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Hatsune Miku Project Diva F 2nd’s Diva Room detailed Sega releases another large batch of screenshots. The large batches of Hatsune Miku Project Diva F 2nd screenshots continue. This time, we’re introduced to the game’s Diva Room feature, new songs and modules, and shots from the opening movie. In the Diva Room, you can encounter characters and experience fun events. In the room events, you’ll savor spending more time together, doing things like cooking and knitting. Room themes and items are also added, bringing more variety. You’ll communicate with characters by touch with the PS Vita and by analog stick on PlayStation 3. With more interactions, you’ll see a variety of reactions. There is a maximum limit to how many times you can engage in touch communication, and if you continue to do nothing but touch, you’ll make them upset. If that happens then you’ll be unable to touch communicate for a set amount of time. Similarly, you can give them presents, but if you do it consecutively then you’ll get the reaction, “Enough already!” When you’ve upset someone, they’ll turn their back to you and the next time you try to touch communicate it’ll be more difficult. New components include: Request Speech Bubbles: In this room, sometimes as a rare event, characters will make a request. Things like changing background music, set remodeling, wardrobe changes, etc. If you fulfill their requests, you’ll become closer. In this room, sometimes as a rare event, characters will make a request. Things like changing background music, set remodeling, wardrobe changes, etc. If you fulfill their requests, you’ll become closer. 10,000 Feet Alps: This is a continuation of the mini-game, “Look this way!” You’ll play this nostalgic game with Miku and friends. The speed of the song changes, so it can get difficult! Songs shown include “Decorator” by Livetune, “Nisoku Hokou” by Deco 27, “Suki Kirai” by HoneyWorks, “Melt” by Ryo, and “Mikumiku ni Shite Ageru” by Ika_mo. And modules shown include “Breath You” by Shirako Mugi, “Yume Miru Panda” by Yamako, “Koisuru Shirokuma” by Yamako, “Hatsune Miku V3” by iXima, “Kaito V3” by iXima, “Gothic” by Karasu-R, “Fraulein” by Hako, and “Fuwafuwa Coat” by Nananana10. View the screenshots at the gallery. (Or download them in a 30mb zip here.) Hatsune Miku Project Diva F 2nd is due out for PlayStation 3 and PS Vita in Japan on March 6.

It’s been nearly two years since former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden first leaked to the Guardian that the NSA was spying on American citizens. A new survey from the Pew Research center finds that the revelations of the mass government surveillance programs has definitely impacted the way certain segments of the American population now view their privacy — but that hasn’t yet translated into behavior changes. The survey found that a vast majority of respondents — 87 percent — had heard of the leaks in some way. Among them about a third, 34 percent, had actually modified their behaviors to protect their privacy from the government more, with 25 percent reporting they had modified the way they use different technologies “a great deal” or “somewhat.” Common reactions included changing their privacy settings on social media (17 percent), using social media less often (15 percent), avoiding certain apps (15 percent) and uninstalling apps (13 percent). "But, a certain double standard holds true -- because most of the respondents said it was ok for the government to monitor others as long as they aren't the average Americans." Meanwhile, 14 percent of the 475 respondents said they now speak in person more often than communicating online or over the phone. About 13 percent said they now avoid the use of certain terminology online. ADVERTISEMENT While some of these changes might be subtle, they do show evidence of the social impact of surveillance monitoring, said Mary Madden, a senior researcher at the Pew Research Center and a co-author on this report. “This is especially true of those who have heard ‘a lot’ about the programs and among those who are younger,” Madden told PBS MediaShift in an email. “At the same time, when viewed within the context of Americans’ concerns about the programs, the changes in behavior don’t yet match the level of concern.” ADVERTISEMENT Mismatched reactions? At the same time, a significant portion of Americans have taken the impact of the Snowden leaks to heart and modified their behaviors to protect their privacy. The survey also showed that adoption of more advanced privacy or security strategies is low. One big reason for this, according to 54 percent of respondents, is that it would be “somewhat” or “very” difficult to find the tools and strategies that would enhance their privacy online and when using cell phones. Some other notable figures, as stated in the Pew report: Madden said a range of factors came up in the survey that could be influencing these figures. It’s not just that people didn’t feel they had the right expertise or time to research the tools available — it’s that they also thought that doing so might defeat the purpose of trying to enhance their privacy, or that it didn’t really matter. “Other respondents viewed activities such as the use of encryption or anonymity software like Tor as something that might raise suspicion and make them a target for monitoring,” she told MediaShift. “In addition, we heard from some respondents who weren’t concerned about monitoring of their accounts and activities because they felt as though they ‘had nothing to hide’ or it was a ‘small price to pay’ for their safety.” Among the other findings of the survey? Sixty-one percent of those who were aware of the government surveillance programs said they have become less confident the surveillance was in the public interest as news has continued to unfold. But, a certain double standard holds true — because most of the respondents said it was OK for the government to monitor others as long as they aren’t the average Americans. Eighty-two percent said it’s acceptable to monitor the communications of suspected terrorists, and 60 percent said it was OK to both monitor the communications of foreign leaders and those of American leaders. And more than half of respondents (54 percent) approved of monitoring the communications of foreign citizens. In comparison, 40 percent of Americans said it was OK to monitor ordinary American citizens. Sonia Paul is a freelance journalist based in India, and is the editorial assistant at PBS MediaShift. She is on Twitter @sonipaul.

During a speech at the University of Pennsylvania on Thursday, former Vice President Joe Biden argued that in 2016, the Democratic Party “did not talk what it always stood for, and that is how to maintain a burgeoning middle class.” Biden stated that he thinks the choice between protecting American jobs and engaging with the world is “exaggerated.” He added, “Look, in a sense, we wouldn’t be having this conversation about American jobs, in the way it’s just been phrased, legitimately, by the president, were it not for 171,000 votes, 171,000 votes in four states, that put us in this position.” Biden continued that 2016 was the first campaign he could remember “where, my party did not talk what it always stood for, and that is how to maintain a burgeoning middle class. And the truth of the matter is, you didn’t hear a single solitary sentence in the last campaign about that guy working on the assembly making $60,000 a year, and the wife making $32,000 as a hostess in a restaurant…and they’ve got two kids, and they can’t make it, and they’re scared, and they’re frightened.” He further stated that while on the macro level, globalization has been a phenomenal success, but it has “left people behind.” And the global system is something the US needs more than anyone in the world. Biden later said, “[Y]ou know, all those angry white men, you know, we talk about, that are racist. Guess what? Barack and I won them. Let’s get this straight. It wasn’t racist. They voted for a black man, twice in a row, but they didn’t this time. They didn’t this time, because they look out there, and they’re scared and no one’s talking to them.” He also stated President Trump “has not created any jobs. He’s not going to create many jobs.” He also argued that it’s a “false choice” to try and decide between focusing on the white working class and being progressive. (h/t Dan Merica) Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett

Only adventurous beer drinkers living in the Bay Area 30 to 35 years ago got to sample the wares of America’s first modern microbrwery. However, thanks to Boston Beer Company — yes, the makers of Sam Adams Lager — New Albion’s pale ale has been recreated. New who? New Albion Brewery was founded in Sonoma in 1976 and produced its first beers in 1977. It was gone by the end of 1982, when many of us who enjoy good beer today were far from legal drinking age. (If you weren’t born yet, I don’t want to hear it). If New Albion was before your time — especially if New Albion was before your time — it’s a story worth revisiting. From Scotland to Sonoma Navy man Jack McAuliffe discovered good beer the same way most Americans did in the 1960s: by leaving the country. He fell in love with Scottish ales and started homebrewing while stationed in Glasgow. McAuliffe finished his tour, came home to California, graduated college, and nursed a wild idea to apply his engineering skills to building a small brewery. Unlike Fritz Maytag, who purchased and improved the existent Anchor Brewery, McAuliffe was starting from scratch. He read a bunch of 19th century books on brewing, featuring illustrations of equipment that looked nothing like modern hardware. Then he built a tiny brewery anyway, in Sonoma, mostly by himself. He used barrels as fermenters, labeled bottles with a machine from 1910, and trucked in water from an offsite well. “I built a little apartment above the brewery and I lived up there like a spider,” McAuliffe told the Craft Brewers Conference in 2011. He named his fledgling brewery New Albion. There was formerly an Albion Brewery in the Hunter’s Point neighborhood of San Francisco. (Click here for a photo of its remains and here to see what the block looks like now). That brewery was named after Sir Francis Drake’s original name for Northern California, Nova Albion. A drawing of Drake’s ship the Golden Hinde and a pre-bridge Golden Gate became New Albion’s label art. Anheuser-Busch had the old-timey horses, McAufliffe reasoned, and he wanted his brewery to have a historical feel too. (Bay Area drinkers are more likely to recall another local homage to Sir Francis Drake.) An uphill battle American beer was pretty much all the same in the mid-70s, and here was a guy trying to sell unpasteurized bottles of pale ale, porter, and stout in handmade wooden cases. (Keg beer would appear later). Distributors didn’t know how to handle or sell this kind of beer, so McAuliffe eventually began self-distributing his beer to a selection of bars willing to take a chance on it. He can’t remember which bars in particular were his best customers, but says about half the beer went to San Francisco and the other half stayed in Sonoma county. It was the Carter administration, and I’m not an expert on the economy back then, but it sounds like a rough time to start a business. New Albion needed funding to grow, but bankers didn’t want to invest in weird beer at a time when capital was already limited. McAuliffe also sensed that he was missing out on a big piece of the pie by giving all his beer to other people to pour. At the time, so-called “tied house” legislation prevented breweries from selling their own beer directly to the public. (Bear in mind homebrewing wasn’t even legal until 1978.) McAuliffe, along with Berkeley’s current mayor Tom Bates and other beer industry pioneers like Anchor’s Fritz Maytag, rallied for changes in the law. Then-assemblyman Bates authored a bill that allowed California breweries to sell their own beer as long as there was a restaurant attached, only the second bill of its kind in the nation. It passed in 1982, paving the way for California brewpubs, but it was too late for the financially struggling New Albion. The legacy Anyone starting a brewery in the early days was likely inspired by New Albion’s DIY set-up. Ken Grossman, founder of Sierra Nevada, was another mechanically-minded ‘70s homebrewer with brewery dreams. He was on the phone with Jack McAuliffe a lot in the beginning to ask questions and brainstorm brewery problems. When Sierra Nevada was planning 30th anniversary brews in partnership with American brewing legends, it makes sense that Jack McAuliffe got another call. The resulting commemorative beer, Jack & Ken’s Ale, was a barleywine based on an old New Albion brew. Then there’s Don Barkley, a local homebrewer who was unceremoniously dismissed the first time he came around to New Albion offering free labor. (McAuliffe says he was in the middle of a brewhouse emergency at the time). Barkley tried again and was allowed to stay, got to know the New Albion operation well, and went on to found Mendocino Brewing (which got New Albion equipment after it shut down). Barkley is at Napa Smith today, where he was the first to briefly revive New Albion pale ale. The return of New Albion Pale Another member of the unofficial Jack McAuliffe fan club was Jim Koch, who founded Boston Beer Company in 1984. He purchased the New Albion trademark when it was about to expire and probably could have gotten away with brewing anything under the name. Instead, he got Jack McAuliffe back into a brewhouse to help clone New Albion’s original pale ale. Between McAuliffe’s excellent memory, the simplicity of the recipe, and the preservation of New Albion’s yeast at UC Davis for all these years, they think they got pretty close to the real deal. Samuel Adams New Albion Ale premiered at the Great American Beer Festival last fall and made its debut in bottles at Russian River Brewing Company last week, where Russian River’s Vinnie Cilurzo hailed McAuliffe as “the original nanobrewer.” Jim Koch came from Massachusetts, Jack McAuliffe came from Texas, and Bay Area beer geeks from all over packed the Santa Rosa brewpub where the two held court. I didn’t have the gumption to elbow through the throngs of beer VIPs to meet either McAuliffe or Koch, but I was happy just to be there for the historic event, soaking up beer history and drinking ale last seen in bottles when I was seven. During the Q&A, I did ask McAuliffe if there was a chance we’d ever see New Albion’s porter and stout revived. He quickly replied, “Oh yeah, you betcha!” I hope he was serious. The beer itself is simple: all Cascade because that’s what there was, and mild by the standards of today’s pales. It’s quaffable and pleasant, until you imagine it busting out of nowhere in a world of light lagers and skunky imports, with only Anchor beers for company. Then it’s a revelation. Look for it in six-packs at any store in the US that usually carries Sam Adams, then enjoy the taste of 1977. Further reading It’s easy to get deeper into New Albion’s history, thanks to beer writers who were on top of this chapter of brewing history long before I was. Maureen Ogle’s book on the history of beer in America, Ambitious Brew, devotes a large section to Jack McAuliffe and New Albion. It’s how I learned much of what I know about the subject, and I recommend the book to beer lovers in general. She also sometimes posts about it on her blog. Longtime Bay Area beer writer Jay Brooks has several interesting blog posts on the subject: Jack McAuliffe’s visit to Russian River, where he offered to autograph the original New Albion sign hanging behind the bar despite having one arm out of commission from a car accident. Brooks writes, “we got out the ladder and up he climbed, sharpie between his teeth like a beer pirate.” McAuliffe’s nostalgic visit to the old New Albion site in 2011. McAuliffe did a Q&A at the Craft Brewers Conference in 2011, essentially reintroducing himself as a public figure willing to talk beer. Brooks snagged the video. New Jersey-based beer writer John Holl has also done a great job covering New Albion. This piece takes you inside the pale ale’s 2012 brew day. A detailed biography of Jack McAuliffe and his brewery and, for giggles, the anecdote behind the naming of New Albion’s Old Toe Sucker barleywine. Just goes to show that the beer business has been full of crazy stories from the beginning. Disclosure: Samuel Adams New Albion Ale was provided to me free of charge at a media event prior to the Russian River launch, but I was already obsessed with the history of New Albion by then.

In Plato's dialogues the philosopher Socrates encounters leading figures from other disciplines, such as mathematics and rhetoric. Often this leads to an intellectual contest. In a famous passage from the Republic Socrates says that there is a long-standing quarrel between poetry and philosophy (607b), although he then tries to show that the aggression lies on the side of poetry, not philosophy -- for his part, he says, he would be glad to see even the most dangerous poetry defended convincingly. These passages can give the impression that in the dialogues the function of poetry, mathematics and so on is to be the rivals of philosophy. Probably the most influential book to have taken this approach is Andrea Nightingale's Genres in Dialogue: Plato and the Construct of Philosophy (Cambridge, 1995). According to Nightingale, Plato gives philosophy a distinct voice in Athenian intellectual conversation by bringing it into relation with other, competing forms of discourse, such as poetry and oratory. The obvious attraction of this approach is that it offers a way of understanding the relationship between different disciplines or genres in Plato's writing. But if scholars expect Plato constantly to mark the boundary between philosophy and other disciplines (and from time to time to engage in a skirmish with another discipline), they risk being distracted from comparisons within a discipline, such as between different doctors or different philosophers. That risk is not altogether avoided in Susan Levin's original book on the 'rivalry' between philosophy and medicine in the dialogues. In a previous monograph (The Ancient Quarrel between Philosophy and Poetry Revisited, Oxford, 2001) Levin has explored philosophy and poetry, or philosophy and 'literature', as she sometimes calls it, in Plato. In this new book she argues that medicine and philosophy have a similarly antagonistic relationship, at least until the Laws, where there is a rapprochement. Much of the book is structured around Levin's account of medicine in the Gorgias, Symposium, and Republic, and in the penultimate chapter she discusses the newly irenic attitude to medicine in the Laws. A second theme of the book is the doctor-patient relationship in Plato, and in the final chapter she considers what Plato has to say to contemporary bioethics. Here too the Laws provides much of the material: Levin uses the Laws to suggest how there can be asymmetry without paternalism. The third theme is politics: Levin draws connections between Plato's attitude to medicine and developments in his political philosophy. Levin obviously finds useful a developmental explanation of contrasts, and she does not say much about contemporary alternatives to 'developmentalism', as her kind of approach is now called. She defends her assumptions about the dialogues' relative dates in an early footnote (p. 5 n.1): it is quite an understatement to say that 'some controversy abides' on the subject of chronology, and non-specialists may get the false impression that scholarship is drawing ever closer to a consensus. (Levin aims to convince colleagues not only in ancient philosophy but also in bioethics and the history of medicine.) The greatest challenge for Levin is to demonstrate a critical or hostile attitude to medicine in the Gorgias, Symposium, and Republic. As she acknowledges (p. 40), there are 'appearances to the contrary'. She provides two chapters on the Gorgias, the first of which discusses the confrontation not with medicine but with Callicles, rhetoric and sophistry, as well as the criteria for a craft or expertise (technê). (Transliterated Greek is used frequently in the book, but Levin provides at the start of the book a full glossary of Greek words.) Any specialist can see why Levin wished to put the discussion of medicine in its context, but non-specialists (and probably some students) will struggle to understand why a book on medicine and philosophy starts with the ethical theories of Callicles and Socrates. It would also have helped to offer some historical explanation of why in the fourth century it seemed quite so important to determine whether or not a profession constituted a technê. The second chapter then turns to medicine in the Gorgias, and Levin contrasts the status of medicine in that dialogue with various claims made for medicine in the Hippocratic corpus. As Levin argues, Hippocratic authors did indeed make stronger claims for medicine than Plato did. But showing this contrast, by juxtaposing passages of Plato and Hippocratic writing, does not establish that Plato was offering a critique of medicine and its authority. In the third chapter Levin turns to Eryximachus, one of the speakers in Plato's Symposium. Not surprisingly, she suggests that his speech shows the limitations of medicine, even though Socrates directs his criticism against other speakers, Agathon and Aristophanes. In the dialogues Eryximachus is the closest thing to a representative of the medical profession, and, contrary to Levin's interpretation, there are doubts as to whether even he exactly fits that description. Eryximachus of course draws attention to his profession as a doctor, but his speech is not a narrowly medical perspective on Love. A previous speaker, Pausanias, has just distinguished between two kinds of 'love', and Eryximachus offers further applications of Pausanias' distinction, in medicine but also in agriculture, music and divination. It is hardly to Eryximachus' discredit, as Levin suggests, that he says little about virtues of the soul, for that was a central theme of Pausanias' speech, and Eryximachus is trying to show how Pausanias' distinction belongs not only to the sphere of human relations, but also to the treatment of the body and plants and to dealings with the gods. Levin is well aware of the significance of Pausanias for Eryximachus' speech, but she does not recognize that this explains the latter's reticence about moral virtues. His reticence does not, as she supposes, show that he resembles Callicles. The discussion of medicine in the third book of the Republic is considered next. As Levin rightly observes, this is a comparatively neglected part of the Republic (philosophical scholarship tends to rush past it in order to get to the tripartition of the soul), and further treatment is very welcome. On the other hand, the contrast in this passage is not between medicine and philosophy but between different uses of medicine: roughly speaking, these are (1) treatment of injuries and the less chronic illnesses and (2) prolonging life when an illness is incurable. Levin suggests a contrast between medicine and philosophy by saying that Plato, or Socrates, comments on medicine 'qua philosopher' or 'from his standpoint as a philosopher' (pp.115, 117). This is not as innocuous as one might suppose. Socrates is speaking from a political perspective (he is teased for making the legendary doctor Asclepius too much of a politician, 407e), and the relationship between philosophy and politics has not yet come into view. Was Plato really incapable of considering a profession without considering what makes it different from philosophy? A chapter on the Statesman makes the shift in attitude between the Republic and Laws less abrupt. Levin's account of Plato's political development is rather uneven. In the discussion of the Statesman there is a good comment (p. 150) on the variety of crafts and the interest shown in their various contributions to the city. But in the discussion of legislation adverbs do too much of the talking: 'laws do not figure significantly in the Republic' (p. 165), and yet on the other hand laws are not 'wholly irrelevant in the Republic' (p. 167). Then at last we get to the Laws, where doctors and their patients are more highly regarded: doctors are no longer subordinated to philosophers, and the doctor-patient relationship is more equal than elsewhere in Plato. I expected the chapter to focus on the discussion of medicine in Book 4 (720a-e) -- another Platonic contrast between different kinds of doctor -- but instead the chapter addresses more generally the different political ideals of the Republic and the Laws. In the closing comments on bioethics, Plato is presented as a better companion to ongoing debates than Aristotle. Levin uses Aristotle's account of phronêsis (practical wisdom) against him: according to her, the Aristotelian wise man's superiority entails that the doctor will have 'categorical supremacy' over the patient (p. 214). It is hard not to feel that a more sympathetic account of Aristotle -- or a more sympathetic application of what he says -- could be offered without very much difficulty. For one thing, why must the 'wisdom' reside in the doctor alone? It is unfortunate that Levin does not devote a chapter to the Timaeus, as it would have encouraged her to think about philosophy and medicine in terms different from those of rivalry and reconciliation. Timaeus, the main speaker, is an authority on the body as well as the soul, and in medicine as well as philosophy. The Timaeus gives an extraordinary picture of how medicine, cosmology and psychology could inform one another. Philosophy and medicine are not rivals, and they do more than merely respect each other. Some consideration of the Timaeus would also have shown that Plato's writing about medicine is not tied to his political thought exclusively. His view of the body as an object of inquiry is important, too.

Draft Democratic Platform Gives LGBT Issues Just One Paragraph The Democratic National Committee Friday released a draft platform, offering the first glimpse of how the party will frame this election and the issues it illuminates. In comparison with previous year’s platforms, issues affecting LGBT Americans appear to be more tightly woven into the fabric of the platform. In the 35-page document, a single paragraph is dedicated exclusively to LGBT issues. In what appears to be a first for the party platform, it uses the word “transgender” twice. David Badash at The New Civil Rights Movement notes, however, that the platform uses the term “LGBT” 11 times, which is more than double the usage of that phrase in the 2012 platform. This year's draft platform mentions “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” three times, each in succession on paragraphs about civil rights and military service. But nowhere in the document do the words “gay,” “lesbian,” or “bisexual” appear. The paragraph titled “LGBT Rights” reads: “Democrats applaud last year’s decision by the Supreme Court that recognized LGBT people — like every other American — have the right to marry the person they love. But there is still much work to be done. LGBT kids continue to be bullied at school, a restaurant can refuse to serve a transgender person, and a same-sex couple is at risk of being evicted from their home. That is unacceptable and must change. Democrats will fight for comprehensive federal nondiscrimination protections for all LGBT Americans and push back against state efforts to discriminate against LGBT individuals. We will combat LGBT youth homelessness and improve school climates, and we will protect transgender individuals from violence. We will promote LGBT human rights and ensure America’s foreign policy is inclusive of LGBT people around the world.” The draft platform also features a paragraph on HIV and AIDS, though it does not explicitly mention LGBT people in that section. Instead, it states that “Democrats believe an AIDS-free generation is in our grasp” and pledges to “increase research funding for the National Institutes of Health, cap pharmaceutical expenses for people living with HIV and AIDS, address HIV criminalization laws, and expand access for HIV prevention medications, particularly for the populations most at risk of infection.” Notably, the draft platform — which will be revised numerous times before it’s finalized at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia later this month — steers clear of some of the most contentious issues that have come to the forefront during this election season. The platform mentions “religious freedom” once, in a pointed rejection of “Donald Trump’s vilification of Muslims.” Although the draft platform praises the demise of “don’t ask, don’t tell,” it does not specifically address the freshly overturned ban on open military service by transgender Americans. It does acknowledge that “our military is strongest when people of all races, religions, sexual orientations, and gender identities are honored for their service to our country.” While previous platforms have highlighted Democrats’ support for specific LGBT-inclusive legislation, like the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, the draft platform at this point does not mention that ill-fated legislation’s newest incarnation, the Equality Act. In fact, the draft features no discussion on defending or building on existing legal protections for LGBT people — a stark contrast from the promises made to LGBT Americans by presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. By contrast, the final party platform in 2012 used the term “LGBT” twice — once in reference to antibullying efforts to protect queer youth, and once to affirm that LGBT families should be considered in immigration reform. The word “gay” appeared four times, but the words “lesbian,” “bisexual,” or “transgender” were nowhere to be found. That year’s platform mentioned “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” twice, in a two-paragraph section on civil rights. The 2012 platform did have a paragraph that defined “gay rights as human rights,” urging U.S. diplomats to speak out against anti-LGBT laws and policies in countries around the world. “Recognizing that gay rights are human rights, the President and his administration have vowed to actively combat efforts by other nations that criminalize homosexual conduct or ignore abuse,” the platform read. It also mentioned gay men in reference to the Affordable Care Act’s capacity to improve access to HIV and AIDS prevention among at-risk populations. Read the full draft platform at the DNC’s website.

Plano Police have released security camera video of the suspects believed to be responsible for graffiti painted on Plano West Senior High School facilities late last month. A crop of vulgar messages and lewd images painted on the exterior of the school’s gym was discovered in the early morning hours of Feb. 27. The graffiti was discovered on the outside walls of Plano West High School The video released Tuesday appears to show three females spraypainting the gym doors and walls. A black sedan is seen driving away from the school just after the time of the offense. Police say the suspects are believed to be adults and have not been identified. The punishment for vandalism like this can carry jail time up to two years and include a fine of up to $10,000. Crime Stoppers is offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information that leads to an arrest. Tips should be phoned in to Crime Stoppers at 877-373-8477 (TIPS). Copyright 2016 WFAA

Apparently the odd couple of Kanye West and Paul McCartney have found some real magic in the studio as it is being reported that the Beatle legend will co-produce West's entire new album. After a new Rihanna, West and McCartney song hit the 'Net last night, Ye's longtime friend and barber IBN Jasper took to Instagram and made some revelations about the Yeezy LP. According to him, not only will McCartney be featured on the LP, he will also co-produce the entire project. "Kanye's whole new album is co produced with McCartney," Jasper typed into the comment section of his IG post of the cover art for the track. He also revealed the song is originally a KW song that Rihanna was added to. The track will be available on both of the music star's albums. "[West] decided to put Rihanna on the song and put it on BOTH of their albums because they are both Roc Nation," he added. As previously reported , West expressed his desire to work with the McCartney last summer with them getting in the studio a short time later. On Jan. 1 they put forth the first fruits of their labor with the track "Only One" and of course recently followed up with the Rihanna collab, "FourFiveSeconds." West caught some flack for the different direction of his last album Yeezus . Do you think the hip-hop world is ready for an entire album put together with help from a strictly rock legend? Related: Kanye West Says His Braids Got Him A Felony Here’s The Status Of The Most Anticipated Albums Of 2015 Read Kanye West’s Handwritten Lyrics To “Only One”

Why WaPo Changed Headline to Zerlina Maxwell’s Insane Rape Allegation Opinion Article An opinion piece in the Washington Post brought on so much scorn on Twitter that they changed the headline in a matter of hours. Professional idiot and occasional Democratic strategist Zerlina Maxwell’s piece was entitled “No matter what Jackie said, we should automatically believe rape claims,” but after tons of Twitter mockery, the headline was changed from “automatically” to “generally.” Hey @ZerlinaMaxwell. remember original headline on your crazy story? pic.twitter.com/z3aOtbIDMW — Dan Gainor (@dangainor) December 6, 2014 Why did @ZerlinaMaxwell downgrade Belief Settings from "Automatic" to "Generally?" Is she a witch? pic.twitter.com/OhgNv7rak1 — Film Ladd (@FilmLadd) December 6, 2014 Here are some of the better tweets about the piece: .@LilMissRightie Zerlina Maxwell is all about ignoring facts when it suits her: pic.twitter.com/yxCHuO4Mi5 — neontaster (@neontaster) December 6, 2014 I wonder what @ZerlinaMaxwell would say if a woman accused her of rape? Should we Automatically Believe™? @LilMissRightie @AdamBaldwin — Film Ladd (@FilmLadd) December 6, 2014 As @ZerlinaMaxwell and others are demonstrating, Twitter provides a service: it allows you to find out which journalists believe in truth. — Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) December 6, 2014 What if everybody started accusing @ZerlinaMaxwell of rape? By her logic, her Facebook will suffer, but she'll otherwise be fine. — Dr. Kanko, Doctor (@kankokage) December 6, 2014 Using @ZerlinaMaxwell's logic, could someone please arrest Bill Clinton for rape. Thanks. — Matthew (@Matthops82) December 6, 2014 Shorter @ZerlinaMaxwell : Who cares if a guy is falsely accused of rape bc the dude bro may lose a friend on Facebook. Meh. No biggie. — lauren (@LilMissRightie) December 6, 2014 Hi @ZerlinaMaxwell just in case you're avoiding the comments in that piece of garbage you wrote today, Preview: Ppl think you are INSANE. — lauren (@LilMissRightie) December 6, 2014 The @ZerlinaMaxwell is a lawyer? I want to know what cereal box she got her little degree from. — SúperTaterLovah (@SuperAndrea) December 6, 2014 So you agree Bill Clinton raped Juanita Broadrick? MT @ZerlinaMaxwell We never question the discrepancies in the rapist's version of events — Jalen~ sweet as pie (@GOPMommy) December 6, 2014 I think @ZerlinaMaxwell took this tweet seriously pic.twitter.com/H293pk2Go2 — TMZ Politics (@TMZ_Politics) December 6, 2014 .@ZerlinaMaxwell : Why did u change your article's headline from "automatically believe" to "generally believe"? — AJ Delgado (@AJDelgado13) December 6, 2014 Oh good @ZerlinaMaxwell's editor changed the headline. Now just a general dismissal of presumption of innocence instead of an automatic one. — Neal Dewing (@Neal_Dewing) December 6, 2014 Atticus Finch weeps. RT @dangainor: Hey @ZerlinaMaxwell. remember original headline on your crazy story? pic.twitter.com/90sjyWaajg — John Nolte (@NolteNC) December 6, 2014 And this is no exaggeration, she is literally saying that someone accused of rape faces few consequences, so these claims should be accepted without scrutiny: Many people (not least UVA administrators) will be tempted to see this as a reminder that officials, reporters, and the general public should hear both sides of the story and collect all the evidence before coming to a conclusion in rape cases. This is what we mean in America when we say someone is “innocent until proven guilty.” After all, look what happened to the Duke lacrosse players. In important ways, this is wrong. We should believe, as a matter of default, what an accuser says. Ultimately, the costs of wrongly disbelieving a survivor far outweigh the costs of calling someone a rapist. Even if Jackie fabricated her account, UVA should have taken her word for it during the period while they endeavored to prove or disprove the accusation. I wonder if she believes that all white women’s rape allegations against blacks should be automatically believed? And is this what “equality” means, that women will be believed over men? Yeah that’s kinda stupid.

Prince al-Waleed bin Talal once called bitcoin an “Enron in the making.” Two months later, the Saudi royal suddenly finds himself looking up at the man or woman (or group) behind the soaring cryptocurrency on the list of the world’s wealthiest billionaires, according to numbers crunched by Quartz on Monday. And yet, even after all the buzz, we still don’t know who the bitcoin’s anonymous creator, known as “Satoshi Nakamoto,” actually is. Perhaps an Australian entrepreneur? No. Or maybe it’s Tesla’s TSLA, -0.30% Elon Musk? Guess again. Nevertheless, with bitcoin BTCUSD, +0.40% trading just under $20,000 ahead of the launch of bitcoin futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange Sunday, Nakamoto’s net worth reached $19.4 billion, enough to place him at 44th on the Forbes rich list. That would put him ahead of the prince and just behind Microsoft MSFT, +0.69% co-founder Paul Allen and Apple AAPL, +0.06% founder Steve Jobs’s widow. Nakamoto’s net worth estimate comes from the 980,000 bitcoins he is believed to own, which, at the current price of about $18,900, has him slipping down the list. In the crypto world, these numbers shift faster than we can keep track. However you want to calculate his net worth, he’s come a long, long way since October, when he would have cracked the Forbes list at No. 247 with a fortune of $5.9 billion. Clearly, it’s been a good couple months/years to be a bitcoin “hodler.”

Whatever's gotten into Stephen Shellen, he probably never asked for this. Stephen Shellen, best known as the voice actor for Deus Ex: Human Revolution's David Sarif, has holed up in an undisclosed location to hide from Illuminati agents and their fully equipped fruit flies. No, really. A video featuring the voice actor's paranoid rambling has been uploaded to YouTube. Shellen warns the world that we are under attack in our own homes, from inconspicuous specks that he has identified as "fully fucking equipped Area 51 deadly dangerous fruit flies." These tiny agents of terror are allegedly shooting vaccines into us, as well as being armed with some "alien form of laser." In other words, Shellen is quickly approaching Charlie Sheen levels of bonkers. Many have noted that the video is far too well-cut to be the product of true insanity. The fact that Shellen is so deeply entrenched in the conspiracy could mean that this is all part of a viral marketing campaign for another Deus Ex game, a series built from layers upon layers of conspiracy theories. Neowin reports that "Shellen believes the Illuminati are coming for him, and his time is limited before he dies for real. He uploaded a YouTube video showing the extent of his concern. According to him, the Illuminati are spying on him at present, and he is due to die on July 30th 2012." This information doesn't seem to come from the video. For those of you keeping track, July 30 has already passed, so either the Illuminati have covered up their success or we'll (presumably) be hearing more from Shellen soon. Adding to the mystery, Shellen's Wikipedia page has undergone heavy revision over the past few days, with changes including adding his date of death as the 30 and inserting "Icarus has found you" (a reference to a warning from the original Deus Ex). At the time of this writing, the page is locked due to "persistent vandalism." Update: Thanks to some sleuthing by Chris Franklin, it appears that this video (and surrounding conspiracy) may be disingenuous. The video itself is a re-uploading of an older video in which Shellen plays a character called "Hobo Steve." The original video is part of a channel of similarly outlandish conspiracy theories and "a generous dose of humor." This is not to say that this is conclusively staged - there isn't enough information to tell whether the Hobo Steve character is purely fictional or a persona Shellen uses to express his actual beliefs on the channel. Either way, it's safe to assume that this has nothing to do with the Deus Ex franchise. Source: YouTube

Founder of gorgeous ambient label Em:t about their animal-themed covers George Palladev Blocked Unblock Follow Following May 22, 2017 David Thompson: “We wanted our visuals to be a bit more imaginative than the fractals used on most electronic music sleeves. The photographs give the label an unique identity and, seeing as how the animals usually look pretty weird, they reflect the abstract nature of the sounds we’re dealing with. There’s also a veiled ecological comment. The way the world is going, it won’t be too long before we are left with nothing but pictures of these creatures. Most of our images are obtained through this amazing company called Oxford Scientific Films. They send people into jungles and up mountains right across the world to snap everything which moves. They’ve built up a massive library over the years. The musicians choose the photos of the single-artists albums, but myself and my partner, Chris Allen, select the frogs for the compilations. It’s great fun. You wouldn’t believe how silly get when a big package of new singles of new slides arrives in the office.” Check the beautiful and trippy Woob’s ambient dub and Qubism’s psy ambient from the em:t catalog.

This is the remote-controlled Digger D-3 "flail tank". It's the latest and greatest (read: explosive-proof) of Digger mine-detonators, which have been around since WWII. Basically, it's steered around on the battlefield like a giant R/C car tank while it wails on the ground with a rotating drum of 10-pound hammers on chains, setting off anything explosive it comes in contact with. God what I'd give to drive that thing around town. The ten pound hammers spin wildly on the bar, digging up to 8 inches into the dirt as they strike. Heavy armor protects the tank if a mine explodes, and any damage to the hammers or chains is easily repaired in the field. I love it. Granted I'm sure we could invent some sort of robotic mine detector or an orbiting satellite that could locate and detonate land mines from space with a powerful laser beam, but I miss the the good old days when the answer to everything was "just beat the shit out of it." eying mangled printer Haha, you know what I'm talkin' about! Hit the jump for a video of the D-3's predecessor (cleverly named the D-2), in action. This robo-tank whacks landmines into submission [dvice] Thanks to Kevin, who detonates land mines the old fashioned way: by losing a leg. Yeah, about that.

The U.S. government is concerned Islamist militants may be preparing attacks aimed at disrupting the Winter Olympic games in Sochi in February and has offered closer cooperation with Russia on security. One militant group had issued explicit direct threats to disrupt the Olympics, a State Department official said. Two bombings in the Russian city of Volgograd over the last two days, one at the city's central railway station and another on a bus, killed dozens of people and raised anxieties about the safety of the Olympics. U.S. officials said U.S. and Russian authorities have engaged in extensive contacts regarding security preparations for the Games. The United States is expected to share with Russia information it might collect about possible threats to the Games. “We're taking lots of security precautions” related to the Winter Games, a U.S. State Department official said on Monday. U.S. security officials said the government was not surprised by the Volgograd bombings and had anticipated that such attacks might well occur in the run-up to the Games. Caitlin Hayden, a spokeswoman for the National Security Council, condemned the attacks in Volgograd blamed on suicide bombers. She added that the U.S. government had “offered our full support to the Russian government in security preparations for the Sochi Olympic Games, and we would welcome the opportunity for closer cooperation for the safety of the athletes, spectators, and other participants.” The State Department is expected to caution U.S. travelers on Monday about possible bombings and hostage takings in Russia, particularly in the North Caucasus region which is less than 100 miles (160 km) from Sochi. The U.S. offer for closer cooperation with Russia follows two issues earlier this year that raised tensions between U.S. and Russian security agencies: the involvement of two Chechen brothers in the Boston Marathon bombing and Russia's granting temporary asylum to former U.S. National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden. Despite these points of contention, a U.S. official said security cooperation between the U.S. and Russia regarding the games had improved in the run up to the Olympics. In November, Matthew Olsen, director of the government's U.S. National Counter-terrorism Center, said his agency was “coordinating and integrating the intelligence community's support...to the Winter Olympics in Sochi.” Olsen told a Senate committee he had visited Sochi a few days earlier and met Russian intelligence and security officials to discuss the games.

Sadiq Khan has weighed in on the row over Air China’s "racist" tour guide to London and insisted the capital is one of the safest in the world and its multicultural composition is one of its greatest strengths. Air China, the country’s national airline, prompted outrage after warning travellers to avoid visiting areas of London “populated by Indians, Pakistanis and black people” in its in-flight magazine Wings of China. The guide also said: “We advise tourists not to go out alone at night, and females always to be accompanied by another person when travelling.” We’ll tell you what’s true. You can form your own view. From 15p €0.18 $0.18 $0.27 a day, more exclusives, analysis and extras. Shape Created with Sketch. People news in pictures Show all 9 left Created with Sketch. right Created with Sketch. Shape Created with Sketch. People news in pictures 1/9 US President-elect Donald Trump and musician Kanye West pose for media at Trump Tower in Manhattan, New York City Reuters 2/9 Anna Wintour apologises for criticising Donald Trump on a train. Fashionista was reportedly heard saying the President-elect would use the Presidency 'to sell himself and his brand' Getty 3/9 Ivanka Trump and her husband might be joining the next administration. The couple is plotting a move to the nation's capital Getty 4/9 Samuel L Jackson calls Muslims 'the new black kids in America' 'People perceive them as a threat before even saying hello,' actor says of Muslims in the US Getty 5/9 Former JLS star Oritse Williams denies rape allegation The singer has not been charged Getty 6/9 Bill Gates announces $1bn investment fund for clean energy technology Team-up with Richard Branson, Jeff Bezos and others aims to fight climate change - and reap 'super' rewards Getty 7/9 Donald Trump's aide worked for anti-immigation extremists Poll was used by President-elect during campaign to justify banning Muslims from the US Reuters 8/9 Henry Kissinger tells Nobel Peace Prize forum to give Donald Trump a chance More than 7,000 people called for the 'mastermind of war' to be arrested while visiting Norway EPA 9/9 John Travolta dismisses new Scientology documentary by former member Leah Remini The actor defends the church and says it was a source of support for him when he lost his girlfriend, mother and son Getty 1/9 US President-elect Donald Trump and musician Kanye West pose for media at Trump Tower in Manhattan, New York City Reuters 2/9 Anna Wintour apologises for criticising Donald Trump on a train. Fashionista was reportedly heard saying the President-elect would use the Presidency 'to sell himself and his brand' Getty 3/9 Ivanka Trump and her husband might be joining the next administration. The couple is plotting a move to the nation's capital Getty 4/9 Samuel L Jackson calls Muslims 'the new black kids in America' 'People perceive them as a threat before even saying hello,' actor says of Muslims in the US Getty 5/9 Former JLS star Oritse Williams denies rape allegation The singer has not been charged Getty 6/9 Bill Gates announces $1bn investment fund for clean energy technology Team-up with Richard Branson, Jeff Bezos and others aims to fight climate change - and reap 'super' rewards Getty 7/9 Donald Trump's aide worked for anti-immigation extremists Poll was used by President-elect during campaign to justify banning Muslims from the US Reuters 8/9 Henry Kissinger tells Nobel Peace Prize forum to give Donald Trump a chance More than 7,000 people called for the 'mastermind of war' to be arrested while visiting Norway EPA 9/9 John Travolta dismisses new Scientology documentary by former member Leah Remini The actor defends the church and says it was a source of support for him when he lost his girlfriend, mother and son Getty The row emerged on Wednesday after Haze Fan, a Beijing-based producer for CNBC, noticed the advice while travelling to the UK. She took a photograph of the guide and shared it on Twitter asking Khan, the Mayor of London, what he thought of it. Khan has now spoken out in defence of London and said London’s mix is one of its strongest assets. “London is one of the safest cities in the world and Londoners from different backgrounds living side by side is one of our greatest strengths,” said a spokesman for Khan. “The mayor is pleased that the magazine has now been withdrawn”. Air China released an apology and withdrew the controversial edition after outrage emerged. After the indignation emerged, Virendra Sharma, the Labour MP for Ealing Southall in west London, where almost 40 per cent of the population is Asian, said Air China's advice was “blatant racism”, and invited the airline to visit the area. “I am shocked and appalled that even today some people would see it as acceptable to write such blatantly untrue and racist statements," he said. “I have raised this issue with the Chinese ambassador, and requested that he ensures an apology is swiftly forthcoming from Air China, and the magazine is removed from circulation immediately. I have invited representatives of Air China to visit my constituency of Ealing Southall to see that a very multicultural area is safe, and would be of great value for those visiting London to see.” We’ll tell you what’s true. You can form your own view. At The Independent, no one tells us what to write. That’s why, in an era of political lies and Brexit bias, more readers are turning to an independent source. Subscribe from just 15p a day for extra exclusives, events and ebooks – all with no ads. Subscribe now

Former Fremantle captain David Mundy will play on next season after triggering a one-year contract extension. The 31-year-old is now guaranteed to extend his decorated 255-game career at Fremantle into a 15th AFL season. Mundy started the year on the AFL’s free agency list after originally signing a three-year playing deal that was due to run out at the end of this season. But as of this month, the 2010 Doig medallist has met terms in his contract needed to trigger an extra year that will keep him at the Dockers in 2018. The extension is a timely reward after a difficult 12 months. The Dockers coach talks about Freo's upcoming clash with West Coast The West Australian Play Video Video The Dockers coach talks about Freo's upcoming clash with West Coast Mundy, who turns 32 in July, was thrust into the captaincy role last year during one of the toughest seasons in Fremantle’s history as the club crashed from the minor premiership to win just four games. He was subsequently replaced as skipper by Brownlow medallist Nat Fyfe. Mundy’s manager Anthony McConville, from Mac’s Sports Promotions, confirmed the contract extension, but would not discusses what milestone had guaranteed the extra year. “He’s reached triggers from his previous contract to play on into 2018,” McConville said. A contract trigger is typically linked to performance indicators such as the number of AFL games played across the length of the deal or placings in club best-and-fairest counts. Mundy has already played more games than any footballer in Fremantle’s history other than retired champion Matthew Pavlich and has enjoyed a career renaissance as a key figure in the club’s dramatic revival. The veteran has been pushed forward across a three-game winning streak and is the Dockers’ equal leading goal kicker this season with six majors. When Hayden Ballantyne hit the ball sweetly from 55m after the siren, everyone thought he'd won the Dockers the game The West Australian Play Video Video When Hayden Ballantyne hit the ball sweetly from 55m after the siren, everyone thought he'd won the Dockers the game He has also proven he can still be a match winner around the ball, amassing 12 disposals and three clearances in a telling final quarter performance that helped drag the Dockers over the line in Saturday’s night’s thrilling five-point win over North Melbourne at Domain Stadium. Mundy is averaging 26 possessions and five clearances this year. His only better season statistically came in 2015 when he won his only All-Australian guernsey. A hamstring tear that will sideline Stephen Hill for up to a month is likely to force the former captain back into a more permanent on-ball role starting with Saturday night’s western derby. Hill’s injury has opened the door for a potential recall for axed wingman Danyle Pearce. Second-year midfielder Harley Balic will also be available after recovering from a minor hip complaint. Pearce, 31, was dumped to the WAFL for the first time in his five-year career at Fremantle after the side crashed to an 89-point away defeat to Port Adelaide in round two. Coach Ross Lyon has flagged an opening for Pearce to fight his way out of selection exile. “I’ve got full faith in those guys that went out,” Lyon said. “There’s no doubt Danyle Pearce, Cam Sutcliffe, (Nick) Suban – they can come in and play really good footy.”

St. Paul’s oldest remaining fire station will stay standing. After months of discussion with developers who had previously planned to raze the historic West End structure to make way for a hotel, St. Paul City Council member Rebecca Noecker announced Thursday that a deal had been reached to redevelop it instead. Part of the arrangement includes a $500,000 forgivable loan from the city’s Housing and Redevelopment Authority to help developers cover the added costs associated with adjusting building plans to accommodate both the hotel and the firehouse on the site. The property is on the southwest corner of Leech Street and Grand Avenue near United and Children’s hospitals. Built in 1871 for the Hope Engine Co., the firehouse is the oldest standing building that once served a municipal purpose in St. Paul. Despite its history, it has not been designated as historic. Until recently, real estate developer Dave Brooks and his business partner Jim Kelly had planned to demolish the building and replace it with a 109-room, extended-stay Marriott. Construction was slated to start this summer. The developers bought the property from Kraus-Anderson Construction Co., which annexed the former fire station into a warehouse built on the site years ago. “I am thrilled to be able to preserve the firehouse for the next generation of Saint Paul residents,” Noecker said in a written statement about the deal. “The committed neighbors in the area deserve a huge thank you for their efforts in raising awareness of the building’s significance and staying its demolition. I also appreciate the developers’ willingness to come to the table and figure out a better way forward.” Neither Brooks nor his representative Chuck Repke could be immediately reached for comment about the project. Brooks has redeveloped several historic sites in Lowertown. It’s not yet clear how the firehouse will be redeveloped, though previous discussion was centered around turning it into some type of restaurant or coffeeshop that would serve guests staying at the new Marriott. Elyse Jensen, president of the Historic Irvine Park Association, said she’s heard both options remain on the table. She was part of the group of community members from the West Seventh Street neighborhood who filed a civil suit in Ramsey County District Court to thwart Brooks’ development plans after learning about the toll they would take on the firehouse. The suit was stayed to allow both sides time to seek an agreement outside of court. Jensen welcomed news of the firehouse’s preservation Thursday. “We are really happy (the developers) were willing to compromise,” she said. “It seems like we found a solution that will work for them and now the community gets to keep an iconic building that is historically valuable to us.” While it’s not yet clear what the $500,000 HRA loan will cover, Repke previously said that the Marriott would lose about 25 of its planned parking spaces if the fire station remained onsite. To accommodate the loss, he said spaces could be built underneath the Marriott. He estimated at the time that the adjustment would cost about $600,000 and said the developers would look to the city to offset it. Noecker could not be immediately reached for additional comment on project details. Correction: This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Historic Irvine Park Association.

[ Home Page ] [ Third Reich ] [ Old Reich ] [ Kaiser Reich ] [ Imperial Russia ] [ Axis Powers ] [ Italian Fascist ] [ WW I ] [ Landsknecht ] [ Kaiser Wilhelm ] [ Frederick the Great ] Special Entry Watercolor of St. Charles's Church in Vienna by Adolf Hitler With Strong, Official Provenance and Expertise This is the actual watercolor by Adolf Hitler. Adolf Hitler's signature as seen on the painting Another church depiction by Adolf Hitler Hitler’s painting of a southern Bavarian church-1925 Another view of the Saint Charles's Church by Hitler-1912 The Minorite Church in Vienna-1910-12 Saint Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna-1910 This is the book by Billy Price on the paintings of Adolf Hitler. It is the only complete book so far published on the subject, and both of the paintings we offer are listed and pictured (the very ones!). The watercolor of the Vienna church as seen in Billy Price's book on Hitler's art Another picture from Price's book on the art of Adolf Hitler Hitler’s signature changed over the years. Authentic watercolors by him have been seen with several of his varied signatures (No two were ever alike.). Please understand that not all the signatures pictured in this image are from paintings, but they are from Billy Price's book Adolf Hitler: The Unknown Artist. Here is the picture of the painting with notary seals secured to the back of the official statement by Peter Jahn Here is the expertise and certificate of authenticity by Peter Jahn in reference to this watercolor by Adolf Hitler. Peter Jahn, along with Dr. August Priesack, were the only recognized authorities able to accurately authenticate Hitler paintings. Here in rather broken English Herr Jahn says unalterably that the Karlskirche in Vienna signed by Adolf Hitler and dated 1912 is authentic and he praises it as the second-largest Hitler watercolor he had ever seen and is wonderful in detail and impression. He goes on to say that he considers it to be one of the finest and most naturalistic ones he had ever personally held. He says the background displays high technical expertise and has not seen many of this high quality (Excellent!). In this watercolor one can see Hitler’s great talent as a painter. After giving a short narrative on his life and career, he goes on to say that this picture is, in his opinion, one of the largest and most beautiful works done by the hand of Adolf Hitler. The statement is with the signature and official stamps of a notary who notarized Peter Jahn's signature in 1982. Interesting that Peter Jahn did this statement on April 19, 1982, the day before Hitler’s birthday (Significent?). Original Adolf Hitler Watercolor of St. Charles’s Church With Official Provenance and Expertise (Item AH 28-14; ART 17-23; SPECIAL ITEM ) DESCRIPTION: This is the other watercolor painted by Adolf Hitler that we recently obtained. This is the second one mentioned in the article above in the description of the canvas of the castle of Neuschwanstein. We mentioned in that narrative that there were certain buildings and other pieces of architecture that Hitler truly admired and often painted, and this magnificent depiction of Karl’s Church in Vienna was certainly his favorite subject of all. It shows up in both his sketches and paintings several times among the ones that were found. This piece we offer is a full-blown precious watercolor in all its glory. We have mentioned in the article above that only two experts have had proper credentials for authenticating Hitler watercolors and drawings. They are the late Dr. August Priesack and the late Peter Jahn and were the last surviving experts after the war to honestly authenticate a Hitler painting and such expertise from either man is the singular best authentication and support that any purported Führer art piece can carry. Others have also claimed that they can offer authentication. One such ‘expert’ that I would rather term an “X-Spurt” is Herr Hans Horvath also from Vienna. He has built for himself a completely undeserved reputation as an expert in National Socialist paraphernalia and art. In actuality he is a furniture restorer and perhaps he is good at that trade, but in the role of an authority on Hitler art, I think he had better stick to the sandpaper and glue pot. So, in essence, the singular recognized experts in this field remain the late Dr. Priesack and the late Peter Jahn: all others must be taken with skepticism. The numerous Hitler watercolors and oils that show up are legion, and serious collectors invariably believe only in the ones that bear the Priesack or Jahn credentials. We have explained much about this in the article above regarding the magnificent Schloss Neuschwanstein watercolor. The Karlskirche in Vienna as seen in our accompanying picture just above is also like the other one—accompanied with a provenance and expertise by none other than Peter Jahn with a letter of positive authenticity dated April 19, 1982. According to Jahn, this painting, like the castle rendering, was also one of the largest Hitler watercolors he’d ever seen. The size is 15.75 x 11.5 inches. This is absolutely in my opinion as well, one of the most detailed and crisp examples of Hitler’s work ever located and offered. It is definitely done with watercolor and gouache, boldly signed and dated “1912.” It is in fine condition throughout. The great architectural technique is superb and the people in the depiction are somewhat substantial. Hitler, jokingly perhaps, often said that his paintings could easily be recognized by their “unreal people;” however, the incredible attention to detail in his landscapes, city scenes, and architectural renderings absolutely abound in realism while unfortunately less apparent in his handling of the human figure. It is obvious in his works that he reached for majesty in some of his art, but he also pictured simple Germanic country scenes, as well. For him, the great structures such as the Pergamon Altar and the Parthenon, both of ancient Greece, and the ancient Roman Pantheon, symbolized for him the dimension and glory of the race he considered the founders and builders of Western civilization—the Aryans. The monumental cathedral constructions of the medieval period, the palaces of the Renaissance and the neoclassical structures of the 19th century were as he often said, “expressions of a cultural community, a heritage to be preserved and perpetuated.” Why did Hitler the purported atheist paint churches and cathedrals? Why indeed? Well first of all, the dubious atheist contention comes from the writings and verbal utterings of the “court historians” who seek always to slander him to the fullest with pompous insolence bordering on superciliousness. They seem duty bound with their chosen agenda to attack every vestige of the man’s very being. Hitler was certainly no atheist. He was raised a Catholic and never at any time renounced his faith. In his book Mein Kampf he proclaimed his Christianity and in numerous verbal pronouncements he spoke of his belief in an “Almighty Creator.” Yes, to some extent, he harbored the anticlerical belief that the church in Rome wielded too much power over its faithful adherents; he disdained “churchology” believing God lives within the soul of man and determines his destiny. He was always in favor of “positive Christianity.” He said in a 1922 speech, “My feelings as a Christian point me to my Lord and Savior as a ‘Kämpfer [“fighter”].” In a 1928 speech he said, “We tolerate no one within our ranks who attacks the idea of Christianity . . . in fact our movement is Christian!” So perhaps this is why he so often portrayed the glory and majesty of churches, abbies, and cathedrals in his paintings both in Germany and Austria. The Karl’s Church in Vienna was, as we said, one of his favorite-subject paintings not only because of its beautiful architectural value, but probably because his youth was spent in the study and admiration of famed saints of the church—as any good altar boy would be proud to do. His appreciation of Saint Charles Borromeo, the Patron of the Baroque, was one of the greatest reformers of the 16th century. In 1713, one year after the last great plague epidemic, Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor, pledged to build a church for his namesake patron Saint Charles Borromeo, whom was revered as a healer for plague sufferers. Mr. Billy Price’s book Adolf Hitler: The Unknown Artist depicts numerous churches that were painted by Adolf Hitler. It seems it was his most preferred subject matter and obviously, this says something at least about his very nature and his spirituality. He actually portrayed Karl’s Church in many different views—front, back, sides—over a period of time and he found during his Vienna period of painting that the depictions of this building sold by far the best to the public whom he at that time desperately sought to sell to. But as to the several churches that he artfully depicted, we know this one by far is the absolute finest! Its brilliance and clarity stand out like a beacon shedding the true artistic light that now goes far to illuminate the intense interest that the future Führer had in all things religious when he was young. It now looms obvious and can be plainly seen in this magnificent watercolor that this must be called a “very significant work” and we know it was painted by this amazing artist whom the autochthonous plebian writers call a “house painter” in their ever-dubious inflammatory writings. So, here is what I would dare to call a “masterpiece” with ironclad provenance and expertise by one of the only two authorities recognized in the art circles for Hitler paintings. This is a golden opportunity to make a very wise purchase that can only increase in value in a very short time. Already, a watercolor painted by Hitler was reported to bring almost $15,000 in an auction on or about April 23, 2009. But, this painting was in my estimation very dismal and dark and reportedly had no letters or documents of authentication or any provenance. Actually, I didn’t even think it was Hitler’s style at all! This story is repeated over and over every year that goes by. The mere mention of anything that Adolf Hitler owned or produced seems to appeal to those who for any reason are so fascinated with him as to loosen their pockets in a heartbeat if the chance to buy something no matter how loose the connection is or how much actual authentication is provided (Barnum was obviously right!). This dubious canvas that brought nearly the $15,000 was sold in England by Mullock's Specialist Auctioneers & Valuers in Shropshire. So I repeat again that only the expertise of Dr. Priesack and/or Peter Jahn is accepted today, Otherwise you “pays your penny and takes your chance.” In closing let it be said that if you ever wanted to own the ultimate Hitler item actually produced by this phenomenal man here is the unique opportunity that will be before you in all probability only once! PRICE: SOLD BERLIN—A 1914 watercolour by Adolf Hitler fetched 130,000 euros ($161,000) at auction in the German city of Nuremberg on Saturday, the auctioneers said. The buyer was a private person from the Middle East who attended the sale in person, said Kathrin Weidler, head of the auction house. She said there had also been inquiries from Asia and America. The painting, entitled "Standesamt und Altes Rathaus Muenchen" (Civil Registry Office and Old Town Hall of Munich), is one of about 2,000 works that Hitler painted between about 1905 and 1920 as a struggling young artist. Asked before the auction whether it was tasteless to auction the Nazi dictator's works, Weidler said complaints should be addressed to the sellers—two unidentified German sisters in their 70s. Weidler said the vendors had decided to donate around 10 percent of the proceeds to a charity that helps disabled children. Weidler said the original handwritten bill of sale, dated Sept. 25, 1916, had come with the painting and was a rarity for Hitler's art. That also explained the relatively high selling price, she said. Hitler Art is the New Rage Among Collectors This work titled “Siegfried” by August Bischoff was a Hitler favorite and is expected to bring a huge price possibly in the six-figure area of $150,000.00, or more? Adolf Hitler’s favorite artists and artwork, promoted throughout Nazi Germany and shunned as a result by the world for decades, are now on fire, with art collectors in America and Europe paying more than $150,000 for certain pieces such as paintings, tapestries, and bronze statuary. The general consensus is that there’s a vibrant market here. Marius Martens, a Dutch art dealer, said that art from Karl Walther or sculptor Georg Kolbe, whom Hitler liked and whose work he displayed in Third Reich buildings, has finally caught the eye of collectors because the World War II period is now popular. Martens said that the popularity of Hitler’s favorite artists sprang to life in just the last 12 months. “Last year, the market was awakened by the sale of a painting by Karl Walther for 23,000 euro. It was an extremely scarce piece as it once hung in the New Chancellery of Adolf Hitler,” he said. “It seems now that this was not a one-off occasion. Recently works of other artists popular in the Third Reich have been sold for considerable prices,” he added. “Almost 70 years after World War II, more and more people see this art from a purely historical perspective. Although the artworks originate from an extremely tragic period, they should not be hidden or destroyed. This is an opinion shared by several museums, seeing the rising number of exhibitions of this art and the number of visitors,” said Martens. He added that as the World War II generation dies off, their period becomes history. “The driver is time. Just like no well-thinking human being bought a portrait of Napoleon in 1820, short after he destroyed Europe,” said Martins. “In the coming 10 years everybody who lived in the war will die: this means that living-past will change into history.” Contact Us Please E-mail for any additional information you may need. If you prefer, contact 'Germania' at PO Box 68, Lakemont, GA 30552 or call at 706.782.1668. Please! do not call during the wee hours of the morning. The best time for calling us is between 10 am and 12 noon and between 9 and 11 pm eastern time.

FLINT, MI -- One man was killed and three other people injured following a shooting Thursday morning on the city's west side. Flint Police Capt. Collin Birnie confirmed one person died after gunfire broke out between subjects around 9 a.m. Thursday, May 4 on Copeman Boulevard near Dupont Street. "There's an obvious altercation when gunfire was exchanged," said Birnie to media gathered near the scene. "I can tell you that there is one male adult deceased at this time." One dead in multiple shooting in Flint, one person in custody Flint police Capt. Collin Birnie said there was an altercation and someone began shooting around 9 a.m. on Copeman Boulevard near Dupont Street. The additional victims included two men and one woman, according to Michigan State Police Lt. David Kaiser. The altercation took place between someone at a home in the area and the people that were shot. Three of the victims were found in a van, while the man killed was discovered in the street, Kaiser said. One person of interest was taken into custody by police, while other interviews are being conducted as the investigation continues. Police on scene of fatal shooting where at least 4 people were shot Police were trying to kick down a door in the 600 block of Copeman Boulevard and Dupont Street was blocked off between Copeman and Begole Street. The shooting scene covered a large area in the neighborhood and police dogs were brought in as part of the investigation. Thursday's incident comes on the heels of gunfire exchanged by 4-6 people Wednesday afternoon near Court Street and Mann Avenue. No one was injured, but multiple vehicles and house were struck. Shootout puts Flint water distribution site at church on lockdown An initial investigation has revealed the teen were shooting at each other, but they struck eight houses and four vehicles during the incident. No injuries have been reported. A water resource site at West Court Street Church of God was temporarily closed after Wednesday's incident. Anyone with information on either shooting may contact Flint police at 810-237-6800 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-422-JAIL (5245) or report a tip anonymously at P3tips.com. MLive-Flint Journal reporter Dominic Adams contributed to this report.

Intermission Dogs of War LOCATION: Equestria. TIME-FRAME: Over the course of three weeks. Gyvon was given the task of bringing each Equestrian Army Element, both Pegasus and Unicorn up to speed. Gyvon started the training by teaching them all the strengths and weaknesses of the Decepticons. Then, he spent a few days with each Element to customize their training regimen. The Pegasus Guard had a rich tradition of Air Dominance. Every war that Equestria found itself in, it was the Pegasi that controlled the skies. Even against the Griffon Dominion, they always made good on the promise of a friendly sky over the field of battle. Gyvon worried that the Decepticon fliers would, for the first time, be too much for the proud Pegasi, but after watching one slice through six inches of steel with his wings, he knew they'd be able to put up a fighting chance. They might not win the battle, but the 'Cons won't have an easy time. The Unicorns, however, were another story. Able to fire bolts of arcane energy from their horns, their magic would make them almost equal to a modern Earth military in a ranged fight. They couldn't fire the bolts rapidly, but they more than made up for it in accuracy. One commander joked that his best spell-slinger could hit a gnat in the right testicle from four hundred yards. And the Training continued. Each day, Gyvon would spend time with a different unit, instructing them in basic tactics, target practice, and the like. It wasn't perfect. Unlike NEST, the Equestrian Army couldn't practice their tactics against the Autobots, and the cardboard cutouts that he used were severely lacking in both weight and the ability to fight back. However, the Ponies did have a few tricks he could exploit. The Pegasi's ability to control weather could be harnessed to blow 'Cons away with tornadoes and harm them with lightning bolts and the Unicorns had many tricks at their disposal to turn the tide of battle. All throughout the training period, Gyvon made a point to return to Ponyville every day. Although training the Equestrian Guard was necessary, he felt better returning to familiar ground every day, and Ponyville had become like a second home to him. Most of his time in Ponyville was spent studying with Twilight, but he still spent some time with his other friends. Applejack had a few dead trees on the farm, and Gyvon helped her clear them away. His time with Fluttershy was usually spent escorting her through the Everfree Forest near her cottage, either looking for animals of hers that got loose or searching for medicinal herbs. Rarity mainly had him over for tea and pleasant conversation, although the conversation was a little less pleasant when he got the bill from her. Gyvon had a sneaking suspicion that Rarity had overcharged him for his wardrobe, but she denied it, citing increased materiel costs from his larger-than-pony size, which he accepted reluctantly. With Pinkie Pie, he helped her watch the Cake twins from time to time, with little Pumpkin Cake being particularly attached to him. Rainbow Dash, strangely enough, wanted combat lessons. Word had leaked out about the Royal Guards' increased training regimen, and she had guessed correctly that he was training them to fight the Decepticons, and she wanted in. Gyvon was happy to oblige, though less so when he got his ass handed to him while trying to teach her basic martial arts. They had a good laugh when Dash explained that she was already a black belt. Twilight, on the other hand, spent her time with Gyvon asking him questions. Questions about the War, about Earth, and about Humanity in general, and Gyvon did his best to answer. He never white-washed history, telling her about the atrocities as well as the accomplishments, but he always made sure to end his lessons on a high note. All throughout those three weeks, Gyvon's worries began to lessen. The Guards trained hard and were swiftly becoming his equal in training. For the first time, he began to hope that they could defeat the Decepticons. LOCATION: Galvatron's Lair TIME: Noon. "Damnable pests." spat Galvatron as he blasted yet another of the canines. They had been raiding his stores of energon gems since the day he had set up the base. It was more a nuisance than an actual threat, but they quickly began to annoy him. Over the past three weeks, thousands of Predacons had joined him at their new base of operations, along with three more Decepticons. Their current task was to find the source of the infestation. The dogs had put up a fight, and the Predacons did suffer casualties, but their commander always reassured Galvatron that they were close to finding the nest. As if on cue, the commander stepped out of the shadows and kneeled before his master. "My lord Galvatron" he said, gaining the Decepticon's attention. "Rise Tarantulas, and report. Have you found where these dogs are coming from?" Tarantulas came to his feet and nodded. "Yes, Lord Galvatron, we have located their main encampment. We await your orders." Galvatron chuckled. "No survivors." he said. Tarantulas saluted, turned, and walked out. As he did so, Galvatron felt a presence in his mind. A presence that could mean only one thing. His Master wished to speak with him. Galvatron turned and headed for the communications bunker. When he arrived, he ordered the few Predacons manning the controls to leave. Once they were gone, he activated the holographic display, and kneeled before the disembodied head of Unicron. "What is thy bidding, Master?" asked Galvatron. He did not enjoy being subservient to the god-like being, but he had no choice. Unicron could end his life with the merest of thoughts. It was the cost levied when he was revived by The Darkness. "I have received a communique from that wretched world." said Unicron. "My first Disciple lies imprisoned there." Galvatron stood and looked up at the hologram in shock. "Your first disciple? But... The Fallen is dead! I saw him die!" A sharp pain lanced across Galvatron's body, bringing him to his knees. Unicron would not be interrupted. "The Fallen was not the first to succumb to The Darkness. My first was created by the AllSpark as Nova Prime, but took the name Nemesis when he fell." he said as he continued his mental assault on Galvatron. "He is an ancient being, predating the Dynasty by millennia." Unicron halted his assault on Galvatron's systems. "Your task is to free Nemesis Prime from the Lost Prison that Prima created." Unicron sent the coordinates of the Lost Prison straight to Galvatron's mind and signed off. Galvatron saw that the Prison was located near a large native settlement. He called for his Decepticons to begin planning. They would need to be careful, otherwise they risked alerting the native lifeforms to their presence. Elsewhere in the tunnels, the massacre commenced. The Predacons were ruthlessly efficient in their attack. Men, women, children, all were cut down where they stood. The Predacons reveled in the slaughter before them. All but one. Removing his blade from yet another canine, one Predacon was quailed by what he was a part of. There is no honor in this he thought, even as he continued the grisly work. He saw how his compatriots enjoyed their work, and knew that he could not remain with such psychotic beings. LOCATION: Galvatron's Lair TIME: Midnight. A lone being left the caves and proceeded south to the nearby forest. A being that the world had not seen for millions of years, a velociraptor. A being fleeing from the depravity of his former comrades.

Ryan Flanagan, CTV Kitchener Although the first Bombardier light rail vehicle for Metrolinx – the agency behind a bulk purchase that includes the 14 vehicles used in Waterloo Region’s Ion system – has missed its deadline for production, the company says it will still be able to deliver the rest of the order on-schedule. “There will be no delays,” Bombardier spokesperson Marc-Andre Lefebvre said in an interview. “The first car will be delivered to Waterloo in December of this year.” Metrolinx has ordered a total of 118 light rail vehicles from Bombardier. Most of them will be used on two LRT lines the agency is building in Toronto. Those lines won’t be up and running for a few years yet, which means the 14 vehicles for Waterloo Region will be some of the first to roll off the products lines at Bombardier. But the very first vehicle is a test car, which was supposed to be complete before the end of August. While that deadline has come and gone without the vehicle being delivered to Metrolinx, Lefebvre said Thursday that the vehicle was “days away” from being ready for inspection. Lefebvre said delays with the test vehicle aren’t causing further harm to the vehicles that will actually be used for the Ion system. Delivery of the first of those vehicles was originally scheduled for August as well, but has since been pushed back twice. The timeline now calls for the first vehicle to arrive in Waterloo Region this December, with all 14 being ready by the end of 2017. “All of these cars will be delivered on time,” Lefebvre said Thursday. Regional officials have already moved the anticipated start date for the Ion system from late 2017 to early 2018, blaming the delays at Bombardier. Coun. Tom Galloway, who chairs the regional planning and works committee, says news of the test car delay is concerning – but what he’s really watching for is the deadline to get the first vehicle into the region’s hands. “We really just want to see our first vehicle by the end of the year,” he said in an interview. Asked if he was confident that Bombardier would stick to the newest schedule, Galloway replied that “confident isn’t a word that we can use in the same sentence as Bombardier.” The first two of Waterloo Region’s 14 vehicles are in the process of being assembled in Thunder Bay. Bombardier recently announced that the rest of the order would be put together at a facility in Kingston instead. Galloway said the Thunder Bay plant had been experiencing issues around labour relations and quality control, and moving production to Kingston could bring improvements. “We have some high hope that that’s going to sort out some of their issues – but again, we just want to see the vehicles,” he said. With reporting by Abigail Bimman

A Troy Township Democratic official was charged with setting up a sex date with a 15-year-old boy and federal agents searched her house on suspicion she has been producing child pornography videos, police said. Margarita Hernandez, 32, of 6901 Monmouth Drive on Joliet's far west side, was arrested about 3 p.m. Thursday and taken to the Will County jail on a warrant charging her with two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse. Hernandez had sex with a 15-year-old Chicago boy during a prearranged July meeting at her home, police said. Get all the latest Joliet news in your inbox every morning. Sign up for our free daily newsletter. Hernandez shares that home with her boyfriend, 76-year-old veteran weekly newspaperman John Gabriel. Both Gabriel and Hernandez are precinct committeemen for the Troy Township Democrats. An official with the Troy Democrats said Tuesday he believed Hernandez is Gabriel's granddaughter. But Gabriel confirmed she is his girlfriend. Gabriel went on to claim his much-younger girlfriend was being framed in an attempt to get back at him for exposing corruption. "This is all a setup," Gabriel said. Gabriel said the frame was easy to spot "If you remember how some of the people reacted when I went after some of the crooked policemen and crooked politicians." Gabriel said he suspects a Romeoville police officer he accused of once shooting at him was behind the setup, but declined to identify the supposedly dirty cop. Gabriel said it would all come out when his girlfriend goes to court. "This is all a mechanism to try to get even with me," he said. Hernandez's alleged sexcapade with the teen reportedly came to light after the boy's mother learned of the tryst and went to the Chicago police, who alerted the FBI and the Joliet police. Joliet Police Chief Mike Trafton said FBI agents searched Hernandez and Gabriel's house for evidence that Hernandez recorded sex romps with minors and added that the federal investigation is still under way. Follow-Up Coverage: Joliet Newsman Says Foes Will Destroy His Gal Pal with Fake Sex Case FBI spokeswoman Joan Hyde could not immediately be reached for comment. Joliet Detective Tizoc Landeros unraveled the case, but says he believes Hernandez has had sex with even more underage boys. He asked anyone with information about her—or anyone else—engaging in sex with minors to call him at 815-724-3035 or to alert detectives at 815-724-3020. Landeros said tipsters can also call Crime Stoppers of Will County at 800-323-6734. Landeros said the teen was first introduced to Hernandez through a friend. The friend's mother is Hernandez's cousin, he said. "We know that there's going to be more victims," Trafton said. "We have reason to believe that there are other boys involved as well that were victims." Are you follwing us on Facebook?

Kazakhstan – Top 5 Places to Travel As the ninth largest country in the world, Kazakhstan has many things to offer tourists. Our list showcases Kazakhstan’s cultural heritage, natural wonders and rapid modern development. #1 ALMATY Almaty is the largest city in Kazakhstan with a population of 1.7 million people. It has myriad sightseeing opportunities, with plenty of parks and a variety of places of entertainment. You can also access free audio guide for Almaty and explore the city by your own. It’s easy to take a day trip to Shymbulak ski resort, Medeu outdoor skating rink or Big Almaty Lake. Almaty’s international airport is well connected, making it the perfect starting point for your Kazakhstan or Central Asia Tour. # 2 Astana Astana is a glorious modern city, planned and built by globally-renowned architects. It is unique in Central Asia and you can be forgiven for thinking that you are in a modern western city with huge malls, modern skyscrapers, and broad avenues. Astana hosts World Expo 2017 dedicated to the theme of “Future Energy” which will be definitely worth checking out. # 3 Turkistan city & Yassawi Mausoleum Turkistan is an important city with a rich cultural and historical heritage. The blue-domed mausoleum was built in the XIVth century and dedicated to Sufi philosopher and poet Khoja Ahmed Yassawi. # 4 Altyn Emel National Park & Charyn Canyon Altyn Emel was established as a National Park in 1996. It covers an area of 4600 square kilometers – the size of Luxembourg and Mauritius combined. One of the highlights of the park is the singing dune. Charyn Canyon looks like a sister of Grand Canyon in the USA, plunging to 300 meters in places. It has an impressive size of 80 kilometers in length as well. # 5 Kolsai Lakes & Kaindy Kolsai is one of the most beautiful places for recreation, hiking, and horse riding in Kazakhstan. There are three lakes situated at an altitude of 1800 to 2700 meters above sea level. Kolsai’s lakes are situated around 300 km from Almaty. On the way, make a stop at Kaindy. This magical lake with birch trees is the result of an earthquake in 1911 that flooded the forest.

The Jacksonville Jaguars have been trying to be a forward thinking team under new owner Shad Khan and general manager Dave Caldwell. That's not limited to the marketing or scouting department however as kicker Josh Scobee will attempt to kick extra points and short field goals left footed during training camp and the 2014 pre-season. "You have to up your versatility a bit when you're a special teams player," Scobee told Big Cat Country. "By being able to alternate which foot I'm kicking with it will make field goals and PATs harder to block. The team's won't always know which way the ball is going to slice over the offensive line." While teams will be tipped off by how the holder is kneeling before the snap, perhaps the Jaguars can do things like call an audible to have punter Bryan Anger simply reset which way he is kneeling which will force teams to potentially adjust their block packages. "For the longer stuff, over 30 yards I'm still going with my right leg," Scobee added. "It's the power leg but I think I might be a little more accurate on the shorter ones with my left. It's something I've played around with in the offseason but I think we can actually try it out in live games." It will be interesting to see if it's something the Jaguars will go ahead with in the regular season. "Make sure when I hit the first left footed one in a game the Bold City Brigade section holla's atcha boy."

The survey included responses from 50 economists, traders, analysts and money managers. “The basic rationale for a third round of Quantitative Easing is that … the Fed needs to do more to do its part and end this period of sub-par nominal GDP (explain this) growth,” wrote Mike Dueker of Russell Investments in response to the survey. He’s looking for the Fed to act this week. John Katter of Eastern Investment Advisors disagreed, saying, “Although I think more QE is coming, it will not be this year. The economy is not weak enough, the stock market is doing well, and interest rates are low enough.” And former Fed President Lee Hoskins took the other extreme, noting continued sub-par growth following several Fed easing programs. “Doing QE3 and expecting a different outcome borders on the irrational,” he said. Many market participants have pushed ahead their forecast for the first Fed tightening into 2015, with 48 percent now predicting no rate hike until then compared with 13 percent in the April survey. The fed funds rate (explain this) is seen at just 0.3 percent all the way until the end of December, 2013. “The Fed now faces the possibility of trying to offset policy errors not only in the euro zone but also mistakes in its own backyard on Capitol Hill,” wrote Lynn Reaser, Point Loma Nazarene University. The biggest threat facing the U.S. economy is the "fiscal cliff," chosen by 41 percent of respondents, taking the top spot away from the European financial crisis, which was picked by about a third. The "fiscal cliff" refers to a combination of spending cuts and tax hikes that will go into effect at the end of the year unless Congress acts. Seventy-eight percent say the fiscal cliff issue is already having a negative effect on business and the economy. “The odds that we reach the 'cliff' with no action taken is rising,” said David Resler of Nomura Securities. Added investment strategist Dennis Gartman: “The biggest test facing the U.S. economy is that we shall do something truly stupid: raise taxes and cut spending aggressively, doing immeasurable damage to the economy in the process.” Recession (explain this) chances in next 12 months have jumped to 26 percent from 21 percent in June — the worst finding since September, 2011. Market participants for the first time are predicting sub-2 percent growth on average in 2012 compared with 2011 and see GDP growing just 2.26 percent next year, down from a 2.55 percent forecast in April. As a result, market participants see stocks ending the year little changed from current levels, but rising 5 percent over the next 12 months. The 10-year Treasury yield (explain this) is forecast to rise to 1.7 percent by year-end and hover around 2 percent next June. But QE is seen helping both rates and stocks. Asked the effects of a hypothetical $500 billion QE program, 90 percent said it would lead to higher equity prices. Twenty-eight percent said it would raise prices by 5 to 6 percent, the most popular choice. Seventy percent said they believed QE would reduce mortgage rates, with about a third seeing an effect greater than 10 basis points. But just 42 percent said it would reduce yields on 10-year Treasurys and 23 percent predicted no change to yields. A third believed QE could raise rates. A reduction in yields of 6 to 10 basis points was the most popular choice among those who predicted a decline in rates. A full 82 percent of respondents now believe the euro zone will lose one or more countries in the next five years, either because they are ejected or leave, the highest percentage since CNBC began asking the question. The default probability for Spain also hit a survey record of 38 percent and 80 percent continue to expect a second default from Greece. Meanwhile, concerns eased for defaults in Portugal and Ireland.

An Anonymous Coward writes in to tell us about sightings of secrets-related privsep in the wild: The developer known by the pseudonym insane coder, who authored the popular pro-LibreSSL review LibreSSL: The good and the bad, has presented a solution for preventing common coding mistakes resulting in another Heartbleed: To protect against exploiting such bugs, one should ensure that buffer overflows do not have access to memory containing private data. The memory containing private keys and similar kinds of data should be protected, meaning nothing should be allowed to read from them, not even the web server itself. He then talks about using memory protection and process separation to isolate a server's private keys from anything which can be exploited to send them over the network. This technique has already been utilized in an stunnel-like server, and it remains to be seen when others will follow.

Here is a link to HJC’s website where you’ll find information on installing and removing shields, base plates, cheek pads, chin curtains, etc, as well as helmet care and cleaning. Below is a size chart provided by HJC for this product. If you need help with how to measure, or how to evaluate the fit of a helmet please have a look at this guide by HJC (the size chart included in this guide is for a “generic” HJC helmet and may differ slightly from the chart below that is specific to this product). If you have questions about how this helmet might fit as compared to other helmets in your closet, please visit this FAQ for some advice. Helmet Size Hat Size Head Measurement (inches) Head Measurement (cm) XS 6 3/4 to 6 7/8 21 1/4 to 21 5/8 54 to 55 Small 6 7/8 to 7 21 5/8 to 22 55 to 56 Medium 7 1/8 to 7 1/4 22 1/2 to 22 7/8 57 to 58 Large 7 1/4 to 7 3/8 22 7/8 to 23 1/4 58 to 59 XL 7 1/2 to 7 5/8 23 5/8 to 24 60 to 61 XXL 7 3/4 to 7 7/8 24 3/8 to 24 3/4 62 to 63 Other Useful HJC Information Links: Care and Cleaning Shield Installation Interior Parts Removal/Care Need help choosing the right shape and size helmet for your own noggin? Learn about the LidPicker!

There are calls to expel Eritrea's top diplomat in Canada because he presides over a system that's milking money from the Eritrean community in this country. Evidence obtained by CBC News suggests Consul Semere Ghebremariam O. Micael is again soliciting taxes despite a threat by Canada eight months ago not to renew his credentials if he kept at it. But one Eritrean in Toronto, who has asked not to be identified, tells the CBC it was business as usual just a few weeks later when he had to pay. "You have to go to the consulate and they arrange how you have to pay the money. They want two per cent … they don't give you a reason. You have to pay the money." What would happen if he didn't? "My family [in Eritrea] would get in trouble if I don't pay," he said. Threats and intimidation A United Nations report last year indicated that state threats and intimidation were commonly used against families in Eritrea to get their relatives living in Canada and other countries to pay up, though now the government sometimes uses a financial middleman. "As far as I'm concerned it's a ruse, doing indirectly what the government told them not to do directly," said David Matas, a Winnipeg human rights lawyer who represents some in the Eritrean community who resent it. A United Nations report last year indicated that state threats and intimidation were commonly used against families in Eritrea to get their relatives living in Canada and other countries to pay up. (CBC) The dictatorship in Eritrea imposes what the UN has condemned as a worldwide "diaspora tax" on its nationals, valued at two per cent of their income. It often adds a second tax up to $500, described on the Eritrean government clearance form as a "donation to national defence against Ethiopian invasion." On Sept. 10, 2012, Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs advised the Eritrean consul in Toronto that soliciting and collecting these taxes was incompatible with consular duties, and his accreditation would not be renewed if he and his consulate didn't stop. The consulate later indicated in writing that it would comply. But audio provided to CBC News by Eritrean-born Teklezghi Yohannes Gabir from a meeting he attended in Winnipeg on April 21, 2013, reveals a voice he identifies as that of the consul sounding as if he is again soliciting money. "What we are saying is that you have to fulfil the law of the country to be an investor because you are a citizen of the country" it says in a translation done for the CBC to English from Tigrinya, the language of business in Eritrea. "Therefore, since what it comes down to is national honour and law, any service that requires a permit will have to remit two per cent." Refusing to pay Gabir, 36, an Eritrean living in Winnipeg, has paid the tax in the past but refuses to pay any more, and offered the audio hoping it might help stop the collections. "I was there personally, and it was all aimed at collecting money and sending it to Eritrea," he said. "I think the Canadian government didn't follow up and they don't know what is going on." But a source tells CBC News that Canada's spy agency, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), is familiar with the story and has been in contact with the Eritrean community seeking information about the tax scam. And the issue was also laid out to federal officials as recently as three months ago, according to Ghazae Hagos, who was present at the meeting. Hagos, a former journalist in the Eritrean capital of Asmara, speaks for HIDMONA, the Eritrean-Canadian Human Rights Group of Manitoba. He says he and a colleague met last February with Conservative MP Deepak Obhrai, the parliamentary secretary to the minister of foreign affairs, and a deputy director from the Africa division of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. "They said they were very concerned about it. They said they would seriously study the matter and take the appropriate action," Hagos said. In the past, Eritrean Consul Semere Ghebremariam Micael denied there's opposition to the tax and said as much on the radio network Voice of America (VOA) on Sept. 27, 2012, just days after Canada told him to get out of the business or lose his accreditation. "I don't have much doubt that this is going to be an obstacle to the people … the public is still doing it, saying about this matter.… 'It is our right to pay.' We don't have any problems with our community," he said. Reliance on diaspora for cash Eritrea is one of the youngest and poorest countries in Africa. And with 10,000 political prisoners filling its jails, according to an Amnesty International report this month, one of its most repressive. Independence came only after decades of conflict with Ethiopia, with which it maintains an uneasy peace today. Consequently, the regime relies on diaspora cash for hard currency. But according to the UN, it also uses its money to support armed rebels opposing Ethiopia, and others with ties to the notorious al-Shabaab movement in Somalia. Because of Eritrea's destabilizing role in the troubled Horn of Africa, the UN imposed sanctions on the country in 2009, hoping to choke off its access to arms and money. Canada later adopted them, meaning those who pay are violating UN sanctions and may also be breaking Canadian law according to past reports. Through it all, the consul has not been shy about his country's intention to keep collecting cash no matter how Canada views it. In the VOA interview on September 2012, he interpreted Canada's warning just a few days earlier, as a green light for Eritrea to keep collecting. "What the government of Canada is saying is that the task of a consulate office is not to collect a tax of two per cent, and it is not your mandate to do that, so you cannot collect payment here. "But the law of Eritrea is still there as it is, and they have not said anything about that. Therefore, it is not that Eritrea should not ask payment, but you cannot charge here." To that end, Ghazae Hagos of HIDMONA says Eritrea has adopted some opaque banking methods. Money wired to Germany In a sworn affidavit seen by CBC News, an Eritrean who has asked not to be identified describes being schooled in the tax payment process by officials at the Eritrean Consulate in Toronto, three months after Canada warned the office to end its involvement. Several hundred dollars of his money were subsequently wired from a Canadian bank, to a second financial institution in Germany called the Deutsche Zentral-Genossenschaftsbank (DZ Bank) of Frankfurt. From there, the documents show the funds were wired to a third institution, the Housing and Commerce Bank of Eritrea in the capital city of Asmara, of which the majority owner is the ruling regime, the People's Front for Democracy and Justice. "They should stop," said Winnipeg human right lawyer David Matas. "But they were already asked to stop and they didn't, so I think they should be evicted. I mean, they're thumbing their noses at the Canadian authorities." If Canada doesn't do something, Matas worries it's setting up people from Eritrea and potentially other expatriate communities to become walking ATMs for other regimes. "If Eritrea gets away with it, we're going to start seeing China doing it. And Iran doing it. And North Korea doing it. And I think we have to make every effort to stop this right now, or else we're going to see it mushroom." Ghazae Hagos of the Eritrean-Canadians Human Rights Group of Manitoba said he would like to see the Eritrean Consulate closed. "Canada has to go beyond threat of pressure, of threat of expulsion of the consul. I think the closure of the consulate office is long overdue if Canada is really serious about it." CBC News contacted the Eritrean Consulate three times in the past week to request comment, but telephone calls were not returned.

Get the biggest Liverpool FC stories by email Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email Jordan Henderson will remain Liverpool FC captain, with Jurgen Klopp confirming his own arrival at Anfield was never going to change the existing set-up. Henderson has not yet played under Klopp, with his last action for the Reds coming during the first home game of the season against Bournemouth in August. Since then, James Milner has taken the captaincy, with Mamadou Sakho and Martin Skrtel also briefly wearing the armband under the German coach. The 25-year-old was originally suffering from a heel problem but then, shortly after returning to training, broke his foot to prolong his absence. Klopp revealed Henderson’s return to the first team is edging nearer, and he will return as captain. “There was no second of doubt about this decision,” said Klopp. “I didn’t ask because it was logical for me, we never had to think about whether Henderson was the right captain. “I’ve met him, he’s an absolute leader and he’s in a good way at this moment, and we all hope he’s back in a few weeks. “I do not know what will happen in the next two weeks, it’s very important and we’re waiting for this. Hendo stays captain.” Sturridge update Though Henderson appears closer to a first appearance under his new manager, Daniel Sturridge does not. The striker, who picked up a knee injury in the week before Klopp’s debut at Tottenham, remains sidelined. Klopp would not be drawn on a return date for Sturridge, but once more emphasised the need for patience in bringing him back into the fold. On if Sturridge would return any time soon, he said: “Yes, I think so.” But he then added: “Soon is relative. I don’t know. It isn’t as fast as we thought of course but we cannot put pressure on this. “He is starting to train outside after four weeks, so of course he needs time to bring him back in shape or whatever. “He can start training and then we can talk about when Sturridge can play, but it’s nearly like a summer break and he’s really training hard after this. We have to see when we can talk about him.”

Jan 28, 2015; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Washington Wizards forward Paul Pierce (34) and head coach Randy Wittman against the Phoenix Suns at US Airways Center. The Suns defeated the Wizards 106-98. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports This past offseason, future Hall of Famer Paul Pierce stunned the basketball world when he announced his decision to join the Washington Wizards on a 2 year contract. Obama , J Wall here I come — Paul Pierce (@paulpierce34) July 13, 2014 Pierce is known for a variety of things: winning a championship as a Celtic, veteran leadership, using his savvy to draw fouls, and perhaps most importantly of all, his ability to hit big shots. Washington Wizards fans envisioned Pierce making clutch plays to close out games, such as this dagger in the playoffs vs. the Toronto Raptors last season: Slotting in at the small forward spot, Pierce made up for the defensive presence of Trevor Ariza by bringing instant offense to the table for the Wizards, with his off the dribble scoring skillset and clutch shooting. There were countless times this season where Pierce buried huge three pointers at the end of games, notably against the Orlando Magic and the Boston Celtics to name a couple. Despite his huge contributions earlier this season, Paul Pierce hasn’t been as effective as of late. He is in a bit of a shooting slump, shooting just 28.1% from the field in his last 5 games. Furthermore, he is averaging just 3.4 minutes per game in the fourth quarter in the last 5 games, sitting out the entirety of the Charlotte Hornets game after three quarters (which went into double overtime). Despite the recent skid, Pierce is simply too valuable to sit. He is shooting 42.9% from the field in the 4th quarter this season, including 41.9% from deep. This is a man who lives for taking the big shot, as evidenced by the article he wrote for The Players Tribune earlier this month: “I’ve been practicing for this situation my entire life, so I knew exactly when to make my move. Five seconds. Four seconds. I see an opening and start driving to the basket, but Amare cuts it off. Two seconds. I step back, using my body to lean off of him and create space. Then all I see is the basket. I take the shot.” Of course, Pierce is 37 years old and Randy Wittman is wise to keep him well rested and energized for the playoffs. However, with the race for the 3rd seed still alive, Wittman and the Wizards should be doing everything possible for the chance to play the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round as opposed to the Toronto Raptors or Chicago Bulls. Here’s to hoping that Paul Pierce gets a few more 4th quarter minutes ahead of Martell Webster.

Chelsea are rated as favourites to sign PSV Eindhoven winger Zakaria Bakkali. The Daily Star Sunday says the Belgian international has been heavily linked with a move away from the Philips Stadion in recent months, and according to reports, Premier League giants Chelsea and Liverpool are interested in landing the winger. Those reports suggest that both Jose Mourinho and Brendan Rodgers are eager to sign the 18-year-old in the January transfer window. But it seems that Reds boss Rodgers is loosing the race to sign the youngster, who has been dubbed the new Eden Hazard. Sources in Spain claim that Chelsea are closing in on the coveted winger, who has attracted interest from a host of Europe's top clubs. For the big stories and the banter follow us on Twitter: @tribalfootball

JACQUELINE MARCUS FOR BUZZFLASH AT TRUTHOUT Instead of making American taxpayers pay for the estimated billions of dollars in damage resulting from Hurricane Sandy’s damages, the bill should be sent directly to the industrial polluters, the Koch Brothers and oil & coal executives. If you believe that these two extreme storms, a hurricane colliding with a massive winter storm in late October, are typical Mother Nature activity, you’re living in a Dick Cheney fantasy world. Before trapped emissions created the “greenhouse effect” and rapid glacier ice melts played havoc with cyclical weather, what is now categorical evidence of climate change disasters, hurricanes would hit southern Florida once every ten years. It was regarded as exceptional and rare. Fast forward to 2008, and on the average, five to ten hurricanes hit the U.S. shores during hurricane season. As late as the 1980s, the idea of a hurricane smashing the northeast coast from New Jersey to Maine would be unthinkable or totally exceptional. Welcome to the New Normal of global warming, sponsored by and perpetually prolonged by your friendly polluting oligarchs who are doing their best to keep us dependent on fossil fuels. The polluting industrialists have spent billions of dollars via the corporate media to keep the public in a state of doubt over climate change. Please watch this excellent PBS Frontline documentary, “Climate of Doubt” that explains how Big Oil & Coal deceive the public. Hurricane Sandy is being assessed from every single meteorological angle except for the most obvious, important one: Climate Change. This is not Mother Nature’s fury, as I explained in my last Buzzflash commentary, let’s get real: this is the extreme type of weather that climate change is producing. The world community of scientists and climatologists predicted that climate change damages would cost taxpayers billions and billions of dollars in repair from electrical failures, flooding, infrastructure, and food shortages. Hurricane Sandy provides some context as to why the Pentagon claimed that climate change is a far greater threat than terrorism. So instead of making FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency), pay for the damages at the cost of billions of dollars, the Federal government should send the bills to the Koch Brothers and to the executives of Big Oil & Coal every time there is a climate change catastrophe. If they were forced to pay for the damages caused by global warming, perhaps it would financially force them and their shareholders to shift to clean energy alternatives, knowing that they will have to pay for all climate change disasters from infrastructure to agricultural damages at the cost of billions of dollars. Of course, don’t expect our sold-out, oil-soaked members of congress to hold the polluters accountable.

Afraid Of Twerking, Vermont High School Cancels Dance In a letter to the town's paper this week, the principal of Mount Anthony Union High School in Bennington defended canceling this years homecoming dance. DON GONYEA, HOST: Good morning. I'm Don Gonyea. Teenagers in a small town where dancing has been banned - it happened in "Footloose" and now a clampdown in Vermont. In a letter to the town's paper this week the principal of Mount Anthony Union High School in Bennington defended canceling this year's homecoming dance. He's worried they'll be twerking - twerking - meetings with student leaders may come next week. Paging Kevin Bacon your services and dance moves are needed. It's MORNING EDITION. Copyright © 2014 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

Spread the love Imagine what our society would be like if only 1 or 2 of these inventions weren’t suppressed? Throughout history there have been countless attempts to discourage new technologies only to protect other people’s self-interests. Below are some of the most suppressed inventions ever. The Original Electric Car: Unplugged? Perhaps the most notorious suppressed invention is the General Motors EV1, subject of the 2006 documentary, Who Killed the Electric Car? The EV1 was the world’s first mass-produced electric car, with 800 of them up for lease from GM in the late ’90s. GM ended the EV1 line in 1999, stating that consumers weren’t happy with the limited driving range of the car’s batteries, making it unprofitable to continue production. Many skeptics, however, believe GM killed the EV1 under pressure from oil companies, who stand to lose the most if high-efficiency vehicles conquer the market. It didn’t help that GM hunted down and destroyed every last EV1, ensuring the technology would die out. In5D Comment: While we are starting to see some electric cars come onto the market, their efficiency is long to be desired as most will not run for very long and would be virtually impossible to use on long trips. For example, the world’s first car made entirely from hemp runs on electricity but can only be driven for 100 miles before it needs to be recharged. The Death of the American Streetcar In 1921, if the streetcar industry wasn’t actually naming streetcars Desire, it was certainly desiring more streetcars. They netted $1 billion, causing General Motors to hemorrhage $65 million in the face of a thriving industry. GM retaliated by buying and closing hundreds of independent railway companies, boosting the market for gas-guzzling GM buses and cars. While a recent urban movement to rescue mass transit has been underway, it is unlikely we’ll ever see streetcars return to their former glory. The 99-MPG Car The holy grail of automotive technology is the 99-mpg car. Although the technology has been available for years, automakers have deliberately withheld it from the U.S. market. In 2000, the New York Times reported a little-known fact, at least to most: A diesel-powered dynamo called the Volkswagen Lupo had driven around the world averaging higher than 99 mpg. The Lupo was sold in Europe from 1998 to 2005 but, once again, automakers prevented it from coming to market; they claimed Americans had no interest in small, fuel-efficient cars. In5D Addendum: We are starting to see evidence of cars that will now exceed 99 mpg as evidenced in a recent article entitled, “Volkswagen’s New 300 MPG Car Not Allowed In America“. For the most part, the major auto manufacturers are in bed with Big Oil and will continue to suppress the manufacturing of these cars for as long as they can. Free Energy Nikola Tesla was more than just the inspiration for a hair metal band, he was also an undisputed genius. In 1899, he figured out a way to bypass fossil-fuel-burning power plants and power lines, proving that “free energy” could be harnessed using ionization in the upper atmosphere to produce electrical vibrations. J.P. Morgan, who had been funding Tesla’s research, had a bit of buyer’s remorse when he realized that free energy for all wasn’t as profitable as, say, actually charging people for every watt of energy use. Morgan then drove another nail in free energy’s coffin by chasing away other investors, ensuring Tesla’s dream would die. Miracle Cancer Cure In 2001, Nova Scotian Rick Simpson discovered that a cancerous spot on his skin disappeared within a few days of applying an essential oil made from marijuana. Since then, Simpson and others have treated thousands of cancer patients with incredible success. Researchers in Spain have confirmed that THC, an active compound in marijuana, kills brain-tumor cells in human subjects and shows promise with breast, pancreatic and liver tumors. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, however, classifies marijuana as a Schedule I drug, meaning that it has no accepted medical use, unlike Schedule II drugs, like cocaine and methamphetamine, which may provide medical benefits. What a buzzkill. Water-Powered Vehicles Despite how silly it sounds, water-fueled vehicles do exist. The most famous is Stan Meyer’s dune buggy, which achieved 100 miles per gallon and might have become more commonplace had Meyer not succumbed to a suspicious brain aneurysm at 57. Insiders have loudly claimed that Meyer was poisoned after he refused to sell his patents or end his research. Fearing a conspiracy, his partners have all but gone underground (or should we say underwater?) and taken his famed water-powered dune buggy with them. We just hope someone finally brings back the amphibious car. Chronovisor What if you had a device that could see into the future and revisit the past? And what if you didn’t need Christopher Lloyd to help you? Father Pellegrino Maria Ernetti, an Italian priest, claimed in the 1960s to have invented what he called a Chronovisor, something that allowed him to witness Christ’s crucifixion. The device supposedly enabled viewers to watch any event in human history by tuning in to remnant vibrations that are caused by every action. (His team of researchers and builders included Enrico Fermi, who also worked on the first atomic bomb). On his deathbed, Fermi admitted that he had faked viewings of ancient Greece and Christ’s demise, but insisted the Chronovisor, which had by then vanished, still worked. Unsurprisingly, conspiracy theorists say the Vatican is now the likely owner of the original Chronovisor. Rife Devices American inventor Royal Rife (his real name), in 1934, cured 14 “terminal” cancer patients and hundreds of animal cancers by aiming his “beam ray” at what he called the “cancer virus.” So why isn’t the Rife Ray in use today?A 1986 book, The Cancer Cure That Worked, Fifty Years of Suppression, by Barry Lynes and John Crane, revived the Rife device affair. The book, written in a style typical of conspiratorial theorists, cites names, dates, events and places, giving the appearance of authenticity to a mixture of historical documents and speculations selectively spun into a web far too complex to permit verification by any thing short of a army of investigators with unlimited resources. The authors claim that Rife successfully demonstrated his device’s cancer curing ability in 1934, but that “all reports describing the cure were censored by the head of the AMA from the major medical journals.” A 1953 U.S. Senate special investigation concluded that Fishbein and the AMA had conspired with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to suppress various alternative cancer treatments that conflicted with the AMA’s pre-determined view that “radium, x-ray therapy and surgery are the only recognized treatments for cancer.” Cloudbuster In 1953, a drought threatened Maine’s blueberry crop, and several farmers offered to pay Reich if he could make it rain. The weather bureau had reportedly forecast no rain for several days when Reich began the experiment at 10 a.m. on July 6, 1953. The Bangor Daily News reported on July 24: Dr. Reich and three assistants set up their “rain-making” device off the shore of Grand Lake. The device, a set of hollow tubes, suspended over a small cylinder, connected by a cable, conducted a “drawing” operation for about an hour and ten minutes. According to a reliable source in Ellsworth the following climatic changes took place in that city on the night of July 6 and the early morning of July 7: “Rain began to fall shortly after ten o’clock Monday evening, first as a drizzle and then by midnight as a gentle, steady rain. Rain continued throughout the night, and a rainfall of 0.24 inches was recorded in Ellsworth the following morning.” A puzzled witness to the “rain-making” process said: “The queerest looking clouds you ever saw began to form soon after they got the thing rolling.” And later the same witness said the scientists were able to change the course of the wind by manipulation of the device. The blueberry crop survived, the farmers declared themselves satisfied, and Reich received his fee Overunity Generator A number of overunity generators, which produce more energy than they take to run, have surfaced in the past century. Ironically, they have been more trouble than they were worth. In nearly all cases, a supposedly working prototype has been unable to make it to commercial production as a result of various corporate or government forces working against the technology. Recently, the Lutec 1000, an “electricity amplifier,” has been making steady progress toward a final commercial version. Will consumers soon be able to buy it, or will it too be suppressed? Cold Fusion Billions of dollars have been spent researching how to create energy using controlled “hot fusion,” a risky and unpredictable line of experimentation. Meanwhile, garage scientists and a fringe group of university researchers have been getting closer to harnessing the power of “cold fusion,” which is much more stable and controllable, but far less supported by government and foundation money. In 1989, Martin Fleischmann and Stanley Pons announced that they had made a breakthrough and had observed cold fusion in a glass jar on their lab bench. To say the reaction they received was chilly would be an understatement. CBS’s 60 Minutes described how the resulting backlash from the well-funded hot-fusion crowd sent the researchers underground and overseas, where within a few years their funding dried up, forcing them to drop their pursuit of clean energy. Hot Fusion Cold fusion isn’t the only technology to get buried by hot-headed scientists. When two physicists who were working on the decades-long Tokamak Hot Fusion project at Los Alamos Laboratory stumbled across a cheaper, safer method of creating energy from colliding atoms, they were allegedly forced to repudiate their own discoveries or be fired; the lab feared losing the torrent of government money for Tokamak. In retaliation, the lead researchers created the Focus Fusion Society, which raises private money to fund their research outside of government interference. Magnetofunk and Himmelkompass Nazi scientists spent much of World War II hidden in a covert military base somewhere in the arctic, creating the Magnetofunk. This alleged invention was designed to deflect the compasses of Allied aircraft that might be searching for Point 103, as the base was known. The aircraft pilots would think they were flying in a straight line, but would gradually curve around Point 103 without ever knowing they were deceived. The Himmelkompass allowed German navigators to orient themselves to the position of the sun, rather than magnetic forces, so they could find Point 103 despite the effects of the Magnetofunk. According to Wilhelm Landig, a former SS officer, these two devices were closely guarded secrets of the Third Reich. So closely guarded were they that neither device apparently survived the collapse of Hitler’s Germany, although the real tragedy is that no one has ever named their band Magnetofunk. A Safer Cigarette? In the 1960s, the Liggett & Myers tobacco company created a product called the XA, a cigarette in which most of the stick’s carcinogens had been eliminated. Dr. James Mold, Liggett’s Research Director, reported in court documents in the case of “The City and County of San Francisco vs. Phillip Morris, Inc.,” that Phillip Morris threatened to “clobber” Liggett if they did not adhere to an industry agreement never to reveal information about the negative health effects of smoking. By advertising a “safer” alternative, they would be admitting the dangers of tobacco use. The lawsuit was dismissed on a technicality and Phillip Morris never addressed the accusations. Despite their own scientists’ publication of research that showed less cancer in mice exposed to smoke from the XA, Liggett & Myers issued a press released denying evidence of cancer in humans as a result of tobacco use, and the XA never saw the light of day. TENS The Transcutaneous Electronic Nerve Stimulation (TENS) device was created to alleviate pain impulses from the body without the use of drugs. In 1974, Johnson & Johnson bought StimTech, one of the first companies to sell the machine, and proceeded to starve the TENS division of money, causing it to flounder. StimTech sued, alleging that Johnson & Johnson purposely stifled the TENS technology to protect sales of its flagship drug, Tylenol. Johnson & Johnson responded that the device never performed as well as was claimed and that it was not profitable. StimTech’s founders won $170 Million, although the ruling was appealed and overturned on a technicality. The court’s finding that the corporation suppressed the TENS device was never overturned. The Phoebus Cartel Phillips, GE and Osram engaged in a conspiracy from 1924 to 1939 with the goal of controlling the fledgling light-bulb industry, according to a report published in Time magazine six years later. The alleged cartel set prices and suppressed competing technologies that would have produced longer-lasting and more efficient light bulbs. By the time the cabal dissolved, the industry-standard incandescent bulb was established as the dominant source of artificial light across Europe and North America. Not until the late 1990s did compact fluorescent bulbs begin to edge into the worldwide lighting market as an alternative. The Coral Castle How did Ed Leedskalnin build the massive Coral Castle in Homestead, Florida, out of giant chunks of coral weighing up to 30 tons each with no heavy equipment and no outside help? Theories abound, including anti-gravity devices, magnetic resonance and alien technology, but the answer may never be known. Leedskalnin died in 1951 without any written plans or clues as to his techniques. The centerpiece of the castle, which is now a museum open to the public, is a nine-ton gate that used to move with light pressure from one finger. After the gate’s bearings wore out in the 1980s, a crew of five took more than two weeks to fix it, although they never did get it to work as effortlessly as Leedskalnin’s original masterpiece. Hemp Bio-fuel The father of our country, George Washington, who is rumored to have said “I cannot tell a lie,” was a proud supporter of the hemp seed. Of course, the only thing more suppressed in this country than an honest politician is hemp, which is often mistakenly for marijuana and therefore unfairly maligned. Governmental roadblocks, meanwhile, prevent hemp from becoming the leader in extracting ethanol, allowing environmentally damaging sources like corn to take over the ethanol industry. Despite the fact that it requires fewer chemicals, less water and less processing to do the same job, hemp has never caught on. Experts also lay the blame at the feet of (who else?) Presidential candidates, who kiss up to Iowa corn growers for votes. In5D PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/in5d See our In5D articles the day before they’re released, AD FREE, on Patreon for a minimal donation! Follow In5D on YouTube, OnStellar, MeWe, Informed Planet, Steemit, Minds, Gab, Twitter, Facebook In5d’s New Earth News is your hottest source of news on the waves of energy washing over the planet in preparation for the shift to the New Earth! Become a contributor by e-mailing us at Newearth@In5d.com. Subscribe to In5d to get the latest news in your e-mail inbox.

First Japanese Bitcoin Exchanges Receive Licenses to Operate Japanese exchanges have begun to receive formal operating licenses from local regulator the Financial Services Agency (FSA). Major trading platforms QUOINE and bitFlyer were among the first to get the formal certificate of approval. Also read: European Central Bank VP Derides Bitcoin, Calling it a ‘Tulip’ Join the Bitsonline Telegram channel to get the latest Bitcoin, cryptocurrency and tech news updates: https://t.me/bitsonline Exchanges Relieved After Six Month Process Bitsonline called in on the operators of both exchanges today after they visited FSA headquarters. CEO Mike Kayamori of QUOINE looked pleased and relieved to get the license — certificate number #00002. Certification, he said, meant companies would have to take the business a lot more seriously, operating more like traditional financial institutions. “There’s all kinds of fiduciary responsibilities — monthly reports, quarterly reports, transaction reports, suspicious activity statements, etc,” he said. QUOINE has been doing all this since first applying in April, though. “You don’t just start complying after you get your license,” Kayamori added, “The laws took effect on 1st April; they’ve been watching us for the past six months.” In the end, receiving the certificate itself was pretty straightforward. There was a small meeting at FSA headquarters in Tokyo’s capital district, and a sense that things were now more serious. QUOINE, bitFlyer Among the First to Get Licenses QUOINE’s competitor bitFlyer also received its certificate (number #00003) today. The FSA announced its first approvals at a media conference in Tokyo at 4PM local time on Friday 29th September, with bitFlyer holding its own event shortly after. In the end, more than 10 Japanese exchanges received licenses on Friday. They included Money Partners (Zaif), Bitbank, GMO Coin, BTCBox, BitTrade and BitPoint. Exchanges were invited to apply for operating licenses when Japan’s new digital currency-friendly laws began earlier in 2017. It was no rubber stamp, and there’s no guarantee all exchanges operating today will obtain (or keep) their certificate. For exchanges — and the digital economy in Japan — this is the beginning of a new era. Though many in cryptocurrency scoff at the idea of government permissions, for the moment it’s the reality. Japan Decided to Regulate, Not Ban Japan got a taste of the Bitcoin Wild West in 2014 when Mt. Gox brought a ton of unwanted international attention. Mopping up that mess is an ongoing concern almost four years later, and Japan was eager to avoid the same thing happening again. For cryptocurrency in Japan, it was either regulation like other financial services, or oblivion. Proponents can feel lucky at least that Japan has chosen regulation over bans, uncertainty and roadblocks. For exchanges like QUOINE and bitFlyer, the next step could be the ICO market. That’s a whole other issue. The FSA is reportedly comfortable only with assets it has spent time studying, including Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, and Ethereum. Next Step Is ICO Trading – but Not in Japan for Now QUOINE recently launched an altcoin and digital token exchange called QRYPTOS, but it’s only available to traders outside Japan. BitFlyer has its professional-focused Lightning exchange which also has crypto derivatives — again though, only BTC, BCC, and ETH. Both exchanges are aimed at professional FX traders as much as consumers. It’s a lucrative market, especially in Japan with its army of “Mrs. Watanabe” amateur forex speculators. In fact, FX may even count as a national pastime — and the exchanges know it well. Regulation by the FSA will make that easier — at least for the traders. For the companies themselves, it’s a lot of responsibility. Do you think Japan is handling the digital asset market well? Let’s hear your thoughts. Images via Jon Southurst

Get the biggest daily news stories by email Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email A Middle East expert has relived the chilling moment he caught a rare glimpse of Jihadi John’s face during a shocking encounter in Syria. Jurgen Todenhofer was fact-finding in a terrorist stronghold when the British ISIS executioner – masked knife-wielding “star” of a series of sickening beheading videos – was assigned to be his driver. The Jihadist – real name Mohammed Emwazi – always hid his face. But when Jurgen, 74, walked into a restaurant with an ISIS commander he came face-to-face with the killer, minus his mask. Jurgen, who was accompanied on the dangerous mission by his son Freddie, said: “I realised Jihadi John was one of our drivers. He was always the masked driver and boss of our commander. “Later I saw him unmasked in a restaurant and they said I had done it on purpose, that I was trying to find out his identity. "I said to the ISIS commander, ‘What the hell, all the other terrorists take off their masks, why is he so special?’ But they didn’t answer. “The fighters had hours and hours of conferences after that about the situation, they would not speak to or sleep or eat with us any more, because I had seen his real face, heard his real voice.” He said swaggering Emwazi, filmed gloating over the brutal beheadings of Britons Alan Henning and David Haines in two videos, had long curly hair, a nose like an eagle’s beak and was “the most unfriendly guy we met there”. German former judge and politician Jurgen went to the region with his son after Freddie, 31, contacted ISIS online and arranged to meet Jihadi fighters. Leaders of the terror group promised they would not be harmed and they spent days talking to terrorists and members of the group’s “police force” about their vile cause. They also witnessed their squalid living conditions, which turned out to be far from the life of riches with a selection of wives catering to their every whim conjured up by ISIS recruiters to suck in impressionable young Muslims. Jurgen, who has written several books about the Middle East, is a friend of British hostage John Cantlie and wanted to see him during the visit five months ago. Video Loading Video Unavailable Click to play Tap to play The video will start in 8 Cancel Play now The war photographer is being held by ISIS and appeared in several of its propaganda videos after being waterboarded and terrorised. Jurgen said: “I was devastated at what they did to John. There is nothing these perverse people are not able to do. “I wanted to meet him and he [Jihadi John] insisted that I should meet John Cantlie, who would give me a letter to David Cameron and the British people and to Cantlie’s family. "IS wanted to film me accepting the letter. I said, ‘No, I will not play a role in your videos’ and we had the first quarrel. “Jihadi John was always masked, you could only see one eye and he had a strong accent, the same accent as Jihadi John we know from the videos.” Emwazi was born in Kuwait but grew up and went to university in London. His last video appearance was in January in a film of him beheading Japanese journalist Kenji Goto. On their trip Jurgen and Freddie visited the Syrian cities of Aleppo and Raqqa as well as Mosul in Iraq, which have been captured by ISIS as part of its murderous campaign to form an Islamic state – and it was the same grim story wherever they went. Jurgen said: “Everywhere I was it was sleeping on the floor or in broken old beds. These stories of fighters being rich and having several wives are told to persuade young people to join them. "They only get pay-outs if they win a battle – those who conquered Mosul got $1,000 or $2,000 but normal fighters get $50 (£30) a month. "For a while all we could get to eat were chocolate cookies which become horrible after a while. In Mosul we were in a restaurant and all the fighters eat are cheeseburgers, hummus, fries and Pepsi. “They don’t have 10 women per man, this is another myth. Most fighters don’t have a girl and the 15 and 16-year-old girls who leave our countries for IS get put into women’s houses where they try to find husbands for them.” He added: “I met many fighters from the UK, Sweden and Germany. I asked them questions about the Koran but they couldn’t answer because they don’t know the Koran. "They can’t come home because they are betrayers in the eyes of IS fighters and are executed, condemned to death if they want to leave. Some have escaped, hundreds have been executed.” Jurgen believes the only way to stop Western recruits going to Syria is to stop them crossing the border with Turkey. He said: “We must force Turkey to allow us to police these borders.” And his assessment on IS? “It is a very complicated system but in the end is like all governments, there are four people at the top who aren’t really fighting for Islam, they are fighting for personal power.” Below: Beach killer Seifeddine Rezgui and Jihadi John were part of SAME terror training camp

Imagine that you are a bouncer, checking IDs outside a popular bar in a college town. It is somewhat dark outside the door, there are many distractions: loud music is playing and your job requires you to also keep an eye on the crowd for trouble. And because the patrons are dressed for a night out, many of them look somewhat different than their ID photos. Despite all these challenges, intuition probably tells you that matching faces to ID photos is easy and accurate. Look at the photo, look at the person, and they either match or not. It turns out, however, that this intuition is wrong. Detecting false IDs is surprisingly difficult, especially when they rarely occur. A bouncer for a college bar can likely expect to catch roughly a dozen fake IDs in an evening, and the cost for missing one is relatively low: an underage student sneaks into a bar, and the bar makes more money. Now imagine that you are screening IDs for airport security. Again, you must simultaneously verify IDs while keeping an eye on the crowd for suspicious activity, and there is time pressure to keep the line moving. Moreover, travelers vary widely in age and appearance; their IDs and passports are from all around the world; and there can be great differences between a person’s photo and their current appearance. Most importantly, only a very rare person would attempt to board an airplane with a false ID, and the consequences of missing that person could be dire. With the recent disappearance of Malaysian Airlines Flight 370, and reports that two men boarded the plane using stolen passports (although they were subsequently ruled out as potential terrorists), attention has become focused on this potential security loophole. In many airports around the world, there are several checks in place to prevent individuals with stolen IDs from passing through security, including scanning passengers’ passports against the Interpol database of known missing/stolen documents. Approximately 3.1 billion people traveled via airplane in 2013, yet Interpol estimates that passengers successfully boarded airplanes 1 billion times without having their passports scanned against their database. Although this oversight may reflect negligence or lack of available technology, it underscores the need to understand the second line of defense against stolen identity documents: the human ability to match faces to photographs. Given the myriad contexts in which society relies on face matching, it is surprising to learn that decades of research have documented its remarkable fallibility. People often have the intuitive impression that they (and others) are “expert” face processors, given the social relevance and ubiquity of face and expression perception. In many domains, this intuition is correct. Humans are capable of recognizing hundreds of individuals across years, and under varying environmental conditions. However, this impressive ability is generally limited to familiar faces. In 2011, researchers asked U.K. and Dutch participants to sort 40 photographs of individuals into piles so that each pile contained pictures of the same person. The 40 photographs depicted only two individuals, both Dutch celebrities, and, in fact, almost all of the Dutch participants created only two piles. By contrast, the U.K. participants created an average of 7.5 separate piles. Without familiarity to aide their processing, the U.K. participants perceived the faces as representing far more unique identities. Other research has focused on unfamiliar face matching. Although there are certainly situations in which an observer must match a familiar face to his photo ID–for instance, a frequent flyer or familiar face at a neighborhood bar or liquor store–the majority of people passing through security lines or other age and identity checkpoints are likely to be unfamiliar to the person checking their documents. Under these circumstances, a premium is placed on catching the “fakes.” Although it is not ideal to inconvenience someone by closely scrutinizing their ID, the consequences of missing a stolen ID are severe. Unfortunately, laboratory research has revealed that this task is remarkably error-prone. Under idealized conditions, with just two faces to compare, almost 20 percent of identity mismatches go undetected, according to research published in 2008. Performance drops even further when the observer compares faces of other-race individuals, extending the well-known own-race bias in face recognition to perceptual tasks that place little burden on memory systems. But how well do such laboratory studies mimic real life? To approximate real-life conditions, researchers sent shoppers through a supermarket carrying credit cards with identifying photos on the front. When the shoppers attempted to pay with their assigned cards, they were unaware of whether the credit card photo depicted them, or a different individual, matched for age and gender. Although all cashiers were aware of the ongoing study, and were warned to watch out, they accepted nearly 50 percent of the fraudulent cards. Error rates exceeding 20 percent are harmless in the lab, but they can have severe consequences in applied settings. One difficulty in comparing lab studies with applied contexts is the rate at which observers encounter fake IDs. In most laboratory studies, observers encounter 50 percent identity matches and 50 percent identity mismatches. While it is possible for a liquor retailer to encounter frequent fake IDs (particularly in small college towns with not much else to do!), one can likely assume that very few individuals present fake or stolen IDs when traveling through the airport or crossing national borders. Although this sounds like a good thing, there is solid evidence to suspect that these contextual statistics will have a powerful (and detrimental) influence on an individual’s ability to detect identity mismatches. In visual search tasks such as baggage screening in which targets occur rarely, people become less likely to notice them. This is known as the low-prevalence effect, and it often manifests as a conservative bias in decision-making. That is, individuals become less “willing” to report a target when those targets appear infrequently. The same finding – but far stronger – emerges in unfamiliar face matching. In a study published earlier this year, I along with Stephen Goldinger at Arizona State University found that when people rarely encountered false IDs–in our study, they were looking at two pictures depicting the same or different individuals–they missed 45 percent of those that occurred. That is, in those instances, they thought the two photos were of the same person when they were not. This error resisted many attempts to reduce it: we asked observers to make certainty judgments and even gave them a second chance to view some face pairs. Thus, face matching is strongly affected by viewers’ expectations. If someone does not expect to encounter a fake ID, that person will be less likely to detect fake IDs. The consequences of these biases, coupled with the inherently challenging nature of unfamiliar face matching, suggest that photo-ID matching is far more challenging (and unsuccessful) than we might care to believe. References: Bahrick, H. P., Bahrick, P. O., & Wittlinger, R. P. (1975). Fifty years of memory for names and faces: A cross-sectional approach. Journal of Experiment Psychology: General, 104, 54-75. Hancock, P. J. B., Bruce, V., & Burton, A. M. (2000). Recognition of unfamiliar faces. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 4, 330-337. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1364-6613(00)01519-9 Jenkins, R., White, D., Van Montfort, X., & Burton, A. M. (2011). Variability in photos of the same face. Cognition, 121, 313-323. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0010027711002022 Kemp, R., Towell, N. & Pike, G. (1997). When seeing should not be believing: Photographs, credit cards, and fraud. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 11, 211-222. DOI: 10.1002/(SICI)1099-0720(199706)11:3<211::AID-ACP430>3.0.CO;2-O Megreya, A. M. & Burton, A. M. (2006). Unfamiliar faces aren’t faces: Evidence from a matching task. Memory & Cognition, 34, 865-876. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17063917 Megreya, A. M. & Burton, A. M. (2007). Hits and false positives in face matching: A familiarity based dissociation. Perception & Psychophysics, 69, 1175-1184. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18038955 Megreya, A. M. & Burton, A. M. (2008). Matching faces to photographs: Poor performance in eyewitness memory (without the memory). Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 14, 364-372. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19102619 Papesh, M. H., & Goldinger, S. D. (2014). Infrequent identity mismatches are frequently undetected. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics. doi: 10.3758/s13414-014-0630-6 Wolfe, J.M., Horowitz, T.S., & Kenner, N.M. (2005). Rare items are often missed in visual searches. Nature, 435, 439-440. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15917795

Architect's rendering of the eight-story, 855-space garage planned for the Park South neighborhood. The garage is controversial, with some city residents saying it's far too big for the area south of Washington Park in Albany. less Architect's rendering of the eight-story, 855-space garage planned for the Park South neighborhood. The garage is controversial, with some city residents saying it's far too big for the area south of Washington ... more Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Huge garage won't build a neighborhood 1 / 3 Back to Gallery Albany You want parking? Oh, this neighborhood will have parking. Right there on Myrtle Avenue in Albany will be the grandest parking garage the region has ever seen. It'll be eight towering stories of parking glory, enough space for 855 cars. We'll have an entirely new reason to call the neighborhood Park South. There's just one thing: Such an insanely large garage was never part of the plan. As you probably know, Park South has been undergoing a transformation. Under the guidelines of a 2006 redevelopment plan, the rundown section of the city has been remade by shiny buildings lining New Scotland Avenue near Albany Medical Center. As part of the next wave of change, Columbia Development wants to clear two city blocks for 268 apartments, along with offices and stores. The latest version of the proposal calls for nine new buildings — including the controversial parking garage. How big is it? It's about double the garage approved by city lawmakers back in 2006, and the Common Council is now being asked to OK the change. More Information Have a story? Contact Churchill 518-454-5700 or cchurchill@timesunion.com. How big is it? Renderings show it dwarfing nearby buildings. They look like Chihuahuas next to a Great Dane. Columbia, which is partnering on the project with Tri-City Rentals and Albany Med, says it needs the garage to serve the customers, residents and workers who would use the new buildings. The assumption seems to be that the apartments, businesses and offices would all be at maximum capacity at exactly the same time. Now, it's fair to wonder who, exactly, would use an eight-story garage to visit a store, or what version of hell it would be to lug groceries from the garage to an apartment on the next block. There's also the question of urban design. The goal of redevelopment in Park South has always been to create a vital, lively, interesting neighborhood, with desirable residential side streets. Massive parking garages don't make for such places. They don't make neighborhoods feel safer and friendlier. Believe me, I get the need for some parking. But cities in the automobile age face a difficult paradox. If an urban neighborhood has too much parking, especially surface-level lots, it's a concrete dead zone. Nobody wants to spend time there. People instead choose tighter-knit neighborhoods in which they can easily walk from place to place — and complain that there's not enough parking. There are examples of each kind of neighborhood within blocks of the proposed mega-garage site. To the south, between Holland Avenue and Academy Road, is a depressing landscape of surface-level lots. People park, then scurry away.To the northeast is Center Square, along Lark Street. This, I'd argue, is the city's most successful inner district — yet there are no parking garages. Imagine that. It's miraculous. The Columbia plan would make Park South more like Holland Avenue and less like Center Square. It's just too much parking for a city. It's too much like a suburban office park. Want a better model? Look to Saratoga Springs, where smaller parking garages are mixed among other uses. Here's a question: Since the expectation seems to be that nobody in Park South will be walking or taking the bus, won't the traffic caused by the new construction overwhelm the neighborhood's narrow streets? Columbia Development declined comment. But Joe Nicolla, its president, has publicly said the garage is key to the plan, and that none of the buildings will go forward without it. It's an all-or-nothing threat. Columbia is also suggesting lenders won't finance the construction without the expanded garage. That claim is curious, since Columbia didn't include a parking garage as part of the eleven-story complex it has proposed building along Wellington Row on State Street. Albany's planning department, by the way, has raised concerns about the mega-garage. In a recent memo, it suggested the structure shouldn't be taller than nearby buildings and called for "a more objective analysis of the suggested parking needs," among other recommendations. That's a nice way of saying that Columbia is exaggerating the need for spaces. That's a nice way of saying that eight stories of concrete are absurd for what has always been a residential side street. cchurchill@timesunion.com • 518-454-5700 • @chris_churchill

Much has changed since the first Winter Olympics were held in Chamonix, France, in 1924. The “International Winter Sports Week” featured about 250 athletes participating in 16 events across six sports, including the usual suspects like figure skating, bobsled, and ice hockey, as well as a military patrol competition. (The military event was won, strangely, by the Swiss.) Competitors’ attire was less slick and aerodynamic than we see today, with the look perhaps best described as Great Gatsby on Ice. Check out the best winter sportsmen of the 1920s in our collection of images from Chamonix. Speedskaters at the starting line. Photos via Chamonix 1924 Official Olympic Report The Swedish and British curling teams. Photos via Chamonix 1924 Official Olympic Report Three members of the Swedish curling team taking a break to have a drink. Photos via Chamonix 1924 Official Olympic Report Clearing snow at the Olympic stadium. Photos via Chamonix 1924 Official Olympic Report An ice hockey team. Photos via Chamonix 1924 Official Olympic Report Jacob Tullin Thams of Norway, gold medalist in ski jumping. Photo via Chamonix 1924 Official Olympic Report Norway’s Sonja Henie finished eighth (out of eight) in figure skating in Chamonix. She was just 11 years old. Henie would go on to win gold in 1928, 1932, and 1936. Chamonix 1924 Official Olympic Report Andrée Joly and Pierre Brunet won bronze in pairs figure skating in Chamonix before taking gold in 1928 and 1932. The French couple got married in 1929. Photos via Chamonix 1924 Official Olympic Report Julius Skutnabb and Clas Thunberg of Finland won a combined eight speedskating medals in Chamonix. Photo via Chamonix 1924 Official Olympic Report Competitors in the bobsled. Photo via Chamonix 1924 Official Olympic Report The silver-medal-winning British bobsled team. Chamonix 1924 Official Olympic Report

In a recent Ask Reddit subreddit, one user posed the question: “what is the laziest thing you’ve ever done?” Not surprisingly, some of the responses were pathetically lazy. But one user telling the story of his days sailing on a U.S. military ship by far takes the cake. Here’s his story: I was once on a US military ship, having breakfast in the wardroom (officers lounge) when the Operations Officer (OPS) walks in. This guy was the definition of NOT a morning person; he’s still half asleep, bleary eyed… basically a zombie with a bagel. He sits down across from me to eat his bagel and is just barely conscious. My back is to the outboard side of the ship, and the morning sun is blazing in one of the portholes putting a big bright-ass circle of light right on his barely conscious face. He’s squinting and chewing and basically just remembering how to be alive for today. It’s painful to watch. But then zombie-OPS stops chewing, slowly picks up the phone, and dials the bridge. In his well-known I’m-still-totally-asleep voice, he says “heeeey. It’s OPS. Could you… shift our barpat… yeah, one six five. Thanks.” And puts the phone down. And then he just sits there. Squinting. Waiting. And then, ever so slowly, I realize that that big blazing spot of sun has begun to slide off the zombie’s face and onto the wall behind him. After a moment it clears his face and he blinks slowly a few times and the brilliant beauty of what I’ve just witnessed begins to overwhelm me. By ordering the bridge to adjust the ship’s back-and-forth patrol by about 15 degrees, he’s changed our course just enough to reposition the sun off of his face. He’s literally just redirected thousands of tons of steel and hundreds of people so that he could get the sun out of his eyes while he eats his bagel. I am in awe. He slowly picks up his bagel and for a moment I’m terrified at the thought that his own genius may escape him, that he may never appreciate the epic brilliance of his laziness (since he’s not going to wake up for another hour). But between his next bites he pauses, looks at me, and gives me the faintest, sly grin, before returning to gnaw slowly on his zombie bagel.

Newly published transcripts of January phone calls between President Trump and the leaders of Mexico and Australia didn’t just give people an opportunity to see how Trump discussed matters with international leaders at the time. One conversational snippet has given the internet a primo meme opportunity. Published Thursday by the Washington Post, the transcripts showed that Trump had a combative conversation Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull about a plan to accept hundreds of refugees from offshore detention centers near to Australia. “I guarantee you they are bad. That is why they are in prison right now. They are not going to be wonderful people who go on to work for the local milk people,” Trump said, seemingly a reference to the massive U.S. dairy industry. The Brief Newsletter Sign up to receive the top stories you need to know right now. View Sample Sign Up Now That milk snippet was all the internet needed to turn it into a meme full of all the dairy product-themed jokes. The topic of cookies, another business Trump gave airtime to during the presidential debates of 2016 popped up too. A band name was born. Those iconic collectible milk print ads made an appearance. Write to Ashley Hoffman at Ashley.Hoffman@time.com.

Hi everyone! If you want up to date stats on the decks doing well in Magic, you have come to the right place. In this article, I am going to break down the stats from Magic Online and have a look at what decks are doing the best, and what you should prepare for. An important note - this article is aimed at people playing in Magic Online Leagues (or Dailies for Vintage) and does not take into account results from Grand Prix and other paper events. The statistics presented her are based on the decks that Wizards of the Coast publishes, and only includes the previous week's results. It includes decks that went 5-0 in Leagues (or 3-1 or better in Dailies). Also, if you want to compare the current stats to those of last time, click here. STANDARD Do you like Humans, and/or white decks? If so, Standard is the format for you! Standard is absolutely dominated by these two things at the moment. Take a look: Mono White Aggro (25.37%) Bant Humans (14.93%) Green/White Tokens (8.96%) White/Black Control (7.46%) As you can see, the Human based decks make up a massive chunk of the metagame (41.79%; there was a single red/white humans deck that went 5-0), and the top 4 decks all include white (and none of them including red). In fact, I decided to run the numbers on how dominant white is: it shows up in 73.13% of this weeks decks, with the next closest being green which shows up in just under half the decks. Red is the worst; it was only represented in 17.91% of the decks. Moral of the story seems to be to play white and ignore red in this format. The other thing happening with the format at the moment is the diversity is being slowly eroded as people work it out - out of 67 published decks, there were only 20 unique ones, which is down a little from previous weeks. We had a look at the white aggro deck last week, so this week let's look at Bant Humans: MODERN Modern is, by far, the most diverse Magic format right now. Every time I take a snap shot of the meta for these articles, the top decks have changed. In fact, there were 34 unique decks out of the 68, 5-0 decks that Wizards of the Coast published this week. This is a fantastic state of affairs. Last time it was Jund, Elves, and Affinity that were the top decks. This week: Suicide Zoo (11.76%) Infect (10.29%) Burn (7.35%) Jund, Bant Eldrazi, Affinity, Abzan, Zoo, and Dredge (4.41%) For most of the week Infect was the top deck, but Suicide Zoo overtook it at the last minute to take the number one spot. It's hard to come prepared for any one particular deck in Modern at the moment, but on the flip side there are many strategies that have the potential of winning, so playing what you want has never been truer. PAUPER Well here's a bit of a surprise: Delver has been knocked off the number 1 spot! Stompy (26.79%) Delver (14.29%) Murasa Tron (10.71%) Mono Black Control (8.93%) Kuldotha Jeskai (5.36%) It's probably really no surprise that Stompy has stolen first position and become the dominant deck, as it has a good match up against Delver. Things will change as the meta adjusts to fight Stompy, then Delver will likely make its return to the top - although, it should be said, the pending release of Eternal Masters could shake up the format a bit. The Murasa Tron deck is a blue/red control deck that uses Pulse of Murasa for added value. One interesting stat that I want to bring up is that Pauper is actually slightly more diverse than Standard right now, with 18 unique decks out of the 56 decks Wizards published this week. LEGACY Not much changed in Legacy this week, with the top 3 decks still being the same as last time. And although Delver of Secrets saw a decline in Pauper, it made up a bit of ground here: Miracles (24.56%) Eldrazi Stompy (15.79%) Shardless BUG (8.77%) UR Delver and Grixis Delver (7.02%) BUG Delver (5.26%) There was also a RUG Delver deck that was published twice during the week. But the story of Legacy is still the dominance of the Miracles deck, and it actually was up 3.5% on last time, bouncing back a bit as I predicted. VINTAGE As it was before, so it was again: Jeskai Mentor is still the best deck in the format. However, we did have a new deck enter the top decks this week: Jeskai Mentor (25%) White Eldrazi (16.67%) Dredge (10.42%) Grixis Therapy (8.33%) I featured the White Eldrazi deck in my Sweet Brews column last week, but it seems like it is definitely the new hot deck in Vintage. It had 8 appearances in the 3-1 or better decks (out of 48 decks) and seems like it is the real deal. Whether it is being highly played at the moment due to it being new, or whether it will remain powerful, is still to be seen. I want to finish with a stat that I found quite interesting and which I have alluded to already. I like diversity in formats; to me, it is the sign of a healthy game. Let's take a look at which formats are the most diverse: Standard - 20 unique decks out of 67 published Modern - 34 unique decks out of 68 published Pauper - 18 unique decks out of 56 published Legacy - 19 unique decks out of 57 published Vintage - 17 unique decks out of 48 published If we break this down into the average number of appearances per deck, we can get a look at which format is the most diverse. The less amount of appearances per deck, the more diverse the format: Standard - 3.35 Modern - 2.00 Pauper - 3.11 Legacy - 3.00 Vintange - 2.83 This actually means that Standard is the least diverse format right now, based on the number of 'good' decks in the format. It indicates that unless you are playing one of the top decks, you don't stand much of a chance. It is probably the reason I am not in love with the format right now and have gravitated towards Modern. That's it for this week. Join me again in two weeks when we re-examine what is happening on MTGO! Until then, leave any comments below or follow me on Twitter: @The_Wolf_MTG

Rajnish Rai is no stranger to the consequences of investigating cases of staged encounter killings. Rai, a 1992 batch officer from the Indian Police Service, first courted controversy in 2007, during his tenure as the deputy inspector general (DIG) of the Crime Investigation Department of Gujarat. In April that year, he arrested three senior IPS officers—DG Vanzara, Rajkumar Pandiyan and MN Dinesh—for the fake encounters of a gangster, Sohrabuddin Sheikh, and his wife, Kausar Bi, in November 2005. By May 2007, Rai was taken off the investigation, so that—according to a report in The Hindu—he could be prevented from “putting the arrested senior IPS officers to more embarrassment.” He was instead posted as the DIG of the State Crime Records Bureau, a non-executive post, which was followed by a transfer to another non-executive posting as the principal, Police Training (Chowky) in Junagadh. His superiors, PC Pande, then the director general of police in Gujarat and OP Mathur, who was the CID (Crime) chief, downgraded the review of his performance in his annual confidential report for the period between 1 April 2007 and 22 August 2007 from “very good” to “average.” In April 2008, the officials of Gujarat University claimed that Rai had cheated in the LLB examinations that he had appeared for and declared him failed in all subjects. (He challenged the university in the Gujarat High Court, which ruled in his favour.) A decade after he made the arrests that have since hounded his career, Rai is in the limelight once again. In a letter dated 17 April 2017, which was first reported by the Indian Express, Rai—who is now the Inspector General of Police with the Central Reserve Police Force (North Eastern Sector)—alleged that a killing of two suspected insurgents in March was not an encounter, as the security forces involved in the operation had claimed, but “pre-planned murders.” Lucas Narzary, alias N Langfa, and David Islary, alias Dayud, believed to be from the militant organisation National Democratic Front of Bodoland (Songbijit), or NDFB (S), were killed on the intervening night between 29 and 30 March. Two units of the CRPF—the 156 Battalion and the 210 Batallion of the Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA), a specialised division of the CRPF—filed special situation reports regarding the deaths. According to these, a joint operation conducted by these units, along with the Assam police, the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), and the Sikh Light Infantry of the Indian army, in Simlaguri, in the district of Chirang, resulted in the death of the two men. The reports stated that the team conducted this operation in the early hours of 30 March based on the information that members of the NDFB(S) would be present in the area that night. At around 4.30 am, the reports claimed, a police party stationed at Simlaguri road noticed a group of four of five people who were approaching the road from Mandarguri, and resorted to “indiscriminate firing” when the troops challenged them. The forces retaliated in self-defence. In the exchange of fire that ensued, two from this group were killed and subsequently identified as Narzary and Islary. The reports also stated that the team recovered arms and ammunition from the bodies of these two men, which included a rifle, several live rounds and empty cases of ammunition and a Chinese hand grenade. According to Rai's letter, soon after he was appraised of the operation, the Commandant (operations) of the North Eastern Sector informed him that there appeared to be discrepancies between the version that had been narrated in the CRPF reports and the events that had transpired. A senior officer from the CRPF—whose name has not been disclosed in Rai's letter—confirmed the same to him. Rai informed his superiors at the CRPF about the inconsistencies and asked the senior officer to prepare a confidential report on the incident. The report offered a startling conclusion regarding the encounter: that there had been none. Rai then asked another officer from the CRPF to conduct a discreet enquiry to verify the facts that had been brought to light by the confidential report. The officer conducting this enquiry interviewed nine witnesses and accessed nine documents—these included the reports that the two units of the CRPF had submitted and the first information report that had been filed at the police station in Amguri, which falls under Chirang district. The enquiry, Rai's letter states, essentially revealed that a team from the CRPF and the Assam police had first reached Digoldong village, also known as D-Kalling—where they had been told that the suspected militants were stationed—and identified the house in which Narzary and Islary were staying. Upon entering, the team found the two men and young boy asleep in the house. (The letter stated that a woman from the adjacent house said that the boy was her son, and that the team “allowed her to take the young boy away.”)

2017 Off-road Events in November Are you an off-road enthusiast? Are you looking for something to do this November? Just in case you did not know, there are quite a few very popular off-road events going on all over the nation this month. Just to name a few… How about the 2017 SEMA Show, AAPEX auto accessories show, the 50th BAJA 1000, Best in the Desert PAHRUMP NUGGET “250”, etc. Please read on below to find popular 4×4 off-road events, off-road races, Jeep only events, rock crawler and rock bouncing events, a wide range of mud bog events, Mega truck events, Monster truck events, etc. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Oct. 31st- Nov. 3rd, 2017 SEMA Show 2017 https://www.semashow.com ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Nov. 1-3, 2017 – Sands Expo Las Vegas, NV The premier global event for the aftermarket auto parts industry. http://www.aapexshow.com https://www.facebook.com/AAPEXShow/ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Wed, Nov 1— Sun, Nov 5 Mud Bash with ECMR Racing Moccasin Creek Off Road Park, 7055 Wilton Rd, Blackshear, GA https://moccasincreekorp.com/event/1968819/432005316/mud-bash-with-ecmr-racing ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Nov. 5th, 2017 Black Bear Run 10345 Coombs Rd, Manton, MI http://cadillacjeepers.com/cadillac-jeepers-events/ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Nov. 14-18th 50th Baja 1000 http://score-international.com/raceinfo/2017-schedule/ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Nov. 18th-26th 7000 acre off-road park in Rush, KY aka- Rush Off-road Park Trip is currently in the works and is scheduled for November 18-26 2017. http://cadillacjeepers.com/cadillac-jeepers-events/ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Turkey Run November 24, 2017 – Turkey Run Rush Off-road Park http://www.rushoffroad.com/events/ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Nov. 22nd-26th, 2017 Turkey Bog Event Hogwaller Off-road Park and Mud Bog http://www.hogwallermudbog.com/mud-bog-dates.html ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ NOVEMBER 30, DECEMBER 1, 2, 3, 2017 – (Race in Pahrump, NV – Time Trials November 30, 2017) PAHRUMP NUGGET “250” presented by Supercross.com “RACE FOR THE GOLD” CAR/TRUCK & UTV POINTS ONLY – 1-DAY PRE-FUN RUN ON SATURDAY, NOV 25, 2017 http://www.bitd.com ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ If you happen to know of any other off-road events, off-road races, mud bog events… going on this November, please leave a comment below and we will be sure to add it as soon as possible! About Nox Lux- State of the Art off-road LED light systems by Nox Lux! Premium off-road LED light bars ranging from 2 inch to 50 inch LED bars in single and dual row, Off-road spot and fog lights, LED rock lights, LED cube lights, LED grille kits, skid plates, black out kits, running boards, skid plates, etc. www.Nox-Lux.com Advertisements

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- A pair of Alabama men’s basketball players will miss the remainder of the 2016-17 season because of injuries, head coach Avery Johnson announced Friday. Redshirt junior forward Nick King (lung infection) and sophomore guard Brandon Austin (back) will not return to the floor for the Crimson Tide (15-10, 8-5 SEC) as it prepares for the final five games of its regular season, as well as the SEC Tournament. “Nick King is out for the season due to some recent testing on a previous illness and lung situation that he had been dealing with all year,” Johnson said. “Based on those tests and meeting with Nick and his family, he’s done for the rest of the year. “Secondly, Brandon Austin is also out for the year due a non-surgical procedure involving his back, so he’s done for the year. He’s been having some back issues, and he just had a procedure that’s going to involve him missing the next 3-4 weeks and rehab.” (Make sure you're in the know by signing up for FREE Alabama newsletter!) Austin has suited up in five games as a true sophomore, averaging 0.6 points per game. His second season spent in Tuscaloosa has been hampered by a myriad of injuries, including a bone bruise that sidelined him for the first two games of the year. King started feeling “horrible” when the team played two games in Las Vegas and “was really out of it” when the Alabama basketball team returned. Then, in a seven-day stretch, the forward dropped 15 pounds, lost his appetite and ability to sleep before undergoing tests under doctor supervision. An ex-starter at small forward, King averaged 3.3 points and 2.9 rebounds per game in the Crimson Tide’s first seven games of the season. The Memphis transfer scored a season-high nine points against Saint Louis when Alabama played in Las Vegas. “Based on communicating with the doctors, the long-term prognosis, he’ll be just fine,” Johnson said of King. “But just in the short term of where we are in the season and even if the season goes through April 5, the point is he’s not going to be able to return this year.” Johnson said applying for a medical hardship waiver for King will be something he and the Tide determine once the season has ended. The second-year coach also said of Austin’s situation, “I don’t know if he would even qualify for anything like that.” Alabama will host LSU on Saturday, Feb. 18, for a 2:30 p.m. CT tipoff on the SEC Network. * Subscribe to BamaOnLine: 7-day FREE TRIAL with subscription *

EC chairman Supachai Somcharoen said the atmosphere in the meeting was good and the caretaker government agreed with all the EC proposals. The meeting with the caretaker premier took place in the afternoon at the Royal Thai Air Force Academy. Before the meeting, Supachai said the EC proposed three election dates – July 20, August 17 and September 14 – to the government. It also presented the results of its earlier meetings with security agencies and political parties as well as Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva. The EC felt July 20 was an appropriate date but if the government disagreed, then it must give its reasons, he said before the meeting. The EC would listen but remained true to its stance is that the election must not be held in an atmosphere of conflict and that there must be no violence. Meanwhile, EC member Somchai Srisutthiyakorn said the government must ensure a free and fair election, it must stay neutral as the caretaker government and must not abuse the power for its advantage and the security agencies must provide support in maintaining peace and order during the election process,. He also said the EC might postpone the election in problematic places where balloting cannot properly take place properly. Meanwhile, the government must accept the situation, as it was possible that the election could take place but the House of Representatives could not convene within 30 days of the election date. On Yingluck’s Facebook page, she said that in the morning she had attended a meeting to follow up the work of government agencies. She hoped that the election, delayed for more than three months, would take place thus allowing the people to get the government they wanted soon.

Published on August 27th, 2013 By John Longley, 1983 America’s Cup winner After spending a week in San Francisco and having the opportunity to talk to a number of people who have actually sailed the extraordinary AC72s, I have gathered a bit of AC72 trivia to share… * If you had an engine to power the hydraulics rather than grinders, you could sail the AC72s with 4 people rather than the crew of 11 they now sail with. * There is really only one trimmer on board and he controls the wing. The helmsman controls the cant and rake of the board with buttons on a control pad in front of him but only has 3 seconds of stored power before he has to “throw bananas” into the grinding pit i.e. ask for more hydraulic power. * They have seen 47 knots as the top speed so far but expect to see the 50 knot barrier broken in the Cup match. * The boats go directly downwind 1.8 times faster than the wind. So if you let a balloon go as you went around the top mark you would easily beat it to the bottom mark. * There is only 4 degrees difference to the apparent wind from going on the wind to running as deep as you can. * If you lost the hydraulics while the boats were foiling they would be completely uncontrollable and would most likely capsize. * It is faster to find the strongest adverse current going downwind because the stronger apparent that is then generated translates into more speed than if you were sailing in slack water. (Warning – this takes a bit to get your head around) * When sailing downwind you look for the puffs in front of you not behind you. * It is actually quite dry on the boats, unless you make a mistake and come off the foils, as you are flying a couple of metres above the water. Waves have almost no impact on the boat when foiling. * In strong wind you carry negative camber at the top of the wing to “reef” or de-power the wing. * All crew carry personal tackle so they can effectively rappel down the netting if the boat capsizes. * Gennakers are only used below about 8 knots; the jibs only provide about 3% of the lift up wind. * The foil on the rudder generates about 800 kg of lift with the rest coming from the center board foil to lift the 7 ton yachts clear of the water. * The centre board foil’s tip comes out of the water so it effectively works like a governor on an engine i.e. as the board generates too much vertical lift it comes out of the water, the area is thus reduced so it goes back down etc until it finds equilibrium.

Posted by Doomeru Woebashi at on Thursday, November 8, 2007 I'm currently playing Manhunt 2 on my my cracked psp, modded so I can see all the delicious torture sequences uncensored. And though I've been generally enthused about getting the chance to act out my innermost violent urges I'm really more pleased to just be playing it before Sir Cucumber. To be sure, the executions have gotten all the attention prior to Manhunt 2's release and I agree that they are chillingly violent, but on the psp and ps2 the graphics are so muddy and the characters so sparsely rendered (seriously, you can count the polygons) that you can barely make anything out. What modding does do is remove the jarring, blinding, mind-searing colorform crapfest that flashes on the screen any time you kill someone. You are already squinting at the psp, hunched close to make anything out even with the brightness cranked up, and then suddenly it feels like you've been hit with a hot poker in the brain via entry through the left nostril. I'm of a mind that this is the ultimate victory for ESRB: In order to satisfy their demands Rockstar didn't just obscure the death sequences but did so in a way that conditions you to NOT want to perform them. Also, your avatar will occasionally vomit on his victim's corpse afterward, as if to press the point further home. Why do they always wear masks in Manhunt games?

Microsoft Xbox head Phil Spencer Getty Images/Kevork Djansezian When Microsoft launched Windows 10 in the summer of 2015, it came alongside a brand-spanking-new app strategy for the company. Microsoft promised that with its new Windows Universal Platform (UWP), developers could write their apps once and they would run on any device running Windows 10 — including PCs, tablets, smartphones, and, eventually, the Xbox One and HoloLens holographic goggles. From Microsoft's perspective, it's a grand idea for getting developers to take their Windows software and make it available everywhere, including the severely lacking Windows phone platform. With competition from Apple and Google only intensifying, it's critical to attract as many apps as possible. Apart from a few big names like Uber, Hulu, Twitter, and Facebook, however, developers across all industries have been slow to sign on with UWP. Meanwhile, former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer says it won't work, and one of the biggest names in gaming slammed it as "the most aggressive move Microsoft has ever made." Overall, developers are concerned that rebuilding their existing apps for UWP is too much work, while simultaneously giving Microsoft too much control over the PC software market. But at a session at the Game Developers Conference, Microsoft Xbox Advanced Technology Group boss Jason Ronald explains why Microsoft's "journey to one platform" is good for game developers — and thus for all developers everywhere. The ultimate answer: By smashing together platforms like the Xbox One and Windows phone together with Windows 10, Microsoft says that it's opening up all kinds of doors to help developers make a lot more cash and win more fans. Smashing the Xbox It's not news that Microsoft is bringing Windows 10 and the Xbox One video game console closer, including the fact that many former Xbox-exclusive titles will debut on Windows 10 with a cross-saving feature, and the extension of the Xbox Live network to Windows 10. At his session, Ronald provided some more details on the future of that trend. First off, the Xbox One is going to get the ability to run those Windows 10 UWP apps later this summer, with the Xbox Store and the Windows Store getting merged into one. Furthermore, UWP apps are gradually going to open up over the course of this year to run the more advanced graphics settings that PC gamers demand. Plus, Microsoft also announced the "Xbox Live Tournaments Platform," a tool to let developers making Windows 10 and the Xbox One games organize their own competitive eSports leagues. Earlier this week, too, Microsoft dropped the huge bomb that it's opening the door for cross-platform play between Windows 10, Xbox One, and the PlayStation 4. A slide from Microsoft's GDC 2016 talk. Matt Weinberger/Business Insider All of those things have a common thread: They encourage players to play more games for longer, across all of their Windows 10 devices, Ronald says. On phones, tablets, or the living room, Microsoft wants customers to never have to leave their games behind. "We want all your players to stay in your game," Ronald says. "With Xbox Live, we want people to play games longer." It's an important concept in modern gaming. In the early days, developers would release their game and leave it at that; modern gaming involves supporting a game for months or years after launch with additional paid content or subscriptions. All of which means that if a developer can keep players playing, they can make a lot of money without having to reinvest resources in creating a new title. Indeed, Ronald boasts that Microsoft made 4.5 times the amount of revenue per Xbox Live-connected device in 2015 than 2014, with twice the number of paid transactions. All about choice In a broader context, Ronald says that the whole push towards UWP is about letting developers choose where they sell their app, and to whom. "It shouldn't be easier to hit one platform versus another," Ronald says. With regards to gaming specifically, Ronald says that there's no reason a developer can't use Universal Windows Platform to make a game that's just for the Xbox One. Microsoft is working hard to make a range of tools and features available to make building games on Windows attractive, regardless of whether or not you're actually investing in the PC market, he says, with the goal of simply making UWP the best place to build games. And with the merger of the Windows and Xbox stores, it makes it easy to start selling your UWP to the 200 million-plus Windows 10 devices and 18 million-ish Xbox One consoles out there, too. Better, it makes it easier to move your apps to new Windows 10 devices like the HoloLens, even as they're released. "There's stuff we haven't invented yet," Ronald says. Microsoft HoloLens. TED And with Xbox Live as "the connective tissue between devices in our ecosystem," Ronald says, it's going to be easier to keep stuff like saved games and purchased goods consistent between platforms. It's absolutely worth noting that all of this is just the gaming-centric version of Microsoft's strategy with its Office 365 suite — keep things consistent across devices, everywhere, with services on the backend. And while Microsoft is going after game developers hard, it's only because gamers have proven themselves time and again to be the earliest, most bleeding-edge of adopters. If Microsoft can get game developers on board, it's going to pave a nice path to future success. And that means unifying the platform to make life as easy for developers as it possibly can.

--------------------------------- En enero CTXT deja el saloncito. Necesitamos ayuda para convertir un local en una redacción. Si nos echas una mano grabamos tu nombre en la primera piedra. Del vídeo se encarga Esperanza. Donación libre: --------------------------------- La segunda revisión del rescate ha finalizado “con éxito”. Es decir, el Gobierno griego ha demostrado ante los acreedores que ha llevado a cabo todas las privatizaciones, recortes de pensiones, medidas de ajuste y demás exigencias “con éxito” para los intereses de los demandantes con independencia de que los electores griegos votaran otro programa económico. Como premio a la obediencia griega, los acreedores hicieron una concesión. La primera desde junio de 2015. El Eurogrupo acordó medidas a corto plazo para reducir la deuda en un 20% del PIB hasta 2060. En concreto, el paquete consta de tres tipos de medidas de alivio a corto plazo: una extensión de los vencimientos de los bonos desde los 28 años actuales a 32,5 años; reducir el riesgo de los tipos de interés sin incurrir en costes adicionales para otros países que han sido rescatados y, la tercera, ampliar el plazo para la devolución de los intereses de parte del segundo rescate en 30 años. El gobierno Tsipras considera una victoria política abordar la reestructuración de la deuda, mientras los análisis más críticos, por el contrario, señalan que estas medidas suponen, de facto, alargar la deudocracia 30 años más, desde 2030, fecha hasta la que está contratada la deuda en estos momentos, hasta 2060. En todo caso, las medidas de calado, a medio y largo plazo, no se abordarán hasta pasado el verano de 2018, cuando finalice el rescate actual. Aún no se ha decidido si el FMI formará parte del rescate. Hace meses que su papel está en juego, lo que le permite actuar como el poli malo de la negociación Inmediatamente después de dar oficialmente por concluida la revisión, la tensión entre el Gobierno griego y los acreedores ha vuelto a dispararse. Los puntos calientes son cinco: el papel del FMI en el rescate, la reforma laboral, la congelación del IVA en las islas, la subida de las pensiones y el aumento de las becas escolares. El papel del FMI Aún no se ha decidido si el FMI formará parte del rescate. Hace meses que su papel está en juego, lo que le permite actuar como el poli malo de la negociación. El FMI no está de acuerdo con los objetivos fijados entre Grecia y sus acreedores europeos para el superávit primario a partir de 2018. En principio Grecia deberá alcanzar no solo en 2018 sino en los años posteriores --finalizado el rescate-- un superávit primario del 3,5 % del producto interior bruto (PIB). El FMI considera que con los recortes actuales Grecia sólo obtendrá un 1,5% de superávit, por lo que exige medidas adicionales de austeridad que permitan ‘ahorrar’ 4.500 millones antes de 2018. El responsable del FMI para Europa, Poul Thomsen, y el economista jefe, Maurice Obstfeld, publicaron un artículo en la web del Fondo en el que afirman que el objetivo del 3,5% es algo ya firmado entre Grecia y los acreedores europeos, por lo que el FMI no es responsable. “Si Grecia acuerda con sus socios europeos objetivos fiscales ambiciosos no critiquéis al FMI por ser quien insiste en la austeridad cuando pedimos las medidas necesarias para que estos objetivos sean alcanzables”, afirman Thomsen y Obstfeld. El artículo de Thomsen y Obstfeld fue la gota que colmó el vaso para el Gobierno Tsipras. El ministro de Finanzas griego, Euclides Tsakalotos, y varios economistas afines cuestionaron los datos de dicho artículo y, según fuentes del gobierno, el primer ministro tomó la decisión de proponer a François Hollande y Angela Merkel que el FMI quede definitivamente fuera del rescate con el argumento de que las proyecciones económicas del FMI en los últimos años siempre estuvieron equivocadas. La reforma laboral El salario mínimo en Grecia está en 683,8 euros al mes (8.206 al año), es decir, 193,7 euros menos que en 2012. Para los menores de veinticinco años existe un tipo de contrato sin salario mínimo. El desempleo sigue siendo el más alto de la Unión Europea, a pesar de que durante 2016 ha bajado hasta el 24,3%. Las pensiones se han reducido una media del 45% desde 2010. El 40% de los funcionarios han sido despedidos desde 2011. Syriza prometió restablecer la negociación colectiva, que fue eliminada del ordenamiento jurídico griego en 2012. Cómo no, por exigencia de los acreedores Los acreedores pretenden que Grecia reforme su mercado laboral porque es “demasiado proteccionista”. Aquí es donde se encalla uno de los conflictos actuales, que ha costado cuatro huelgas generales. Syriza prometió restablecer la negociación colectiva, que fue eliminada del ordenamiento jurídico griego en 2012. Cómo no, por exigencia de los acreedores. La Troika dijo entonces, meses antes de alcanzar el récord de paro, que, sin negociación colectiva, Grecia comenzaría a crear empleo. Cuando los acreedores le ordenaron acometer una reforma laboral al Gobierno griego, éste contestó que estaba de acuerdo y propuso volver a un modelo basado en la negociación colectiva. Los acreedores entonces aclararon la orden: lo que pretenden es abaratar el despido y flexibilizar sus causas. La incógnita, si es que la hay, se resolverá en 2017. Tímidas políticas redistributivas El 8 de diciembre Tsipras anunció, en una comparecencia por sorpresa en la televisión pública, que 617 millones de euros del superávit de este año se emplearán para devolver la paga extra al 1,6 millones de pensionistas que percibe menos de 850 euros al mes. La devolución será inversamente proporcional a la pensión. Es decir, quien menos cobra recibirá más, hasta completar una paga extra de 850 euros. Además, en su comparecencia televisiva, el primer ministro anunció la congelación del aumento del IVA previsto para 2017 en las islas del Egeo a las que han llegado, y llegan, más refugiados. Tsipras afirmó que la llegada de refugiados tiene un impacto económico en las islas y que es injusto gravar más a quien ya está demostrando una gran solidaridad. La subida del IVA es una medida impuesta en el rescate. Se trata, por lo tanto, de la primera medida del rescate que desobedece oficialmente el Gobierno griego. 617 millones de euros del superávit de este año se emplearán para devolver la paga extra al 1,6 millones de pensionistas que percibe menos de 850 euros al mes Igualmente, Tsipras anunció la creación de 5.000 puestos de trabajo --de personal médico-- para la maltrecha sanidad pública griega. El dinero para todo ello procede del superávit de 2016. Las previsiones eran de 919 millones estimados, pero los últimos cálculos sostienen que será de 1.907 millones. Las medidas nuevas salen de los casi mil millones adicionales. “El compromiso de este gobierno ha sido redistribuir cada euro de superávit disponible entre los ciudadanos más débiles, y hoy cumplimos este compromiso”, aseguró un exultante Tsipras. “Con los sacrificios del pueblo griego, Grecia está aguantando el peso de las crisis económica y de refugiados por Europa. Ha llegado el momento de que Europa lo reconozca” dijo el primer ministro. Tsipras hace este anuncio en el momento en el que su popularidad es más baja. El propio diario de su partido --el AVGI-- publicó en octubre una encuesta que muestra que el 90% de los griegos no está satisfecho con la labor del gobierno. El 80% tampoco lo está con el trabajo de la oposición. Las acciones anunciadas por el gobierno enojaron a los acreedores. La represalia más inmediata vino del Mecanismo Europeo de Estabilidad, uno de los acreedores del país, que congeló unilateralmente las medidas a corto plazo para aliviar la deuda, decididas en una reunión del Eurogrupo a principios de diciembre. El director del Mecanismo Europeo de Estabilidad, Klaus Regling, manifestó que “los anuncios hechos por el primer ministro griego sin consultar con la instituciones abren una serie de dudas”. Dicho de otra forma, Regling recordó que Grecia no puede decidir medidas económicas como si fuera un Estado soberano. El Gobierno griego considera que el consenso en torno a la austeridad se ha roto en Europa, luego de que Hollande y Moscovici no se alinearan con Alemania contra Grecia El propio Eurogrupo tampoco se quedó atrás: la secretaría del grupo de trabajo del Eurogrupo informó por escrito a todos los miembros de que se habían detenido los trámites del alivio de la deuda porque “uno de los miembros había expresado su oposición por escrito y ya no había unanimidad". El presidente francés aclaró entonces que ese miembro que se oponía a la deuda es Alemania. Una vez más, el ministro de Finanzas germano, Wolfgang Schäuble, no está dispuesto a ceder ni un milímetro ante Tsipras. Cualquier decisión soberana de Grecia es considerada “un desafío” porque el memorándum establece que Grecia debe “consultar” cualquier medida económica. “Apoyo las decisiones adoptadas durante las reuniones del Eurogrupo. El Eurogrupo ha decidido aliviar la deuda de Grecia, todavía no lo suficiente. Apoyo la posición del Eurogrupo. No podemos pedirle a Grecia más esfuerzos o evitar que tome algunas decisiones soberanas”, dijo Hollande. El comisario europeo para Asuntos Económicos y Financieros, Pierre Moscovici, también mostró su rechazo a la suspensión temporal de las medidas a corto plazo para aliviar la deuda pública. Ante este nuevo conflicto, y tal vez esto es lo único sorprendente, el Gobierno griego no se ha echado atrás. Al contrario, convocó un pleno extraordinario para que todos los parlamentarios, nominalmente, tuvieran que manifestarse a favor o en contra de las medidas propuestas. Syriza, ANEL, KKE, PASOK, AD y KE votaron a favor. Potami se abstuvo y Nueva Democracia se ausentó del hemiciclo durante la votación. El Gobierno griego considera que el consenso en torno a la austeridad se ha roto en Europa, luego de que Hollande y Moscovici no se alinearan con Alemania contra Grecia. Los analistas griegos están divididos en este punto. Algunos creen que hay dos factores que señalan que estamos ante un nuevo conflicto: la ausencia de consenso en Europa y los buenos datos macroeconómicos de Grecia: el paro continúa reduciéndose, del 26% en 2014 al 23,4% actual; la producción industrial ha remontado en 2016 el 1,8% y el Producto Interior Bruto ha crecido casi el 1%. La izquierda a la izquierda de Syriza, sin embargo, considera que sólo ha sido una gesticulación de un Tsipras necesitado de hacer guiños a su electorado, pero que, como hasta ahora, obedecerá los dictados de la Troika. El año que empieza tiene la respuesta. Mientras tanto, la amenaza nunca cesa. El comisario Moscovici declaró el 28 de noviembre que “no descarta” que Grecia “tenga que firmar un cuarto paquete de rescate”. Traducido: si Grecia se empeña en ejercer su soberanía están dispuestos a ahogarla como en 2015.

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