Datasets:

Ankursingh

/

openwebtext_10K

like 0

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett (R) stunned most people in his state when he announced his plan to slash more than $1 billion from education funding. If enacted, the radical proposal “would amount to the largest single-year cut ever in American public higher education,” in addition to gutting funds for K-12 education. Corbett is also calling for a public school employee wage freeze and more “freedom” to furlough teachers. Pennsylvania State University called the cuts “catastrophic.” Today, one Philadelphia teacher is taking a stand and protesting the cuts by embarking on a 100-mile run to Harrisburg, the state capitol: Decked neck to sneaks in bright orange and blue, Masterman teacher Louis “Luigi” Borda took off this morning on a 100-mile run to Harrisburg. The aim was to publicize the need to better fund public education, as lawmakers finalize a state budget that drastically cut financial aid to schools. […] In Harrisburg, he said, “we’ll be running around the capital building until they’re done voting,” he said. “Hopefully the governor will give us a little audience…and tell us how we can fix this problem.” Borda teaches geography and social studies at the Masterman school. According to the AP, athletes from at least two state universities also ran to Harrisburg in March to protest proposed cuts to their institutions. Advertisement The deep cuts Corbett is proposing go well beyond “shared sacrifice” and will profoundly impact low-income students and school districts that rely on state aid. Pennsylvania’s public university prices are already the fourth highest in the country and the base price of tuition could rise as much as $10,000 more as result of the cuts. “You’re breaking people’s dreams,” Kaitlyn Grzywinski, 19, a freshman at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, said of Corbett’s cuts. “This decision will ruin some people’s chances of going to college. Cost is a huge factor.”

ended her 16-year-long hunger strike + AFSPA + Desmond Coutinho + IMPHAL: Renowned civil rights activist Irom Sharmila, whoagainston Tuesday, said she would only get married if people reject her fresh innings as a politician.Sharmila had recently announced her desire to end the strike in order to contest next year's Manipur assembly elections and get married."I've imposed one condition on entering my personal life. If the masses ignore my new strategy and abandon or insult me, I'll begin a new chapter of my life," a teary-eyed Sharmila said on Wednesday. Sharmila, who is living at JNIMS Hospital here, had Horlicks and chabon, a soup extracted from cooked rice on Wednesday. She, however, didn't reveal where she planned to go from the hospital.Her boyfriendwas not seen on the court premises when Sharmila was granted bail on Tuesday. Sharmila reiterated she would contest the 2017 polls from Thoubal, the constituency of CM Okram Ibobi Singh of Congress, and said she was looking for "20 like-minded Independent candidates" to join her.Meanwhile, functionaries of Sharmila Kanba Lup (Save Sharmila Campaign), which had been supporting her since 2008, has accused the government of brainwashing her to enter politics to stall the movement against AFSPA.

Maps Starbucks closures View maps See which Starbucks are slated to close near you. NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Starbucks Corp. released a list Thursday of the 616 company-owned stores it will shutter by the first half of 2009. The closures accompany planned layoffs of 12,000 workers. Starbucks currently operates 7,087 stores in the U.S. Store closures, will affect about 8.7% of Starbucks (SBUX, Fortune 500) stores, in 44 states, with California losing the most outposts. The chain will close 88 stores in that state. The Seattle-based coffee company has said the cutbacks reflect a difficult economic environment in which rising gas prices and unemployment, as well as falling home values, have consumers cutting back on nonessential purchases like premium coffee. Inflation is also driving up Starbucks' costs, as rising prices for dairy products and more expensive storefront space have weighed on earnings. Starbucks has said the stores it is closing were unprofitable, and many were located near another Starbucks store. Most of them were opened in the last two years. The company has also scaled back plans for opening new stores in 2009 by more than half. The chain plans to open fewer than 200 stores next year.

No doubt the results of the midterm election are being interpreted as a referendum on Obama. But who exactly is this curious individual, and why did we make him president? … After eight years of trying to make sense of Obama’s life story, I’ve stumbled upon a way to put his famous origin story in historical context, to make it not quite so random. … Last week I wrote about Obama’s many odd Indonesian connections. But even more central to Obama’s life is Hawaii. In almost all discussions of Obama, whether birther or mainstream, Hawaii is treated as essentially irrelevant to Obama’s parentage, a run-of-the-mill location. For example, because Obama’s autobiography, Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance, was written for mainlanders interested only in black and white, it barely touches on Hawaiian society. And that’s convenient for Obama, because 1950s Hawaii’s extreme racial liberalism (some 30 percent of marriages were interracial) doesn’t fit in well with contemporary prejudices about America’s racist past. Yet when Obama’s 17-year-old mother arrived in Hawaii in 1960 and quickly became pregnant by an exotic black man, Hawaii was of obsessive interest to the liberal mainstream imagination as the leading symbol of America’s new post-colonial multiracial world dominion. It turns out that the strange life the President’s mother forged for herself by marrying men of other races brought to Hawaii by Cold War initiatives wasn’t just driven by this adventuress’s own idiosyncratic desires, as an embarrassed and annoyed Obama discussed in Dreams from My Father. She was also following (in an extreme fashion) the messages being transmitted in the 1950s by the most respected voices of mainstream culture about what progressive, patriotic Americans should believe—and even practice—in order to ensure the triumph of the free world: marriage across racial lines.

Betsy DeVos, President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for education secretary, appeared before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee for her confirmation hearing Jan. 17. (Bastien Inzaurralde/The Washington Post) Update: Democrats request another hearing for Betsy DeVos, Trump’s education pick, before confirmation vote The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions has postponed the vote on Trump’s education pick Betsy DeVos, hours after receiving the completed ethics review for the Michigan billionaire. The committee vote, originally scheduled to take place Tuesday has been rescheduled for Jan. 31 at 10 a.m., according to a statement from the HELP committee chairman Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.). The announcement arrived after the Office of Government Ethics, an agency that examines nominees’ financial disclosures and resolves potential conflicts of interest, released its long-awaited report Friday. Alexander said he wants to give each Senator on the committee time to review the documents. Ethics Director Walter M. Shaub Jr. had said a full vetting of extremely wealthy individuals, such as DeVos, could take weeks, if not months, much to the chagrin of Senate Democrats who wanted to review it before DeVos’s confirmation hearing, which took place Tuesday evening. (See the full ethics report below). [Ethics office director says proper vetting of ultrawealthy Cabinet nominees can take weeks, months] Though Democrats bristled at having just five minutes each to question DeVos — during which they used some of their time complaining about it and asking for another round of questioning — Alexander limited them to the single round. Her opponents say Alexander is rushing what should be a careful examination of someone they say is unqualified to lead the nation’s education department. Eli Zupnick, a spokesman for Washington Sen. Patty Murray, the top Democrat on the committee, said the senator is concerned that members will not have a chance to have their ethics concerns and questions answered before the vote. “Ms. DeVos and her family have incredibly complicated and opaque financial entanglements and staff is now reviewing all of her and her family’s holdings that have conflicts with her role as Secretary of Education,” he said. “Senator Murray has also not yet received answers to her questions about missing information in Ms. DeVos’ Committee financial disclosure. And Committee Democrats have sent Ms. DeVos a number of reasonable questions for the record that she committed to answer and that they expect clear and complete responses to.”​​​ [What we learned about Betsy DeVos’s higher education positions … not much] Betsy DeVos, Donald Trump's nominee for education secretary, appeared before senators at her confirmation hearing on Jan. 17, but some of her responses created more questions than they answered. (Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post) Alexander has emphasized that DeVos has taken steps to prove herself, including answering questions for nearly four hours and meeting individually with committee members. Still, he agreed to postpone the vote. “We know that Betsy DeVos is a passionate defender of improving opportunities for low-income children who has committed to implement the law fixing No Child Left Behind as Congress wrote it, support public schools, and work to protect all children and students from discrimination and ensure they are educated in a safe environment,” said Margaret Atkinson, a spokeswoman for Alexander. DeVos has no professional experience in public schools, but she has lobbied for decades to expand charter schools and taxpayer-funded vouchers for private and religious schools. Her inexperience proved to be a liability at Tuesday’s hearing, as Senate Democrats grilled her on education policy questions that she had trouble answering. [Betsy DeVos, Trump’s education pick, lauded as bold reformer, called unfit for job] At the hearing, DeVos pledged to resolve any conflicts of interest the office identified, a commitment she reiterated in a letter she sent Thursday to the ethics office of the Education Department. DeVos said she has resigned from a dozen foundations with education goals, including All Children Matter and Great Lakes Education Foundation. She is, however, retaining her position as co-trustee of three family trusts, at least one of which has an indirect financial stake in Sextant Education, which operates a chain of for-profit colleges, through its parent company AEA Investors. Though DeVos lists AEA as one of the assets she intends to divest, it’s unclear whether she would retain a partial stake through the trust. And the other two trusts have no assets listed, so there is no sense of whether they have investments in other education companies. The nominee’s spokesperson did not immediately respond to requests for comment. “It is not clear whether the family trust would divest from these assets, but if it does not, she will be in conflict,” said Jordan Libowitz, a spokesperson Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. “She turned her forms in at 10 o’clock last night. There are significant issues that still need to be worked out and should have been dealt with before hearings started.” DeVos listed 102 companies she plans to divest from within 90 days, if she is confirmed as secretary. Among them is LMF WF Portfolio, a limited liability corporation listed in regulatory filings as one of several firms involved in a $147 million loan to Performant Financial Corp., a debt collection agency in business with the Education Department. Performant lost out on a recent contract bid with the department and is now protesting the decision with the Government Accountability Office, which can dismiss the dispute if the department reverses course. The influence of the secretary in that decision left Democrats uneasy about DeVos’s indirect investment. [Dems raise concern about possible links between DeVos and student debt collection agency] In the letter to the department, DeVos wrote that she “will not participate personally and substantially in any particular matter that to my knowledge has a direct and predictable effect on the financial interests of” any of the 102 companies “until I have divested.” She also said she would ensure that “all proceeds are invested in nonconflicting assets.” Libowitz said DeVos would not have to recuse herself from any Education Department business involving companies such as Performant once she and her husband are fully divested. But he said there are still questions about her involvement with other assets, such as when she was the sole investor, that could result in her needing more than a one year recusal. U.S. Office of Government Ethics Report for Betsy DeVos Want to read more about Betsy DeVos? Check out: In Senate hearing, DeVos stoked activists’ fears that she will ignore education civil rights Six astonishing things Betsy DeVos said — and refused to say — at her confirmation hearing Betsy DeVos’s 13-year ‘clerical error’ Betsy DeVos apparently ‘confused’ about federal special education law

High Court wants controls on stray canines as number of dog bites in the Capital jumps by NEARLY A THIRD 8,783 dog bites this year spread rabies fears Survey says 70 per cent of four lakh dogs need to be sterilised High Court wants dog numbers controlled Vineeta Aron, a resident of Andrews Ganj near South Extension market, is still recovering from a leg fracture she sustained in a recent scooter accident. Aron's was no ordinary accident. It was around 8 am, and the traffic was still light when the 32-year-old was chased and attacked by a pack of stray dogs. Prince and the stray dog: Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales, and Founder and Executive Director of Katha, Geeta Dharmarajan looking at a stray dog as they leave after a visit to the Katha Lab school in New Delhi Almost 25 residents get bitten by the canines in Delhi every day As the snarling dogs closed in, Aron panicked and crashed her two-wheeler into a tree. She was fortunate that the pack dispersed, or dog-bite treatment would have been added to a broken leg. Across the Yamuna, 59-year-old businessman Babu Menon has stopped going for a morning walk in Patparganj's neat grid of apartment complexes. He fears the stray dogs that seem to skulk in every shadow. "Many joggers have already got bitten and I am scared," he says. Aron and Menon are but two of thousands of Delhi residents living in mortal fear of man's best friends of the stray kind. The city has already reported 8,783 cases of dog bites this year, an increase of nearly 30 per cent over last year. That's almost 25 Delhi residents being bitten by a dog-or dogs-every day of the year, or one every hour. The North Corporation area was the worst-bitten with 4,388 cases while South and East Corporation reported 2,695 and 1,700 cases. A survey conducted just before the trifurcation of the civic body reported 3.6 lakh stray dogs in Delhi. The number has gone up to over 4 lakh since then. Their sex ratio is 51:49 (1,84,000 male and 1,28,000 female dogs). Steps at birth control have been a spectacular failure as only less than half of the animals could be sterilised. A recent survey commissioned by civic corporations says at least 70 per cent of the canines must be sterilised for any significant effect on the Capital's canine population. The Delhi High Court last week asked the Animal Welfare Board to oversee the effort for controlling the stray dog population, and ensure ready availability of antirabies vaccination in hospitals. The court was acting on a PIL filed by lawyer SK Singh that sought the court's intervention into the city's dog bite problem. The trigger for the PIL was 25 people falling victim to dog bites within a span of a month recently inside the AIIMS campus. Two resident doctors and a senior doctor's wife were among the victims. A survey report filed by East Delhi Municipal Corporation in the Delhi High Court touches on the key reason for anti-stray dog drive ending in a whimper. The three corporations, NDMC and Delhi Cantonment Board are mainly banking on several animal rights NGOs to carry out sterilisation drive as they do not have the necessary resources. "While all the NGOs are willing to intensify the work to achieve the 70 per cent target, there are many shortcomings. NGOs lack infrastructure, payments to them are delayed and they are entrusted too many areas," the report says. "MCD has created the entire problem. They have entrusted 78 veterinary units to the animal husbandry department that has no experience of animal birth control measures," says Sonya Ghosh, noted animal rights activist and founder of NGO Citizens for the Welfare and Protection of Animals. There is no law in India to tackle the menace of stray dogs Parliament pooches: Some dogs take a nap on the stairs at the seat of the government

Configurable FOV requests We're going to look into it and see if we can come up with something. Please note this isn't a trivial thing to fix given the game's design / implementation. *Note: The current FOV values are the exact same ones that were used in ZC1 ------------------ The reason why the game released with no FOV options is because of the way the game is designed. ZC1 never had a FOV option either. The current FOV in combat is narrow to bring up characters close (65 I think). Out of combat the FOV is 90 The problem of a configurable FOV is that it would break all the cameras that are custom-adjusted for grabs and other special attacks. So in order to have a configurable FOV we'll need to come up with a custom solution. A simple slider will not work.

5.8k SHARES Facebook Twitter Google Whatsapp Pinterest Print Mail Flipboard The Republicans seem to be aware that their obsession with killing the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare, is unpopular and damaging to their party. Certainly, most everyone else is. Forty votes to repeal a healthcare overhaul based on a Republican healthcare overhaul and not a single jobs bill since 2008. Former Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC), whom you might remember dropping out of politics in April to go into…a more lucrative, seven figure form of politics with the Heritage Foundation, told Newsmax TV yesterday that the GOP should be willing to destroy America if that is what it takes to get rid of medical care for the American people. Interestingly, DeMint says Obamacare is more damaging to America “than anything I’ve seen pass in my lifetime.” Obamacare apparently being more damaging than a Republican destruction of America itself. So what he is saying is that the GOP must be willing to do more damage to America than the most damaging thing they’ve seen so far, in order to stop the second-most damaging thing done to America. That’s like burning down your house to stop a leaky pipe from flooding your bathroom. Yes, Jim DeMint is a lackwit and he thinks Americans are lackwits too. And he’s right about some of them. Those we call the Tea Party. Listen to what he had to say to Newsmax: The key to saving our country, to turning things around and really putting the government on the right track, is getting people informed, engaged all over the country. If Americans decide that they want to stop this unfair and unaffordable bill called Obamacare, they can do it, but the congressmen and senators themselves will not do it. They’ll not take that kind of risk unless the American people rise up and effectively tell them that’s what they want to do. I’ve been to about 45 cities, meeting with a lot of advocates, a lot of tea party folks, independent groups, just talking about what we need to do as a people to turn our country around, but we’re going to focus on this Obamacare bill, which increasingly people know is unfair. Congress is getting special favors — big unions, big corporations are getting waivers, and it looks like it’s the little guy that’s going to get stuck with the bill. People are getting notices that they’ll either lose their insurance or it’s going to cost more. We tell people that if the House passes a government funding bill that doesn’t include Obamacare, we can stop this bill in its tracks. Oh, well, Tea Party folks…yeah, there’s a meaningful constituency. These are the people who hurled racist slurs against Obama recently in Arizona. These are the people who wave Confederate flags and send postcards of the White House surrounded by a watermelon patch. They hate Obamacare, DeMint says. The problem is that they hate black people, even black people they themselves say are only “47 percent Negro.” That’s Jim DeMint’s constituency at the Heritage Foundation. The problem isn’t Obamacare and it was never Obamacare. The problem for these crackers is that Obama is a black man in a big white house. But DeMint, like his fellow bigots, tries to make it all about Obamacare and he has a problem with any Republican who thinks the cost of stopping Obamacare is too high, not only for the GOP but for America: Since when do Americans not fight for what is right because they’re afraid they might lose? We all know this is a terrible bill, and the more we learn about it the more we understand it’s going to hurt people, it’s going to hurt our country. This may be our last chance to stop it, and the only way to stop it when Republicans control only the House is to fund the government but not to include any funding for Obamacare. Now if the president decides he’s not going to accept government funding and allows the government to shut down, then it’s going to become apparent that he’s letting the government shut down because he wants to save this failed bill. So this is an argument that we can win with the American people. If we tell people the truth about the bill, more people are going to blame the president when all is said and done. If Americans don’t see Republicans fighting for something they promised to fight for, that’s going to do much more damage than the risk of possibly taking on the president and not getting everything we want. That’s actually kinda funny. The Republicans said they were going to fight for jobs too, but they’re too busy trying to repeal and defund Obamacare to create one single job for Americans. Too busy robbing women of the rights to their own bodies to create one single job for Americans. Too busy disenfranchising minority voters to create one single job for Americans. These fiscally responsible clowns didn’t even keep their budget promises! Yeah, we can see promises mean quite a bit to the Republican Party. One of the primary things they were tasked to do is to stop Obamacare. That’s the issue we hope that Speaker [John] Boehner and Mitch McConnell will focus on right now — recognizing we made a promise to the American people to stop this very destructive bill. That’s what we need to do before it’s implemented in October. If Obamacare is not worth fighting for and risking losing a battle for, I don’t think there is anything worth fighting for anymore. This bill will do more damage to America, hurt more people personally, than anything that I’ve seen pass in my lifetime. Of course, none of this is true. Obamacare is helping Americans. But having invested so much in fear-mongering, the GOP can hardly take a step back now and say, “Ooops, we were wrong.” No, they have doubled down on the rhetoric, getting louder as the evidence against their case grows, and they are willing – almost eager – to take America down with their party, as though to say, if we can’t have America, you won’t have it either. If you’re ready to read more from the unbossed and unbought Politicus team, sign up for our newsletter here! Email address: Leave this field empty if you're human:

The Green P Mobile app launched full support for street parking in Toronto ten months ago, and since then, parking tickets issued have plummeted by nearly one-third, according to the Toronto Police Service, reports The Globe and Mail: Slightly more than 200,000 tickets were issued in the 10 months after street parking was added to the app in October of 2016, according to Toronto Police Service. That represents a 29-per-cent decline from 261,000 tickets in the 10 months prior. The app had been deployed in limited manner with Green P parking lots in March of 2015. Brian Moniz, parking enforcement supervisor for Toronto Police, said the drop was “most likely due to convenience, no need for change or credit card, the expense reports available for reimbursement on application and e-mail notification when time is due to expire,” adding “There’s much more compliance.” Tickets have also dropped at lot spaces as well, but the highlight of the app is the increased rate of acceptance, with about 33% of Green P transactions made through the mobile app, which is being applauded as intuitive and easy to use. Ian Maher, vice-president of strategic planning and IT for Toronto Parking Authority, said the high rate of acceptance is because “We have a lot of people who are app crazy.” The decrease in tickets has affected the city’s coffers by 1 per cent, or about $1.5 million, while the increase in payments have not offset lost fine income. But the city is okay with that, as Anthony Fabrizi, manager of revenue services at City of Toronto, says it’s “an excellent trade-off for more compliance.” In 2018, the Green P app will debut a new feature in Toronto, which will let drivers know parking spot availability estimates in various locations, based on historical data. The Green P app is developed by North Carolina-based Passport, which also has similar parking apps for Victoria and Vancouver, with Montreal coming next. Click here to download GreenP for iOS in the App Store. Have you been using the app to pay for your parking in Toronto?

Most recognized brand among NFL fans looks to maintain its dominance LOUISVILLE, Ky. --(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Papa John's International, Inc. ( NASDAQ : PZZA), has renewed its multiyear partnership deal as the Official Pizza Sponsor of the NFL and Super Bowl . Papa John's has been the Official Pizza Sponsor of the NFL since 2010. As the Official Pizza Sponsor of the NFL and Super Bowl , Papa John's will continue to use NFL logos and trademarks in its advertising and integrated marketing campaigns across marquee league events, such as the Super Bowl , Pro Bowl and NFL Kickoff. For the past four years, Papa John's has been the most recognized brand among avid NFL fans, according to the NFL sponsor awareness survey conducted by Turnkey Intelligence for SportsBusiness Journal /Daily. "For over 30 years, Papa John's has strived to deliver better ingredients and better pizza. Quality is our legacy and it extends from the test kitchen to the gridiron," said John Schnatter , founder, chairman and CEO of Papa John's. "The NFL has been a great partner for many years and Papa John's continues to be the pizza of choice among avid NFL fans." "We are proud to extend our partnership with Papa John's to reach NFL fans year-round," said Renie Anderson , Senior Vice President of Sponsorship for the NFL . "As a League sponsor and with 23 club relationships, the Papa John's brand is synonymous with the NFL and we're excited to have them by our side as we head into the 2016 season and beyond." Papa John's will continue to leverage its MVP lineup of NFL stars including JJ Watt and Peyton Manning in conjunction with its NFL sponsorship across its TV, digital and social marketing channels. The brand is also the Preferred Pizza of 23 NFL clubs including the Atlanta Falcons , Baltimore Ravens , Carolina Panthers , Chicago Bears , Cincinnati Bengals , Cleveland Browns , Arizona Cardinals , Dallas Cowboys , Denver Broncos , Detroit Lions , Houston Texans , Indianapolis Colts , Jacksonville Jaguars , Kansas City Chiefs , Miami Dolphins , Minnesota Vikings , New England Patriots , Pittsburgh Steelers , San Francisco 49ers , Seattle Seahawks , St. Louis Rams , Tennessee Titans , and the Washington Redskins . About Papa John's Headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, Papa John's International, Inc. ( NASDAQ : PZZA) is the world's third-largest pizza delivery company. For 15 of the past 17 years, consumers have rated Papa John's No. 1 in customer satisfaction among all national pizza chains in the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). Papa John's is the Official Pizza Sponsor of the National Football League and Super Bowl LI. For more information about the company or to order pizza online, visit Papa John's at www.papajohns.com. Also visit us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/papajohns, Twitter at twitter.com/papajohns, YouTube at www.youtube.com/user/papajohns, Instagram at instagram.com/papajohns, Pinterest at www.pinterest.com/papajohnspizza, and Vine at vine.co/papajohns. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160804005206/en/ Papa John's International, Inc. Peter Collins , 502-261-4233 Senior Director, Public Relations peter_collins@papajohns.com Source: Papa John's International, Inc. News Provided by Acquire Media

Josh Lewenberg TSN Raptors Reporter Follow|Archive TORONTO - Masai Ujiri had a busy summer, remodelling the Raptors' roster with the likes of DeMarre Carroll, Cory Joseph, Bismack Biyombo and Luis Scola. But his most overlooked addition should have the longest-lasting impact. Raptors 905, Toronto's Mississauga-based D-League affiliate, concluded its inaugural season last week. With a record of 23-27 they failed to make the playoffs, but - as those involved in the expedited process of purchasing this team knew from the get go - their success was never going to be defined by wins and losses. "It's just not that way here, that's not the goal," said Jesse Mermuys, head coach of the 905 and former Raptors assistant, ahead of the team's first home game at the Hershey Centre back in November. "Really, if we start getting guys called up, then we're having success. If [our young players] are able to enter an NBA game this season, for whatever reason, and perform at a decent level, then it's a success." "We're just going to really focus on the players," he continued," put the players' development in the forefront and that's a hard thing for a coach to do but I'm fully aware of it, I'm committed to it." The job that Mermuys and his staff signed up for is truly one of the toughest and most unique in professional sports: teach on the fly, compete while prioritizing growth, build and maintain a foundation with a revolving door of players. It can be a thankless gig, but the fruits of their labour are evident in the guys they've helped groom and now, more than ever before, the parent club is reaping the benefits. "That was a godsend for us as far as development of our young guys," Raptors coach Dwane Casey said following a Monday afternoon practice session. "You see the example of [Norman Powell] and what the 905 did for him. If he had been here just playing on the practice floor, you would not get the production you got from him. There’s the improvement of Delon [Wright], the way he came in and played against San Antonio. All those are by-products of the coaching and teaching they got playing with the 905." With their all-star duo of Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan getting a night of rest, Powell and Wright played key roles in the Raptors' narrow defeat to the Spurs over the weekend. To this point, Toronto's two rookies have had very different years. Powell, who inexplicably fell to the 46th pick in last summer's draft, played eight early-season games in the D-League, where he immediately looked like a man among boys. Still, his NBA opportunity came earlier than expected, mostly out of necessity due to Carroll's injury and the inconsistency of James Johnson. The 22-year-old has been a revelation. Making his 18th start of the campaign, Powell showcased his defensive acumen, knack for finishing in transition and improved jumper, scoring 17 points against San Antonio, his sixth straight game in double figures. Wright, the Raptors' first-round selection, is stuck behind Lowry and Cory Joseph at the point guard position and, as a result, has spent twice as much time with the 905, which shouldn't be construed as an indictment of his progress. Spelling Joseph in Lowry's absence, the 23 year old looked the part of a back-up, recording 12 points, four rebounds and three assists in 22 minutes Saturday. Like Powell - and even Lucas Nogueira, who stepped up with Jonas Valanciunas out earlier in the campaign - Wright was ready when called upon, a credit to the work they've been able to get in with the conveniently located 905. "It's helped a lot because I would just be a guy having to play 2-on-2 or something in practice instead of having a team to go play with and stay sharp," Wright said. "So it really helped me stay ready and work on some things." "I think it's really good," Powell added. "Not only for the organization, but for the players, to be so close to home, not having travel or be away from the team and get to go down there and work on your skills. So I think it's really good for us and our development." Prior to purchasing their exclusive affiliate, the Raptors shared the Fort Wayne Mad Ants with almost half the NBA. They were reluctant to send players down, knowing they'd have no control over what those guys were learning or how much they would be playing. With no North American basketball experience under his belt, Bruno Caboclo - Toronto's intriguing, albeit very raw long-term prospect - spent most of his rookie season in a suit, watching from the bench. He was assigned to the Mad Ants twice, logging an average of nine minutes in seven games, much to the dismay of Ujiri, who made the pursuit of a single affiliate his top priority. The whole process came together in a hurry. The Raptors unveiled their new D-League team at the end of June and vowed to be innovators in the way they operated it. Nobody has used their affiliate more this season, making 46 assignments, 11 more than any other NBA team. Caboclo made 17 trips up and down from the D-League, more than any other NBA player. He averaged 34 minutes in 37 games and, as you might expect, the results were mixed. He still has a ways to go - a few months away from being two years away, as some might say - but he's starting to show flashes, like his career-high 31-point performance last week, for instance. What Caboclo has taken from the D-League experience is different than what the more NBA-ready Powell, Nogueira or Wright got out of it, but Mermuys and company have helped them each take the next step in their individual development process. "I think it instilled confidence in my game," Powell said. "When I first went down to the 905, I was just focused on scoring, but Jesse told me that coming up here my role was going to be to make plays for other guys and hit open shots, so that's what I really worked on and I think that's what helped me when I came back up and started getting minutes." "It’s going to be a huge part of the program here for a long time - the developmental part," said Casey. "You can’t put a price tag on that. If you were a big corporation, that’s your research and development department and it’s going to pay huge, huge dividends for a long time."

Steam rises from EnergyAustralia's Mount Piper power station, near Lithgow. Credit:Nick Moir By deciding to introduce new laws to protect Springvale's operations - and those of EnergyAustralia's Mount Piper power station that receives all its coal from the mine - the government is aiming to pre-empt the result of the parties' discussions. Energy Minister Don Harwin said in a statement the new laws would ensure the Springvale mine could continue to supply Mount Piper, which now generates about 11 per cent of the state's electricity. The laws would also include "significant protections for the environment". "Springvale Mine is the sole current source of fuel for Mount Piper power station, and we are keen to avoid any disruption to its functions," Mr Harwin said. "My top priority as energy minister is to ensure NSW households and business have an affordable, secure and reliable energy supply - this decision supports that." Springvale mine workers prepare to go underground at the start of a shift. Credit:Wolter Peeters Planning Minister Anthony Roberts said the laws would continue to ensure any projects within the Sydney water catchment maintained or improved water quality, the key issue that triggered the Court of Appeal's decision. "We are committed to maintaining the highest water quality standards," he said. "That's why the legislation will support the construction of a water treatment plant to eliminate saline discharges from the mine." Mr Harwin told a media briefing that the mine will have a water treatment plant running by mid-2019, so "you'll have no more discharge from the power station or the mine into the upper Coxs valley". "To do anything other than pass the legislation that we're introducing tomorrow, runs the risk of blackouts during this summer, and an immediate spike in prices," he said. The new legislation will aim to change the Environmental Planning and Assessment (EP&A) Act to clarify that projects in the Sydney water catchment seeking to expand must maintain or improve water quality compared with their existing consent, and will specifically validate Springvale mine's State Significant Development consent, the statement said. 'Offence to the rule of law' Sue Higginson, chief executive of the NSW Environmental Defender's Office, said the government's action was "not rational". "No government should pass special laws unless there is an absolute case to do so and even then only as an absolute last resort," Ms Higginson said. "Special laws to validate unlawful acts by the executive is an offence to the rule of law. "The proper thing to do in this situation, as inconvenient as it may be for Centennial Coal [owner of the Springvale Mine] and all involved is to wait until all of the expert evidence has been presented and the [Land and Environment] Court has made its finding based on all of the evidence," she said. There was no need for a hasty move since the nearby power station had stockpiled enough coal to operate through the coming summer, Ms Higginson said. Georgina Woods, a spokeswoman for Lock The Gate, said the government should have let the Land and Environment Court do its job. The mine had not been ordered to close by the court, and had been operating continually since the victory by environmental group 4Nature in the Court of Appeal. "The Land and Environment Court has a job to do to honour the law that protects the pristine quality of our drinking water from coal mining and other development," Ms Woods said. Loading "Weakening the law for the convenience of a coal mining company that is polluting drinking water is a reckless and unnecessary reaction," she said. "Protecting drinking water should be our highest priority."

[x] Interlude: Red Like Roses Victoria Dallon, also known as the hero Summer Rose flicked through her note book. The assignment wasn't too difficult but the professor was a stickler for clearly marked references. Beside her, her sister Amy was complaining about some of the cities vigilante capes. "I mean, does she even know just how much damage those arrows can cause? He nearly lost his life, never mind his arm." "Uh-huh" She underlined a comment she had missed "Vicky, are you listening?" "Huh? Oh, yeah, sure," Amy gave her a look and vicky rolled her eyes, "Shadow Stalker nailed another guy to a wall and the hospital had you up at the crack of dawn to save his life." Satisfied her sister was listen, Amy huffed, "When is the PRT going to do something about her? This is third time and I could swear she's getting worse." "It happens. Professor Wallis called the indie-cape life cycle. It goes something like; they get powers and start playing hero. As time goes on, they get more aggressive and violent until they either end up dead, forced into a gang or the PRT." "Huh, makes sense I suppose." "Yeah, not everyone can be as awesome as us after all. Oh, I'm going on a quick patrol after school, want to come Ames?" Her sister winced, "Sorry, I've made plans to meet up with Lori." "Ooh really~? Maybe I should tag along and keep an eye on you." "Vicky… Please…" "No, no. I think it's great, really," watching the pair of them dance shyly around each other was just adorable, "I just wish I'd found out sooner, I wouldn't have kept setting you up with all those boys." Finding out her sisters preference had been a bit of a shock but she'd gotten over it. Now it was her duty to tease her sister at every opportunity. Although, she kinda wished she'd found out in a different way. No one wants to see their sister doing that. "It's not like that. I don't even think Lori is into girls…" "That'd be why her eyes are glued to your ass whenever you turn around?" Vicky quipped, "Maybe you should ask if she wants to play nurse?" "Oh like you're one to talk! Have you seen the latest PHO rumors? Someone caught your last fight with Rune on camera." Amy shot back. Vicky grimaced and put her face in her hands, "What are those freaks saying now? I swear, as soon as I find the idiot who started that rumor I'm going to kill Clockblocker!" "Why would you kill Clockblocker?" "Because we both know it was probably him who started it." "That picture didn't help." "It was a headbutt! I couldn't get my hands free!" Amy was openly laughing while Vicky's protests got more heated, "Oh come on! you know it was, you patched her up after all!" ## Vicky was still irritated at her sister when she ducked into the school changing room and slipped her costume on. One badly, or well, depending on your point of view, timed photo made it onto PHO and now she couldn't get near the little racist without someone making a comment. Still, she took some solace from the fact that the jokes and rumors had to be pissing the Nazi off more than her. Putting her bag down she started to get dress. A black body sock went on first, and over that she wore a white and gold top that also doubled as a short skirt. A pair of combat boots and a short, black leather jacket with gold trim finished everything off. Her Mom had been against the design at first, she felt Vicky should have gone with something more traditional but Victoria had been adamant. Yes, she was a member of New Wave but she was still her own person and she spent more time running solo than working with her family and her costume should represent that. The last thing she pulled from her bag was her weapon, the force staff. at the moment, it looked like a short metal pipe with a large ornamental weight on both ends. the whole thing was tinker-tech and it could extend into a pole-arm. The weighted ends were what gave it the name. Each one contained a Kinetic regulator, so it could still break brute's bones without splattering softer targets. Clipping the weapon to her belt she made her way up to the roof. The force lance came from toybox and had been and bit of a necessity caused by her powers. She was a brute, increased strength and durability combined. The problem came in with her mover power. She could run really fast over short distances, combine that with super strength and things could get… messy. (Nobody needed that wall anyway.) Standing at one end of the school roof, she sprinted forwards, building up as much momentum as she could and lept. It wasn't really flight but she could cover most of the city in minutes this way. ## Hitting the ground, she rolled to a stop and ignored the 'petals' that always accompanied her mover power. They weren't really petals, they had no substance and faded before they hit the ground. It had taken a few jumps and a couple of well timed ricochets but she was close to Empire territory. Some new indie had put Stormtiger down last week and she was hoping to run into them. Despite her reputation, she could be discrete when she wanted to be. Running across the rooftops the few Empire thugs she did spot never knew she was there. Just as she was getting bored, she paused on a rooftop and considered picking a fight with the next banger she saw when she heard the sounds of a fight. Smirking to herself, she quickly made her way towards the commotion. ## On a roof overlooking an empty lot between some run down buildings, she watched as a girl ran rings around a group of Empire thugs. She was wearing black pants and a loose white shirt. Her forearms were wrapped in black cloth and despite her boots having more heel than Vicky thought sensible they didn't appear to be slowing her down. Her dark hair was flying loose, held in place by a large bow. Extending her staff, she jumped from the roof. The weighted tip glowed as it drew in energy from the movement. Landing hard enough to kick up a cloud of dust, she charged forwards. She caught the first thug in the stomach, folding him over and sending him sprawling. The other girl glanced back at her, recognising Vicky as a hero she turned her attention back to the Empire. Fighting held a thrill that most people couldn't understand. When your blood was pumping and the world went white it was… well, it was intense. Some capes lost themselves to it, looking for bigger and better fights until someone or something put them down. While Vicky was a self admitted thrill seeker, she knew enough to keep herself safe. Crossing the lot in a shower of petals, she put another ganger down. Watching the other cape, she was experienced enough to spot someone who'd had training. Her movements were fast and confident and Vicky suspected she was either a precog or had some form of enhanced senses as none of the gangers could land a solid hit. Before Vicky could shout a warning, one of the thugs managed to get a lucky shot in with a metal bat. It hit the other girl's head with a resounding clang. The bat passed through her head, carrying with it a copy of the girl that fell to the ground while the other spun and lashed out with a well placed kick. As he fell, the copy vanished. Spotting movement in the corner of her eye, Vicky quickly brought her staff round on the idiot trying to sneak up on her. There was a crack of breaking bones and he went down clutching his arm. Getting the hint, the remaining gangers finally lost their nerve and ran. Letting them go, Vicky walked over to the other girl, "Well, that was fun. I'm Vicky, and you are?" The other girl was shorter than her Vicky noticed, even with the heels. She was also wearing a large domino mask that covered quite a bit of her face. "Belladonna. It's nice to meet you?" The girl sounded a bit confused, most were when Victoria happily introduced herself by her real name. Vicky snorted in amusement, "Great, Summer Rose, Belladonna. Think we can find a couple more for a full bouquet?" Belladonna still looked confused, but her mouth twitched upward slightly. She opened her mouth like she was about to say something when her phone rang and she cursed quietly to herself. "I'm sorry, I've got to..." she indicated her phone and Vicky nodded. "Sure, don't worry about it. I'll call this lot in. Oh! Next time you wanna beat up some nazis give me a shout, I use the same name on PHO." Nodding, Belladonna took off towards the nearest building. She jumped off the wall to grab the fire escape and flipped herself upwards. It took three jumps to clear the building but the agility she displayed had to be from her power. Vicky doubted Belladonna was the one to bring Storm Tiger down. From what Dean had said, he'd been beaten down with brute force. Bella seemed to favour evasion and counter attacks. Still, a dozen Empire thugs were off the streets and a possible plus one friend. Today was definitely a win.

How BoJack Horseman helped me better understand depression This week is Mental Health Awareness Week (MHAW). Some 1 in 4 people in the UK will be affected by a mental health issue each year, with anxiety and depression being the most common problems. The theme of this year's MHAW is relationships, because your relationships - with family, friends, partners, co-workers - are the cornerstone of good mental health. Here, one JOE writer talks about how a cartoon about a horse has done more for his mental health than you could possibly expect. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Like many people my age, I've been prone to using pop-culture references as a substitute for original independent thought. I would say I'm a little like Abed from 'Community' in that respect, but that makes it seem worse, if anything. From watching a lot of television (and I mean a lot), I've found myself subconsciously absorbing some tropes which produce unhelpful habits. When it comes to entertainment there's a tendency to buy into others' ideas of what's 'good' or 'bad' without thinking, and you're rarely in a more unthinking state than when using films or TV as escapism. Mental health is one area (but by no means the only one) which mainstream shows, especially mainstream comedy, have a tendency to get wrong - even if it comes primarily from a place of ignorance rather than malice. If you repeatedly come into contact with a two-dimensional 'crazy person' character or witness depression presented as something with a single root cause that it's possible to snap out of, it's all too easy to just accept it, especially if you're essentially using the TV as background noise while eating dinner or dicking about on your phone. Touchstone Television/Imgur Without delving too far into a conversation about whether you can ignore a show's flaws altogether and just enjoy the bits you like, it's tough to unlearn stigmatising language, especially when it's used in such a conversational manner. Advertisement It's tough to gauge whether the problems arise from writers putting together something for people like themselves, or whether the issue is writers attempting to second-guess what those unlike themselves want to see. But while overfamiliarity can make people think something is aimed at a demographic to which they will never belong, it can also - on occasion - help people feel they're not alone. When it comes to the subject of mental health there are some obvious examples, and the show that has helped me in this regard is BoJack Horseman. Tornante/Imgur On the surface, BoJack doesn't seem like a natural vehicle to help viewers understand depression. It's a comedy about a fucking cartoon horse. But its circumstances give it a rare freedom, allowing the excellent cast and writers to express themselves. There's no precedent for a washed-up former TV star horse who has just broken up with his girlfriend, a pink cat who is also his agent, who lives in a version of California where anthropomorphic roosters shout 'wake up' in the morning and the country's biggest television personality is a hippo. 'This scenario doesn't make sense' won't wash as a criticism. Of course, that's by no means a magic bullet, and other programmes with similar freedoms have slipped into the same routines as the mainstream. It's not even necessarily lazy, it's just a reflex. Still, the way BoJack unapologetically confronts mental health matters is something to be admired, and something that, for many, will be the first available avenue for stepping back and thinking about serious themes: just because you're only half-watching while absent-mindedly playing Candy Crush doesn't mean a show can't be powerful enough to get you to pause the game and rewind 30 seconds. The good can stick with you as well as the bad. Advertisement Tornante/Giphy My understanding of my own mental health has been improved by hearing from others about their struggles - it makes a huge amount of sense when one considers the sense of loneliness often associated with depression, anxiety and other mental health disorders. It can take the form of not wanting to be around people or not feeling as though the people around you can appreciate your situation. Familiarity can lift a weight off your shoulders for however short an amount of time, at least on a personal level. I've read friends' accounts and been able to think 'Oh, that's a symptom of depression, not just some weird f**ked up trait that only I have'. Increased mainstream coverage of mental health ought to help this even further, especially if it helps remove stigma and normalise discussions (guys, speak to your friends and ask them if they're doing ok, even just once in a while). The benefit comes from addressing the mundanity of depression and not just its extremes. Like BoJack, I've often tricked myself into thinking the easiest way to do guarantee I do nothing wrong is to do nothing. There have undoubtedly been situations where I've stayed in bed to avoid the prospect of coming into contact with people, or p*ssed off friends without knowing why (come to think of it, one of those two could be the consequence of the other), and sabotaged relationships out of a vague feeling of imposter syndrome. Tornante I don't want this to come across as entirely miserable, however. For all the self-reflection and - let's be honest - misery it can inspire, there are positives. And not just in terms of appealing to narcissism. Unlike other shows which have been prone to acknowledging depression in an episode and just leaving it there, Bojack not only introduces the themes, but recognises its reality as a condition and not just a plot progression. Without that, its more inspirational moments wouldn't have the same impact, and any positive reinforcement would appear hollow. It needs the bleak reality to make its hope convincing, and for me that's what makes it so compelling. I'm not saying it will have the same impact on you, but take out a free Netflix trial and give it a go. It might help. It might not. But it's not doing nothing. Tornante/Imgur

The neural network and machine learning framework has become one of the key features of the latest releases of the Wolfram Language. Training neural networks can be very time consuming on a standard CPU. Luckily the Wolfram Language offers an incredible easy way to use a GPU to train networks - and do lots of other cool stuff. The problem with this was/is that most current Macs do not have an NVIDIA graphics card, which is necessary to access this framework within the Wolfram Language. Therefore, Wolfram Inc. had decided to drop support for GPUs on Macs. There is however a way to use GPUs on Macs. For example you can use an external GPU like the one offered by Bizon. Apart from the BizonBox there a couple of cables and a power supply. You can buy/configure different versions of the BizonBox: there is a range of different graphics cards available and you can buy a the BizonBox 2s which basically connects via Thunderbolt and the BizonBox 3 which connects to USB-C. Luckily, Wolfram have decided to reintroduce support for GPUs in Mathematica 11.1.1 - see the discussion here. I have a variety of these BizonBoxes (both 2s and 3) and a range of Macs. I thought it would be a good idea to post a how-to. The essence of what I will be describing in this post should work for most Macs. I ran Sierra on all of them. Here is the recipe to get the thing to work: Installation of the BizonBox, the required drivers, and compilers I will assume that you have Sierra installed and that Xcode is running. One of the really important steps if you want to use compilers is to downgrade the command line tools to version 7.3 You will have to log into your Apple Developer account and download the Command Line Tools version 7.3. Install the tools and run the terminal command (not in Mathematica!): sudo xcode-select --switch /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools Reboot your Mac into safe mode, i.e. hold CMD+R while rebooting. Open a terminal (under item Utilities at the top of the screen). Enter csrutil disable Shut the computer down. Connect your BizonBox to the mains and to either the thunderbolt or USB-C port of your Mac. Restart your Mac. Click on the Apple symbol in the top left. Then "About this Mac" and "System Report". In the Thunderbolt section you should see something like this: In the documentation of the BizonBox you will find a link to a program called bizonboxmac.zip. Download that file and unzip it. Open the folder and click on "bizonbox.prefPane" to install. (If prompted to, do update!) You should see this window: Click on Activate. Type in password if required to do so. It should give something like this: Then restart. Install the CUDA Toolkit: https://developer.nvidia.com/cuda-downloads. You'll have to click through some questions for the download. what you download should be something like cuda8.0.61mac.dmg and it should be more or less 1.44 GB worth. Install the toolkit with all its elements. Restart your computer. First tests Now you should be good to go. Open Mathematica 11.1.1. Execute Needs["CUDALink`"] Needs["CCompilerDriver`"] CUDAResourcesInstall[] Then try: CUDAResourcesInformation[] which should look somewhat like this: Then you should check SystemInformation[] Head to Links and then CUDA.This should look similar to this: So far so good. Next is the really crucial thing: CUDAQ[] should give TRUE. If that's what you see you are good to go. Be more daring and try CUDAImageConvolve[ExampleData[{"TestImage","Lena"}], N[BoxMatrix[1]/9]] // AbsoluteTiming You might notice that the non-GPU version of this command runs faster: ImageConvolve[ExampleData[{"TestImage","Lena"}], N[BoxMatrix[1]/9]] // AbsoluteTiming runs in something like 0.0824 seconds, but that's ok. Benchmarking (training neural networks) Let's do some Benchmarking. Download some example data: obj = ResourceObject["CIFAR-10"]; trainingData = ResourceData[obj, "TrainingData"]; RandomSample[trainingData, 5] You can check whether it worked: RandomSample[trainingData, 5] should give something like this: These are the classes of the 50000 images: classes = Union@Values[trainingData] Let's build a network module = NetChain[{ConvolutionLayer[100, {3, 3}], BatchNormalizationLayer[], ElementwiseLayer[Ramp], PoolingLayer[{3, 3}, "PaddingSize" -> 1]}] net = NetChain[{module, module, module, module, FlattenLayer[], 500, Ramp, 10, SoftmaxLayer[]}, "Input" -> NetEncoder[{"Image", {32, 32}}], "Output" -> NetDecoder[{"Class", classes}]] When you train the network: {time, trained} = AbsoluteTiming@NetTrain[net, trainingData, Automatic, "TargetDevice" -> "GPU"]; you should see something like this: So the thing started 45 secs ago and it supposed to finish in 2m54s. In fact, it finished after 3m30s. If we run the same on the CPU we get: The estimate kept changing a bit, but it settled down at about 18h20m.That is slower by a factor of about 315, which is quite substantial. Use of compiler Up to now we have not needed the actual compiler. Let's try this, too. Let's grow a Mandelbulb: width = 4*640; height = 4*480; iconfig = {width, height, 1, 0, 1, 6}; config = {0.001, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 8.0, 15.0, 10.0, 5.0}; camera = {{2.0, 2.0, 2.0}, {0.0, 0.0, 0.0}}; AppendTo[camera, Normalize[camera[[2]] - camera[[1]]]]; AppendTo[camera, 0.75*Normalize[Cross[camera[[3]], {0.0, 1.0, 0.0}]]]; AppendTo[camera, 0.75*Normalize[Cross[camera[[4]], camera[[3]]]]]; config = Join[{config, Flatten[camera]}]; pixelsMem = CUDAMemoryAllocate["Float", {height, width, 3}] srcf = FileNameJoin[{$CUDALinkPath, "SupportFiles", "mandelbulb.cu"}] Now this should work: mandelbulb = CUDAFunctionLoad[File[srcf], "MandelbulbGPU", {{"Float", _, "Output"}, {"Float", _, "Input"}, {"Integer32", _, "Input"}, "Integer32", "Float", "Float"}, {16}, "UnmangleCode" -> False, "CompileOptions" -> "--Wno-deprecated-gpu-targets ", "ShellOutputFunction" -> Print] Under certain circumstances you might want to specify the location of the compiler like so: mandelbulb = CUDAFunctionLoad[File[srcf], "MandelbulbGPU", {{"Float", _, "Output"}, {"Float", _, "Input"}, {"Integer32", _, "Input"}, "Integer32", "Float", "Float"}, {16}, "UnmangleCode" -> False, "CompileOptions" -> "--Wno-deprecated-gpu-targets ", "ShellOutputFunction" -> Print, "CompilerInstallation" -> "/Developer/NVIDIA/CUDA-8.0/bin/"] This should give: Now mandelbulb[pixelsMem, Flatten[config], iconfig, 0, 0.0, 0.0, {width*height*3}]; pixels = CUDAMemoryGet[pixelsMem]; Image[pixels] gives So it appears that all is working fine. Problems I did come up with some problems though. There is quite a number of CUDA functions: Names["CUDALink`*"] Many work just fine. res = RandomReal[1, 5000]; ListLinePlot[res] ListLinePlot[First@CUDAImageConvolve[{res}, {GaussianMatrix[{{10}, 10}]}]] The thing is that some don't and I am not sure why (I have a hypothesis though). Here are some functions that do not appear to work: CUDAColorNegate CUDAClamp CUDAFold CUDAVolumetricRender CUDAFluidDynamics and some more. I would be very grateful if someone could check these on OSX (and perhaps Windows?). I am not sure if the this is due to some particularity of my systems or something that could be flagged up to Wolfram Inc for checking. When I wanted to try that systematically I wanted to use the function WolframLanguageData to look for the first example in the documentation of the CUDA functions, but it appears that no CUDA function is in the WolframLanguageData. I think tit would be great to have them there, too, and am not sure why they wouldn't be there. In spite of these problems I hope that this post will help some Mac users to get CUDA going. It is a great framework and simple to use in the Wolfram Language. With the BizonBox and Mathematica 11.1.1 Mac users are no longer excluded from accessing this feature. Cheers, Marco PS: Note, that there is anecdotal evidence that one can even use the BizonBox under Windows running in a virtual box under OSX. I don't have Windows, but I'd like to hear if anyone get this running.

Orlando Pirates go into Saturday’s Carling Black Label Champion Cup against Kaizer Chiefs at FNB Stadium leading the head-to-head 4-2 in past competitions‚ but are yet to defeat their great Soweto rivals out-right. All four of Pirates’ previous successes in the pre-season showpiece event have come via penalty shoot-outs‚ while somewhat remarkably they have only managed two goals in the six games. Buccaneers fans are desperately in need of a lift after a disastrous 2016/17 Premier Soccer League season and are hoping for a good performance against their rivals which will give them hope ahead of the new campaign. The once-off match‚ that sees the supporters of the two sides select the starting line-up via public voting‚ was first played in 2011 with the inaugural game ending in a 0-0 draw.

John Chayka of the Arizona Coyotes speaks at the podium during round one of the 2016 NHL Draft at First Niagara Center on June 24, 2016 in Buffalo, New York. (Getty Images) John Chayka views the Arizona Coyotes no differently than a brand new company. Turning the team around requires the same amount of work and overall dusk-til-dawn approach as a corporation in the earliest part of its existence. Scroll to continue with content Ad The 27-year-old Chayka said he rises at 5:30 a.m. in his Scottsdale home to head to the team offices in order to beat local traffic. His day is then mostly full of phone calls and working with his team before he finally goes to bed late at night. “I get a quick workout in and get down to business because a lot of these guys are on the East Coast so I deal with them early on and then we’ve got practice and dealing with the coaching staff and all of our staffs, so it’s a more than full-time job,” Chayka said in a sit-down interview with Puck Daddy at the recent NHL general managers meetings in Boca Raton, Fla. “I’ve got a wife who is very accepting and understanding and right now, it’s an investment. It’s no different than when I started any business. It’s a startup, it takes a lot of work up front to put in place a processes and hire the right people and that’s how I view this is basically as a startup and we’re kind of inching our way towards profitability but that’s the toughest part. Once this thing turns the corner, that’s when things get easier in terms of riding some momentum.” While most people Chayka’s age are trying to enjoy their youthful years, the Coyotes general manager is being tasked with a very adult job of turning around an NHL organization that has fallen on tougher times the last several season. The Coyotes have missed the playoffs the last four seasons and will likely not make the postseason this year. Last offseason the Coyotes named Chayka their general manager after a year as the team’s assistant general manager/analytics. Story continues [Fill out your NCAA tournament bracket here | Printable version] Prior to joining the Coyotes, he had co-founded and served as director of hockey operations at Stathletes Inc. since 2009, a hockey analytics firm that tracks data through video analysis process and breaks down the game to provide objective insight into player and team performance tendencies. Chayka also never played at the professional level, reaching the BCHL before suffering a career ending injury. His promotion then at the age of 26 made him the youngest person to be named a general manager out of the four major North American pro sports. “I was sitting on the bench at the Hartford Whalers at his age, just playing hockey,” Coyotes coach Dave Tippett said. “I wasn’t in management that’s for sure. I was just thinking about how to stay in the NHL is all I was doing. He’s certainly mature beyond the number of his age for sure and I think he has been that way his whole life. I think he’s very methodical and well-spoken. Just a mature guy.” There is precedence in other sports for people like Chayka to come in at a young age and try to change how an organization operates. Texas Rangers general manager Jon Daniels was one of the first of a group of younger general managers without pro playing experience that came into Major League Baseball last decade. In 2005 He became the youngest GM in the history of MLB at 28 years and 41 days and presided over the Rangers as they went from a middle-of-the-pack team to a group won back-to-back ALCS championships. According to Daniels the biggest issue with being a young general manager wasn’t so much putting the team together. It was managing the people around him. “The job doesn’t change whether you’re 27 or 67. The difference is experience, how you handle people, how people handle you, expectations, that whole deal. I think one of the things, one of the bigger challenges is just you’re managing folks with a lot more life experience than you have. So there are things that are affecting their lives that you haven’t walked yet. I’m talking about marriage and real life where no matter how good your ideas may be about the task at hand, you need everybody on the same page,” Daniels said. “You need the organization to run smoothly and to do that you have to manage people. I had not led a department directly when I got the job so it’s just a host of things that go along with that that I had a feel for but I hadn’t done, and so I think that’s the challenge.” On the personal side, Chayka has seemed to figure this out quickly with some of his more experienced staff and won them over. “John has done a great job managing his staff which includes all of our coaches, trainers, scouts and hockey operations personnel,” said Rich Nairn, the Coyotes executive vice president of communications and broadcasting who has been with the organization for 20 years. “He is a strong communicator and a good listener and he’s very respectful of everyone’s job and role with the team. He has a calm and confident demeanor and is very approachable and easy to talk to.” On the hockey side he seems to have streamlined a lot of the Coyotes’ operations to his liking and gone a little further into stockpiling young players than his predecessor Don Maloney. Chayka has gone all-in with using salary cap space to acquire assets, like he did in picking up Dave Bolland’s contract from the Florida Panthers to land Lawson Crouse and Pavel Datsyuk’s contract from the Detroit Red Wings to grab defenseman Jakob Chychrun in the 2016 NHL Draft. Both Crouse and Chychrun seem like long-term assets for the Coyotes, and wouldn’t have been picked up if Chayka didn’t aggressively use his cap space as a negotiating chip. The Coyotes dipped their toes into these waters a year earlier when they landed Chris Pronger’s contract from the Philadelphia Flyers – but not to this degree of peddling cap space across the league to teams that wanted to get rid of bad deals. “Like anything, I think most of it is out of necessity. We have a market situation that is what it is in terms of our revenue and my job is just to optimize and maximize what I can do with that revenue,” Chayka said. The addition of Chychrun was one of the more interesting moves by Chayka. It was his first major trade and was completed with longtime Detroit Red Wings GM Ken Holland – one of the faces of the league’s old guard. Overall Chayka showed no fear in making the deal because he wanted to land Chychrun so badly. “I think you have to be confident in your knowledge and confident in what you’re doing,” Tippett said. “He has that and he has that inner confidence.” BUFFALO, NY – MARCH 02: Jakob Chychrun #6 of the Arizona Coyotes skates against the Buffalo Sabres during an NHL game at the KeyBank Center on March 2, 2017 in Buffalo, New York. (Photo by Bill Wippert/NHLI via Getty Images) It’s important to note that Maloney drafted the Coyotes’ young core that includes Christian Dvorak, Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Max Domi, but Chayka has tried to perfect the organizational’s structure and use this foundation to build the team to his liking. “He’s an intelligent guy that has an individual view on things but understands that there are other views other than his view also and as you spend time with him you just become comfortable in his knowledge and his approach and that’s the way it has been all year,” Tippett said. Chayka’s methods with analytics have gotten the most fanfare in the past but he has also tried to lessen the overall burden on players as they deal with the rigors of an 82-game season. For example, he sometimes has the Coyotes stay overnight at a stop after a game in order to maximize their rest when in the past the team may have quickly tried to travel to the next location. Chayka also said that that he uses heart-rate variability to check a players’ wear and tear during the season. This better helps him better figure out how to manage rest days. “We make a lot of decisions based off of practice load, days off and things like that based off the information we received from that type of a test,” Chayka said. “We also measure their load in practices and monitor that with each player, so it’s important for our young players to understand their bodies and try to minimize and mitigate risk opportunities.” As for the analytics side of how he builds a team, Chayka believes it’s important to take the emotion out of the business in order to figure out how to value a player. “It’s instant analysis. I think just to have some objective information that didn’t draft the player or didn’t help develop the player and just say ‘here is where the player is at.’ I think that’s a helpful tool in kind of building the organization,” Chayka said. “We want to bring guys along in the right route and the right timeframe and try to get them to become the best players they possibly can while not minimizing their ceiling.” If these moves were done by an older more experienced general manager, they maybe wouldn’t receive the same type of notoriety. But because Chayka is the NHL’s sole millennial GM, they’re picked apart and parsed in a different fashion. According to Daniels, “the novelty of it wears off” after the first year in regards to being a younger manager and then really the publicity becomes about the bottom line of the business. [Follow Puck Daddy on social media: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | Tumblr] “Now you’re in Year 2, Year 3. It’s production, it’s performance based, what’s your track record? What have you done? It’s like anything else, at that point no one cares how old you are,” Daniels said. “Once you have a track record it’s ‘what have you been able to accomplish?’ ‘What type of people do you hire?’ ‘The kind of philosophies that the organization espouses.’ Those are the things that matter ultimately. The age story wears off pretty quickly.” In some respects, Chayka sees his age as a positive in how he can relate to players who often have to deal with people from an older generation in management who don’t speak the same ‘language’ per se. “For me, I want to be a supportive person, help them out as I can because we’re all in this together and that’s mainly my approach with our players,” Chayka said. “I think they understand they can come to me with things and talk to me. Certainly our younger group, I think it’s easier for me to relate with them in a lot of ways too. I think there are some challenges with being younger but also at the same time, there are benefits.” It’s also part of his story, and it’s impossible to deny that in a business known for its ‘old boys network’ he’s a younger and fresher face, which is certainly not a negative as the game looks to stay current and keep up with advances in technology. “I can only be who I am and approach things the way I do. I don’t think – there are now 30 other managers, it’s a perfect relationship with those guys either. I just approached things the best I can and hope it works out for everybody” Chayka said. “I‘ve been able to make as many transaction as anyone since I took over so I don’t think that’s a hindrance whatsoever and just continue to kind of build relationships and that’s every industry and every business. So I’ve been fortunate enough to be involved in industries and businesses for a while now and relationship building is a big part of that.” – – – – – – – Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! MORE FROM YAHOO SPORTS

President Donald Trump’s interview last Thursday with NBC’s Lester Holt seems so long ago at this point. But the latest news has brought it back into the spotlight. That’s because what Trump told Holt just five nights ago is now being contradicted by the latest reporting in New York Times and the Washington Post. Here’s the Times’s lead with the explosive revelation: President Trump asked the FBI director, James B. Comey, to shut down the federal investigation into Mr. Trump’s former national security adviser, Michael T. Flynn, in an Oval Office meeting in February, according to a memo Mr. Comey wrote shortly after the meeting. “I hope you can let this go,” the president told Mr. Comey, according to the memo. And the Washington Post confirms the story, claiming that Comey’s own notes reveal that Trump “pressured” Comey into ending the Flynn probe. That reporting completely contradicts what Trump explained to Holt last week. The key part is below: Trump told Holt that he wanted the investigation to go faster. Instead, it now appears that not only did he try to slow it down but he tried to end the portion that looked into his ol’ pal Flynn. “I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go,” Trump reportedly said to Comey. “He is a good guy.” Good guy or not, it now seems Trump personally tried to influence the outcome of the FBI’s investigation into possible collusion between an associate of the president and Russia. As Vox previously reported, Flynn and three other Trump associates feature prominently in that investigation. Last week, the Senate Intelligence Committee subpoenaed Flynn to get documents related to his communications with Russian officials. The committee also asked the Treasury Department to look into Flynn’s finances. While subpoenas are normal parts of investigations, for them to continue the investigation means there is something to look into. In other words, the investigators think there’s a there there. The White House has responded to the New York Times story, denying it completely: No one at the White House willing to put their name on this statement pic.twitter.com/cm6BTWC26w — Shane Goldmacher (@ShaneGoldmacher) May 16, 2017 That denial is going to be hard to substantiate, especially if the paper trail of what Comey deemed to be the “president’s improper efforts to influence a continuing investigation” does in fact exist. If that’s the case, Trump may want to bust out those “tapes” he claims to have of his and Comey’s conversations. That’s probably the only way he’s going to refute a paper trail now. When Trump fired Comey (last week!), my colleague Matthew Yglesias wrote that “a whiff of obstruction of justice is in the air.” That whiff just became a much stronger scent.

About Wirex Ecoin first came in 2015 with its headquarters in London, which provided the only debit card for Bitcoins. Later the company re-branded itself to Wirex with some additional features. Dmitry Lazarichev, Panel Matveev, and Georgy Sokolov founded the E-coin. The Wirex platform is a great combination of traditional currency and digital currency on a single platform. Wirex has been covered on media on several platforms such as crypto currency magazine, The Coin Telegraph, Future of Payments Gateway, All coins News, BTC manager.com etc. Wirex provides a cloud-based service that allows personal banking. It offers Bitcoin debit cards, remittances and also mobile banking. Wirex is recognized internationally and serves in all geographical locations. A user can now link Bitcoin wallet to visa, master card, and debit cards. Traditional currencies such as Dollars, Pounds, and Euro can be switched with Bitcoins for carrying out a transaction. Features of Wirex Wirex operates through application apart from the web browser. The application provides much convenience to the user, as it is applicable 24*7. The money is easily manageable with one click. The account and currency transaction can be operated with a smartphone with Android and iOS. The application also guarantees security through two-factor authentication (2fa). The application forms a link to the Google authenticator. A user can scan the QR code of his account and sync the Wirex application. Every time a user tries to log in, a 6-digit code is sent to the users registered email ID or contact number. For additional security, multi-sig technology is also used to protect the application. More than two users signature is required to authenticate a transaction. The Wirex Card The card has some exceptional features that make it a preferred choice among users. Both plastic and virtual money can be operational on this platform. The card is valid worldwide and a user can easily upload in minutes. A user can add money by using one of the following platforms such as PayPal, bank transfers or other alternative payment methods. There are no transaction charges applicable. A user can register free of cost and a new card is issued instantly. Other Cryptocurrency exchanges to know: BitcointoYou, TradeSatoshi, RippleFox, Bitstamp, Cryptomate, Bittrex How to register on Wirex? In order to register for a free account on Wirex, log on to https://wirexapp.com. Click on “register” tab to enter the new window. Enter the various required details such as first name, last name, valid email ID and generate a new password. The password should be at least 6 characters long. Click on “create account” tab. A verification link goes to the registered email ID to validate the user. Dashboard at Wirex Wirex dashboard gives detail information on the account balance. Firstly a user needs to add Bitcoins to his BTC wallet. Then a user can order plastic and virtual card based on requirement and interest. EUR, USD, and GBP virtual cards are available for processing online transactions. Only the first virtual card is free. Plastic cards for same currencies are available for making offline payments and have application at ATM’s. Once a user places an order and receives the card, currency exchange would be possible. For account verification, the order of the first card is mandatory. Once the account becomes valid, a user can avail additional features such as higher card limits, which will eventually provide convenience to the user. More transactions would be possible from this platform. Another feature is funds, which a user can add using payment options such as bank transfers and other online payment modes. Thus, Wirex is a great platform where traditional currency and fiat currency work perfectly on a single platform.

Last week, the exorbitant expense of maintaining the Bush administration’s “war on terror” prison at Guantánamo was revealed in the Miami Herald, where Carol Rosenberg explained that Congress provided $139 million to operate the prison last year, which, with 171 prisoners still held, works out at $812,865 per prisoner, nearly 30 times as much as it costs to keep a prisoner in a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility, where the cost per prisoner is $28,284 a year. In a detailed explanation of the “expensive” and “inefficient” system at Guantánamo, retired Army Brig. Gen. Greg Zanetti, who was the prison’s deputy commander in 2008, said, “It’s a slow-motion Berlin Airlift — that’s been going on for 10 years.” While stationed at Guantánamo, the Herald noted, “he wrote a secret study that compared the operation to Alcatraz, noting that Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy had closed it in 1963 because it was too expensive.” Zanetti, who is now a Seattle-based money manager, pointed out that everything “from paper clips to bulldozers” has to be flown in, or brought in by boat, and argued that the cost of running the prison “deserves a cost-benefit analysis.” He told Carol Rosenberg, “What complicates the overall command further is you have the lawyers, interrogators and guards all operating under separate budgets and command structures. It’s like combining the corporate cultures and budgets of Goldman, Apple and Coke. Business schools would have a field day dissecting the structure of Guantánamo.” Brig. Gen. Zanetti’s analysis certainly ought to provide an opportunity for critics of Guantánamo, in the administration and in Congress, to fight back against the prison’s cheerleaders, who have pushed hard to keep the prison open and to thwart President Obama’s poorly conceived — and failed — promise to close the prison within a year of taking office. However, what was not specifically mentioned in this analysis was how, when calculating whether it is acceptable to be spending over $800,000 a head to keep 171 prisoners at Guantánamo, the American people might be interested to know that, while the government intends to try (or has tried) 36 of these men, and has decided to hold 46 others without charge or trial, it does not wish to detain 89 others. Two years ago, the Guantánamo Review Task Force, comprising career officials and lawyers from government departments and the intelligence agencies, reviewed the files of all the prisoners to work out what to do with them, and concluded that 89 of the 171 remaining prisoners should be released. Last year, the cost of holding those 89 prisoners was $72,345,029. If anyone is looking to save money, therefore, they might wish to examine why it is that these 89 men are still held, although they will discover that the answers do not reflect well on either the administration or Congress. Although all of these men were “approved for transfer” out of Guantánamo by the Task Force, 31 of them are still held because it is not safe for them to be repatriated, as they face the risk of torture in their home countries, or because Congress has blocked their release, and the rest are Yemenis, whose release has also been blocked — by the President and by Congress. The details of the 31 men, who are from a variety of countries, are not entirely clear, because the administration has not publicly identified who has been “approved for transfer.” However, it is clear that this group includes the last five Uighurs (Muslims from China’s Xinjiang province), who won their habeas corpus petitions over three years ago, in October 2008. Since then 12 other Uighurs have been released — in Bermuda, Palau and Switzerland — but the five remain because they refused the new homes they were offered, fearing that they would not be safe from the long reach of the Chinese government. No other country has offered to take them, and President Obama, his Justice Department, Congress and the Supreme Court have all made it clear that they have no desire to offer them — or any other refugee in Guantánamo — a home in the United States, the country that wrongly imprisoned them in the first place. Others are from countries with dubious human rights records — Syria, for example — and others are almost certainly victims of a restriction included by Congress as part of the 2011 National Defense Authorization Act, in which, as the Washington Post explained in an article last week, lawmakers “demanded that the defense secretary certify that he would ‘ensure’ that a freed ‘individual cannot engage or re-engage in any terrorist activity.'” As Jeh Johnson, the Pentagon’s general counsel, explained in a speech last month at the Heritage Foundation, “This provision is onerous and near impossible to satisfy.” Outside of these 31 individuals, the 58 Yemenis are also subjected to the problems highlighted by Jeh Johnson, and are saddled with other problems too. Although 28 of them could have been sent home with seven of their compatriots the week before Christmas in 2009, a failed attempt by a Nigerian man to blow up a plane bound for Detroit on Christmas Day with a bomb in his underwear derailed plans for their release, apparently indefinitely. In respond to an uproar following a revelation that the man in question, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, had been recruited in Yemen, President Obama bowed to pressure and issued a moratorium on releasing any more Yemenis from Guantánamo. This shows no sign of being dropped, even though some of the men “approved for transfer” by Obama’s Task Force were first approved for release from Guantánamo by a military review board under the Bush administration in 2004, and even though blanket bans of this sort are nothing less than “guilt by nationality.” For the remaining 30 Yemenis, a further obstacle to their release is that, although they too were “approved for transfer,” the Task Force created a special category for them, declaring that they should be held in “conditional detention” at Guantánamo until the security situation in Yemen improved. With such obstacles, it is uncertain when any of these 89 prisoners will be released, but in the meantime, as American justice groans under the burden of layers of dubious impositions designed to prevent the release of any of these men — whether innocent, cleared by a court, or cleared by Bush’s military review boards seven years ago — America’s coffers are also suffering. This is not just because of the $72 million that it cost to hold these men last year, but also because of the hundreds of millions of dollars that it has cost to hold them for nearly ten years, or the billions of dollars that — in total — have been spent on holding them and hundreds of other prisoners already released. On the other hand, if you prefer to look to the future rather than the past, as President Obama does, then you may wish to reflect on the billions of dollars that will be spent on holding these men in future — as the years turn into decades, and they begin to die of old age — until someone in authority finds a way to bring this dark and disgraceful farce to an end. Andy Worthington is the author of The Guantánamo Files: The Stories of the 774 Detainees in America’s Illegal Prison (published by Pluto Press, distributed by Macmillan in the US, and available from Amazon — click on the following for the US and the UK) and of two other books: Stonehenge: Celebration and Subversion and The Battle of the Beanfield. To receive new articles in your inbox, please subscribe to my RSS feed (and I can also be found on Facebook, Twitter, Digg and YouTube). Also see my definitive Guantánamo prisoner list, updated in June 2011, “The Complete Guantánamo Files,” a 70-part, million-word series drawing on files released by WikiLeaks in April 2011, and details about the documentary film, “Outside the Law: Stories from Guantánamo” (co-directed by Polly Nash and Andy Worthington, and available on DVD here — or here for the US). Also see my definitive Guantánamo habeas list and the chronological list of all my articles, and, if you appreciate my work, feel free to make a donation. As published exclusively on the website of the Future of Freedom Foundation.

The biggest media trial in Turkey's history has begun in what human rights groups say is an attempt by the government to intimidate the press and punish pro-Kurdish activists. A total of 44 Kurdish journalists appeared in court in Istanbul on various terrorism charges, including accusations that they have supported the KCK, an illegal pan-Kurdish movement that includes the PKK, the armed Kurdistan Workers' party. Of those, 36 have been in pre-trial detention since December. The hearing was delayed after the defendants made an attempt to defend themselves in Kurdish, their mother language, a request denied by the judge. Twelve of the defendants are said to have led a terrorist organisation and 32 are accused of being members of a terrorist organisation. Prosecutors have demanded prison sentences ranging from seven and a half to 22 and a half years. The contentious case comes amid an escalation of Turkey's 28-year-old Kurdish insurgency, with renewed clashes between the PKK and Turkish security forces. Over the past 14 months, the country has seen its worst violence since the PKK's leader, Abdullah Öcalan, was captured and jailed in 1999. Since June 2011, at least 708 people have been killed, according to the Brussels-based International Crisis Group. The victims include 405 PKK fighters, 209 soldiers and police, and 84 civilians, it said. Meanwhile, a peaceful initiative by Turkey's prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and his ruling Justice and Development party (AKP) to improve Kurdish rights has fizzled out. Instead, thousands of non-violent Kurdish politicians and sympathisers have been arrested and charged with terrorism offences. The journalists are the latest group to go on trial, activists say. "This is bad for Turkey's international image," said Hüseyin Bagci, of Ankara's Middle East Technical University's international relations department. Bagci described Erdoğan's Kurdish political initiative – unpopular with many Turks – as dead, but said the government remained divided over how to deal with the worsening insurgency, with no clear strategy. Human rights groups have repeatedly criticised the Turkish government for the prosecution of pro-Kurdish politicians, activists and journalists who exercise their right to freedom of expression. Andrew Gardner, Turkey researcher of Amnesty International, said: "[This] prosecution forms a pattern where critical writing, political speeches and participation at peaceful demonstrations are used as evidence of terrorism offences." More than 100 journalists are currently in jail in Turkey, more than in Iran or China. Many of them work for Kurdish media outlets. About 800 more face charges and many journalists have been fired or have quit their jobs because of direct or indirect pressure from the Turkish government. In a recent speech, the interior minister, Idris Naim Sahin, compared writers and journalists to PKK fighters, saying that there was "no difference between the bullets fired in [the Kurdish south-east] and the articles written in Ankara". The government maintains that none of the journalists on trial have been arrested for their work as members of the press. However, the 800-page indictment includes charges for "denigrating the state" against one journalist who wrote about sexual harassment at Turkish Airlines. Özlem Agus, a reporter for the pro-Kurdish Tigris News Agency (DIHA), was singled out for bringing to light sexual abuse of minors in the Pozanti prison in Adana. Other offending articles include interviews with the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy party (BDP) leader Sebahattin Demirtas, and reports on casualties in the fights between the PKK and Turkish armed forces. "All of the defendants are on trial for doing their jobs," the defence lawyer Meral Danis Bektas said. "A free press and freedom of expression are cornerstones of democracy. Without them, democratic political participation becomes impossible. Erdoğan now openly threatens journalists or dictates [what to write]. This attitude creates a terrible climate for press freedom." A report by the International Crisis Group to be published on Tuesday blames both sides for the worsening situation. It says the government needs to "reform oppressive laws that jail legitimate Kurdish politicians" and to "make amends" for the excessive behaviour of its security forces. But it adds: "The Kurdish movement, including PKK leaders, must abjure terrorist attacks and publicly commit to realistic political goals. Above all, politicians on all sides must legalise the rights most of Turkey's Kurds seek, including mother-language education, an end to discriminatory laws, fair political representation and more decentralisation." The report also claims Ankara has "zigzagged" on its commitments to Kurds' rights. At times it has given "positive signals" including scheduling optional Kurdish lesson in schools. "At others, they appear intent on crushing the PKK militarily, minimise the true extent of fighting, fail to sympathise with Kurdish civilian casualties, openly show their deep distrust of the Kurdish movement, do nothing to stop the arrest of thousands of non-violent activists and generally remain complacent as international partners mute their criticism at a time of Middle East turmoil." Since 2009, 8,000 pro-Kurdish politicians, lawyers, academics, writers and members of the media have been arrested on terrorism charges. The new media trial "is clearly political," said the investigative journalist Ertugrul Mavioglu, who faced terrorism charges, dropped last December, for interviewing the KCK's leader Murat Karayilan, who operates from a base in northern Iraq. Mavioglu said: "The government wants to set an example, it wants to intimidate. Journalists are being told: 'There are limits on what you are allowed to say.'" • This article was amended on 11 September to correct the English translation of the BDP's name, from the Freedom and Democracy party to the Peace and Democracy party

By James Dostoyevsky May 5 – The ban of CFU President Gordon Derrick, which prevents him from running for CONCACAF president, is possibly one of the most lawyered documents we have seen of late. But it is a tale of law and its manipulation that is not over as the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) is to be asked to rule on the case. FIFA, the world governing body of football, which labours away, at times questionably, by trying to rectify its past malfeasance (and not particulalrly succeeding in its recent attempts), has produced a remarkable judgement in its banning of Derrick de facto from running for CONCACAF President. Of course FIFA cannot ban him from running for that office directly. CONCACAF is one of the six confederations that are not members of FIFA but regional competition organizing bodies (with UEFA always having tried to be a governing body juxtaposed to FIFA, so far unsuccessfully – but hey, now their own former employee runs FIFA…). As such, FIFA has no jurisdiction over CONCACAF’s affairs – a fact serially pointed out by former FIFA president Blatter, who always decried how he and FIFA were unable, and prevented in law, from doing anything about CONCACAF and CONMEBOL corruption. And since FIFA has no legal grounds to order CONCACAF to do anything at all, Domenico Scala, who it is rumoured was anglig for the job of new FIFA General Secretary, has used all of his (lawyers’) skills to interfere without interfering. This resulted in some pretty interesting verbal gymnastics that led Derrick to throw in the towel, before even wiping his face with it. What FIFA (Scala et al) did, and that is something they could do (well, kind of…) is ban Derrick not from running for CONCACAF president but for a high FIFA office. Thing is, that running for Membership in the FIFA Council (the renamed ExCo), as a Vice President, would have implied Derrick winning the Presidency of CONCACAF: the CONCACAF President is automatically delegated into the FIFA Council as a FIFA Vice President. But to make certain that Derrick would not run for anything in FIFA’s fiefdom, Scala sent a second letter and decided that Derrick was not permitted to run for ANY position on the new Council. Funny, that he did not send either letter directly to the man concerned… Hence Scala (thinks he) pulled a master fast-one by ruling that poor Derrick was not qualified to “run for FIFA Vice President nor Member of the FIFA Council”, which basically eliminated him from running for CONCACAF President. Scala’s (FIFA’s lawyers’) reasoning will now be before CAS and should be quite interesting when tested in law: Derrick’s legal team filed their case before CAS a few days ago, we are told. So, let’s review what all this means – and the reasons for this astonishing ban. Scala banned Derrick from ever becoming a Member of FIFA’s new Council at a time when he, Derrick, was not even close to qualifying for such a post. Not only was Derrick not running for FIFA Council Membership, he ran for CONCACAF’s presidential job – which has nothing to do with FIFA: not in law, not in structure, not in anything. Hence, FIFA banned Derrick preventatively from a future Council Membership, before he would even have attempted to become a FIFA Member in its new Council Duh And the reasons given? For one, Scala referred to a slap-on-the-wrist-“reprimand” issued in 2011 after the Bin Hammam/Jack Warner fiasco, where Bin Hammam allegedly had Warner distribute cash funds to CFU Members (Bin Hammam challenged that allegation and won before CAS …just in case the collective memory had lost that fact). Derrick’s mortal sin at the time, always per FIFA explanations, was that he did not cooperate with the private cops FIFA had hired (the Freeh Group). For that he got his reprimand and paid a 300 CHF fine. But because the reprimand – in FIFA’s own verbiage – was so small, Derrick was prevented from appealing it. Yet now, five years later, FIFA use that old matter – which was not appealed because FIFA prevented Derrick from appealing since it was a very minor offence – as the first reason to prevent him from ever becoming a FIFA Council Member . But wait: a matter so small that he was prevented from appealing, is suddenly so big, so important that FIFA ban him from running for any FIFA Council Membership? Really? Yet now, five years later, FIFA use that old matter – which was not appealed because FIFA prevented Derrick from appealing since it was a very minor offence – . But wait: a matter so small that he was prevented from appealing, is suddenly so big, so important that FIFA ban him from running for any FIFA Council Membership? Really? Next reason was a pretty major broadside against Derrick, and Scala didn’t shy away from making reference to an “ongoing investigation for financial mismanagement”. This, for a man who sits on two bank boards, is devastating news. What it also does, is possibly prevent him from serving on those boards in the future. What it also does, is similar to the famous Bosman case where a footballer successfully pleaded that because of football rules and rulings, his ability to make a living and feed his family was substantially endangered, if not eliminated. But Scala went much further: elsewhere, he delivered this bombastic statement of late: “In order to protect any investigations we can however not indicate if we have or have not preliminary investigatory proceedings against an individual.” So, wait… if on the one hand, FIFA cannot state that they are actively pursuing a preliminary investigation against an individual, but in Derrick’s case, they do exactly that? Why would Scala go that far, so far really that he abuses FIFA’s own maxim, which FIFA quoted only a short while ago? Why is Derrick an exception to the rule that says: “In order to protect any investigations we can however not indicate if we have or have not preliminary investigatory proceedings against an individual.” There are many reasons, many motives and many suspicions surrounding this case. MAs speak of intimidation. Others speak of deals being cut by CONCACAF members who have very personal fights to fight – and are therefore easily swayed to do as the Masters say they should do. We shall watch carefully how this ridiculous saga ends. And we shall observe how rules are bent further only to create a scapegoat who may not be able to defend himself. Well, that part of the assumption may have been a serious error of judgment on the part of FIFA and others further afield. Contact the writer of this story at moc.l1551264887labto1551264887ofdlr1551264887owedi1551264887sni@o1551264887fni1551264887

(CNN) A 29-year-old activist who rose to prominence in the protests following the police killing of Michael Brown was found dead in a burning car in a St. Louis suburb, according to police. The victim was identified as Darren Seals, formerly of St. Louis, said St. Louis County Police Department spokesman Sgt. Shawn McGuire. Just before 2 a.m. Tuesday, county police received a call from Riverview, a northern suburb, to assist local authorities with a vehicle fire. Upon putting out the fire, police found Seals inside the vehicle. He had suffered a gunshot wound, police said. McGuire declined to release further details, citing an ongoing investigation. The area where the vehicle was found is a largely residential street hosting apartment complexes and single-family homes. It sits a short walk from Riverview's North Riverfront Park and the Mississippi River. Darren Seals was found shot in a burning car Tuesday. Though Seals' manner of death will conjure recollections of the November 2014 slaying of Deandre Joshua near the street where Brown was killed, police say the two crimes appear unrelated at this point. Joshua, too, was found dead in a car with a gunshot wound. Someone had poured accelerant on him and lit him afire, burning his arms, fingers and legs, police said at the time. McGuire told CNN on Wednesday that the Joshua case is active and remains unsolved, but investigators have found nothing linking that case to Seals' death. 'I felt her soul crying' Seals' Twitter bio said he was a "Businessman, Revolutionary, Activist, Unapologetically BLACK, Afrikan in AmeriKKKa, Fighter, Leader." Describing Seals as a factory line worker and hip-hop musician, The St. Louis American reported he was highly vocal during the Ferguson protests that followed Brown's death in August 2014. When a grand jury declined to indict Officer Darren Wilson in Brown's killing, it was Seals seen in video footage and photos embracing Brown's distraught mother, Lezley McSpadden, as Brown's stepfather angrily told the crowd, "Burn this bitch down." Of the moment the family learned Wilson would face no trial, Seals wrote on Instagram: "After they dropped it his mom broke down so bad it hurt my soul." In an account provided to MTV , Seals said, "It was like I felt her soul crying. It's a different type of crying. I've seen people crying, but she was really hurt. And it hurt me. It hurt all of us." After they dropped it his mom broke down so bad it hurt my soul #Ferguson #RIP #MikeBrown A photo posted by Bottom Boyz Management (@kingdseals) on Nov 25, 2014 at 9:20am PST He included footage from the moment in a music video for his group D.O.A.'s song, "Born Targets." On it, Seals raps in front of the QuikTrip that was heavily vandalized during the early days of the Ferguson protests, lashing out at the police response to the demonstrations. "We was marching hands up not concerning the cops/Next thing you know, them bitches started pointing their choppers/They wanted to trip quick and start turning it up/So that f***ing QuikTrip we got to burning it up," he rhymed 'Before it became a riot...' At the time of Brown's death, Seals lived just a few blocks from the Canfield Green apartment complex in Ferguson where the unarmed 18-year-old was shot. In a 2014 interview, he described to The Nation how the community quickly came together before the protests erupted, passing around a large plastic bag to collect donations for Brown's family. "It wasn't even a protest yet. ... It was a black boy being shot in the community. It was about 10 other women and men out there, and the family," he told the magazine. "Before it became a riot, before it became a protest, it was just the community coming together." Media outlets featured his commentary in the months to follow as he continued to be outspoken about racial issues after the Brown protests subsided. He regularly denounced police brutality and often spoke out against white privilege, while applauding those who sought to educate and empower black people. In his last tweet, he lashed out at the NFL for its treatment of San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who has become a lightning rod after protesting police brutality by sitting during the national anthem before games. The @NFL mad about #Kaepernick protest but I bet they don't turn down all the money from them jersey sales — King D Seals (@KingDSeals) September 6, 2016 It was reported this week that, despite the controversy embroiling the quarterback, Kaepernick's No. 7 jersey has become the NFL's top seller -- over the shirts worn by the Dallas Cowboys' Ezekiel Elliott and the New England Patriots' Tom Brady. "The @NFL mad about #Kaepernick protest but I bet they don't turn down all the money from them jersey sales," Seals tweeted Monday. Nuanced positions Though fiery in his defense of black America, Seals' commentary could not always be placed in a one-size-fits-all box. He was highly critical, for instance, of the Black Lives Matter movement, which he accused, along with white liberal groups, of "hijacking" the Ferguson protests. He was also critical of African-Americans who would blindly vote for Democrats. In October 2014, the Washington Post reported that Seals was "roaming black neighborhoods" with voter registration forms, urging Ferguson residents to cast their ballots for anyone but a Democrat. Darren Seals, second from right, appears with fellow activists, from left, the Rev. Osagyefo Sekou, Bree Newsome and Dr. Cornel West during a benefit hip-hop concert in St. Louis last year. "Just because they've got the D next to their name, that don't mean nothing," Seals told the newspaper . "The world is watching us right now. It's time to send a message of our power." He also aimed polemics at President Barack Obama, saying during the interview, "To this day, in seven or eight years, we haven't seen any significant difference in the black community." Still, upon news of his death several protesters and others active in the black community, including those who didn't always concur with Seals, took to social media to express their sorrow. "Him & I disagreed over much but he loved his community. Passionately. This is sad," tweeted rapper Talib Kweli. Added Black Lives Matter's DeRay McKesson: "Nobody deserves to die. We did not always agree, but he should be alive today." Waking up to news of the brother @KingDSeals murder. Him & I disagreed over much but he loved his community. Passionately. This is sad. RIP. — Talib Kweli Greene (@TalibKweli) September 7, 2016 No matter what, @KingDSeals stood for STL & Mike Brown and was a part of my Ferguson family. Rest in power. pic.twitter.com/eoH32InlBd — BrownBlaze (@brownblaze) September 6, 2016 We can live in a world where people don't die by violence. Nobody deserves to die. We did not always agree, but he should be alive today. — deray mckesson (@deray) September 6, 2016

Jason Eli Becker (born July 22, 1969) is an American musician, songwriter and composer. At the age of 16, he became part of the Shrapnel Records-produced duo Cacophony with his friend Marty Friedman. They released the albums Speed Metal Symphony in 1987 and Go Off! in 1988. Cacophony broke up in 1989 and Becker began doing solo work, having released his first album Perpetual Burn in 1988, also through Shrapnel. He later joined David Lee Roth's band and recorded one album with him, A Little Ain't Enough. Becker's performing career was cut short by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). In 1996, Becker lost the ability to speak, and he now communicates with his eyes via a system developed by his father. Despite his disability, he continues composing by using a computer and has since released with Shrapnel Collection, a "best of" album of his favorite songs and three new songs. Biography and career [ edit ] Hometown, birthplace, school and early years [ edit ] Becker was born and raised in Richmond, California, by his parents, Gary and Patricia (Heffley) Becker. He was born in Richmond Hospital on 23rd Street in 1969. His maternal grandfather was actor Wayne Heffley.[2] Becker graduated from Kennedy High School where he performed Yngwie Malmsteen's "Black Star" with his band at a talent show. [1] While still in high school, Becker was introduced to Marty Friedman. He was exposed to the guitar at an early age because both his father and his uncle were guitar players. He absorbed all kinds of music from around the world and melded different aspects of each style into his playing. He cited Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix and Eddie Van Halen as early influences.[3] Cacophony and solo career [ edit ] Becker started out playing alongside Marty Friedman in the Mike Varney-produced duo, Cacophony. Together, they put out an album, and toured Japan and the U.S. While they never went mainstream in the U.S., they proved popular enough in Europe to sell out almost every performance. [2] In 1989 Friedman left to join Megadeth and Becker began to pursue a solo career, having released his first solo album titled Perpetual Burn in 1988. He has since released the albums Perspective and Collection, as well as two albums of demos, entitled The Raspberry Jams and The Blackberry Jams. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis [ edit ] At the age of 20, he joined David Lee Roth's band to work on Roth's album A Little Ain't Enough, replacing Steve Vai, who had joined Whitesnake. In 1990 Becker won the coveted Best New Guitarist award from Guitar Magazine. [3] While preparing for the album, Becker began to feel what he called a "lazy limp" in his left leg. He was soon diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS; Lou Gehrig's Disease) and was given three to five years to live. He finished the recording using lighter (thinner) gauge guitar strings and other techniques, which made it easier for him to play with his weakening hands. Although he managed to finish the album, which was released in 1991, he did not join the supporting tour due to his inability to perform on stage; former Lizzy Borden guitarist Joe Holmes took Becker's place on tour. His ALS gradually robbed him of his ability to play guitar, to walk, and eventually his ability to speak. He now communicates with his eyes via a system developed by his father. Due to the nature of the disease, he remains mentally sharp and, with the aid of a computer, continues composing. In the back of the Perspective CD case, Becker states "I have Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. It has crippled my body and speech, but not my mind." His medical condition has remained stable since 1997. In 2003, Becker posted on his website that he was feeling better and had gained some weight, while the folder for his 2008 album Collection also mentions an upcoming book. Perspective and the Berry Jams [ edit ] In 1996, Becker released an album entitled Perspective, an instrumental album composed by him (with the exception of Bob Dylan's song "Meet Me in the Morning"). The writing of the music had been started before ALS completely crippled his abilities. By using guitar, and, later, when he was unable to use both hands, a keyboard, he continued to compose while his disease worsened. However, when Becker could no longer physically play even a keyboard, his friend and music producer Mike Bemesderfer[4] helped him with a music-composing computer program that reads movements of his head and eyes, enabling Becker to continue to compose after he lost control of the rest of his body. Several years later, Becker released Raspberry Jams (1999) and Blackberry Jams (2003); the first contained various unreleased demo-tracks, and the latter contained demo-tracks and alternate versions of songs that were later reworked and published into other albums. Two tribute albums to Jason Becker have been issued. Respectively entitled Warmth in the Wilderness I and Warmth in the Wilderness II, they feature guitarists such as Steve Vai, Paul Gilbert, Marty Friedman, Joe Becker, Rusty Cooley, and Mattias Eklundh. The album profits were sent to Becker to help him with his medical finances. Collection [ edit ] On November 4, 2008, Shrapnel Records released a new Jason Becker album entitled Collection. The album includes three new songs in addition to some older recordings (some never before released) and features Marty Friedman, Greg Howe, Joe Satriani, Michael Lee Firkins, Steve Vai, and Steve Hunter. Boy Meets Guitar [ edit ] On August 20, 2010, Becker declared that he was considering releasing an album of music he recorded when he was in his teenage years. He has since released this album, titled Boy Meets Guitar, in 2012.[5] Triumphant Hearts [ edit ] In October 2016, Becker launched a campaign to fund an album, which was initially estimated for release in July 2017. The campaign raised more than $100,000. The album, Triumphant Hearts was released on December 7, 2018. Track listing [ edit ] Triumphant Hearts Hold On To Love Fantasy Waver Once Upon A Melody Magic Woman River Of The Longing Valley Of Fire River Of The Longing (2ª) Talking Me Back Tell Me No Lies Hold On To The Love (2ª) You Do It [6] [7] Musical style [ edit ] Considered a virtuoso guitarist and one of the top players of his time, Jason Becker studied the works of violinist Niccolò Paganini and was a playing partner with Marty Friedman. He later arranged Paganini's 5th Caprice, performing it during an instructional guitar video. Becker's compositions often include high speed scalar and arpeggio passages—trademarks of his shred style of guitar playing. Often incorporating advanced techniques such as sweep picking, alternate picking, artificial harmonic accenting, and tapping; he was among the leaders of the field during the technical shred guitar and neoclassical metal trend of the mid to late eighties and is still respected and honored by his musician peers today. The song Serrana appearing in the album Perspective, is an example of his sweep-picking skills. [4] He demonstrated the arpeggio sequence during a clinic at the Atlanta Institute of Music. A video of this performance first appeared on his Hot Licks guitar instructional video.[8] Equipment [ edit ] Becker's first guitar was a Franciscan acoustic. Prior to joining Cacophony in 1987, Becker worked his way through the Franciscan, a Takamine acoustic, a Fender Musicmaster, and finally, a black "Dan Smith" era Fender Stratocaster (likely a 1982 or 1983 model) with a DiMarzio Steve Morse humbucker in the bridge (seen in the "Black Star" video, circa 1986). On his message board, Becker said "I recorded SMS [Speed Metal Symphony] with my Strat." For his next guitar, Becker said on his message board "Mike Varney got Hurricane to endorse us after we recorded Speed Metal Symphony. I liked how they were like Strats, only beefier." On Perpetual Burn, Becker said on his message board: "I used my white and black Hurricane guitar for everything. For clean tone I went direct. For dirty tone I used a 100 Watt Marshall with a Boss Super Overdrive pedal." The Moridira Hurricane guitar he used is called a Limited Edition LTD.2 model, believed to be made in Japan. (It is not a Hurricane EX series, which appears to be lower quality.) His LTD.2 was a "strat copy", but with a HSS pickup setup, a 24-fret rosewood fingerboard, and unique Floyd Rose where you don't have to cut the strings. For pickups, Becker said on his message board: "I just used the stock pickups it came with." The pickups were Japanese-made pickups. While Becker is pictured with a blue Hurricane guitar on the cover of Perpetual Burn, he did not use this blue guitar on the album. Differences on this guitar from his first Hurricane include DiMarzio pickups, a maple fretboard, and 24 frets. (Marty Friedman recorded the whammy parts of his song "Dragon Mistress" using Becker's blue Hurricane, one of the rare times Marty has recorded whammy work.) For the second Cacophony album, Becker switched over to Carvin gear, utilizing 2 DC Series models, one in a trans blue finish with flamed maple top, and another one in a solid burgundy finish (This is the guitar seen in the famous "Yo Yo" video from the 1989 Japan tour with Cacophony). Both have double cutaway bodies, Kahler locking tremolo systems, 6 in line machine heads and 2 Carvin humbucker pickups. He used these up until he was diagnosed with ALS in 1989. During the sessions for A Little Ain't Enough, Becker used various Carvin, Ibanez, ESP and Valley Arts guitars, as well as a Les Paul on some tracks and a Gibson acoustic for select things. Becker has also been pictured with a few Hamer superstrats as well. From 1989–1991, Becker used various guitars, most notably a Peavey custom model with the numbered fretboard markers. Also used were an Ibanez Custom Shop guitar (probably based on an RG), a custom from Performance Guitars, a couple of various unknown Strat style guitars and a black Hurricane with 3 single coil pickups. As of very recently, Becker has allowed Paradise Guitars USA to release a Jason Becker signature guitar. It is similar in appearance to the numbered Peavey but with a different headstock shape. Becker used various types of amplifiers in his music. Before joining Cacophony, he used a small Peavey Studio Pro 40 with the older style Peavey vertical silver stripes on the grille cloth. During his early days Becker was also seen with a red Marshall JCM800 head and 4x12 cabinet. For the first Cacophony album, Becker used an ADAMP1 preamp. He recorded Perpetual Burn with a borrowed '70s Marshall half stack and a BOSS Super Overdrive and Cacophony's second album was recorded with a Carvin X100B stack. For the David Lee Roth album A Little Ain't Enough, Becker used "eight different Marshall amps." He also used the SX300H head at some point during that era. After Cacophony Becker used various amps, including a "Fender M80", an unknown Marshall amp, an ADA Preamp and possibly the aforementioned Peavey combo. Becker typically used Dean Markley and SIT strings [5] Paradise Guitar [ edit ] In 2008 Paradise Guitars worked with Becker to design a Jason Becker signature guitar. The design is based on the Peavey with colored number fret inlays. Features include an alder body, maple neck with steel 2-way truss rod, maple 16" radius fingerboard, 24 jumbo thin frets with colored number fret marker inlays, black Floyd Rose Pro Style floating Tremolo with Floyd Rose Tremolo stop, Sperzel red satin tuners, 14-degree tilt-back headstock with black Paradise logo and matching tremolo and electronics plates. The pickups are DiMarzio pickups; a PAF Pro-Custom in the neck colored yellow and red, a DP116 HS-2 in the middle colored green, and a Tone Zone-Custom in the bridge colored pink and blue. These colored pickups complement the colored inlays and seem to give the guitar a rainbow effect. There is also a red 5-way switch and purple 1–11 volume knob.[9] Kiesel/Carvin Tribute Guitars [ edit ] In 2012 Carvin worked with Becker to design the JB200C Jason Becker Tribute, a guitar that is modeled after the original DC200 guitar he used toward the latter part of his career. The guitar features an Alder body with flamed maple top, maple neck with a flamed maple fingerboard, a Floyd Rose tremolo, jumbo frets, 2 humbuckers, active electronics, and comes standard in a transparent blue finish. In 2015, Kiesel Guitars, which took over Carvin's guitar manufacturing, worked with Becker to release a second tribute model, called the JB24 "Numbers" guitar. It is the third incarnation of his "Numbers" guitar, previously released by Peavey and Paradise guitars, and is also one of the first Carvin guitars to feature a 24-fret bolt-on neck, alongside the GH24 Greg Howe signature model released in the same year. It features a tung-oiled ash body, maple neck and fingerboard, colored number inlays, stainless steel frets, and 3 custom-colored Seymour Duncan pickups (Perpetual Burn in the bridge, Vintage Hot Stack in the middle, and Jazz in the neck).[10] For the official launch of Becker's signature Seymour Duncan Perpetual Burn Humbucker and the Carvin JB24 numbers guitar, Danny Young was chosen as the guitarist for both performances due to stylistic resemblance to Jason Becker and Niccolo Paganini. The Perpetual Burn performance was played on the Carvin JB200C. These performances led to the widespread notability of Danny Young's virtuosity in the guitar community and an authority in the tone and playing style of Jason Becker.[11][12][13][14] Documentary film [ edit ] A feature-length documentary film about the life of Jason Becker entitled Jason Becker: Not Dead Yet, was released in 2012. The film includes interviews with Becker, his family and friends, and the various musicians he's worked with, including Marty Friedman, Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Richie Kotzen, and Steve Hunter.[15] The film was generally well received by fans and critics and won many awards.[16] Clinics [ edit ] Atlanta Institute of Music Year: 1989 1989 Gear: Carvin DC200, Marshall Amp, Alesis quadraverb Japan Clinic Year: 1989 1989 Gear: Carvin DC200 Discography [ edit ] Cacophony Marty Friedman Solo David Lee Roth Joe Becker Other works Compilations Guitar Masters , 1989, Roadrunner Records , 1989, Roadrunner Records Metal Guitars – High Voltage Instrumentals ,1998, Disky Communications ,1998, Disky Communications Shrapnel's Super Shredders: Neoclassical ,2009, Shrapnel ,2009, Shrapnel This is Shredding , Vol. 1, 2009, Shrapnel , Vol. 1, 2009, Shrapnel This is Shredding, Vol. 2, 2009, Shrapnel Tribute Warmth in the Wilderness: A Tribute to Jason Becker, 2001, Lion Music Warmth in Wilderness 2: Tribute Jason Becker , 2002, Lion Music , 2002, Lion Music Jason Becker's Not Dead Yet! (Live in Haarlem), 2012, Primal Events Instructional Hot Licks – The Legendary Guitar of Jason Becker In The Style Of Jason Becker, feat. Max Dible. DC Music School[17] Films

Homemade vegan cilantro pesto made with fresh cilantro and sunflower seeds. This pesto comes together in under 15 minutes and is the perfect topping for potatoes or pasta (Version 2) Cilantro is one of the herbs that people either LOVE unconditionally or one that people HATE with a passion! So, are you in team LOVE cilantro or team HATE cilantro? When it comes to cilantro, there is no middle ground. No compromise, no “meet me half way” and no “I like it a little bit” There is a science as to why some can’t stand the taste of cilantro. It tastes like soap to some people and the reason is because they are genetically predisposed to hate cilantro. I am one of those in the LOVE cilantro camp. It is so common in Indian food and not just for garnish. If you have tasted green chutneys at Indian restaurants, they are made using cilantro If you are looking for a quick pesto recipe, this vegan cilantro pesto is going to be exactly what you need. I added toasted sunflower seeds for a little nutty flavor. To keep from adding too much oil to this pesto, I added a little chickpea water. The water is the liquid you find in cans of chick peas. There are so many wonderful uses for it because it is a terrific Egg substitute. This vegan cilantro pesto is also a great way to preserve cilantro. I can’t tell you how many times I have bought cilantro only to see it wilt away. Lately, I have been on a “preserve herbs” kick like my basil butter recipe. Next, I want to try preserving parsley. Now, I just make the pesto and store it in ice cube trays. When I am ready to use, I just pop about 2-3 ice cubes into a recipes like this roasted potato recipe. If you are a fan of different pesto varieties, then I think you will like my Arugula pesto spread, tomato pesto or Vegan Pesto with scallions In what recipe do you plan to use this cilantro pesto? Vegan Cilantro Pesto Cilantro Pesto Sauce Homemade vegan cilantro pesto made with fresh cilantro and sunflower seeds 5 from 2 votes Print Pin Total Time: 15 minutes Servings: 2 cups Calories: 377 kcal Author: Healing Tomato Ingredients 3 bunches Cilantro discard stems 1/4 cup sunflower seeds shelled 2 Tbsp chick peas Skin removed 2 tsp chick peas liquid 1.5 tsp salt 2 tsp whole peppercorns 2 tsp lemon juice (or to taste) 1 Jalapeno 1/4 cup water 1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil Instructions In a medium pan, roast the sunflower seeds for about 1min until evenly brown Wash the cilantro thoroughly then put into a food processor Add the roasted sunflower seeds Fill the processor with the remaining ingredients Process on medium speed until everything is well blended. Remove and serve Store the vegan cilantro pesto in glass bottles and refrigerate. Serve with pasta or potatoes To freeze, fill up ice cube tray with the pesto sauce and refrigerate for 8hrs Remove the cubes and transfer to a Ziploc bag. Mark the date on the bag and refrigerate for up to 6 months. Notes Pesto will be good for about 2 weeks when refrigerated or for up to 6 months when stored in the freezer Nutrition Calories: 377 kcal | Carbohydrates: 11 g | Protein: 5 g | Fat: 36 g | Saturated Fat: 4 g | Sodium: 1755 mg | Potassium: 272 mg | Fiber: 4 g | Sugar: 1 g | Vitamin A: 17.7 % | Vitamin C: 16.3 % | Calcium: 4.8 % | Iron: 11.7 % Tried this recipe? Follow me @healingtomato1 and mention #healingtomato1 MORE FROM HEALINGTOMATO

RWD will be Standard, AWD upgrade (tweet) AWD upgrade will be less than 5k (tweet) AWD adjusts every ~.01 sec (tweet) Production AWD will be faster than AWD cars used for reveal test drives (tweet) There will be an optional Tow Hitch (tweet) Dashboard will make more sense after part 2 reveal (tweet) Steering controls on prototype shown are not the final iteration (tweet)(tweet 2) Some tweaks being made to front of car (tweet) Aerodynamic coefficient goal is 0.21 Figured it might be best to have a consolidated thread for all of the information and hints that Elon is dropping on Twitter right now around the Model 3, since every time he tweets another thread is made just for that one instance.Is there a way to make a wiki page that is editable by everyone? If not I can try and keep up with updating ad he posts:

President Donald Trump has also pledged to “deal with DACA with heart.” | Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images Republicans crank up pressure on Trump to not scrap DACA The White House says an announcement on Trump's decision will be made on Tuesday. President Donald Trump is under mounting pressure from members of his own party not to end an Obama-era program that grants work permits to hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants who arrived in the country as children — a group often referred to as Dreamers. As an unofficial Tuesday deadline approaches, Trump and his staff have received a series of calls from GOP officials warning that any effort to undo the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program could be politically damaging. And there’s an effort to encourage Republican lawmakers to publicly raise concerns about how killing the program could affect the nearly 800,000 young people registered under the program, according to sources familiar with the internal debate. Story Continued Below Trump told reporters mid-day Friday that his decision on DACA would come soon. “Sometime today or over the weekend, we’ll have a decision,” Trump said. “We’ll issue it sometime over the weekend. Maybe this afternoon.” He then said his announcement at the "latest will be Monday." Asked whether Dreamers should be worried, Trump said, “We love the Dreamers. We love everybody.” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders clarified Friday afternoon that Trump and his aides would be working throughout the weekend on the issue. She said that an announcement would be made on Tuesday, contradicting Trump's earlier statements. "The president's priorities on immigration are to create a system that encourages legal immigration and benefits our economy and American workers," Sanders said. "The president's been very clear, he loves people, and he wants to make sure that this decision is done correctly, and so that's what he's doing now is finalizing that part." She added, "I think the decision itself is weighing on him, certainly." Breaking News Alerts Get breaking news when it happens — in your inbox. Email Sign Up By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time. The DACA program, which was put in place by former President Barack Obama in 2012, allows undocumented immigrants who arrived in the U.S. as minors to apply for two-year work permits and shields them from deportation. While Trump vowed to kill the program during the presidential campaign, he has publicly wavered in recent months, expressing sympathy for those who could be uprooted if DACA is eliminated. “The DACA situation is a very difficult thing for me, as I love these kids, I love kids,” Trump said in February. “I have kids and grandkids, and I find it very, very hard doing what the law says exactly to do and, you know, the law is rough.” He has also pledged to “deal with DACA with heart.” Top White House aides have been debating the future of DACA behind the scenes for months, and the fight reached a fever pitch this week. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and policy aide Stephen Miller are the most vocal advocates of killing the program, and they’ve both made the case that it will be difficult to defend in court. That legal argument has resonated with the Trump, sources familiar with the debate said, with the president positing it’s better to phase out the program now than to keep it and lose in court. But multiple people told POLITICO early Friday that Trump had not yet made a final decision, even though he is leaning toward phasing out the program and allowing existing Dreamers to finish out their existing work permits. Though Trump is largely convinced that he should end the program, he continues to raise concerns privately about the possible political blowback, according to a person familiar with the discussion. But he also sees the decision as a way to show his conservative critics that he isn’t beholden to the so-called “New York Democrats in the White House," the person said. Texas and nine other states have threatened to sue the Trump administration over DACA if the president doesn’t rescind the measure by Tuesday. While many in the Trump administration see Tuesday as an unofficial deadline to act — and while Trump himself has pledged to announce a decision by this weekend — the president could opt to further delay a decision. However, Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery announced Friday that his state would not challenge DACA in court, lowering the total number of states preparing to sue over the program to nine. "At this time, our Office has decided not to challenge DACA in the litigation, because we believe there is a better approach," Slatery wrote in a letter to the state's senators, calling on them to take legislative action. Meanwhile, powerful lawmakers on Friday publicly called on Trump to maintain the program until Congress can address the program in a broader way. “I don’t think he should do that. I believe that this is something Congress has to fix,” House Speaker Paul Ryan said on Janesville, Wisconsin’s WCLO radio station. Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch, the most senior Republican in the Senate who helped introduce the original DREAM Act in 2001, called Trump on Thursday to urge the president not to rescind DACA, following numerous leaks to the press that Trump was preparing to do so, a Hatch aide said. “Congress needs to take immediate action to protect #DACA kids,” Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake tweeted. Other lawmakers are also applying pressure on Trump. Colorado Rep. Mike Coffman, a Republican, said Thursday he’ll try to force a vote on a bill that would extend protections for the Dreamers. Under the DREAM Act, young undocumented immigrants would have a path to citizenship if they attend college or serve in the military for at least two years. Ryan said Friday that Obama did not have the legislative authority to adopt the policy. “You can’t as an executive write law out of thin air, and so that’s very, very clear and we’ve made that very clear,” he said. “Having said all that, there are people who are in limbo. These are kids who know no other country, who were brought here by their parents and don’t know another home,” the speaker said. “And so, I really do believe there needs to be a legislative solution, that’s one that we’re working on.” Ryan added that Congress wants to give people “peace of mind” on the issue. “I’ve had plenty of conversations with the White House about this issue,” the House speaker said. “And I think the president as well has mentioned that he wants to have a humane solution to this problem. I think that’s something that we in Congress are working on and need to deliver on.” Seung Min Kim contributed to this report.

Image caption Rubin was the second female astronomer to be elected to the US National Academy of Sciences Astronomer Vera Rubin, whose pioneering work contributed to the theory of dark matter, has died at the age of 88, her son says. Allan Rubin said she died on Sunday of natural causes, AP reported. She was living in Princeton, New Jersey. Her studies earned her numerous honours, including being the second female astronomer to be elected to the US National Academy of Sciences. But many questioned why she was never awarded a Nobel Prize. In 1974, Rubin helped provide further convincing evidence that the stars at the edges of galaxies moved faster than expected. Gravity calculations using only visible matter in galaxies showed that the outer stars should have been moving more slowly. To reconcile her observations with the law of gravity, scientists proposed there was matter we cannot see and called it dark matter. Dark matter is an unidentified type of matter comprising approximately 27% of the mass and energy in the observable universe. Image copyright Twitter - @DRFUNKYSPOON Image caption David Grinspoon, astrobiologist and writer Image copyright Twitter - @dudedarkmatter Image caption Stacy McGaugh, astrophysicist and cosmologist Vera Rubin's interest in astronomy began as a young girl and grew with the involvement of her father, who helped her build a telescope and took her to meetings of amateur astronomers, according to a profile of the American Museum of Natural History. She was the only astronomy major to graduate from the prestigious women's college Vassar in 1948. When she sought to enrol as a graduate student at Princeton, she was told that women were not allowed in the university's graduate astronomy programme, a policy that was not abandoned until 1975. So she applied to Cornell University, where she studied physics. She then went on to Georgetown University, where she earned her doctorate in 1954. Later she moved on to work at the Carnegie Institute of Washington. In 1993 she was awarded the US National Medal of Science.

85% want government to promote stronger manufacturing base, finds poll, with 62% believing it will give more economic security A overwhelming majority of voters want a resurgence of British industry to be at the centre of parties' election campaigns, according to a poll. Calls for a clearer strategy to get Britain making and exporting more come before official data this week that is expected to show the long squeeze on wages continues, despite the economic upswing. Economists say manufacturing has a key role in driving up productivity and pay. But despite the chancellor George Osborne's calls for a "march of the makers" early in the coalition's term, the sector has seen only slow growth and remains below its pre-crisis strength. More than four out of five voters – 85% – want the next government to promote a stronger UK manufacturing base, with 62% believing it will give the country more economic security, according to Monday's YouGov poll carried out for manufacturers' organisation EEF. The employer's group is seizing on the findings before the party conference season as further ammunition for its calls on politicians to put policies that will rebalance the economy high up their election manifestos. "The message to parties and political leaders is loud and clear: a strong, rebalanced economy has to be the long-term end goal and at the heart of your election offering," said EEF's chief executive, Terry Scuoler. "There is no room for complacency. While the UK is on the right path, we still have a long way to go … Net trade is still weak, investment is still below pre-recession levels and, while manufacturing has gained ground, more can be done to create the right conditions for manufacturers and wider industry to thrive and grow." Official figures, scheduled to be published on Wednesday, are expected to show that while the economic recovery has translated into more jobs, pay rises continue to fall well short of inflation. Economists expect unemployment will have edged down to 6.3% for May to July, which would be the lowest rate since the onset of the global financial crisis in the autumn of 2008. But average earnings are expected to be up just 0.5% on the year, less than a third of the inflation rate of 1.6% recorded for July. Last week, the Bank of England governor, Mark Carney, said the recovery would finally filter through to above-inflation pay rises by next summer. Business surveys suggest skills shortages and higher productivity mean some sectors are already offering real wage rises, including manufacturers. A separate report on Monday suggests small businesses are increasingly upbeat on turnover and profits and their confidence is translating into new jobs. The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) said confidence was the highest on record for its survey, which began in early 2010. Three-fifths of the small businesses surveyed are expecting to grow in the next 12 months. Small firms' hiring intentions at were also at new record for the survey. John Allan, the national chairman of the FSB, said: "We're seeing record breaking confidence from our members which suggests small firms will continue to spearhead the UK's recovery." "As we head in to party conference season, we'll be looking to all the political parties to spell out what they will do to encourage job creation, investment and reward entrepreneurs in the next parliament."

Got this one done in double-quick time! Since building the first, I now know what lengths are needed without trial and error, plus I pre-cut some of the supports for the second bed when I was completing the first. Makes the work go by a whole lot faster 🙂 Now that the first two beds are completed, I can move on to getting them setup, lined, leveled and plumbed. I’ll then add additional beds in sets of two going forward till all 8 beds are completed. This should be interesting as now I’m having to pre-plan a bit with regards to how all the plumbing will work together (not just for the first two going forward, but all eight down the line). Starting off, I’ll have 48 sq ft of growing space. Upon completion of all the beds this will give me 192 sq ft of grow bed area to work with! Not too shabby! I have also considered the possibility for expansion and so if down the road I’m feeling spunky, I can expand the width of the greenhouse to accommodate another 50% increase in grow bed space. That will be phase two. I’d also have to incorporate a sump tank into the setup to help keep my fish tank levels from dropping. So this idea is a bit of a ways down the road. I’m getting quite excited now! I should be ready to start cycling the system come mid-August. A slight delay as I’ll be doing a bit of traveling in the coming weeks. Progress is good! I’m happy.. and more updates to come! 🙂 Advertisements

The Nov. 11 Dispatch article "Toxic algae: Bloom on Lake Erie worst ever seen" reveals the dire condition of Lake Erie. The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency is responding with an inept voluntary nutrient discharge plan. That's like asking your teenage child to voluntarily stay off the cellphone. The Nov. 11 Dispatch article �Toxic algae: Bloom on Lake Erie worst ever seen� reveals the dire condition of Lake Erie. The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency is responding with an inept voluntary nutrient discharge plan. That�s like asking your teenage child to voluntarily stay off the cellphone. Without a strong stand by the EPA, we, the people need to take charge. Most of the animal products families consume come from the millions of pigs, chicken and cows raised in overcrowded animal factories. It�s unlikely that the millions of pounds of manure can be disposed of in a sustainable manner. Reducing the consumption reduces the toxic output. The Ohio Sierra Club invites Ohioans to join our Meat-Free Monday Campaign. No, we aren�t dictating to people what to eat. Rather, we are inviting people to learn about the benefits of a diet consisting of nuts, seeds, grains, legumes, fruits and vegetables to improve personal and planetary health. That�s not all. We�d save money on our sewer bills, our medical bills and our food bills. For more info, please visit: www.neosierragroup.org/meat-free-mondays. LAUREL HOPWOOD Coordinator Ohio Sierra Club Meat-Free Monday Campaign Cleveland

Barcelona to play 2 friendlies in United States BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Barcelona said it will play two friendlies in the United States against Mexican clubs Chivas and Club America in August. Barcelona said the dates were announced by Major League Soccer on Monday, with Barcelona playing Chivas in Miami on Aug. 3 and Club America three days later at Cowboy Stadium in Arlington, Texas. "For Barcelona, these games are not just important for generating revenue, but also for getting closer to our fans and growing our brand," Barcelona president Sandro Rosell said on a conference call. The games will come after Barcelona plays Manchester United on Maryland on July 30— a replay of the Champions League final set for May 28 in London. Barcelona is on course to win its third straight Spanish league title this season. Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to For more information about reprints & permissions , visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com . Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com

the world’s first non-rectangular football field has been constructed in the community of khlong toei, a densely populated area of bangkok, thailand. the project, which includes a series of play areas, seeks to demonstrate that otherwise vacant asymmetrical spaces can be utilized for outdoor recreation. the project demonstrates that asymmetrical spaces can be utilized for outdoor recreation the scheme has been developed by AP thailand, in collaboration with CJ worx, who hope that the project will help enhance relationships among the people in the community. the ‘unusual football field’ is an unorthodox setting that redefines the boundaries of the traditional 105 by 68 meter rectangular pitch. the venues transform small and irregularly-shaped plots into practical football fields, which question the limits of urban environments in order to illustrate the belief that ‘space can change one’s life’. read on to see before and after aerial images of the four uniquely shaped pitches. before after before after before after before after the project has been designed to enhance relationships among the people in the community the unorthodox setting redefines the boundaries of the traditional rectangular pitch designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here. edited by: martin hislop | designboom Save Save Save Save Save Save

With Super Bowl 50 just weeks away, host city San Francisco is struggling to move its homeless into shelters and out of the eye of the media. Workers have been sent to the Embarcadero to help transients find shelter away from the future Super Bowl Fan Village. According to Bloomberg Politics, San Francisco officials are focused on cleaning up the scenic waterfront Embarcadero Center. The Embarcadero is a highly rated shopping and dining center with high-end stores like Godiva Chocolatier and L’Occitane En Provence. With views of the Golden Gate Bridge, it is easy to see why it is an ideal location for the one million visitors expected to be at the Super Bowl Fan Village. However, the city’s famed Market Street, which runs down to the Embarcadero, is also a makeshift home to some of San Francisco’s 6,775 homeless residents. Read more City officials have been scrambling to create alternative housing for the transient population, according to SF Gate. Officials say they’ve added an additional 500 temporary beds around the city on top of the regularly available 1,233 beds. Pier 80, located about four and a half miles away from the Embarcadero, has been transformed into a 150-bed shelter. Bloomberg Politics reports that the pop-up shelters have less to do with the Super Bowl and more to do with El Nino. A spokeswoman for Mayor Ed Lee told the outlet that the focus on relocating the homeless around Justin Herman Plaza in The Embarcadero comes from the association with “cold, wet weather.” She added that “it is dangerous and unhealthy to live on our streets.” Advocates for the homeless aren’t buying it, though. “They want to decrease the physical presence and reminder of poverty and create an illusion that poverty does not exist by removing poor people from the vicinity of the Super Bowl Party,” Jennifer Friedenbach of the San Francisco-based Coalition on Homelessness told Bloomberg. Back in August, Lee told KPIX 5 that “[The homeless] are going to have to leave” when it came time for Super Bowl festivities. He also said: “We’ll give you an alternative. We are always going to be supportive. But you are going to have to leave the streets.” Whether or not the homeless populations around the Embarcadero want to relocate to shelters is another question. Christopher James, a 33-year-old homeless man, told Bloomberg that “Shelters are nasty. Eleven years ago, I stayed in a shelter. It was a weird feeling.” NYC mayor launches vast anti-homelessness tracking effort https://t.co/g04ALPxqbbpic.twitter.com/EMJlRZcmGt — RT America (@RT_America) December 19, 2015 With San Francisco having the eighth-highest homeless population in the country, hygiene problems associated with homelessness have posed a problem for locals. According to a Bloomberg graph, the number of public requests to clean encampments, urine, and feces has more than doubled since 2012. The cost of the relocation project is estimated to be $5 million and the bill is being footed by taxpayers. “We should be making sure that we’re delivering services throughout the city not just because of a special event,” Jane Kim, a civil rights attorney and district supervisor, told the site. “We should be providing this type of compassionate, strategic approach all the time.”

The 1965 Voting Rights Act, which gave African-Americans in the deep South access to the ballot box, is a “racial entitlement,” U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia said Wednesday as the court heard oral arguments in a legal challenge to the landmark law from the state of Alabama. The outspoken, ultraconservative Scalia discounted the fact that Congress has repeatedly reenacted the law — most recently by a 99-0 Senate vote in 2006 — and argued that its renewal is “not the kind of question you can leave to Congress.” “I don’t think there is anything to be gained by any senator to vote against continuation of this act,” Scalia said. “They are going to lose votes if they do not re-enact the Voting Rights Act. Even the name of it is wonderful — the Voting Rights Act. Who is going to vote against that in the future? I am fairly confident it will be re-enacted in perpetuity. “Whenever a society adopts racial entitlements, it is very difficult to get out of them through normal political processes.” The case of Shelby County vs. Holder is a challenge to the landmark Section 5 of the act. It requires nine states (eight in the South) as well as local governments in other states to “pre-clear” changes in voting procedures with the U.S. Department of Justice. The act has been invoked as recently as the 2012 election, in which several state legislatures made rules changes designed to impede early voting. The Voting Rights Act appears to have solid support from the Supreme Court’s four moderate-progressive justices. But it faced hostile questioning from Chief Justice John Roberts. He asked Solicitor General Donald Verrelli if “the citizens of the South are more racist than citizens of the North.” The plaintiffs have argued that restrictions that the Voting Rights Act sought to redress are no longer present in places like Shelby County, Alabama. The court’s deciding vote appears to rest with Justice Anthony Kennedy, who appeared none too friendly to the landmark civil rights law. “Times change,” Kennedy said during the oral argument. He also asked how much longer Alabama must live “under the trusteeship of the federal government.” Justice Sonia Sotomayor appeared taken aback at Scalia’s observations. (Scalia has made news in recent months with off-the-bench remarks that appeared homophobic.) “Do you think Section 5 was voted for because it was a racial entitlement?” she asked the attorney for Shelby County. He dodged the question.

Things move pretty quickly in this world. I made a Facebook post, cutting and pasting from a list of recent gun tragedies in response to the Sandy Hook massacre and it got a lot of response. My post was in response to the Mike Huckabee comments about the Sandy Hook tragedy. He’s the former Arkansas Governor, Presidential candidate turned radio pundit and the story was: So I took a technique I used many times in my radio career, especially at KNUA in the late 80s in Seattle. Take a news story and tweak the ending a bit. Here’s what I posted: December 11, 2012. On Tuesday, 22-year-old Jacob Tyler Roberts killed 2 people and himself with a stolen rifle in Clackamas Town Center, Oregon. His motive is unknown, but it appears to have been caused by God being removed from Malls. September 27, 2012. Five were shot to death by 36-year-old Andrew Engeldinger at Accent Signage Systems in Minneapolis, MN. Three others were wounded. Engeldinger went on a rampage after losing his job, ultimately killing himself. It appears to have been caused because God has been removed from sign shops. August 5, 2012. Six Sikh temple members were killed when 40-year-old US Army veteran Wade Michael Page opened fire in a gurdara in Oak Creek, Wisconsin. Four others were injured, and Page killed himself. It appears to have been caused because the Christian God has been removed from Sikh temples. July 20, 2012. During the midnight premiere of The Dark Knight Rises in Aurora, CO, 24-year-old James Holmes killed 12 people and wounded 58. Holmes was arrested outside the theater. It appears to have been caused because God has been removed from Hollywood films. May 29, 2012. Ian Stawicki opened fire on Cafe Racer Espresso in Seattle, WA, killing 5 and himself after a citywide manhunt. It appears to have happened because God has been removed from cafes. April 6, 2012. Jake England, 19, and Alvin Watts, 32, shot 5 black men in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in racially motivated shooting spree. Three died. It appears to have happened because God has been removed from Tulsa. April 2, 2012. A former student, 43-year-old One L. Goh killed 7 people at Oikos University, a Korean Christian college in Oakland, CA. The shooting was the sixth-deadliest school massacre in the US and the deadliest attack on a school since the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre. It appears to have happened because God has been removed from Christian colleges. October 14, 2011. Eight people died in a shooting at Salon Meritage hair salon in Seal Beach, CA. The gunman, 41-year-old Scott Evans Dekraai, killed six women and two men dead, while just one woman survived. It was Orange County’s deadliest mass killing. It appears to have happened because God has been removed from salons. September 6, 2011. Eduardo Sencion, 32, entered an IHOP restaurant in Carson City, NV and shot 12 people. Five died, including three National Guard members. It appears to have been caused because God has been removed from pancake houses. January 8, 2011. Former Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-AZ) was shot in the head when 22-year-old Jared Loughner opened fire on an event she was holding at a Safeway market in Tucson, AZ. Six people died, including Arizona District Court Chief Judge John Roll, one of Giffords’ staffers, and a 9-year-old girl. 19 total were shot. Loughner has been sentenced to seven life terms plus 140 years, without parole. It appears to have been caused because God has been removed from grocery stores. August 3, 2010. Omar S. Thornton, 34, gunned down Hartford Beer Distributor in Manchester, CT after getting caught stealing beer. Nine were killed, including Thornton, and two were injured. It appears to have been caused because God has been removed from liquor warehouses. November 5, 2009. Forty-three people were shot by Army psychiatrist Nidal Malik Hasan at the Fort Hood army base in Texas. Hasan reportedly yelled “Allahu Akbar!” before opening fire, killing 13 and wounding 29 others. It appears to have been caused because God has been removed from army bases. April 3, 2009. Jiverly Wong, 41, opened fire at an immigration center in Binghamton, New York before committing suicide. He killed 13 people and wounded 4. It appears to have been caused because God has been removed from immigration centers. March 29, 2009. Eight people died in a shooting at the Pinelake Health and Rehab nursing home in Carthage, NC. The gunman, 45-year-old Robert Stewart, was targeting his estranged wife who worked at the home and survived. Stewart was sentenced to life in prison. It appears to have been caused because God has been removed from nursing homes. February 14, 2008. Steven Kazmierczak, 27, opened fire in a lecture hall at Northern Illinois University, killing 6 and wounding 21. The gunman shot and killed himself before police arrived. It was the fifth-deadliest university shooting in US history. It appears to have been caused because God has been removed from universities. February 7, 2008. Six people died and two were injured in a shooting spree at the City Hall in Kirkwood, Missouri. The gunman, Charles Lee Thornton, opened fire during a public meeting after being denied construction contracts he believed he deserved. Thornton was killed by police. It appears to have been caused because God has been removed from municipal government offices. December 5, 2007. A 19-year-old boy, Robert Hawkins, shot up a department store in the Westroads Mall in Omaha, NE. Hawkins killed 9 people and wounded 4 before killing himself. The semi-automatic rifle he used was stolen from his stepfather’s house. It appears to have been caused because God has been removed from malls, as noted above. April 16, 2007. Virginia Tech became the site of the deadliest school shooting in US history when a student, Seung-Hui Choi, gunned down 56 people. Thirty-two people died in the massacre. It appears to have been caused because God has been removed from universities. February 12, 2007. In Salt Lake City’s Trolley Square Mall, 5 people were shot to death and 4 others were wounded by 18-year-old gunman Sulejman Talović. One of the victims was a 16-year-old boy. It appears to have been caused because God has been removed from malls, as noted above. October 2, 2006. An Amish schoolhouse in Lancaster, PA was gunned down by 32-year-old Charles Carl Roberts, Roberts separated the boys from the girls, binding and shooting the girls. 5 young girls died, while 6 were injured. Roberts committed suicide afterward. It appears to have been caused because God has been removed from all Amish institutions. March 25, 2006. Seven died and 2 were injured by 28-year-old Kyle Aaron Huff in a shooting spree through Capitol Hill in Seattle, WA. The massacre was the worst killing in Seattle since 1983. It appears to have been caused because God has been removed from Capitol Hill. March 21, 2005. Teenager Jeffrey Weise killed his grandfather and his grandfather’s girlfriend before opening fire on Red Lake Senior High School, killing 9 people on campus and injuring 5. Weise killed himself. It appears to have been caused because God has been removed from high schools. March 12, 2005. A Living Church of God meeting was gunned down by 44-year-old church member Terry Michael Ratzmann at a Sheraton hotel in Brookfield, WI. Ratzmann was thought to have had religious motivations, and killed himself after executing the pastor, the pastor’s 16-year-old son, and 7 others. Four were wounded. It appears to have been caused because God has been removed from churches and because people with mental illnesses have easier access to guns than to mental health treatment….

Drive 20 minutes outside of Panama City, past the Maersk shipping containers stacked by the railroad tracks, and you arrive at the Panama Canal. “I’ve heard the canal is actually smaller in person than you would imagine,” my best friend texted me from back home in New York. This is true. On a weekday morning last month, the sun streamed down on the lumpy hills beyond a barbed-wire fence, and a red-and-white oil tanker sat snug in a narrow channel of water, waiting for the century-old algae-covered doors of the Miraflores Locks to swing open and allow passage to the Atlantic. Six locomotive engines pulling cables attached to the ship – three on each side – rolled forward. Tourists crowded along the visitor center’s fifth-floor terrace and snapped photos as a voice on a loudspeaker spouted factoids about one of the most remarkable engineering feats in history. Our team had come to Panama to interview Mossack Fonseca in person, and we were getting the lay of the land. I’d staked out an offshore investment conference taking place at our hotel, taken a spin through the historic district, and cruised along the bay on Avenida Balboa, where President Juan Carlos Varela lives in a high-rise apartment complex, next to the Intercontinental Hotel. The president selected Ramon Fonseca as one of his top advisers. If you’re trying to get a handle on the bigger picture – what “offshore” even means, and why it’s problematic – Panama is as good a place to start as any. Phrases like secrecy jurisdiction, tax haven and offshore have overlapping meanings, roughly translating as an “escape” from laws in one place to a locale whose allure is zero-to-low tax rates – along with tools to hide one’s identity, according to the Tax Justice Network. The network, an advocacy group that argues that tax havens have exacerbated global poverty and income inequality by giving the corrupt and the rich a place to stash assets, ranks Panama as No. 13 on its Financial Secrecy Index. In March, right before my trip, the State Department released its annual report on money laundering threats, describing Panama’s lax regulations, dollar-based economy, and geographic location as an “attractive target,” particularly for drug traffickers with proceeds to clean. This past winter, following an FBI undercover bust, two men had pled guilty in U.S. federal court to conspiring to launder $2.6 million from a fraud scheme, using a private jet (the perfect vehicle to transport Luis Vuitton duffel bags stuffed with cash) and Panama bank accounts. Of course, the U.S. had a big hand in shaping Panama’s destiny, stretching back to days when the canal was still a pipe dream, and even laid the groundwork for its financial system today. A circle of American financiers, chief among them J.P. Morgan, made $40 million off the canal deal, following a stealthy lobbying effort to get lawmakers to choose Panama over Nicaragua, according to author Ovidio Diaz-Espino’s critical history “How Wall Street Created a Nation.” At the time, the canal arrangement was the most expensive land deal of all time. Afterwards, Morgan and William Nelson Cromwell, the chief lobbyist for the financiers, managed Panama’s finances up until the 1930s. Cromwell, who co-founded the prominent law firm Sullivan & Cromwell, also became Panama’s de facto attorney General. “Panama was largely a creation of the U.S.,” says Barney Warf, a University of Kansas geography professor who studies offshore banking. Today, he says, “Panama is essentially an extension of the U.S. economy.” It harkens back to the early 20th century, when canal workers were paid in American dollars. In the roaring, free-market friendly 1920s, Panama adopted U.S.-style corporate laws. Some U.S. ships, seeking to avoid Prohibition restrictions against serving alcohol onboard, registered in Panama instead. Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration was alarmed to find out that, as the U.S. worked to dig itself out of the Great Depression, wealthy Americans were using Panama as a tax haven. Jurgen Mossack’s family landed here in the 1960s. During World War II, his father had served in the Nazi Party’s Waffen-SS, according to U.S. Army intelligence files obtained by the ICIJ. Once in Panama, the elder Mossack offered to spy on communists in Cuba for the CIA. (Mossack Fonseca said the firm “will not answer any questions related to private information regarding our company founding partners.”) The move to Central America positioned Jurgen Mossack to ride the offshore banking wave that crested in Panama (and around the world) in the 1970s, when the country adopted bank-secrecy legislation designed to attract foreign money. Mossack earned a law degree at a private Catholic university, then completed an MBA in London. In 1977, back in Panama City, Mossack opened his own law firm, a two-person operation: just himself and an assistant. In 1986 he merged firms with Ramon Fonseca, who had studied at the London School of Economics and then spent six years working at the United Nations headquarters in Geneva. From the start, the firm’s business involved clients with dark secrets, the ICIJ investigation shows. In 1983, six armed robbers looted $40 million in gold bars from the Brinks-Mat warehouse near London’s Heathrow Airport. Less than 18 months later, Mossack formed a Panamanian shell company for a man named Gordon Parry. Parry was convicted in 1992 of laundering money from the London heist, the second-biggest robbery in Britain’s history. But Mossack continued to do business with the company, despite realizing as early as 1986 that the company was “apparently involved in the management of money from the famous theft from Brink’s-Mat in London,” according to an internal memo. “The company itself has not been used illegally, but it could be that the company invested money through bank accounts and properties that was illegitimately sourced.” Afterwards, the ICIJ investigation shows, the firm took steps that prevented British authorities from gaining control of the company. It wasn’t until 1995 that Mossack Fonseca ended its business relationship with the company. A spokesman for Mossack Fonseca told the ICIJ that any allegations the firm helped shield the proceeds of the Brinks-Mat robbery are “entirely false.” Jurgen Mossack “never had any dealings” with Parry, and was never contacted by police about the case, the spokesman told ICIJ. Many times Mossack Fonseca has had no clue which nefarious characters were doing what with the companies the firm created – as when Jurgen discovered in 2005, according to internal emails, that he was the registered agent and listed as the director for a company controlled by the Mexican drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero. The co-founder of the Guadalajara Cartel was convicted in Mexico in 1985 for the brutal murder of U.S. DEA agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena. (Today, Quintero is again considered a fugitive by the US after walking out of prison in 2013 on a technicality). Mossack Fonseca’s senior partners instructed an employee to carry out their resignation from the company upon the discovery. "Pablo Escobar was like a newborn compared to R. Caro Quintero!” Jurgen wrote in reaction to the news. “I wouldn't want to be among those he visits after he leaves prison!"

Norwalk Police Officer praised for good deed The Hour Online The Hour Online Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Norwalk Police Officer praised for good deed 1 / 1 Back to Gallery NORWALK -- An elderly city resident is expressing her gratitude for a Norwalk Police officer who purchased food for her after her Meals on Wheels dinners were stolen. Sylvia Solney, a resident of a Main Avenue assisted living home, said Officer John Sura went above and beyond the call of duty by purchasing a weekend's worth of food for her from Stew Leonard's. "I remember saying to him, 'Tell your mother she has a wonderful son,'" she said. "You don't find a lot of people like that, especially nowadays." Solney called police on Friday, Sept. 20 at 6:50 p.m. after noticing both of her weekend Meals on Wheels dishes were missing. "I was very upset," she said. "I didn't know what had happened." Sura responded to the scene shortly thereafter and spoke with Solney. He tried to call Meals on Wheels but could not reach a representative. He asked Solney if she had any food in her home, and she said she had a hot dog and some peanut butter and jelly. Solney told Sura that she is on a fixed income and rarely drives her vehicle, police said. Sura took notes and left the scene, driving to Stew Leonard's, where he purchased food from the hot and cold salad bars as well as milk and other items for Solney. Solney didn't think he was going to come back to the assisted living home. "I was very impressed with him," she said. "I didn't even mention it to him. He came back like 15 minutes later." Sura's good deed went basically unnoticed until earlier this week when a supervisor was reviewing reports that had been filed by his officers. The supervisor read Sura's report and forwarded it to Police Chief Thomas Kulhawik. Solney also called the police chief earlier this week and left a message on his answering machine, praising Solney as one of "Norwalk's finest." "He didn't have to do that with the meals," she said. "I wanted to thank him in a special way by calling the chief. He would make a great son-in-law." Kulhawik said he wasn't surprised by Sura's actions, as Sura is a "great officer" who has been a "credit to the department" since transfering from the Branford Police Department in 2011.

Republicans fended off a surprising Democratic challenge on Tuesday in the first special election of the year for a House seat vacated by a Republican lawmaker who became part of President Trump’s administration. Ron Estes, the GOP state treasurer, was buoyed by an 11th-hour intervention from national Republicans, Vice President Pence and Trump himself in his bid to retain the seat of former congressman Mike Pompeo, who is now the CIA director. In a victory speech, Estes told voters he’d “repeal and replace Obamacare” and fight for a balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution. “Republicans emerged victorious in the first contested special election of the 2018 cycle,” said National Republican Congressional Committee chairman Steve Stivers, a congressman from Ohio. With 99 percent of ballots counted, Estes led Democrat James Thompson, a lawyer making his first bid for office, by 8 points. Last year, Pompeo won reelection by 31 points in a race Democrats did not seriously contest. “I probably shouldn’t say this, Mr. Estes did not beat us,” said Thompson at his election-night party. “It took a president of the United States, the vice president, the speaker of the House, a senator coming into our state, and a bunch of lies to try and drum up a vote.” Democrat James Thompson, a candidate for Kansas' 4th Congressional District, speaks during a debate in Wichita, Kan. (Bo Rader/AP) Kansas Republicans’ resilience dashed Democratic hopes — which surged over the weekend — of slicing into the majority of House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.). It also may dampen that party’s hopes of performing well in the three House seats vacated by Republicans who joined the Trump administration — most significantly in Georgia, where Democrat Jon Ossoff is leading in the April 18 contest to replace Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price against a crowded field of GOP candidates. Yet holding the 4th Congressional District — which Trump captured by 27 points in November, and is the home to Koch Industries — took more work, and money, than Republicans had expected. Thompson easily won voters who cast their ballots early and was poised to carry Wichita’s Sedgwick County, which Trump won by 18 points. In the campaign’s final weekend, the NRCC spent close to $100,000 on the race, and the GOP-allied Congressional Leadership Fund super PAC paid for tens of thousands of get-out-the-vote phone calls. President Trump even recorded a call for the Republican and sent an Election Day tweet calling Estes a “wonderful guy” who would help him on “Healthcare & Tax Cuts (Reform).” The victory helped House Republicans retain a 23-seat advantage over Democrats, despite entering the two-week recess short on their major legislative goals. Estes did not focus on Trump in his race, and though he is expected to be a reliable vote for Republicans in the House — he said on Monday he would not join either right-wing or moderate caucuses — he had criticized the GOP health-care bill that was pulled before the congressional recess. Thompson, a 46-year-old U.S. Army veteran who had caucused for Bernie Sanders, fought a stronger-than-expected race that Democrats said would put more races on the map in 2018. But progressives were critical of the party for letting the race play out without a major investment. “We lose when we don’t fight, period,” said Neil Sroka, a spokesman for the progressive group Democracy for America, in a tweet. Without the boogeyman of the Obama administration, and without the threat of Hillary Clinton picking a judge to fill an open Supreme Court seat, Republicans resorted to arguing that Thompson would use constituents’ tax money to fund abortions. Until it finally spent some money on get-out-the-vote calls, the DCCC stayed away for fear that it would nationalize the race. The contest began with Pompeo’s Jan. 23 departure from Congress, which attracted little national attention until the start of April. The Cook Political Report marked the race as “safe” for Republicans, downgrading the party’s chances only after the final weekend’s scramble. Inside the district, however, both parties saw early potential for an upset. Estes, a businessman who entered politics in 2004, had only ever won landslides in the 4th District for state office. But in Topeka, the state capital, he became associated with a Republican governing team that has presided over a weak economic recovery and a series of budget deficits. Democrats — and increasingly, voters — came to blame Gov. Sam Brownback’s supply-side tax cuts, which ate into the state’s revenue. In 2016, as Republicans won across the country, the party lost ground in Kansas. Democrats gained 12 seats in the state House and one seat in the state Senate, after moderate anti-Brownback Republicans defeated conservatives in a series of primaries. On Election Day, Trump carried the 4th District easily — but Republicans lost three of their party’s state House seats. The Democratic Party, meanwhile, underwent an evolution of its own. Sanders crushed Hillary Clinton here in the 2016 caucuses, and many Sanders activists stayed inside the party to win leadership positions. When Pompeo’s seat opened, former state treasurer Dennis McKinney — who was defeated in 2010 by Estes — was initially seen as the Democratic front-runner. But the antiabortion McKinney lost a tight party contest to the pro-abortion rights, economically populist Thompson. While Estes was tied up in Topeka working on the controversial state budget, Thompson barnstormed the district. In the final 24 hours of the race, the Democrat attended a Seder with Jewish voters, recorded a “thank you” video for volunteers, shook hands at a breakfast for Learjet retirees, and (through a translator) sat for an interview with Wichita’s Spanish-language radio station. Estes rallied with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) and the national political director of the Chamber of Commerce, then cast his vote. Read more at PowerPost

Time for more Canadian ramen! Thanks go to Mark K. and Erika L. for getting these to me! I notice on this one it doesn’t say ‘simulated flavour,’ so I guess it does actually taste like vegetables. Well, we’ll see! The back of the package (click image to enlarge). The noodle blocks always look so nice. The seasoning packet. Here’s the bowl of flavor. Finished (click image to enlarge). Added some veggies, a little processed cheese, one egg and some of that awesome Dua Belibis Indonesian hot sauce. The noodles aren’t bad – still kind of weird as the others have been with a kind of crumbly texture and not a ton of taste. The broth is pretty bland and tasted kind of funky. Pretty meh – 1.75 out of 5.0 stars. UPC bar code 059491000204 . So my son’s name is Andreas Wolfgang Benjamin Walter and all but Benjamin are names from musicians. First, This is Andreas Kisser from Sepultura. Of course, Wlfgang is in homage to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. I found a record at the local library when I was young and picked up the harmonica and eventually was able to play everything on the album. Big Walter Horton is in my opinion the epitome of blues harp – bar none. 47.810652 -122.377355

2014 US Open Venue: Pinehurst, North Carolina Dates: 12-15 June Coverage details: Live commentary on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra on Saturday, 14 June and Sunday, 15 June from 21:00 BST. Daily reports on the BBC Sport website and live text commentary for the last two days From the second that my putt dropped to win the US Open in 2010 my life became a blur, probably for the next 14 months. It didn't take days for it to sink in, it took weeks and months. I remember waking up that Monday morning, a bit hungover and slightly disbelieving of what had happened. I looked over to the corner of the room and saw the US Open trophy glinting back at me. It's a distinct memory that has stayed with me. It was an extraordinary moment of realisation that it had actually happened. Naturally, I've enjoyed everything that came with the win at Pebble Beach, but at the time it was a very surreal, almost out of body, experience. You are thrust into a life with which you are not familiar. You wake up the next day the same person but the way you are perceived by others has changed for eternity. That's what you have to come to terms with a person and as a golfer. Players fall into the trap of trying to live up to what other people think of them, rather than just believing that you are good enough to do it. It took me 14 or 15 months to feel comfortable in my own skin again. Graeme McDowell's 2010 US Open triumph made him the first European in 40 years to lift the trophy I know how Justin Rose must be feeling now, having had to pack up the trophy and send it back to the USGA. I just put it in the post to them because I didn't want to physically carry it back to the tournament. It's a slightly sad moment. All of a sudden you are just the defending champion, you're no longer the current US Open champion. Your reign is over. When I had the trophy it really racked up the air miles. I took it all over the world - to Asia and, of course, back home to Northern Ireland. It feels really cool to have the replica at my home club of Rathmore and it's become something of a tourist attraction. That feels pretty special. My hunger and desire to win my next major championship is now very much heightened and I know there's an opportunity coming up in this week's US Open. I've made two visits to Pinehurst already. Last week, before the Memphis tournament, I played six holes on the Monday evening and then the full 18 the next day. Last 10 US Open winners 2013: Justin Rose (Eng) 2012: Webb Simpson (US) 2011: Rory McIlroy (NI) 2010: Graeme McDowell (NI) 2009: Lucas Glover (US) 2008: Tiger Woods (US) 2007: Angel Cabrera (Arg) 2006: Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) 2005: Michael Campbell (NZ) 2004: Retief Goosen (SA) A lot has been spoken about the changes and it's amazing because it has the feel of a challenge similar to the Open - especially approaching the greens. It feels like a mixture of being at St Andrews and Royal Melbourne in Australia. I think it's a good golf course for the Europeans because it is very un-American - fingers crossed for a European winner. When you go to scout the course you try to suss out the likely pin positions. Then, from the green, you look back down the fairway to plot your strategy of where you should be hitting. The hard part is mapping out the greens and working out the subtlety of the borrows. We spend about 75% of our time on and around the greens looking at slopes and trying to guess where the flags will be. To me, you are going to be playing quite defensively with a lot of medium and long iron approaches. It was interesting last week because they are clearly trying to protect the course with the Women's US Open there the following week. Various run off areas were netted off to prevent them getting churned up with guys chipping out of them. Only players and caddies were allowed on the greens. Coaches, psychologists, trainers, mums and dads and girlfriends have to stand at the side. Unusually for a US Open there is no rough. Instead it is just fairways, what they're calling "native areas" and then trees. The bits bordering the fairways consist of just sand, pine straw and hard pan ground with clumps of Marram grass. Justin Rose won his first major at the 2013 US Open, a third European success in four years The initial word was that they were worried that the native area wasn't going to be penal enough. Seven or eight times out of 10 you were going to get a lie. However, from what I've seen the weather has got better and the growth has come. The odds are now more of a 50-50 deal. Half the time you will get a playable lie, the other half you will be chopping out. Fairways are going to be a premium. When I talk with other players there's always great anticipation about how courses will be set up for events like the US Open and the Open. We know what to expect at the Masters and to a large extent, at the US PGA, but what will they do at the other two majors? What will be our examination paper? We know it's going to be hard, but is it going to be super-hard? Merion last year was brutal. I played with Jim Furyk and Zach Johnson and all three of us are players you'd expect to challenge, yet we were a combined 40 over par after our two rounds. Pinehurst is very narrow, it's long and a lot of the time the course will force you into laying up short of pinched-in areas. You have to take the trouble out of play. Patience is going to be absolutely key. It doesn't necessarily set up for the bombers. Length will be an advantage at times but there will be a real premium on accuracy and the nitty gritty will be iron play coming into these greens, which are shaped like upturned turtles. Media playback is not supported on this device McDowell ready for big summer of golf The winning score will be whatever the USGA want it to be and more than likely that will be around level par. They can be as nasty as they like with pin positions given the undulating putting surfaces. They won't have to make the greens super-fast. It's going to be another real grind of a US Open. There's not a ton of birdie opportunities out there. Although my biggest ambition is to land a Claret Jug at the Open, for me there's always a special place in my heart for this championship. I feel my game is built for the test and, like I say, I really crave the experience winning a second major. It would be wonderful to wake up with a sore head next to that trophy once again and I know I'd be ready for the resulting blur. Graeme McDowell was talking to BBC golf correspondent Iain Carter

July 31, 2017 CALGARY — On September 5, Glen Murray will become executive director of the Pembina Institute, a 30-year-old think-tank that undertakes research, education, consulting, and advocacy to advance pragmatic clean energy solutions. As a seasoned activist and veteran of provincial and municipal governments, Murray is ideally suited to lead the Pembina Institute into its next chapter. Murray is a former mayor of Winnipeg and most recently served as Ontario’s minister of environment and climate change. Throughout his distinguished career in the public and not-for-profit sectors, Murray has made important contributions on issues of international human rights, climate change, and sustainable development. Murray’s affinity for big tent, collaborative solutions and his long-standing commitment to community development are in keeping with the Pembina Institute’s DNA. The Institute was formed following the 1982 Lodgepole blowout at a sour gas well in Alberta. In response, a small group of rural Albertans came together to secure stronger regulations for Alberta’s oil and gas sector — some of which are still in place today. Since its founding, the Pembina Institute has grown into a national organization, but its goals remain the same: responsible development of Canada’s energy resources, healthy and prosperous communities, and bold climate leadership from governments and industry. Murray will succeed Ed Whittingham, who successfully led the Pembina Institute through a period of unprecedented policy change, in Alberta and across Canada, over the last six and a half years. Quotes “Glen is a renowned thought leader on social and environmental issues, with an impressive track record of policy leadership throughout his tenure in elected office. On behalf of the board of directors, I am thrilled that Glen is joining our talented team and know he will propel the Pembina Institute to new heights as we work to solve today’s greatest energy challenges.” — David Runnalls, president, Pembina Institute “More than ever, the world needs Canada to lead the fight against climate change. With its national team of experts and its proven ability to craft solutions with industry, government, and communities, the Pembina Institute is essential to finding the way forward. I’m excited to join the Institute at this critical juncture and look forward to working with its outstanding staff and supporters.” — Glen Murray, incoming executive director, Pembina Institute “From its humble roots in rural Alberta, the Pembina Institute has grown into Canada’s leading clean energy think-tank. I am delighted to pass the torch to a highly respected climate champion who knows how to build bridges with industry, government, and communities — across Canada and internationally. Under Glen’s leadership, I am confident that our remarkable staff will continue to play an essential role in building Canada’s clean growth future.” — Ed Whittingham, outgoing executive director, Pembina Institute Quick facts In 1984, the Pembina Institute was founded in Drayton Valley, Alberta. The non-profit think-tank’s headquarters is in Calgary. The Institute advances evidence-based solutions to support Canada’s clean energy transition. Its staff are technical and policy experts on a range of climate and energy issues, including responsible fossil fuel development, energy efficient buildings, clean transportation, and electricity sector decarbonization. The Institute has offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, and Ottawa. Glen Murray has also served as chair of the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy, and president and CEO of the Canadian Urban Institute. As an Ontario cabinet minister between 2010 and 2017, Murray oversaw several portfolios: Environment and Climate Change; Infrastructure; Transportation; Training, Colleges, and Universities; and Research and Innovation. Murray served as mayor of Winnipeg from 1998 to 2004. He was the first openly gay mayor of a large city in North America. -30- Download a photo for editorial use: goo.gl/JRS9VJ Join the conversation on Twitter: @Pembina Learn more about the Pembina Institute: www.pembina.org Contact Andrew Aziz Communications Director 647-217-7967 andrewa@pembina.org Stephen Hui Communications Lead stephenh@pembina.org Recent publications

KISSIMMEE, Fla. -- Atlanta Braves pitcher Tommy Hanson has been diagnosed with a mild concussion after wrecking on his way to spring training. Manager Fredi Gonzalez said Tuesday that Hanson will miss the first two days of spring training, then gradually work his way back into a normal routine. If there are no setbacks, he should be back at full strength within a week. Hanson blew out a tire Monday near the Braves' Disney World complex and may have bumped his head on either the windshield or the steering wheel. The right-hander was diagnosed with a Grade 1 concussion but apparently has no other injuries. Hanson is expected to be one of the team's top starters in 2012. He was 11-7 with a 3.60 ERA last season despite a shoulder injury.

Work to establish a Scottish National Investment Bank takes a step forward today with the launch by First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon of a public consultation on the details of the Bank’s operation. Addressing an international conference on inclusive growth in Glasgow, the First Minister set out a number of steps the Scottish Government is taking to reduce inequalities and ensure that all parts of society benefit from economic prosperity. As was set out in the revised Economic Strategy, the Scottish Government recognises that for long-term, sustainable growth, it is vital that everyone has a stake in our country’s success. The establishment of a national investment bank was a key measure announced in the Programme for Government in September. Benny Higgins, CEO of Tesco Bank, was appointed to lead the work to develop an implementation plan, and he has convened a small advisory group to support him in the development of this plan. Views are now being sought from the public on the detail of how best the Bank can meet its objective of supporting the Scottish economy and working for the benefit of the people of Scotland. The First Minister said: “The Council of Economic Advisers identified a national investment bank as an important means of delivering infrastructure development, finance for high growth businesses and strategic investments in innovation. Our Programme for Government committed to the establishment of such a Bank and I am delighted that Benny Higgins is leading the implementation work. “Today, we are launching a consultation on the details of how best the bank can achieve those aims and support Scotland’s economy. “However, we recognise that inclusive growth is another essential part of our focus on innovation and productivity. “So we’ve also announced a range of measures to ensure that as we transform our economy, we leave no one in our society behind. “We will establish a Just Transition Commission – a panel of experts from across society that will advise us on how to make the move to a low-carbon economy as equitable as possible. “We will look at ways in which we can support the growth of employee ownership, and continue to pursue our fair work agenda.” Background The speakers at Scotland’s Inclusive Growth Conference, held at the University of Glasgow, included: • Per Bolund, Swedish Minister for Financial Markets and Consumer Affairs / Deputy Minister for Finance • Gabriella Ramos, Special Counsellor to the Secretary General, the Chief of Staff and OECD Sherpa to the G20 • Dr Gerry Rice, Director of the Communications Department (COM) at the International Monetary Fund Membership of the Advisory Group on the Implementation Plan for a Scottish National Investment Bank comprises of: • Peter Reekie, (Deputy Chief Executive of Scottish Futures Trust) • Paul Brewer (Corporate Finance Partner, PwC) • Cahal Dowds (Vice Chairman of Deloitte UK) • Prof Mariana Mazzucato (Director of the Institute for Innovation & Public Purpose, University College London) • Paul Lewis (Managing Director, Scottish Development International and Scottish Enterprise International Operations) • Liz Ditchburn (Director General Economy, Scottish Government) • Alyson Stafford (Director General Scottish Exchequer, Scottish Government) • Gary Gillespie (Chief Economist, Scottish Government) The Scottish National Investment Bank Consultation can be completed online.