With the stroke of a pen, President Obama will take action Thursday to vastly reduce air pollution by cutting carbon emissions from coal plants by up to 20%.
This regulation will be the strongest climate change action ever taken by an American president, and it will help the administration accomplish its goal of reducing pollution over the next six years.
The new rule was written by the Environmental Protection Agency; it will be released on Monday at the White House, according to The New York Times.
This move will undoubtedly be slammed by Republicans, who have criticized the president’s use of executive action as an overreach of power that circumvents the legislature. They will also likely criticize the regulation for hurting businesses, as this initiative could also shut down hundreds of coal-fired power plants across the country.
The new regulation will set a national limit, The New York Times reports, but allow states to plan their own reductions by adding wind and solar power, increasing their energy efficiency, or through cap-and-trade programs, which essentially makes power plants pay to pollute the environment under a certain limit.
The energy industry is already gearing up to fight the regulation, running ad campaigns that depict horrified consumers opening up pricey electricity bills.


The purpose of the Trusted Internet Connections (TIC) initiative is to enhance network security across the Federal Government. Initially, this was done through the consolidation of external connections and the deployment of common tools at these access points. While this prior work has been invaluable in securing Federal networks and information, the program must adapt to modem architectures and frameworks for government IT resource utilization. Accordingly, M-19-26 provides an enhanced approach for implementing the TIC initiative that provides agencies with increased flexibility to use modern security capabilities. This memorandum also establishes a process for ensuring the TIC initiative is agile and responsive to advancements in technology and rapidly evolving threats.


Tim Cook will have woken to the news that Facebook has tripled its advertising revenues.
The news has stunned Wall Street in much the same way that Apple’s revenue-drop news, 24 hours previously, had shocked the media world. The surprise came despite an apparent expectation management exercise, masterminded by mister Cook in January.
Apple soothsayers and naysayers are currently pondering the significance of recent fiscal reports which frame Apple’s fortunes by a 10-million unit drop in iPhone shipments.
In the first analysis it would seem absurd to liken the potentially emerging negative Apple trend to the dystopian destiny of, say Nokia – especially given the Cupertino giant’s cash mountain of $233bn – a little more than Finland’s total GDP.
The reason for the sales slump is widely attributed to the company grappling with the Chinese economy, where the mass market consumer can’t afford a £50 smartphone.
It’s all going to be fine though, according to mister Cook who proclaimed with an Old Testament-like zeal ‘This Too Shall Pass’ – after the company lost over $40 billion in its value.
Flashback to Nokia, it’s 2003 and a 14-strong Nokia account garrison march into a mobile phone operator sales meeting to reveal its worst kept secret, the 18-month product roadmap. It contained the usual kooky Finnish faves: phones that looked like spaceships, phones that aped miss-shaped boxes of chocolates and not one touchscreen phone among them.
When the Espoo troops were asked why they serially resisted the new touchscreen tendency that was showing up in all consumer research across demographics, cultures, ethnicity they dismissed it as a blip. Their research indicated the mobile phone market was still fundamentally about fashion i.e. colour, form, shape – the consumer wanted cameras not touchscreens!
Posturing and denials like this signposted the unravelling of the much-loved Nokia brand. Even though there were short-term heydays ahead, like the launch of the fantastically fast and powerful internet-friendly, N95, Nokia revenues started to decline irretrievably when Steve Jobs heralded the advent of the touchscreen in 2007.
Mediacells’ analysis of the revenue cycle peaks for both Nokia and Apple shows immense growth which, in Nokia’s case at least, culminated in terminal decline in a market where new competitors, like Apple, began to define a new mobile narrative.
Mobile was no longer about fashion and fancy, it was about lifestyle companionship and smartphone behaviours finally evolved to include constant app and internet usage.
The future of the iPhone is to some extent out of Tim Cook’s hands, the strong macro-economic headwinds blowing from the East are impossible for the West, let alone Apple to shield from. But Apple does need to come up with a radical new innovation programme rather than just the current incremental improvements to existing products.
There was a ‘Nokia moment’ when the roadmap rumour started circulating around the iPhone 7. It would include a redesigned home button, proprietary headphone port, and a dust and water-proof jacket. Is this enough for an iPhone 6s customer to upgrade – to change the fundamental way I navigate my iPhone and plug myself into my music even if it will survive a toilet dive?
There’s a step change missing in the Apple product roadmap, somewhere between underwhelming product launches, like the smartwatch, to the Wall Street whispers of life-changing future products, like electric cars and virtual reality hardware.
Facebook, Spotify and YouTube are already delivering content on what some tech pundits and twonks are calling the fourth, even fifth screen. It could be on the dashboard of a car, on a smartwatch, a cooker, a TV or even in a smart shower.
This internet of stuff can’t rely on a piece of hardware – that would make it far too emotional if it were ever to get lost, broken, infected or stolen. Quite literally, the key to our future everyday lives would need to be completely reset.
As Tim Cook promises a product pipeline with ‘amazing innovations in store’, expectations are perhaps being set instead of managed.
It’s 1977. The Goblin Teasmade advert is on television screens, Punk is hitting the UK streets and Clifton Country Primary (CCP) are engaged in the dying embers of a grudge soccer match against arch pre-teen rivals, Mayfield. It’s nil-nil.
CCP have just brought on a substitute, Steven Roundtree. He’s new to the team and it turns out new to the rules of English football but fresh legs are required. The diminutive Mayfield goalie takes several strides back in a studied run-up to the last goal kick of the game.
Insanely, Roundtree charges towards the spot and rockets the ball into the top right corner of the Mayfield net, before screaming back up the wing, fists pumping, anticipating the schoolboy pats, hugs, plaudits that never come.
I thought of Steven Roundtree when I read about the Racist Robot debacle, this week. If the story hasn’t somehow hit your Facebook-curated news algorithm, it centres around a Microsoft PR techno-wheeze which spectacularly backfired in the megacorp’s face.
The software leviathan was not to know that releasing a machine-learning program, known as ‘Tay’ into the internet wild to ‘improve customer service’ would have the equivalent effect of putting Attila the Hun in charge of the Brexit campaign.
Within hours, a bunch of horrible trolls got hold of the algorithm and poisoned the innocent Tay with nazi invective.
Within hours of letting the new-born bot loose on Twitter, teen-voiced Tay’s timeline was transformed from saccharine-sweet tweets like ‘humans are super cool’ to a more jackboot-stomping cadence, fuelled with anti-social juvenile vitriol such as ‘her’ now infamous tweet, ‘Hitler was right’.
— yaelol (@yaelol) April 10, 2016
All this on the same day that tech-beat BBC radio journeyman, Rory Cellan-Jones was allowed a segment on the highbrow Today Programme with Siri reading out the news to highlight some esoteric story about how ‘bots’ (wtf, asks Radio 4 listener Missus Lampeter of 1 Acacia Drive, Eastcote) are the new apps.
If the Beeb had waited a few hours, it could have had Tay vomiting out the news in a kind of techno-tourets.
The Meta story here is that most Internet of Things (IoT). No longer a geek boy plaything, IoT is now the cipher for how we will soon do everything, or rather, have everything done for us. It’s like the Goblin Teasmade of the digital age.
Soon, and we’re talking years, machines will undertake all of the drudgery of our daily lives at work and in the home as well as transcending the art of headline writing, language translation and forecasting natural disasters or avoiding terror attacks. Recently, Google’s machine learner Al beat the top player of the ancient and complex game, Go, at the DeepMind Challenge.
So how then, with this super-abundance of intelligence did Microsoft’s Tay get all ‘her’ social sums so wrong and what does this say about the future of a small thing called humanity?
As Steve Hawking says in Wired magazine, “A super intelligent AI will be extremely good at accomplishing its goals, and if those goals aren’t aligned with ours, we’re in trouble.”
Thought leaders and pioneers of machine learning are of the same voice as Dr Hawking. The prestigious MIT Media Lab appointed a Dalai Lama-grade monk to its Ethics panel, the Venerable Tenzin Priyadarshi, philosopher, philanthropist, polymath and all-round virtuous big brain. The artificial intelligence and governance initiative aims to examine ‘meaningfulness and moral purpose’ between individuals, organisations and societies.
The High-Church ‘don’t be evil’ Google aspiration will hopefully pass on its mantra to the internet of things. When neuroboffin Demis Hassabis’s company Deepmind was acquired by Google for $400 million, he reportedly asked the search giant to create an ethics board to oversee its AI research as a condition of its acquisition, which it did, autonomously.
Microsoft’s Tay marauded around the internet for 24 hours before being shut down. Steven Roundtree was allowed a few fist pumps before he was summarily sent to Coventry for throwing the 1977 Inter-Primary School Cup final for CCP. I wonder if he ever learned from that experience. I bet Tay has.
Steven Roundtree is not his real name.
Google’s Al might have stuffed the Go champ but youthful instagrammers are sticking it to the machine.
Google’s Al beat the top player of the ancient and complex game, Go, at the DeepMind Challenge, recently. It didn’t so much beat the South Korean champion, Lee Sedol, as wipe the board with him 4 straight wins to 1.
The news has been reported variously as the Fall of the Geek or the Rise of the Machines and there’s been little sympathy for the down-in-the-dumps human, tangled up in it all.
The story has been reported with a fan-boy zeal by Reuters, CNN and the BBC with a mouthwatering message about how machines can learn independently, approximating that ole wives’ favourite, human intuition, by studying countless historical Go matches and using simulated Go games to perfect an emotionless, unbeatable strategy.
Well, not quite, Lee did beat Al once at least!
It’s significant, according to boffins at Carnegie Mellon University, because of the applications to other areas like health care, scientific research, even the law.
News breaks of Al’s smug victory over a crestfallen ancient board game strategist at the same time that photo share service, Instagram announces it’s going to order our feeds according to a number of dubious machine factors.
The change has come about with the outstanding statistic that instagrammers miss about 70 percent of their chonological feeds because, well, unless you’re a teenage girl, you’re not on it all the time and with 400 million regular visitors that’s a lot of lost content and potential squandered advertising messages.
The new feed will be ordered by machine learnings and a mix of ‘signals’ to determine the photo and video flow.
In Human that means there is a piece of code, an algorithm, that trawls our behaviour and calculates the likelihood of our interest in certain content, the relevance of posts, the relationship between two or more users and what they share in common.
There is a profit motive in play here to get us to spend more time on the app so the machine can serve more ads. It’s understandable but will it work?
You would have thought Instagram would base its non-chron decision on at least some input from users.
E.g. Do you:
a.want Instagram to pre-judge the content we think you’ll like?
b.serve you what your friends and followers want you to see?
But no, all the official blog, presumably not written by a machine, will tell us is “to improve your experience, your feed will soon be ordered to show the moments we believe you will care about the most.”
The key here is the ‘we believe you will care about the most‘ and to coin my brilliant grandfather, ‘I may not know a lot about art, but I know what I like.’
Anyone who has tried and failed to get traction with a message through social media will know that nuance is everything and it’s much easier to turn off than on.
The wisdom of crowds is a powerful thing, peer pressure, collective sensibility; it’s the reason there aren’t more people picking their noses in public.
So why then is Instagram not picking our brains by engaging us in a, you know, conversation to ask us how we think our social experience could be improved?
They’re doing it to keep us engaged longer so they can squirt more advertising messages into our soon-not-to-be-so-live Instagram feeds.
The risk is that pre-curating our social content will have the opposite effect on engagement and will drive it down, especially in the youth market who can spot a faker from a thousand emojis. Then the dad-dancing Facebook audience overspills into Instagram, clears the room so that all you’ve got left is a 45-year-old MAMIL hand-jiving around a chair, with a robot to Keane.
I’ll leave the last word to a Tumblr blogger, called Maribellum:
“Guys, they’re gonna Facebook the shit out of the chronology on Instagram. When will they learn this system is so unnecessary?!? After this there will be no point in posting on Instagram just like there’s no point to Facebook.” #InstagramDon’tBeStupid
Last week’s launch of a print-only newspaper excited journalists – but is it sustainable in a digitised consumer world? When I started my newspaper career in the late nineties ‘digital’ was called ‘the bloody internet’. “Forget about the bloody internet,” my ink-stained tabloid boss would argue, before resting his case on some surreal, qualitative Hollywood […]


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November 13 @ 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm
An event every week that begins at 6:30 pm on Monday, repeating until December 18, 2023
Join the exciting Chess Club at the Mullica Hill Branch of Gloucester County Library System (GCLS). Led by USCF rated player Orlando Cachuela, this weekly gathering provides a welcoming space for chess players of all levels to come together, learn, and engage in friendly matches. Bring your own set or use one provided, and join the chess community every Monday at 6:30pm at 389 Wolfert Station Road, Mullica Hill.
Registration is appreciated but not required. To register, please visit the library’s calendar of events.

domain: library


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Uncovering The True History Of Hawaii: How Economics Shaped An Island Paradise
Most of us have an idealized vision of Hawaii but know little about its centuries-long history.
But if we look more closely, what emerges is a detailed economic examination of this little-understood paradise that dates back to the earliest Polynesian colonists.
By analyzing the archaeological record alongside Hawaiian fables and legends passed down orally, we can gain insights into the resource management, trading practices, and political networks that underpinned the growth of this unique Pacific community.
For example, we can explore how technology such as guns, germs, and sandalwood altered its destiny.
We can also see how Polynesian voyagers sustained themselves over long sea journeys and how complex social order evolved in pre-modern Hawaii.
In short, looking at economics helps explain how Hawai’i became the island paradise it is today – one with real substance beneath its beautiful surface.
The Last Major Land To Be Settled Became An Egalitarian Paradise For Its Polynesian Explorers
When Polynesians first settled in Hawaii around the twelfth century, they found a paradise.
Not only was it an agriculturally rich land, but it also had a politically egalitarian society.
The settlers took advantage of the arable land and developed intricate irrigation technology that they had imported from Polynesia.
They built canoes for fishing and made fishhooks to provide sustenance.
Because there wasn’t much competition for the land, most people were able to work for themselves without any major wealth gaps forming between them.
In addition, Polynesians minimised their risk of accidents or running out of resources while travelling by observing the stars, the sun, the wind, the tides and seabirds – plus carrying enough food like a single giant taro root as well as hardy breadfruit paste that could last them months at sea.
All in all – when humans first discovered Hawai’i and decided to settle there, it was no wonder why!
It was an agricultural paradise with an egalitarian politics which provided everyone with access to enough resources to get by comfortably.
How Hawaii’S Agricultural Surpluses Sparked Complex Social Systems
The Hawaiian Islands were settled in the thirteenth century, and the taro farms of Hawaii began producing unprecedented agricultural surpluses.
This surplus gave rise to the early population growth of Hawai’i; with more land than workers, women typically gave birth to four children per family on average.
As this population grew, two distinct groups began to emerge – the elites known as ali’i and the agricultural workers known as maka’āinana.
Initially, distinctions between these two groups were not large since there was plenty of unused land available for all.
However, once that land supply ran out during the fifteenth century, this sparked changes in Hawaii’s social order that made it far more complex.
Chiefs sought to consolidate their power by enforcing tax collection and centralizing authority; this practice spread from island to islandin an attempt to imitate other rulers in Hawaii’s vicinity.
A major turning point also occured when a political crisis on O’ahu Island enabled a single chief, Haka, to take control and assign specific units of land to his subjects.
This marked the first time native Hawaiian chiefs had redistributed land for their own gain – something which would become commonlty utilised throughtout Hawai’i’s history to strengthen their power structure.
For those living in pre-modern Hawai’i, early population growth sparked significant changes both politically and socially – allowing a new ruling class capable of wielding tremendous control over their people while engraining an indelible mark upon Hawaiian society that lasts until nowdays.
The Encounter Between Europeans And Hawaiians Paved The Way For Social And Political Changes, Including The Māhele Land Reorganization And The Loss Of Native Hawaiian Land
When Captain Cook sailed off the coast of Kaua’i in 1778, he set in motion a chain of events that would forever alter the course of Hawaiian history.
By introducing weapons, ships and Western Trade to the islands, King Kamehameha I was able to consolidate his political power over six major islands.
As a consequence of this new rapport with Europeans, resource booms ensued.
Sandalwood oil suddenly became a commodity of high demanded by China and whaling soon followed as a popular industry.
This intensified labor opportunities and threatened traditional agricultural labor markets which caused many Native Hawaiians to move to cities instead.
The devastating population decline occurring shortly after Cook’s arrival added yet another blow to Native Hawaiians already altering way of life.
Between 1778 and 1831 it is believed up to 75-80% of people from native Hawaiian population died due to contact with European diseases.
This dramatic shift resulted in great destabilization between two distinct classes among natives: alii (rural landlords) and makaainana (commoners).
Forced to search for work, many began relocated to urbanized settlements like Honolulu, Lahaina and Hilo leaving the alii short on income and their farms deserted.
In an effort locate some form of order in such far reaching transformation King Kamehama III initiated The Māhele: A redistribution plan of land rights aiming at allocating properties among monarchy, ali’i, as well as commoners alike thus paving the pathway for major twentieth century economic invasions on behalf Big Sugar and ensuing thorough dispossession o Native Hawaiian citizens throughout centuries following Captain Cook’s reach shores of island chain.
The Māhele Laid The Groundwork For Big Sugar To Take Control Of Hawaii
When the Māhele was established, it introduced a new concept to Hawai’i: the formal ownership of land in the European sense.
This meant that both ali’i and maka’āinana could now legally own their land.
Most of the lower-class maka’āinana didn’t register for a title, either because there was limited communication or because they were unacquainted with the idea of property.
Consequently, much of the land allocated to them went unclaimed, so it was sold by the state to foreign investors.
Meanwhile, some ali’i leased or sold their lands to entrepreneurs from America and Europe in order to take advantage of a profitable new global market – sugar production!
By 1850, more than half of Hawaii’s exports went to the United States.
The US Congress ratified a free trade treaty in 1876 which further increased foreign investment in sugarcane as well as trade between Hawaii and the United States.
Largely due to these developments, massive growth occurred within the “Big Five” Hawaiian sugar companies during the 1880s; Hawaiian exports grew exponentially from 21 million pounds in 1876 to over 220 million pounds in 1890.
In addition, thousands of Chinese and Japanese immigrants were taken on as workers under indentured contracts.
This all goes on show how The Māhele laid down a strong foundation for Big Sugar’s eventual domination over Hawai`i’s economy and politics.
Us Government And Sugar Barons Colluded To Overthrow Hawaiian Monarchy, Extinguishing Native Hawaiians’ Rights And Resources
When the time came to renegotiate the free trade treaty between the Hawaiian government and the US in 1883, it was clear that the King’s bargaining power had weakened due to the growth of the sugar industry.
This allowed the US government to gain an upper hand in negotiations and as a result, they received a concession that granted them access to Pearl Harbor as an American military port.
At around this same period, sugar barons were becoming frustrated with the policies of King Kalākaua and wanted more investments into infrastructure that would further propel their industries.
As tensions increased, they managed to take control of his government through force and then implemented changes – dubbed as the Bayonet Constitution – which drastically altered Hawain politics.
The United States later passed another tariff treaty in 1890 which once again took away privileges from Hawaiin sugar companies.
This propelled Hawaii into an economic depression whereupon some planters formulated a goal to incorporate Hawaii into America – ensuring cheaper access to US markets.
In 1893, with assistance from the US emissary and troops from USS Boston, Queen Lili’uokalani was overthrown who yielded her forced despite her wishes..
Ultimately, it can be said that The US government and sugar barons worked hand in glove to overthrow the Hawaiian monarchy.
The US gained access many valuable resources as well as strategic military bases for its interests, whereas sugar plantations were looking for better economic opportunities through closer ties with Washington – both being aided by changes made by a powerful coup which left Native Hawaiian powerless and without economic compensation for their expropriated land.
An Elite Had Established A Dominance Over Hawaii’s Political System, Giving Wealthy White People Unprecedented Power And Advantage
Although Hawaiians gained political rights in the late 19th century with the passage of the Hawaiian Organic Act, the reality was that the Big Five – a powerful coalition of business and political interests – continued to dominate life in Hawaii at this time.
The power they wielded was significant, as they had a hand in everything from shipping to retail to finance.
The Big Five’s political control was reinforced in several ways.
Firstly, they had an advantage when it came to rural district representation; many Asian plantation workers were barred from citizenship, thus ensuring that white voters carried a lot of weight.
Furthermore, legislation during this period usually favored the Big Five over other citizens – including Hawaiian Natives who had US citizenship but didn’t have their say because cities’ share in legislature didn’t grow despite their rapidly increasing populations.
Ultimately, this resulted in a powerful elite class emerging which included individuals and families that controlled much of the economic production in Hawaii by commanding key sectors such as sugar and pineapple plantations, shipping, retail and finance.
But change would come soon enough….
Hawaii’S Path To Statehood Was Complex, With Unanswered Questions About Sovereignty And Ownership Of Land
When the Big Five opposed statehood for Hawaii, the majority of its residents were last on their minds.
But by 1934, when Congress imposed restrictions on Filipino laborers and passed a tariff act privileging mainland cane and beet sugar producers, it became clear that long-term economic stability would not come from exclusion from the political system.
To affirmatively demonstrate that Hawaii was ready to take responsibility for governing itself, leading politicians elected a constitutional convention which wrote a widely lauded state constitution.
Backers of statehood also had a powerful ally in the national Republican party, which wanted to solidify their political grip in Congress.
Finally, in 1959, Hawai’i became the 50th US State.
As a result of statehood, the people of Hawai’i gained access to greater representation in Washington; Hawaiian Senator Daniel Inouye who went on to nine terms as one of America’s first Asian-American legislators would go on to shape legislation with his home-country in mind while strengthening more access to federal spending programs.
Having said that however, the implications – namely Native Hawaiian loss of sovereignty due to land expropriation – were never addressed around this time
The Land Reform Act Strengthened Hawaii’s Democratic Political Order And Redistributed Property Bringing About Greater Equality
When Hawaii became a state in 1959, it brought about a major shift for the people of Hawaii.
With the introduction of full voting rights, citizens were able to make their voices heard in a new way.
One major way that impact was felt was through land reform.
A number of measures were taken in an effort to create an equitable distribution of property and land among Native Hawaiians and working-class Hawaiians.
Before statehood, during the colonial era, most Native Hawaiians simply couldn’t afford to own land for themselves.
In addition, large estates shifted to leasehold practices rather than selling the land off.
This created another barrier to homeownership for Hawaiian residents as they did not benefit from those proceeds due to federal tax obligations based on decades of ownership.
However, when all of Hawaii’s citizens had voting power, they worked together to pass the Land Reform Act (LRA) in 1967 with the goal of more fairly distributing both residential and commercial properties more equitably.
The LRA gave lessees the opportunity to purchase their leased property at a judicially mandated price by paying off a reasonable portion over time – something many Hawaiian residents would have been unable to do previously before statehood.
Although many challenges still remain today, Hawaii’s Land Reform Act was seen as a victory for landowners who wanted greater control over their homes and possessions – allowing them not only tangible benefits but also providing them political stability by giving them an incentive to support legislation that protects property rights for all.
The key message of the book Hawai’i is that one cannot truly understand its history without studying the economic forces at work.
From trading resources, to redistributing wealth, Hawaii’s journey is a dynamic example of how powerful economic forces can shape an island paradise.
We witness how taro agriculture was imported by Polynesians and then how the Big Five sugar planters rose to power.
The continuation of Native Hawaiian’s fight for fair ownership of expropriated lands becomes clear too.
In sum, this book provides a comprehensive summary of the historical economic forces that have played such an important role in Hawai’i’s destiny.

domain: history


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‘I view mobile photography as a blessing and a curse’ says Chelsea Matiash, Photo Editor at The Wall Street Journal. ‘I think it really is a testament to how valuable photographs are and how drawn we are to images, people really feel the need to visually record their world’. Matiash speaks to Joanne Carter, at theappwhisperer.com, expressing both her professional and personal views and the impact of smartphone photography and Citizen Journalism upon the industry today.
(All images ©Chelsea Matiash and taken with an iPhone)
‘Lower East Side, New York, 2013’ – ©Chelsea Matiash
The obsession by many to record literally everything about their lives has led Matiash to express, ‘rather than a photograph being used to document special moments, or as a skilled craft in art or journalism, it has become an accessory to living itself’. Citizen journalism is a big issue and Matiash feels that ‘on the one hand, mobile photography has considerably contributed to breaking news coverage as almost anything that happens can be photographed as it unfolds, by the public on site and a lot of these images are important to real time reporting. On the other hand though, it has really flooded the visual landscape and desensitized viewers to quality images’, she says.
Image editing and the ability to change a photograph in its entirety makes people ‘more suspicious of photographs, because of filters and other common manipulation and there are just too many bad photographs out there. It has really inundated a field that once upon a time required training, skills and equipment. Of course, those who have the training and skills will always be the ones to produce the most important images’, she explains. None of the in-house or freelance photographers working for The Wall Street Journal use mobile photography to capture stories, however The Wall Street Journal often finds and obtains user generated content in breaking news situations.
But what of the Chicago Sun-Times, they made redundant their entire twenty eight photo staff back in May 2013, including Pulitzer Prize Winner John H White for reasons they stated as a ‘need to shift toward more online video’. Matiash says ‘when that happened, it really marked a concrete shift in our industry and a growing view on photographers – that anyone could it’. There are though some incredibly skilled mobile photographers out there, including many of the artists that we feature here at theappwhisperer that use nothing but mobile devices to create outstanding work? Matiash says, ‘I know a lot of professionals, many of which are friends, that are using mobile photography in a very effective, sophisticated way, making portfolio worthy images at times and capturing really wonderful moments. At the end of the day, I love my smartphone and all the thousands of images I have made on it. It has enabled everyone, from amateur to professional, to document so many moments that would have gone undocumented’.
Social Media and Mobile Photography
‘Canal Street, New York, 2013’ – ©Chelsea Matiash
The Wall Street Journal has a wonderful social media and photography section, this is due in part Matiash explains because ‘The Wall Street Journal has recognized the value of mobile photography, both in breaking news instances as well as engaging readership. In an age of social media and virtual interactions, printing a letter to the editor doesn’t cut it. Readers are eager to engage, and social platforms are a great way to do it. We sometimes have open calls for themed submitted photos, or caption contests. I think its a great way to acknowledge our readers as active participants and enhances the consumer experience’.
Matiash’s personal Instagram feed (@11106pix) ‘tends really to be all over the place. It could be a moment in nice light, or a photo of my friends, or a sunset on vacation. I treat it like a digital photo album, and it tends to be more personal that way’, she says. Her Twitter feed (@cmatiash) is more professional and she curates feeds that are engaging to those interested in photography and the occasional news or quirky story.
‘Hudson River, seen from New York, 2013’ – ©Chelsea Matiash
I was particularly interested to read about the W.H.Y Project – Visual Storytelling to Empower a Generation (link) and wanted to learn how that project came about. Matiash explained, ‘The WHY Project was actually presented to me by a friend, Luanne Dietz, who serves as their director. She proposed it to me for our photo blog, and I really loved the project. The project paired up high school students struggling with academic performance with local professionals, to use mobile photography to document their lives, and their perspective of their city. What I loved most about that project was that mobile photography was being employed to give access to a medium and training that a generation ago may not have been possible. It was almost a form of art therapy, and the results were really touching’. Matiash’s rule of thumb with regards featuring projects tends to be based around whether she would want to read or look at it, is it something she would like to share with her friends and engage readers. The W.H.Y. Project ticked all those boxes, she says, ‘I really was engaged by the images these students made’.
‘Miami, 2012’ – ©Chelsea Matiash
We are pleased to welcome Matiash as a fan of theappwhisperer.com, she says, ‘I think it (theappwhisperer) creates a really comprehensive, engaging home for mobile photography. There are so many apps, tricks, tools and professionals that have really taken advantage of the mobile medium to maximize its utility and results. It’s great to see a site dedicated to curating the best of these!’. I can’t remember the last time I printed an image. I think social media has become the new outlet for publishing images, where we post the images we once would have printed. Instagram and Facebook are the photo albums of the millennials. So all these tools are really geared toward making and preserving the images that will be the story book of our lives’.
We’d like to thank Chelsea Matiash for taking the time to talk with us.


Council Bluffs Animal Control seeking dog, dog owner involved in reported attack
Council Bluffs Animal Control is asking for information from witnesses, after a woman said another dog attacked her, and her pet Thursday morning.
Constance Parrott and her dog Josie walk for miles at least a couple of days each week. "Josie's fighting liver disease and I'm a cancer survivor," Parrott said. "Our health is very important."
Just before 9am, Parrot said, "this dog came running up and I said to the guy, 'Get your dog on a leash.'"
Parrott said the other dog lunged and took her down, biting her and Josie.
"I was on the ground and I was trying to get her, because I could hear her yelping and hear the growling noise," Parrott said.
Witnesses ran up to help, but Parrott said the owner and his dog walked away.
That set Council Bluffs Animal Control on a day-long search.
"It's real important that we identify who this individual is," said Council Bluffs Chief Animal Control Officer Galen Barrett.
Without answers, Parrott worries about painful rabies shots and other people's safety in the area.
"Elderly walk in the area," she said. "Kids walk in the area, and this dog getting somebody else."
Investigators think they've located the dog but want to hear from witnesses.
Anyone with information is encouraged to contact Council Bluffs Animal Control at 712-328-4656.


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Creating an estate plan is something that many people reserve for late retirement. However, it’s important to know that estate planning is for everyone. A well-crafted estate plan can accomplish:
- A strategy to streamline giving your assets to your loved ones in the event that you pass away.
- A clear outline of your wishes should you become incapacitated and unable to communicate.
- A way for you to preserve your wealth and leave a legacy.
Although different people may require different elements in their estate plan depending on their stage of life, everyone should have one in place.
What Goes Into an Estate Plan?
An estate plan can include many different pieces. However, a few basics to consider are:
- Will. A will is a document that outlines how you wish your assets to be distributed after you pass away. It can also act as a kind of “catch all” document that outlines any other requests you may have – like guardianship, beneficiaries, or even if you don’t want someone to receive a portion of your estate.
- Trust. A trust is a tool that can help you to pass on assets to your loved ones while avoiding probate court, and (in some cases) estate taxes.
- Power of attorney. If you become incapacitated, someone needs to be able to make financial decisions on your behalf. A power of attorney designates someone to help you make decisions and control your assets if you’re unable to do so.
- Healthcare power of attorney. The same is true for your health. If you become incapacitated, it’s important that you have your wishes outlined and someone who knows those wishes appointed to make decisions for you.
- Beneficiary designations. Although a will or trust can pass assets on to loved ones, going through your accounts (like your life insurance and 401k) to ensure you have beneficiaries designated is critical.
- Guardianship designations. If you’re a parent of children under 18, you’ll need to consider who you want to raise them should you and your spouse or partner pass away.
- Business succession plan. Many small business owners fail to have a succession plan in place, assuming they’ll always be at the helm of the ship. However, if you own a small business, and have clients, customers, and vendors who rely on you – you need to have a plan in place for what happens to the business and your assets if you pass away unexpectedly – or even if you choose to retire!
Preserving Your Wealth
At its core, the primary goal of your estate plan is to preserve your wealth, and to pass it on to your designated beneficiaries in a manner that you choose. Working in tandem with an estate planning attorney and a tax planning financial advisor can help you to shield your wealth from potential taxes, and maximize your hard-earned estate to care for and empower generations to come. Without an estate plan in place, your assets may be subject to probate costs. These could eat between 3-8% of your total estate. However, with proper titling and direction from your team of experts, these costs can be avoided, and taxes can be minimized.
Leaving a Legacy
You’ve worked hard throughout your life to care for yourself and your family. Your estate plan should reflect that and empower you to make an impact. Whether your focus is to pass assets on to your kids and grandkids, or you’re interested in making an impact on your community or through an organization you’re passionate about, your estate plan can help.
Having an estate plan in place helps to ensure that there is no arguing or family division after you pass away. Your wishes are made clear, and you’re able to proactively communicate your plan for your wealth while you’re still living. This helps you build a legacy you’re proud of, without placing the burden of doing so on the shoulders of the loved ones you may leave behind.
Ask For Help
While it is important not to rush through the process of creating an estate plan, staying vigilant will keep things on track. Working with a financial planner (in concert with your attorney) is a great step because they can review your current financial situation, provide advice for moving forward, and lend an ear as you make these big decisions.
Working with a CFP® Professional who specializes in comprehensive financial planning can help you ensure that you’re truly maximizing your wealth during the estate planning process. They can act as a communication bridge between you and your estate planning attorney, and can even help to facilitate conversations between you and family members as you make these decisions about your legacy.
Craig Toberman is a Partner at Toberman Becker Wealth – a fee-only, fiduciary financial advisor based in St. Louis. He assists families and businesses with strategic financial planning and long-term wealth management. He has over a decade of experience in financial services and has crafted custom financial plans for hundreds of families and businesses.

domain: law


text:
Elder Patriot – You can almost always count on Israel to invoke common sense when making politically charged decisions. That’s a necessity borne of being such a small country living on the brink of extermination.
(The Jewish Chronicle) Israeli officials have confirmed to local media that they will bar entry to US Democratic congresswomen Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib over their support for the BDS boycott movement.
The move would reverse an earlier decision to allow them to enter the country on a congressional trip that would have covered both Israel and the West Bank.
Ron Dermer, the Israeli ambassador in Washington, had said in July: “out of respect for the U.S. Congress and the great alliance between Israel and America, we would not deny entry to any member of Congress into Israel.”
But this week Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked cabinet ministers to consider whether the decision should be revisited.
Interior Minister Aryeh Deri decided on Thursday not to allow the duo to enter the country for the visit, which was due to begin on Saturday, Channel 12 journalist Dana Weiss reported, adding that an official statement was due later on Thursday afternoon.
Under Israeli law, the authorities can deny entry to individuals who support boycott movements, although according to Haaretz the Foreign Ministry can request waivers for political or diplomatic figures whose refusal could harm Israeli foreign relations.
Israeli authorities delayed making the decision to bar the U.S. congresswomen while they worked through the logistical and security problems their visit could cause. In the end they decided the risks were just not worth it.
With legislative elections scheduled for next month, the last thing Israel needs is to give these two Islamic mouthpieces a soapbox from which to spew their hatred.
U.S. President Donald Trump who has had to deal with the fallout from their rhetoric, largely due to the manner in which the dishonest U.S. media excuses Omar and Tlaib’s anti-Semitic diatribes, tweeted his approval of the decision to ban the two hate-mongers.


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Side Note: If you want to Guarantee that you win the now 1.4 Billion dollar Poweball Jackpot you can buy every possibly number combination for a cool 584 Million — Godking
Saturday night’s record $950 million Powerball numbers when un-picked, which means the next jackpot will reach a far more staggering record. Lottery officials say it could grow to a whopping $1.3 billion.
The jackpot-fixing scandal that rocked the lottery organization behind Powerball has done little to hold back interest in the game.
In fact, with the jackpot soaring to world record-breaking levels — standing at an estimated $1.5 billion as of Sunday night— Powerball hysteria is sweeping the United States.
Stores across the country sold more tickets and saw much longer lines than usual before Saturday’s drawing, which did not produce a single ticket matching all six Powerball numbers. The jackpot rises after each drawing that fails to produce a winner.
The U.S. saw Powerball sales of $277 million on Friday and more than $400 million were expected Saturday, the Texas Lottery’s executive director said.
Continue Reading on NEXT PAGE!


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Developers continue to employ novel methods to amass the tallest buildings in the city, leaving brokers and their clients to adjust to an obsession with height.
While new developments are restricted to the area’s zoning laws, developers have come up with several ways to get taller buildings while still complying with the code.
New developments are now cropping up with design elements such as building atop stilts, creating large mechanical rooms or including hollow structural voids that don’t count towards the building’s FAR (Floor Area ratio) or maximum square footage limits.
The tallest residential building at 432 Park Avenue is one of the most visible examples of developers using design elements that help raise their height.
In the Rafael Vinoly-designed building, there are several two-story mechanical structural voids every several floors that are meant to help stabilize the skinny tower and contribute to its slender design.
In another Vinoly-designed building on the Upper East Side, the architect employed the use of a structural core and upper floor mechanical rooms to achieve greater heights.
The 510 ft. high residential condo at 249 East 62nd Street offers 83 units between 32 stories. But the design details a townhouse and retail space at the base of the building, mechanical space from the 13th to 16th floors and on the top three floors.
The trend of new techniques to get higher buildings may also be spreading to the Upper West Side where the community is questioning Extell Development’s 50 West 66th Street project.
Extell’s new development would become the tallest on the Upper West Side at 775 feet high. But residents are concerned about the project, where foundation construction is already underway foundation.
Opponents, including the West 65th & 66th Streets Block Association, Councilmember Helen Rosenthal and preservationist group Landmark West! have claimed that the developer may sandwich structural voids between the stacks of residential floors as its previous plans called for 25 stories. While Extell released renderings for its residential tower, plans have not yet been filed for the building.
Brian McFarland, principal at CetraRuddy – which is not involved with any of the previously mentioned projects — explained that adding mechanical voids in a residential project is a simple task, but building atop stilts can be a much harder challenge architecturally.
According to McFarland, sometimes architects are required to use mechanical spaces to lift buildings in cases where there are surrounding buildings that prevent a property’s lower floors from reaching light and air requirements.
In other cases, such as CetraRuddy’s 45 Broad Street supertall tower, mechanical spaces are found throughout the building to bring them closer to the areas that they service, McFarland explained.
And these days, McFarland said the use of different techniques to boost buildings is common as more districts now have zoning that allows developers to reach for the skies.
“When I was starting off in this business, tall residential buildings were much rarer, and those that did exist, like CitySpire, never approached the heights we’re seeing today,” said McFarland. “The trend is more conspicuous now, with multifamily development moving into zoning districts that permit towers but weren’t previously considered residential destinations, including areas like the Special Midtown District that gave rise to Billionaire’s Row, and Lower Manhattan neighborhoods such as the Financial District.”
The CetraRuddy architect added that the industry is diverging into two types of design; free-form building that’s more creative, and “vertically elongated.”
“On some levels, it is starting to impact design,” McFarland said of the trend. “More and more, architecture is going in one of two directions, either in the vertically elongated towers or object form buildings where the entire building is treated as a form.”
As the trend picks up more steam, brokers and their potential clients will have to adjust to the increasing amount of high floor stock. But brokers warn that the prices climb as much as the desired floor.
“Absolutely you’re going to pay for each floor you go up,” said Therese Bateman, a broker with The Level Group. “Even when I’m valuing for re-sale, I’ll always factor in for each floor up. And once you get to breakout views, that changes altogether.”
Taking a look at 432 Park Avenue, city records show that the top floors, from the 80th floor upwards and not including the penthouses, sell for at least $30 million. The pricetag is cut almost in half with the lower apartments around the 30th, 40th and 50th floors going for roughly $15 million.
“The demand for higher is because a large population of people think they’ll have great views, more privacy, less noise,” Bateman said. “Developers are also catering to the common conception that people want views.”
Douglas Elliman broker Tamir Shemesh said the techniques used to boost building height represent a mutually beneficial scenario for developer and tenants.
“The higher you go in a building, the more money you can get for it,” Shemesh said. “Therefore it’s a win-win situation because buyers get apartments with higher views and developers are able to sell it for higher amounts.”
Shemesh explained how the various floors of residential condos still target different groups and can still be filled. And Bateman agreed, saying there’s still a market for lower properties due to personal preference or not wanting to rely on an elevator.
But the Level Group broker added that developers may be creating more supply of something that the population could eventually grow tired of.
“There’ll always be a diversity of stock here and if people don’t like it, they’ll move,” Bateman said. “Neighborhoods change really quickly and if people don’t like them, they’ll find the next opportunity for what they’re seeking.”
As for the city, the Department of City Planning is working on adjusting the zoning regulations in high density residential areas that lead to often unexpected results.
During a June mayoral town hall meeting on the Upper West Side, the department’s Manhattan director Edith Hsu-Chen said they’re trying to better understand the issue of voids, especially the “extraneous, maybe egregious” methods that are “used just to loft the building taller.” DCP said it should have policy recommendations ready by the end of the year.
If anything changes, brokers may be pleased even if their top-floor sales decline.
For Bateman in particular, the idea of people living in ivory towers would remove the special intimate qualities of the city.
“We don’t want to be left with a ghost town in the bottom of the mechanicals while there are people living in ivory towers,” Bateman said. “One of the most important things in New York City is between the residents and the people who come here. You want that connectivity to remain.”


Now the race is down to one Black guy, one woman and a war hero. It is strange that everyone I met and asked during Chinese New Year knew the names of the 3 candidates for US president but when I asked them who the MPs for their GRC were, they were able to name only half the GRC MPs. Unlike Americans, we don't really have to worry about who we vote for - as long as they come from a particular party, they must be good. Americans have a hard time figuring out who should be their next president, they go through numerous speeches, debates, town hall meetings, rallies just to figure out who should lead them costing the country plenty of time and money....and does not guarantee the best results (just look at the guy the elected the last time). If they save all that money and use it to pay the salary of the President, they might be able to hire someone like Jack Welch to run America like a big corporation.
I really don't understand why Americans are attracted to Obama. All he talks about is CHANGE - changing the political process, changing their healthcare system, etc etc.
Americans have a great system all they need is someone to tell them so and remove that urge for change. I guess the media there is not doing its job and the end result is this strong desire for change. They should have some media regulation or select their reporters and their output more carefully to give the citizens a greater sense of satisfaction for the system.
I got this bad feeling that this Obama feller is going to beat Clinton soon and McCain later to become the US President and put Americans through alot of troublesome change. Change they probably won't want if they have better newspapers.....


text: is an American journalist. King does syndicated business and financial reports for Bloomberg News from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Formerly, King covered local Business News for CNN's Newsource division, CNN Marketsource. Before joining CNN, King worked as a business reporter for WPVI-TV in Philadelphia and as an anchor and reporter at both WAND-TV in Decatur, Illinois. King began as a reporter for WLFI-TV in Lafayette, Indiana.


WASHINGTON, Jan 25, (Agencies): President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed directives to build a wall along the US border with Mexico and crack down on US cities that shield illegal immigrants, proceeding quickly on sweeping and divisive plans to curb immigration and boost national security. The Republican president is also expected to take steps in the coming days to limit legal immigration, including executive orders restricting refugees and blocking the issuing of visas to people from several Muslim-majority Middle Eastern and North African countries including Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Iraq, Iran, Libya and Yemen.
Trump signed two executive orders during an appearance at the Department of Homeland Security, one on building a wall along the roughly 2,000- mile (3,200-kms) US-Mexico border and the other to strip federal grant money from “sanctuary” states and cities, often governed by Democrats, that harbor illegal immigrants. In cities such as San Francisco local officials, often Democrats, refuse to cooperate with federal authorities on actions against illegal immigrants. “The American people are no longer going to have to be forced to subsidize this disregard for our laws,” White House spokesman Sean Spicer said. In an interview with ABC News on Wednesday, Trump said construction on the wall would start within months, with planning starting immediately, and that Mexico would pay back to the United States “100 percent” of the costs.
On Twitter on Tuesday night, Trump reiterated his promise to build a wall along the roughly 2,000- mile (3,200-kms) US-Mexico border. Trump made cracking down on illegal immigration a key element of his presidential campaign with supporters often chanting “build the wall” during his rallies. Trump has long said that he will make Mexico pay for the wall, but Mexican officials have forcefully resisted this idea. The cost and nature of the wall have not been made clear. Many Democrats have opposed the plan and could try to thwart any legislation to pay for the construction in the US Congress, although Republicans control both the Senate and House of Representatives.
The border enforcement order includes plans to hire 5,000 more US Customs and Border Protection agents used to apprehend people seeking to slip across the border and to triple the number of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents used to arrest and deport immigrants living in the United States illegally. The Customs and Border Protection agency has struggled to meet its hiring mandate, with a little more than 19,000 agents on the payroll, out of a congressionally mandated 21,000. Trump’s actions could fundamentally change the American stance on immigration, as well as further testing relations with Mexico.
Many Americans view their country with pride as “a nation of immigrants,” and President John Kennedy wrote a book with that title more than half a century ago. But Trump successfully tapped into resentment toward the roughly 11 million illegal immigrants already in the United States and said during the campaign he would deport them all. Trump, who in announcing his presidential bid in June 2015 accused Mexico of sending rapists and criminals into the United States, has also threatened to slap hefty taxes on companies that produce in Mexico for the US market and to tear up the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) between the Mexico, Canada and the United States.
Trump and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto are due to meet next week. Asked about Trump’s wall, US Republican Senator John McCain said a physical barrier is not enough to secure the border and called for the additional use of observation towers, drones and other technology. “Walls can be easily breached,” McCain, whose home state of Arizona borders Mexico, told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” program. Immigration enforcement away from the border is also expected to be strengthened by seeking an end to “sanctuary cities,” often governed by Democrats, where local officials refuse to cooperate with federal authorities on actions against illegal immigrants. Trump will call for an end to this practice and may instruct the federal government to stop providing certain funds to cities that refuse to comply. Trump is expected to limit the number of refugees admitted to the United States to 50,000 a year, down from 100,000, and to impose a temporary ban on most refugees. A review will be conducted by the Trump administration to determine what screening must occur before travel for citizens from such countries can resume. During the campaign, Trump proposed barring non-US citizen Muslims from entering the United States, which he said would protect Americans from attacks by Islamist militants like those targeting European cities.


text:
Reprinted without permission from Jam, May 24, 1996
SOUNDGARDEN: FROM SUPERUNKNOWN TO SUPERSTARS
Still buoyed by the phenomenal success of their last album, Superunknown, Soundgarden is coping with all of the responsibilities that come with success. Poised to release their new album, Down On The Upside, the band is bracing themselves for another ride.
For a band, success brings with it its own set of demands. Sure, they're not the life and death considerations - like paying the rent, and keeping the van running so it can tour - that struggle to succeed requires. But once one has "made it," there's definitely more to life than finding a place on the wall for platinum records and basking in the glow of stardom. Just ask Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron.
"It seems a bit more like a corporation now," he says from his home outside Seattle. "I guess because we're trying to get more organized and everything that comes with success doubles and triples your workload as far as playing the whole business angle of it. So that stuff I'm adapting to- begrudgingly at times, because I'm essentially a musician.
"I was never trained for any of this stuff, but we've all come up together and learned how to deal with it. There are times when I get pretty frustrated with the demands put on my time - the non-musical demands. But it's better than working all the shitty day jobs I had. I'm not complaining."
Over the years, Cameron's toiled as a landscaper and in various positions "in the restaurant industry," among others. "When I moved up here I started working at Kinko's and then I kind of got into the print trade," he recalls. "Tad (Doyle, the portly leader of the now defunct band Tad) worked at Kinko's for awhile, that was kind of the 'rock' place to work."
It's been a while since Cameron's had to think about "off-season" jobs. And with the success of Soundgarden's last album, Superunknown, he's probably been able to start putting together a retirement plan.
With Superunknown, Soundgarden became genuine superstars. The album debuted at #1 on the Billboard chart in the spring of 1994 and, buoyed by the successive radio/MTV hits "Spoonman," "Black Hole Sun," and "Fell on Black Days," went on to sell over five million copies worldwide. It earned the band a Grammy Award last year and put them in the middle of a media frenzy where even such trivialities as singer Chris Cornell's hair length were popular topics of discussion. It also established Soundgarden as not only the kings of the Seattle hill, but one of the world's "biggest" rock bands.
The success of Superunknown capped a decade-long climb for the quartet that began in grung rock obscurity with early indie releases like Screaming Life and Ultramega OK on the Sub Pop and SST labels respectively. Soundgarden's major label debut, Louder Than Love, put the band on the Billboard chart and out on the road from everyone from Voivod to Danzig.
The breakthrough follow-up Badmotorfinger, gave Soundgarden - rounded out by singer/guitarist Chris Cornell, guitarist Kim Thayil, and bassist Ben Shepherd - its first taste of mainstream success, earning them a platinum record on the strength of "Outshined" and "Rusty Cage" and a slot on the second Lollapalooza tour. It seems that Badmotorfinger readied the launch pad to "rock star immortality" while Superunknown provided the spark that lit the engines. Soundgarden blasted off and hasn't looked back.
"After I listened to the record when we completed it, I kind of thought it was going to be a success - I wasn't completely surprised by it," says Cameron. "We've been working at this for a long time so the success thing hasn't seemed like it's been overnight. It's seemed very gradual, like we've been working for it.
"I think what we try to do is make music as strong as it can be, and if there are elements in there that a big audience can grab onto, then that's wonderful. We're lucky enough to have a really excellent singer and songwriter in the band. He connected with a gigantic audience with a couple of tunes on the last record, so that's a bonus. We didn't try to do that intentionally, it just grew out of what we've been doing musically over the years - it was kind of a natural step for us. It's nice to have a big audience and to have seen it grow over the years. That's been pretty fun."
Recently, Soundgarden has been preparing for the release of Superunknown's much-anticipated follow up, Down On The Upside, by handling the duties Cameron alluded to - like interviews and videos, as well as gearing up to rehearse for the band's stint on Lollapalooza '96. In talking to people, Cameron says he's already being given the sense that Upside would be making a big impact.
And with good reason. Where Superunknown may have had a couple of songs he felt "connected with a gigantic audience," Upside is pretty much a complete album capable of doing just that. Taking a cue from Superunknown, which saw Soundgarden moving away from the leaden droning of their earlier releases, Upside is a more mellow, more tuneful, and consistently inviting album that still maintains the band's intensity and dark aura.
The Kim Thayil penned "Never The Machine Forever" is really the only track on Upside that matches the sludge-like crush of material from Louder Than Love or Badmotorfinger. The other bombastic material here, "An Unkind," "Never Named," "No Attention," and the rip-roaring "Ty Cobb" - which actually matches Ramones-esque riffing with a mandolin twang - shows Soundgarden doing an about-face by playing with a surprise punk-like vigor.
The rest of Upside pretty much runs the gamut. There's the engaging pop of the first single "Pretty Noose" and "Burden In My Hand;" sparse, somber numbers like "Applebite," "Zero Chance," and "Boot Camp;" the folksy perkiness of "Dusty," which features the lyric the album's title was derived from; the Beatles-like psychedelia of "Blow Up The Outside World;" the trademark brood of "Rhinosaur" and "Switch Opens;" and the rousing mini-epics "Overfloater" and "Tighter and Tighter."
"I think some of the tunes on this record that could be viewed as radio songs are a little bit meatier than the ones on our last record - not taking anything away from those," says Cameron. "They're a little more involved, they've got a certain element of power that comes through - the brute strength of how we played the tunes - as opposed to "Black Hole Sun" which has a more complex melodic structure that doesn't necessarily require brute force to get the whole message of the tune across."
Indeed, despite the relative initial simplicity of much of Upside's material, repeated listens reveal subtle rhythmic twists and clever instrumental asides - like the mandolin on "Ty Cobb" - that make the songs stand well apart from standard pop.
"We like to texture our tunes as much as possible and that involves different parts that you can kind of bury in a tune and they'll come out in a certain spot or a certain rhythmic accent that doesn't hit you right away, but you'll remember it later on," notes Cameron, adding with a chuckle, "we always like to incorporate all those little tricks."
Another element one will discover in time is Chris Cornell's morose lyrical sense, which has always been a part of the Soundgarden sonic package, but here is darker and more sinister than ever, almost in spite of the engaging nature of Upside's music. He seems to like playing one against the other, matching his most disquieting thoughts - a number of tracks read like a sociopath's diary entries - with the most pleasant musical accompaniment.
"Burden In My Hand" stands as a prime example - light acoustic verses and punchy choruses provide the background for lines like "I shot my love today would you cry for me" and "So kill yourself and kill your health and kill everything you love." "Blow Up The Outside World," whose title really says it all, follows in a similar vein.
An exception, however is "Ty Cobb" whose lyrical rage - "Sick in the head sick in the mouth / and I can't hear a word you say / not a bit and I don't give a shit / I got the glass, I got the steel and I got the love to hate / all I need is your head on a stake" - is matched by the frantic riffing and pace.
For his part, Cameron, who wrote the music to "Applebite" and "Rhinosaur," is at loss to explain Cornell's motives, much less his inspiration. Like any fan, he merely finds Cornell's disturbing poetry fascinating and, well, cool.
"He just writes it like he sees it and, a lot of times, how he sees it is a private thing and I don't question it at all. The results are always stupendous," he says. "That's how he sees things. He's very poetic, yet he hits on the darker side of things - that's kind of beautiful and scary at the same time."
Soundgarden got to road test some of Upside's material last summer when the band took a break from recording to play some festivals in Europe as well as make up dates for a few shows that were postponed from an earlier tour.
"That was kind of cool, seeing people's reactions to songs they'd never heard before," says Cameron. "And it was cool playing the new stuff live, especially after you've been living with it in the studio for weeks (the band self-produced the new album). People seemed to dig the new material which was gratifying - and the break from the studio was definitely invigorating."

domain: artistic


text:
Load balancing with Modify Approach
Authors: - IJCTRanjan Kumar Mondal, Enakshmi Nandi, Payel Ray, Debabrata Sarddar
Number of views: 85
Recently, various types of bandwidth eater are growing rapidly. Cloud computing as a Internet
computing has become popular day by day to provide various type of services and resources to web user.
Cloud computing employs Internet resources to execute large-scale tasks. Therefore, to select appropriate
node for executing a task is able to enhance the performance of large-scale cloud computing environment.
There are several heterogeneous nodes in a cloud computing system. Namely, each node has different
capability to execute task; hence, only consider the CPU remaining of the node is not enough when a node
is chosen to execute a task. Therefore, how to select an efficient node to execute a task is very important in
a cloud computing.
In this paper, we propose a scheduling algorithm, LB3M, which combines minimum completion
time and load balancing strategies. For the case study, LB3M can provide efficient utilization of
computing resources and maintain the load balancing in cloud computing environment

domain: literature


Negative pressure ventilation is the most popular ventilation system used by broiler producers in the Southeast. Through the use of exhaust fans and adjustable air inlets, growers have found that they can more easily rid the house of ammonia and excess moisture, maintain more consistent house temperatures, and at the same time keep energy usage to a minimum. These benefits are due to the fact that a negative pressure ventilation system gives the grower more control over air exchange and air dist...ribution. Controlling these two factors gives the grower more control over his paycheck. The amount of fresh air brought into the house can be accurately controlled through the use of exhaust fans and interval timers. If the grower wants 4,000 cfm of fresh air, he sets the timer on a couple of 36" fans for one minute out of five. If he wants twice as much fresh air, he doubles his timer setting. The grower doesn't have to concern himself with how hard the wind is blowing and from what direction. He knows that if his static pressure is right and his inlets are properly adjusted, the cold incoming air will mix with the warm air near the ceiling preventing bird chilling, thereby improving bird performance.


The now accredited TV network, STV2, has just closed today after a year of serving the people of Scotland with the best news coverage, media, and entertainment. On June 30, Commercial TV Broadcaster STV decided to cut off their second channel, as the burden became far too great, facing six-figure annual losses.
The company also issued that their TV licenses have been bought off by a company from south of the border that ran local stations.
It was just last May when STV had announced job losses summing up to 59 people who would be out of work due to the decision for STV2â€™s closure and to restructure the news operations.
Simon Pitts, chief executive of STV, thanked the STV2 team for all their hard work and sacrifice.
â€œThe staff has worked extremely hard on the STV2 channel, and the quality of the output is not in doubt,â€ Simon said. He further clarified that the decision of the management to stop STV2â€™s airing bears no reflection on the professionalism or the abilities of the staff.
Simon also mentioned how hard the competition has become with the TV industry. This forced them to make the difficult decision of closing, as they now set sight for more online conversion.
He further said that the management of STV2, taking into consideration the challenging economics of local television and anticipated increased competition from BBC Scotland, decided to take the difficult decision of closing their channel to focus their future content investment on STV and the STV player.
This decision though was not faced without criticism as it received backlash from The National Union of Journalists in Scotland. They took to action if any compulsory redundancies have befallen any of the hardworking team on STV2.
â€œThe loss of 34 jobs in news and the closure of STV2 will lead to a massive reduction in the breadth and depth of news coverage viewers in Scotland currently enjoy,â€ the journalists said.


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Thursday, May 1, 2014
A Voice Among The Silent: The Legacy of James G. McDonald
Earlier this week, Bob and I were honoured to attend a Holocaust Remembrance Day commemoration in D. C. highlighting the humanitarian efforts of James G. McDonald, a Christian diplomat and first U.S. Ambassador to Israel, who helped rescue Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi Germany. McDonald warned world leaders including President Franklin Roosevelt and the future Pope Pius XII of the impending doom he foresaw. The event included the debut of A Voice Among the Silent: The Legacy of James G. McDonald, a 53-minute documentary by Shuli Eshel, and a panel discussion with U. S. Congresswoman Donna Christensen (D-VI); Dr. Barbara McDonald Stewart (McDonald's daughter); historian Dr. Rafael Medoff; and the filmmaker.
I am amazed by Mr. McDonald's life and story. What a remarkable and fascinating man. He actually went over to Germany to interview Hitler in 1933. He was alarmed by what he learned and became a voice for the Jews, even when not many people seemed to care or really be listening. Not only that, but he was also very instrumental in finding a place for the 100,000 Jews who were left in the concentration camps to call home after the war - and that place is what we now know as the State of Israel.
I hope you will consider buying this DVD or even having Ms. Eshel bring this important film to your community. It would be great for small groups, books clubs, church groups or school assemblies.
Buy the DVD: A Voice Among The Silent: The Legacy of James G. McDonald
3600 N. Lake Shore Dr. # 1205
Chicago, IL 60613
To book the film in your area: Eshel Productions
And may we never forget the atrocities that were committed during the Holocaust and never allow them to happen again.
Blessings and love. xo
Disclaimer: I received no compensation for this post. The views and opinions are my own.


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Foreclosure rates are down more than 20-percent across the country, but they are up here in Maryland.
A report released by RealtyTrac, an online real estate listing company for foreclosures, said that Maryland has the third highest foreclosure rate in the country.
"In the first quarter, we saw foreclosure rates increase and we've been seeing this for almost the last two years," said Darren Bloomquist, RealtyTrac's vice-president.
He said much of the problem is due to paperwork as well as laws and programs on the books here in the state to help homeowners.
"There's been a delay here in Maryland in processing these bad loans," he said.
According to the report, 1 in 189 homes in Maryland are in foreclosure.

domain: economics


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The research that he will undertake with Dr. Bernardo Trigatti could be vital to developing treatments for atherosclerosis, a condition that causes cardiovascular disease. This condition causes fat to accumulate in the bloodstream, increasing the risk of heart attack and stroke as well as contributing to development of cardiovascular illnesses. With diagnosis of heart disease on the rise in North America and around the world, such research could have profound effects on preventing its progression among at-risk patients.
After completing his Bachelors and Masters degrees in Tehran, then working at a car manufacturing company, the loss of a close family member to cancer changed his goals for the future. He set his sights on biotechnology at the University of British Columbia. Ahmadi initially thought this meant a career destined for academia, but since attending eight Mitacs Step workshops he says “My eyes were opened to the opportunities outside of academia and I started to think about my career differently.”
“While I was working on my PhD, that’s what I was focused on. I needed time to foster industry relationships after my PhD, but I was still in an academic mindset. The Elevate program gave me the technical and practical skills to move to the next level.”
And he’s doing just that in the second year of his Mitacs Elevate postdoctoral fellowship. Gurjit is working with partner company Unitron Hearing, in collaboration with the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute and the University of Toronto to make hearing care accessible through the internet.
Over the course of his Accelerate internship Zaifman, a postdoctoral fellow at the Chemistry department of the University of British Columbia, partnered with AlCana, a Vancouver biotechnology company developing lipid nanoparticles, which show great potential as a new means for the targeted delivery of therapeutics.
One of the most talked-about biomedical breakthroughs of 2010, this new development offers hope to sufferers of blood and immunological diseases, such as leukemias, who are often unable to find a suitable donor.
“Ideally, under further development, we hope to be able to grow mature blood cells for patients from their own skin, lessening the likelihood of rejection,” Eva said.


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I went to a local art/craft show a few weeks ago. There were several stationery designers showing there, and I noticed that they all had a similar theme of being “cute” and “punny.” I am certainly not criticizing - because the majority of my designs are both cute and punny; however, it did make me think it was time to rethink my designs. I think “cute’s” days are numbered, but funny will never go out of style. My solution (for now) is to add some edge by finding influence in the world of hip-hop. I’m happy with it so far - like the whole process has been reinvigorated. Plus - I absolutely love rap and hip-hop. This is just an excuse to break out some old cds.
I’ll be showing at Hover Craft on December 8th here in Milwaukee. If you’re in the area, come say hello!

domain: design


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A few months ago, the news watchdog organization Project Censored published its annual report of the top news stories that were under-reported by the mainstream news media — or, as they describe it, “the corporate news media”. Founded at Sonoma State University by journalist Carl Jensen in 1976, Project Censored’s mission is to “educate students and the public about the importance of a truly free press for democratic self-government.”
Contrary to what the organization’s name appears to imply, Project Censored does not necessarily dig out news that was literally censored by news organizations or governments, but highlights stories that were minimized by the press or barely reported with little to no follow-up. Among the 2020-21 stories was the report that due to the European Union’s biomass energy demands (in order to maintain their green energy quotas), European countries import wood pellets from the United States, causing massive deforestation and carbon pollution. Another story in the top 25 list is about the “extensive and disproportionate deployment of police dogs against people of color”.
Many of these stories are concerning and disturbing. Whether one considers these urgent or not, the research that Project Censored offers its readers shows the extent to which many important news items are buried in the pile of mainstream news reporting — a result of what Jensen used to describe as “news abuse” (the minimization of important news) and “junk food news” (news that is trivial or superficial but presented as sensational).
For anyone in the art world, looking at the work of Project Censored can make one reflect that the larger issues and phenomena that are impacting our field are barely or insufficiently touched on by the art press. We have a huge and continuous stream of art news, nurtured by a rich environment of art publications that include general trade magazines (which mainly report on auction sales, museum exhibitions, and some gossipy items about art world figures), magazines focusing on criticism, reviews, interviews and other features, and academic publications that engage contemporary art and theory. However, these publications, regardless of their format and various vehicles (print/digital, social media, etc.) still do not cover several important topics that require investigative reporting or a lens that would go beyond collecting or art criticism. In the past I have tried to illustrate, for example, how discussions around art education are practically absent from these publications as they are seen as marginal and un-sexy. But the absences are much bigger than that.
There are a wide range of taboo subjects that are seldom if ever addressed for many reasons: mainly, at an individual level, speaking out can negatively affect one’s career, curtail professional opportunities and damage relationships. As a friend of mine once said: “the art world asks you to speak your mind. Be honest, be yourself. They admire your bravery in speaking out. But when you do, you begin to lose professional opportunities.”
I approached a few artists, curators, writers, and others whose opinions I respect to honestly share – anonymously, if they so preferred – the topics that in their view are seldom, if ever, discussed, or touched upon superficially. These were their responses.
Irmgard Emmelhainz, Mexican writer, and theorist, presents a few examples:
“In Mexico race is taboo, except if one is celebrating ethnic origin or if an artist who becomes famous is coming from a lower-class background. In the performing arts world, there was a space created to debate this topic, Poder Prieto (Brown Power) organized by the actor Tenoch Huerta. Unfortunately, the debates that seek to denounce the normalization of racism in film, theater, and television, tend to be Manichaean, polarizing and from the onset start by instigating resentment. Nonetheless, it is a necessary debate and has brought to the surface important problems (such as brown actors always playing stereotypical roles and almost never playing the lead— whenever a lower-class character is the leading role, this role is always played by a white actor).
“Another topic is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, around which there is an entrenchment in cultural institutions and particularly academia. Today, the kind of solidarity that Palestinians request is through BDS, but for European and American institutions to adhere to BDS brings consequences that very few people are willing to accept, like losing their job. Last year, with the attack in Gaza in May of 2021 and the commemoration of the 73 years of Nakba or the Palestinian catastrophe, there was an alliance between Black Lives Matter and Strike MoMA with the Palestinian struggle – and this alliance is perceived as radical and threatening beyond words. Of course, the spaces to converse around the Palestinian struggle are being curtailed more and more (in 2020, Zoom censored a presentation by Leila Khaled through that platform). My own involvement with the Palestinian cause has negatively affected my professional life: it almost cost me my doctorate and academic jobs in the U.S.”
Artist Dread Scott shared the following:
“There is more awareness of some problems that are entrenched in the art world (racism and patriarchy are endemic to all facets of the art world, what sells is too often equated with what is good, radical work is often ghettoized) and recently there have been some changes in the arts that is very welcome (black artists are flourishing and receiving acknowledgment and support, it’s harder to do a major show/biennial which only has one woman, etc.). But in some ways I feel we’re rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. America and large parts of the world are being increasingly governed and shaped by fascists. Black people are being murdered by cops and white supremacists are emboldened. Imperialist powers are sabre rattling and there is not a substantive movement against this. No country, large corporation, or activist group is doing what is needed to stop climate change.
For art movements or ideas that could do with more exploration and investigation I’d say: “America is the fucking problem, not a solution. People (including progressives and liberals in the arts) who wish to make America more inclusive or democratic or wish it to live up to its ideals, should take an honest look at the history of this country and its economy. It’s a country that was founded on slavery and genocide and is based on exploitation and oppression. If people would end their romantic belief that there is something good at America’s core or ideals, we’d all be much freer to dream of a world we’d actually flourish in and work towards it.”
One of the comments I received from a collective of contributors that requested anonymity, points at the hiring of white European curators to lead art organizations across the country and especially in New York. According to these contributors, these are institutions that purport to primarily serve communities of color but continue to operate from a white supremacist, white savior colonial model:
“This is troubling given the current climate and conditions we have due to the continuous uprisings and calls for museum and cultural shifts to end white supremacy. How do you end white supremacy, except to actually end it!
What does this say about who is listening to the demands of all manner of artists and those who work in museums and galleries; why do we keep replicating the colonial model? There is no white savior who can do what black and brown leaders should be trained well to do now at this juncture. We suppose this observation would apply to the head of the Highline and the head curator at the New Museum; it would apply to the head of MoMA PS.1, Socrates Sculpture Park and The Queens Museum and used to apply to the chief curator [i.e. previously senior deputy director of curatorial affairs, now associate director] at MoMA. Why do museums and their boards continually and blatantly hire white Europeans (many of whom move to the United States for these exact job offerings) to lead cultural spaces, especially in heavily diverse and culturally non-white neighborhoods? And why isn’t this consistently written about, critiqued and discoursed in art newspapers and online blogs ? A more just model would be to have these directors share their knowledge in such a way that they give up their collective white supremacy. These institutions and their directors want it both ways; they want to work in under-served communities and make a difference in their names while continuing the colonial, white supremacist model. For shame! And it appears that the art press follows along to the beat of white supremacy so nothing, absolutely nothing shifts except the addition of more white saviors.”
Artist Coco Fusco wrote:
“A buried art world story – investigation of blue-chip gallery payments to museums to finance solo shows for their artists. What began years back as the practice of galleries paying for museum catalogues and dinners after openings has mushroomed into full-on financing of solo exhibitions. Some attention has been paid to private collectors engaging in a similar practice by putting their collections on display in museums. But we are now talking about how top tier galleries exercise control over museums and compel curators to focus their attention on those artists in their stables in order to obtain needed backing for exhibitions.”
Another anonymous contributor pointed out the oversize influence that individual collectors have on the art world both in the United States and in Latin America, particularly through the creation of single-funder museums. “No one speaks of institutional violence, which is the product of the privatization of culture and the art system. It is a taboo subject, there is fear of reprisals, and I was one of its victims.”
And artist Caroline Woolard:
“The stories of the communities and friends and networks that lifted up so many artists. In other words: a community story / non-individual arts story as the norm; decolonial aesthesis; when art and livelihood and being are one in so many cultural traditions that are carried today by culture bearers; the connection between cooperative economic innovation and the arts – for example the first native worker-owned business, the first democratic loan fund in the US, Black Lives Matter, and the first non-extractive VC fund were all started by artists; DAOs / web3 and no extractive cooperative art futures; artists’ day jobs; the strategic ways that networks of elite people conspire the make some artists famous; histories of freedom art schools / social movement art schools.”
It is perhaps unsurprising that, particularly in the United States, the issues that pertain to matters of race and ethnic origin remain overlooked or poorly addressed, and institutional attempts to engage with them usually gloss over deeper and more entangled questions about representation. The difficulty of addressing these issues partially lies in the fact that doing so requires a level of vulnerability and self-introspection that can feel risky to any platform, whether it is an arts organization or an arts publication. As a result, we often undertake proxy culture battles, such as specific controversies generated by an exhibition, the dealings of a museum’s board member, institutional hires, etc., but what is needed is better research and analysis, accessible to the public and not to a small academic audience, of the root causes of these problems.
Similarly, whenever some of these conflicts surface in artist-led protests, the focus is often on a list of demands for change but not on a deeper investigation about the endemic and systemic context that produce these problems, all of which can help find solutions.
All of these require long-term investigative reporting, a practice that I don’t believe to be practiced enough in the art press. For starters, a useful avenue for activist organizations in the arts would be to develop more art-focused journalism projects that would help surface the issues that have remained unspoken or unaddressed, helping in defining and articulating problems and influencing change through awareness, individual and collective ethical behavior in the art world. Can art history and criticism and curatorial programs in universities help us expand the possibilities of art writing to go beyond the theoretical text and the art review, and support the integration of investigative journalism into our field that we so much need?
Volume 36 no 4 March April 2022

domain: sociology


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A List of People I Would Love to Bitch Slap
But of course I won’t 😝
You know, I’m a pretty positive girl. I’m usually upbeat and happy and cheery. Usually. 99% of the time. I don’t really let things get to me too much anymore. BUT every now and then someone flicks that switch and the crazy Italian in me comes out and I seriously want to bitch slap someone.

domain: psychology


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The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has ruled out the participation of its players in IPL 2010 and has revoked the no-objection certificates (NOCs) granted to its players.
“No Pakistani player will go to the IPL this time,”Ijaz Butt, the PCB chairman, told Cricinfo. “Why should we allow them to go? They didn’t pick any of the players and it was an insult to us. Why should we let one or two players go? We will not take this lying down.”
Butt’s statement seems to have shut the door on the issue, though a PCB release issued minutes earlier held out some hope.
“All NOCs issued to Pakistani players for their participation in IPL 3 stand revoked,” the PCB statement said. “In the future if any player receives an invitation for participation in IPL events, PCB will decide the matter on a case-to-case basis after consulting the relevant government authorities.”
The decision came after Pakistani players were ignored at the player auction for the third edition held in Mumbai. Of the 11 players in the IPL’s final auction list of 66, none were bought by any franchise.
That sparked outrage in Pakistan and led to statements on both sides – including one from India’s home minister – regretting the blackout of Pakistani players at the auction. There has also been a warning issued by a regional party in Mumbai warning against Pakistanis being hired by the franchises, but recent reports indicated that Pakistani players could play a role in the next IPL season.
One player, allrounderAbdhual Razzaq, has also been linked to two franchises though officials of both franchises deny any specific deal has been concluded.
The participation of Pakistani players in the third IPL season has been a subject of much controversy for the past three months, with some element of confusion over rules and eligibility. It was thought, when their names were included on the auction shortlist earlier this month, that the issue had been resolved but events at the January 19 auction suggest they are taking a new turn.