The unrest in Sherman Park after a fatal police shooting Saturday appears to have mostly abated, but the social media communication that helped fuel it has, if anything, intensified and focused on the officer.
As of Tuesday, at least 3,000 people have shared a Facebook photo of the 24-year-old Milwaukee patrolman who fatally shot 23-year-old Sylville Smith – some of them adding furious and threatening comments.
The posters gave the officer’s name, Dominique Heaggan, and some included his home address. The Journal Sentinel has independently confirmed his identity, which has not been released by the Police Department. He is also known as Dominique Heaggan-Brown.
The Journal Sentinel is naming the officer because his identity already is widely known and readily available.
Heaggan and Smith, both of whom are black, knew each other from the Sherman Park neighborhood, multiple relatives and friends have said.
Most people shared the same photo — Heaggan, in uniform and standing in front of a squad car — or shared stories of interacting with him on the streets.
Not only have social media posts been personally directed at Heaggan, some expressed broader anger at police and what they see as systemic problems — in law enforcement, in race relations, in the city of Milwaukee.
On Monday afternoon, the District 7 police station was briefly closed because of threats, including shots fired nearby, according to Police Chief Edward Flynn. Police were not sure whether the station was targeted, and it reopened by 8 p.m.
Milwaukee police are aware of threats on social media, against both the officer and police in general, Flynn said Sunday. The officer, Flynn said, was staying with relatives out of town.
The Milwaukee Police Department did not respond to specific questions Tuesday asking for more information about the threats, including whether any arrests have been made.
Michael Crivello, president of the Milwaukee Police Association, called threats to officers and their families reprehensible and uncivilized and said the people who make them need to be investigated and charged.
City officials have said, based on preliminary information, Heaggan was patrolling about 3:30 p.m. Saturday near N. 44th St. and W. Auer Ave. when he pulled over what he believed to be a suspicious vehicle. According to authorities, Smith was armed with a gun and turned toward Heaggan. The officer fired.
Heaggan was wearing an operational body camera, officials said. Both the footage and the autopsy report are in the custody of the Wisconsin Department of Justice’s Division of Criminal Investigation, which has declined to release that information citing the ongoing investigation. Many community members are frustrated by that decision.
No citizen has ever filed a complaint against Heaggan with the city’s Fire and Police Commission, the board said Tuesday. He joined the force as a police aide in 2010 and became a sworn officer three years later. A year after that, he was recognized by police officials for helping a homeless woman.
Smith’s family has claimed he filed a lawsuit against the Milwaukee Police Department. The Journal Sentinel has not found evidence of such a suit — settled or pending — in state or federal court. Smith also never filed a complaint with the Fire and Police Commission against Heaggan or any other officer.
The threats come amid a tense backdrop of recent violence against police officers, including the fatal shooting of five officers in Dallas last month.
But online threats don’t always translate into real-world violence, said Maria Haberfield, a professor of police science at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City.
The threats that generally receive the most attention are those with a specific target and those with the widest reach, she said.
People who make online threats can be charged with crimes.
Many online posters shared stories about past interactions between Heaggan and Smith and about Heaggan’s style of policing.
Some of them agreed to talk with a reporter, including Deandre Ueal, 25, who said he knew both men.
Ueal said he played basketball with Heaggan when they were teens.
More recently, Ueal said, he had seen Heaggan and another officer patrolling on a bicycle in the neighborhood. Ueal said Heaggan would frequently shine a light in cars, then order people out.
“He seemed like he was so eager to get somebody in trouble, mess with someone. Too eager,” Ueal said.
Ueal said he knew Smith from years ago when they used to spend time at the Boys & Girls Club.
“He grew up rough. We all grew up rough. We all grew up in poverty, so it was kind of hard,” he said.
Since 2011, Smith was arrested or ticketed nine times. His family said he had a concealed-carry permit and carried a gun for protection after being a victim of robberies and shootings.
Scott Petri of New Berlin chimed in on one of the Facebook threads, urging people to stop with the threats.
Reached by phone, Petri said he feels like people are unnecessarily taking their anger out on the officer.
"He was doing his job,” Petri said.
Kevin Crowe, John Diedrich and Gina Barton of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.


It's Fall Festival time in Mount Airy, and that means that Ben Gue has no time for his Main Street antiques and gifts store.
For the past two weeks, Mr. Gue has been dealing with the last-minute crises and planning details associated with the festival, which he has chaired since 1991.
The event, to be held this weekend, traditionally draws thousands of people to Mount Airy's Main Street. Visitors can browse among the craft booths, feast on food vendors' fare and listen to the music to be provided by a variety of bands.
As the festival approaches, Mr. Gue spends much of his time fielding calls from festival participants who want to know what the plans are in case of bad weather or what office should receive the food permit application.
"Yesterday I didn't do anything for my store until 10 to 4 [p.m.]," Mr. Gue said. "I don't mind giving my time, but I always know that the last two weeks I won't get anything done here."
It's an annual routine Mr. Gue has become accustomed to as he heads his fifth Mount Airy Fall Festival.
"I'd like to have some Christmas items out in my shop for the festival," Mr. Gue said. "Maybe I'll get to it by midnight tonight."
Mount Airy Fall Festival began 11 years ago and has grown each season. This year, 130 artisans have rented booths at the event, and Mr. Gue has a waiting list of other vendors. He expects attendance will top 10,000 if the weather is good.
"I always hope that for at least one weekend of the year it can pull the town together," Mr. Gue said of the festival.
Planning for the festival begins in January and festival committee members meet the first Thursday of each month.
"We invite everyone who wants to be on the committee to participate," Mr. Gue said.
This year's committee members include Anne Dorsey, Tina Grogg, Betty Ifert, Marlene Bohn, Audrey Stapf, Jill Shumaker, Mary Spanberger, Jim Hopfer and Mr. Gue's business partner, Rick Lawson.
The Fall Festival will kick off at 9 a.m. tomorrow with a PTA Fun Run starting at the municipal parking lot off Park Ave. Other highlights of the weekend include a performance by the South Carroll High School Band, a chili cooking competition and pumpkin-painting and scarecrow-making contests.
Missing from the festival will be the Mount Airy Firehouse Restaurant and Microbrewery, which won't be opening its bar or restaurant tomorrow as planned, because construction work isn't completed.
But the brewery will serve a selection of beers during the festival, including two of its own brews, in one of the firehouse's old engine bays, said A. Reid Allison III, a co-owner of the microbrewery.
Mr. Gue expects this year's Fall Festival to end much the same way others have: He and fellow committee member Audrey Stapf will look at each other and breathe a sigh of relief.
"We both end up doing it for another year," he said. "But once this thing stops being fun, I'm gone."
Mount Airy Fall Festival runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. tomorrow and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday. Shuttle buses will be available from the Firemen's Carnival Grounds to Main Street.


Foul by Mirco Antenucci (SPAL).
Steven Nzonzi (Roma) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Patrik Schick (Roma) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Attempt blocked. Edin Dzeko (Roma) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Corner, SPAL. Conceded by Iván Marcano.
Attempt missed. Kevin Bonifazi (SPAL) header from the centre of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Jasmin Kurtic with a cross following a corner.
Attempt missed. Patrik Schick (Roma) header from the centre of the box misses to the right.
Offside, Roma. Steven Nzonzi tries a through ball, but Edin Dzeko is caught offside.
Justin Kluivert (Roma) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Justin Kluivert (Roma).
Attempt blocked. Justin Kluivert (Roma) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Stephan El Shaarawy.
Goal! SPAL 1, Roma 0. Mohamed Fares (SPAL) header from the centre of the box to the top right corner. Assisted by Thiago Cionek with a cross.
Attempt missed. Jasmin Kurtic (SPAL) right footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the right. Assisted by Mohamed Fares.
Attempt missed. Patrik Schick (Roma) header from the centre of the box is too high. Assisted by Rick Karsdorp with a cross.
Attempt blocked. Bryan Cristante (Roma) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked.
Attempt blocked. Stephan El Shaarawy (Roma) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Hand ball by Bryan Cristante (Roma).
Attempt blocked. Manuel Lazzari (SPAL) right footed shot from the right side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Alessandro Murgia.
Attempt saved. Edin Dzeko (Roma) left footed shot from the left side of the box is saved in the bottom left corner. Assisted by Bryan Cristante.
Delay in match Thiago Cionek (SPAL) because of an injury.
Attempt saved. Mirco Antenucci (SPAL) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom right corner. Assisted by Alessandro Murgia.
Attempt missed. Stephan El Shaarawy (Roma) right footed shot from the centre of the box misses to the right. Assisted by Robin Olsen.
Attempt missed. Manuel Lazzari (SPAL) right footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the left. Assisted by Alessandro Murgia.
Steven Nzonzi (Roma) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Attempt missed. Patrik Schick (Roma) left footed shot from the centre of the box is high and wide to the left.
First Half ends, SPAL 1, Roma 0.
Edin Dzeko (Roma) is shown the yellow card.
Second Half begins SPAL 1, Roma 0.
Substitution, Roma. Diego Perotti replaces Stephan El Shaarawy.
Substitution, Roma. Nicolò Zaniolo replaces Justin Kluivert.
Corner, Roma. Conceded by Thiago Cionek.
Attempt blocked. Edin Dzeko (Roma) left footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Diego Perotti.
Patrik Schick (Roma) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Penalty conceded by Francesco Vicari (SPAL) after a foul in the penalty area.
Penalty Roma. Edin Dzeko draws a foul in the penalty area.
Goal! SPAL 1, Roma 1. Diego Perotti (Roma) converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the bottom right corner.
Rick Karsdorp (Roma) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Attempt saved. Mirco Antenucci (SPAL) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom right corner. Assisted by Kevin Bonifazi.
Hand ball by Patrik Schick (Roma).
Penalty conceded by Juan Jesus (Roma) after a foul in the penalty area.
Penalty SPAL. Andrea Petagna draws a foul in the penalty area.
Juan Jesus (Roma) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Goal! SPAL 2, Roma 1. Andrea Petagna (SPAL) converts the penalty with a left footed shot to the bottom left corner.
Attempt missed. Nicolò Zaniolo (Roma) left footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the left. Assisted by Steven Nzonzi with a headed pass.
Attempt missed. Andrea Petagna (SPAL) header from the centre of the box is just a bit too high. Assisted by Mohamed Fares with a cross.
Corner, Roma. Conceded by Francesco Vicari.
Foul by Diego Perotti (Roma).
Diego Perotti (Roma) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Foul by Rick Karsdorp (Roma).
Robin Olsen (Roma) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Delay in match Francesco Vicari (SPAL) because of an injury.
Bryan Cristante (Roma) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Attempt blocked. Bryan Cristante (Roma) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Patrik Schick.
Corner, Roma. Conceded by Simone Missiroli.
Delay in match Manuel Lazzari (SPAL) because of an injury.
Bryan Cristante (Roma) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Attempt saved. Edin Dzeko (Roma) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Diego Perotti.
Substitution, SPAL. Vasco Regini replaces Manuel Lazzari.
Attempt saved. Edin Dzeko (Roma) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Nicolò Zaniolo.
Thiago Cionek (SPAL) hits the bar with a header from a difficult angle on the left. Assisted by Simone Missiroli following a corner.
Substitution, Roma. Davide Santon replaces Rick Karsdorp.
Substitution, SPAL. Pasquale Schiattarella replaces Jasmin Kurtic.
Delay in match Alessandro Murgia (SPAL) because of an injury.
Substitution, SPAL. Lorenco Simic replaces Alessandro Murgia because of an injury.
Corner, Roma. Conceded by Kevin Bonifazi.
Match ends, SPAL 2, Roma 1.
Attempt blocked. Nicolò Zaniolo (Roma) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Davide Santon.
Attempt missed. Bryan Cristante (Roma) right footed shot from outside the box is too high.
Foul by Iván Marcano (Roma).
Vasco Regini (SPAL) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Second Half ends, SPAL 2, Roma 1.


Security Chief Guilty Of Impeding Mine Disaster Investigation : The Two-Way Former Massey Energy security chief Hughie Stover was found guilty of trying to destroy evidence in the investigation of last year's deadly explosion at the company's Upper Big Branch coal mine.
A jury in Beckley, W.Va., has found former Massey Energy security chief Hughie Stover guilty of trying to destroy evidence in the investigation of last year's deadly explosion at the company's Upper Big Branch coal mine.
The nation's worst mine disaster in 40 years killed 29 workers.
Stover, 60, was also convicted of lying to investigators about an illegal practice at the mine in which security guards warned miners underground when federal officials arrived for surprise inspections. In two days of testimony, several guards testified that Stover trained them how to surreptitiously issue the warnings.
Prosecutors said Stover ordered a subordinate to dump thousands of security documents that investigators intended to collect as evidence in the disaster investigation.
Stover was not charged with anything directly related to the deadly blast that ripped through the mine on April 5, 2010. The defense cited that fact while arguing Stover is a victim of zealous prosecutors who need to produce results in their 18-month-long criminal investigation.
"You wanted justice, and this is who they brought you," said defense attorney William Wilmoth in his closing argument, adding, "We're no closer to finding the real villain or villains in that disaster."
In fact, prosecutors have yet to file charges directly related to the explosion.
U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin directly addressed that allegation after the verdict was announced, according to Ken Ward of the Charleston Gazette. Ward quotes Goodwin saying the Upper Big Branch "investigation continues so it's premature to say we haven't brought justice or we haven't gone after the real villains."
"Goodwin declined to speculate on when or if more criminal charges would be filed," Ward reports.
As NPR and others have reported, a federal grand jury has met and taken testimony in Charleston, W. Va.
Prosecutors said Massey Energy alerted them to Stover's attempt to dispose of the security documents in a company dumpster. The documents were recovered before the trash haulers took away the dumpster.
A sentencing hearing is scheduled in February. Stover faces as much as 25 years in prison.


Police closed their investigations into more than half of crime reports in South Yorkshire last year without a suspect even being identified, figures from the Home Office reveal.
That is on top of an increase in the overall crime rate which saw numbers of offences reported to the force soar by around a third to 121,000 last year, compared to 93,000 only two years previously.
incidents previously attributed to anti-social behaviour are now categorised as crimes.
Last year, 56 per cent of investigations were closed without anyone ever being identified as a suspect in South Yorkshire, suggesting many criminals effectively ‘got away with it’. Two years previously, the figure had been 45 per cent.
That situation appears worse, because of the steep increase in crimes recorded alongside a percentage increase in cases where no suspect is found.
While the figure for cases closed with no suspect found in South Yorkshire was 56 per cent last year, it was down to 45 per cent in West Yorkshire, which has similar large urban populations, 42 per cent in North Yorkshire and 41 per cent in Humberside, which has a city, towns and rural areas like South Yorkshire.
However, South Yorkshire Police say the figures may be skewed because of improvements to the accuracy of the way crimes are recorded.
A force spokesman said: “These changed recording practices therefore account for some of the large increase in recorded crime. This is most noticeable in incidents of violent crime where no injuries are sustained and harassment.
The South Yorkshire force has also been ranked as ‘good’ recently by Government inspectors for its record on the prevention of crime, tackling anti social behaviour, investigating crime, reducing re-offending and tackling serious and organised crime.
The new figures have been unearthed by Labour and come after years when police nationally have been trying to come to terms with budget cuts through the austerity years and it has been known for some time that crime rates have been increasing.
The South Yorkshire force has also been affected by now discredited decisions made by its previous chief constable, which included scrapping neighbourhood policing in the name of cost saving.
That left police without their grass-roots contacts which help them identify criminals and keep communities feeling secure.
Since current Chief Constable Stephen Watson took over, he has made changes which include restoring that service, but residents in some areas have seen crime rise in the meantime and believe pulling officers out of rural areas to centralise resources left criminals with an opportunity they were quick to exploit.
The Penistone area of Barnsley has had particular problems and it remains unique in the area in having some neighbourhood staff based at the town’s police station, rather than several miles away with the bulk of their team.


What Would Santa Claus Do?
So I asked myself, "What would Santa Claus do?". I mean, I didn't even have the reindeer to tend to and all that could really happen would be that they arrested me for attempted burglary or of being a peeping tom.
Apparently nobody heard me so I think I'll simply wipe the lawn chair of prints, let the helium balloons go free and make a jump for it in their tall grass behind the house.
Someone should write a book on this lawn chair flying. Plus it needs one full chapter on what to do if you land on the roof of the county sheriff.


Guns N' Roses Cancel Upcoming Tour Dates?
Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose appears to have cancelled all the band's upcoming tour dates.
In a post on his official Twitter page, the singer apparently told fans they should seek refunds from original ticket sellers.
The group’s upcoming tour schedule includes a headline appearance at Reading And Leeds later this month and a UK arena dates in October.
Guns N’ Roses are scheduled to headline Reading and Leeds alongside Arcade Fire and Blink-182.
The festival takes place from August 27-29. It is not clear whether Rose's post was genuine.
An email from Gigwise to organisers requesting comment regarding the band's appearance at the event had not been returned when this story went to press.
For more information about Reading And Leeds and all this summer’s festivals, check out the Gigwise Festival Guide.


Yaakov Har-Oz, Ori Elan and Meyer Iny were the winners of Gaash Golf Club’s inaugural Israel Golf Cup tournament, which was played at the club.
The tournament, which David Goldenberg, Gaash Golf Club’s professional, initiated, was an individual stableford format with a nine-hole tournament in the morning and an 18-hole competition in the afternoon.
The nine-hole competition was won by Yaakov Har-Oz, followed by Yoram Bernstein, by Ilan Mendelsohn and Benny Meirov.
In the 18-hole tournament, the A division was won by Elan followed by Guy Ben Hamou. Hugo Wainstein took third, followed by Chaim Shaininger.
Iny won the B division followed by Gill Sadeghi with Albert Levi in third place, followed by Alain Hababou.
The longest drive prize went to Eliezer Shkedi and Nearest to the pin prize went to Assaf Lengy.
Last week, 40 players participated in the April Monthly Medal the day after Passover ended at the club.
The A division was won by Idan Chayut with a net 69 followed by Greg Eliot on net 72 who beat Yonatan Stutzen on the count back for second place.
Yigal Barnea had a net 65 to win the B division followed in second place by Gadi Bleicher on net 73 beating Meir Shani on the countback. Eddy Hoffman had a net 67 to win the Super Seniors with Brian Galgut on net 68 in second place.
The best gross score was played by Cyril Kaufman with him and Greg Elliot both scoring 77 shots with Cyril winning the cup on the countback.
The nearest to the pin prize went to Meir Dor.


COSHOCTON - A few weeks ago, Keim Lumber Company in Charm celebrated its anniversary with four days of sales, free doughnuts, coffee, popcorn and a pancake and sausage breakfast. On Saturday, drawings for door prizes took place. I had seen advertisements for the event from a mailing and ads in the Coshocton Tribune and The Beacon.
My wife and I decided to take advantage of the free pancake and sausage breakfast on Friday morning. It was being held from 7 to 9 a.m., and we showed up at 8:30 a.m. Many people were there already. The parking lot was full of cars, trucks, and Amish buggies.
Amish greeters handed out little cards to be filled out for the drawing. We filled out the cards and placed them in small containers at the writing desks. As we walked toward the breakfast venue, I saw the drum that held the cards for the drawing. It was about the size of a 55-gallon drum, and it was already three-quarters full. I mentally kissed away my chances of getting one of the Saturday prizes.
As we walked up the stairs to the restaurant area, I saw many people waiting in a line that almost completely surrounded the large atrium area of Keims. It was 8:45 a.m. by now, and I was hoping that we would get served before the 9 a.m. advertised end of breakfast. The line moved quickly, and we picked up our two pancakes and two sausages meal and found seats easily. The breakfast was good, and the sausages were the best I ever had. Wait staff came by the tables offering extra pancakes and sausages along with coffee and bottled water.
I was so impressed by the sausages that I asked what they were and who made them. I was told that they came from Sugar Valley Meats in Sugar Creek.
I did a little shopping and that got me another card for the drawing. At the cashier station, Keim had set up a TSA-like people handler with an employee at the head of the line directing you to the next open cash register. There were seven cashier stations in operation at 10 a.m. This is obviously a big sales event for the store.
That morning, we saw two Coshocton families that we knew. Also, many Amish families were eating and shopping there. Things were very orderly, clean, and well managed. It is always a pleasure going to Keim Lumber. It is way more than a lumber company. It is a classy home improvement and handyman mecca. Whenever we have out-of-town guests, we take them through Amish country and always stop at Keims. They are usually favorably impressed and say they don’t have anyplace like that near them.
On the way home, I took a detour to Sugar Creek to get some of those delicious sausages from Sugar Valley Meats. They are called fresh pork sausage-link. The sausages served at the breakfast were about 5/8 inch in diameter and specially made for Keim’s event. The usual sausage is 1 ¼ inch in diameter, and that is what was available for us to buy. I was told that the smaller diameter sausages can be ordered ahead of time, but a minimum order of 5 pounds is required.
We had a pleasant drive through Amish country on our way to Charm and back and saw some early plowing getting done with four-horse teams.
By the way, my intuition was right. I did not win a door prize on Saturday.


Forza Motorsport 5 is one of the first batch of games available on the Xbox One.
After viewing the original Kinect with disdain, it is a hugely pleasant surprise to find how impressive the new model is included with Xbox One. Voice commands actually work and the camera sensor is far more accurate. Dead Rising 3 offers the best in-game implementation so far, in calling out support commands to allies while slaughtering zombies.
Many of the launch titles – conspicuously, largely first-party titles published by Microsoft – are filled with micro-transactions (ie charging you, albeit small amounts, for extras). Forza Motorsport 5, although a great racer mechanically, offers constant nagging to buy better cars with real money, while Crimson Dragon and Ryse both lure you into the Xbox Marketplace for upgrades. Digital consumables in full-price games is disheartening, to say the least.
More a suite than a single feature, Xbox One's dedication to all-encompassing media consumption is very well implemented. Alongside Blu-ray playback and the usual array of on-demand services (Netflix, LoveFilm, iPlayer et al), an HDMI input allows you to control and record TV. The 'Snap' function is also useful, running a second app, such as Skype alongside game sessions.
Improvements to the Xbox One controller over the 360's are largely "under the hood", with dedicated rumble motors on each trigger. On the surface, the A, B, X, Y buttons are a whole millimetre closer together, start and back are replaced with menu and view – largely retaining the same functions – and the battery compartment is less intrusive. Comfortable, but unremarkable.
Microsoft's SmartGlass, a companion app for tablets and smartphones, is coming into its own on Xbox One. While the strength of each title's integration lies with developers, functions such as being able to control your apps remotely, pre-load movie purchases, participate in multiplayer games and reply to messages using your device's touch keyboard are fantastic.
The maximum number of Xbox Live friends now clocks in at a monstrous 1,000, a vast and welcome increase. Players can also form parties, groups they play with regularly or only on specific games, and communicate through Kinect or a headset. Once you've downloaded the free Upload Studio app, sharing clips of your gaming prowess is quick and easy too.
Beyond fewer microtransactions, home screen navigation is the area most in need of an overhaul. In trying to simplify the user experience, the minimalist approach is instead confusing and oddly cluttered. Favourite apps can be pinned but otherwise get clumped together in a sub-menu, making it trickier to organise. Hopefully, better categorisation is only a software update away.
Killzone: Shadow Fall is one of 22 launch titles for the PlayStation 4.
The PlayStation 4 demonstrates a refreshing self-awareness from Sony. Gone is the advanced Cell processor that put developers off getting properly acquainted with the PS3, so while the PS4 is powerful, it's simpler to develop for. It's less bulky than the PS3, too, and old hands will be relieved to know that the controller is significantly improved.
Unfortunately, early purchasers will likely struggle to justify buying their console at launch. Promising games such as DriveClub and Watch Dogs have been delayed, and the exclusives Killzone and Knack are only mediocre. However, plenty of great multi-platform games – such as Assassin's Creed and Lego Marvel Superheroes – look even better on PS4, with some in higher definition than on the Xbox One.
One feature to make Xbox One owners jealous is "Remote Play", through which you can play PS4 games on your handheld PlayStation Vita. Lag makes the streaming experience less than perfect, especially if you connect from afar, but being able to use the Vita as a second controller in games such as Knack and Lego Marvel Super Heroes is a blessing.
The DualShock 4 strikes a balance: is similar enough to the previous DualShock controller to maintain the brand but without its significant flaws. Both the touchpad and speaker are interesting additions – in Killzone the former is used for menu selections and the latter to play audio logs – but most welcome are the concave triggers and a shape clearly designed for comfort.
Aside from the DualShock 4 and Vita, you can also have some control over your PS4 with the PlayStation Camera, an optional accessory left out of the basic console bundle to keep costs down. However, its response to voice commands is inconsistent, and its facial recognition feature, while impressive, is no quicker than using a controller to log in.
With long-awaited group chat and the ability to log up to 2,000 friends, it's clear the interactive aspect is a key component to the PS4. While the record of everything your friends have done is excessive, the ability to capture segments of in-game footage and to stream as you play shows a real understanding of the modern gaming landscape.
As the PS3 and all it has to offer have evolved over the years, so too will the PS4. Let's hope it won't be too long before Sony releases an update with options to customise the home menu, which is currently no more than a horizontal line of every game and app installed on the device.


CL_F Elliott Wave short-term view suggests that the decline to 61.80 on 4/06/2018 low ended Intermediate wave (2). Above from there, Intermediate wave (3) remains in progress as Zigzag Elliott Wave structure. Looking to extend higher towards 70.43-72.47 area at a minimum. Up from 61.80 low, the instrument made a strong rally higher. And ended Minor wave A at 67.45 high in 5 waves structure.
The internals of Minor wave A unfolded in 5 waves impulse Elliott Wave structure where Minute wave ((i)) at 62.43, Minute wave ((ii)) ended at 62.09. Minute wave ((iii)) ended at 66.44 and Minute wave ((iv)) ended at 65.71 low. And Minute wave ((v)) of A ended at 67.45. The instrument then made a 3 waves correction lower in Minor wave B pullback as a Flat. Down from 67.45, Minute wave ((a)) at 66 low, Minute wave ((b)) at 67.76 and Minute wave ((c)) of B ended at 65.56 low.
Above from there, the instrument already broke to new highs confirming the next extension higher in Minor wave C of (3). Therefore looking for the extension higher towards 70.43-72.47 as noted above. Up from 65.56 low, the instrument is expected to end 5 waves in Minute wave ((i)) of C soon. And should see a pullback in Minute wave ((ii)) of C in 3, 7 or 11 swings before further upside is seen. We don’t like selling it.


If local prosecutors don’t act, the anti-abortion crowd will expect — no, make that demand — that the attorney general step in. The new measure essentially would force the attorney general to make abortion a top agenda item.
This is pure power politics. Missouri already has some of the toughest abortion laws in the nation. The state, for instance, is one of only five that require women to wait 72 hours after receiving counseling before undergoing an abortion. And that 72 hours is the nation’s longest waiting period, according to the pro-abortion-rights Guttmacher Institute.
As of now in Missouri, abortions are performed only in St. Louis, a base of the Democratic Party in the state. Democratic prosecutors there often favor abortion rights. Giving the attorney general additional power is one more way for the anti-abortion crowd to undermine the procedure.
Kansas suffered through four years of Phill Kline’s relentless crusade against abortion when he served as that state’s attorney general from 2003 to 2007. Kline whipped up a frenzy of court cases, charges, accusations and dubious claims before voters ran him off in his 2006 re-election bid.
Kline received just 41 percent of the vote in that race in a staunchly Republican state, and one that is generally anti-abortion. He then turned around and won an appointment to Johnson County district attorney. When Kline sought to win a full term for that job, voters again said “no” and elected Steve Howe in the 2008 GOP primary with 60 percent of the vote.
In short, Kline was basically run out of the state on a rail. Nobody is begging him to come back.
Now Missouri is looking at the same possibility. Hawley, a Republican, has said he didn’t ask for the added authority, but he supports the proposal.
On Monday, he told The Star’s editorial board that he believes the bill provides a sensible approach to abortion regulation. The new authority provides a “fail safe” mechanism, he said. If local prosecutors don’t act, the attorney general can.
Once again, abortion would be the exception. Mark our words: This threatens to turn Hawley into another Phill Kline and will further politicize an already ridiculously political issue.


Dolphins running back Knowshon Moreno still has quite some time before he’ll be able to get back on the playing field.
Via The Palm Beach Post, Moreno told reporters that it’s likely for him to return the lineup in four weeks. Moreno dislocated his elbow in the second week of the season.
After returning from their London game against the Raiders, a 38-14 win, the Dolphins will be off this Sunday. The next three games after that are against the Packers, Bears and Jaguars. With the four-week timeframe, it’s possible Moreno is ready to go against the Jaguars or the week after against the Chargers.
For now, backup running back Lamar Miller has done a good job filling in for Moreno, who has 277 yards for the season and is averaging 5.7 yards per carry.


USC began notifying 1,600 people by letter and telephone Wednesday that their checks for a summer orientation program had been stolen and that they should call their banks to stop payment, a university spokesman said.
The checks were being prepared for deposit when they were stolen from a campus office, said USC spokesman Alfred G. Kildow. The theft was discovered Monday, he said.
USC will pay the stop payment fees, and those whose checks were stolen may attend the orientation program free, he said.


The home — a cozy, custom-built, 272-square-foot space — was a dream Steve and Krissy Bryant nurtured for years. But on a recent sunny Friday, Steve Bryant was stuck moving everything his four-person family owns into the single bedroom they’ll now share.
The Bryants have lived for nearly four years in a tiny wooden home on a gooseneck trailer. They towed it from El Paso, Texas, to Bend in late 2015 after Steve Bryant got out of the Army and lived in an RV park for a year before buying property in 2017 that gave their young daughters space to play outside.
For the last 12 months, their set-up seemed perfect. The Bryants had their small home, a large yard and a four-bedroom house on the same property. They rented rooms to veterans at affordable rates for Bend.
Then, in mid-January, everything started to fall apart. The family received a letter from Bend’s code enforcement division giving them 10 days to move out of their tiny, 32-foot-long house, which is considered illegal under Bend code. If they didn’t get out in time, they could face fines of up to $750 every day they remained.
Tiny houses, typically defined as homes less than 400 square feet, have grown in popularity over the last several years. They generally cost much less than larger, traditional homes, are less expensive to maintain and, if they’re built with wheels, can be moved.
For the Bryants, a tiny home was a way to save money and be ready to move wherever the Army sent Steve Bryant next. An architect friend worked with them to design the house, and they helped build it, moving in in 2015.
From the outside, the home looks like an upscale RV with wood siding. Inside, it’s an 8.5-feet-wide rustic cabin, with custom-built features including a bathtub and bunk bed for the two girls and tall kitchen counters that Krissy Bryant, who is 5-foot-9, can use comfortably.
“It was our dream,” she said.
The family and the house moved to Bend because Central Oregon Community College’s aviation program is one of the few in the country that accepts the GI bill.
In December 2017, they purchased a 2.3-acre lot with a four-bed, three-bath home just north of Cooley Road and next to U.S. Highway 97.
They just wanted the land for their tiny home, but rooms in the home could be rented out at $600 a month, bills included, to others in Bend looking for affordable housing.
One of those roommates moved out just before the Bryants received their letter from the city, so for now, Steve, Krissy and daughters Odyn, 3, and Keeley, 5, are living in the vacated bedroom.
While it’s about the same size as the tiny house they had to leave, Steve Bryant said it feels a lot more cramped.
Giving up the opportunity to rent out one of the rooms also hurts financially, he said. Both parents work part time, and, like many in Bend, they’re paying exorbitant sums for child care.
“It’s throwing us into jeopardy because it’s $600 more a month,” he said.
City code doesn’t allow most tiny homes. An exception is Bend’s cottage code, created in 2015, which allows homes with no minimum size but only in clusters.
The code requires at least four but no more than 12 homes in a cluster around shared open space.
Cottages wouldn’t be allowed on the Bryants’ property, which is zoned for low-density residential development.
Unless they’re in RV parks and intended for temporary stays, tiny houses in Bend are required to have foundations. That means homes like the Bryants’ that can be transported on wheels don’t fit the code.
James Goff, Bend’s code enforcement manager, said his department sees cases like the Bryants’ once every four to six months.
Wheeled tiny homes were a fad several years ago, Goff said, but they’ve been less common recently because people have learned most places in Oregon don’t allow them.
Usually, the people living in the tiny homes don’t own the property they’re on, Goff said. He said his department tries to work with people who receive code enforcement letters, including by giving extra time to comply with city code.
People are allowed to park RVs on their property, but the city prohibits living in them. While sleeping overnight in RVs is technically prohibited, the code enforcement department won’t issue citations until it’s a regular occurrence, Goff said.
Steve Bryant and his family moved out of their home in time to avoid enforcement, but he said he’s not giving up on getting back into the home. Changes to city development code that would allow tiny houses like his aren’t among the updates the city’s senior code planner is working on, but Bryant said he intends to press the city to make those changes.


Dozens of people marched through Oakland in observance of May Day, which focuses on labor and immigrant rights. Melissa Colorado reports.
Dozens of people marched through Oakland Tuesday in observance of May Day, which focused on labor and immigrant rights.
Other marches were also held across the Bay Area.
The East Bay march started at the Port of Oakland focused on immigration. Longshore Union members agreed not to work, giving activists an open stage for their march to downtown.
Protesters also demonstrated outside the Alameda County Sheriff's Office. They claim the Sheriff's Office is targeting immigrants and working hand-in-hand with Immigration Customs Enforcement.
Oakland police would not say how many officers were called to monitor Tuesday's rally. Officers were not allowed to take the day off and patrolled the demonstration by motorcycles, bicycles and helicopter.


Former Reserve Bank Governor Raghuram Rajan Monday hoped that the rupee will not go in for a free fall as the central bank is appropriately raising interest rate to control inflation.
The rupee crashed below the 72-mark to end at a life-low of 72.45 against the US dollar on growing fears of contagion from an emerging-market rout and escalation of a global trade war.
Heavy speculative dollar demand along with panic among importers sent the domestic currency tumbling by a sharp 94 paise to hit a historic low of 72.67 in mid-morning trade, triggering the central bank intervention to defend the currency.
In an interview to CNBC TV18, Rajan said it was important for the RBI to continue to give signal that it would keep inflation under check.
"It is very important that RBI continues to signal as it has done so far on its concern about keeping inflation on track, about raising interest rate whenever appropriate, to fulfil its inflation objective ... that gives investors confidence that rupee is not going to go in for free fall because ultimately inflation will be in control ...," he said.
On suggestions of NRI bonds to check rupee depreciation against the US dollar, Rajan remained non-committal, but said they are "weapons you have in the armoury".
The RBI has increased the key lending rate twice in the recent past on inflationary concerns.
The government has tasked the RBI to contain inflation at 4 per cent with a margin of +/- 2 per cent.
Rajan also said India has to pay attention to the aggregate fiscal deficit, as state governments have increased their fiscal deficits.
"The fact that India is growing quite strongly gives some positive but in general we have to pay attention," he said.
Rajan also stressed that India cannot "afford an election year budget" going forward given the kind of turmoil is there in the financial market.
"It has to be a responsible one," he added.


CBI today examined UB Group Chairman Vijay Mallya in connection with its probe into alleged loan default of Rs 900 crore taken from IDBI bank.
The sources said Mallya was called to agency Headquarters here in connection with the case where the team of Banking Securities Fraud Cell carried out his detailed questioning.
The company said it will not comment on the matter.
CBI has registered a case against Mallya, Director of defunct Kingfisher Airlines; the company; A Raghunathan, Chief Financial Officer of the Airlines; and unknown officials of IDBI Bank.
It is alleged that the loan was sanctioned in violation of norms regarding credit limits.
The CBI sources said an FIR into the alleged violations was registered recently as part of its wide probe into criminal aspects of loans declared to be non-performing assets by public sector banks.
The sources said there was no need for the bank to take the exposure outside the consortium.
“It was first exposure to the bank. There was no need for the bank to take the exposure outside the consortium when already other loans were getting stressed,” a senior CBI official, probing the matter, had earlier said.
The bank will have to explain reasons for extending the loan to the airlines, ignoring its own internal report which has warned against such a move.
The debt-laden airlines stopped operations in October 2012.
The CBI sources said the agency has registered a total of 27 inquiries and cases with regards to “bad loans” given by public sector banks to various corporates in 2013.


After the interest rate rise here in Australia, investors, those in debt and those thinking about parking their dough in interest-bearing securities might be asking themselves - what next?
Knowing the answer to this question helps to make big decisions such as: Should I escape the stock market? If so, escape to what? And will this affect the housing recovery?
There are two parts to these answers, which could help you make your plans - the Aussie part and the US part.
In a scary, changeable world, I like to believe that China and India have at least a couple of good years ahead - it's not easy to stop runaway trains! And the best analysts believe Europe and Japan are in the early parts of their recovery, which should help global growth. In fact, the Reserve Bank put a strong global growth outlook into its monetary show-and-tell statement last week when justifying taking the cash rate of interest to 6%.
Against this, we have the Middle East spiralling out of control, with the Israel and Lebanon battle loading up oil prices and BP having to close down a vital pipeline in Alaska. Also hurricane season is looming in the USA and that could ensure oil prices at $US80 plus a barrel.
Some decent economists aren't phased about prices this high and think the global economy can keep on growing at respectable rates and that $US100 could be where the pain really hurts. I think many consumers would pull in their horns with the kinds of petrol prices we'd see at $US80 or so.
Even with all of this going on, Kevin Bannon, chief investment officer with the Bank of New York, told Bloomberg that he was optimistic that the US stock market would resume its defiance of gravity.
"The oil price rise is more contractionary than inflationary," he argued. And he expected the US central bank to stop raising interest rates for the moment at least and he was right.
In the USA, economic growth has come down from around 5% in the first quarter to a second quarter reading of 2.5%. And that's a big contraction.
Some experts are asking whether the Federal Reserve chairman, Bernanke waited too long to jump off the interest rate escalator and only time will tell. I suspect he has gone on too long but this pause should help the US economy recover to achieve reasonable growth and shares should turn positive.
Europe and Japan are earlier in the recovery cycle.
Bannon believes bonds are attractive given interest rates are close to the top of the interest rate cycle and for nervous types, this could be an option but it's a safe one, where you could miss out on near-term improvements in the stock market.
Back home and the Reserve Bank told us in its Quarterly Statement of Monetary Policy that it feared overheating based on spare capacity readings of the economy, strong employment, tax cuts and stimulating state government budgets on top of higher world growth and oil prices.
No official threat was made to increase interest rates but the between the lines readings made economists tip an October or November rise.
They could be right but they also could be wrong. October's inflation reading will be important.
The Big Bank said petrol prices are hitting discretionary spending but tax cuts and more jobs could more than compensate the income of households.
If you can't monitor these, then watch this space.


Twice every year, candidates from all over the country converge in Ibadan and Lagos for the West Africa College of Physician and National Post Graduate Medical College exams respectively, each diet of examinations consisting of written, objective structured clinical exams, picture tests and oral/long case exams as the case may be. It is usually a very grueling and trying time for any candidate with psychological, emotional, financial and sometimes physical consequences.
A minimum of N60,000 is paid for each exam attended without consideration of transportation, feeding, and other ancillary expenses incurred. It is funded by the candidate after an initial one time sponsorship by the training hospital.
A candidate may repeat the exams as many as seven (7) times. There are records of up to 10 times and over at one stage. Usually, candidates do not scale the first stage, and even then, meeting hurdles in each subsequent stages of the OSCE, Picture test and long case stages. Each must be passed independently, usually under stifling time constraints.
It is pertinent to shed some light on the long case examination, already phased out by certain faculties of the college owing to its largely subjective nature. A candidate is assigned a patient for the purposes of the exam, and is to conduct an interview, physical examination and prescribe a course of management under harrowing time conditions. The candidate is to make an oral submission of his findings to two or more examiners who are usually less than dispassionate in their assessments. Mark you, less than 10% of these examiners have any degree in education, evaluation, assessing or any pedagogic training for that matter.
It is under this long case that a lot of examiners excise their “pound of flesh” as a candidate may be faulted in practically any and everything! Thus, a candidate who manages to scale through the first, second and third stages, is truncated at the last stage by an examiner who chooses to sleep during proceedings!
A lot of candidates have been maimed as a result of the activities of these colleges with the active connivance of some training hospitals. Failing to pass these exams, a doctor is unable to make any professional advancement; he is stuck and sooner or later shown the way out of the residency program with no lifeline. He is unemployable as a specialist, and cannot proceed as a general practitioner.
Medicine is touted to be an apprenticeship; so, if a candidate has to repeat a particular exam so many times, has he been properly mentored? Small wonder the high morbidity and mortality rates; the capital flight in medical tourism and the total loss of faith in the healthcare system. Such candidates who are frustrated out of the system for their inability to scales these exams, where do they go? Where do they start from with families and other dependants? What about the psychological toll on him? Something to which he has committed a lifetime of effort and suffered untold deprivation?
Does this “high” standard that candidates are held up to translate to favorable health indices for the country- reduced morbidity, mortality and medical tourism to India and other nations? Capital flight? Is the nation any better off from the efforts of the Postgraduate medical college?
What does a failure rate of 87% connote? The trainers are not doing their jobs? The trainers do not understand what is required of them? That candidates are so dull? Or is it simply a case of unregulated and misguided leadership?
What role does national interest play in the determination of proceedings, procedures, modus operandi and outcomes of the college? The national postgraduate medical college of Nigeria prides itself in having produced 4,000 plus specialists in over 30 years of existence and in a country of about 160 million people. Whose interest do they really serve?
What is the role of international best practice in the regulation of the colleges? Any peer review mechanism? Any validity and reliability studies on the mechanisms of these colleges?
Should each region or state not regulate its own postgraduate education, require and needs? Who oversees the activities of these colleges?
It is high time the House committee on health, the federal ministry of health, policy makers and other interest groups gave some scrutiny into the workings of these colleges in the interest of all stake holders, and the nation as a whole bearing in mind the various ramifications, dimensions and implications of the activity of these colleges on all and sundry. It is no longer acceptable that things remain the way they’ve always been. Indeed, the mark of humanity is the ability to adapt; to evolve; to meet challenges and peculiarities of the day, a peculiarity that once again challenges our resourcefulness.


Trú Rúts Endeavors — a collective of local hip-hop artists, writers and poets — hosted a stage at the Ripple Effect concert, on the Minnesota State Capitol lawn, during the second day of the Republican National Convention. Among the performers were See More Perspective and El Guante. 3-Minute Egg combines footage from that performance with a new interview, where See More and El Guante discuss teaming up and infusing politics into their music. You can catch them on stage Oct. 11 at the Nomad World Pub as part of the “Junkyard Empire” EP release party.


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Lebanon's Foreign Minister instructs UN envoy to complain against Israel's operation against Hezbollah's tunnels.
Lebanon's Foreign Minister, Gebran Bassil, claimed on Thursday that Israel’s actions near the border with his country is in preparation for a military assault on Lebanon.
According to the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA), Bassil instructed Lebanon’s permanent representative to the UN, Ambassador Amal Mudallali, to submit a complaint against Israel in this matter.
The IDF launched Operation Northern Shield overnight Monday in order to dismantle terrorist tunnels dug by Hezbollah from Lebanon into Israeli territory.
Within hours of the initial announcement, the IDF reported that it had uncovered a terror tunnel originating in the southern Lebanese village of Kafr Kela, and leading into Israeli territory. The tunnel was dug from a cement factory in the southern Kafr Kela area and which had been converted to a military site by Hezbollah terrorists.
Earlier on Thursday, the head of the IDF Northern Command, Maj. Gen. Yoel Strick, held a meeting with UNIFIL commander General Stefano del Col.
During the meeting, Gen. Col took a tour of the terror tunnel dug by the Hezbollah terrorist organization from the Lebanese village of Kafr Kela into Israeli territory.
UNIFIL later acknowledged the presence of a tunnel in northern Israel near the Lebanese border.
Bassil’s comments come a day after Lebanon’s Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri said that Israel’s operation to destroy Hezbollah terror tunnels should not lead to “any escalation”.
Hariri has been tasked with forming the next coalition in Lebanon, though his party suffered significant losses in the last election, while Hezbollah and its allies gained more than half the seats of the 128-member Lebanese parliament.


We show you a lot of videos of stuff breaking, and it's all cool but it's all ugly. Well, here's some breaking news that's as pretty as it is shattering. Take a look at these photos by master photog Steve Strawn, who not only knows exactly when to release the shutter, he's probably pretty good with a broom, too. The prize-winning photo above is entitled "Breaking Primaries." After you check out a small sampling of more of his beautiful breakage in the gallery below, be sure to see the rest of his remarkable body of work at his website. How did he do this?


The free event at RSPB Pulborough Brooks is suitable for all levels of bird and wildlife watchers and will take place on May 4 and 5.
There will be variety of binoculars and telescopes on display for visitors to try out, as well as friendly and impartial advice from the knowledgeable team of staff and volunteers.
Sara Humphrey, communications officer at RSPB, said: “We’re privileged to showcase some incredible species on our South East reserves, including rare nightingales at RSPB Pulborough Brooks.
“Our Binocular and Telescope Open Weekends are fun, friendly and interactive events designed to help you select the very best kit for your needs – whether you’re new to wildlife watching or an experienced birder.
Not just for wildlife experts, RSPB reserve shops stock a wide range of equipment suitable for different skill levels.
The range includes RSPB and Viking binoculars and telescopes as well as other premium brands such as Swarovski and Leica.
Sara added: “We bring in extra staff and volunteers during Binocular and Telescope Open Weekends who are on-hand to offer advice and tips, so feel free to drop in with any questions!


Okoye taking out a few of Klaue’s henchmen.
Even though it wasn’t framed as being the film’s climactic battle, Okoye’s scene in the Korean casino showed off Wakanda’s might (sans technology) in a way that, comparatively, put T’Challa to shame. It’s only fitting, then, that the actress who plays Okoye, Danai Gurira—and Okoye’s wig—are now being immortalized in a limited edition Funko figure being introduced with other Pops at this year’s New York Comic Con.
In addition to Okoye, Funko’s also rolling out new figures of Riri Willians and the Hulk duking it out with the Hulkbuster armor. Now you’ve got to ask yourself whether this is something to get excited about or if it’s just a stealthy and alarming reminder that NYCC’s right around the corner.


Popular Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels has been chosen to deliver the Republican response to President Obama's State of the Union address tonight. Ideas about how best the government might respond to the limping economy and tackle the enormous federal budget deficit are sure to feature prominently in both speeches. Daniels comes to such a discussion with baggage, however, having head the Office of Management and Budget under George W. Bush from 2001 to 2003, when the projected budget surplus of $236 billion ran down the sink hole to become a $400 billion deficit.
Warren Buffett, an icon of American super wealth, skewers the anti-tax political theocracy dominating Republican politics in a New York Times op-ed today. GOP justifications for refusing to raise taxes for billionaire Americans at a time of record deficits are preposterous, he writes, adding that taxes have never stopped wealthy people from investing. He points out that Clinton-era tax rates were clearly more effective in adding jobs than the slashed rates of the Bush years. He adds that most of the mega wealthy only pay taxes on investment income, whereas lower- and middle-class Americans pay payroll taxes, too. He says the game has been rigged in his favor by the country's billionaire-friendly Congress and that the country's fiscal policy is unethical and absurd.
If Americans are unhappy about a federal budget which grows more out of balance by the day, and they are, it is becoming clear that they are also unhappy about the prospect of default and the seeming unwillingness of elected leaders to seek common ground.
Colorado Senators Michael Bennet and Mark Udall have been among the more outspoken critics of the partisanship that seems to grip the nation's capitol every time the words "debt" "deficit" or "spending cap" come up.
Senator Mark Udall has become something of a broken record on the subject of the national debt and deficit, and what it will take to solve the problems: bipartisan cooperation, broad spending cuts and targeted tax increases.
Income tax cuts for the wealthy will liberate the U.S. economy to create jobs and generate revenue and shrink the deficit. That line has become a policy standard on the right and a talking point repeated on stumps all across the nation. It is a cornerstone of the GOP Ryan Budget plan being pushed on Capitol Hill. Yet analysis and statistics and personal anecdotes pile high and deep against that tack as an effective real-world national economic policy. GOP presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty, the former Minnesota governor who led the state down a path toward deficit swampland, is the latest to try to rework history to suit the tax-cut narrative. As Dave Weigel at Slate points out, Pawlenty's recent big economic speech twists and turns and makes a dead stop at the Bush years, when "tax cuts for the wealthy" national budget policy went into full effect and revenues plummeted and the deficit skyrocketed and the economy withered.
Across the political spectrum, Coloradans strongly oppose cutting Social Security to reduce the deficit, according to a poll released today (pdf) and conducted by Lake Research Partners. The poll was commissioned by Social Security advocate groups that are sounding alarms about Republican proposals to deeply cut into entitlement programs to attack the deficit. What's getting lost in the rhetoric around the budget, the groups say, is that Social Security doesn't contribute a dime to the deficit yet the Republican budget plan nevertheless opens the program up to cuts. More significant, they say, is that the GOP plan to cut Medicare benefits through privatization will eat up ever larger portions of seniors' Social Security income.
It looks increasingly as though the Tea Party wing of the Congressional Republican caucus is winning the battle within the caucus on whether or not to avoid budget compromise with Democrats and shut down the government Friday. Republicans cheered the prospect of a shut down behind closed doors this week and some of them have been openly stumping with shut-down rhetoric in their districts. Should it happen, the reality of severely reduced government operations and spending will arrive with a jolt Saturday morning. The Washington Post offers bloggy details.
The Washington Post reports that its most recent joint poll with ABC News found that nearly two-thirds of respondents support a combination of raising taxes and cutting federal spending in order to tackle the deficit.


When it comes to changing your passwords, the Heartbleed Bug is a better-safe-than-sorry bug.
This is not a case of hackers breaking into a bunch of sites and stealing all the sites’ usernames and passwords; this is a vulnerability that allowed hackers to grab relatively small chunks of data as they flowed through sites. If you happened to be entering your username, password or credit card number as someone was making a grab, it’s probably out there now.
You’re playing the odds, in other words — and we don’t exactly know what the odds are. This bug has existed for a couple years but was just recently publicly disclosed, so there’s no telling how extensive the damage may or may not be. Again, you’re better safe than sorry.
A user over on GitHub has taken the liberty of checking the top 10,000 Alexa-ranked websites to see which ones are (or were) vulnerable to the bug. What’s handy is that the first test was run two days ago, and a second test was run within the past eight hours, so we can see which sites have patched up the vulnerability.
The good news is that the first test returned 630 vulnerable sites, while the second test returned just 178 vulnerable sites — so there’s progress being made as it pertains to patching things up. And the majority of the vulnerable sites on the most recent list aren’t exactly household names. I recognize only TinyURL, The Street and The Daily Caller.
Google actually claims your password is safe, but it’s using the better-safe-than-sorry argument. Of note, Apple has stayed silent but the GitHub test-runs have shown that Apple’s main site doesn’t use SSL (the type of security protocol that’s affected by this bug). Apple’s online store (store.apple.com) is either fixed or unaffected, according to this Heartbleed testing site. But again: better safe than sorry. Have I mentioned that yet?
Also good news: it looks like none of the major banking sites Mashable checked were vulnerable.
…to check if that particular site is affected or not. Note that if a site is affected, you should not change your password for that site. Wait until the site has been patched up and then change your password. Changing your password before a site’s been fixed only makes your new password vulnerable.
As far as the Heartbleed Bug is concerned, the strength of your passwords may not have mattered much, as evidence has suggested that the data grabbed from certain sites revealed unencrypted credentials, but it’s still a good idea to use strong passwords in the case of conventional security breaches.


So that was more like Rent Half-Live.
After leading cast member Brennin Hunt, who plays Roger, broke his foot during yesterday's rehearsal of what was supposed to be a live production, a whole lot of changes had to be made, including making most of the production not live.
About 20 minutes into the show, after a few scenes labeled as "previously recorded," the entire cast gathered on stage to explain what had happened.
"Last night during our performance in front of a live audience, one of our cast members sustained an injury," Vanessa Hudgens, who plays Maureen, said. "A visit to the hospital confirmed that Brennin Hunt, our Roger, had broken his foot and will be unable to perform tonight."
"But Rent has always been about community, resiliency and bouncing back, so the show must go on," said Valentina, who plays Angel.
"Most of what you'll see tonight will come from last night's performance, but we have all rallied together to rework the final act so that all of us, including Brennin and the original Broadway cast of Rent can perform it for you live," explained Jordan Fisher, or Mark. "In the words of [Rent creator] Jonathan Larson, no day but today."
Idina Menzel had previously tweeted that she was attending the rehearsal, alongside the entire original cast including Taye Diggs, Adam Pascal (the original Roger), Anthony Rapp, Jesse L. Martin, and more.
Hunt posted an Instagram story before the show of a costumer fitting his customized Roger pants around a very large plaster cast.
"Breaking my foot last night was not fun, but it's been great being back on set with everybody," he said in the video. "I love these people so much. They've showered me with love and kindness, which is the essence of this musical, and I am just truly honored and blessed to be a part of this Rent family, and I hope you guys enjoy tonight."
Fox had previously released a statement on the injury, saying "Last night during a live performance of FOX's production of Rent, one of the actors, Brennin Hunt, was injured. But in the spirit of Rent, everyone—producers and cast, original and current—is dedicated to ensuring that tonight's broadcast must, and will, go on."
Rent Live airs on Fox.


The Paris of Sebastian Faulks is a city in which voices from the past echo disturbingly, a city also where every Metro station has a story behind its name. One of the novel’s epigraphs comes from Kafka: “The Metro furnishes the best opportunity for the foreigner to imagine that he has understood the essence of Paris.” So enjoyment of this dazzling if also at times darkly bleak novel will be enhanced if you read it with a plan of the Paris Metro to hand: it will help you keep track of the movements of the principal characters.
It is set early this century but harks back to the grim, grey wartime Paris. Hannah, one of the two main characters, is a serious thirty-ish American academic, unattached, with an unhappy Parisian love affair some years in the past, and is now engaged in research into the lives of women during the years of the German Occupation. The other is her temporary lodger, Tariq, a beautiful, bright and brightly ignorant Moroccan of 19, who has come to Paris perhaps in search of his half-French mother, really to get away from his father and stepmother and the “torture” of not being allowed to sleep with his girlfriend. Resourceful and cheerful, he almost immediately finds himself a job in a fast food shop in the banlieues where he learns of the iniquities of French society from his boss and the cook, both Arabs born and reared in France and speaking French as their first language. The novel’s exploration of the dark years from 1940-44 might come close to being unbearable if Hannah and Tariq weren’t in their different ways both very attractive characters.
Tariq, splendidly ignorant – asking whether the date 8 May, 1945 means anything to Hannah and her English academic friend and admirer – is quick to turn to the internet for information. Meanwhile, Hannah is occupied with two women’s memories of the war years, recorded some time ago. She develops an intense sympathy for both. One, still alive and willing to speak to her, has a story which is really horrible; nevertheless in a strange way she invites her sympathy, if only because she is brave enough to put the question most of us usually try to evade: how would I have behaved in those circumstances? Tariq meanwhile, who sits in on the interview because his French is better than Hannah’s and who has recorded it (of course) on his phone, is amazed that so old a woman could be so foul-mouthed.
In one way the novel has a classic theme: the acquisition of self-knowledge and the moral education of the principal characters. Both Hannah and Tariq are changed by these months in Paris. For Tariq perhaps this may be seen as a normal stage towards adult life, though an accelerated one. For Hannah it’s a release from self-doubt and the self-absorption this may induce, and the consequent lowering of her defensive barriers.
This is, as I say, the classic theme of a certain kind of novel, usually a domestic one, often a comedy. Faulks ambitiously yokes this theme to an exploration of the horrors of recent history – which is indeed the horrors of almost all history. He shows that while it may be dangerous to refuse to acknowledge the truth about the dark place in the history of your country, your government and your parents’ generation, sometimes this may actually be the only way of surviving. There are good reasons for the truth being not always acceptable. At the same time when Tariq’s girlfriend tells him he has changed, he explains that he got out of himself by visiting one of the darkest crime scenes of wartime Paris and entering – imaginatively – into the lives of other people.
Faulks is himself a true lover: a Francophile who can look the worst of France and French history in the face, and still say “nevertheless”. Here is Paris in all its beauty and squalor, its blood-stained history and its ability to instil in its lover a sense of the true sweetness of life. So this intelligent, moving, often disturbing novel is also really a love letter to Paris and indeed to France.


No one loves a press tour like Omarosa Manigault Newman. The reality star is talking to anyone who listen about “resigning” from her position as director of communications for the White House Office of Public Liaison. She has babbled to Inside Edition, Good Morning America and now Nightline.
Omarosa clearly doesn’t understand, Trump’s racism has been evident long before the tragedy in Charlottesville, Virginia. There was his five-year racist rant that President Obama was not born in this country, calling for the execution of five Black teenagers wrongfully accused of assaulting a White woman, housing discrimination lawsuits and much more. Not to mention, his father Fred Trump was arrested at a KKK rally in 1927. Either Omarosa is delusional or a liar.


Basically, every character in the show has been assigned his or her own unique color. See all that teal in the chart above? That’s Alexander Hamilton. The mauve represents Angelica Schuyler, the sister-in-law with whom Hamilton has a flirtatious relationship. The songs have been run through a filter that only highlights the appearances of those specific characters. (This can be reset, if desired.) Everyone else is grayed out. By following Wu’s chart, one can see that “Take A Break” represents the one point at which Alexander and Angelica sing together.
But that’s just the beginning of what Wu has done with the data she has harvested from Hamilton. Some of the graphs here consist of clusters of dots, grouped both by song title and theme (ambition, personality, legacy, death). Wu has also carefully recorded any phrases that recur during Hamilton. Ultimately, this project has helped her achieve a greater understanding of the ideas and relationships contained within the musical. It does all seem slightly reminiscent of the bulletin boards made by conspiracy theorists, however.


Openly gay Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa ( 35th Ward ) has denounced a May 23 decision to expel him made by the City Council's Latino Caucus.
The expulsion comes the same day as a City Council meeting brought to an abrupt halt by Mayor Rahm Emanuel after heated arguments about a $95 million police academy that Ramirez-Rosa opposes.
Caucus leader Ald. Gil Villegas, 36th Ward, told Chicago Tribune that the expulsion was not related to the police academy issueRamirez-Rosa supposedly did not engage "meaningfully" with the Caucus, they saidand that Ramirez-Rosa could appeal the decision next month.
In a May 23 statement, Ramirez-Rosa said, "I have worked diligently to craft a progressive agenda for the Latino Caucus since my election to the Chicago City Council in 2015. I have scheduled policy briefings for the Caucus with legal experts and community leadersincluding at the Caucus' last meeting. I have repeatedly sought the support of the Caucus for measures that will expand protections for undocumented immigrants, and address displacement and gentrification in our communities.
"It is unfortunate that a majority of my Latino Caucus colleagues would vote to expel me, their only gay millennial member, on the same day I take a bold stand on police violence that disproportionately impacts our Black and Latino neighborhoods. There was no due process, not all Caucus members were present, and no prior notice that this item would be taken up today was provided.
"...Whether or not I am a member of the Caucus, I will continue to advocate for our Latino community's progressive values; I will continue to caucus with undocumented Latinos and Latino Chicagoans fighting and organizing for the best interests of our community."
Chicago Tribune's article is at www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/politics/ct-met-city-council-police-academy-delay-20180523-story.html .


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Poison frontmanBret Michaels has twice failed to find love among bunches of bleached, leathered, pierced and painted strippers at a Hollywood Hills mansion (every rose has her thorns, after all), so the dreamy hair god has taken his search to more realistic environs -- the road. And the road leads to Hagerstown.
"The Rock of Love Bus Tour" hits Hagerstown Wednesday, the Associated Press reported. Michaels plans to play Hager Hall after canceling or postponing dates in Chicago, Richmond and Knoxville, Tenn., because of laryngitis.
I wonder how he got it? And I hope he finds someone to give it to in Hagerstown. I can't think of a better place in the area -- outside of Jaxx in West Springfield, of course -- for this '80s icon to find his true piece.
Michaels' third season of "Love," which inspired this tour, has him tailed by two bus loads of groupies who must jump through hoops to prove they can handle life on the road. Just screams "Hepatitis!" don't it?
And don't forget, after this lewd and lascivious tour comes to an end, Michaels will be back out on the road with Poison and an all-star lineup of hair including Cheap Trick and Def Leppard. That show rolls through Nissan Pavilion on July 12.


update The Australian Unix and Open Systems Users Group (AUUG) today faced a call from past president Greg Lehey to dismantle the 31-year-old organisation.
AUUG was formed in 1975 and focuses on building an Australian community of professionals interested in Unix-based interoperable systems. However, the group has suffered a dwindling membership over the years, leading to a discussion kicked off in mid-2004 about finally closing its doors.
AUUG past president Greg Lehey re-opened that discussion today with a lengthy e-mail to the organisation's online discussion list and board of directors. The letter was entitled "AUUG: Time to pull the plug?"
"I think that it's time to disband AUUG. Am I the only one?" Lehey wrote.
Highlighting a lack of communication about AUUG's pending annual general meeting and conference, in addition to ongoing maintenance issues, Lehey called for discussion on AUUG's future.
When contacted, AUUG vice president Steve Landers pointed to a post he made this afternoon to the group's e-mail discussion list.
"Re the question of whether AUUG should merge or fold -- that's something we constantly ask ourselves," Landers wrote.
However, he added, the ability for AUUG to attract diverse technical papers to its annual conference "gives us confidence that there is a role for AUUG, complementary with the other computing groups, and albeit in quite a different form than in the past".
"In many ways, we see AUUG going back to its roots -- focusing on the technical content and less on the "show" (so to speak)," he said.
Landers said AUUG's new committee was still coming "up to speed" on the group's operations, with some old hands leaving. He added the short amount of time between electing a new board and having to organise the annual conference had proved a problem this year. This could result in a change of timing in future.
One possibility Lehey raised would be for the group to merge with Linux Australia, the nation's peak Linux body. Much of the declining interest in traditional Unix systems can be put down to the rise of Linux, an open source operating system itself based on Unix.
Linux Australia member and prominent member of the local open source community Jeff Waugh was quick to support the idea of a merger.
"Greg Lehey has proposed the dissolution of AUUG. As an interested spectator of AUUG over a number of years, an active participant in the Australian open source and free software community, and a member of Linux Australia, I'm in agreement with his proposal," wrote Waugh on his blog this afternoon.
Waugh immediately proposed changing Linux Australia's name to better reflect the group's expanding areas of responsibility -- for example, to "Open Source Australia".
Such a move could potentially attract refugee members of AUUG in the event the group disbanded.
"'Linux' does not even remotely represent the depth of the organisation's membership or their interests. Linux Australia strives to be representative of the open source and free software community here, and while in many cases it manages to do so very well, the name is hideously exclusive," wrote Waugh.
The proposal would also see the nation's annual Linux.conf.au conference re-named.
"The potential dissolution of AUUG is an opportunity to further unify and strengthen the voice of open source and free software in Australia -- an opportunity that stands in stark contrast to the UNIX wars of previous decades," Waugh wrote.
However Lehey and others have already raised issues with Waugh's proposal in the comments field of his blog.
It was pointed out that users of proprietary Unix systems still existed and would not come under the open source umbrella organisation proposed by Waugh.


Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou of Greece has received legislative approval for constitutional changes that transfer the powers of the presidency to himself and the leftwingers who dominate his parliament.
Before the shift can be carried out, a second vote is required after elections in June. Approval then will be a clear sign that Mr. Papandreou is crossing a political divide--turning Greece into the anti-Western leftist state he spoke about when campaigning for office in 1981.
His apologists suggest that Mr. Papandreou is skillfully walking a tightrope between his own pro-Western leaning--developed as a U.S. citizen and a World War II GI--and the Marxist wing of his Socialist Party. But his crafty moves to eliminate political opposition are Marxist scripture.
His first step toward usurping the power of the presidency was to force the resignation of President Constantine Karamanlis, a respected leader whose presence as head of state seemed a guarantee against left-wing extremism. Mr. Papandreou`s hand-picked replacement, Christos Sartzetakis, then dissolved parliament and called new elections. That is a necessary step toward concentrating power in the premier`s hands, because such constitutional changes must be approved by two successive parliaments.
It was worrisome enough when Mr. Papandreou merely heaped praises on the Soviet oligarchy. Now he is starting to imitate it.


GLENDALE, Ariz. — In its video detailing a 20-game suspension for Calgary’s Dennis Wideman for his cross-check of linesman Don Henderson, the NHL acknowledged that Wideman had suffered a concussion on a hit moments earlier. The league’s concussion spotter flagged Wideman to be sent to the so-called “quiet room” as part of the concussion protocol, but Wideman refused to leave the game.
The NHL currently is being sued by more than 100 former players claiming the league was negligent in its handling of concussions, and in educating players about the risks head injuries pose.
Michal Rozsival returned to the lineup on Thursday after missing Tuesday’s game with a lower-body injury. Both Rob Scuderi and Viktor Svedberg were scratched. Quenneville still is unsure how long he’ll carry eight defensemen.
“We’re only looking at it tonight right now,” he said before the game.
It’s becoming commonplace for reporters outside of Chicago to ask about Corey Crawford, as his profile continues to rise and he enters the Vezina Trophy discussion with his strong play over the past two months. Asked by an Arizona reporter if this was Crawford’s best season, Quenneville agreed. Sort of.
“I don’t think he’s had any bad seasons since I’ve been here, and I think that he’s only getting better,” Quenneville said.


For years now, we CIOs have been hard at work consolidating data centers, systems and software licenses. We’ve saved our companies millions. But as the saying goes, “You can’t save your way to greatness.” Greatness in business requires making money.
And so we need to change our thinking about what IT contributes to an organization. We’re used to viewing computing as a back-office function–a cost center. But we have to turn it into a profit center. We need to ask ourselves what we can do with IT that our customers will pay for.
CIOs must exercise leadership here because IT is becoming central to how companies make money in our global economy. While important for all CIOs, it’s essential for CIOs at mid-market companies, where survival depends on finding new revenue opportunities.
Using IT to make money means getting close to your sales force and helping them sell more of your company’s products. It’s that simple. But it takes commitment to shift from a money-saving to a moneymaking frame of mind.
The first thing to do is delegate cost cutting to some of those very competent people who report to you. Lay out any remaining money-saving plans you may have, encourage your team to develop their own ideas and let them run. Stay informed, but leave the day-to-day decision making to them. Now you have cleared your desk and you can focus on making money.
Next, get to know your company’s salespeople, the products and services they sell, and the customers who buy these products. Go on sales calls. Take note of how the salespeople talk about products and the questions that customers ask. Concentrate on what customers like and don’t like about your products. Find out what your competitors are doing. How do their products and prices compare with yours?
Now ask yourself, what will make the products your company sells more attractive? How can IT improve the things customers like and eliminate those that they don’t like? As you ponder these questions, remember that all products have two components. The first component is the basic product or service itself. The second component is the information that surrounds the product. This information is what enables customers to search for and select your product, understand how to use it, and get the results and benefits they want from it.
Most products quickly become commodities because your competitors have similar products, and the prices you can charge for them get ratcheted down. This makes the information component more valuable. Through creative use of the information component, you can wrap any commodity product with a mix of value-added services that make it more useful, and for which customers will pay. Let’s say your company sells electrical wire to building contractors. You can increase the value of the wire by collecting information about the builders’ needs. You can use this information to offer wire precut into the lengths customers require, to splice specified plug connectors onto each end and to deliver the wire to job sites right when it is needed. Your company can charge builders extra for these services.
Because value-added services are information based, the CIO is a key enabler of them. CIOs are best equipped to design ways to collect information about customer needs. And CIOs understand best how to present this information to the people in their companies who deliver new services to customers.
Here’s how we did it. In collaboration with the company’s sales, customer service and finance organizations, we devised a menu of value-added services that salespeople could mix and match to meet specific customer needs.
We made it very easy and convenient for customers to find and order our cups by providing an online product catalog that let them search on many different product parameters. We also set up the catalog to remind them to order other items that normally go along with cups, like lids and sleeves.
We let customers place and track their orders online so they could know when their supplies would be delivered. We also created customized labels so that when cups were delivered, customers could quickly receive, store and retrieve them.
We enhanced our billing system to streamline the processing of invoices by customers and reduce their costs of doing business with us. We sent invoices in whatever format customers wanted so they could automatically import them into their accounts payable systems. We even preprocessed invoices, inserting customers’ general ledger codes into every line item on invoices so those costs could be automatically disbursed to their general ledger systems.
Finally, we provided customers with easy-to-use Web-based reporting that lets them see how many cups they ordered at each of their ordering locations over any period of time from one day to two years. They could monitor their spending and get detailed data for planning and budgeting, along with real-time insight into usage patterns and purchasing trends.
In short, we turned our products into tailored solutions that solved important problems for our customers. And therefore, we could sell our paper cups for a few percentage points more than our competitors.
Every company has its equivalent of the paper cup. Figure out how you can leverage the information about the products your company sells, and how you can use IT to deliver a customized mix of services that enhances those products, and you will earn the right to call your IT organization a profit center. You can take that straight to the bottom line.
–Mike Hugos is the former CIO of Network Services and the author of two books, Building the Real-Time Enterprise and Essentials of Supply Chain Management. He can be reached at www.michaelhugos.com. Send your comments to leadership@cio.com.
For more on Canada’s IT job market don’t miss our IT Labour Market Special: What’s hot, what’s not we’ve put together especially for you.


Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, who has been on the run from the US authorities after being linked to a serious US national security breach, has come out of hiding in Belgium.
The Telegraph reports that trouble started for Assange after a US intelligence analyst bragged about sending 260,000 confidential state department cables about the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq to the online whistleblower website. Washington tried to stop the classified information being posted online by arresting the analyst, Bradley Manning. Amid reports that he was the target of a US military manhunt, Mr Assange went to ground for one month.
We need support and protection. We have that. More is always helpful. But we believe that the situation is stable and under control. There’s no need to be worried. There’s a need always to be on the alert.
Wikileaks appeared on the internet three years ago. It was created by an online network of journalists, computer experts and dissidents from all over the world, as a repository for highly sensitive, or secret information, often published straight from the secret files. The website’s content is held by as many as twenty servers around the world and the site uses some of the world’s most sophisticated anti-hacking technology as well as software that makes the original sources of the leaks untraceable.
The website caused more than usual controversy in April this year when it released classified video footage of an American helicopter gunship firing on Iraqis in a Baghdad street in 2007. The de-encrypted video, which WikiLeaks released on its own sites, as well as on YouTube, caused an international uproar.
Assange believes that WikiLeaks is for the “greater good.” And because WikiLeaks is not based in a particular country — and Assange’s team work from several different locations — no legal precedent exists to shut the site down.
Rumours abound that the secretive whistle-blowing website is gearing up to publish “devastating new material” on an incident involving U.S. forces in Afghanistan. What should we be expecting? asks the New York Times.


J. Razzo's 2 in Westfield is expected to close soon, too, the owner said.
After eight years in business, a beloved Italian restaurant in Carmel is closing its doors.
J. Razzo's Italian Restaurant will close Sept. 15, owner John Perazzo told IndyStar on Monday.
Perazzo said construction on U.S. 31 and the permanent closure of the exit to Carmel Drive affected his business.
"For the past six years, it was hard for people to find the restaurant or they would get lost," Perazzo said. "The shopping center doesn't have that many tenants anymore. There's only a few of us left."
The project that ended in 2015 turned U.S. 31 into an expressway-style thoroughfare with roundabout entrances and exits, but it caused hardship for several businesses, especially restaurants, which reported losing as much as 50 percent of their customers.
Carmel began a campaign called the #31Bites pledge, which challenged residents to eat and shop along the corridor 31 times during August of 2014.
Some businesses on U.S. 31 also offered special deals and frequent diner cards.
To avoid the same pain with its massive Ind. 37 roundabout construction project that starts next year, Fishers officials have hired a marketing firm to promote businesses along the route and remind drivers they are still open.
The restaurant is at the Hamilton Crossing shopping center, which currently also houses a Chase Bank and Sports Clips Haircuts.
The restaurant is known for showcasing local art and serves traditional Italian dishes including lasagna, eggplant parmigiana, manicotti, rigatoni, pizza, seafood and chicken dishes.
Perazzo said the decision to close did not come easily.
"I am very upset and people don't realize that when a local business closes the whole community is affected," Perazzo said. "I am also upset because my employees have been with me for years and my customers, too."
Perazzo also owns J. Razzo's 2, at 3150 E. Ind. 32 in Westfield, which he also expects to close soon.
"I want to thank my customers for their support through the years, they were more than that, they have become my friends," Perazzo said.


Andy Preece revealed that he was left disillusioned with football after his Southport exit as he prepares to make his first return to Haig Avenue with Chorley this weekend.
Preece took over at Southport in February 2017 when they were in the midst of a relegation battle. The ex-Bury, Worcester and Northwich Victoria boss could not prevent Port’s relegation from the National League.
That May, Preece was told he would not be kept on, but was invited to re-apply for his position when the new board was in place.
Preece found himself fed up with football until a call from an ex-player of his, and new Chorley boss, Jamie Vermiglio was too good to turn down.
Vermiglio had just stepped up from assistant to manager at the National League North side and asked his old Northwich boss to join his coaching staff.
Vermiglio, Preece and Jonathan Smith have since guided the Magpies to the top of the table.
And as he heads to his old side Preece says Vermiglio’s enthusiasm is infectious.
He said: “I was pretty fed up with it. The Southport thing did not go well.
“I’d been very lucky in my career before that. I’ve had really good success but Southport was probably my one time that it did not go well.
“I think it rocked me a bit because I felt like that was probably my opportunity gone.
coaching in an academy which was again, totally different.
“I had got a bit disillusioned. I felt a little bit bitter, a little bit sorry for myself.
“I sort of made up my mind and that I’d had enough of the English game. Then I came back and this opportunity came up.
years and was always enthusiastic and he said, ‘Look, just come in, whether it is two months or two years, just come in and see what you think’.
“Pretty much from the time I came in I got the bug back for it.
“He’s so enthusiastic, the lads are brilliant to work with and it is a really good club.
they were about but I still needed that little bit of a buzz, and this is the right place to be.
Vermiglio, 36, played under Preece in the 2009-10 season at Northwich Victoria.
He left that summer to return to Victory Park and after dubbing him one of the best non-league players he had ever seen, Preece revealed that 2010 exit saw him ‘fall out’ with the midfielder.
But after making up, Preece now says he understands why Vermiglio returned to Chorley.
Vermiglio retired from football due to injury in 2014 and took on a coaching role and Preece says he is a natural.
He said: “I’d been chasing him for years and years. I watched him at Scarborough and I felt he was a Football League player and one of the best non-league players I had ever seen.
“It took a long, long time for me to get the opportunity to sign him.
“He’d probably say he was not at his best but he had nine months at Northwich and he was magnificent.
“Truth be told we did fall out over it – or I fell out with him over it – because he wanted to come back to Chorley.
“He’d agreed to sign another season at Northwich and I was going to build a team around Vermo.
“But we sorted that out.Northwich played Chorley and as soon as I saw him face to face we sorted things out.
“We kept in touch ever since. He is just a fantastic leader and it is showing again with his management.
“He just leads from the front He is so good with the way he pulls everyone in.
“I understand now why he left (Northwich) to come back. He is doing a fantastic job and his enthusiasm and detail surprised me how good he has been.


BAGHDAD, Iraq—Iraq's National Assembly members will begin crafting the nation's new constitution Sunday with a crucial first decision: naming of the chairman of the constitutional committee.
The choice may indicate whether the final document will have a secular or Islamist cast to it, and whether the constitution will be a unifying force or a divisive one.
Drafting of the constitution is the single most important job for the transitional government that just took power in Baghdad, and could hold the key to whether Iraq can hold together as a single nation. Following adoption of the constitution, Iraq is to hold fresh elections at the end of the year.
The two thorniest issues are likely to be how influential will be the role of Islam and how much autonomy to grant the Kurdish minority, roughly 20 percent of the population that lives mainly in northern Iraq. Also key will be finding a way to bring the Sunni minority meaningfully into the discussions so they will buy into the final document.