Arab Terrorism versus "Two State Solution"
There can never be a "Two State Solution" here in the Middle East, unless you're in favor of Hitler's "Final Solution." It's that simple. Both "solutions" are deadly for Jews.
We Jews and the State of Israel do not have "peace partners." The aim of the Arabs and their enablers is the destruction of the State of Israel, Gd forbid, and the death of us, too.
Our cemeteries are full of innocent Jewish victims murdered by local Arabs. And our history is full of invaders and attempts at our annihilation and holocausts.
Deja vu, been there, done that. We've cried for our victims of terrorism and fought for our independence over and over. Each generation has its enemies. The Jewish People are a small people, but we've outlasted them all. And today's enemies will join all of those others in history books.
We will overcome in ways that no other people have survived, Gd willing.
Gd willing we will soon have brave visionary leaders and we'll build our Holy Temple on the The Temple Mount, Har Habayit. Like when Nachshon stepped into the water causing it to part so the Jewish People could safely escape slavery to Pharaoh in Egypt, once we begin to build the Third Temple, it will miraculously be completed by Gd.


Science Scanner: Leonardo da Vinci Might be Wrong and is Planet Mercury a Hit-and-run Victim?
Researchers have snapped the very first images of photosynthesis as it happens.
Photosynthesis is the process which plants use to convert light energy into chemical energy, which is then stored as sugar.
Using the U.S. Department of Energy’s LCLS x-ray laser, the world’s most powerful, the researchers imaged the part of photosynthesis that breaks down water molecules into protons, electrons and oxygen.
Besides providing an energy supply for plants, photosynthesis also produces oxygen, something we all need, as a byproduct.
New research shows that silverback gorillas not only use auditory and visual means to connect with each other, but they also use odor as a form of social communication.
The British team that conducted the research said that while not much is known about this form of chemical communication, past studies suggest that all life forms, including humans, use this chemical signaling to connect with each other.
To reach their findings, the researchers studied a group of wild western lowland gorillas in the Central African Republic and compared the odor strength of a male silverback, recognized as the group’s leader, to the observed arousal levels of other members.
Was Leonardo da Vinci Wrong?
Leonardo da Vinci may have been wrong concerning “fracture and friction”, two fundamental elements behind the mechanics of earthquakes.
Researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem found evidence that links the two processes of how things break to how things slide (or friction), which is the opposite of what had been thought for centuries.
Some 500 years ago, da Vinci explained friction as he described how the force is created when blocks slide over each other. The fracturing process, on the other hand, has always been considered to be unrelated.
But the Israeli researchers found that friction generated by the sliding blocks can only be produced if their surfaces are fractured first.
Planet Mercury a Hit-and-Run Victim?
Scientists at Arizona State University say they might know why Mercury’s composition is so iron-rich.
Mercury, the planet closest to the sun, has always puzzled scientists. Studies over the years have shown that the composition of this tiny, blazing hot planet is radically different from other rocky or terrestrial planets, such as Earth, Venus and Mars.
While metallic iron only makes up about 32 percent of Earth’s core, researchers have found Mercury’s core is more than twice as rich in iron at 65 percent of its total mass.
The researchers believe that the difference in composition between Mercury may be due to collisions with other objects in the early history of the solar system.
It’s thought that the collisions, perhaps with an early Earth or Venus, ripped apart much of Mercury’s original mantle, leaving a large amount of volatiles, which are various elements — like water, lead and sulfur — that are easily vaporized, leaving a mostly iron body.
NASA is planning to honor the first man to step onto the moon by renaming NASA’s Operations and Checkout Building at the Kennedy Space Center after the late Neil Armstrong.
Armstrong’s Apollo 11 crew mates Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin will be part of the renaming ceremony that will be held July 21 at the Florida facility.
This historically important NASA structure was once known as the Manned Spacecraft Operations Building and was built in 1964.
The building was used throughout the Apollo program to process and test each mission’s command, service and lunar module. Today, NASA’s new Orion Spacecraft is being tested and processed in the iconic building.
By the way, the day before the renaming ceremony, July 20, marks the 45th anniversary of Apollo 11’s 1969 moon landing.
I like the relatively new scanner format. There are many respectable and even important topics, but individuals will only be personally interested in a few. I can’t say the Scanner posts will provide something for everyone, but it should provide something for more.


Web-based console is easy to use, but database limited to SQL server.
Compuware Corp.s Vantage 8.5 nicely pulls together system, network and client management functions under a newly added Web-based console, but other tools offer more expert modules out of the box.
Vantage 8.5, which is priced starting at $19,000, comprises four base components: ServerVantage, Application Vantage, NetworkVantage and ClientVantage. These components monitor the systems, applications, network performance and client availability of computing resources throughout the enterprise network. However, like competitors such as Computer Associates International Inc., Compuware recommends customers engage its professional services staff to get the full benefit from the product.
eWEEK Labs tests showed the Vantage system has the right stuff to scale up to the largest networks, although database support is limited to Microsoft Corp.s SQL Server.
This version of the product does a fantastic job of uniting components in a Web-based interface, from which we tightly governed our Windows and Unix systems. In addition, the new VantageView console let us control who in the IT organization could get access to which management components.
Along with the log file that tracked who made changes to the system, this is a crucial aspect of network and systems management. Weve always advocated putting IT management together in—dare we say—an integrated suite of products instead of a hodgepodge of best-of-breed offerings. Vantage 8.5 makes this kind of comprehensive management a reality because, like NetIQ Corp.s AppManager, it has neatly integrated its offerings so that technicians trained on one console can figure out what is happening in an area of the system for which they might have only rudimentary training.
In tests, we were able to see systems in the Web-based console, along with reports of what was happening on those systems.
Previous versions of Vantage—which have been known as EcoSystems and EcoTools, among other names—could present status information but did not allow operators to change threshold values in agents. This meant that an operator with the proper credentials could change the way applications, systems and network monitoring tools from Compuware were working without having to go to the central management console.
The security built in to the Vantage 8.5 system should keep out the bad guys, but it is an area to which IT managers should devote a lot of their evaluation time. Vantage uses its own log-on restrictions as well as Windows authentication protocols to verify users. We were able to set up system monitors in such a way that junior administrators could be restricted to view-only mode on groups of machines. We could also assign wide-ranging rights to technicians with more seniority, thereby parceling out the work of administration throughout the IT organization.
There are more application expert modules in this version of Vantage 8.5, and IT managers should be able to use these to build specific monitors for custom applications. Nevertheless, NetIQ still has the edge here, jamming its products full of expert agents that are more completely tuned to monitor performance than most of those in Vantage 8.5.
Even so, IT managers with even a minimum of experience should be able to build from the base modules that give good examples of how to monitor thread performance for many applications, including databases from Microsoft, Oracle Corp. and Informix Software Inc. (now a part of IBM), as well as any application that uses Distributed Component Object Model, XML or HTTP.
This is one area where Vantage 8.5 is a catch-up version with other products. For some time now, NetIQ products have been able to report specific application performance when users clicked on a data point in a chart. Granted, this is a tricky thing to do in the Web-based console, but even this advance merely brings Vantage up to par with others management tools.
Vantage 8.5s enhanced reporting enabled us to create reports that showed the status of a group of Microsoft Internet Information Services servers—depicting usage and performance numbers—that were easy to understand at a glance. We combined these reports with real-time alerting that not only tested the TCP/IP stack on the system (using Internet Control Message Protocol pings) but also drilled down into the system to make sure that the specific applications were also running.
This combination of daily performance reporting with real-time alerting should make it easier for IT managers to devote resources to troublesome systems while keeping an eye on the overall state of the infrastructure.


THE NBN has just recorded download speeds so fast you could download a full HD television season in less than one minute.
IMAGINE being able to download an entire season of Game of Thrones in HD in less than a minute.
The NBN hopes to make this dream a reality, with the service provider recently producing speeds of 1 gigabit per second on the HFC network used to deliver pay television.
When available to be rolled out commercially, customers will be able to get internet almost 10 times faster than the current highest commercially available speed tier offered by the NBN - the service provider does offer 1Gbps speeds on FTTP, but most ISPs don’t choose to sell it.
Upload speeds were also recorded at 100 Megabits per second, which is more than double the current highest 40 Mbps retail speed available on HFC retail services over the NBN network.
The speeds were captured in lab tests using upgraded Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification (Docsis) 3.1 technology on the HFC network responsible for supplying internet and Foxtel to millions of Australian homes.
NBN chief executive Bill Morrow said these early tests were very exciting, with the service provider to be one of the first operators outside of the US to commercially launch DOCSIS 3.1 technology as an upgrade path for the HFC network.
“This is another example of the continued efforts of the NBN team to innovate and plan for Australia’s growing demands for data,” he said.
NBN is planning further lab testing of DOCSIS 3.1 in August, then in-field trials in December, with the technology tipped to be launched commercially in 2018.
“The best news is that we will be able to bring Gigabit broadband to these premises far more quickly, cost effectively and with less disruption to end users than alternate technologies in these busy urban areas,” he said.
According to NBN’s 2017 corporate plan, the HFC footprint will be rolled out to somewhere between 2.5 million and 3.2 million premises.
Would you like download speeds of 1Gbps? Continue the conversation in the comments below or with Matthew Dunn on Facebook or Twitter.


Manager Dave Martinez plans to split catching duties between Suzuki and Yan Gomes, Mark Zuckerman of MASN Sports reports.
Suzuki signed with the Nationals in mid-November, less than two weeks before the team acquired Gomes from the Indians. Suzuki found plenty of success splitting time in Atlanta the past two seasons, as he posted a 116 wRC+. Gomes seems likely to come out ahead in terms of playing time due to his age and defense, but the 35-year-old Suzuki should remain involved if his success at the plate continues.


▪ In the meantime, holiday festivities begin this week with the third annual Light Up South Lake Tahoe, a procession led by decorated trucks and snowplows along Highway 50 that beings at Stateline and ends with a tree-lighting ceremony at the “Y” (corner of Highway 50 and 89). Santa Claus, hot chocolate and cookies all will make an appearance. The event begins 6 p.m. Saturday.
▪ The Winter Ignite celebration takes place Friday, Saturday and Dec. 12-13, at Heavenly Ski Resort. The event kicks off the start the season with pop-up DJs, après ski parties, and music by Young the Giant (www.skiheavenly.com).


Kensington Palace has announced that Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex are expecting a baby in Spring 2019.
Britain’s Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle, wife of Queen Elizabeth’s grandson Prince Harry, is pregnant with the couple’s first child due in the spring of 2019 (March), Kensington Palace said on Monday.
The baby will be seventh-in-line to the British throne.
The royal couple and are currently in Australia on their first overseas tour.
Britain's Duchess of Sussex, wife of Prince Harry, is pregnant with the couple's first child due in the spring of 2019.


CAMPAIGNERS will stage two community events in a bid to “keep up the fight” to save their library.
Coggeshall Community Library Group has announced it will host a protest march and celebratory reading session in the coming weeks in an effort to protect the future of the service in the village.
Coggeshall Library, in Stoneham Street, is one of a number of facilities which may need to be run by volunteers if Essex County Council decides to press ahead with plans to cut services.
A consultation on the proposals concluded in February, and County Hall is now continuing discussions about what happens next after receiving 21,000 responses from the public.
After joining a countywide protest against the plans in Chelmsford back in February, the Coggeshall Community Library Group will now stage its own protests as it continues to fight against the proposals.
Chairman Tracey Vickers said: “There has been a lot of campaigning and fighting for our libraries but we wanted to run something that was participatory and celebrated them.
The first event, which will be staged between 11.30am and 1pm on Saturday, April 27, will see all residents invited to Coggeshall Library to take part in a celebration and taster session of everything the library has to offer.
Book readings are expected to be staged by local authors and it is hoped a celebrity will also be in attendance.
The second event will be held on Saturday, May 18 and see protesters march from Honywood School, past St Peter’s Primary and then on to the library.
Organisers say both events will be family-friendly and people of all ages are invited to attend.
Mrs Vickers added: “It’s not over just because the consultation has finished.
“We have not stopped fighting to save our libraries and the events we have planned are being held to keep it relevant and to remind people to keep up the support.
“It’s easy to think that if you have signed a petition or responded to the consultation that it will be stopped, but it won’t.
“Yes, there may have been 21,000 responses to the consultation, but that was only about ten per cent of library users which is really disappointing.


As a shoot-first, think-second gunner off the Warriors’ bench, Nick Young is already the closest thing the NBA has to a human line of cocaine. But when Swaggy P calls for the legalization of coke on a TMZ camera while leaving the club on a Tuesday night, he wants y’all to know he’s just kidding.
Young—who is now, I feel compelled to remind you, an NBA champion—got asked about the potential legalization of weed in the U.S. by a TMZ reporter, now that Canada’s done it.
As you can tell, Young was having a good time, and even calling him “engaged” with these questions is being charitable—more than the cocaine line, personally I just love his confused reaction when it sounds like the interviewer says Canada is “the first country in the world.” But because he’s Nick Young, and these are an example of the exact quotes that all NBA fans are constantly waiting for him to give, the comments warranted a small backtrack worthy of its own Instagram text post.
Dude should go back to the Wizards if he doesn’t want to be taken seriously.


If several members of Partridge resident Ronda Kocher's household had been registered to vote by March 23, the all-terrain-vehicle ballot question likely would have passed April 7.
Instead, the ballot to allow ATVs to be driven on Partridge city streets failed, 41 to 42.
Kocher led the petition drive to allow ATVs, and she was a registered voter.
Three potential voters in her household, however, were not registered voters as of March 23, the deadline to register to vote in the April election.
They cast provisional ballots, but those ballots ultimately were not counted.
"It would have passed," said Kocher on Tuesday. "I could be checking my mail in my four-wheeler."
Two other provisional ballots were cast in Partridge, and one of those belonged to her neighbor, who also supported the ATV issue, according to Kocher.
Kocher came to Reno County Commission chambers Tuesday to express dissatisfaction with voter registration and election information provided by the clerk's office. She noted she had been told by staff that people had to be registered 20 days ahead of the election, but the clerk's Web site said 15 days.
Kocher obtained a brochure at the courthouse about provisional voting, but she noted that it didn't mention how many days prior to an election a person must be registered to vote.
County Clerk Shari Gagnebin apologized for information discrepancies, but also noted that the brochure was published by the secretary of state's office. Kocher said later that she intends to contact Secretary of State Ron Thornburgh.
Initially, the county clerk's staff said there were provisional ballots cast in the close race, but when the ballots were canvassed, the election result did not change. Provisional ballots cast by nonregistered Partridge voters remained in sealed envelopes and were not opened during canvassing because they were not deemed eligible.
The next scheduled countywide election is Aug. 3, 2010. If the city of Partridge wants to hold a special election, it would bear the expense of the election.


What took regulators so long to shut these creeps down?
The scam shut down by regulators on Tuesday has been known of for years.
State regulators have been fining the Cancer Fund of America and its offshoots for one violation after another since 1989.
Then in 2013, an investigation by the Tampa Bay Times, the Center for Investigative Journalism and CNN outlined the alleged fraud in exhaustive detail.
“If you didn’t know better, you’d think someone was just making up the most deplorable fraud you could imagine,” said Virginia’s Attorney General Mark Herring, who said his office had been investigating the sham charities since 2010.
If federal and state regulators acted sooner, some of the $187 million given to the fraudsters could have gone to legitimate cancer research.


LastPass's cloud service suffered a five-hour outage today that left some people unable to use the password manager to log into their internet accounts.
Its makers said offline mode wasn't affected – and that only its cloud-based password storage fell offline – although some Twitter folks disagreed. One claimed to be unable to log into any accounts whether in “local or remote” mode of the password manager, while another couldn't access their local vault.
The solution, apparently, was to disconnect from the network. That forced LastPass to use account passwords cached on the local machine, rather than pull down credentials from its cloud-hosted password vaults. Folks store login details remotely using LastPass so they can be used and synchronized across multiple devices, backed up in the cloud, shared securely with colleagues, and so on.
The problems first emerged at 1408 UTC on November 20, with netizens reporting an “intermittent connectivity issue” when trying to use LastPass to fill in their passwords to log into their internet accounts. Unlucky punters were, therefore, unable to get into their accounts because LastPass couldn't cough up the necessary passwords from its cloud.
Connectivity is a recurrent theme in LastPass outages: in May, LogMeIn, the developers behind LastPass, suffered a DNS error in the UK that locked Blighty out of the service.


DJ Khaled, who claims to have already lost 20 pounds, was tapped because of his huge social media audience, which includes 3.4 million on Facebook, 3.92 million on Twitter, 8.9 million on Instagram and a reported 3-4 million views for his Snapchat posts. He will be working with a Weight Watchers’ coach and using the company’s mobile app to keep him on target.
Here’s to a leaner DJ Khaled for 2018!


DETROIT — A number of international companies have suspended operations in Egypt as three days of violent street battles make the streets of Cairo unsafe.
General Motors Co., Electrolux AB, Royal Dutch Shell PLC, Toyota Motor Corp., Suzuki Motor Corp., BASF SE and others shut down facilities and told thousands of workers to stay at home during unrest that has left about 700 people dead since Wednesday.
“This was a precautionary safety measure to ensure employees would not be exposed to risks travelling to and from work,” Daniel Frykholm, a spokesman for Swedish appliance maker Electrolux, said in an email. The company, which has about 6,700 workers in Egypt, asked employees to stay home Wednesday afternoon and Thursday. Friday and Saturday are the Egyptian weekend, and the company will decide Saturday evening if it’s safe enough to resume normal operations, Frykholm said.
Royal Dutch Shell closed its offices Thursday. They will remain shuttered Friday and Saturday. The company also restricted employee travel as the violence continued and said it was monitoring the situation. It was unclear whether Shell’s main production facility, a joint venture with Badr El-Din Petroleum Co., had been closed.
General Motors’ Egyptian operations will remain shut indefinitely, including a plant in the Cairo suburb of 6th October City where it makes cars, light trucks and minibuses. The auto giant has about 1,400 workers in Egypt, where in 1983 it became the first private automaker to establish operations in the country.
At least 698 people have been killed in violence that continues to rage after riot police razed two Cairo encampments where supporters of President Mohammed Morsi were protesting his ouster.
Morsi was deposed by the military on July 3 after months of protests against his rule.
On Friday, at least 60 people, including eight police officers, died in fighting nationwide. Tens of thousands of Muslim Brotherhood supporters clashed with civilians, police and troops in the fiercest street battles to engulf the capital since the country’s Arab Spring uprising.
In Cairo, German retail giant Metro closed its headquarters, and its only two grocery stores in the capital were shuttered on Friday, a spokesman for the Duesseldorf company confirmed.
The chemical company BASF temporarily closed its manufacturing facilities and offices. BASF has been operating in Egypt for about 60 years and produces chemicals used in construction at a plant in the Cairo suburb of Sadat City.
IHS Automotive analyst Paul Newton in London said that Toyota and Suzuki also halted Egyptian production. Because of the unstable political situation, the forecasting company predicted that light-vehicle production in Egypt would fall almost 8% this year, with sales dropping nearly 4%.
Egypt is one of the largest vehicle manufacturing centres in Africa, Newton said.


While everyone knows Denzel Washington for his two-time Oscar-winning acting skills, you may forget that the actor has also gotten behind the camera as a director for Antwone Fisher and The Great Debaters. And now he’s preparing for another stint wearing several hats on the movie set as director, producer and star of a new project at HBO.
During An Evening With Denzel Washington & Dr. Todd Boyd Friday night at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, the actor revealed that he recently made a deal with HBO to adapt August Wilson‘s 2010 Broadway play Fences into a film at HBO. And that’s just the beginning of a whole batch of HBO projects based on Wilson’s work.
Find out more about the Denzel Washington Fences project and more below!
Wilson’s set of ten plays is also known as The Pittsburgh Cycle or The Century Cycle, and they all take place in a different decade of the 20th Century. In addition, all except one are set in Pittsburgh’s Hill District neighborhood, which is where Wilson grew up, dealing with plenty of racial tension as an African-American child growing up in sometimes turbulent times.
As for Fences, the story follows a former baseball athlete who struggles to provide for his family as a trash collector in 1950s Pittsburgh after being denied to join the Major Leagues due to being African American. The original production took place in 1987 with James Earl Jones in the lead, and Washington won a Tony in 2010 for his work in the same role on stage with Viola Davis, who will also be reprising her role in the HBO film adaptation.
If you want to look up information about the rest of the planned Wilson adaptations, they’re called Gem of the Ocean, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, The Piano Lesson, Seven Guitars, Two Trains Running, Jitney, King Hedley II, and Radio Golf. Sounds like HBO has quite a full roster of work for Washington in the future, though he won’t be directing and starring in all of them.
We’re not sure when Fences might get off the ground, but as soon as we hear something about Denzel Washington’s next directorial endeavor, we’ll be sure to let you know.


PrettyLittleThing is now showing products in multiple sizes.
As a part of a new campaign, online retailer PrettyLittleThing has started showing the same garment on two different body types.
It is connected to a collaboration with Hailey Baldwin.
It's not the first store to do so.
Online shopping can be a mixed bag. Thanks to vanity sizing and unreliable product photos, it's hard to know exactly what you'll get in the mail or how it will look on you.
But retailers are trying to make the shopping experience a lot more user-friendly.
The latest fashion giant to cater to shoppers is the online retailer PrettyLittleThing. As part of its new #EveryBODYinPLT campaign, the company is now showing products on more than one model at a time. The aim is to make the shopping experience more inclusive and accessible.
Take, for example, the Silver Glitter Strappy Cowl Neck Bodycon Dress ($42), which is part of the brand's latest campaign with Hailey Baldwin.
According to the product description, the model on the left in the picture below is wearing a US size 2. It does not say what size the other model is wearing.
The retailer had two models who wear different sizes pose in several outfits from the glittery PrettyLittleThing Starring Hailey Baldwin collection — and people took notice.
Many feel this is a step in the right direction for the brand.
Some people think the brand could do more in terms of diversity, though.
And while this is certainly a big step forward for PrettyLittleThing, it's important to note that they're not the only retailer to do this. Everlane, ASOS, and Madewell are among those that allow shoppers to see how articles of clothing look on models of different sizes.
The difference between Madewell and PrettyLittleThing is that on Madewell's website shoppers elect to see items on different models, whereas on PrettyLittleThing's the models are shown side by side.
9" High-Rise Skinny Jeans in York Wash: Rip and Repair Edition in size 25.
9" High-Rise Skinny Jeans in York Wash: Rip and Repair Edition in size 33.
As the body-positivity movement continues to become more mainstream, there has been a call for both online and brick-and-mortar retailers to do better. This call intensified in September after Revolve and LPA controversially released fat-shaming sweatshirts in what was later revealed to be an attempt to reclaim comments from Instagram trolls.
A representative for PrettyLittleThing didn't immediately return INSIDER's request for comment.


Sharon Waxman of the New York Times has a great article titled “The Mystery of the Missing Moviemakers”.
“Is it a sign of timidity, or laziness, or some unexpected lack of drive? Is it a lack of interesting material? Is it the fault of the studio system and its emphasis on high-paying, mind-numbing commercial fare?” questions Waxman.
I must disagree with her on Russell’s I Heart Huckabees which she calls “disastrous.” I also found Aronofsky’s The Fountain to be one of the best movies of 2006, but many people hated it (and rightfully so). She theorizes that 2007 may be a “banner year” for Kimberly Peirce, who hasn’t made a film since 1999’s Boys Don’t Cry. Don’t get your hopes up. Instead, read my hate-filled review of her latest: An American Crime Sundance Movie Review.
May-be he has a point? The great thing about Waxman’s article is that she doesn’t just ask the question, but offers a conclusion.
The Mexican trio of Alejandro González Iñárritu’s (Babel), Guillermo del Toro’s (Pan’s Labyrinth) and Alfonso Cuarón’s (Children of Men) have arguably created three of the best films released last year. Their three films have racked up 16 oscar nominations combined. They are friends, collaborating while still challenging one another to step up their game.
“If Alejandro says, ‘That stinks,’ I know he is not trying to hurt me, he’s trying to help me,” admits Alfonso Cuarón.


Despite its flaws, Alex Proyas’ Knowing ended up being a fascinating film, with a cool sci-fi bent and some interesting ideas about faith. I was so taken aback by the film and its audacious ending that I held an impromptu /Filmcast, where we all tried to make sense of what the movie was all supposed to mean (and determine whether or not the film was actually any good).
/Filmcast listener Ned wrote in a detailed response to that podcast episode, in which he relates various elements of the film to Biblical prophecy. I don’t think I would make all the connections that he made, but I found his e-mail pretty thought-provoking nonetheless (especially from a Christian standpoint, as faith plays a huge part in the film). I’m republishing the e-mail here in its entirety, with his permission. If you ever have any interesting and in-depth interpretations of recent/classic films that you want to share, always feel free to e-mail me at slashfilmcast(AT)gmail(DOT)com. Who knows? Maybe it’ll end up on the site one day.
For obvious reasons, everything after the jump and the comments should be considered a SPOILER-FILLED zone. Continue at your own risk.


According to Big Blue, its invention should pave the way for more efficient software defined networking and allow cloud systems to better handle bursts.
IBM was awarded a patent for dynamically managing network bandwidth in a cloud computing environment. IBM's bet is that its invention can optimize cloud computing performance.
The patent, U.S. Patent No. 8,352,953, is for a method that automatically decides the best way for users to access a cloud system based on available network bandwidth.
IBM said that the approach should allow clouds to better handle surges in traffic because systems can reassign work to system nodes with bandwidth. Usually, a cloud user has access to a virtual machine and the more people tap the system the more networking bandwidth matters.
According to Big Blue, its approach should pave the way for more efficient software defined networking, which automates and dynamically manages bandwidth and the infrastructure that goes with it.
Here's a chart from the patent filing explaining how the method works.


In 1997, we recommended a promising candidate in a special election for Santa Clara County supervisor in District 1, and we were sorry that she lost. But when the victor in that race later ran for a full term, we were happy to say: Stick with Don Gage. He’s doing a great job.
Today we congratulate Cindy Chavez on her decisive victory over Teresa Alvarado, whom we strongly recommended in Tuesday’s special election for District 2 supervisor. And we hope that, like Gage, Chavez proves our concerns about her candidacy unfounded.
Gage is a Gilroy Republican who we believed would be out of touch with the county’s mission of helping its neediest residents. But he became an effective advocate for the disabled, homeless and others, as well as — more predictably — for fiscal responsibility. It was a powerful combination.
With Chavez, our worry is how she’ll balance the interests of county residents and taxpayers with those of the powerful county unions to whom she is intrinsically tied. Until last fall, she headed the South Bay AFL-CIO Labor Council.
But as a former San Jose councilwoman and vice mayor, she has the depth of experience and strong work ethic to well represent the lowest-income district in the county. We hope her understanding of county politics and services — particularly the need for a strong Valley Medical Center — will improve what has been a faltering government of late.
Chavez fills the seat left vacant by George Shirakawa Jr., who resigned after pleading guilty to five felonies for misusing taxpayer and campaign money. Poor oversight by county administrators had allowed this to go unchecked for years.
Now the county is grappling with Rural/Metro, the financially troubled ambulance contractor whose payment of long-owed bills this week is unlikely to be the last of its problems.
And like most governments today, the county has seen pension and retiree health care costs soar. Chavez has said pension reform is needed but should be negotiated with unions, not imposed through ballot measures like San Jose’s. She has a chance to leverage her relationship with county employees to help achieve reform that maintains benefits acceptable to unions and affordable for taxpayers.
Chavez says she is not controlled by labor; the movement is simply who she is. We take the point and hope that in her new role, she can help it transition to a sustainable model for public employees.
We base recommendations for political candidates on a wide range of considerations, including interviews, records of public service and other kinds of research. Sometimes voters agree with us, sometimes not.
We never know how the losing candidates would have done the job. But from Election Day on, it’s what the winner does that counts.


I find it highly offensive and suspect that a political action committee sponsored by a labor union is going to spend $20,000 to influence voting for the Burbank City Council (“Group moves to unseat council member,” Feb. 20). I have already received slick pieces of mail designed to influence my vote.
If this PAC is successful (and other special interests are just waiting for the outcome), within 10 years Burbank citizens will no longer have a say in their city government. For a look at just how that will work, look to our national government, where PACs and special interests are dictating votes (or killing legislation) on a daily basis.
I have lived in Burbank for more than 40 years and take pride in a city where warmth and caring are intertwined with excellent city services. In Burbank local residents get involved, make themselves heard and bring about changes to better their city.
Labor unions, special interest groups and businesses should not make decisions for Burbank residents. Burbank is the responsibility of its citizens and our votes should reflect that this responsibility is taken seriously.


A group of brave souls took an icy dip Saturday to demonstrate their commitment to the Special Olympics.
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) - A group of brave souls took an icy dip Saturday to demonstrate their commitment to the Special Olympics.
Indiana State University hosted the Polar plunge.
Folks jumped into the frigid water to raise money for Special Olympics Indiana. The program has been around for fifty years and supports more than sixteen thousand athletes each year.
The Polar Plunge is an annual event. Organizers say they hope to raise one million dollars this season, for the first time ever.
Those participating say they are happy to help reach that goal.
Chloee Hurst says, “It's a really cool event. It helps a lot of people. I hope that it keeps raising more money."
All the money raised from the Polar Plunge will benefit Special Olympic athletes.


MILAN - The man on the move be it with a big backpack, an oversized shopper or the old-fashioned carry-on, was the key theme of high-end labels as they showcased their designs for next summer at Milan's Fashion Week, which wrapped up Tuesday.
Next summer's styles are more relaxed than formal, featuring looser jackets, often with the sleeves rolled or scrunched up, and frequently with Bermuda shorts.
The jacket is central to the season. Even shirts take the shape of bomber jackets, often made out of the lightest techno fabric or reworked silk and satin. Designers continued to search for new ways to work with fabrics, bonding instead of stitching, laser cutting, giving a matte finish to a normally shiny fabric, and vice versa, and stamping prints on finished garments for a bespoke touch.
Trousers are pleated for an elegant look. The favorite look was slim and close to the body and hemmed at the ankle.
Pajamas are coming out of the bedroom, showing up as shirts with sartorial suits. There were lots of T-shirts, often with suits instead of shirts, and sweatshirts, often of mixed fabrics.
Colors are not your classic summer fare. They are often more sober and on the dark side. But designers have left room for brighter moments with pinks, yellow, teal and lighter blues.
White is making a return to serious fashion - with its old foil black providing contrast.
Prints - floral, animal or geometric, aren't just for accents - but are used for jackets and even entire suits.
The shoes befit the traveler: sturdy sandals, old-fashioned sneakers, lace-ups and loafers. Black socks often accompany the ubiquitous Bermuda, but are left in the bag for pants.
Giorgio Armani returns to his first love - the jacket - for next summer.
The lining-less blazer started Armani on the road to fashion fame in the mid-1970s, and ever since an Armani suit has been a VIP staple.
The new jacket is less formal than in past seasons, slim-fitting and with a sloped shoulder. It can have a small lapel or no lapel at all, replaced by a bellboy collar, and the number of buttons varies.
Techno materials and an unconventional palette help contemporize the look. Rather than light wool or linen, Armani fashions his new jacket in stretch jersey or pixilated leather. He dares to stray from conventional blues and grays (although they both appear in the new collection) to offer light pastels, whites, and even a flesh-colored pink.
The jackets are worn mainly with tapered almost tight pants. Footwear comes in a classic spectator lace-up or an old-fashioned sneaker.
Brioni has brought on English designer Brendan Mullane to bring a contemporary edge to the traditional Roman brand that has long specialized in handmade suits.
If Mullane's inaugural collection for Brioni, for fall/winter 2013 presented in January, explored more vivid colors, reds and blues, his first Brioni summer collection focuses on prints.
Mullane, who hails from the French fashion house Givenchy, says fabrics give the collection what he called "the DNA imprint."
He starts, for example, with a classic silk tie, and working with an artisan textile maker develops that into a silk blouson jacket with a matte finish, then into a woven panel on a leather travel bag, and yet another step into the belt. Each piece has the same intricate geometric pattern, with layers of color.
The look is based on Brioni's basic language: sartorial, based on the three-piece suit.
Not to worry, for next summer Dean and Dan Caten, the fun-loving brains behind the DSquared2 label, have put together a survival kit.
Staged on an imaginary tropical island complete with palm trees, real waterfall, live parrot and a papier-mâché plane wreck, the latest DSquared2 collection offers a complete wardrobe for the contemporary Robinson Crusoe.
The models who walked down the turf runway were a happy bunch, despite being stranded. Out of their oversized shoppers came everything but the kitchen sink: bathing trunks, Bermuda shorts, cropped jeans, cuffed pants, T-shirts, fancy shirts, formal jackets, sports jackets, leather jackets, studded belts, sporty sneakers, biker boots. Some models sported nothing more than their underwear.
Any missing items were created in loco, like the floral or sea-shell necklaces and the raffia skirts to wrap around a pair of jeans for a more extravagant look.
The Marni man can keep his hands free next summer. Garments in the 2013 spring/summer collection feature inventive pockets and layering.
A pair of smock shorts sums it up: The shorts have a snap-on-or-off flap with large square pockets useful for a map for a day of touring, or perhaps small tools for easy domestic projects.
The utility pocket makes an appearance on the back of sport coats. There are hidden zip pockets on the sleeves of cotton shirts - perfect for a credit card for a night out on the town. And there are slanted zipper pockets on boxer-style shorts with drawstrings and bomber-style jackets, and four big pockets on the front of a bonded rain poncho in yellow, Navy or plaid.
Classic shirts get an update through layering: A white panel over the front of a striped shirt, or vice versa. Though the layers doubled, the fabric is super light and easy to wear.
Marni's new oversized polka dot prints are stamped on - giving each piece a one-off look.


Cars, weapons, safes and death certificates will be part of the discussions at this year's Black Hat USA 2015 and DefCon 23 security conferences.
The first big story to generate interest in the Black Hat USA 2015 event is Twitter security researcher Charles Miller and IOactive security researcher Chris Valasek's talk on how to remotely hack a car. They are returning to the Black Hat podium this year, after having spoken on the subject in 2014.
Joshua Drake, senior director of platform research at Zimperium, is set to provide full details on the Stagefright Android media framework vulnerabilities, which have the potential to impact 950 million Android users.
At the DefCon 23 conference, Oscar Salazar, senior security associate at security firm Bishop Fox, and Dan Petro, security associate at Bishop Fox, are planning on bringing a Brink's CompuSafe Galileo on stage and then hacking the safe to remove all the cash inside—within 60 seconds.
Security researchers Runa A. Sandvik and Michael Auger will discuss Internet of things rifles from firearm vendor TrackingPoint at Black Hat. Sandvik and Auger figured out how to hack into the weapon to alter targeting and affect how the ammunition is fired.
Colby Moore, manager of special activities at Synack, is speaking at Black Hat about his efforts in reverse-engineering and gaining access to the Globalstar Simplex data service, a satellite-based asset-tracking system. With the hack, vehicles such as bank trucks or semi-trailers can be hacked.
U.S. FBI Special Agent Elliott Peterson will join with Fox-IT security researcher Michael Sandee and Tillmann Werner, director of technical analysis at CrowdStrike Intelligence, to provide new color and details on the 2014 take-down of the Gameover Zeus botnet.
At a DefCon sesson, eerily titled "I Will Kill You," Chris Rock, CEO of Kustodian Pty. Ltd., is slated to explain how to get a death certificate for a living person.


This passive solar home is a Plympton treasure on 15 acres of land, 5+ cleared and 10 wooded acres.Ideal for hiking, horseback riding, farming or simply enjoying nature and privacy. This unique, open floor plan, 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath contemporary features hardwood floors and central air throughout. POSSIBILTIES FOR LAND USE ARE UNLIMITED! Above the 1900 sq ft of detached home there is a 40X42 insulated building with an additional 1,680 sq ft of heated finished space with full bathroom, an attached 256 sq ft barn and 1,700 sq ft of lower level garage/workshop. 56 sq ft poultry house. Perfect for an at home business or retreat.


One food critic swears its okay not to tip a waiter sometimes.
"Restaurants who haven't figured out that people come to a restaurant to escape their problems and want to be treated with respect need to go out of business ... At times, we all feel victimized by a restaurant, forgetting that we have retribution. If service is bad, you don't have to leave a tip."
We can understand leaving a smaller tip, but a complete zero seems a bit ... much. Thoughts?


Attorney Michael Avenatti faces up to 333 years in prison following a federal grand jury indictment that charged him with stealing millions of dollars both from his clients and from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), prosecutors said.
Avenatti allegedly built a “financial house of cards” using his stolen millions to fund his lavish lifestyle, U.S. Attorney Nick Hanna said at a press conference Thursday.
He allegedly stole millions from one client to purchase a private jet, according to the indictment, which is included in full at the bottom of this article. Federal authorities seized Avenatti’s jet Wednesday, officials said Thursday.
Avenatti allegedly scammed another client, a paraplegic man, out of a $4 million settlement without the client’s knowledge, according to the indictment.
“The financial investigation conducted by the IRS details a man who allegedly failed to meet his obligations to the government, stole from his clients, and used his ill-gotten gains to support his racing team, the ownership of Tully’s coffee shops, and a private jet,” IRS special agent Ryan L. Korner said Thursday.
According to the indictment, Avenatti withheld Tully’s employment taxes from the IRS, and directed employees to deposit cash receipts into an account for Avenatti’s car racing company.
Wednesday’s indictment is separate from charges Avenatti faces in New York for allegedly trying to extort Nike out of more than $20 million.
Reached by text message, Avenatti referred TheDCNF to several tweets he posted on Thursday, denying the charges.
“I intend to fully fight all charges and plead NOT GUILTY. I look forward to the entire truth being known as opposed to a one-sided version meant to sideline me,” Avenatti wrote in one tweet.


"Singin' in the Rain," "Sunset Boulevard" and "The Player" are among the films that have made hay writing about the Hollywood machine.
There have been great movies about Hollywood almost as long as Hollywood has been making them. Damien Chazelle's much-Oscar nominated "La La Land" is part of a grand tradition going back beyond "Singin' in the Rain" and running past "Mulholland Drive."
Some have even inspired their own movies. "Sullivan's Travels," Preston Sturges' great 1941 satire about a movie director (Joel McCrea) of broad comedies ("Ants in Your Pants" is one credit) who goes undercover as a hobo to make a serious social drama. Decades later, the Coen brothers used his planned title for real: "O Brother, Where Art Thou?"
—"In a Lonely Place": Nothing has captured the dark desperations and delusions that lurk in Hollywood like Nicholas Ray's devastating 1950 noir. Humphrey Bogart, playing the self-destructive screenwriter Dix, was never better — which is saying something.
—"Sunset Boulevard": The same year, another screenwriter. Billy Wilder's eminently quotable 1950 classic (winner of three Oscars) remains the gold standard for movies about the movie industry, for depictions of an aged star (Gloria Swanson's Norma Desmond) and for deadpan narration. "The poor dope. He always wanted a pool," says Joe Gilles (William Holden) while his body floats face-down in one. "Well, in the end, he got himself a pool."
—"The Bad and the Beautiful": Vincent Minnelli's 1952 tale about a deceitful and ambitious movie producer (Kirk Douglas) is another film that's probably right now being quoted on some movie set. The five-time Oscar winner remains one of the sharpest examinations of Hollywood as a business. "Don't worry," says Douglas' Jonathan Shields. "Some of the best movies are made by people working together who hate each other's guts."
—"The Player": Robert Altman's 1992 sardonic satire plunged further into the psyche of the studio boss (Tim Robbins), who drowns an insolent screenwriter in a puddle. There's a parade of star cameos in Altman's Hollywood send-up, but the most famous thing in "The Player" is its audacious opening shot, a seven-minute take through a studio lot where a security chief (Fred Ward) raves about the long shot in "A Touch of Evil" and grumbles about modern movie editing. "All this cut, cut, cut," he seethes.
— "Sherlock Jr.": From studio heads to the lowly movie theater projectionist. In Buster Keaton's 1924 silent classic, Keaton's napping projectionist dreams himself onto the screen (the movie is "Hearts and Pearls or the Lounge Lizard's Lost Love") where he plays detective and performs some of cinema's greatest gags.


President Obama presided over his sixth turkey pardoning as commander-in-chief Wednesday at the White House.
The annual tradition sees two turkeys spared from the dinner table, but only one is selected to take part in the White House ceremony.
This year’s duo was “Mac” and “Cheese.” Cheese got to go before the cameras.
The tradition is not a new one — it’s happened every year for the last quarter century. But there has been confusion about how it all got started.
Bill Clinton in his 1997 “pardoning,” cited President Harry Truman as the first.
Truman was actually the first president to receive a turkey from the National Turkey Federation in 1947.
Abraham Lincoln was the first on record to spare a bird, but it was a Christmas turkey his son, Jack, had taken a liking to.
John F. Kennedy was the first president to actually pardon a Thanksgiving turkey. In 1963, despite a sign hanging around the turkey’s neck that read, “Good eating, Mr. President,” Kennedy sent the bird back to the farm.
Richard Nixon also gave the birds a reprieve sending his turkeys to a nearby petting zoo. But the modern incarnation of the turkey tradition was likely spurred by Ronald Reagan.
He was the first to use the word “pardon” relating to turkeys in 1987. But he did so to deflect from hard questions from the press about whether he would pardon anyone involved in the Iran-Contra scandal. He joked that he would pardon that year’s turkey, if he weren’t already headed for the petting zoo.
It became an annual event when Reagan’s vice president, George H.W. Bush, became president. In 1989, Bush formalized the event.
The Virginia farm he was sent to, though, was in the ironically named “Frying Pan Park,” which became the home of the future presidential turkeys for the next 15 years.
After that, the birds spent the next five years at either Disney Land or Disney World before retiring to George Washington’s Mount Vernon Estate in Virginia.
President Obama pardons “Cheese” the turkey the day before Thanksgiving.
This year, Mac and Cheese will be sent to a park in Leesburg, Virginia, a Washington suburb. The property has been used to grow turkeys in the past. The estate was owned by former Virginia Gov. Westmoreland Davis, who raised hundreds of his own turkeys there in the 1930s and 1940s.
The event has become a lighthearted tradition. A turkey in 2000 wore a White House badge to the event. Former President George W. Bush’s administration held a vote on the White House website to choose which bird would be spared. And he joked in 2004 about it being an election year.
Online voting campaigns have become the norm for picking the turkeys. The Obama White House has taken to Instagram, Facebook and Twitter to decide which bird is selected.
But the event is not without controversy. Animal rights groups protest the event because the birds are not exactly “free-range turkeys.” They are industrially grown. And because they are bred to be eaten, and much larger than the average turkey, they don’t live very long after being pardoned.
Last year’s pardoned bird, in fact, died in July of this year.
Crispin Lopez and Rachel Wellford contributed to this report.


Valley Head, Ala. (WHNT) - This time last season, the Wildcats practiced as a team under the radar. This August, Valley Head is on everybody's list to win football games. Class 1A Region 7 is wide open and after a 9-2 campaign in 2013, folks in DeKalb County are asking, "Why not Valley Head?"
"Last year it was kind of like we want to win the region and this year we need to set our goals even higher to make it further in the playoffs," senior quarterback Ben Kirby told WHNT News 19's Chase Horn. Kirby's team is without a few important players from last season but still feel like the sky is the limit. "Just try to emphasize that last year was last year, and doesn't really win any games this year."
Head Coach Rusty Higdon knows his team is talented, but also knows how hard it will be to repeat as region champions. His senior class is small, but motivated by the opportunity to push further in the playoffs. "These seniors that we have now want to continue the playoff we got to last year and hopefully we want to continue that this year."
Valley Head begins its season August 29th at Ider.


How Far is Sycon Maitri?
Maitri, as the name suggests, is a melange spaces. Designed to be people friendly and environment, this neighborhood foster an interactive, secure and balanced living space. With only 6 villas per acre an 73% open space, the congestion of the city is left far behind. The self-contained integration enclave houses a vibrant community of families in a layout that boasta the most sophisticated facilities. Every one of villas are thoughtfully designed, keeping in mind the envolving tastes of today's home owners. Attention to the details timely execution and value creation is the hallmarks of Sycon.
Sycon Constructions is the group lead company based in Bengaluru, focused on property development. Together with its construction arm, Sycon Infra, the company carries out end to end development of properties.
Sycon has built and promoted in Bangalore more than 25 residential, commercial and institutional buildings. The construction arm has built, and continues to build many landmark buildings for select clients.
The promoters’ experience spans local, national and international geographies in property development, software and aviation.


A 10-year-old Chicago girl born with an abnormally small bladder that made her incontinent has become the first patient to benefit from a new robotic-assisted bladder-reconstruction method developed by surgeons at the University of Chicago Medical Center. The surgeons describe their innovative technique in the December 2008 issue of the journal Urology. They have now performed the operation, using the DaVinci robotic surgical system, six times, with good results and no significant complications.
The first patient, treated Feb. 21, 2008, suffered from a very small, spasmodic bladder, a birth defect that led to gradual kidney damage and loss of urinary control.
"We refer to this condition as neurogenic bladder," said team leader Mohan S. Gundeti, MD, assistant professor of surgery and chief of pediatric urology at the University of Chicago's Comer Children's Hospital. "Her bladder could barely hold six ounces. Worse, it produced frequent involuntary contractions, which forced the urine back up into the kidneys, where it slowly but inevitably causes damage, including frequent infections."
The girl always felt that she urgently had to go to the bathroom. She stopped drinking juice or soda. She even cut back on water, to less than two cups a day. Medication helped a little, but despite two years of trying different treatments, the problem continued to get worse and began to cause kidney damage, which made surgery necessary.
Although Gundeti had performed the operation to enlarge and relax a tiny spasmodic bladder many times, it had never been done robotically--an approach that has produced quicker recovery, less pain and minimal scars in other procedures.
"This is a major, lengthy operation," he said, "essentially five smaller procedures done in sequence."
Known as an augmentation ileocystoplasty with Mitrofanoff appendicovesicostomy, the surgery normally begins with a big incision, about six inches long, from above the navel down to the pubic area, followed by placement of retractors to pull the stomach muscles out of the way.
"The robotic approach enabled us to avoid that entire incision, which causes significant post-operative pain, presents an infection risk and leaves a big scar," Gundeti said.
Instead, the robotic tools enter the abdomen through five small, dime-sized holes. In this operation, the surgeons use about 12 inches of intestine to reconstruct a larger bladder, "more than twice the original size," said Gundeti. "Plus, it can no longer contract with the same force."
Then they converted the appendix into a "continent conduit," a drain for the new, expanded bladder, with one end implanted into the wall of the bladder and the other end leading outside the body through small outlet in the lower abdomen. A skin flap covers the fleshy appendix opening.
"No one had ever done the full operation this way," Gundeti said. "It requires a lot of familiarity with both the open operation and considerable laparoscopic experience."
This first case took about ten hours, compared to six-to-eight hours for an open procedure. The team included Gundeti and adult urologists Arieh Shalhav and Gregory Zagaja, as well as follows, residents and the nursing team. The team was able to reduce OR time in the subsequent cases.
After such a long, complicated operation, "I expected my daughter to be covered with bandages and gauze and tape, to have a big swollen belly with a big wound," the patient's mother recalled. "But there was none of that. I was stunned. Her belly was flat and normal, no bandages, not even a band-aid, just a few little cuts that looked like they had been covered with glue. Oh, I thought, she's going to like this. No big scars. She could wear a bikini."
"I would not want her to wear a bikini," she added, "but she could."
"Patients like surgery without significant scars," Gundeti said. "We also hope to show that in addition to the benefit of no big wound to heal, just five small punctures, there is less risk of infection, quick recovery and less pain."
Pain management for this case consisted of oral medications, rather than the traditional morphine and epidural anesthesia, which is contraindicated in young patients who have had previous spine surgery.
The patient started drinking clear liquids six hours after surgery and eating within 24 hours, which she "greatly appreciated," Gundeti said. She went home about four days after her surgery and within six weeks was completely continent, day and night. "This is a great benefit for the child and her family," Gundeti said.
Although she still has empty her bladder with a regular catheter, it is now easier to do and is far more reliable at retaining urine.
"She hasn't had a leak since then," her mother said. "She can drink water, or juice, even soda. She's enjoying the freedom she never had."


Originally Published: March 23, 2019 11:20 p.m.
SALT LAKE CITY — Bruce Pearl's Auburn rebuilding project took a massive leap.
The Tigers are headed to the Sweet 16 for the first time in 16 years.
Bryce Brown scored 25 points and hit seven 3-pointers, leading Auburn to an 89-75 takedown of mighty Kanas Saturday night in the Midwest Region.
The Tigers (28-9) were a surprise last season, earning a share of their first SEC title since 1999 and winning an NCAA Tournament game.
Auburn took another major step Saturday, running past a blue-blood program into the school's first Sweet 16 since 2003 under Cliff Ellis.
Unlike their opener against New Mexico State, when they had to survive a couple of late-game blunders, the fifth-seeded Tigers pounced on the undermanned Jayhawks and never let them up.
Auburn had a 17-point lead before the midpoint of the first half and kept pouring in shots, hitting 13 3-pointers while shooting 53 percent against one of the college basketball's premier programs.
Next up: top-seeded North Carolina or No. 9 Washington in Kansas City.
The Jayhawks (26-10) hoped they would get the ticket to KC, where they would essentially play Sweet 16 home games as the No. 4 seed.
Bill Self's bunch got gut punched early and never climbed off the canvas, bounced from the NCAA Tournament in the second round after reaching the Final Four a year ago.
Dedric Lawson had 25 points and 10 rebounds in what could be his final game in KU red and blue.
Kansas fought through a tumultuous season and its first non-Big 12 title in 14 years by rolling over Northeastern in its NCAA Tournament opener.
Forward Jordan Murphy, the Gophers' No. 1 all-time rebounder and No. 2 scorer, was limited to four minutes because of back problems.
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) —Brandon Clarke had five monster dunks, five blocks, and matched a career high with 36 points, leading top-seeded Gonzaga past Baylor in the second round of the West Region.
Ninth-seeded Baylor (20-14) scored the first 10 points of the second half to draw within six and keep the game in range. But Gonzaga held on and Clarke's easy bucket put the Bulldogs up 13 with less than four minutes left.
Baylor's Mark Vital finished with 17 points and eight rebounds but was hampered by foul trouble.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Kentucky ended Wofford's season in the NCAA Tournament with a stifling defensive effort on Fletcher Magee in the second round.
Two days after setting the NCAA Division I record for career 3-pointers, Magee stunningly went 0 of 12 from beyond the arc. He made seven 3s on Thursday in Wofford's victory over Seton Hall.


Hillary Clinton is issuing a challenge to Donald Trump: I'm ready to debate. Are you?
On Monday night, seemingly out of the blue, Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta released a statement saying that Clinton "looks forward to participating in all three presidential debates" that are scheduled in September and October.
"The only issue now is whether Donald Trump is going to show up," Podesta added.
The statement wasn't a response to any new remark by Trump or any official invitation by the Commission on Presidential Debates.
In fact, the invites haven't gone out yet.
The Clinton campaign may be trying to put Trump on defense -- or pre-empt any more complaints from him about the debate schedule.
"Our campaign is not interested in playing along with a debate about debates or bargaining around them," Podesta said.
In late July, Trump publicly bemoaned the debate schedule, pointing out that two of the three scheduled presidential debates are on the same nights as NFL games. His aides said they'd like new dates, and RNC officials backed Trump up.
The bipartisan commission responded by saying that scheduling conflicts are common and almost impossible to avoid.
"A debate has never been rescheduled as a result," the commission said.
At no point has Trump suggested that he will boycott the events. "I think three debates is the right number," he told The Washington Post on August 3.
He hasn't said anything about the debate schedule since then.
But Monday night's Podesta statement is reigniting the issue.
"It is concerning that the Trump campaign is already engaged in shenanigans around these debates," Podesta said. "It is not clear if he is trying to avoid debates, or merely toying with the press to create more drama."
He concluded, "We will accept the commission's invitation and expect Donald Trump to do the same."
Clinton press secretary Brian Fallon followed up by tweeting, "We'll see Trump at Hofstra in September."
The first debate is scheduled to take place on September 26 at Hofstra University on Long Island.


The researchers chose to focus on the oceans because they make a tiny, but important contribution to the Earth's overall magnetic field. The salt within seawater can conduct electricity. And oceans don't remain still; rather, they move in cycles, up and down. As the tides cycle through the world's oceans, that salty water essentially tugs on the magnetic field above our planet.
"We have used Swarm to measure the magnetic signals of tides from the ocean surface to the seabed, which gives us a truly global picture of how the ocean flows at all depths — and this is new," Nils Olsen, the head of geomagnetism at the Technical University of Denmark, said in a statement.
The magnetic field generated by the oceans is quite small. "It's about 2 [to] 2.5 nanotesla at satellite altitude, which is about 20,000 times weaker than the Earth's global magnetic field," Olsen told BBC News.
The newly analyzed data will give researchers a more nuanced view of how the oceans are affected by climate change, Olsen noted. "Since oceans absorb heat from the air, tracking how this heat is being distributed and stored, particularly at depth, is important for understanding our changing climate," Olsen said in the statement.
Moreover, the tidal magnetic signal, in turn, induces a weak magnetic response from deep under the seabed, he said.
The research is the latest discovery Swarm has gathered with respect to Earth's magnetic field. Last year, researchers announced that the spacecraft had helped map magnetic signals emitted by Earth's outer shell, known as the lithosphere, Live Science previously reported.
The new research, which has yet to be published in a peer-reviewed journal, was presented yesterday (April 10) at the 2018 European Geosciences Union meeting in Vienna.


Conservative politicians and pundits lie and distort far more than liberals do. At the same time, conservatives have a well-known persecution complex, frequently accusing the mainstream media of having some secret anti-conservative agenda. This puts mainstream media fact-checkers in an unenviable situation, trying to seem balanced in an environment where one side simply has more enthusiasm for lying than the other. Now the pressure to overemphasis or even exaggerate claims of liberal mendacity, in an attempt to seem more balanced, has infected Glenn Kessler's coverage of the gun debate in the Washington Post.
Our tale begins with a speech by President Obama where he said, "We know that states with the most gun laws tend to have the fewest gun deaths. So the notion that gun laws don’t work, or just will make it harder for law-abiding citizens and criminals will still get their guns is not borne out by the evidence." This is, as Kessler's investigation demonstrated, a true statement. The statistics are complicated by demographic and social factors, but overall, the data shows a direct correlation between how easy it is to get a gun and how many people die from gunshot wounds. But Kessler gave Obama two "Pinocchios"---out of of four Pinocchio scale---to this claim.
"Many readers requested a fact check of this statement, believing it to be untrue," Kessler writes. I'll bet they did! Conservative fetishization of guns is at a point where even suggesting that guns might be unsafe is treated like you're insulting their mother, so of course they're going to be outraged that Obama dare suggest that objects created for the sole purpose of killing might be very good at making people dead. It's understandable that, deluged by all that conservative outrage, one might give into the urge to show that you're not biased by giving them what they want. But unfortunately, Kessler, despite being a fact-checker, ends up heavily massaging the statistics to give conservative readers those Pinocchios they desperately want.
To get to the conclusion that Obama fudged the facts, Kessler starts by manipulating the data that Obama used for his claim, by removing suicides from the number of overall gun deaths. He justifies this by arguing "the president’s policy proposals are aimed at mass shootings, not suicides." But that is, in and of itself, a false statement. While Obama did focus heavily on mass shooting in his speech, it's clear that he was making a larger point about how the proliferation of guns in our society leads to more gun deaths. "There is a gun for roughly every man, woman, and child in America," Obama said right before the sentences in question. "So how can you, with a straight face, make the argument that more guns will make us safer?" It's clear that he was speaking about how a gun-fanatical society is one where people get shot to death a lot, and not just in the context of mass shootings.
In addition, while the president's proposed policy agenda on gun violence focuses heavily on preventing murder, many of the policies are about preventing gun deaths generally, including those from suicide. The White House policy proposal for reducing gun violence repeatedly mentions suicide. Many of the agenda items, including more funding for research and better mental health services, would have suicide prevention benefits as well as murder prevention benefits.
There's no reason to exclude suicides from the gun death count, except to pander to opponents of gun control. For one thing, suicides are just as dead as people who are murdered. Suicide has major effects on families and communities. Plus, the gun suicide and gun murder rate are heavily intertwined. Laws aimed at reducing gun murders appear to lower the suicide rate. It's a myth that suicidal people will kill themselves no matter what. Most people who attempt it and survive don't try again. Easy access to guns makes suicide more likely because it means you're more likely to die than people who try through other, less deadly means.
But what makes Kessler's article particularly frustrating is that all this quibbling over a couple of outlier states that defy the trend or whether or not suicides "count" ends up serving not the truth, but the Big Lie about guns: That they are not only safe, but that they somehow make people safer. Conservatives want to distract from the larger fact that soaking a society in guns means people are going to use them more, whether on themselves or on other people. So they claim, instead, that guns actually induce safety and if people keep getting shot, it's because they don't have enough items with which to shoot people with.
The Big Lie is everywhere in the wake of this most recent shooting in Oregon. This week, Ben Carson argued that putting guns inside kindergarten classrooms is the best way to protect small children from guns. "Gun-free zones" are being blamed for the shooting all over conservative media. The message from the right is clear: Far from being deadly weapons, guns are cuddly security blankets!
The Big Lie is what Obama was calling out in his speech. Conservatives keep pushing this notion that guns keep you safe, and Obama was, well, fact-checking them. Kessler should be applauding him for that instead of pandering to conservatives who want to deflect attention from the larger argument about the irrational enthusiasm some Americans have for arming themselves like they're the about to face the zombie apocalypse.
All of which is why two eyebrows should be raised at the eagerness for conservatives to exclude suicides from the gun death rate. Of course they do, because, in a lot of ways, suicides prove exactly how dangerous it is to cultivate a gun-nut society. Take, for instance, the debate over gun-free zones on campus. Conservatives like to argue that allowing guns on campus will keep students safer, on the grounds that there might be someone around to stop a mass shooter in his tracks. Even if that were true---and there's no reason to think it is---it doesn't actually follow that stuffing college campuses, which are full of young people and alcohol, with guns is a great idea. Most gun deaths are, after all, the result of accidents, suicides, or interpersonal crime, not mass murder. Suicide rates for college-aged men are particularly high, in part because they have so much access to guns. Giving them more is not going to help.
Look, conservatives are going to deflect, quibble, and use "liberal media" accusations to try to distort coverage of major issues like gun control. It's understandable to feel temptation to throw them a bone, even if you have to massage the facts, in hopes that they will shut up. But fact-checking ceases to be fact-checking when it's in service of distorting the truth instead of illuminating it.


Overall, 28 percent of retailers changed their holiday return policies this year, according to a survey by the National Retail Federation.
Some of the changes are intended to thwart fraudulent returns, which the NRF estimates was an $8.76 billion headache for retailers in 2013. Nearly half that fraud amount – $3.39 billion – hit stores during the holiday season, including counterfeit receipts, return of stolen goods and “wardrobing,” where consumers try to return clothing or merchandise (after it has been worn or used) by passing it off as new.
Bring the receipt. “Try to bring some proof of purchase. Tags on an item aren’t enough,” said Dworsky. If you have a gift receipt, you’ll likely get store credit or the ability to exchange or return it. Without a receipt, you’ll be lucky to get the lowest price it recently sold for, not necessarily what the giver paid for it.
“Typically, stores tend to be more generous with returns for anything bought from November through Christmas,” said Tod Marks, a senior editor with ConsumerReports magazine. “But you have to know what’s excluded, what’s included and whether you’re subject to a restocking fee,” he said.
But if what you’re requesting is within the store’s policies but you cannot get satisfaction, be “a little more aggressive,” he said, such as asking to speak with a store manager. Just remember to be firm, but keep your tone civil.
Before you show up at the customer counter, call, go online or read your paper receipt to check the store’s return policy. “They’ve gotten so long and more complicated. No wonder consumers are confused,” said Dworsky, who said this year’s survey of return policies for 12 major retailers was about 11 pages longer.
Many stores become more lenient this time of year, stretching their return policies on most items (but typically not electronics), giving customers until mid-to-late January for gifts purchased between November and Christmas. Others, like Target, keep a 30-day policy, but don’t start counting until the day after Christmas – Dec. 26.
If you’ve received pricey electronics, computers, software, cameras, etc., don’t slice open the packaging if you’re planning to return it. Some stores, like Best Buy or Fry’s, can be picky if you’ve opened the package.
Be aware that more stores are tracking their customers’ patterns of returns. It starts when you get asked for a photo ID when you’re making a return. Doing so, says Marks, allows stores to collect data on your return history: Multiple returns in a certain time frame. Returns without receipts. Number of stores where you’ve sought returns. How long since your last return.
For most people, it’s not a problem. But if you get flagged, you might find you’re temporarily denied the ability to make a return. “Your return privileges might be suspended for 90 days, if your pattern doesn’t pass muster,” Marks said. He said companies rarely state these policies explicitly, but they’re definitely in use.
According to The Retail Equation, an Irvine company that provides retailers with data analysis of customer returns, the process is designed to identify fraudulent or abusive behavior involving a small minority of customers.
But in some cases, Marks said, perfectly legitimate consumers can still have their return privileges curbed if they fall into categories that are deemed suspicious. If you believe you’ve been flagged unfairly, contact the company by letter (The Retail Equation, P.O. Box 51373, Irvine, CA 92619-1373) or email: ( ReturnActivityReport@TheRetailEquation.com).
Some stores will waive shipping fees when you’re returning something bought online, by providing customers with a prepaid shipping label. Also, check and see if you can return an online purchase to a brick-and-mortar store, rather than pay shipping fees to mail it back to the warehouse. Stores like Macy’s, Target and REI honor that policy.
The online retailer with the most-generous return policy? Land’s End, says Marks, which lets customers “return anything at anytime,” even items that were hemmed or monogrammed.
If you were caught up in the late-December avalanche of online gift buying, what was ordered might not have arrived by the “guaranteed” Dec. 25 delivery date. Both FedEx and UPS were surprised by a last-minute deluge of online purchasing that delayed their ability to deliver in time for Christmas. “Both have an on-time guarantee, but there’s a lot of weaseling,” said Dworsky. For instance, the wording may exclude guarantees for ground shipments between Dec. 15 and Christmas, the last 10 days of the holiday, “which doesn’t do consumers any good,” he said.
If your purchase arrived later than promised, it might be worth complaining or seeking a refund.
“Whoever made the promise of guaranteed delivery by Christmas, that’s who you need to contact,” said Dworsky, who noted that some stores, like Kohl’s, are giving out $25 gift cards to customers whose purchases didn’t arrive on time.
Overall, the first weeks of January can be an ideal time to wade back into retail stores with your returns, a period when clerks aren’t so harried and the waves of post-holiday bargain hunters have long gone.
“Chances are you’re not out of time, at least through the end of January,” Marks said.


The Center for Responsive Politics has apparently spents months putting together a list of lawmakers' investments. And as it turns out, there are Red and Blue stocks. Not exactly shokcing news. Of course Republicans and Democrats invest in different stocks. The really relevant question is whether a parties favored stocks do better when that party is in charge.
According to CRP's list, the most popular stock in Congress in 2005 (the most recent year data are available) was General Electric, which was owned by 103 Senators and House members. Rounding out the top five were Pfizer, Cisco Systems, Microsoft, and Intel—all household names and all stocks owned by countless mutual funds and large numbers of individual investors. "If you looked at any random group of investors in the country, this is probably what their portfolio would look like," says Jim Angel, an associate professor of finance at Georgetown University.


EMC/Dell deal Dell will table its bid for EMC on Monday, according to a Reuters report from Sunday.
If the deal is revealed on Monday it will signal Dell's urgency to get it done: Monday is a federal holiday for Columbus day.
The report also says that Dell's bid will be non-exclusive, meaning EMC will be free to tape “Buy Me” to its back and see who comes calling.
Reuters' sources suggest suitors will be shy and that while EMC's board will go through the motions of trying to find more value for its shareholders, but that Dell will prevail.
The Reg tips massive, bloody consolidation if the deal does take place due to the overlap in products between Dell and EMC.


Eddie Tipton was a computer programmer in the Iowa offices of the Multi-State Lottery Association who installed software that allowed him to pick winning numbers in some of the nation’s most popular lottery drawings.
DES MOINES — Eddie Tipton, the Iowa brainpower behind a case of multistate lottery fraud, will spend up to 25 years in prison for rigging “random” drawing jackpots.
"I certainly regret," Tipton said in Polk County District Court prior to sentencing with some of his former coworkers in the courtroom. "It’s difficult even saying that. With all the people I know behind me that I hurt and I regret it. I’m sorry."
It's unknown how many years Tipton will actually spend in prison. He could be paroled within three or four years, his attorneys noted.
“It is indeed unfortunate that you did not use that intelligence to prosper by legal means," said District Court Judge Brad McCall. "Instead you chose an illegal path."
Tipton, 54, was a longtime computer programmer in the Iowa offices of the Multi-State Lottery Association who installed software that allowed him to pick winning numbers in some of the nation’s most popular lottery drawings.
His scam began to unravel after unsuccessful attempts to anonymously collect a $16.5 million Hot Lotto ticket that was purchased at a Des Moines convenience store in 2010.
In addition to Iowa, Tipton admitted to fixing games in Colorado, Wisconsin, Kansas and Oklahoma with the help of his brother and former Texas judge Tommy Tipton and Texas businessman Robert Rhodes.
After years of investigation, Eddie Tipton was arrested in 2015 and ultimately pleaded guilty in June to three felony charges related to the crimes.
As part of a plea deal the brothers are to pay back $3 million in restitution.
After his first illegal win in 2005, Tipton launched construction on a 4,800-square-foot home outside of Des Moines that contained a movie theater and gym, overlooked a pond and sat on 22 acres, court documents show. The scam went on to claim at least six more games across five states that netted more than $2 million, investigators alleged.
Tipton admitted his role as part of a plea deal to resolve charges in all states. His attorney, Dean Stowers, argued he should be given no more than four years in prison, saying Tipton was treated more harshly than other people involved in the crimes.
Tommy Tipton is serving a 75-day jail sentence in Texas after he pleaded guilty in June to conspiracy to commit theft by deception. Rhodes, of Sugar Land, Texas, pleaded guilty to a computer crime and will be sentenced Friday.


Everybody loves Batman. After 75 years of saving Gotham City, the Caped Crusader has become an archetype. So it's not surprising that every comic needs its own version of Bats. And yet, Batman remains unique, and it's not so easy to copy him. Here are 9 Batman knock-offs that totally miss why Batman works.
The superhero protagonist of Frank Miller's post-9/11 propaganda comicHoly Terror was originally supposed to be Batman. But DC Comics executives were reportedly quite leery of the "Batman vs Osama" premise — and yet, Miller claims that he chose to take the story out of the DC universe, after he realized that the character was going in a different direction. Nevertheless, the final result is clearly an ersatz Batman, complete with a thinly veiled Catwoman clone named Natalie Stack, and a Jim Gordon stand-in called Dan Donegal.
Sadly, Miller misses the essence of what makes Batman such a well-loved hero — his humanity and his sense of justice. The Fixer becomes an impassive, merciless warrior against Islam, and is more akin to a homicidal Sin City protagonist than most versions of the Caped Crusader. Even in Miller's own The Dark Knight Returns, Batman explicitly eschews guns and killing. Twenty years later, the Fixer tortures and kills people by the dozen. The Fixer fundamentally contradicts the core of Miller's own iconic rendition of Batman.
Dwayne Taylor, scion of a wealthy family, sees his parents murdered and, thoroughly traumatized, decides to wage war against criminals. He trains his mind and body obsessively for years and, aided by his legal guardian and his housekeeper, sets out to fight crime. It's a familiar story.
However, between the character's high-tech skateboard and his inability to deduce (for years anyway) that his elderly housekeeper was the one who killed his parents, it's a little difficult to take this Batman analogue seriously. Nor does it help that Night Thrasher realizes early on that he can't hack it alone, so he ends up founding the New Warriors — a group of absurdly named teenage sidekicks (Speedball! Marvel Boy!) that he proceeds to mentor. Not exactly the lone wolf master detective that he's clearly based on.
The Fox is actually one Dr. Robert William Paine, another wealthy eccentric who decides to fight crime with only his wit and combat skills. His secret hideout ("The Foxhole") is hidden on his family farm, and he often uses a radar-invisible jet called "the Flying Fox."
This character is Batman, minus the fervor and the intimidation factor. It's a bit difficult to fear a hero who emerges from a "Foxhole" every night and only abandons his day job as a Chicago law professor (with great, agonizing reluctance) after a villain goads him into it. A reluctant Batman is no Batman at all.
Shadowhawk is the alter ego of a lawyer named Paul Johnstone who, in contrast to his crack addict brother Hojo, manages to work his way up to the position of district attorney. Mobsters try to use Hojo as leverage to persuade Paul to fix a case against their compatriots, but Paul refuses. So later, the mobsters attack Paul directly and inject him with HIV-infected blood. Enraged by this development, Paul dons an exo-suit, including a utility belt loaded with anti-HIV pills, and sets out to fight crime.
Creator Jim Valentino said that his idea was "to take Batman and strip him down to his core—what makes him work, what doesn't." Bizarrely, his conception of what constituted Batman's core qualities led him to decide that Shadowhawk would routinely take pleasure in breaking criminals' spines. And that's without even touching the insanely tone-deaf use of HIV/AIDS in the origin story.
The Squadron Supreme was one of Marvel's weaker attempts to rip off the Justice League, and Nighthawk was the group's resident Batman clone. A brooding rich kid named Kyle Richmond, he's haunted by his girlfriend's death in a drunk driving incident he was involved in. So he tries to join the army, only to be rejected for having a heart murmur. When Kyle inherits his father's megacorp, he starts training obsessively to counter his heart defect, while also attempting to research a cure. The result is a serum that enhances his physical abilities — but only between dusk and dawn. Originally a supervillain, Kyle switches sides, to become a superhero... but does so without compromising on the brooding and aloofness.
This particular attempt at duplicating the Batman archetype is hobbled by one key difference from the original: the ridiculous conceit of the power-boosting serum that only works at night. Batman is the superhero genre's main testament to self-improvement, because he's a human being who routinely defeats superhuman entities through the use of ingenuity and training. Nighthawk's serum reads like a cheap attempt at upping the ante, which backfires and undermines the entire concept. It's entirely possible that someone at Marvel editorial had the same thought since Nighthawk — in one timeline — ends up getting himself killed in a melee with his former teammates.
Mark Millar summarizes the main conceit of this series as: "What if Batman was the Joker?" The story focuses on a super-villain whose motivations and mental state match those of the Joker, but whose circumstances (wealth, costume, physical abilities) parallel Batman's.
Many derivative versions of Batman miss the point of the character by having him abandon his character-defining moral code and commit cold-blooded murder, mostly to get a rise out of fans who take the whole 'grim and gritty' aesthetic a little too seriously. But Millar takes this tendency to an irrational and gruesome extreme with Nemesis, and then subsequently papers over the absurd excess by passing it off as a high concept. When your Batman homage starts to betray the original character, simply pretend you're making a clever point about the thin line between him and his archenemy! Millar misses another important fact: that the similarities between Batman and the Joker have been explored in numerous actual Batman stories, several of which are far more insightful.
The star of a Christian straight-to-video series, Bibleman is a millionaire named Miles Peterson who, after going through a period of existential angst, embraces his religious beliefs and becomes a superhero. He operates out of a BibleCave, fights a Joker/Riddler pastiche called The Fibbler, and works with a Robin stand-in named Cypher.
Another Batman ripoff that's guilty of undercutting the original concept with a silly superpower, Night Man is the alter ego of saxophonist Johnny Domino — who acquires the ability to hear the evil thoughts of those around him. A later version of the character moves him away from tech-based methods, and into the realm of magic.
Superpowers and Batman don't go together. If Batman has a defining trait, it's his humanity. In a fictional universe full of god-like beings, he remains the strongest testament to the potential of the relatively fragile human race. When he gains a superpower, there's little distinguishing him from the myriad superhumans infesting the pages of comics one can barely tell apart. No surprise then that Night Man is an awfully boring character. It doesn't help that his decidedly unimpressive superpower is rarely of any use, functioning mainly as a lazy way of having him stumble across new antagonists.
This one's a stretch since it's an entirely reasonable expression of Mark Waid's opinion about what would happen if Superman really did fight Batman. The series follows an insane Superman analogue called the Plutonian, as he wreaks havoc around the planet and repeatedly thwarts the attempts of relatively mundane superheroes to rein him in. Inferno is an obvious Batman analogue — a wealthy human who underwent extreme training to fight crime, out of a Batcave-ish hideout — who's introduced only to be brutally snuffed out by the Plutonian in short order.
But as any self-respecting Bat-fan knows, Batman absolutely can beat Superman in a fight. There's no question.
Oliver Queen is often presented as a pretty close copy of Batman — but when that's the case, he usually does capture most of what's great about Bats, especially in the Arrow TV show. And, as TrueVCU points out below, Marvel's Moon Knight is also frequently amazing. Midnighter, a member of superhero team The Authority, started off as a gleefully homicidal Batman clone (albeit one with enhanced physical abilities) but — along with his husband Apollo — went on to become one of mainstream comics' most distinctive and well-done heroes. The Big Bang Comics universe, patterned after Golden and Silver Age comics, produced its own Batman analogue: the Knight Watchman. He features in some truly inspired homages, many of which successfully channel the pulp insanity and breathtaking flights of imagination that defined those early works. Kurt Busiek manages to get a religious Batman right in Astro City: Confession, a story narrated by that universe's Robin equivalent. Instead of turning the Confessor into a two-dimensional vessel for one particular belief system, Busiek sheds light on the motifs of religion and morality in Astro City in particular and superhero comics in general, while telling an entertaining story to boot. And all that's without getting to the legion of hilarious parodies, from Dave Sim's The Cockroach (ping ping ping!) to Darkwing Duck.


Columbian High School teachers and coaches have developed a program to incorporate certain values and characteristics students may be lacking.
The Rise Up (Reach Inside Seek Excellence) program was developed to assist student athletes, but was expanded to work with the entire student body at Columbian, said Curt Mellott, baseball coach and program coordinator.
Mellott said with state testing and learning standards taking over classrooms, the faculty and staff wanted to be able to work with students to make them into good people, leaders who have the values and characteristics they need to be the best people possible.
The program started this past fall in informational meetings. The program takes place the first Friday of each month with a speaker who takes on a certain topic. Speakers have included TCS coaches who introduced the program; Gary Barber, TCS superintendent, who spoke about leadership and community; and Larry Kisabeth, who discussed champion values.
“This series is to help students cultivate leadership skills and empower them to think out of the box,” Mellott said.
Upcoming speakers include Joe Stacy, on training like a Tornado; Sarah Clapper, Miss Ohio, on leadership and character development; Tyler Aldrich, on living with no limits – life with autism; and Harvey Alston, on culture and climate.
Mellott said the speaker’s talks have been taped and posted to the district’s YouTube channel.
The meetings have been leading up to an event for TCS community stakeholders, students and parents. The event, to include breakout sessions and a keynote speaker, is scheduled for 9 a.m.-noon March 3. Sessions are to focus on health and wellness, career preparation and social issues. The keynote speaker is to be Tiffin University President Lillian Schumacher.


Something smells off in the world of Deadpool 2 and it ain’t the chimichangas.
Earlier this week, star Ryan Reynolds and producer Simon Kinberg addressed what fans could expect from the highly anticipated sequel. They said, though most sequels deliver bigger everything, that wasn’t what they wanted for Deadpool. They wanted to make another smaller movie, more in line with the first film. Which is odd, because that’s also the kind of sequel the first film’s director, Tim Miller, wanted to make.
To recap, Miller directed the first Deadpool to massive international success. While prepping the sequel, there were some issues that lead to him leaving and David Leitch (John Wick) being hired to direct. Then quotes came out that the producers and star hired Leitch because he really knew how to stretch a budget.
That brings you up to speed for the latest. In his first interview since everything went down, Miller specifically told Chaos Group he wanted to make a smaller movie, not a bigger sequel.
I haven’t talked since Deadpool 2, I stepped off the movie. I just want to say one thing to our geek audience out there, because it’s important to me what the geeks and nerds of the world think, because they are my brothers and sisters.
I didn’t want to make some stylized movie that was three times the budget, and if you read the internet - and who cares, really - but for those of you who do, I wanted to make the same kind of movie that we made before, because I think that’s the right kind of movie to make for the character. So, don’t believe what you read on the Internet.
Except, what we read on the internet is that the film’s producer and star said they wanted to make that exact same movie.
Kyle Chandler was not going to be Cable. All these things that you read kinda kills me, even when people go, “The movie was really hard to make.” The movie was a joy to make. I think you see it on screen, we all had such a good time. We had a few arguments in post, but nothing more than usual. The crew was so great, everybody was going to come back, and we were going to have such a good time. The idea that it was a difficult movie, it wasn’t—it was a joy, and it was the best experience of my life.
So who do you believe? In matters like this, the truth usually lies in the middle. But Miller holds no grudges over the events.
I wish them nothing but good — I hope it’s great. I hope it’s a great movie. Because I love the character and I think it’s great, and I love all the actors and I want to see them successful again. I haven’t met David, but he’s a great guy from everything I’ve heard. I want nothing but the best for the character. And for Fox, too. They deserve to make more money. They need to make more money [laughs]. They were great. They were terrific.
Miller’s comments are at 45 minutes into the bottom link.
Deadpool 2 is currently in preproduction for a rumored 2018 release.


CHRIS Evans' Virgin Radio show listeners were moved to tears this morning listening to terminally ill Reverend Ruth talk about the final weeks of her life.
Cancer-stricken Ruth, known for presenting Radio 2's Pause for Thought, calmly spoke about her illness and gracefully addressed her own death.
Listeners were as inspired as they were moved listening to an excerpt from the full 30-minute interview, which is available on the Chris Evans' podcast.
One wrote on Twitter: "Amazing words from the Reverend Ruth Scott on the @achrisevans breakfast show on @VirginRadioUK this morning. Hearing her talking about her life and preparing both her imminent death was both overwhelming and inspirational. #grace #gratitude #wisdom.
Another said: "Thank you @achrisevans and @VirginRadioUK and especially Reverend Ruth Scott for sharing that wonderful interview. Incredibly moving broadcasting.
A third posted: "Live life with grace, gratitude, generosity... Reverend Ruth on the Chris Evans Breakfast Show.
"Totally humbling listening to the interview with reverend Ruth Scott on @VirginRadioUK 😢," said a fourth.
One credited Chris for his approach, writing: "Very moving. Hugely powerful piece of radio. Superbly handled by Chris. Reverend Ruth is an inspiration.
Live life with grace, gratitude, generosity... Reverend Ruth on the Chris Evans Breakfast Show.
Thank you @achrisevans and @VirginRadioUK and especially Reverend Ruth Scott for sharing that wonderful interview. Incredibly moving broadcasting.
Very moving. Hugely powerful piece of radio. Superbly handled by Chris. Reverend Ruth is an inspiration.
@achrisevans incredible interview with Reverend Ruth Scott taking place. Well done for holding it together and what an incredible lady.
Reverend Ruth told how she shared a tender moment in hospital with her son at the weekend in which he asked her to impart 60 years of wisdom in one day, while sat at her bedside.
She also said: "I’ve got two or three weeks to live at most so we're in the middle of saying goodbye's with the family and thinking about how it is to be separating from one another.
"I've got to accept the fact that I’m dying.
“I want to die as naturally as possible. Death's natural I want to get rid of all the medical stuff that I've been able to do and be able to embrace dying, be surrounded by my family and people that I love and know that they will be alright afterwards."
"I've been really lucky because I'm surrounded by my lovely family through this journey."