If we can appreciate the long strides our country has made since 2008 instead of dismissing them as imperfect attempts, we will prove that not only are we quick learners but we're in it for the long haul. Participation in the democratic process is not only a right: It's a responsibility we all share.
Voting is something we can all do for our country. If we turn out to re-elect this president, we will prove that 2008 was not an anomaly, and that our generation and its concerns cannot be dismissed. Instead, 2008 will be seen as just the beginning. This fall let's display a deep commitment to our country, its ideals and provide a preview of the America we intend to build.
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SAN FRANCISCO -- Minnesota Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, who sustained a concussion Sunday against the St. Louis Rams, has been cleared and is ready to play against the Oakland Raiders on Sunday, according to a league source.
Bridgewater was a full participant in practice Friday, and though he still needed to be cleared through the final step of the NFL's concussion protocol, coach Mike Zimmer said he had "no doubts" Bridgewater would play.
On Saturday, the source said Bridgewater is "all set."
Editor's Picks Rams D-boss on Bridgewater hit: We're past it The defensive coordinator mostly declined to specifically address comments by Vikings coach Mike Zimmer.
The quarterback took an elbow to the head from Rams defensive back Lamarcus Joyner while he was trying to slide at the end of a run Sunday. Zimmer called the hit a cheap shot and criticized Rams defensive coordinator Gregg Williams for his team's style of play after the game, adding Monday that he also was upset about William Hayes' low hit on Bridgewater. Joyner was fined $23,152 for hitting a defenseless player; Hayes was not fined for his hit.
Bridgewater seemed in good spirits after the game, joking with teammates in the locker room and celebrating the Vikings' overtime win with family and friends at dinner. Zimmer said Monday that Bridgewater already had passed the first step of the league's concussion protocol, adding, "He should be good to go."
The quarterback's return would help a Vikings team trying to win a nonconference road game for the first time since 2012. The 6-2 Vikings are tied for first in the NFC North and will face the Green Bay Packers in Week 11 after they return home from the West Coast.
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The Republican National Committee (RNC) already has its eye on the 2018 midterm elections—as well as some gubernatorial races this year—a spokesman told Breitbart News Saturday on SiriusXM 125 the Patriot Channel this weekend.
Steve Guest, an RNC spokesman, said on the show:
We’re getting ready for 2018 but we’re also getting ready for a couple gubernatorial elections that are happening this year. Virginia is one of the key races we’re really zoning in on. But going into 2018, and for any election going forward—this is what we did for 2016, and it worked really well and we’ll be doing it in the future—the RNC, the Republican National Committee, has a great research organization, a great data operation and a great get-out-the-vote effort that really motivates lots of people to get out and vote. For example, our research operation is there to prepare documents—opposition research for want of a better term—that if the Democrat says something [controversial], we want to have research there to catch them.
After going through how Democrats regularly flip-flop on issues, Guest noted that “We just released something on how Cory Booker praised Sen. Sessions a year ago” for working with him on civil rights issues, but now Booker was testifying last week against incoming Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
“They should be very competitive, and hopefully the Republican Party as a whole can continue to build on the Republican majority that we’ve kept for the past couple years,” Guest said. “That’s the whole goal: To continue increasing the number of elected Republicans in the House, in the Senate and now, after eight years, we have the White House back. So, having all branches of government with Republicans, that’s setting the stage for some really good things.”
The map in 2018 does not look promising for Democrats at all. Republicans generally have much better operations in midterm off-year elections anyway, as conservatives are more energetic than progressives, and the map is a brutal one for Democrats in terms of Senate races.
There are 23 Senate Democrats up in 2018, and 10 of them are from states that President-elect Donald J. Trump won in the 2016 election: Florida, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, Montana, Missouri, and North Dakota. There are only eight Republicans up for re-election to the U.S. Senate in 2018, and just one of them is up in a state that failed Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton won: Nevada’s Dean Heller. Independent Angus King of Maine—who caucuses with Democrats—is also up, something that may be trouble for the Democrats since Trump and Clinton split Maine in half, each winning one of the state’s two congressional districts, breaking the electoral vote prize in two for the first time in U.S. history. Vermont’s Bernie Sanders, another independent who caucuses with Democrats, may not even be safe because his reliably liberal state just elected a Republican governor in Phil Scott this cycle. Other Democratic seats, like the ones in New Mexico, Minnesota, Virginia, and more, are from states Clinton barely won with less than 50 percent of the vote.
There are two gubernatorial elections in 2017, in Virginia and New Jersey. Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, a Republican, is leaving office so Republicans will be hoping to find a suitable replacement for him in the Garden State, but GOP figures say that they’ve got their eyes on Virginia’s governorship with Clinton ally and current Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe looking weaker and weaker by the minute as he’s engulfed by scandal.
There are a number of gubernatorial elections in 2018 in which Republicans could succeed in taking back control from Democrats as well, in places like Colorado, Minnesota, and Pennsylvania; but the GOP will need to play some defense on this front in places like Florida, Maine, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio, Illinois, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Maryland.
That doesn’t even get into House races, and with a number of Democrats making critical mistakes already out the gate—like skipping President-elect Trump’s inauguration—many of the incumbent House Democrats, especially the ones who rallied around lightning rod controversial House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, may find themselves in seriously vulnerable spots in 2018 and beyond.
While the RNC prepares for this now, and is putting in place aggressive expansion plans for the future, their rivals over at the Democratic National Committee (DNC) can’t even select a new chairman. The race for DNC chairman has gotten ugly, with Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) and outgoing Obama administration Labor Secretary Tom Perez emerging as the leading candidates, even though they’d both drag the party much further out of the mainstream than it already is. Other candidates include New Hampshire Democratic Party chairman Ray Buckley, who’s mired in scandal, and South Carolina Democratic chairman Jaime Harrison—among others in the donnybrook of a race to the bottom.
This all comes as the Democratic bench—lower level offices, like statehouse members or U.S. House members—gets older and dwindles in numbers, with even fewer Democratic U.S. Senators or governors to choose from in a party that can hardly hold itself together walking into 2018 and then 2020. People like Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) or the aforementioned Booker of New Jersey are already complicating potential presidential bids they may make against Trump in 2020 with stonewalling efforts against his incoming administration.
The GOP bench, with a majority of governorships and statehouses under GOP control right now as well, the RNC’s Guest added, is “very deep.”
“Barack Obama has been terrible for Democrats up and down the ballot,” Guest said. “Near a thousand Democrats have lost their seats in statehouses, governorships, throughout the country since he’s been elected. Republicans have been able to capitalize on it and now we have the White House.”
LISTEN TO STEVE GUEST OF THE RNC ON BREITBART NEWS SATURDAY:
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AMG
There's this weird thing the designers are doing with the headlights, which are like long triangles pointing upwards towards the door mirrors. The easiest way to describe them is cartoon references, a mix between the eyes of Disney's Mulan and the brows from Angry Birds. But it's not just the headlights; the grille design is shared between the two cars. As for the intakes in the bumpers, they are starting to remind us of the outgoing A-Class mid-life facelift. Inside, both cars will have the panoramic screen configuration (not as standard in the hatch).As a fan of hatchbacks and wagons, I think the back of the 2019 A-Class looks a little better. Many people have said the trunk design of the new CLS is a bit undercooked, which is also true about the E63 S sedan, but not the wagon version. So if you want a sexy Mercedes rump, it's got to have a hatch opening.While the 3rd generation CLS-Class was recently revealed at the LA Auto Show, we're still waiting to see the W177 A-Class. It's going to be built on an updated version of the MFA platform and powered by several new engines.Renault gave us a sneak peak of that with its 1.3-liter turbo, producing from 115 to 160 HP. Mercedes, meanwhile, is probably developing its 2-liter diesel to work in this transversal configuration. While the big story is still the 400+ horsepower A45, we're also excited about the A35.It's going to have somewhere around 300 ponies and will offer more affordable hot hatch thrills. Well... affordable by Mercedes standards. But still, it's the cheapestever.
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Fierce fighting continues in Tripoli
By Bill Van Auken
23 August 2011
Fierce fighting raged into the night in Tripoli Monday, even as leaders of the major Western powers proclaimed the end of the 42-year-old regime of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and maneuvered for position in the scramble for Libya’s oil wealth.
After their surprisingly rapid advance into the Libyan capital, the armed groups backed by NATO have encountered stiff resistance from forces loyal to the Gaddafi regime. The crowds that initially greeted the so-called “rebels” melted away and streets remained largely deserted as the two sides exchanged automatic weapons fire as well as mortar and anti-aircraft rounds.
Heavy fighting continued around Gaddafi’s fortified Bab al-Aziziya presidential compound, while smoke billowed over sections of the city. A spokesman for the NATO-backed Transitional National Council (TNC) based in Benghazi predicted that the fortified compound would not fall easily and fighting there would be “fierce.” The huge Tripoli compound has been subjected to heavy bombardment by NATO warplanes.
While the TNC has claimed to control between 80 and 90 percent of the Libyan capital, reporters in the city have described the situation as “fluid,” and few checkpoints have been set up to secure the streets.
BBC correspondent Orla Guerin reported that east of Tripoli “the battle is not over,” and that the Benghazi-based militias had been blocked from entering the capital by loyalist forces holding the highway near the coastal town of Zlitan, about 80 miles east of the capital. While captured on Friday by the TNC forces, the town came under a counterattack from government troops on Monday.
Libyan government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim told journalists late Sunday that 1,300 Libyans had died in the capital over the previous 24 hours as a result of the fighting and NATO air strikes. Another 5,000 were reported injured.
While launched under the pretense of protecting civilians from the repression of the Gaddafi regime, the US-NATO war has since claimed far more victims than were threatened by Gaddafi’s security forces and, in its final stages, has involved major war crimes, including the heavy bombardment and use of Apache attack helicopters in Tripoli, a city of 2 million.
The BBC quoted a Tripoli resident as reporting that the NATO-backed guerrillas were “breaking into people’s houses, stealing everything.” He predicted that the siege of the capital would be “a disaster for Libya and NATO.”
While the speed of the NATO-backed force’s entry into Tripoli was no doubt facilitated by the internal collapse of Gaddafi’s corrupt and dictatorial regime, reports published Monday in both the New York Times and the Washington Post made it clear that the advance of the “rebels” had been directed, both on the ground and in the air, by the Western powers intervening in the oil-rich North African country.
As the Washington Post reported, the success of the siege of Tripoli was the result of a strategy implemented by “British, French and Qatari special forces on the ground” as well as “an earlier decision by the Obama administration to share additional intelligence on the positions of Libyan government forces.”
Citing NATO as well as US military and intelligence sources, the Post said the operation was designed to “create a ‘pincer,’ driving forces loyal to Moammar Gaddafi back from all directions to protect Tripoli. In the process, government troops would provide clear targets for NATO air strikes and the roads would be clear for the rebel advance.”
“The targeting shifted toward Tripoli over the last four or five days as the regime forces moved back…and the target set [in the capital] became larger,” a senior NATO official told the Post. In other words, the function of the “rebels” was largely to push the Gaddafi forces into a position where they could be slaughtered from the air.
The report also makes it clear that the US played a crucial role in this process by providing NATO warplanes as well as French and British special operations units on the ground with detailed satellite imagery as well as intelligence intercepts from the National Security Agency, allowing for far more accurate and rapid targeting of Libyan government troops.
Asked about charges that, in violation of the United Nations resolution, NATO was acting essentially as the air force of the “rebels,” the NATO official acknowledged that “the effect of what we were doing was not dissimilar.”
The New York Times also quoted US and NATO officials who cited “an intensification of American aerial surveillance in and around the capital city” as the “major factor in helping to tilt the balance after months of steady erosion of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s military.” The newspaper reported that “coordination between NATO and the rebels” had become “more sophisticated and lethal in recent weeks.” It also credited the fact that “Britain, France and other nations deployed special forces on the ground inside Libya.”
Meanwhile, the Pentagon released figures Monday showing that the US military had doubled its air strikes in Libya over the past 12 days. While between April 1 and August 10 US warplanes were carrying out on average 1.7 strikes a day, since August 10 they have risen to 3.1 air strikes, with close to half of them being carried out by pilotless Predator drones.
The cost to the US of the military intervention in the North African country is fast approaching $1 billion, CNN reported Monday.
According to the most recent poll by the television news network, only 35 percent of the American public supported the war, with 60 percent opposing the US intervention in Libya.
Interrupting his vacation in Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, President Barack Obama proclaimed that the events in Tripoli made it clear that “Gaddafi’s rule is over” and called for an “inclusive transition that will lead to a democratic Libya.”
The president vowed that Washington would be Libya’s “friend and a partner.” He continued, “We will join with allies and partners to continue the work of safeguarding the people of Libya.” He said his administration was in discussion with NATO and the United Nations to “determine other steps that we can take.”
The Wall Street Journal quoted US military commanders Monday as saying that, while they believe an international “peacekeeping” force will be needed in Libya, “The Obama administration has made clear to its allies that they shouldn’t expect American troops to participate.”
The Journal cited government officials who said the Pentagon “would like to establish a security-assistance presence in a new Libya. This could include military-liaison officers, as well as American trainers who would work with Libyan security forces.”
Among those calling for the US to put “boots on the ground” in the aftermath of Gaddafi’s ouster is Richard Haass, the former State Department official and current president of the Council on Foreign Relations, who was initially critical of the US intervention. In an opinion piece published by the Financial Times of London, Haass writes: “NATO’s airplanes helped bring about the rebel victory. The ‘humanitarian’ intervention introduced to save lives believed to be threatened was in fact a political intervention introduced to bring about regime change.
“Now NATO has to deal with its own success. Some sort of international assistance, and most likely an international force, is likely to be needed for some time to restore and maintain order… Most importantly, US President Barack Obama may need to reconsider his assertion that there would not be any American boots on the ground; leadership is hard to assert absent participation.”
German Chancellor Angela Merkel also called for international action in Libya. “We must quickly create political structures which will enable a transition from the current situation into a peaceful, democratic and free society,” she said.
While Germany abstained on the United Nations Security Council vote authorizing the imposition of a “no-fly zone” in Libya and refused to provide warplanes for the air strikes, the country’s defense minister, Thomas de Maiziere, told the daily Rheinische Post that the Merkel government would consider sending troops for a “peacekeeping” operation after Gaddafi’s removal from power. “Should the Bundeswehr be asked to join in, we will review such a request constructively,” he said.
For his part, French President Nicolas Sarkozy invited the head of the National Transitional Council, Mustafa Abdel Jalil, to Paris for consultations, while Foreign Minister Alain Juppe announced that France would convene a meeting of the Libyan “contact group,” which also includes Britain, the US, Qatar and representatives of the UN and other international bodies.
In London, British Prime Minister David Cameron delivered a statement outside of No. 10 Downing Street proclaiming that Britain would do all it could to “support the will of the Libyan people, which is for an effective transition to a free, democratic and inclusive Libya.” The first priority, he added, was “to establish security in Tripoli.”
After praising the role of the British pilots who relentlessly bombed Libya over the past five months, Cameron added a note of false modesty: “This has not been our revolution, but we can be proud that we have played our part.”
On the contrary, the so-called “revolution” has in fact been a coup sponsored by the major imperialist powers working with the big energy conglomerates and executed by US, British and French military and intelligence. Using the upheavals in neighboring Egypt and Tunisia as cover, and a “humanitarian” mission as pretext, these powers launched a colonial-style war with the aim of toppling the Gaddafi regime and installing a more pliant client regime in Tripoli.
Behind all of the talk about aiding “democracy” and providing assistance, these powers and the major oil companies whose interests they promote are now scrambling to get as big a share as possible in a new carve-up of Libya’s oil reserves, the largest on the African continent.
A spokesman for the ACOCO oil firm created by the “rebels” with NATO’s backing announced on Monday that a post-Gaddafi regime would reorder contracts to the benefit of the Western powers and at the expense of their rivals.
“We don’t have a problem with Western countries like Italians, French and UK companies,” said the spokesman, Abdeljalil Mayouf. “But we have some political issues with Russia, China and Brazil.” The three latter countries abstained on the UN Security Council resolution authorizing the use of force and voiced opposition to the US-NATO intervention.
All three countries have billions of dollars in investments in Libya. Prior to the US-NATO war, there were 75 Chinese companies operating in Libya, employing 36,000 workers on some 50 projects. Russian companies, including the oil firms Gazprom Neft and Tatneft, had operated in the country, and Brazil’s state-owned energy conglomerate Petrobras and construction firm Odebrecht were also involved in major deals there.
“We have lost Libya completely,” Aram Shegunts, director general of the Russia-Libya Business Council, told Reuters.
“Our companies won’t be given the green light to work there,” he added. “If anyone thinks otherwise, they are wrong. Our companies will lose everything because NATO will prevent them from doing their business in Libya.”
Meanwhile, major European oil companies saw their stock prices rise precipitously on expectations that they would reap bonanzas from renegotiated deals with a NATO-installed regime in Libya. ENI, Italy’s government-created oil multinational, led the way with a 7 percent rise.
Italy’s foreign minister, Franco Frattini, reported that ENI representatives had already arrived in Libya to survey prospects for renewed exploitation of the country’s oil resources. Before the war, ENI had the largest operations of any foreign oil corporation in Libya. Frattini predicted that after a new regime was installed there would be “great opportunities” for Italian corporations.
Italy exercised brutal colonial rule over Libya from 1911 to 1943, killing off half the country’s population in its suppression of resistance.
The Houston-based Marathon Oil Corp. announced on Monday that it has also been in talks with the “rebels” about resuming exploitation of the Waha oil fields, located in Libya’s Sirte basin.
The British daily Telegraph reported Monday that “Both David Cameron and President Sarkozy are anxious to reap the rewards for the NATO air offensive by ensuring that British or French companies are in the vanguard of the international effort to help the new regime restore law and order and rebuild the economy.” Both governments, the newspaper said, are conducting a “dialogue” with the TNC on infrastructure projects and “lining up construction and other infrastructure companies to be ready with bids.”
In an article titled “The Scramble for Access to Libya’s Oil Wealth Begins,” the New York Times provided a frank justification for the US-NATO “humanitarian” war:
“Colonel Qaddafi proved to be a problematic partner for the international oil companies, frequently raising fees and taxes and making other demands. A new government with close ties to NATO may be an easier partner for Western nations to deal with. Some experts say that given a free hand, oil companies could find considerably more oil in Libya than they were able to locate under the restrictions placed by the Qaddafi government.”
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SENATE
•Derivatives. The Senate bill contains language pushed by Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) that would force banks to spin off their derivatives businesses into separate business entities. It also pushes most derivatives trading on to public exchanges and subjects them to federal regulation.
• Volcker Rule. The Senate bill prohibits banks from engaging in proprietary trading (speculation with their own money) but gives federal agencies latitude to make exemptions, a loophole some senators tried to kill. • Federal Reserve. Senate avoids the tough House language but does include a provision for examining the Fed’s work during the financial crisis of the last three years. • Consumer Financial Protection Agency. Senate places the agency inside the Fed with a presidentially-appointed head. • Car loans. Senate bill does not exempt car loans from the agency’s remit, but conferees may head into the committee having been explicitly instructed to do so in a vote Monday.
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1. Say goodbye to the individual investor on Wall Street. Whatever positive impression they had of the IPO market and the stock market in general was just torched to the ground. When everyone you know associated with the stock market is telling you and the media is confirming that this could be a huge IPO that will make money for those lucky enough to get shares and the opposite happens, goodnight. All confidence in the stock is destroyed. Put your money in the bank or if you want to gamble, at least slot machines in Vegas pay out 98pct.
2. The Valuation Bubble in Silicon Valley is bursting – but not for the reasons you think. Historically IPOs function as a means of getting stock to outsiders. People who were not sold/assigned/granted shares could only buy shares once they reached the public markets. The new secondary markets in private shares changed that. They allowed outsiders to purchase shares in a market with very little liquidity.
The demand for shares outstripped the supply and you know what happens when demand outstrips supply ? The price goes up. So shares of FB on secondary market went up and up and up. (Just as LinkedIn had done before them, but it greater volumes) When it was time to go public the IPO had to be priced higher than the prevailing share price on the secondary market.
To make matters worse, those folks who bought shares in the secondary private market, driving up the share price now had the shares they wanted to buy , so they were no longer going to be the buyers the IPO counted on to eat up shares in the open market.
Can you imagine how pissed you would be if you bought a boatload of Facebook thinking you got in at a better than IPO price only to watch the price on the open market post IPO drop below the price you paid in the private market ? Ouch.
The law of unintended consequences is that the dynamics for how private companies are valued and are able to raise Pre IPO rounds could quickly change if the prices and volumes on SecondMarket and its competitors declined significantly.
3. I always laugh at all the pundits /analysts who try to tell you what any non dividend paying stock is worth. Its a function of supply and demand. Its never fundamentals. Read what I wrote a long time ago about the stock market. In the case of facebook they put an ENORMOUS number of shares into the market. Too much supply. Valuation has no relevance what so ever. Conventional wisdom says the buyers of stocks will try to determine the value of a stock before they buy or sell and make the appropriate rational decision. Not even in a Richie Rich cartoon does that happen.
4. Mobile is going to crush Facebook. The logic for Facebook’s price decline is that they have a problem in mobile. They can’t offer all the games they can in a browser. They can’t offer the same ads or branding opportunities. All true.
From the Wall Street Journal :
“As more people gravitate to smartphones and tablets, they’re increasingly forgoing the desktop to the access the Web. Between 2008 and 2011, the percentage of U.S. adults who accessed the Internet from PCs daily grew to 62% from 54%. In the same period, the percentage of daily mobile Internet users rocketed to 26% from 4%, according to Forrester Research.
“People see this modality of consumption shifting from the PC to mobile,” said Matt Murphy, a venture capitalist at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. “On top of that, mobile feels like it’s much more the kind of wide open that anybody can win kind of arena.”
All true as well.
However the same is absolutely true for every ad driven internet site. They face limitations in what they can offer on mobile vs what they can offer through a PC brower. Look at the Google search results on mobile. No where near the number of results. Thats fewer click and CPM opportunities and ZERO display ad opportunities. Of course Google has Android, but that still isn’t generating much , if any revenue for them and it isnt currently designed to.
And then lets not forget Youtube. Everyone is supposed to be dumping TV and heading to video right ? Well how can that be if most online consumption is headed to mobile ? With so few mobile users having unlimited data plans, and that number most likely declining, then what is Youtube going to do when users start complaining and going nuts over the fact that they are having to pay for the data they use to watch Youtube mobile ads ? How many youtube ads have you seen on a mobile device lately ?
Which leads to a much broader question. Just what percentage of PC Online usage will mobile displace ? Is it feasible that people will “cut the broadband cord” and live exclusively off of their mobile internet access ? Why not use your mobile as an in home hotspot rather than paying for 2 internet connections ? If you avoid streaming video and downloads its easy to stay within your caps. Do you know anyone that has cut their broadband access to go exclusively mobile internet ?
Bottom line, if you think mobile will displace online usage from PCs then you should immediately short Google and other ad plays and buy TV stations and networks. If you can’t buy an ad effectively on mobile and no one is using a PC to connect to the internet any more, then the only way to reach an audience is going to be via good old tv. And all that over the top video noise, forgettabout it.
I wonder what Netflix thinks about mobile vs pc online consumption ?
5. And in the interest of disclosure I bought 150k shares of FB. 50k shares at 33, 50k shares at 31.97 and 50k shares around 32.50. Its a trade, not an investment. Kind of like buying a Mickey Mantle, a Hank Aaron and a Barry Bonds Rookie Card knowing there is a card show in town next week
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GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump Donald John TrumpREAD: Cohen testimony alleges Trump knew Stone talked with WikiLeaks about DNC emails Trump urges North Korea to denuclearize ahead of summit Venezuela's Maduro says he fears 'bad' people around Trump MORE released a policy outline on Friday detailing his defense of the Second Amendment and firearms ownership.
He also highlighted his possession of a concealed carry permit and firearms that he said were for personal defense.
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“The Second Amendment to our constitution is clear,” the Republican front-runner writes in the gun rights platform published online. “The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed upon — period.”
It’s the second policy statement provided by Trump, a political newcomer who has dominated the GOP race over the last month but come under increased scrutiny for his policy knowledge.
Trump appeared to confuse the Kurds with Quds, a special forces unit with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, in a recent interview. During Wednesday night’s debate, he acknowledged he needed to learn more about foreign policy, indicating he would do so by the time he was elected.
The first policy platform he provided was on immigration last month.
The new statement outlines a three-pronged defense of the Second Amendment during his potential presidency, arguing that America needs greater law enforcement against violent crime, mental healthcare reform and better protections for legal gun ownership going forward.
Trump’s outline begins on the premise that President Obama has been soft on violent crime during his two terms in the Oval Office.
“We need to get serious about prosecuting violent criminals,” he said. “The Obama administration’s record on that is abysmal.”
“Violent crime in cities like Baltimore, Chicago and many others is out of control,” Trump said. “Drug dealers and gang members are given a slap on the wrist and then released. This needs to stop.”
Self-reliance, the billionaire real estate magnate added, is a vital precaution should law enforcement have its resources stretched too thin.
“Our personal protection is ultimately up to us,” Trump said. “It’s just common sense. To make America great again, we’re going to go after criminals and put the law back on the side of the law-abiding.”
Trump then charged that the recent spate of mass shootings is the result of America’s failing mental healthcare infrastructure.
“Too many politicians have ignored this problem for far too long,” he said. “We can’t allow that to continue.”
“We need to expand treatment programs, because most people with mental health problems aren’t violent, they just need help,” Trump added. “But for those who are violent, a danger to themselves or others, we need to get them off the street before they can terrorize our communities.”
Trump additionally charged he opposes gun and ammunition restrictions and would allow military personnel to carry weapons on bases.
“Gun and magazine bans are a total failure,” the outspoken billionaire said. “That’s been proven every time it’s been tried.”
“To have a strong military, we need to allow them to defend themselves,” he added.
Friday’s policy reveal follows the reality TV star's cancellation of a major campaign appearance in Greenville, S.C., on Friday morning. He's also currently under fire for refusing to correct two supporters’ claims that Obama is a Muslim foreigner during an event in Rochester, N.H., the night before.
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Firebase is now Google’s platform for developers who need a backend and other services to build, run and manage their mobile and web apps. Today, at an event in Amsterdam, the company announced a wide range of updates to the platform that touch many of the service’s core features. These include an upcoming integration with the crash-reporting tool Crashlytics, which Google acquired when it bought Fabric from Twitter earlier this year; an improved Cloud Messaging API; the launch of Firebase Predictions for bringing Google’s AI smarts to customer analytics; and a redesigned console for managing projects across their life cycle.
Adding Crashlytics support into the Firebase console, which will roll out in the next few weeks, was always a no-brainer for Firebase. There is little, after all, that’ll make users give up on an app as fast as crashes. Because Firebase has become more of a platform over the course of its recent releases, this also means that developers will now be able to build the crash reports into their workflows by connecting them to the Cloud Functions for Firebase serverless platform for further analysis, for example.
Developers who want to get an early peek at what this will look like can opt in to get early access here.
Similarly, the redesigned Firebase console is also a pretty straightforward proposition, especially now that the service includes a far wider range of features. “We’ve clustered Firebase products into four main areas, based on the app development lifecycle: Develop, Stability, Analytics, and Grow,” the team explains in today’s announcement. “All of the products that you’re used to seeing in the Firebase console are still there; we’ve simply reorganized things to more accurately reflect the way your team works.”
With this update, Google is also expanding the Firebase Cloud Messaging service for (can you guess it?) sending notifications to users. The team is launching a new API for this service today that will make it easier to send cross-platform notifications that could, for example, only include basic text for iOS users and an additional click_action for Android users.
Firebase was always about more than just providing back-end services, though, and since Google acquired the service, that has become increasingly clear. To expand on this, the team is launching a new A/B testing framework today that makes it easier to run variant tests and try different push notification messages. You could previously do some of this through Firebase’s Remote Config tool, but this new framework is deeply integrated with Analytics, Cloud Messaging and Remote Config and brings Google’s experience with Optimize to Firebase users.
The highlight of today’s release is probably Firebase Predictions, though, which uses Google’s machine learning smarts to help developers predict when users are likely to churn, who will likely spend the most money (or not spend any money at all), etc. That’s all pretty standard stuff as far as using machine learning goes, but what’s important here is that this will be really easy to use for developers.
Google says that developers like Halfbrick (of Fruit Ninja fame), used Firebase Predictions and Remote Config to boost its 7-day retention rate by 20 percent.
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Oculus VR’s Santa Cruz was originally revealed at Oculus Connect 3, San Jose, last year. Today the company offered an update on the all-in-one head-mounted display (HMD), and a year in development has brought about some big changes. While the underlying technology appears on-par with the debut a year ago, the HMD itself has benefited from significant change.
The Santa Cruz HMD – now known as Project Santa Cruz – is essentially a redesigned version of last year’s cobbled-together HMD. It’s no longer an Oculus Rift with a micro-computer attached to the rear, and instead a HMD in it’s own right: it’s lightweight, soft to the touch and of a much better build quality. It’s also surprisingly small. In the first touch and use, the Santa Cruz HMD feels lighter and smaller than the Oculus Rift.
This is of course a big deal, as Project Santa Cruz involves mounting all of the compute power within the frontend of the HMD, alongside the tracking cameras. Maintaining comfort through balance would be difficult, but here Oculus VR has pitched the compute power to a standard which, although inferior to a high-end PC, is more than capable of outdoing any of the current mobile HMDs. Oculus VR aren’t being drawn on specification just yet, but did reveal to VRFocus that the current internal processing power is higher than most smartphones currently on the market.
This was evident in the first of two software demonstrations available. Featuring Bogo, a character that appears very similar to some of the aliens that appear in Oculus Rift launch title Farlands, the player can interact with the creature by offering fruit, stroking its head and playing fetch with a stick. Movement is of course encouraged and the tracking holds up perfectly well with both fast and deliberate forward, backwards and sidesteps. This demonstration was obviously designed to showcase the Santa Cruz HMD’s six degrees of freedom (6 DoF) tracking as Bogo would freely move around the player in all directions.
Of course, one of the biggest new additions on this front is the motion-controllers. Offering the same 6 DoF tracking as the HMD itself, the controllers sit somewhere between Oculus Touch and the motion-controller launched for the Samsung Gear VR earlier this year. A touchpad is accompanied by Home and Back buttons, while a trigger and grip button are positioned for index and fore fingers. The same Constellation tracking seen on Oculus Touch controllers is in place, and while they won’t be tracked when behind the player due to the HMD-mounted cameras, the volume in which they can be tracked remains impressive.
Much like the HMD itself, the motion-controllers are of a decent build quality. Lighter than Oculus Touch and ergonomically designed to fit comfortably within a normal holding position, they currently operate using regular AA batteries. VRFocus was informed that the controllers are in fact less far into development than the HMD and will likely see significant changes prior to launch, but even at this stage they appear to be comfortable and perfectly capable of delivering a high quality immersive experience.
One year on, Project Santa Cruz has answered a lot of questions about the future of the technology, but has also posed many more. Oculus VR has suggested that Project Santa Cruz will act as a third pillar between mobile and high-end VR, but how will that pillar be supported? How will it be priced? And, with HMD sales still not setting the world on fire, how can the company avoid cannibalising their own sales next to the Oculus Rift? It may be yet another Oculus Connect until those questions are answered, but right now the hardware is looking ready to take up the challenge of heading towards a consumer market.
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The nation’s largest natural gas pipeline system is funneling more gas than ever from Texas to help warm the Eastern Seaboard.
Oklahoma-based Williams said its crown jewel Transco interstate pipeline network is delivered record-setting natural gas volumes to meet demand driven by recent cold weather conditions. A new single-day delivery record was set on Jan. 8, as well as a new three-day record from Jan. 7-9.
The 10,200-mile Transco system stretches from the Texas Gulf Coast, where cheap and abundant Texas shale gas is collected, and piped through the Southeast and up the Eastern Seaboard all the way up to New York.
While the winter overall is proving milder than expected, much of the country, including Houston, dealt with sub-freezing temperatures throughout this past Jan. 7 weekend. The Transco system has completed recent expansions with more on the way.
Williams said it delivered a record-breaking 13.7 million dekatherms of natural gas on Jan. 8, breaking the previous high of 13.5 dekatherms on Jan. 5, 2015. One dekatherm is equal to 1 million British thermal units.
Natural gas prices are on a current upswing with greater demand during the winter months, but 2016 still saw the lowest natural gas prices in nearly 20 years. Natural gas production continues to exceed demand in the U.S. However, more liquefied natural gas export facilities and petrochemical plants are coming online later this year to consume more of that production, as well as more pipelines exporting natural gas to Mexico.
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A Bulgarian court Tuesday declined to extradite a prominent opponent of Russian President Vladimir Putin and a prosecutor said the civil liberties activist being sought by Moscow might be persecuted there.
Sofia City Court, which had asked for additional information from Moscow, said it had rejected Russia's request to extradite Nikolay Koblyakov because it was still not clear why he was wanted, a court spokeswoman said.
It now says it is a reliable European Union and NATO member and has gone along with E.U. sanctions imposed against Russia over the conflict with Ukraine.
In an unusual twist, the Bulgarian prosecutor meant to advocate the request for extradition said he could not pursue it because Koblyakov was involved in political activities against President Putin and his right to a fair trial might not be guaranteed in Russia.
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